text:
194 Md.
194 Md. 299 (1950)
ROGAN v. COMMRS. OF CALVERT COUNTY
[No. 140, October Term, 1949.]
71 A.2d 47
ROGAN ET AL. v. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF CALVERT COUNTY
Court of Appeals of Maryland.https://leagle.com/images/logo.png
Decided January 12, 1950.
Hall Hammond, Attorney General, and Ward B. Coe, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, for the appellants.
Richard W. Emory, with whom was David A. Harkness on the brief, for the appellees.
The cause was argued before MARBURY, C.J., DELAPLAINE, COLLINS, GRASON, HENDERSON and MARKELL, JJ.
Court of Appeals of Maryland.
DELAPLAINE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court.
This appeal brings here for review a petition for mandamus filed by the State Tax Commission of Maryland in the Circuit Court for Calvert County to compel the County Commissioners of Calvert County (1) to give the notices required by statute, Code 1939, art. 81, sec. 24, as to all reassessments proposed by the Supervisor of Assessments for property in the first assessment district of Calvert County, naming therein such date for hearing as will permit the properties to be reassessed for the taxable year 1950, (2) to hear and determine all protests by taxpayers which may be filed pursuant to the notices, (3) to review and reassess all assessable property in the district, (4) to follow the instructions of the State Tax Commission as to the plan and method of assessment, and (5) to enter the resulting reassessments on the assessment rolls of the County.
It was conceded that Russell H. Owings, Supervisor of Assessments for Calvert County, reviewed all the properties in the first district prior to October 1, 1949, and recommended reassessments thereon. The County Commissioners, however, after sending notices of the proposed reassessments to some of the taxpayers, and later notifying a number of the recipients to disregard them, notified the State Tax Commission that they would not send out any of the remaining notices and would not place any of the proposed reassessments on the assessment rolls of the County for the reason that the Supervisor, acting upon instructions of the Commission, had used 1944 sales prices, building costs and rents as a standard of value. It was claimed that such valuations would violate the constitutional rights of the taxpayers in the first district until reassessments were made in the second, third, fourth and fifth districts, where properties were assessed according to 1941-1942 market prices.
The Maryland statute provides that in case any Board of County Commissioners shall neglect or fail to follow the instructions of the State Tax Commission, either as to the method or plan of assessment, the Commission may institute mandamus proceedings against the Board so refusing, and a mandamus shall issue compelling the Board to perform the statutory duties. Code Supp. 1947, art. 81, sec. 184. The trial judge, however, held that the instructions issued by the Commission, upon which the proposed reassessments were made, violated constitutional rights, and therefore the County Commissioners were justified in refusing "to participate in making assessments which will be unlawful." He accordingly dismissed the petition for mandamus and entered judgment in favor of defendants for costs. From that judgment the Commission appealed to this Court.
In the City of Baltimore there has been continuous assessment since 1900, when the Legislature made it the duty of the Appeal Tax Court to make general revision of all the assessable property in the City once in every five years. Laws of 1900, ch. 347. But prior to 1914 assessments in the Counties of Maryland were reviewed only in pursuance of Special Acts of the Legislature. The assessment system in the Counties was glaringly discriminatory. Property was assessed at far less than its actual value, and there was no centralized control or uniformity of method. In 1914 the Legislature, acting upon recommendations of the Commission for Revision of the Taxation System, which was appointed by Governor Goldsborough in 1912, Laws of 1912, ch. 779, created the State Tax Commission to provide for the equalization of assessments throughout the State by enforcing a continuing method of assessment and requiring that all property in the State be reviewed for assessment at least once in every five years. Laws of 1914, ch. 841. This legislation, however, did not contemplate rotation in reassessments. Moreover, the reform sought by it was impeded by a number of Special Acts postponing reassessments.
In 1935 the Legislature authorized the State Tax Commission to enforce and execute a continuing method of assessment, and to require that all property in the State be reviewed and assessed at least once in every five years. This Act declared that the Commission was not required to order a general assessment of all property, or all property of any class, in any County at least once in every five years, but could order and enforce reassessments annually by classes or districts. Laws of 1935, ch. 468, Code Supp. 1935, art. 81, sec. 166. This Act, which was the first in Maryland expressly authorizing rotation in assessments, demanded that all assessable property in every County be reviewed at least once in every five years, but did not make the rotation method mandatory. The Legislature also authorized nine Counties in 1937 and fourteen Counties in 1939 to make general reassessments. In 1937 the Legislature authorized the County Commissioners of Frederick County to appoint two assessors who, with the Supervisor of Assessments, were to constitute a Board of Assessment to make a general review of all assessable property in the County once in every five years. Laws of 1937, ch. 345. In 1939 the Legislature authorized the continuous assessment plan for Anne Arundel and Harford Counties. Laws of 1939, chs. 185, 206.
In 1941 the Maryland Tax Revision Commission, appointed by Governor O'Conor in 1939, Laws of 1939, ch. 262, reported that many assessors in the Counties were still assessing property at far less than its value and there was a general failure to apply common standards in determining value; that many of the assessors lacked the training or experience needed to cope with the problems arising from growth of population and changing conditions; and that general reassessments made after long postponements were disproportionately expensive compared with continuous reassessments. The Legislature, carrying out the recommendations of the Tax Revision Commission, directed the State Tax Commission to enforce and execute a continuing method of assessment so that all assessable property in every County and in Baltimore City shall be thoroughly reviewed at least once in every five years. The Act then provided: "It shall be the duty of the Commission, after consultation with the local assessing authorities, to establish five districts or five classes of property in each county and in Baltimore City, and to require that the property in one of the said districts or classes be reviewed and reassessed each year in rotation." Laws of 1943, ch. 717, Code Supp. 1947, art. 81, sec. 175(8).
In compliance with this statute, the Commission established five districts in Baltimore City and five districts in each County of the State except Washington County, where the Commission established five classes of property. The first district in Calvert County, as in 21 other Counties of the State, was reviewed in 1944, the second district in 1945, the third district in 1946, the fourth district in 1947, and the fifth district in 1948. Thus, during the five year period from 1944 to 1948, all assessable property in the State was reviewed. In view of the requirement of the law that the property in one district shall be reviewed and reassessed each year in rotation, the Commission ordered that the properties in the first district of Calvert County be reviewed again in 1949 for the taxable year 1950.
It has long been recognized in this State that the Legislature has the power to divide any County into taxing districts, and that each County or taxing district can have its own rate of taxation without contravening Article 15 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Daly v. Morgan, 69 Md. 460, 16 A. 287, 1 L.R.A. 757. This Court has held that the provision in the amendment to Article 15 of the Declaration of Rights, made by Chapter 390 of the Laws of 1914, ratified in November, 1915, declaring that all taxes to be levied by the State for the support of the State Government, and by the Counties and by the City of Baltimore for their respective purposes, shall be uniform as to land within the taxing district, refers to levies of taxes and not to assessments. Leser v. Lowenstein, 129 Md. 244, 250, 98 A. 712.
The purpose of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States is to protect every person within the State's jurisdiction against intentional and arbitrary discrimination, whether occasioned by the provisions of a statute or by improper enforcement of a statute. Intentional and systematic undervaluation by assessors of other taxable property in the same class violates the constitutional right of a person taxed upon the full value of his property. However, mere errors of judgment on the part of State or County officials in making assessments will not support a claim of such discrimination. There must be something which in effect amounts to an intentional violation of the essential principle of practical uniformity. The good faith of such officials and the validity of their actions will be presumed. When their actions are assailed, the burden of proof is upon the complaining party. Sunday Lake Iron Co. v. Township of Wakefield, 247 U.S. 350, 38 S.Ct. 495, 62 L.Ed. 1154; Sioux City Bridge Co. v. Dakota County, Nebraska, 260 U.S. 441, 43 S.Ct. 190, 67 L.Ed. 340, 28 A.L.R. 979.
It is not an infringement of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment for a statute to authorize the assessment of the same classes of property in different years, or the assessment of different classes of property in different years. In Thomas v. Gay, 169 U.S. 264, 18 S.Ct. 340, 346, 42 L.Ed. 740, where the United States Supreme Court observed that it is not unusual in this country for a statute to authorize such a method of assessment, Justice Shiras said: "Such matters of regulation must be supposed to be within the power of the state or territory, and to have their reasons in special facts known to the legislature."
We specifically hold that the method of assessment prescribed by the Maryland statute, by which a County is divided into five districts, and the assessments are reviewed in one district each year, so that all assessments in the County will be reviewed during the period of five years, does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution, provided that there is no intentional and arbitrary discrimination. The fact that the review by rotation is merely partial and temporary tends to show lack of intention to discriminate. When a test was made of a similar system in one of the Counties of Alabama, the Court held that, since there was no intention on the part of the board of equalization to discriminate, the procedure did not deprive the taxpayers of equal protection of the law. Hamilton v. Adkins, 250 Ala. 557, 35 So.2d 183.
We find no evidence in this case to establish that the State Tax Commission is chargeable with intentional and arbitrary discrimination. For more than thirty-five years the Commission has been charged with the duty of supervising the assessment of all property in the State, so that all taxable property will be entered upon the assessment rolls and equalized among the taxpayers. Code 1939, art. 81, sec. 175(4). The Commission has been endeavoring in difficult circumstances to carry out the duties imposed upon it by the Legislature. It is recognized that perfect uniformity in assessments is impossible. If any temporary inequalities result in the assessments in Calvert County, or in any other Counties of the State, the State Tax Commission can continue to make diligent efforts to rectify them.
The Maryland law requires that all property shall be assessed "at the full cash value thereof on the date of finality." Code 1939, art. 81, sec. 11. Ordinarily the cash value of property is the market value. Schley v. Montgomery County Com'rs., 106 Md. 407, 410, 67 A. 250. But, as Justice White said in San Francisco National Bank v. Dodge, 197 U.S. 70, 25 S.Ct. 384, 386, 49 L.Ed. 669, the market value of property is the value a willing purchaser will pay for it to a willing seller in open market, eliminating exceptional and extraordinary conditions giving the property temporarily an abnormal value. The Court cannot rule as matter of law that assessing authorities must be guided entirely by current market prices in making the assessments, regardless of how "thin" the "spot market" may be or how much it may be affected by conditions believed to be temporary and abnormal.
It goes without saying that when the law requires one-fifth of all property to be assessed each year "at the full cash value thereof on the date of finality," the State Tax Commission cannot ignore the law and order property to be assessed (1) at its full cash value five years ago or (2) in five successive years at its full cash value in the first year. The Commission denies that it has done either of these things. It has only proposed a guide or index to 1949 value, and has not yet proposed anything as to years subsequent to 1949. The legality of assessments for the years prior to 1950 is not before us. Nor is any assessment for 1950 before us. The Commission has merely proposed tentative assessments for 1950. At this stage we have no authority to pass upon the 1950 assessments, and even if we had we have no sufficient record to pass upon the legality of the method of determining 1949 value. The duty of the County Commissioners to follow the Commission's instructions as to the method or plan of assessment does not include the power of the Commission to require, or the duty of the County Commissioners to make, any departure from the statutory requirement to assess property "at the full cash value thereof on the date of finality." In the present case the County Commissioners do not complain that valuation has not been increased to 1949 value, but merely that valuations in the other four districts have not yet been increased at all. In making this contention they ignore and defy the statutory requirement of annual revision of one district at a time.
The task of raising the assessments of properties to their full cash value was made more difficult by conditions produced by the Second World War, which caused sales prices, building costs and rents to rise rapidly in 1945, 1946, 1947 and 1948, except where controlled by the Government. The Commission believed that the inflated sales prices, caused by forced purchases under abnormal conditions, were temporary and not a true index of value. The Commission accordingly instructed all Supervisors in Maryland to use 1941-1942 market prices as a guide or index to value in making reassessments in 1944 for the year 1945. Likewise in 1945, 1946, 1947 and 1948 the Commission instructed the Supervisors to continue to reassess in accordance with the same guide or index, prewar market prices. Accordingly the properties in the second, third, fourth and fifth assessment districts of Calvert County were reassessed for five years by the same guide or index, pre-war market prices. In 1949 sales prices began to decline, but the Commission believed that, while forced purchases were still affecting prices to a considerable degree, the sales prices in 1944 would be a fair guide or index to value in 1949. It therefore instructed all Supervisors to use the 1944 market prices as a guide or index to value in making the reassessments in 1949. We accept the rule, as adopted in other States, that the assessment of the property of others at a lower proportion of its value than that of a complaining taxpayer, which is not assessed at more than its fair cash value, does not make the tax on the latter invalid, unless the assessment was fraudulently made. Doty Lumber & Shingle Co. v. Lewis County, 60 Wn. 428, 111 P. 562, Ann. Cas. 1912B, 870. Likewise it was held in Wild Goose Country Club v. Butte County, 60 Cal.App. 339, 212 P. 711, that the failure of the board of equalization to raise the assessment of other properties, as it did on the plaintiff's property, did not constitute fraudulent discrimination on the part of the board in view of the fact that the time was too short to make a review for the raising of assessments on the other properties.
It is true that the State Tax Commission of Maryland has the power to order and enforce at any time a review and reassessment of all property in any County or district, if the existing assessments are found to be greater or less than the assessments on other properties possessing similar and comparable values. Laws of 1943, ch. 717, Code Supp. 1947, art. 81, sec. 175(8). It was conceded in this case that all the property in Calvert County can be reassessed in an entire year by employment of three less experienced assessors in addition to the Supervisor of Assessments, who at present is the only assessor in the County. However, the present policy of the law of Maryland is that general reassessments can be made better in rotation than throughout an entire County in one year. And it was conceded that after the proposed reassessments were completed by Supervisor Owings on October 1, 1949, it would have been an impossibility to review and reassess all the property in the entire County within the time remaining before January 1, 1950, the date of finality.
We have construed the statutes as recognizing the principle that a taxpayer has the legal right to complain of under-assessment of property owned by other taxpayers. Board of Com'rs. of Anne Arundel County v. Buch, 190 Md. 394, 58 A.2d 672, 5 A.L.R.2d 509. But this Court cannot rule in advance of assessment and orderly review thereof, by appeal from the assessment to the State Tax Commission and then to the courts, that the Supervisor of Assessments shall follow some particular formula for determining the "full cash value" of property. It is not the function of the Court of Appeals to formulate instructions for the Supervisors of Assessments to guide them in making assessments. It is the duty of the State Tax Commission to formulate from time to time a uniform plan for the assessment of property, which shall be followed strictly by the County Commissioners and by all County assessors for all reassessments. Code 1939, art. 81, sec. 182. The statute provides that the Supervisor of Assessments shall recommend assessments to the County Commissioners, Code 1939, art. 81, sec. 177, but, except as in the statute otherwise provided, all property, real or personal subject to ordinary taxation, shall be valued and assessed for purposes of State and County taxation by the County Commissioners. Code Supp. 1947, art. 81, sec. 10. In case the date submitted by the Supervisor of Assessments is not satisfactory either to the State Tax Commission or the County Commissioners, either may obtain additional data, and in case the assessment so determined upon is not satisfactory, the Commission or the County Commissioners shall order a new valuation. Code 1939, art. 81, sec. 177. But it shall be unlawful for the County Commissioners to decrease the amount of an assessment after the date of finality for any year, unless a protest against the assessment was duly filed before the date of finality. Code Supp. 1947, art. 81, sec. 185.
The statute further provides that any taxpayer may demand a hearing before the County Commissioners as to the assessment of any property for the next ensuing year. In case of any such hearing, any party in interest may file data and information bearing thereon, without regard to the technical rules of evidence. Code 1939, art. 81, sec. 190. Any taxpayer claiming to be aggrieved because of any assessment by the County Commissioners may appeal therefrom to the State Tax Commission. The taxpayer may then appeal from the decision of the Commission on questions of law to the Circuit Court of any County, or the Baltimore City Court of Baltimore City, in which his property may be situated, or in which the taxpayer may reside or be taxable in respect thereto, or in which the office of the Commission may be situated. The statute gives a further right of appeal from any decision of the Circuit Court of the County, or the Baltimore City Court, to the Court of Appeals. Code Supp. 1947, art. 81, secs. 191, 194. In short, review of any assessment by this Court is the last step, not the first, in the procedure of assessment.
As the Legislature has prescribed the manner in which a taxpayer may contest an assessment, first by demanding a hearing before the County Commissioners, then by appeal to the State Tax Commission, then to the appropriate trial Court, and finally to the Court of Appeals, we find no reason to sustain the action of the trial judge in dismissing the petition for mandamus. The County Commissioners should be commanded to perform the statutory duties as prayed in the petition.
Judgment reversed and case remanded, with costs.


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A Story For Halloween?
Psst. I need to tell you something… in the spirit of Halloween and all that. I have a Sin Eater for a best friend. It's a heavy load to bear, but from what I've observed, the poor guy's own load is even heavier.
What's a Sin Eater you might ask? Well, my friend told me this: Sin Eaters have been around from pre-Christian times but sort of died out (you'll get the pun) by the end of the 19th century. They were summoned to the bedside of a dead person to perform a ceremony whereby they took on the sins of the deceased— sins that hadn't been forgiven before the person died, usually unexpectedly. By eating bread and a drink (usually wine or beer) placed on, or waved over, the dead body, the Sin Eater digested the dead person's sins. In this way, the Sin Eater saved the dying from hell and also from wandering the earth as ghosts.
You see what I mean? A heavy load to take on, and my friend is very busy since he's the only one still around. He tells me the wine is usually sour and the bread is stale, so he has to take Tums afterward. But now, at least, he gets paid.
I have to admit I didn't believe him at first. He's an odd duck, lives by himself in the apartment next to mine (in a pit of a building, by the way), and really doesn't like interacting with people. I only got to know him because I deliver food for a local grocery store and made regular visits to his place. I'm pretty outgoing, so eventually I broke him down. He invited me in and over the next year or so, we got to know each other. Then he told me about sin eating. I got up and left. For the next three deliveries, I hardly talked to him, but he looked increasingly sad. I gave in and asked him more about it.
Turns out his father was a Sin Eater, and his father before him. So he's carrying on the family business. I asked him what he was going to do, since he's unmarried and has no children. He just shrugged and said he was probably the last of his line. Then I asked him how sin eating made him feel. He said the day after he has to spend in bed. Then he visits the local Catholic church and confesses all the sins he'd ingested. That makes him feel better, but he's pretty sure the priest thinks he's the wickedest man on earth.
Then he smiled his sad smile and asked if I'd like to accompany him on his next call. I didn't feel I could refuse, at that point. I was pretty fascinated.
Turns out his next job was local. Old Mr. Haggerty, who'd lived on the top floor forever, fell in his kitchen and hit his head on the stove. His son didn't find him for a day or so and seemed fairy traumatized. I know the smell was rather fierce when we entered the apartment. Haggerty lay on the kitchen table, two slices of break on his decaying chest and a glass of wine next to him. The son told us he was only obeying his father's wishes, which were posted in bold print at the bottom of the DNR notice on the refrigerator.
The Sin Eater waved the glass of wine over the body and drank it, mumbled something under his breath, and then carefully lifted the bread from the body. How he could eat it, I had no idea. But he did, with a lot of gagging and coughing. The son gave him fifty bucks and called 911. We left.
I didn't see him the next day, but the day after he knocked on my door. What a surprise! He looked pretty good, considering what he'd had to eat, and asked me if I wanted to have dinner with him. I said sure, as long as it wasn't served on a dead body.
Our son is now an apprentice Sin Eater.
If you liked this short, you might want to check out Twelfth Night at Eyre Hall by Luccia Gray. It features a Sin Eater. Check out Luccia at http://lucciagray.com/blogroll-2/
This one was for you, Luccia.
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19 thoughts on "A Story For Halloween?"
PorterGirl
I absolutely loved this! A brilliant tale. And now I want to become a sin eater. Super!
Thanks so much, Lucy. Luccia gave me the inspiration!
Bruce Goodman
A great Halloween story, thanks Noelle! (t's not impossible that the sin eater profession was the result of a typo… it originally started out as a profession for those who hate trigonometry: sine 'ater!) Loved the ending to your story!
Really? A sine'ater? Where do you come up with these?
Well I hated sines and cosines and all those triginometrical things when I was at school! My comment didn't match the Halloweenity of your story!
D. Wallace Peach
I thought it was a true story (until I got to the end). Ha ha ha. I'm so gullible – that's why I usually don't read scary stories and never watch scary movies. Well, Noelle. All I can say is I'm glad you aren't married to a sin eater and don't have a son in the profession! 🙂
Thanks! And no, my son is in the Army!
This is brilliant. I did a double take as to whether it was true about three paras in – some of your experiences could lead to this!
Thanks, Jemima. Glad you enjoyed it!
lucciagray
Great, Noelle! Loved it! How spooky. The son might have to eat his father's sins if the Sin Eater dies before his dad does!
I'm glad I inspire you, because you inspire me all the time 🙂
The Sin Eater first appears in All Hallows, he also makes an appearance in Twelfth Night, and his apearance in Midsummer at Eyre Hall will be a shocking (and I hope unexpected) part of the 'grande finale' of the trilogy. Isac das Junot makes very short, but very intense and crucial visits to my novels. He's actually based on a biblical character. Guess who?
Thank you, Luccia. Is that name an anagram for Judas Iscariot?
You're too clever! It's not a perfect anagram, but yes. It's him. He's swallowed rather a lot of sins!
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By the way, just reblogged 🙂
olganm
Love it, and the twist at the end.
Thanks, Olga. Coming from you, that is a wonderful compliment!
Ali Isaac
Lovely story for Halloween, Noelle, with an unexpected ending… I certainly wasnt expecting that! 😀
Thanks, Ali. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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This article describes how to use keep-alive connections in Apache to help improve performance.
Keep-alive connections use a single TCP connection to handle multiple HTTP requests and responses. Instead of opening a new TCP connection every time a brower sends a request, keep-alive connections enable clients and servers to communicate more efficiently and use fewer resources.
Many performance testing sites, such as GTMetrix, check if keep-alive connections are enabled for a site. If they are disabled, you receive a lower site performance score.
Edit or create an .htaccess file in your site's document root directory.
Save your changes to the .htaccess file. Keep-alive connections are now enabled.
For more information about keep-alive connections, please visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_persistent_connection.


as Santa Claus confirms it.
In between his jam-packed musical schedule, Hendersonville- born-and-raised Blake Ellege found the time to graduate from the International University of Santa Claus. Fulfilling a lifelong ambition — a dream, really — Ellege says he's preparing to make his first annual "complete formal transformation" into jolly St. Nicholas for the 2018 holiday season.
Authentically costumed as his hero, Blake Ellege sat in front of the TV, watching VHS tapes of Miracle on 34th Street and Santa Claus: The Movie over and over and over. And his fixation with St. Nicholas was no mere young childhood phase. "I would dress up like Santa during the holidays each year up until I was eight or nine years old," he says.
Blake-as-Santa frolics in downtown Hendersonville. But his stint this month for SAFE Inc. supports a seriously good cause.
As Ellege got older — and especially as his musical career took off (see sidebar) — holidays were spent at home less often; his Santa Claus persona was set aside for a time. But his passion remained strong for the character who, when stripped of commercial trappings, embodies the selfless spirit of giving.
Still, one doesn't simply don a Santa suit and become the real deal. So Ellege began formal training, earning degrees from the International University of Santa Claus in California and The Santa Claus Conservatory in Oregon. He also holds certifications from both the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas and the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas. This season, Ellege will greet children at SAFE Interiors in Brevard, the benefit thrift store of the local organization that provides safety and support to victims of domestic and sexual violence.
the legendary Memphis recording studio.
Ellege also performs in duos with Aaron Price and Andrew Thelston, as part of a trio with Josh Carter and Tim Fisher, and as a solo artist singing in the classical idiom.
Blake Ellege will make Santa appearances at SAFE Interiors (283 North Broad St., Brevard, 828-884-2617) as a benefit for SAFE Inc. (safetransylvania.org), from 1-7pm December 17-23, $5 per child.
He'll also appear at the event Breakfast with Santa at The Inn on Brevard on December 22 at 10:30am (call 828-884-2105 to make reservations).
Ellege's local music appearances this month are with his band Santa and the Sleigh Boys on December 19 at the Block Off Biltmore in Asheville (theblockoffbiltmore.com) and on December 20 at The DFR Room (36 E. Main St., Brevard, dfrroom.net). Both shows start at 8pm.
He leads The Mojo Brothers Blues Band in I'll Have a Blues Christmas on December 21 at 185 King St. in Brevard (8pm, 185kingst.com) and will appear at the event "Russ Wilson Presents: Have Yourself a Swingin' Little Christmas" on December 23 at Isis Music Hall in Asheville.
With his Blake Ellege Quintet, he'll lead Jazz Night at Southern Appalachian Brewing Company on December 26 (822 Locust St., 7pm, sabrewery.com). Closing out the year, he plays December 27 at 185 King St. in Brevard with The Thelston Fam Jam (8pm). For more information, see blakeellegemusic.com.


You are invited to a two-day practical corporate investigation and interviewing skills workshop. Designed for a small group of people, the workshop utilises a case study to replicate, as close as is possible, a real-life internal corporate investigation.
The workshop includes two days of training, fact gathering and practical activities including mock interviews with reporters, witnesses and the subject of the allegations.
In addition, there will be an element of pre-workshop preparation where you will be required to study investigation good practice guidance and complete a series of activities. A workbook will be sent to you in advance.
The workshop will be conducted by Neil Fletcher, Head of Global Corporate Investigations at Mazars UK and Annie Chan, Partner, Forensic and Investigation Services at Mazars Hong Kong, China. Between them, Neil and Annie have more than 50 years' experience conducting investigations for a range of clients in both the public and private sectors across the globe.
Spaces are limited to 12 delegates to maximise discussion and practical application of techniques.
Please make cheques payable to "Mazars Corporate Recovery & Forensic Services Limited" & send it to 42/F, Central Plaza, 18 Habour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong.


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Q: UIPopoverPresentationController is popoverVisible I am working with a UIPopoverPresentationController and assigning the object like below code ,
UIPopoverPresentationController *presentationController =
     [myPopoverViewController popoverPresentationController];

I just want to check whether the popover is visible in an another method . Earlier in  UIPopoverController there is popoverVisible was available , is there any alternative for this .? and also i want to dismiss it in some other methods is there any alternative for dismissPopoverAnimated .?
I just want to do something like this
if (presentationController != nil && presentationController.popoverVisible)
    {
        [presentationController dismissPopoverAnimated:YES];
    }

any help appreciated .
Thanks

A: try this
set like
  popoverPresentationController.delegate = self;

 [presentationController dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil]; // or use self

and use delegate methods of
# pragma mark - Popover Presentation Controller Delegate

- (void)popoverPresentationControllerDidDismissPopover:(UIPopoverPresentationController *)popoverPresentationController {

// called when a Popover is dismissed
}

- (BOOL)popoverPresentationControllerShouldDismissPopover:(UIPopoverPresentationController *)popoverPresentationController {

// return YES if the Popover should be dismissed
// return NO if the Popover should not be dismissed
return YES;
}

 - (void)popoverPresentationController:(UIPopoverPresentationController *)popoverPresentationController willRepositionPopoverToRect:(inout CGRect *)rect inView:(inout UIView *__autoreleasing  _Nonnull *)view {

// called when the Popover changes position
 }

for sample see this tutorial

A: All UIViewControllers now have a isBeingPresented property, so rather than trying the check if the UIPopoverPresentationController is active, just check the myPopoverViewController
if myPopoverViewController.isBeingPresented {
    myPopoverViewController.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This set of four lightweight coasters was manufactured in natural shell with cork backing and gold metal edges. As an exclusive high-quality home accessory, these one of a kind coasters will most definitely impress your guests. Orlanda is home to a cherry-picked selection of enchanting lifestyle objects that celebrate heritage and craftsmanship over trends.


text:
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theguardian.com Go back Open original
Mark Zuckerberg: advertisers' boycott of Facebook will end 'soon enough'
By Dominic Rushe and agencies
3 - 4 minutes
Mark Zuckerberg has dismissed the threat of a punishing boycott from major advertisers pressing Facebook to take a stronger stand on hate speech and said they will be back "soon enough".
According to a report by tech news site the Information, the Facebook founder and CEO sees the boycott from big brands including Starbucks and Coca-Cola as a PR issue rather than a serious threat and is not planning a major response. "We're not gonna change our policies or approach on anything because of a threat to a small percent of our revenue, or to any percent of our revenue," he said, according to the Information.
The boycott is a "reputational and a partner issue" rather than an economic one, Zuckerberg told staff, according to a transcript obtained by the Information. "My guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough."
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the accuracy of the transcript. "We take these matters very seriously and respect the feedback from our partners. We're making real progress keeping hate speech off our platform, and we don't benefit from this kind of content. But as we've said, we make policy changes based on principles, not revenue pressures," the spokesperson said.
On Wednesday, more than 500 companies officially kicked off an advertising boycott intended to pressure Facebook into taking a stronger stand against hate speech. Zuckerberg has agreed to meet with its organizers early next week.
But whether Zuckerberg agrees to further tighten the social network's carefully crafted rules probably boils down to a more fundamental question: does Facebook need big-brand advertisers more than the brands need Facebook?
In a broad sense, the current boycott, which will last at least a month, is like nothing Facebook has experienced before. Following weeks of protests against police violence and racial injustice, major brands have for the first time joined together to protest against still-prevalent hate speech on Facebook's platforms by taking aim at the social network's $70bn in annual ad revenue.
After years of piecemeal measures to address hate, abuse and misinformation on its service, Facebook's critics hope that pinching the company where it hurts will push it toward more meaningful change. As of Wednesday, 530 companies had signed on and that is not counting businesses like Target and Starbucks, which have paused advertising but did not formally join the Stop Hate for Profit campaign, which calls its action a pause" rather than a boycott.
On Wednesday, Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice-president of global affairs and communications, tried to reassure businesses that Facebook does not benefit from hate and said the company has every incentive to remove hate speech from its service. He acknowledged that "many of our critics are angry about the inflammatory rhetoric President Trump has posted on our platform and others, and want us to be more aggressive in removing his speech".
Clegg, however, offered few concessions, and instead repeated Zuckerberg's frequent talking point that the only way to hold the powerful to account is ultimately through the ballot box. He pointed to Facebook's get-out-the-vote efforts as evidence of the company's commitment, along with the billions of dollars, tens of thousands of content moderators and other investments it has made in trying to improve its platform.
While Facebook is making efforts to hear out its critics, it remains clear that ultimate decisions will always rest with its founder and CEO, who holds the majority of the company's voting shares and could effectively run the company for life, should he desire to.
Associated Press contributed to this article


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Q: PNG Shadow on hover not working in Firefox - What am I doing wrong? I learned how to add a shadow to PNG images from the answers to this question.  A user named Dudley posted this code which works for me except if Firefox (and an older version of Safari):
.shadowed {
-webkit-filter: drop-shadow(12px 12px 25px rgba(0,0,0,0.5));
filter: url(#drop-shadow);
-ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=12, OffY=12,
Color='#444')";
filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=12, OffY=12,
Color='#444')";
}

<svg height="0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<filter id="drop-shadow">
<feGaussianBlur in="SourceAlpha" stdDeviation="4"/>
<feOffset dx="12" dy="12" result="offsetblur"/>
<feFlood flood-color="rgba(0,0,0,0.5)"/>
<feComposite in2="offsetblur" operator="in"/>
<feMerge>
<feMergeNode/>
<feMergeNode in="SourceGraphic"/>
</feMerge>
</filter>
</svg>

The code is based on this article.  I added the code.  I used it as-is except the values for OffX, OffY, and the rgb values.  Additionally, I copied the CSS code in a a:hover section of the CSS shown below.  (Note: I'd added the id tag change later to try to get it to work, but it didn't appear to work either).
#cssicons > ul > li > a:hover {
    color: rgb(255,255,221);
    id: shadowed;
    -webkit-filter: drop-shadow(-2px 2px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.5));
    filter: url(#drop-shadow);
    -ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')";
    filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')";
}

The HTML looks like this (truncated for brevity):
<link href="/icon_assets/styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">

Share

Like

RSVP

Swing Buffalo

...

<svg height="0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<filter id="drop-shadow">
<feGaussianBlur in="SourceAlpha" stdDeviation="4"/>
<feOffset dx="2" dy="2" result="offsetblur"/>
<feFlood flood-color="rgba(0,0,0,0.5)"/>
<feComposite in2="offsetblur" operator="in"/>
<feMerge>
<feMergeNode/>
<feMergeNode in="SourceGraphic"/>
</feMerge>
</filter>
</svg>

The page containing the code is here.  Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
Thanks,
Rob

A: I think this may be the answer
css-filters browser support
Browsers that currently support css-filters are Chrome and Safari.
Update #1
It works in Firefox
The point was that filter: url(shadow.svg#drop-shadow); was needed
.shadowed {
-webkit-filter: drop-shadow(-2px 2px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.5));
filter: url(shadow.svg#drop-shadow);
-ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')";
filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')";
}

#cssicons > ul > li > a:hover {
    color: rgb(255,255,221);
    id: shadowed;
-webkit-filter: drop-shadow(-2px 2px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.5));
filter: url(shadow.svg#drop-shadow);
-ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2,
Color='#444')";
filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2,
Color='#444')";
}

I have shadow.svg as actual file, not embedded in html.
Hint initiated by user2057516 : Add the "Content-Type: image/svg+xml" header if it doesn't work

A: I would used the box-shadow property instead as this can achieve the same effects based upon the offset you use.
  /* Firefox */
  -moz-box-shadow: 3px 3px 4px #000;
  /* Webkit browsers */
  -webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 4px #000;
  /* W3C */
  box-shadow: 3px 3px 4px #000;
  /* For IE 8 */
  -ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Shadow(Strength=4, Direction=135, Color='#000000')";
  /* For IE 5.5 - 7 */
  filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Shadow(Strength=4, Direction=135, Color='#000000');

Most modern browsers are now adopting the basic box-shadow property rather than having a vendor prefix. Just modify these until you get the desired output.


By performing a thorough eye examination, your ophthalmologist or optometrist can detect the presence of a cataract. A careful evaluation will rule out any other conditions that may be causing blurred vision or other eye problems. Problems with other parts of the eye (such as the cornea, retina or optic nerve) can be responsible for vision loss and may prevent you from having much or any improvement in vision after cataract surgery. If improvement in your vision is unlikely, cataract removal may not be recommended. Your ophthalmologist can tell you how much visual improvement is likely.
Cataract Surgery is the only way a cataract can be removed. However, if symptoms of cataract are not bothering you very much, surgery may not be needed. Sometimes a simple change in your eyeglass prescription may be helpful. No medications, dietary supplements or exercises have been shown to prevent or cure cataracts. Protection from excessive sunlight may help slow the progression of cataracts. Sunglasses that screen out ultraviolet (UV) light rays or regular eyeglasses with a clear, anti-UV coating offer this protection.
The time to treat cataracts is usually when they are affecting your ability to function day to day. This level of impairment may be different for each of us. For example, you may start having blurred vision that keeps you from reading the way you want. Or, you may have too much glare when you are trying to drive.
Usually you decide when to plan cataract surgery, and we're here to help you make the right decision. We offer complete cataract care at Rochester Eye Associates, from monitoring progression of cataract, through the surgery itself, and finally, your recovery and aftercare.


The latest vegan restaurant in town is one with a difference. For one, its housed in a gym, right in the heart of CBD. Secondly, they make vegan food everything you probably never imagined it to be – delicious and attractive, instead of limited and boring.
Despite having been a vegetarian all my life, all-vegan restaurants have never attracted me much because of the lack of choices, and in most cases the lack of vegetables with an overdose of mock-meat, tofu and seaweed on the menu. Not so at HRVST. One look at the menu and pictures of the food here, and I knew I had to visit soon. HRVST practically re-invents vegan cuisine – serving dishes that are healthier, wallet-friendly and oh, so pretty! The menu is well balanced and there are no faux meats either. This, for me, is a big plus.
The restaurant is helmed by head chefs Addis Tan and Dylan Choong, who have worked in many prestigious kitchens, with Tippling Club, Esquina and Cheek by Jowl being the most recent.
HRVST has a well-rounded menu with appetisers, bar snacks, mains and desserts. The dishes are innovative and brilliantly plated – some of the most beautiful food I've seen in town. In some dishes, the culinary expertise of the chefs shines through as they successfully bring together Asian and Western ingredients and flavours to create dishes that are nothing short of delightful. Read on for the review but we've already added HRVST to the list of our Favourite Vegetarian & Vegan Restaurants in Singapore.
We tried the Fried Chickpeas (S$5) – these are sprinkled with a Szechuan sour plum powder and served in a paper cone and are absolutely addictive. I'm guessing the inspiration comes from India – as a kid, I remember eating street food that was served such. Also quite good are the Twice Cooked Spuds (S$8), the baby potatoes come with a soy-based garlic aioli sauce and are topped with chives.
From the appetisers, we chose the King Oyster Scallops (S$12) – mushrooms shaped like scallops, along with spinach puree, baby corn, baby carrot, toasted hazelnuts, garlic "snow" and lemon zest. Beautifully plated, this is one of the most attractive dishes on the menu. It is also one of the healthiest and tastiest – the dish oozes freshness and is full of colour and natural flavours. The spinach puree contains spirulina which you can't even taste. Healthy, but tastes indulgent.
The Pumpkin Gnocchi (S$16) was a hit with the first bite. Served in a Tom Yum broth, with shimeji mushrooms and baby corn, topped with coriander oil and Japanese cucumber ribbons, it is packed with vibrant flavours. The dish is a tasteful harmony of Eastern and Western flavours. Not only was this the star dish of our meal at HRVST, it is also one of the better vegan dishes I've had. The broth is awesome, just the right amount of tang and spiciness, and the coriander oil adds a nice balancing touch.
Next up was BKT Barley Risotto (S$16), HRVST's vegan take on Bak Kut Teh. The BKT comes complete with braised nuts, diced daikon, dough crisps, garlic chips and garlic oil. However, if there was one dish that evening that did not excite me, it was this that I found to be average.
Rounding off the mains nicely was Hay Salt Baked Celeriac (S$18), on a bed of delicious onion puree. On the side are charred kale chips and Shimeji tempura, garnished with mushroom shavings and maple puffed rice. Another perfect number, it gave serious competition to the Pumpkin gnocchi. So, taking personal tastes into consideration, this could well be the dish of the evening for you.
Dessert was an interesting combination of Caramelised Pineapple Ring, Clove Ice-cream and Tart Crumbs (S$8). Interesting and confusing! I am not exaggerating when I say that the ice-cream played tricks on my palate. It confused me into believing that it was too clove-y in one bite and completely fall in love with the slightly salty taste in the next bite. Tart Crumbs tasted delicious and quite buttery and I couldn't stop myself from asking the chefs how they do that without using butter. Well, they use soy milk, if you're vegan, you're definitely safe here.
HRVST dishes up some of the best vegan food in Singapore. This cosy restaurant is definitely a great place to enjoy vegan dishes that tantalise both the eyes and the palate. The menu is well rounded, with a variety of dishes that are healthier and beautifully plated. The icing on the cake is that the food is reasonably priced. The drinks, however, seem to be on the pricier side. I didn't look at the bar menu but I did find the house wine expensive at S$14 per glass.
The restaurant can be a little tricky to find, but once you do, you'll be glad you did. The interiors are chic, with charming accents and the rooftop alfresco bar area has quite a cool vibe to it. Stop here for a meal and you won't regret it.
My friend and I were at HRVST and were appalled at the cook's (who does not deserve to be called a chef) response towards our feedback on the food.
The pasta was overcooked and became lumpy, the cook said that was intentional to suit the taste of the crowd, added that it is our problem for not liking it and insisted we should make a special request for the pasta to be cooked al dente. I do not know of any decent chef who thinks pasta is not to be cooked al dente by default.
We were curious if the braised peanuts are canned food.The same cook repeatedly refuse to answer the straight forward yes/no Q and went "you don't have to know." and "so what if it is canned peanuts?" He does not understand that as customer, we have the rights to know what we are consuming. I am astonished that a place which advocates healthy moving and clean eating (base on their PR release in several websites) uses processed ingredients.
Hi there, seems like your visit to HRVST didn't go quite well. Just to let you know that we have no affiliation or partnership with the restaurant, we just visited once for the review. Contrary to your experience, ours was really fabulous – the food was quite fantastic and the staff friendly. Why don't you try dropping an email to the restaurant about your experience, I'm sure they'll get back. So sorry your visit wasn't great.


text:
Miami History Podcast – Henry Flagler Part 1 of 2
Welcome to the very first episode of the Miami History Podcast. It is a collaboration between Historian Dr. Paul S. George and History Blogger Casey Piket. The podcast will begin with the stories of several of Miami's most prominent founders. While there were many pioneers that shaped the first couple of decades following incorporation; Henry Flagler, Julia Tuttle and the Brickell family are considered the principal founders of the City of Miami.
Henry Flagler was an entrepreneur, oil baron and financier of the development of the east coast of Florida. The first episode of the Miami History Podcast will describe the man and what brought him to Florida. It will outline his journey of extending the FEC railway from north to south along the east coast of Florida. It will also touch on his relationship with Henry Plant, the man who helped develop the west coast of Florida.
Click play on the embedded video to hear the first podcast. The video will also be available on You Tube. We are in the process of getting setup on iTunes, Stitcher and Sound Cloud to provide the podcast on multiple channels.
Thank you for tuning in while we begin this venture into the world of podcasting. We look forward to each of you joining us for future podcast episodes as they are published. Please subscribe to the Miami History newsletter to be made aware of new episodes. Subscription to the newsletter is free and you can quickly add your self to the list by clicking on the "Click Here to Subscribe" button below.
Related Podcasts:
Henry Flagler Part 2 of 2
Videos: Miami History Channel
Book: "Flagler: Rockefeller Partner & Florida Baron" by Edward N. Akin.
Book: "Miami: The Magic City" by Arva Moore Parks.
Book: "The Greatest Railway Story Ever Told" by Seth H. Bramson.
Book: "Speedway to Sunshine" by Seth H. Bramson.
Book: "The Two Henrys" by Sandra Wallace Sammons.
Tequesta Magazine: "Birth of the City of Miami" by Larry Wiggins and Dr. Paul S. George
Web Site: The Flagler Museum
Cover: Henry Flagler and his wife Mary. Courtesy of the Keys History web site.


text:
SciFi Weekend: Fringe Through The Looking Glass; A Partial Explanation on Revolution; Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chome; Neil Gaiman Making Cybermen Scary; Scarlett Johansson's Shower Scene in Hitchcock
November 11, 2012 — Ron Chusid
Fringe took a look Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There. Walter looked at another tape and, in an uncharacteristic move, went off on his own. For a moment I thought he might be crossing over to the alternate universe but instead he wound up in a pocket universe. There are now new elements added to this season's scavenger hunt–a bald-headed kid adopted by the Observers in a previous season who is now missing, and a radio left in his place. It will be interesting to see what type of message comes over this radio.
This was also an episode which concentrated on development for Olivia and Peter, as they continued to morn the death of Etta. The climax of the episode showed them fighting the Observers, with an Observer telling Peter that he knows what he has done but has made a grave mistake. Whether it turns to be good or bad, it may be analogous to hooking Peter up to the machine with its unexpected results. For now Peter is a better fighter, and more vicious in killing the Observer. His vision then took on a blue tint–yet another effect of the Observer implant in his neck (unless he took Viagra). There are also changes in Walter, who is becoming more like Walternate, or the Walter he was becoming before portions of his brain were removed by William Bell. I would assume this is a consequence of replacing these portions of his brain in Letters of Transit.
Revolution primarily continued its adventure of the week format, this time with a watered-down version of Lord of the Flies. We did learn more about what caused the blackout, leaving more questions. The Mathesons, along with Grace (who was kidnapped earlier this season) were working on a device to generate electricity and instead it did the opposite–stopping electricity completely. Someone from the Department of Defense pressured Rachel into accepting a government contract for this technology, and he turned out to also be the person who kidnapped Grace. It might have made sense for the DOD to be interested in this as a weapon directed against a specific country, but it is harder to see the rational for using this if it also caused the blackout in the United States. It will be interesting to see if we ever get a plausible explanation.
The web series, Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome is now available on line. Episode one is embedded above. An "explosive unrated edition" will be coming out on Blu-ray & DVD February 19, 2013.
It has been confirmed that Neil Gaiman's episode of Doctor Who will involve the Cyberman, with Gaiman making them scary again:
Speaking to Reviewer.fr he said: "Steven asked me to write a new episode and I said no because I was too busy. And then he wrote and asked if I wanted to make the Cybermen scary again. And I thought back to when I was six or seven years old: 'The Moonbase', 'Tomb of the Cybermen' … when I saw them when they were first broadcast. The Cybermen were far more frightening than Daleks, because they do not make noise. Daleks move in all directions, shouting 'Exterminate', etc.. With Cybermen it's different. You turned around and bam! There were Cybermen. It's scary.
"I told [Moffat] that I would revive the Cybermen for the 50th anniversary year and everything that has happened since, and see what I could do. I do not know if it will work, we'll see."
He added: "This will be a stand-alone episode, it will be the penultimate episode of Series 7. It has a beginning, a middle and an end."
Gaiman also stated that the title of the episode, currently believed to be The Last Cyberman, could still change: "'The Doctor's Wife' was' Bigger on the Inside', up to two weeks before release. It could be anything," he said.
Scarlett Johansson is on the cover of V magazine, recreating the Janet Leigh shower scene from Psycho. She found facing Anthony Hopkins to be far scarier than filming a nude scene:
The flick, about the making of Psycho, finds Johansson having to recreate a certain iconic shower scene.
"We only had the luxury to shoot the scene for a day, and everybody was feeling very nervous because it involved water and nobody wants the actor to get wet," the 27-year-old told V. "They were concerned with modesty and all these things—but I don't care about any of that stuff and Janet Leigh never did either."
But Johannsson did admit that it was "terrifying" having costar Anthony Hopkins, who portrays the famed director, point a long kitchen knife in her face.
"Maybe I watched Silence of the Lambs too many times when I was a kid. Maybe I was having some flashbacks. So I didn't need too much preparation for the scene," the actress said.
A trailer for Hitchcock has also been released:
Posted in Science Fiction, Television. Tags: Battlestar Galactica, Day of the Doctor, Doctor Who, Fringe, Neil Gaiman, Revolution, Scarlett Johansson, Science Fiction, Steven Moffat, The Doctor's Wife. RSS feed for comments on this post.. TrackBack URL.
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Commercial procurement institutions will have recognised procurement as a necessary function, although this may vary from department to department. Typically, there will be a functional head within the department spending the largest amount of money on commonly required items. Major departments are likely to have their own purchasing capability and resist the aggregation of expenditure where it implies a reduction in the control of their direct spend.
Procurement is rarely involved in the specification process and is frequently constrained by product specifications which limit the choice of suppliers. Often, too little time is allowed for the buyer to enter the marketplace and carry out a supply competitive analysis.
Suppliers are selected on the basis that they have proven to be of value in the past and they are rarely subject to market testing. A large number of small suppliers and the dissipation of purchasing expenditure in commodity groups over many suppliers typify the supplier base.
Procurement activity is focussed with reference to finance or operating procedures that require competitive tendering at certain break points. Most often, values related to an individual transaction, regardless of annual value or strategic importance of the procurement, determine the procedure to be followed.
Procurement strategies tend to be driven by user preference and are almost entirely informal. General terms and conditions of contract printed on the reverse of purchase orders, or otherwise published, will support the strategies.
Procurement performance monitoring is based on cost overruns and budget excesses. Supplier performance monitoring is targeted at problem resolution.
What is procurement as a commercial function?


Substance P is a neuropeptide that is involved in the natural regulation of many aspects of your cardiovascular system. Under normal circumstances it helps control vascular relaxation and thus blood pressure by enhancing the formation of nitric oxide. It also promotes the normal movement of fluids out of blood vessels for a variety of reasons. The main receptor for Substance P is called neurokinnin 1, NK1, which is located in many places throughout the body including the circulatory system and the heart itself. This means that substance P is a common regulatory compound used by your nervous system.
As it turns out, substance P is also the main way your body processes pain and intense stress. Under routine stress, your body simply turns up the volume on nerve activity and energy production. When the stress is over, everything is supposed to recover. If it doesn't, your body enters a wear and tear trend. Substance P is not used as a basic coping mechanism for low-grade stress.
However, extra substance P kicks in when stress is more intense. This could occur as an acute high level of emotional stress, physical pain, an injury, an accident, or ongoing stress of an energy depleting emotional nature. Substance P is highly inflammatory by nature, a natural method of helping to deal with acute stress but problematic if stress is ongoing.
Signs of too much substance P include disrupted sleep, poor stress tolerance, ongoing fatigue, anxious or hostile feelings, restless legs, increased general aches or pains, skin related issues, respiratory stress, and/or digestive inflammation.
Unfortunately, too much substance P, instead of helping normal cardiovascular function, is a major irritant to the heart itself; it disrupts the vagal tone of the nervous system that is needed to support proper Heart Rate Variability and healthy heart rhythms.


HERC BLAZER size added to your bag.
The Herc Blazer by yd.
Rock up to any smart casual or formal event in our Herc Blazer. Featuring 2 button closure and square stripe design, pair this fancy blazer with chinos and a dress shirt to complete the look.


Your Waffled Hash Browns will be a lot of fun, can't wait to try them! Hope you have a great Valentine Week and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday!
What a great idea!! Pinned this beauty - Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party. Have a great week.
What a great idea, that looks delicious! Thanks for sharing with us at the To Grandma's house we go link party, see you next week!


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Home Mainstream Guitar Hero World Tour Now Hosts Oasis Album
Guitar Hero World Tour Now Hosts Oasis Album
It appears that not only Harmonix wanted to start strong in February, but Activision too. Therefore, the company announced the release of a full Oasis album for Guitar Hero World Tour. The album is Dig Out Your Soul and can be purchased entirely for 1,520 Microsoft Points ($18.99) or track-by-track for 160 MS Points per track. Here are the featured songs:
Oasis – The Turning
Oasis – I'm Outta Time
Oasis – (Get Off Your) High Horse Lady
Oasis – Falling Down
Oasis – To Be Where There's Life
Oasis – Ain't Got Nothin'
Oasis – The Nature of Reality
Oasis – Soldier On
Dig Out Your Soul is the latest album from Oasis. However, I am sure that most of the fans would've preferred to hear about the release of their debut album Definitely Maybe or (What's the Story) Morning Glory? Well… we can never know what will follow…
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Q: What about of the irrationality and transcendence of expressions involving the omega constant, and/or $\pi$ and $e$? I know that there are some open problems concerning the irrationality and trancescende of certain combinations (suitable expressions as sums/differences, products/quotients and exponentiations/logarithms) of the constants $\pi$ and $e$, I know it (I add the following reference) from the section Analysis of the Wikipedia List of unsolved problems in mathematics.
In this post we denote the value at $x=1$ of the main/principal branch of the Lambert $W$ function as $\Omega=W(1)$. The Wikipedia encyclopedia has the article see this Wikipedia Omega constant.

Question. I would like to know what can be a good proposal(s) of open problem concerning the transcendence or irrationality, at research level, for suitable combinations of the real numbers $\pi$, $e$ and $\Omega=W(1)$. Many thanks.

The only requirement is that your expression must involve the omega constant (expressions also involving the $\Omega$ and $\pi$ or $e$ are desirable). Isn't required state your proposal(s) as a conjecture, just as an interesting open problem.
If you are able to create an example at research level for which you can prove, using your knowledges, that your expression is rational, algebraic irrational, or transcendental, I think that it can be also an answer for my question.
If there are such proposals of open problems in the literature, please refer the literature answering my question as a reference request and I try to search and read those from the literature.

A: I will suggest some (maybe) interesting constants for which irrationality or transcendence can be studied. First let me recall some well known constants (this list could also be useful to formulate some other conjectures here):
$$G:=\frac{\Gamma^2 (1/4)}{2 \sqrt{2 \pi^3} }$$
known as Gauss's constant, which is transcendent. Then, we can define the following two lemniscate constants, which are transcendental:
$$ L_1:=\pi G $$
$$L_2 := \frac{1}{2 G}$$
(they both arise when looking for a formula for the arc lenght of a lemniscate).
Another interesting number, which arises in a similar way to the golden ratio, is the plastic constant $\rho$, which is the unique real solution of the equation $x^3=x+1$. This constant is irrational.
A well known number, which has been proven to be irrational by Apéry, is $\zeta(3)$, which is also called Apéry's constant.
Now we can study the irrationality/transcendence of the following numbers:
$$ \Omega + \pi, \, \Omega + G, \, \Omega^{\rho}, \, \Omega^{\zeta(3)}, \, \Omega e^{L_1}, \Omega^{\ln \pi}, \sqrt{2 \Omega}, ...  $$
This list can become really long: you just have to combine in many other ways all the above constants with $\Omega$, $e$, $\pi$, $i$, ...


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Q: How to reshape a dataframe (different type in columns) I have seen many different answer about this topic. In my situation the case is a bit diffrent , I have the following dataframe
     A    B      C
0  OPXXX  OPT1 70
1  OPXXX  OPT2 KO
2  OPXXX  OPT3 KO
3  OPXXX  OPT4 B
4  OPXXX  OPT5 175000
5  OPXXX  OPT6 Europ
6  OPXXX  OPT7 2019-01-21
7  OPXXX  OPT8 2019-05-21
8  OPXXX  OPT9 2019-10-21

I would like to have it like that but the issue is pivot.table is not working because of the aggreagtion function:

 A     OPT1  OPT2 OPT3 OPT4 OPT5   OPT6         OPT7       OPT8         OPT9
OPXXX   70     KO    KO   B 175000  Europe    2019-01-21  2019-10-21  2019-10-21

when I do : df.pivot(index='A',values='C', columns= 'B')
Ihave the following error

Traceback (most recent call last):   File
  "C:/Users/V002697/PycharmProjects/portia/tiaex.py", line 17, in

      print(df.pivot(index='ticker',values='value', columns= 'field'))   File
  "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pandas\core\frame.py",
  line 3853, in pivot
      return pivot(self, index=index, columns=columns, values=values)   File
  "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pandas\core\reshape\reshape.py",
  line 378, in pivot
      return indexed.unstack(columns)   File "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pandas\core\series.py",
  line 2028, in unstack
      return unstack(self, level, fill_value)   File "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pandas\core\reshape\reshape.py",
  line 458, in unstack
      fill_value=fill_value)   File "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pandas\core\reshape\reshape.py",
  line 110, in init
      self._make_selectors()   File "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pandas\core\reshape\reshape.py",
  line 148, in _make_selectors
      raise ValueError('Index contains duplicate entries, ' ValueError: Index contains duplicate entries, cannot reshape

I would like to know if you have some ideas ?
Thanks

A: You can use pandas.DataFrame.pivot:
df.pivot(index='A', columns = 'B', values='C')

B     OPT1 OPT2 OPT3 OPT4    OPT5   OPT6        OPT7        OPT8        OPT9
A
OPXXX   70   KO   KO    B  175000  Europ  2019-01-21  2019-05-21  2019-10-21

A: df1 = df.rename(columns={'A':'A1', 'B':'B1', 'A1':'A2', 'B1':'B2'}).reset_index()
pd.wide_to_long(df1, stubnames=['A', 'B'], i='index', j='id')\
  .reset_index()[['A', 'B', 'id']]
A   B id

0   1   2  1
1   5   6  1
2   9  10  1
3   3   4  2
4   7   8  2
5  11  12  2


text:
ArticlesElectrophoresis/Western BlottingResearch Highlights
Trends in Protein Separation and Analysis — the Advance of Stain-Free Technology
Geetha Yadav and Ning Liu	— September 9, 2014
Download PDF for a printable version of this article.
Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) is a well-established technique for the separation, detection, and analysis of proteins. SDS-PAGE is used as the first step in western blotting analysis, in the second dimension separation of the 2-D analysis of proteins in proteomics studies, and as the confirmatory step in protein integrity and purity analyses after the chromatographic separation of proteins.
Visualization of proteins after separation on polyacrylamide gels is predominantly carried out using protein stains such as Coomassie Brilliant Blue (CBB). Other stains, such as silver, zinc or some fluorescent dye-based stains are also used to determine sample quality, level of separation, and protein load. The traditional staining methods are generally time consuming and preclude the use of gels in downstream applications, such as western blotting and mass spectrometry.
Stain-free technology, a technology that existed in principle since early 2000 but was only commercialized in 2010, addresses these issues and has, as a result, changed the protein separation and analysis landscape in the past few years. Stain-free technology has been adopted by many labs for its simplicity, ease of use, and, most important, its reliability, which confers validity to the results obtained in downstream applications. The number of stain-free gels has grown exponentially in the past three years.
This article focuses on the following aspects of stain-free technology:
Theory and concepts on how protein visualization is accomplished using stain-free technology
Advantages of stain-free technology over more traditional methods
How stain-free technology can be used for total protein normalization
Possible concerns about the stain-free technology
How stain-free technology can change the way we carry out protein separation and analysis
What Is Stain-Free Technology?
Stain-free technology utilizes the ability of certain aromatic amino acid residues to undergo specific chemical reactions when exposed to UV radiation. Aromatic amino acids, such as tryptophan and tyrosine, form key intermediates, such as kynurenine, cyclic lactams, and Dopa, upon UV irradiation. Specifically, tryptophan reacts with certain trihalo compounds to produce a tryptophan adduct that emits fluorescence. The rate at which the chemical reaction produces fluorescence is enhanced with the addition of the trihalo compound compared to the rate with UV activation alone. Stain-free technology exploits this capability for the visualization and quantitation of proteins (Figure 1).
Fig. 1. Workflow for the stain-free visualization of proteins.
Commercial stain-free technology utilizes proprietary trihalo compounds contained in the gels to modify tryptophan residues in proteins following brief UV irradiation. The resulting tryptophan adduct (a 58 Da moiety) emits fluorescence upon excitation by another brief irradiation from stain-free enabled imagers, facilitating visualization and quantitation of proteins from gels, as well as from blots after the proteins are transferred or probed with antibodies for western blotting. The limit of detection for the visualization of proteins rendered by this method is 20–50 ng of protein compared to the 100 ng range of the CBB method or the 8–15 ng range of colloidal CBB (Ladner et al. 2006).
The modifications to the proteins themselves using the stain-free method are minimal and do not affect protein transfer or downstream antibody binding in western blotting, nor does the binding mimic any posttranslational modifications, which could potentially result in misinterpretation of results. However, the covalent binding of the trihalo compound is enough to provide high sensitivity protein detection. Therefore, unlike Coomassie Blue-stained gel, stain-free gels can be used for downstream applications such as western blotting (Elbaggari et al. 2008; Gilda and Gomes, 2013) or mass spectrometry (Liu et al. 2008, Susnea et al. 2013, Gonzalez-Fernandez et al. 2013), which makes the stain-free technology superior to most dye-based visualization techniques.
Stain-free gels incorporate the trihalo compound in their gel formulation and are run with standard protocols and reagents like any other gel used in SDS-PAGE. Unlike with Coomassie or other dyes, there is no destaining step, and the stain-free technology is environmentally safe and does not generate toxic, hazardous organic waste.
Advantages of Using Stain-Free Technology
Visualization of Proteins on Gels — Stain-Free Technology Provides More Sensitivity and Better Dynamic Range than Coomassie Stains
When a new technology is introduced, the primary objective of potential users is to learn how it compares to the existing method(s). Protein visualization data obtained from stain-free gels are comparable to those obtained from gels stained with other dyes. In general, the sensitivity of stain-free gels is equal to that of Coomassie-stained gels for all proteins. For proteins with higher tryptophan content, stain-free gels provide much higher sensitivity than Coomassie-stained gels (Figure 2).
Fig. 2. Comparison of a stain-free gel image and CBB R-250– and Bio-Safe G-250– stained gel images. Serial 1:2 dilutions of broad range unstained molecular weight standards were separated on a 4–20% Criterion Stain Free™ Tris-HCl gel. The gel was imaged with a stain-free enabled imager, then stained with Coomassie stain and imaged on a densitometer. Arrowhead indicates β-galactosidase.
The limit of detection for the stain-free gels is 0.2 to 5 ng. Silver stains can provide a similar detection limit of 0.25 to 0.5 ng while Coomassie R-250 stain can detect from 6 ng of protein. Some fluorescent stains can detect proteins below 1 or 0.5 ng limit. Stain-free gels have more reproducible data with smaller coefficients of variation compared to Coomassie or silver stains. Using stain-free gels, proteins from 0.2 ng can be quantitated (McDonald et al. 2008; McDonald, 2009).
The linear dynamic range of proteins is measured as the range through which the signal intensity on a blot proportionally increases with the increase in protein load. Ideally, protein load should be such that it falls within the quantitative linear dynamic range of the antibody used for its detection (Taylor and Posch, 2014). Stain-free gels provide a linear dynamic range between 10 and 80 µg of total protein load from cell or tissue lysates at a higher range of protein load (Figure 3A), and from 20 to 1 µg at a lower range (Figure 3B) (Taylor et al. 2013, Hammond et al. 2013).
Fig 3. Linear dynamic range provided by stain-free technology for total protein measurements. A, HeLa cell lysate dilutions from 80–
2.5 µg total protein; B, HeLa cell lysate dilutions from 20–1 µg total protein.
Compatibility with Downstream Applications
The Coomassie dye binds to proteins with van der Waals and electrostatic forces, and the resulting noncovalently bound protein-dye complex emits a blue color, which is used for visualization and quantitation. This method is good as long as the goal is merely the visualization of proteins and there is no paucity of samples and reagents. The Coomassie-based staining method becomes a problem when the ultimate goal is the identification or quantitation of proteins in western blotting. This dye-based method does not allow the same gel to be used for transfer for western blotting or for mass spectrometry. This is a serious drawback, especially when large gels and sample volumes are required for separation and visualization. Stain-free technology is compatible with most downstream applications, which helps not only when resources are limited, but also in the appropriate normalization of data for quantitation (see below).
Verification of Protein Transfer
A variety of factors determine the final outcome of western blotting. One factor is the proper transfer of proteins to the membrane. A standard practice to verify protein transfer is to stain the blot with Ponceau S, which is a negatively charged stain that binds to all positively charged amino acids in a protein. Ponceau S staining is fast and relatively inexpensive, and the stained membrane can then be used for downstream applications such as western blotting. However, due to the ephemeral nature of the binding of the dye to the protein, the intensity of the bands on the membrane decreases rapidly, making detection and quantitation harder. In addition, the time needed for destaining, as well as the the need to dispose of waste, add to the disadvantages of this method. Other blot stains, such as SYPRO Ruby or amido black, are also used for blot quantitation. These are relatively expensive and need special disposal methods.
The time needed to view the stain on the blot also varies with the dye used. Protocols for using Ponceau stain recommend at least 5 minutes of staining followed by 15 minutes of washing steps. SYPRO Ruby blot stain is more elaborate, requiring fixation, overnight staining, and destaining. There is thus a significant time and cost savings for western blotting using the stain-free method (Colella et al. 2012).
Proteins transferred from a stain-free gel to a blot can be imaged using a stain-free enabled imager, and the intensity of the bands does not depend on the duration of staining or destaining, which is a problem when using dye-based techniques for visualization and quantitation (Figure 4). Band intensity of stain-free blots does not decrease with time because it is a covalent modification. Staining and destaining steps can be avoided, along with the probable protein loss during these steps. Using the stain-free method, protein transfer can be verified in as little as 2 minutes.
Fig. 4. Assessment of protein transfer using a stain-free enabled imaging system. Images of the gel before and after transfer and of the membrane after transfer were taken using the Criterion Stain Free imager. Serial 1:2 dilutions of hemoglobin (starting quantity, 80 ng), with 1.8 μg of BSA/lane as a carrier (top band), were electrophoretically separated on a 4–20% 26-well Criterion Stain Free gel.
Normalization of Data in Western Blotting Quantitation
Problems with Loading Control for Proteins and Normalization of Data
Western blotting is widely used as a semiquantitative method for the measurement of proteins. Quantitation is achieved by comparing band intensities between different samples or different experimental conditions. Protein load is an important consideration here, as misleading results can be obtained when protein loading is uneven between lanes. Loading controls that can account for simple pipetting errors are normally included in the experimental setup. Band intensity obtained from the target gene is typically normalized to that from such an internal loading control.
Traditionally, housekeeping genes, such as actin, β-tubulin, or GAPDH serve as loading controls and help in normalization of data. These specific genes are used because they are constitutively expressed and their expression is not expected to change with experimental conditions or between different tissue samples. However, there are several concerns regarding the suitability of these proteins as internal controls, arising primarily from recent findings that, contrary to popular belief, these proteins are subject to changes in different tissues (Pérez-Pérez et al. 2012), under different disease and pathological states (Li and Shen, 2013), under various experimental conditions (Dittmer and Dittmer, 2006), during various developmental stages (Rocha-Martins et al. 2012), and with different genetic backgrounds and circadian times (Kosir et al. 2010) (See Figure 5).
Fig. 5. Altered Actin protein expression in response to PMA treatment. Changes in expression rendered Actin an unreliable loading control.
Moreover, these controls have to be quantitated on the same gel as the protein of interest, or the same blot needs to be stripped and reprobed for the housekeeping genes, which pose their own problems and restrictions. Because of the general abundance of the housekeeping proteins relative to the proteins of interest, the intensity of the bands from a western blot of housekeeping proteins has often reached saturation (Figure 6), making normalization of data using these bands erroneous. Image quantitation software usually provides some way of selecting the bands and subtracting background. It is a good practice to obtain a standard curve for linearity of signals (intensity of bands vs. amount of protein loaded). However, this critical step is usually not part of the blot imaging protocol. Such a linear signal cannot be obtained with oversaturated bands from housekeeping proteins, making normalizing to these bands and obtaining quantitative interferences from these data prone to errors.
Fig. 6. Western blots showing saturated α-tubulin bands. These oversaturated bands cannot be used in this case to determine if there was an actual change in MyoD protein levels after treatment with DFX or if there was a variation in protein loading.
Stain-free technology eliminates these issues by allowing for the quantitation of total proteins on the same blot as the proteins of interest. This method of normalization of data, called total protein normalization, provides more accurate protein quantitation and western blotting results. In this method, the total density for each lane is measured from a blot and a lane profile is obtained. Specialized software from stain-free enabled imagers can interpret the data from the lanes in three dimensions, so the same lane profile data can be viewed as a three-dimensional peak. The background is adjusted in such a way that the total background is subtracted from the sum of density of all the bands in each lane (referred to as the rolling disc background subtraction algorithm; Figure 7).
Fig. 7. Screenshot showing the software feature for total protein normalization in a stain-free enabled imager.
Normalization performed using this method is far superior to that using data from blots stripped and reprobed for housekeeping proteins. Total protein normalization using stain-free technology has also been shown to be more effective in picking up small fold differences in protein expression and regulation compared to normalization using housekeeping proteins (Gurtler et al. 2013).
The signal intensity produced from stain-free gels is much stronger (higher relative intensity) than that from Ponceau-stained membranes, and the technology provides superior linear dynamic range compared to Ponceau S total protein staining (see results from a comparative study by Gilda and Gomes 2013).
Total protein normalization also solves the issues related to the stripping and reprobing of the membranes, such as the antibody for housekeeping proteins and proteins of interest having been raised in the same organism. Despite it being a common procedure, there are several issues related to the stripping and reprobing process. An important consideration is to ensure that the primary antibody previously used is removed completely and that there is no residual signal from that particular antiserum after the membranes are stripped. This verification step, which is often skipped, requires reincubation of the blot in the ECL substrate and exposure to film before the process of reprobing begins (MacPhee 2010). Because stain-free technology does not require immunodetection of a housekeeping protein for normalization, reprobing steps can be avoided altogether.
Concerns with Using Stain-Free Technology
As stain-free technology utilizes the modification of tryptophan residues, a natural concern is the ability to use this technology for all proteins. The first and foremost concern is to determine if the protein of interest contains tryptophan residues. Proteins that lack tryptophan residues, such as aprotinin, are not detected using this technology (Figure 8). Theoretically, even one tryptophan residue is sufficient for signal activation, and proteins that have as few as two tryptophan residues are readily detected and quantified using stain-free technology.
Fig. 8. Limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantitation (LOQ) of proteins on Criterion Stain Free– and Bio-Safe G-250–stained gels. Individual protein bands from broad range unstained standards from four replicate gels were used to determine visual LOD and LOQ. Averaged numbers were used to generate the graph.
For most applications, the requirement of tryptophan residues for visualization is not a concern. Data available from UniProt (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/uniprot) show that only about 10% of proteins from all organisms lack tryptophans and most of those proteins are less than 10 kD in size. In most organisms, approximately 90% of proteins are above 10 kD in size (in the 10–260 kD range) and possess tryptophan residues (Table 1).
Table 1. Tryptophan content of the predicted proteomes of several model organisms.*
* Sequence data were obtained from UniProt (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/uniprot/database/Databases.html).
A computational study investigating the frequency of individual amino acids in the nuclear, cytoplasmic, and integral membranes of proteins in the SWISS-PROT database showed that tryptophan is present in all these fractions (Schwartz et al. 2001). Even though tryptophan is generally found less frequently than other amino acids (Shwartz et al. 2001), most proteins can be detected and quantified using the stain-free technology, with greater sensitivity and lower detection limits than with Coomassie staining (See Figure 3).
Another common concern when considering a new technology is how this technology will impact existing workflows and necessitate the use of specialized reagents and consumables. Stain-free gels do not use specialized buffers or reagents. Standard SDS-PAGE buffers can be used. However, the technique does require an imager that can visualize the activated gel or membrane.
How Is Stain-Free Technology Likely to Affect the Way We Do Protein Research Today?
With increasing errors in quantitation arising due to the use of housekeeping proteins and associated normalization issues, a growing number of journals in the western blotting field have been forced to withdraw published reports, issue errata, or reject publications (Neill 2009). Journals are now requiring strict adherence to the use of internal controls and are mandating the use of imaging techniques that yield linear signal ranges and report linear dynamic range of signal (see guidelines for reporting life sciences research from Nature Publication Group 2013).
With these new mandates, the protocols for western blotting are being rewritten. Including loading controls, checking for linearity of signal range, and ensuring proper normalization are not optional, but the norm of western blotting moving forward. Stain-free technology fits perfectly in this new western blotting world order as it satisfies all the requirements for carrying out these new protocols while making it easier than traditional methods and is considered as a strategy to improve accuracy of western blots (Ghosh et al. 2014). As more and more researchers embrace this technology, the future of western blotting and stain-free technology seem to be intertwined.
Colella AD et al. (2012). Comparison of stain-free gels with traditional immunoblot loading control methodology. Anal Biochem 430, 108–110.
Dittmer A and Dittmer J (2006). Beta-actin is not a reliable loading control in western blot analysis. Electrophoresis 27, 2844–2845.
Elbaggari A et al. (2008). Evaluation of the Criterion Stain Free gel imaging system for use in western blotting applications. Bio-Rad Bulletin 5781.
Ghosh R et al. 2014. The necessity of and strategies for improving confidence in the accuracy of western blots. Expert Rev Proteomics. Jul 25, 1–12. [Epub ahead of print].
Gilda J and Gomes AV. (2013). Stain-Free total protein staining is a superior loading control to β-actin for Western blots. Anal. Biochem. Sept.15, 440(2), 186–188.
Gonzalez-Fernandez R et al. (2013). Proteomic analysis of mycelium and secretome of different Botrytis cinerea wild-type strains. J Proteomics 97, 195–221.
Gurtler A et al. (2013). Stain-free technology as a normalization tool in western blot analysis. Anal Biochem 433, 105–111.
Hammond M et al. (2013). A method for greater reliability in western blot loading controls — stain-free total protein quantitation. Bio-Rad Bulletin 6360.
Kosir R et al. (2010). Determination of reference genes for circadian studies in different tissues and mouse strains. BMC Mol Biol 11, 60.
Ladner C et al. (2006). Identification of trichloroethanol visualized proteins from two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels by mass spectrometry. Anal Chem 78, 2388–2396.
Li R and Shen Y (2013). An old method facing a new challenge: re-visiting housekeeping proteins as internal reference control for neuroscience research. Life Sci, 92, 747–751.
Liu N et al. (2008). Compatibility of the Criterion Stain Free gel imaging system with mass spectrometric protein analysis. Bio-Rad Bulletin 5810.
MacPhee DJ (2010). Methodological considerations for improving western blot analysis. J Pharmacol Toxicol Methods 61, 171–177.
McDonald K (2009). Overcoming the Coomassie blues. Bio-Rad Bulletin 5939.
McDonald K et al. (2008). In-gel protein quantitation using the Criterion Stain Free™ gel imaging system. Bio-Rad bulletin 5782.
Neill US (2009). All data are not created equal. J Clin Invest 119, 424.
Pérez-Pérez R et al. (2012). Uncovering suitable reference proteins for expression studies in human adipose tissue with relevance to obesity. PLoS One 7, e30326.
Rocha-Martins M et al. (2012). Avoiding pitfalls of internal controls: validation of reference genes for analysis by qRT-PCR and western blot throughout rat retinal development. PLoS One 7, e43028.
Schwartz R et al. (2001). Whole proteome pI values correlate with subcellular localizations of proteins for organisms within the three domains of life. Genome Res 11, 703–709.
Susnea I et al. 2013. Application of MALDI-TOF-mass spectrometry to proteome analysis using stain-free gel electrophoresis. Top Curr Chem. 331, 37-54, doi: 10.1007/128_2012_321.
Taylor SC et al. (2013). A defined methodology for reliable quantification of western blot data. Mol Biotechnol 55, 217–226.
Taylor SC and Poshch A (2014). The design of a quantitative western blot experiment. Biomed Res Int. 2014, 361590. doi: 10.1155/2014/361590. Epub 2014 Mar 16.
Coomassie is a trademark of BASF Aktiengesellschaft.
SYPRO is a trademark of Life Technologies Corporation.
Tags:articles,electrophoresis/western blotting,In The Field,Protein Electrophoresis And Blotting,Research Highlights,Stain-Free Technology,Top Stories of 2014,total protein normalization,V3 Western Workflow,western blotting
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