text:
Zika Virus: From Obscurity to Potentially Devastating International Threat.
ZIKV was first discovered in primates in the Zika Forest of Uganda in 1947. What changed to facilitate the recent explosive spread in humans?
Laura Kramer: Intercontinental air travel, globalization, and urbanization facilitate spread of viruses and vectors to distant places. Furthermore, global warming and climate change are redefining the geographical distributions of mosquito vectors. In 2007, ZIKV spread from Africa and Southeast Asia to cause the first large outbreak in humans on the Pacific island of Yap, in the Federated States of Micronesia. Before this event, no outbreaks and only 14 cases of Zika disease in humans had been documented worldwide. Although wind-blown mosquitoes can travel distances of several hundred kilometers over open ocean, introduction of ZIKV by travel or trade from Southeast Asia, involving an infected person or mosquito, is considered the most likely source of the 2007 Yap outbreak. Lack of population immunity likely contributed. Nonetheless, previous outbreaks of infection may have been missed due to the clinical similarities of mild illness associated with ZIKV, dengue virus (DENV), and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infections, and the frequent cocirculation of all 3 arboviruses. After Yap Island, ZIKV spread to French Polynesia in 2013, and then to other Pacific Islands in 2013-2014. ZIKV may have been introduced into Brazil in 2013 during the Confederations Cup Soccer Tournament or 2014 during the Va'a canoe race. During both events, teams from French Polynesia and other Zika-endemic Pacific island countries competed. Alternatively, Zika may have been introduced during the 2014 World Cup Soccer Match.
Nikolaos Vasilakis: We really do not know the underlying reasons for the observed global spread of ZIKV. However, there are a number of hypotheses that research groups are currently exploring. These include: (i) ZIKV underwent adaptive evolution to enhance infectivity of urban Aedes species vectors (such as, Aedes aegypti or A. albopictus), as recently occurred with CHIKV; (ii) ZIKV underwent adaptive evolution in the human host, leading to higher levels of viremia which would enhance both transmission by the biting mosquitoes and the risk of transplacental fetal transmission; (iii) ZIKV circulation in Asia or Africa resulted in relatively stable levels of human herd immunity that limited the potential for recognized outbreaks; and lastly (iv) the introduction of ZIKV into naive populations in the South Pacific was stochastic and allowed for sufficient levels of amplification to facilitate the introduction into Brazil fueled by increased global travel, expansion of tropical cities, and susceptible Aedes mosquito populations.
DENV and CHIKV viruses are transmitted by the same A. aegypti mosquito vector as ZIKV and so far have had minimal transmission in the continental US. Are there reasons to think Zika will be different?
Albert Ko: Our best guess is that ZIKV will behave similarly to the other Aedes-transmitted viruses, where the risk of focal autochthonous transmission occurs in regions such as the Texas--Mexico border and southern parts of Florida. However, there are some important caveats. We do not have a clear understanding of the vectorial capacity, the rate of new ZIKV infections that an Aedes mosquito can generate after biting an infected individual, especially for A. albopictus, which has a wider distribution within the continental US. Moreover, introduction of the virus at the right place and time, such as during our summer months, may potentially produce a larger impact than what is predicted.
Nikolaos Vasilakis: In the context of continental US, socioeconomic factors would play an important role in limiting the extent and breadth of mosquito transmission. For example, the extensive use of window and door screens and air conditioning, piped water infrastructure, and good drainage significantly reduces available breeding and resting habitats for these mosquitoes. To maintain the likelihood of minimal transmission, vector control and surveillance programs at the federal, state, and community level must continue to enjoy sustainable long-term financial and logistical support.
Laura Kramer: Since 1980, locally acquired US cases of DENV have been confirmed along the Texas-Mexico border, associated with large outbreaks in neighboring Mexican cities. Limited mosquito-transmitted DENV was detected in Key West, Florida, in 2009 and 2010, with single isolated reported cases in other Florida counties in 2010 and 2011, demonstrating the potential in this state. In 2014, 12 locally transmitted CHIKV cases were reported from Florida, and in 2016, one local CHIKV case in Texas. All other CHIKV cases have occurred in travelers returning from affected areas. It is unlikely ZIKV transmission by A. aegypti and A. albopictus will be different from DENV and CHIKV in the US. Most likely, there will be focal flare-ups of infection, which may go unnoticed since 80% of ZIKV cases are asymptomatic. But once introduced, there may be ZIKV sexual transmission between partners without mosquitoes being involved. Recently, probable ZIKV transmission by oral sex has also been reported. Of all arboviruses, sexual transmission is unique to ZIKV and may be contributing to current outbreaks.
Clearly, the greatest concern for ZIKV is infection in pregnant women. What have we learned so far regarding risk factors for congenital infection and the spectrum of disease in the infant?
Albert Ko: The CDC and the WHO have concluded that ZIKV causes congenital birth defects, including microcephaly. However, we are still uncertain about how large the risk actually is. A small prospective study from Brazil identified severe fetal outcomes among 29% of women who acquired symptomatic ZIKV infection during pregnancy. In contrast, a retrospective study of microcephaly after the outbreak in French Polynesia estimated that microcephaly occurred in roughly 1% of the newborns of women infected during pregnancy. Furthermore, important questions remain unanswered with respect to which period and what type of exposure, symptomatic vs asymptomatic infection, during gestation impart the greatest risk to the fetus. Microcephaly is usually a severe "tip-of-the-iceberg" manifestation for most congenital infections. Case reports have identified central nervous system and ophthalmological lesions in newborn infants who were exposed to ZIKV during gestation but did not develop microcephaly. Yet at present, we do not know the disease burden attributable to congenital ZIKV infection that may be uncovered once infants without microcephaly are systematically investigated.
Nikolaos Vasilakis: We have learned quite a lot in the last 6 months. However, the mechanisms of intrauterine infection remain elusive, as well as the role and mode of sexual transmission in the infection of the placenta and the fetus. Unknown also is the role of asymptomatic infection in the development of congenital infection or whether previous exposure to heterologous flavivirus infection (e.g., DENV) enhances the severity of disease. The spectrum of disease in the offspring varies from fetal demise to various degrees of developmental brain abnormalities that may range from death to various cognitive abnormalities.
Laura Kramer: Severe microcephaly and intracranial calcifications appear to occur following infection in the late first or early second trimester. ZIKV infections that occur later in pregnancy have been associated with poor intrauterine growth, fetal death, or in some pregnancies, defects visible on prenatal imaging. Suspected "congenital Zika syndrome" includes such clinical features as low birth weight, reduced fetal movement, redundant scalp skin, fetal anasarca, polyhydramnios, and arthrogryposis, and may be associated with miscarriage. Neurological findings include microcephaly, polymalformative syndromes, brainstem dysfunction, and absence of swallowing. Ophthalmological findings include cataracts, asymmetrical eye sizes, intraocular calcifications, macular alterations, optic nerve abnormalities, iris coloboma, and lens subluxation. Thus, viral infections in early pregnancy can affect brain growth and lead to microcephaly, but infections later in pregnancy can cause less obvious but still significant pathology.
Zika infections in the normal host are 80% subclinical, or are associated with a self-limited rash illness. Have any complications been identified in nonpregnant patients?
Albert Ko: Case reports have described severe complications associated with an acute ZIKV infection, such as a sepsis-like presentation, thrombocytopenia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and death. These complications are rare given that millions have been exposed to the virus during the recent epidemic in the Americas. The risk of ZIKV-associated Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) was first recognized during the outbreak in French Polynesia and was estimated at approximately 1 case per 1000 infections. The risk of GBS may therefore be higher than observed for many infectious agents, but lower than what has been observed for Campylobacter jejuni. In addition to GBS, the virus has been implicated to cause another immune-mediated disorder, acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis. However, ZIKV has been detected in cases that have presented with meningoencephalitis, myelitis, and encephalopathy, indicating that this neurotropic virus may mediate direct pathogenic effects in adults as well as in fetuses.
Nikolaos Vasilakis: We now have evidence that, in patients with underlying morbidities or compromised immunity, ZIKV infection may result in death. Several reports also indicated transient auditory abnormalities (e.g., hearing loss), as well as neurologic complications such as GBS, brain ischemia, myelitis, and meningoencephalitis. Because of the inherent limitations of serologic diagnosis, we can only estimate the force of infection, including the incidence of GBS.
Laura Kramer: Disease symptoms may include arthralgia, especially the small joints of hands and feet, and conjunctivitis (nonpurulent). Other commonly reported clinical manifestations include myalgia, headache, retroorbital pain, and asthenia. Less commonly observed symptoms and signs include abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, and mucus membrane ulcerations. In addition to GBS, scientists in Brazil uncovered a brain disorder associated with ZIKV infections in adults, an autoimmune syndrome called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, or ADEM, that attacks the brain and spinal cord.
What are the challenges in diagnosing patients who have been exposed to ZIKV?
Albert Ko: There are key diagnostic needs in responding to the Zika epidemic, which include (i) diagnosing acute symptomatic infections in the clinical setting, (ii) detecting exposures, whether symptomatic or in apparent, among pregnant women, (iii) identifying prior infection in utero at the time of birth, and (iv) screening for past exposure in women of childbearing age, who may presumably have immunity to reinfection during a subsequent pregnancy. At present, it is not clear whether current molecular detection approaches, such as reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR), have adequate performance in diagnosing symptomatic infections. The limited number of validation studies has hampered a clear understanding of the clinical application and potential limitations of these assays. Screening for ZIKV exposure, whether before or during pregnancy in women or in newborn infants, will likely need to rely on a serologic assay. However, a particular diagnostic challenge is detecting ZIKV exposures in settings where a significant proportion of the population have been previously exposed to flaviruses, such as DENV, West Nile virus, and yellow fever (via immunization), and have cross-reactive antibodies to ZIKV. Anti-whole ZIKV IgM detection assays have been employed as part of routine diagnostic workup but may not have adequate specificity in such settings due to differentiating ZIKV infection from exposures to other flaviviruses.
Laura Kramer: ZIKV is circulating in countries where related flaviviruses, including DENV, Japanese encephalitis, Saint Louis encephalitis, West Nile fever, and yellow fever viruses also are active. These flaviviruses produce nonspecific symptoms early in infection that are largely indistinguishable such as headache, rash, myalgia, and fever. While virus is detectable in the blood during the first week of symptoms, the utility of molecular methods such as RT-PCR for the detection of viral RNA is limited by the short duration of the viremia. Following the viremic phase of infection and a slightly longer period of viruria, diagnosis must be made with serological methods, which is challenging. Flavivirus serology is complex, due to extensive cross-reactivity between antibodies made in response to different flavivirus infections or vaccination. Furthermore, secondary infections increase the difficulty of diagnosis where titers to the originally infecting virus increase following a heterotypic secondary flavivirus infection. The importance of accurate diagnosis of ZIKV infections in pregnant women is increased considerably by the risk of serious consequences to the fetus. Since approximately 80% of infections are asymptomatic, if a woman has traveled to a ZIKV endemic area during pregnancy, or has a sexual partner who has, testing should be recommended even in the absence of symptoms.
Diagnostic testing is currently confined to public health laboratories. When will ZIKV testing be more widely available?
Albert Ko: A number of commercial kits have been developed, using a spectrum of molecular detection and serologic approaches. The rate limiting step will be the ability to recruit well-characterized patient populations and samples to perform validation studies. Confirmation with serology may unfortunately be limited to regions where transmission of other flaviviruses has not occurred, owing to the issue of high serologic cross-reactivity between members of this family.
Nikolaos Vasilakis: The only reliable test is based on the molecular detection of the ZIKV genetic signature. Albeit in principle it is highly sensitive and specific, it has a short window of detection in serum, saliva, and urine samples. While the use of serology-based tests as confirmatory is not recommended as yet because of their cross-reactivity with other flaviviruses, these serologic tests are highly accurate in monotypic infections,; therefore, con text is important--for populations, such as American, that are not routinely exposed to such infections serologic testing may be applicable, but not for populations that reside in hyperendemic settings, where repeated flavivirus exposure is the norm.
Laura Kramer: The availability of ZIKV testing in the US at non-public health laboratories has been delayed by several factors. In addition to the usual time needed for developing and implementing laboratory developed tests, there has been very limited availability of clinical samples for validation testing. Additionally, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requests review of validation data. A few commercial and hospital laboratories have submitted validation data to the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization of molecular tests for the detection of viral RNA in serum, and in some cases urine, and a few have been approved. The number of facilities offering such testing will likely increase in the coming months as more tests obtain FDA approval.
Commercial serologic assays are also in the process of FDA submission and approval, so market availability is expected soon. The development of serological assays for ZIKV reactive antibodies has been slower than that for molecular assays because of cross-reactivity with antibodies to other similar flaviviruses. Developing screening tests that are technically simple to perform and detect ZIKV reactive antibodies with a high level of specificity, while maintaining an acceptable level of sensitivity, has proven challenging.
In many US states, confirmation by the state laboratory is required in the event of detection of an arbovirus infection. For samples from these states, RNA-positive samples must therefore be forwarded to the state public health laboratory for confirmation. The confirmation of commercial serologic assays (IgM ELISA) by plaque reduction neutralization tests (PRNT) is strongly recommended until assays are fully validated. However, performing labor-intensive PRNT, which uses infectious virus, to confirm large numbers of IgM ELISA test results from clinical and commercial laboratories, may be very challenging for public health laboratories whose resources have already been strained by response efforts.
Can you comment on standard preventive measures, as well as the novel vector control strategies being developed?
Laura Kramer: The best approach is integrated pest management incorporating multiple approaches to prevent further spread of the virus. To decrease mosquito population density is difficult with A. aegypti because they frequently rest indoors. But using physical barriers such as screens, closed doors, and windows in homes is highly effective. State and local mosquito control efforts can assist with source reduction, which involves eliminating or covering containers with standing water. Discarded automobile tires, which can become mosquito habitats, should be collected and properly disposed of. Distribution of biological controls such as fish is possible. Larvicides, with selective action and moderate residual activity, can be added to aquatic habitats when immature stages are concentrated in the breeding sites and before the adult forms emerge and disperse. People can protect themselves against mosquito bites by using insect repellent and wearing clothes that cover as much of the body as possible. A third approach involves decreasing the lifespan of A. aegypti through release of mosquitoes infected with a rickettsial symbiont, Wolbachia. Another novel approach to control is through engineering male mosquitoes genetically so that following mating, the progeny larvae die before emerging as adults.
Nikolaos Vasilakis: In the absence of effective vaccines and antivirals, the best methods for controlling ZIKV rely on reducing contact between the vector and susceptible humans. In resource-poor settings where piped water supply is nonexistent, elimination or protection of water containers that fill with rainwater and serve as larval habitats is an effective method and relies on community engagement and personal responsibility. Another method will be to apply larvicides to these sources and effectiveness is dependent on sustainable application. Lastly, indoor spraying including the application of residual insecticides that have repellant activity can be extremely effective but this method is quite expensive and labor-intensive.
Recently several new technologies have been developed that show promise in controlling A. aegypti populations. The first involves the release of genetically modified male mosquitoes that express a dominant lethal gene, resulting in the death of all offspring from mating with wild females. While this approach has been quite successful in reducing mosquito populations on a small scale, logistical, technical, and financial scale up challenges have not been adequately addressed. Thus, its impact in controlling mosquito populations in the sprawling and chaotic megacities of the tropics where ZIKV and other arboviruses circulate cannot be ascertained. The second approach is to release A. aegypti infected with Wolbachia, which are endosymbiotic bacteria that spread through natural populations and suppress viral transmission by interfering with replication in the mosquito. While this approach has been quite effective in controlled releases throughout the tropics, potential limitations such as the need to release these mosquitoes over wide geographic ranges to overcome their limited flight range, as well as the possibility that arboviruses will rapidly evolve mechanisms to overcome their inhibitory effects, remain to be addressed. Lastly, the use of lethal traps, which are inexpensive and relatively maintenance free has been shown to reduce A. aegypti populations substantially.
Perhaps most importantly, how close are we to having a ZIKV vaccine?
Albert Ko: Several candidate vaccines are in development with projections for Phase II trials to begin by 2017. If successful, we may potentially have an efficacious vaccine as early as 2018. However, these efforts may encounter several challenges. We do not know at present whether natural infection with ZIKV confers immunity to reinfection and thus have limited insights into the immunological correlates that would aid development of a vaccine. The phenomenon of Zika-associated GBS adds an additional complication. The specific mechanism and ZIKV moiety that elicits this immune-mediated process is not well understood. Although GBS is a rare manifestation of ZIKV infection, clinical trials will presumably need to evaluate whether immunization with vaccine candidates elicits this potential adverse event. Finally, the epidemic and unpredictable nature of ZIKV transmission is a challenge with respect to planning vaccine efficacy trials that can enroll sufficient numbers of participants that are at risk for ZIKV infection.
Laura Kramer: The process of developing, testing, and commercializing a vaccine takes years to ensure products are safe and effective. Several teams of scientists are working on ZIKV vaccines. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) had created a trial vaccine for a related flavivirus, West Nile virus, that is being repurposed for ZIKV. The Jenner Institute has conducted trials with mice and aims to hold clinical trials by 2017. The latter is based on a simian adenoviral vector being developed in Oxford to determine if it is immunogenic and can be taken to clinical trials. The NIAID vaccine will go into Phase I trial in September 2016 to determine its safety profile. Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials would then have to be designed, conducted, analyzed, and reported before a company intent on licensing the vaccine could apply to the FDA for approval of the vaccine. If all goes well, the vaccine would be employed in 2018. Other approaches include a DNA vaccine, a whole inactivated [virus] particle vaccine, and a live chimeric inactivated vaccine that will not go into phase I until the middle of 2017.
Nikolaos Vasilakis: There are several platforms that have been developed and licensed as efficacious flavivirus vaccines, including live attenuated virus [yellow fever virus (17D strain) and Japanese encephalitis virus (14-14-2 strain)], inactivated-virus vaccine [Japanese encephalitis virus (14-14-2 strain)], and chimeric virus [17D vaccine strain of yellow fever virus containing the structural membrane and envelope genes from DENV] that was recently approved for clinical use for DENV in Mexico, Brazil, and the Philippines. Other approaches, such as subunit vaccines representing ZIKV proteins, DNA vaccines expressing viral proteins, and other viral vectors expressing viral antigens could be explored as potential vaccine delivery platforms for ZIKV vaccine development. Whereas preclinical development is a rather "quick" process, clinical evaluation for safety and efficacy to obtain licensing for human use is a time consuming process that may take up to 15 years and requires hundreds of millions of dollars in financial commitments. Although subunit vaccines may exhibit better safety and shorter development time, a live attenuated virus vaccine may elicit stronger humoral and cellular immune responses for better protection. Therefore, complementary approaches should be explored simultaneously to further advance vaccine ZIKV candidates.
Author Contributions: All authors confirmed they have contributed to the intellectual content of this paper and have met the following 3 requirements: (a) significant contributions to the conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (b) drafting or revising the article for intellectual content; and (c) final approval of the published article.
Authors' Disclosures or Potential Conflicts of Interest: Upon manuscript submission, all authors completed the author disclosure form. Disclosures and/or potential conflicts of interest:
Employment or Leadership: None declared.
Consultant or Advisory Role: None declared.
Stock Ownership: None declared.
Honoraria: None declared.
Research Funding: A. Ko, institutional funding from Orasure.
Expert Testimony: None declared.
Patents: None declared.
Other Remuneration: L. Kramer, NIH-funded meeting on Chikungunya 2015.
Previously published online at DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2016.261917
Moderator: Marie Louise Landry  *
Experts: Albert I. Ko,  Laura D. Kramer,  and Nikolaos Vasilakis
 Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Yale University School of Medicine, and Clinical Virology Laboratory, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT;  Professor and Chair, Department of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) and Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT;  Director, Arbovirus Laboratory, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, and Professor, Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY;  Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Member, Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Center for Tropical Diseases, and Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.
* Address correspondence to this author at: Yale University School of Medicine, PO Box 208035, New Haven, CT 06520-8035. Fax 203-688-8177; e-mail marie.landry@ yale.edu.
Received June 13, 2016; accepted June 23, 2016.
 Nonstandard abbreviations: ZIKV, Zika virus; DENV, dengue virus; CHIKV, Chikungunya virus; GBS, Guillain-Barre syndrome; RT-PCR, reverse transcription PCR; FDA, US Food and Drug Administration; PRNT, plaque reduction neutralization test; NIAID, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
|Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback|
|Author:||Landry, Marie Louise; Ko, Albert I.; Kramer, Laura D.; Vasilakis, Nikolaos|
|Date:||Sep 1, 2016|
|Previous Article:||Will Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometry Become an Integral Technology in the Operating Room of the Future?|
|Next Article:||Red-Brown Urine in a Patient with Chronic HIV Infection and Quadriparesis.|

domain: literature


text:
Reminder: Newer agents are golden opportunities for new writers because they’re likely building their client list; however, always make sure your work is as perfect as it can be before submitting, and only query agencies that are a great fit for your work. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time and postage.
About Sara: Sara D’Emic graduated from Emerson College with a B.A. in Writing, Literature, and Publishing, and is happy to be starting her career as an agent with Talcott Notch Literary. Needless to say, she’s passionate about books. Her reading tastes range from Dostoevsky and Dumas to Burroughs and Salinger to Lovecraft and King.
She is seeking: “Compelling characters are the crux of good fiction, and I’m seeking stories that will spark the imagination and the soul. I’m looking for adult horror, urban fantasy, paranormal, magical realism, science fiction, mystery, thriller, or crime fiction. I will also gladly take non-fiction science and technology.”
How to contact: Writers can query her with one-page query plus an attached 10-page sample for fiction, or one-page sample plus attached table of contents at sdemic (at) talcottnotch.net.
The biggest literary agent database anywhere
is the Guide to Literary Agents. Pick up the
most recent edition online at a discount.


text:
Percy Wyndham Lewis
Mrs Dick Guiness
Pencil and watercolour on paper
Signed and dated `Wyndham Lewis. 1923’ (lower right)
14.1/2 x 16.3/4 in. (36.8 x 42.6 cm.)
Provenance: The Zwemmer Gallery, London Formerly the property of Arthur Crossland Esq.
Wyndham Lewis was the hard man of modernism. He presented himself as "The Enemy", and society took him at his word. Of all the great modernists, Lewis is the one who has stayed out in the cold, despite his double genius as both painter and writer. Walter Sickert called him the "greatest portraitist of this or any other time", and T S Eliot described him as "the greatest prose master of style of my generation" A founding member of Vorticism ( a fusion or Cubism and Futurism), Lewis had a strong aesthetic preference for stylisation, and for clean lines and hard surfaces. He liked dynamic stasis and machine-like forms. He edited the Vorticist magazine BLAST . He had been a founder member of the Camden Town Group and came into contact with the Bloomsbury Group, particularly Roger Fry and Clive Bell, though they quickly fell out.
His Jewish book (and his anti-Nazi book, The Hitler Cult) were part of a damage-limitation exercise, an attempt to undo the gaffe he'd made with his 1931 book Hitler ("This celibate inhabitant of a modest Alpine chalet - vegetarian, non-smoking, and non-drinking ... the most unassuming of men"). But the inter-war years were a strange time, and Lewis was not alone in his extremism: T S Eliot wrote to the Daily Mail to praise the paper's pro-Mussolini stance, George Bernard Shaw hero-worshipped Stalin, and Graham Greene's books had to be re-edited after the war to take out the anti-semitic bits. Some feel there is a touch of scapegoating with Lewis, a kind of inverse McCarthyism. Lewis could be intensely paranoid and prickly, and he seems to have been almost physically incapable of not being rude to people. He had been a great drinking buddy of Joyce (O'Keeffe gives a nice account of them sitting in a Paris gutter together), but he still attacked Joyce's work - brilliantly - in Time and Western Man, then stitched up the Sitwells (and virtually everyone else he'd known, including friends and patrons) in his satirical novel The Apes of God.
Lewis ended his life blinded by a slow-growing brain tumour. His eyesight had been going for some time, and he once tried to hail a hearse instead of a black cab, which must have been a pregnant moment. Finally he had to give up his post as art critic: as he politely explained in the "unseemly autobiographical outburst" of his last piece, he could no longer see the pictures. "Pushed into an unlighted room, the door banged and locked for ever, I shall then have to light a lamp of aggressive voltage in my mind to keep at bay the night." This is a delightful early society portrait from the heyday of the 1920s of Mrs Dick Guiness. After a gap in his painting in the late 1920s and early 1930s he would later become well known for his portraits of Edith Sitwell, T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. There is no doubt he was a difficult man, but he remains one of the most important figures of the first half of the 20th Century.

domain: artistic


text:
After browsing the internet for inspiration for a project, I got the distinct feeling that I HAVE TO customize an old upholstered chair using paint for an upcoming shoot.
Before trying my hand at upholstered fabric though, I thought it might be prudent to start with something a little easier. I chose this piece from home: An old dresser which was a hand-me-down from my parents, that they picked up at a thrift-store or auction.
The materials I used are:
Not shown above: I also grabbed a j-cloth for the waxing step, which you will see later.
Once you have everything prepped, it's actually a really simple process. 1) Wash down your furniture and dry it. I just gave it a good soapy sponge-down and rinsed, then dried it with a towel.
Tape off any areas you absolutely, categorically DON'T want painted. Just in case, I would actually take the 2.5 minutes to tape off anything you aren't sure if you want painted or not. Better take the steps before than try to remove it later.
One tip I found really helpful was to stretch an elastic band over the can vertically, to give you somewhere to wipe off the excess paint from the brush. It helped keep things pretty clean, and also was a nice spot to rest the brush between sections, or when moving around the furniture.
Second, I started with the first coat. I began painting at the side of the piece, and created nice margins and edges, which I found helpful to creating nice, even coverage. The first coat tended to show through a bit on the first coat, and the brush strokes are VERY obvious on the first coat as well...but that all got resolved with the second coat, and none of it is a problem anyway.
After the first coat was done, the piece was pretty streaky and uneven but starting to take shape. I applied the second coat once the first coat was touch-dry (after a few minutes, and honestly by the time I finished the first coat on the last section, the first section was already dry.)
Here is the body of the piece after the second coat.
Then come the drawers! I found that one good coat, starting with the edges and details again, was all I needed for the front of the drawers. I made sure to do the final brush strokes in the direction of the wood grain, and it looks fantastic. Also, the drawers had less damage than the rest of the piece, so they actually needed much less coverage.
Once all the pieces are painted, it's time to start the distressing. Using an extra-fine sandpaper block (you can use heavier or finer grit sandpaper, and in either a block or sheet form. For this, I chose an extra-fine block to just give the edges a little scuff, and also buff down the surface gently, to take away any extra brush-stroke texture I didn't want on the final product.)
Once the pieces are buffed and the edges distressed, you can choose how much or how little you want to sand off. Any interesting details (like the 3-panel top drawers here, or any added carved detail that might be on your piece) might need an extra pass, and could even show through some of the wood underneath, which really makes the detail contrast and pop. Warning!: The waxing stage makes everything you just detailed MORE obvious! If in doubt, do less and you can always add more distressing finishing touches while the wax is drying.
This is what mine looked like once the distressing and buffing was done.
Next comes the waxing stage. Working in small sections at a time, work the wax into the underlying paint, massaging it into the furniture. I used a circular motion first, then gave a strong sweep in the direction of the grain at the end, making sure to take off any excess clumps of wax with the tip of the brush. A few hairs fell off the brush but that's okay because it come off in the next step:
After the section is waxed, take a j-cloth or other clean, lint-free cloth and buff the waxed surface. This takes off the excess wax, smooths the brush strokes of the waxing step, and wipes away any debris or hairs.
This is what the drawers looked like after the waxing/buffing stage
Once the painting/waxing/buffing was done, I took the hardware and gave it a good spray with the Rustoleum Dark Steel spray paint I had. I didn't worry too much about getting super-even coverage, because I don't mind the distressed, uneven finish. But the overall effect was great. Here is the final piece assembled, once the hardware dried (about an hour later):
And that's it! The whole process took about 90 minutes, plus an hour for the hardware to dry in between. It's still drying upstairs, but the drawers can be opened and closed easily and it is touch-dry, and shows no signs of use when light items (such as screw drivers) are placed on top. The paint takes 30 days to completely and permanently cure (so use it lightly and carefully the first month), but don't worry too much about any wear-and-tear that comes with use. The distressed effect will only be enhanced, and you can always buff, sand, or re-wax the finish (or re-paint!) if you ever feel it needs it. I have also read that you should just clean it gently with soap & water or a good dusting from time to time, but if you get it dirty and need a deeper clean with a strong cleaning product occasionally, it might just need to be re-waxed and buffed.
That's it! I hope you find this posting helpful, and would love to see your projects too. Do you have any tips or comments to add?

domain: hobby


text:
Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that if voted back to power, his government might nationalise the international joint ventures set up by his successor Maithripala Sirisena.
The Sirisena-led government, which had ousted Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential elections in the island nation, has entered into joint venture agreements with Chinese firms to built a seaport and an industrial park around it in Hambantota district.
The Lankan government is also in talks with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to set up a joint venture for managing the Mattala international airport, which is named after Rajapaksa and dubbed as the world's emptiest airport.
The Opposition has opposed both the deals, terming them as sell-out of national assets to foreigners.
However, the government stressed that the joint ventures are on long term lease arrangement and not outright sale.
Addressing a protest rally in Colombo on Thursday, Rajapaksa warned the foreign partners, "Please do not buy anything (state ventures) sold by this government. I will have to reconsider them when I return to power."
He was referring to Lanka's debt equity share ventures with China to run the southern port of Hambantota.
Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP) had made remarkable political gains in the February local election, winning more than two thirds of the councils. Since then he has been demanding a snap parliamentary poll, which he says his party will surely win.
The parliamentary polls in Lanka are due in 2020.
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

domain: news


Supersonic sc-807 bluetooth cd/mp3/cassette Player Top-loading mp3/cd player / USB/SD/MMC Inputs. Lcd screen / bluetooth Connectivity / Headphone Jack. Ac/dc compatible / Cassete Player/recorder. Dimensions: 11 X 12 X 8".
NAXA Electronics Portable MP3/CD Player with AM/FM Stereo Radio and Cassette Player/Recorder
Bass boost system; please Note: Kindly refer the User Manual before use. Built-in USB input. Naxa npb-428 mini hi-fi system - black npb-428 Boomboxes Top loading MP3/CD player. Twin detachable speakers. Am/fm stereo radio cassette player/recorder.
NAXA Electronics NPB-426 Portable CD Player with AM/FM Stereo Radio, Cassette Player/Recorder and Twin Detachable Speakers
NAXA Electronics Portable MP3/CD Player with PLL FM Radio
Jensen JMC1250 Bluetooth 3-Speed Stereo Turntable and 3 CD Changer with Dual Cassette Deck
Sony CFDS70-BLK CD/MP3 Cassette Boombox Home Audio Radio, Black, with Aux Cable (Renewed)
JENSEN MCR-100 Cassette Player/Recorder
Pyle Rack Mount Studio Pre-Amplifier - Audio Receiver System w/Digital LCD Display Bluetooth FM Radio Recording Mode Remote Control USB Flash or SD Card Reader Input and Output Jack - PPRE70BT
The Seaweed Bath Co. Whole Seaweed Detox Bath, Natural Organic Bladderwrack Seaweed, Non-GMO Verified, Vegan, 2.5 oz.
JENSEN CD-490 Portable Stereo CD Player with AM/FM Radio and Aux Line-In, Red and Black
Full Motion TV Monitor Wall Mount Bracket Articulating Arms Swivels Tilts Extension Rotation for Most 13-42 Inch LED LCD Flat Curved Screen TVs & Monitors, Max VESA 200x200mm up to 44lbs by Pipishell


text:
At least 232 million computers, tablets and mobile phones will be provided in the world this year, according to market research firm Gartner. According to Gartner, the amount of equipment supplied worldwide in 2017 was 228 million And this year, the amount of this increase will reach 232 million. Which is 2.1 percent more than the current year.
When there is a question that a device will grow the fastest year, it is called Mobile Market. Whereas still high quality smartphones and premium brand Apple and Microsoft Windows 10 devices are in demand. Considering the current situation, Gartner says that at least 9 percent of mobile phone sales will increase by 2021, which will support only 5G.
Gartner Research Director Ranjeet Atwal said in a statement that considering the high-priced devices, we focused on the price, and we want to see more buyers there. At this time, the delivery of tridental PC will be reduced by 5.4 percent. Meanwhile, Gartner also says that the speed of the notebook supply will be reduced gradually. During this period, Premium Ultra-Mobile Market will continue to grow in the PC segment. In addition, there will be a fallout in the market of all types of PCs in 2018.
Mobile phone supply in the year 2016 will increase to 2.6 percent. Which will be at least 190 crores. On the other hand, this smartphone sales will increase to 6 percent, which will represent 87 percent of the mobile phone market research firm.
Between 2015 and 2015, the 5G smartphone will reach the market very well. The 5G handsets will occupy 9 percent of the market by 2021, according to the work done on 5G, especially in South Korea and the United States.


text:
Lebanon imposed a travel ban on Carlos Ghosn, the fugitive former boss of Nissan, after he was questioned by prosecutors on Thursday over an Interpol warrant issued by Japan seeking his arrest on financial misconduct charges.
Mr Ghosn, 65, fled to Lebanon last month while awaiting trial in Japan on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds. The executive denies all the charges.
Mr Ghosn was “in very good dispositions” during the hearing on Thursday, his Lebanese lawyer Carlos Abou Jaoude told reporters. “He is very happy. He feels that he is in front of courts that will allow him to prove his innocence. He is comfortable.” Mr Abou Jaoude said the travel ban was a “technical measure”.
In his first public appearance since arriving in Lebanon on December 30, Mr Ghosn blasted the Japanese judicial system on Wednesday, saying that he believed it conspired with Nissan to arrest him on false charges.
During a press conference at the Lebanese Journalists’ Syndicate headquarters in Beirut, Mr Ghosn said that he “should never have been arrested in the first place,” arguing that he was “innocent” and that could prove it. “I started [obtaining] many documents and there are more documents to come.”
The former businessman turned international fugitive described the 130 days he spent in prison in Japan in solitary confinement as difficult. “I felt like I was dead,” he said. “When I got out it felt like I was coming back to life.”
Mr Ghosn stressed that he did not agree with the widespread perception among legal professionals in Lebanon that the judiciary is not independent and closely controlled by politicians.
Shortly after his press conference, Tokyo prosecutors slammed Mr Ghosn’s comments, accusing him of “one-sided” and “unacceptable” criticism of Japan’s legal system. They rejected his claims that they had colluded with Nissan as “categorically false and contrary to fact”.
On Thursday, Lebanese State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat also made an official request to Japan to send him Mr Ghosn’s legal file for examination.
Many questions remain regarding Mr Ghosn’s mysterious escape from Japan, which he refused to address during his press conference.
On Wednesday, Turkish police confirmed previous media reports that he flew from Japan to Turkey hidden in a large case normally used for musical instruments.
The police said Mr Ghosn disembarked from the plane on foot and was driven to another aircraft that left immediately for Beirut. Five people have been under arrest in Turkey since January 3 over the escape.
Mr Ghosn, who holds Lebanese, Brazilian and French citizenship, has received widespread public support in Lebanon, his childhood home, since he was first arrested by Japanese prosecutors in late 2018.
During his press conference, he noted that the three countries do not extradite their citizens which meant it was unlikely he would be forcibly returned to Japan. On Tuesday, Japan also issued an arrest warrant against his Lebanese wife Carole for allegedly giving false testimony during a court hearing last April.
However, Mr Ghosn’s perceived attempt to evade corruption charges has drawn some sarcasm in a country that witnessed widespread anti-government protests since October.
“Carlos Ghosn transformed himself from victim to an upholder of the law … Appointing him Energy Minister instead of the current scum would be a good idea,” Druze leader Walid Jumblatt tweeted on Thursday. Lebanon has been without a government since October 29.
The former businessman was also interrogated by Lebanese prosecutors about his trip to Israel in 2008 during which he met the then president Shimon Peres and prime minister Ehud Olmert to sign a deal for the production of electric cars.
The visit breaches domestic law because Lebanon and Israel never signed a peace treaty after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and it is forbidden for Lebanese citizens to visit Israel or communicate with Israelis. Three Lebanese lawyers filed a request seeking charges against Mr Ghosn on January 2, shortly after his arrival in Lebanon.
“I did not go to Israel as a Lebanese citizen but as director general of Renault,” Mr Ghosn said during his press conference on Wednesday, insinuating that the charges were politically motivated. “Why was this complaint lodged now? Who has interest in this?” he asked.
Lawyer Ayman Raad, who is not involved in Mr Ghosn's case, told The National that now that Mr Ghosn had been heard by a Lebanese judge, "it's now up to the general prosecutor to press charges or not".

domain: law


text:
Yep, we made it people. Another year. 2019 is creeping right up on us and I’m still stuck somewhere in August.
If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking ahead at the next step, the next move, the next couple of squares in the calendar. I like to know what to expect of my days and try to fill them with as much productivity as possible. Real, true, get-er-done work. As I’ve learned, winning is an intentional act, and it all starts with setting your sights on a goal.
In 2018 I hit a few of mine. I finished a first draft (and nearly a second) of the novel I hope to publish; I read more than I ever have before in a year; and, not to mention, I started this blog, which has been a long time coming. While some days have felt empty and useless, too much time wasted on Instagram or worrying about the mess in the living room, seeing these met goals has put into perspective how much I’m capable of, how much I’m able to accomplish so long as I’m willing to work.
Looking ahead to 2019, I have a few things on my mind. Publishing Imperfect One, reading 40 books (or getting closer to 40 at least!), establishing myself on the interwebs. All “large” and time-consuming intentions and frankly daunting. I don’t always feel matched for those tasks. I don’t feel disciplined enough or driven enough or smart, talented, good enough to do any of it. Each day is an effort of will not to submit to my insecurities, shyness, doubts, and fear and to keep pressing forward.
Maybe you’re feeling the same way about your goals (or resolutions, ambitions, aims, vibes, etc.), no matter how “big” or “small” (I don’t really like these terms, but it’s almost eleven the Thursday after Christmas so bear with me). Maybe you’re nervous you won’t be able to wake up or keep up or stay up or shut up, whatever it is you hope to accomplish in the New Year, that it would be easier to give in now than even try.
Fear is a funny thing, how it can feel more comforting than success. How it can twist our minds to believe we’re better off settling for less than we are and less than we’re capable of doing. It can lull us into complacency with the promise of comfort and silence the yearning for something better, higher than our current position. It can replace contentment with bitterness or even jealousy toward those we’d otherwise admire. It can leave us empty and unsatisfied with our place in life by reminding us of all the reasons we shouldn’t do something.
These are lies, of course. If there’s a part of your self you want to better, you’re capable. If there’s a goal you want to meet, you’re capable. If there’s a task you want to complete, you’re capable. You don’t have to jump out of an airplane or travel the world to prove this to yourself either. Little acts of bravery, little steps of courage, are a good enough reminder of why fear is a lie and growth is always within reach.
So, if nothing else this year, I want to encourage both of us — you and me — not to give into fear. Trying and failing is worth more for the lessons learned and the courage gained than remaining stuck in place by our own hands. And while obstacles and failure are frightening, particularly for their inevitability, they’re nothing compared to the regret we face when years later we’re still where we’ve always been even when we long to be miles ahead. It takes a first step and that step is often blind, often the hardest part of the journey, but it will set into motion a future full of possibility and promise. Certainly not easy, but in the end something to be proud of.
So let’s do it together. One step at a time. Make 2019 a fearless year.
NOW TELL ME // Have you thought about your goals for 2019? How do you cope when you doubt yourself? Give me your best advice below!
photo by: Brooke Lark


text:
Fulham boss Martin Jol has no regrets over turning down the chance to become Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United in 2003. Jol was interviewed by Ferguson and the Scot was impressed with what he had to say, but he ended up taking Carlos Queiroz back on soon after when he was sacked at the Bernabeu.
"I never wanted to (take the job)," Jol said. "I don't think I am someone who can work as an assistant.
"If you look at the coaches who were with him - it was not easy for them to (become a number one). Queiroz was probably the exception to the rule.
"The rest stayed as an assistant. Rene Meulensteen is still struggling to be a number one somewhere now.
"It was always nice to talk to him (Sir Alex) because he is a good man. But don't forget that he is Scottish so I had to pay for my own ticket! He never gave me my money back!"
For breaking stories and all the great banter like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tribalfootball

domain: sports


text:
Eliane – Dennis & Jan review
Stayed in July 2019
Our French immersion home stay with Eliane and Benjamin was the highpoint of our trip to France this year!
Elaine was a wonderful cook, and our meals were a relaxing time to practice our language skills and an opportunity to learn some secrets of French cooking. We enjoyed going to the local Farmer’s market with Elaine, too. We learned more about her community and town as we shopped.
Eliane tailored our daily lessons to our level of knowledge, and I found my pronunciation improved with her help, too. It needed quite a bit of practice!
We were comfortable in the studio apartment behind their house, and we walked to the nearby park and explored the town in our afternoons and evenings. Benjamin drove us all to Amiens to see the cathedral and the canals with the floating gardens for our first afternoon excursion, and later in the week to Compiegne to visit the famous Chateau.
We would recommend this experience to anyone!

domain: travel


Electrical failure shuts Hungary's main airport
BUDAPEST, Hungary - Hungary's Budapest Airport has been shut down due to electrical problems in the control tower.
Airport spokesman Mihaly Hardy said Friday that flights to Budapest were being diverted to Vienna until the problem could be resolved. The airport was shut at 1050 GMT.
Hardy could not say how long Ferenc Liszt International Airport, as Hungary's largest airport is officially called, would be closed.
latest travel gallery
In the summer, southeastern Alaska's waters teem with humpback whales that have migrated north to feed on herring and other fish. One of their most fas... More In the summer, southeastern Alaska's waters teem with humpback whales that have migrated north to feed on herring and other fish. One of their most fascinating behaviors is bubble-net feeding, a complex and coordinated tactic for capturing many fish at once. Andy Szabo, director of the Alaska Whale Foundation, and naturalist Steve Maclean explain the phenomenon while aboard the National Geographic fleet on a recent voyage to Alaska's Inside Passage. Learn more about the expedition to Alaska's Inside Passage: http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/expeditions/alaska-cruise/detail?utm_source=NGdotcom-Video&utm_medium=link&utm_content=20140619_LEX_Video_BubbleNet_AlaskaInsidePassage&utm_campaign=NGdotcom Click to see more video highlights from the National Geographic - Lindblad fleet of expedition ships traveling around the globe: video.nationalgeographic.com/video/ngexpeditions/
Date 11 hrs ago, Duration 1:44, Views 177


text:
When DeAndre Daniels and Ryan Boatright are non-factors and Shabazz Napier is not looking for his shot, the Huskies still have plenty of firepower.
Omar Calhoun scored 18 points, Niels Giffey had 15 and Shabazz Napier had a triple-double of 14 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds in an 80-62 rout of Yale.
Giffey scored 15 of those points in the first half on 5 3-pointers. Calhoun added 10 first half points and was efficient with his shooting. The duo are playing so well early that Kevin Ollie went with a combination of Giffey and Calhoun on the floor at the same time.
Daniels scored zero points and Boatright finished with 10.
You can do that when you have a big like Amida Brimah in the lineup. Brimah's offense is still raw, he isn't quite strong enough to be a great rebounder yet, but blocking shots is something that comes naturally. He had seven blocks and seven points the game and many more alters and discouragements.
The Huskies' defense held Yale to 32 percent shooting in the game.
Then there is Napier, who was content just to pass the ball and not force anything. Napier had a triple-double, but was an efficient 5 of 7 from the floor with only one turnover. The one turnover was a pass that should been caught too as the Huskies' All-American candidate had a stellar game. Napier has led the Huskies in rebounding each of the first game games this season. The Huskies did struggle on the boards in the second half and were out-rebounded by 12.
UConn is 2-0 and hasn't trailed for a second this season.
The game was choppy at times as fouls -- a factor with the new emphasis on hand-checking -- caused an inordinate number of perimeter fouls. 47 fouls were called in the game with 48 free-throws taken.


text:
You are here
Surbana teams up with JTC to boost productivity, sustainability in building sector
URBAN and infrastructure consultancy Surbana Jurong inked a partnership with JTC Corporation on Thursday to develop solutions that will boost digitalisation, automation and sustainability in the built environment sector.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) aims to combine JTC’s project management and engineering capabilities with Surbana Jurong’s urban and infrastructure consulting expertise to develop practical and scalable solutions, Surbana Jurong and JTC said in a joint statement.
In the area of digitalisation for example, drones with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities could be used to digitalise information gathering and reduce time spent by engineers on manual monitoring on site.
As for improving sustainability, Surbana Jurong and JTC will jointly explore new alternative building materials and technologies that can lower carbon footprint.
The agreement was among a record 10 MOUs that Surbana Jurong signed with industry partners at the International Built Environment Week 2019, which was organised by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore and held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
The other partners include digital construction solutions provider Glodon, VR/AR company 51VR, lighting firm Philips-Signify and Republic Polytechnic.
Surbana Jurong, which is owned by Temasek Holdings, said in a separate statement that the MOUs allow it to tap on the strengths of its partners in areas including building information modelling (BIM), robotics, smart cities and smart lighting.
It will also be collaborating with Shui On Joint Venture in Hong Kong to help expand prefabricated, prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) products and services into overseas markets.
The MOU signing was witnessed by Second Minister for National Development Desmond Lee.
Surbana Jurong group chief executive Wong Heang Fine said in statement: “The 10 MOUs which we have inked today demonstrate our dedicated focus in working with industry partners to seek improvements and innovations.”


|Publication number||US4876390 A|
|Application number||US 07/233,706|
|Publication date||Oct 24, 1989|
|Filing date||Aug 19, 1988|
|Priority date||Aug 19, 1988|
|Publication number||07233706, 233706, US 4876390 A, US 4876390A, US-A-4876390, US4876390 A, US4876390A|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (12), Referenced by (8), Classifications (6), Legal Events (7)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
1. Field of the Invention
The field of art to which this invention pertains is the solid bed adsorptive separation of dichlorodiphenylsulfone (DCDPS) isomers. More specifically, the invention relates to a process for separating 4,4'-DCDPS mixture comprising 4,4'-DCDPS and one or more additional DCDPS isomers, which process employs an adsorbent comprising a crystalline aluminosilicate to selectively adsorb all isomers except 4,4'-DCDPS from the feed mixture and remove 4,4'-DCDPS as the product in the raffinate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of crystalline aluminosilicates to perform a number of separations is well known in the separation art. Examples of such separations are the use of zeolites to separate normal paraffins from branched chain paraffins, (U.S. Pat. No. 2,985,589), faujasites to separate olefinic hydrocarbons from paraffinic hydrocarbons (U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,750), zeolites to separate specific monosaccharides or classes of monosaccharides from carbohydrate feed mixtures (U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,331), etc.
This invention is particularly concerned with the separation of 4,4'-DCDPS from other isomers of DCDPS. Obtaining pure 4,4'-DCDPS has commercial significance in light of its potential as a monomer or co-monomer for the production of polysulfone resins, polyethersulfone resins, polyarylsulfone resins, etc. A source of the isomer mixture is the sulfonation of chlorobenzene with SO3 and thionylchloride or through a series of well-known reactions or the reaction of dimethylpyrosulfate with monochlorobenzene, both of which produce a mixture of DCDPS isomers. It is desirable to use very pure 4,4'-isomer as the polymerization reactant. Typically, however, the initial purification is by crystallization, which can recover about 60% of the 4,4'-isomer, but a means must be found to economically recover 4,4'-DCDPS in concentrations greater than about 90-95%, and, ideally, greater than 98% in order to manufacture high quality polysulfone resins. Recrystallization is effective for the concentration proposed, but more costly than a chromatographic adsorptive separation.
Current methods of separating DCDPS isomers include filtration of isomer reaction mixture following precipitation with a basic aqueous solution (U.S. Pat. No. 3,309,409) and crystallization with monochlorobenzene as solvent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,334,146).
While crystalline aluminosilicates or zeolites have been used in adsorption separations of various mixtures in the form of agglomerates having high physical strength and attrition resistance, to our knowledge an effective chromatographic separation process for DCDPS isomers has not been found. Methods for forming the crystalline powders into agglomerates are also known and include the addition of an inorganic binder, generally a clay comprising a silicon dioxide and aluminum oxide, to a high purity zeolite powder in wet mixture. The blended clay zeolite mixture is extruded into cylindrical type pellets or formed into beads which are subsequently calcined in order to convert the clay to an amorphous binder of considerable mechanical strength. As binders, clays of the kaolin type, water permeable organic polymers or silica are generally used.
The invention herein can be practiced in fixed or moving adsorbent bed systems, but the preferred system for this separation is a countercurrent simulated moving bed system, such as described in Broughton U.S. Pat. No. 2,985,589, incorporated herein by reference. Cyclic advancement of the input and output streams can be accomplished by a manifolding system, which are also known, e.g., by rotary disc valves shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,040,777 and 3,422,848. Equipment utilizing these principles are familiar, in sizes ranging from pilot plant scale (deRossett U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,812) to commercial scale in flow rates from a few cc per hour to many thousands of gallons per hour.
The functions and properties of adsorbents and desorbents in the chromatographic separation of liquid components are well-known, but for reference thereto, Zinnen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,397 is incorporated herein.
It has now been discovered that X- or Y-type zeolites exchanged with cations at cation exchange sites selected from Groups IA or IIA are suitable adsorbents for the separation of 4,4'-DCDPS from other isomers of DCDPS, provided certain conditions in the chromatographic separation process are maintained. Important parameters to be controlled in the process are water concentration of the adsorbent, temperature of the process and concentration of desorbent components. Moreover, by our process, it is estimated that 4,4'-DCDPS can be obtained at purities of at least 95% to as high as 99+% with recoveries at 90-99%.
It is accordingly a broad objective of the present invention to provide a process for the separation of 4,4'-DCDPS from a feed mixture containing DCDPS isomers using an X or Y type zeolite with cations selected from Group IA, Group IIA or ammonium ions at cation exchanged sites. Especially preferred are Na, K, Ca and Ba.
In brief summary, the present invention is a process for separating 4,4'-DCDPS from a feed mixture comprising 4,4'-DCDPS and at least one other DCDPS isomer. The process comprises contacting, at adsorption conditions, the DCDPS isomer mixture with an adsorbent comprising a type X zeolite or type Y zeolite containing Group IA or IIA cations or ammonium ions at the exchangeable cationic sites, selectively adsorbing 2,4'- and 3,4'-DCDPS to the substantial exclusion of 4,4'-DCDPS, removing the nonadsorbed 4,4'-DCDPS from contact with the adsorbent as product raffinate and thereafter removing the remaining isomers by desorption at desorption conditions. Adsorption conditions which are important to the economic recovery of 4,4'-DCDPS are: adsorption and desorption temperatures of at least 150° C. and water concentration on the adsorbent of 1-7 wt.%. The desorbent comprises from 20-100% C4 -C8 alcohol mixed with 0-80% of an aromatic diluent, e.g., toluene, benzene, xylene, mesitylene, chlorobenzene, chlorotoluene, etc.
Adsorbents to be used in the process of this invention will comprise specific crystalline aluminosilicates or molecular sieves, namely X and Y zeolites. The zeolites have known cage structures in which the alumina and silica tetrahedra are intimately connected in an open three dimensional network to form cage-like structures with window-like pores. The tetrahedra are cross-linked by the sharing of oxygen atoms with spaces between the tetrahedra occupied by water molecules prior to partial or total dehydration of this zeolite. The dehydration of the zeolite results in crystals interlaced with cells having molecular dimensions and thus the crystalline aluminosilicates are often referred to as "molecular sieves."
In hydrated form, the X and Y zeolites used in the process of this invention have the structure described and defined in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,882,244 and 3,130,007, respectively, incorporated herein by reference thereto. The X or Y zeolites in the hydrated or partially hydrated form can be represented in terms of moles of metal oxides as shown, respectively, by Formulas 1 and 2 below: ##STR1## where "M" is at least one cation having a valence not more than 3, "n" represents the valence of "M", "w" is a value from 3 to 6 and "y", representing the number of moles of water, is a value up to about 9 depending upon the identity of "M" and the degree of hydration of the crystal. The cation "M", as the zeolite is initially prepared, is usually predominately sodium, but for the purpose of this invention, the sodium may be replaced with calcium, barium, or potassium cations by ion exchange methods well known to those having ordinary skill in the field of crystalline aluminosilicates. Such methods are generally performed by contacting the zeolite or an adsorbent material containing the zeolite with an aqueous solution of the soluble salt of the cation or cations desired to be placed upon the zeolite. After the desired degree of exchange takes place, the sieves are removed from the aqueous solution, washed, and dried to a desired water content.
The adsorbent may be supported by an inorganic matrix material such as silica, titania, or alumina or mixtures thereof, or compounds, such as clays, which material is present in intimate mixture with the small particles of the zeolite material. This matrix material, or binders, typically in amounts ranging from 2-25 wt.%, aids in forming or agglomerating the particles and may be an adjunct of the manufacturing process for zeolite, (for example, intentionally incomplete purification of either zeolite during its manufacture) or it may be added to relatively pure zeolite. Normally, the adsorbent will be in the form of particles such as extrudates, aggregates, tablets, macrospheres or granules having a desired particle size range. The typical adsorbent will have a particle size range of about 16-60 mesh (Standard U.S. Mesh).
Although it is not clear what properties of the adsorbent are responsible for the DCDPS separation herein described, it appears that it cannot be attributed to pore size selectivity alone. Since the isomers being separated are of similar size, it appears that steric factors as well as electrostatic attraction action may play an important role in the separation. while it is not possible to conclusively set forth the molecular interaction responsible for the adsorption, one possible explanation is higher polarity of the minor isomers compared to that of the 4,4'-isomers. Therefore, both electrostatic interaction as well as physical considerations may provide the mechanism for this separation.
We have found that either X or Y zeolites with sodium, potassium, calcium or barium cations and amorphous binders possess the selectivity and other necessary requirements for use in our process; however, a potassium exchanged Y type zeolite is particularly preferred, because it is also possible to use the same desorbent in a second pass to separate the two extract components, 2,4'-DCDPS in a second stage, with especially advantageous results at a temperature of 180° C.
In this process, and particularly the preferred continuous simulated moving bed process, the desorbent must be selected to satisfy the following criteria: First, the desorbent material should displace an extract component from the adsorbent with reasonable mass flow rates without itself being so strongly adsorbed as to unduly prevent an extract component from displacing the desorbent material in a following adsorption cycle. Secondly, the desorbent material must be compatible with the particular adsorbent and the particular feed mixture. More specifically, it must not reduce or destroy the critical selectivity of the adsorbent for an extract component with respect to a raffinate component. The desorbent should additionally be easily separable from the feed mixture that is passed into the process. Both the raffinate stream and the extract stream are removed from the adsorbent in admixture with desorbent material and without a method of separating at least a portion of the desorbent material, the purity of the extract product and the raffinate product would not be very high nor would the desorbent material be available for reuse in the process. It is, therefore, contemplated that any desorbent material used in this process will preferably have a substantially different average boiling point than that of the feed mixture, i.e., more than about 5° C. difference, to allow separation of at least a portion of desorbent material from feed components in the extract and raffinate streams by simple fractional distillation, thereby permitting reuse of desorbent material in the process. Finally, desorbent materials should also be materials which are readily available and, therefore, resonable in cost. However, a suitable desorbent or desorbents for a particular separation with a specific adsorbent are not always predictable. In the preferred isothermal, isobaric, liquid-phase operation of the process of my invention, I have found that desorbent material comprising an alcohol having 4 to 8 carbon atoms will result in selectivity for the adsorbed DCDPS isomers when used with the above discussed adsorbents. The combination of KX or KY adsorbent and pentanol diluted with about 0-80 wt.% toluene was found to be most effective in separating the DCDPS isomers.
Feed mixtures which can be utilized in the process of this invention will comprise a mixture of at least two isomers of DCDPS, which have the structure: ##STR2## Potential feed mixtures containing substantial quantities of 4,4'-DCDPS will typically contain 2,4'- and 3,4'-DCDPS as well. Such mixtures may also contain significant quantities of other impurities. A typical feed mixture for this invention is a crystallization residue of the crude reaction mixture and will contain from 51-75%, 4,4'-DCDPS, 21-37.6%, 2,4'-DCDPS and 4-11.0% (by wt.) 3,4'-DCDPS. The invention is applicable to other feed mixtures, including crude reaction products containing approximately 95-98% 4,4'-DCDPS, 1-2%, 3,4'-DCDPS and 1-4% 2,4'-DCDPS.
Although both liquid and vapor phase operations can be used in many adsorptive separation processes, liquid-phase operation is preferred for this process because of the lower temperature requirements and because of the higher yields of extract product that can be obtained with liquid-phase operation over those obtained with vapor-phase operation. Adsorption conditions will include a temperature range of from about 20° to about 200° C. with about 100° to about 180° C. being more preferred and a pressure sufficient to maintain liquid phase, ranging from about atmospheric to about 500 psig with from about atmospheric to about 25 psig being preferred. Desorption conditions will include the same range of temperatures and pressures as used for adsorption conditions.
At least a portion of the raffinate stream, which contains the concentrated 4,4'-DCDPS product, and preferably at least a portion of the extract stream, from the separation process are passed to separation means, typically fractionators or evaporators, where at least a portion of desorbent material is separated to produce a raffinate product and an extract product, respectively.
A static test procedure and apparatus may be employed to test various adsorbents with a particular feed mixture to determine the relative retention by the adsorbent of each component of the mixture. The procedure involves mixing together equal quantities of each component, the relative retention of which is to be determined, and a convenient solvent or desorbent material. A solvent or desorbent is selected that will have a boiling point well separated from those of the isomers being tested. The resulting solution is then placed in a vessel with a quantity of the appropriate adsorbent and is allowed to remain, with occasional stirring, overnight at room temperature. The solution is then analyzed for each component and the selectivity, alpha, thereof is calculated from the following equation: ##EQU1##
A dynamic testing apparatus is employed to test various adsorbents with a particular feed mixture and desorbent material to measure the adsorption characteristics of retention capacity and exchange rate. The apparatus consists of a helical adsorbent chamber of approximately 70 cc volume having inlet and outlet portions at opposite ends of the chamber. The chamber is contained within a temperature control means and, in addition, pressure control equipment is used to operate the chamber at a constant predetermined pressure. Quantitative and qualitative analytical equipment such as refractometers, polarimeters and chromatographs can be attached to the outlet line of the chamber and used to detect quantitatively or determine qualitatively one or more components in the effluent stream leaving the adsorbent chamber. A pulse test, performed using this apparatus and the following general procedure, is used to determine data, e.g., selectively, for various adsorbent systems. The adsorbent is placed in a chamber and filled to equilibrium with a particular desorbent material by passing the desorbent material through the adsorbent chamber. At a convenient time, a pulse of feed containing known concentrations of a tracer and of a particular extract component or of a raffinate component or both, all diluted in desorbent material is injected for a duration of several minutes. Desorbent material flow is resumed, and the tracer and the extract component or the raffinate component (or both) are eluted as in a liquid-solid chromatographic operation. The effluent can be analyzed on-stream or alternatively, effluent samples can be collected periodically and later analyzed separately by analytical equipment and traces of the envelopes or corresponding component peaks developed.
From information derived from the test, adsorbent performance can be rated in terms of void volume, retention volume for an extract or a raffinate component, the rate of desorption of an extract component from the adsorbent and selectivity. The retention volume of an extract or a raffinate component may be characterized by the distance between the center of the peak envelope of the extract or raffinate component and the center of the peak envelope of the tracer component (void volume) or some other known reference point. It is expressed in terms of the volume in cubic centimeters of desorbent material pumped during this time interval represented by the distance between the peak envelopes. The rate of exchange or desorption rate of an extract component with the desorbent material can generally be characterized by the width of the peak envelopes at half intensity. The narrower the peak width, the faster the desorption rate. [The desorption rate can also be characterized by the distance between the center of the tracer peak envelope and the disappearance of an extract component which has just been desorbed. This distance is again the volume of desorbent material pumped during this time interval.] Selectivity, β, is determined by the ratio of the net retention volumes of the more strongly adsorbed component to each of the other components.
The examples shown below are intended to further illustrate the process of this invention without unduly limiting the scope and spirit of said process. The examples present test results for various adsorbent and desorbent materials when using the above dynamic testing apparatus.
A number of static tests were performed as described hereinabove at 25° C. to demonstrate that it was possible to separate the isomers by an adsorptive process. The feed consisted of 1 or 3% crystallizer residue in mesitylene or toluene; the crystallizer residue contained 58.7% 4,4'-DCDPS; 3.4'% 3,4'-DCDPS and 16.5% 2,4'-DCDPS. Values for alpha of 4,4'-DCDPS with respect to 2,4'-DCDPS, a measure of selectivity, calculated as stated above for a number of adsorbents, are listed in Table 1.
TABLE 1______________________________________Alpha 4,4'-/2,4'-DCDPS Mesitylene TolueneAdsorbent 3% feed 1% feed 3% feed______________________________________NaX 0.69 0.81 --KX 0.56 0.35 0.48BaX 0.89 0.72 0.69NH4 X 0.49 0.40 0.57NaY 0.84 0.57 0.78CaY 0.67 0.76 0.67KY 0.75 -- 0.53______________________________________
In this example, a pulse test, as described, was run at 150° C. using a Y type zeolite having potassium ions at cation exchange sites to determine the rejective separation of 4,4'-dichlorodiphenylsulfone from a crystallizer residue. The K-Y zeolite of this example was bound with bentonite clay and had an average bulk density of 0.56 gm/ml. The feed mixture consisted of 3 g of the crystallizer residue composition given in Table 2 diluted with 97 g of the desorbent. The 4,4'-dichlorodiphenylsulfone was removed as raffinate from the column. The 2,4'-DCDPS and 3,4'-DCDPS isomers were desorbed with 100% pentanol and recovered as extract.
TABLE 2______________________________________ Component Wt. %______________________________________ 4,4'-DCDPS 51.4 2,4'-DCDPS 37.6 3,4'-DCDPS 11.0 100.0______________________________________
Table 3 shows the results of the separation as demonstrated by the net retention volumes of the components.
TABLE 3__________________________________________________________________________ Net Width Retention at SelectivityComponent Adsorbent Desorbent Vol. (NRV) 1/2 Ht. (Beta)__________________________________________________________________________4,4'-DCDPS KY Pentanol 1.5 9.99 4.802,4'-DCDPS 7.2 11.70 1.003,4'-DCDPS 4.2 9.74 1.75Other 1.5 5.02 4.80(Unknown, etc.)__________________________________________________________________________
Examples III through IX were also pulse tests run to illustrate the invention using other adsorbents, desorbents and diluents and temperatures. In each case, except Example IX, the feed, 15 g of a crystallizer residue composition given in Table 4, is diluted with 85 g of the desorbent.
TABLE 4______________________________________ Component Wt. %______________________________________ 4,4'-DCDPS 51.4 2,4'-DCDPS 37.6 3,4'-DCDPS 11.0______________________________________
In Example IX, the feed, 8 g of a crude mixture, having the composition of Table 5, obtained from the reaction of dimethylpyrosulfate and monochlorobenzene, is diluted with 92 g of the desorbent.
TABLE 5______________________________________ Component Wt. %______________________________________ 4,4'-DCDPS 96.91 3,4'-DCDPS 1.00 2,4'-DCDPS 2.09______________________________________
The results for each example are set forth in Table 6.
TABLE 6__________________________________________________________________________ Retention Volume Temp. (Width at 1/2 Peak Height) SelectivityEX. Adsorbent Desorbent (°C.) 4,4'- 2,4'- 3,4'- Other .sup.β 4,4'-/(__________________________________________________________________________ )III K-Y 20/70 150 45.3 70.7 55.1 41.8 0.12 (2,4'-) pentanol/ (6.24) (16.13) (9.55) (7.86) 0.26 (3,4'-) toluene (unknown)IV K-Y 30/70 150 44.6 58.7 52.9 42.4 0.14 (2,4'-) pentanol/ (9.28) (16.5) (11.13) (6.54) 0.21 (3,4'-) toluene (unknown)V K-Y 50/50 150 44.5 53.7 49.2 41.4 0.25 (2,4'-) pentanol/ (9.51) (13.08) (9.25) (5.03) 0.40 (3,4'-) toluene (unknown)VI K-Y 30/70 150 46.5 67.7 N/A -- 0.18 (2,4'-) (aged) pentanol (12.35) (7.58) -- -- tolueneVII K-Y 30/70 180 43.8 70.0 56.7 40.1 0.12 (2,4'-) pentanol/ (9.07) (18.31) (11.59) (5.82) 0.22 (3,4'-) toluene (unknown)VIII K-Y 67/33 150 52.3 86.7 62.9 -- 0.22 (2,4'-) n-octanol (9.88) (32.78) (7.86) 0.48 (3,4'-) tolueneIX K-Y 30/70 150 45.5 57.2 51.6 -- 0.21 (2,4'-) pentanol/ (8.12) (15.21) (8.06) 0.34 (3,4'-) toluene__________________________________________________________________________
It will be noted that many of the separations provide sufficient selectivity between the extract products, 2,4'-DCDPS and 3,4'-DCDPS, that these isomers could be separated in a second stage operation using these particular adsorbent-desorbent combinations, e.g., KY-n-octanol/toluene as in Example VIII.
|Cited Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US2882244 *||Dec 24, 1953||Apr 14, 1959||Union Carbide Corp||Molecular sieve adsorbents|
|US2985589 *||May 22, 1957||May 23, 1961||Universal Oil Prod Co||Continuous sorption process employing fixed bed of sorbent and moving inlets and outlets|
|US3040777 *||Apr 10, 1959||Jun 26, 1962||Universal Oil Prod Co||Rotary valve|
|US3130007 *||May 12, 1961||Apr 21, 1964||Union Carbide Corp||Crystalline zeolite y|
|US3265750 *||Mar 31, 1964||Aug 9, 1966||Union Carbide Corp||Separation of olefins from paraffins|
|US3309409 *||Apr 10, 1964||Mar 14, 1967||Stauffer Chemical Co||Purification of acidic chlorophenylsulfones|
|US3334146 *||Aug 19, 1964||Aug 1, 1967||Stauffer Chemical Co||Method for the purification of bis(4-chlorophenyl) sulfone|
|US3422848 *||Jun 9, 1966||Jan 21, 1969||Universal Oil Prod Co||Multiport rotary disc valve with liner protection means|
|US3706812 *||Dec 7, 1970||Dec 19, 1972||Universal Oil Prod Co||Fluid-solid contacting apparatus|
|US4012451 *||Jan 19, 1976||Mar 15, 1977||Nippon Soda Company Limited||Process for the separation of 4,4'-dichlorodiphenylsulfone|
|US4024331 *||Title not available|
|US4642397 *||Oct 1, 1985||Feb 10, 1987||Uop Inc.||Process for separating isomers of dinitrotoluene|
|Citing Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US6036865 *||Jun 15, 1998||Mar 14, 2000||Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation||Separation processes|
|US6045703 *||Jun 15, 1998||Apr 4, 2000||Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation||Separation processes|
|US6455738 *||Jul 13, 2000||Sep 24, 2002||Rhodia Chimie||Process for the sulfonation of an aromatic compound|
|US8853444||Mar 7, 2011||Oct 7, 2014||Basf Se||Processes for preparing 4-chlorobenzenesulfonic acid and 4,4′-dichlorodiphenyl sulfone|
|US20110218357 *||Sep 8, 2011||Basf Se||Processes for preparing 4-chlorobenzenesulfonic acid and 4,4'-dichlorodiphenyl sulfone|
|EP2383257A1||Apr 22, 2010||Nov 2, 2011||Basf Se||Method for manufacturing 4,4'-dichlorodiphenylsulfone|
|WO2011107465A1||Mar 1, 2011||Sep 9, 2011||Basf Se||Method for producing 5-chlorobenzene sulphonic acid and 4,4'-dichlorodiphenylsulphone|
|WO2011131508A1||Apr 12, 2011||Oct 27, 2011||Basf Se||Method for the production of 4,4'-dichlorodiphenyl sulfone|
|U.S. Classification||568/34, 210/674|
|International Classification||C07C317/14, C07C315/06|
|Jan 26, 1989||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: UOP INC., A DE CORP., ILLINOIS
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNOR:MC CULLOCH, BETH;REEL/FRAME:005014/0073
Effective date: 19880808
|Jun 30, 1989||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: UOP, DES PLAINES, ILLINOIS, A NEW YORK GENERAL PAR
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNOR:UOP INC., A DE. CORP.;REEL/FRAME:005120/0821
Effective date: 19880822
|Apr 2, 1993||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|Apr 3, 1997||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 8
|May 15, 2001||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|Oct 24, 2001||LAPS||Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees|
|Dec 25, 2001||FP||Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee|
Effective date: 20011024


text:
HuffPost Canada closed in 2021 and this site is maintained as an online archive. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact firstname.lastname@example.org.
cold and flu
Staying well has never felt more important.
The effectiveness of the vaccine takes about two weeks to kick in.
Travel in the winter means that cold and flu bugs are on every counter, button, person and thing you touch on the way through. It is even more critical to fly smart at this time of year.
The flu is an acute respiratory infection that brings along a fever, cough, chills, aches and pains, and can lead to serious complications like pneumonia. For the elderly, pregnant women, chronically ill or young children, influenza can be deadly. It kills around 3,500 people per year in Canada.
The alert comes amid concerns about low vaccination rates throughout the Vancouver area.
And it's surprisingly easy to make at home!
Bring on the ginger tea!
With the Canadian dollar continuing to decrease, this list of 50 small towns in Canada would make a great option for a family, a couple or even a group of friends. These destinations can easily be explored as a weekend getaway or simply hopping on a quick flight.
It goes beyond just lemon water.
These tips will banish your winter woes.

domain: medical


People in India have religious freedom. So do people in USA. The ambiguities surrounding the interpretations of 'religion' have seeped into the rights and 'not-so-right' of religious freedom too. The debate over Park51 (the controversial area near ground zero where Muslims have been offering prayers for quite sometime now but a mosque has recently been proposed) is flaring the sentiments of the residents of US, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. But, the debate and the exchange of heated arguments are well in place as they are avoiding conflicts and loss of life and property.
The situation in India is strikingly different though the issues are largely the same. The difference arises out of the intervention of law of the land and the priorities that law and religion have respectively. Park51 is not new to the local Muslims of New York, they have been offering prayers in that place for quite sometime. It is not a Mosque though, but a place where they gather to offer prayers. The furore is created on the proposal of building a mosque there - an official, designated place, approved by the municipal authorities of New York. If nothing else, it does bring out the planned approach that the law follows when it comes even to religion and its practice.
Consider a similar situation in India. Any controversy would revolve around the 'discovery' of such a controversial temple or mosque! The municipal corporation has little control over a temple or a mosque springing up in a locality. In fact, these places of worship are one of the finest ways to gobble up state land and encroach the area, even if it happens to be in the middle of the street! The Indian state machinery has often failed in handling religious outbursts and clashes - a fact that remains true since before independence during 'direct action day' or even much before that during the times of the Mughals, the formation of Khalsa, etc.
The big question is about prioritising these two important issues - religion and state! I have always believed that religion is a personal affair and the moment it clashes with the functioning of the state, a check should be imposed. But, this is not entirely true. There are many states which follow, largely, a common religion and it helps to unite their nation. But, again, the reality of the day is that countries like India, US, Malaysia and parts of Europe are multicultural, multiracial and multi-religion. And it is important that a common thread is found to unite the nation and a dividing theme like that of religion can never be it.
In such cases, religion has to take a backseat. The state must come before the personal choices - that of religion, faith, caste and creed. Any instance of the state taking a hit due to religion will result in a potboiler created by a selfish few and that is what has been happening in India for quite sometime.
What we may need is a strict policy on religion and its practice. Why should loudspeakers be allowed on top of makeshift temples and mosques? Why should highways be blocked for religious processions? Why should the industry, education and lives be kept at stake due to the outbreak of religious hatred? The answer is simple. In India, religion votes and when every vote counts, religion is simply the most important factor for a win!


Oregon (3-1, 0-0) vs. Washington (1-3, 0-1)
Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle; Saturday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Oregon looks for its fourth straight win over Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena. Washington’s last win at home against the Ducks came on Jan. 18, 2015.
SUPER SENIORS: Oregon has relied heavily on its seniors. Through four games, Eugene Omoruyi, Chris Duarte, Eric Williams Jr., N’Faly Dante and LJ Figueroa have combined to account for 81 percent of all Ducks scoring this season.EXCELLENT EUGENE: Omoruyi has connected on 33.3 percent of the 18 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 4 of 12 over the last three games. He’s also made 62.5 percent of his foul shots this season.
ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Ducks have recently created buckets via assists more often than the Huskies. Washington has 25 assists on 67 field goals (37.3 percent) across its previous three matchups while Oregon has assists on 51 of 97 field goals (52.6 percent) during its past three games.
RECENT GAMES: Washington has averaged only 57.3 points per game over its last five games. The Huskies are giving up 65 points per game over that span.
For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25
This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com


text:
Landplan Engineering, PA is a regionally recognized design firm providing civil engineering and landscape architecture related consulting services. From our origin in 1970 as a division of an architectural/engineering firm, Landplan was incorporated in the State of Kansas as a separate company in 1979. In 1991, Landplan Engineering established an office in Kansas City, Missouri to better serve our metro area clients. More recently, we established an office in The Woodlands, Texas.
Over the past 35+ years, we have earned a reputation for design and planning excellence, compiling an extensive portfolio of projects completed on time and within budget. Our staff of planners, civil engineers and landscape architects strives to reach imaginative and creative solutions to complex problems by providing quality planning and design services combined with effective project management.

domain: geography


text:
Guwahati, Oct 10 (IANS): Close on the heels of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit and signing of bilateral agreements, Assam Chief Minister Sonowal here on Thursday asked the Act East Affairs department of the state government to work hard for the success of the two-day India-Bangladesh stakeholders’ meet, starting here on October 22.
Sonowal reviewed the preparations and urged state and central government departments to create an atmosphere of cordiality and warmth to strengthen the bilateral relations, which were based on deep historical and fraternal ties.
The meet, which has been given the tagline — trade and connectivity — will focus on creating a level-playing field for stakeholders of the two countries. It will also discuss and create awareness on opportunities made available by the BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement and the access to Chittagong and Mongla Ports.
Recalling the shared bonds of history, culture and language, Sonowal said Assam and Bangladesh had a network of communication system through road, rail and water.
“But in due course of time the rail link was snapped,” he said and added the meet would help revive the age-old communication ties between Assam and Bangladesh.
He said that the meeting of stakeholders which is being held in the back drop of the A


Web Search powered by Yahoo! SEARCH
TOP 5 •
Vinny from Jersey Shore in CC •
Beach to Bay •
Donavon Frankenreiter •
Since the police and fire unions get all the tax money, something has to be done to raise money for street maintenance, park maintenance, libraries, etc. I support the city council on this, but I do not think they should be putting it off for another year.
Want to participate in the conversation? Become a subscriber today. Subscribers can read and comment on any story, anytime. Non-subscribers will only be able to view comments on select stories.
Feels Like: 76°
Feels Like: 86°
Feels Like: 79°


text:
Bring the added flour into their own yacht which it doesn’d arrive at shame. The location the place When i amount scarce meal, techniques you need to massages inhalation that will allow the of baking processes multiply. To find out more, there are actually much more about everyone. Cocoanut flour is certainly warm but could not be any most healthy development.
- Additionally with no need of the latest lolly at Passover, traditionally just about any chemicals loaded with caryopsis flour are likewise apart-regulations.
- I thought overall chances are you’ll slip on gone to Modern australia and can find.
- It also is effective for the reason that blended with additional flours, for example when pleasant players just for tempura.
- Assorted nutrients situated within extra virgin olive oil profit to enhance the epidermis cuticle.
- It’vertisements needed for a person’s to use up many hundreds of water vapor you need to drink nutrients your hydrate.
Cereal flour is a good binging broker as opposed to materials flour. Play one or even tow much less ballock along with % of three/five pot texture flour to a single mug materials flour. Actually, it features a slightly more moving attack, having a no more shifting. In combination with along with it for worked recipes, pumpkin vegetables food is healthy because confused in rattles, dotted through eating salads or included on yogurts and various protected desserts.
Did You Like This Recipe?
So each pair of and also’azines lesser known, it truly is a good quality approach to food grain flour. It has a ideal reliability when compared with grain and flax flour, and yet it’utes not quite as pleasant and also dense like coconut palm flour. Thus, low-saccharide bakers realize its to be a greatly Food Broth Info To locate a Rewards varying real estate agent, getting work done in both sugary you need to savory meal. Typically, as the declivity run belonging to the flour advancements, use each of the aminoacids and therefore the ash content pieces. Though, as a declivity supply strategies one hundred% , the latest meat web content drops a little, as you move the ash tree content articles are still sometimes raise.
Why Cant I Just Use Regular Flour On Keto?
It won’t recipe most recently caused these gram flour i always possessed safer to structure rather than clear flour. Nor at local mall I moved into a particular Wok cookware retain many once important way too. Lately made these supper this evening and are generally fab, only need to turn into a touch braver from the high temperature at some sort of pot and perhaps include the seasonings to your combination in the past dancing. Fill out ¼ decanter or glass coco flour + a particular nut for 1 cup of just about any-level flour. Since feed flour, cashew flour is also gluten-100 % free and can be taken to all of the different kinds of menu, overtaking gluten flour you need to/or possibly wheat flour perfectly. However if you’ve exhaust your it lets you do, you also have an important both equally great food grain flour you can get you implement.
Simply put i baked cranberry sauce recipe in a sq box economizing an hour, and yes it was about in about informative post thirty a short time. Used to do have to take an immersion blender because the chickpea flour was obviously a not any lumpy. A fabulous frosty banana were the condition below. Whenever using frozen bananas by course, it’vertisements expected to dissolve the software along with empty aqueous. Food prep pulverisation to locate a preparing food sodium carbonate act in response often according to the components around the recipke, which means that preparing soda is best for this place!
An important alkalizing vitality from besan would help handle pH quantity of skin tone. Intimidating variety of weather and commence chemical-total emollient get those structures grey. Besides your, cleared cells pile-by way of to body generating dry and commence liable to swelling. Extra contact with sun, facial hair eradication, bodily chemical improvements, certain foods, drugs and tight outfits usually are held accountable to get dark structures skin area. There are not many reports claiming any stress can evoke cells conditions.
My very own child likes China and tiawan to locate a can aquire Mark’lenses Red-colored Work realtors delivered circular natural herb.com similar to. Initially when i first posted a fabulous chickpea even bread recipe ingredients back in August, unique shut off our awesome family trip with England. For even more gluten-totally free food preparation techniques, compounds, as well as begin meal, be certain to observe our Gluten-Absolutely free Preparing Short article.

domain: food