text:
Tomb Raider е поредица приключенски игри от трето лице, комикси и игрални филми, в които се разказва за приключенията на виртуалната английска археоложка Лара Крофт () в търсенето на древни реликви и изчезнали цивилизации. С издаването на първата игра от поредицата през 1996 г., Лара Крофт се превръща в една от основните икони на гейм индустрията. До 2010 г. са издадени общо 9 игри под името "Tomb Raider", като първите 6 от тях са разработени от Core Design (1996 – 2003), а другите 3 – от Crystal Dynamics (след 2006). Издател на видеоигрите и собственик на франчайза "Tomb Raider" е Eidos Interactive, който през 2009 г. става част от "Square Enix Europe" с всичките си студия и активи, включително и франчайза "Tomb raider". . До 2010 г. са направени 2 игрални филма, в които ролята на Лара е изиграна от актрисата Анджелина Джоли. През 2018 г. излиза и третия игрален филм, а главната героиня е изиграна от актрисата Алисия Викандер.

Лара Крофт
Главната героиня в поредицата е английската археоложка Лара Крофт. Тя е създадена от гейм дизайнера Тоби Гард , който има 5 различни концепции относно главният герой в играта. Екипът разработващ играта избира женски герой, от латиноамерикански произход с името Лаура Круз. В процеса на разработка издателят Eidos Interactive променя произхода на героинята и избира по-британско звучащото име Лара Крофт.

Видео игри
Продажбите на поредицата до 2009 г. са над 30 млн. копия.

Игри разработени от Core Design
 Tomb Raider – първата игра от поредицата, която е издадена на 15 ноември 1996 г. от Eidos Interactive. Продадени са над 7 млн. копия от играта.
 Tomb Raider II Starring Lara Croft – издадена през ноември 1997 г. Използва подобрен гейм енджин от Tomb Raider. През април 1999 г. излиза преработено издание, в което е включена и самостоятелна мини игра от 5 нива под името Golden Mask. Играта излиза за PC (Windows), PlayStation, PlayStation Network и Macintosh. Продадени са над 6,5 млн. копия.
 Tomb Raider III Adventures of Lara Croft – издадена през ноември 1998 г. Играта излиза за PC (Windows), PlayStation, PlayStation Network и Macintosh.
 Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation – издадена през ноември 1999 г. за PC (Windows) и PlayStation. През март 2000 г. излиза за Dreamcast, а през декември същата година – за Macintosh.
 Tomb Raider: Chronicles
 Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness – това е последната игра от серията направена от Core Design. След множество критики към играта и слаби финансови резултати, Eidos пренасочват разработката на поредицата към Crystal Dynamics.

Игри разработени от Crystal Dynamics
 Tomb Raider: Legend – първата игра разработена от Crystal Dynamics. Издадена е на 7 април 2006 г. за PC (Windows), PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Game Cube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, XBox и XBox 360.
 Tomb Raider: Anniversary – играта е посветена на 10-годишния юбилей на поредицата. Издадена е на 1 юни 2007 г., за PC (Windows), PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, XBox 360, Mac OS X
 Tomb Raider: Underworld – издадена през ноември 2008 г., за PC (Windows), PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, XBox 360, Mobile Phones, N-Gage 2.0
На 22 март 2011 г. за PlayStation 3 излиза Tomb Raider Trilogy, в което е включен Tomb Raider: Underworld и преработени и подобрени издания на Tomb Raider: Legend и Tomb Raider: Anniversary.
 Tomb Raider – Играта е пусната в продажба на 5 март 2013 г. в световен мащаб за платформите: Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 и PlayStation 3, в Австралия играта е пусната няколко дни по-рано на 1 март 2013 г., а на 25 април 2013 г. започва продажбата на играта и в Япония. Действието на играта се развива около първото приключение на Лара Крофт, когато след претърпяване на корабокрушение, тя попада на неизследван остров близо до Япония. Сценарият е написан от Риана Пратчет (). По време на Е3 Expo 2011, Square Enix публикуват първите трейлъри на играта, която спечелва множество похвали и номинации  и се очертава като едно от най-очакваните заглавия през 2012 г.  Дебютният CG трейлър "Turning point", направен от Crystal Dynamics и Visual Works, е избран за най-добър в класация на IGN по време на изложението E3 Expo 2011  и класиран на 37-о място в класацията на Gametrailers за 100-те най-добри трейлъри на всички времена към 2011 г.  На Е3 2012 играта печели още една награда от IGN в категорията: Best Overall Game на изложението.  Озвучаването и движенията на Лара Крофт ще бъдат направени от актрисата Камила Лъдингтън () посредством технологията motion capture.
 Rise of the Tomb Raider

Филми

До 2014 г. са издадени 2 филма, в които ролята на Лара е изиграна от актрисата Анджелина Джоли и са заснети от компанията Paramount Pictures.
 Томб Райдър (2001)
 Томб Райдър: Люлката на живота (2003)

Правата за третия филм са купени от GK Films през 2010 г., след като Paramount Pictures и Warner Bros. преди това се отказват от екранизацията на третата част. През 2018 г. излиза и третия игрален филм, а главната героиня е изиграна от актрисата Алисия Викандер.

Източници

Външни препратки
 Официална страница на поредицата видео игри
 Уики страница свързана с поредицата
 Форум страница свързана с поредицата
 Официална страница на EIDOS
 Официална страница на SQUARE-ENIX

Видеоигри


By Don Davis on Jul 15, 2011 at 12:48 p.m.
ST. PAUL -- Minnesota leaders hope a special legislative session starts Monday to finish the state budget and end a state government shutdown.
Gov. Mark Dayton said on Minnesota Public Radio this noon that he and legislative leaders set a 10 p.m. deadline today for finishing budget talks, giving legislative staff members enough time to put spending bills in the proper order for a Monday session.
Dayton said a budget deal he made with Republican legislative leaders Thursday afternoon gave him everything he wanted other than raising revenue by taxing the rich.
"They were not going to agree to that," Dayton said, so he accepted a Republican plan to borrow $1.4 billion.
Overall, Dayton said, "I feel very good about the result."
Politicians from both major parties said they did not like the result, but many are accepting it because the deal can end the longest shutdown in state history and the longest in the country in a couple decades.
However, Democratic-Farmer-Laborite leaders said they may not be able to support the budget bills due to be in front of them next week.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said that he does not plan to vote for what he calls "a borrowing plan."
-- Delay state payments to schools, providing $700 million. That is on top of an existing payment delay, meaning 40 percent of school payments will be delayed, forcing many districts to borrow money to keep operating.
-- Borrow against future tobacco lawsuit payments, providing $700 million.
-- Drop a Republican plan to reduce state workforce 15 percent, one of the GOP's main ways to cut down state government.
-- Remove all policy items not related to the budget from spending bills, such as requiring voters to present photo identification, banning human cloning and restricting abortions.
-- Pass a public works construction bill of at least $500 million, which would include repairs and construction at state facilities and flood-prevention efforts.
The Thursday deal was based on a Republican budget offer given Dayton on June 30. It basically replaced Dayton's tax increase on top Minnesota earners with the plan to borrow from schools and tobacco funds.
Legislators left St. Paul on May 23, their constitutional adjournment deadline. Dayton vetoed most of their spending bills the day later, saying the state needs more money than the Republicans provided.
Republicans, meanwhile, demanded to hold spending at $34 billion for the next two years. In the end, they agreed to spending at least $1.4 billion more than that, but without a tax increase.
Don Davis reports for Forum Communications Co.


Reiki Energy can help every living thing. From plants and trees to pets and especially people, we can all benefit from a Reiki Energy Healing Session! During a session you will remain relaxed and at peace while fully clothed as a Reiki Practitioner applies Healing Energy Medicine to all points of the body. Reiki can be offered to anyone at any age. Energy Healing Sessions are usually performed in a quiet place, preferably a practitioner's office and sessions usually last 30-60 minutes. Reiki is a spiritual practice but does not pertain to any one religion so anyone can receive Healing Energy Medicine.
Reiki is a powerful tool used for balancing out energy centers in the body. We are all made up of energy and one of the best ways to balance and heal that energy is with Reiki Energy! When energy centers are weakened in the body, we are more apt to take on illness or injury. Reiki brings that energy back to a balanced state for the body to be healthy and strong. Most people report warmth, vibration and some even say they feel a healing occurring within their body.
It is very beneficial to receive Reiki when undergoing surgery or cancer treatment. Pamela Picard has been trained as a Medical Reiki Master™ to go into surgery and follow you through your whole surgical process; before, during and after surgery. Benefits noted are: very little blood loss, body remains warm to the touch so tissue is more pliable, blood pressure remains stable and there are very little pain meds requested after surgery. Doctors have also noted that patients that receive Reiki during surgery recover more quickly. Also, when Reiki is offered to Cancer patients during treatments, patients tend to show very little side effects. Reiki can also be very beneficial to Hospice patients and their families offering them comfort and support during a very stressful time in their life.
Sign up to hear from us about special events, trainings and our NEW Destination Trainings!
Copyright © 2018 REIKI MEDICAL- ENERGY HEALING SERVICES - All Rights Reserved.


Addressing a growing segment within the RV industry, Airstream has announced plans to bolster its Class B motorhome business. Airstream has reorganized its sales force and announced three key hires dedicated solely to the company's new Touring Coach division, which includes the 2011 Airstream Interstate and Airstream Avenue motorized coaches.
Airstream's focus on the Class B market is motivated by the growing strength of this segment. Statistical Surveys Inc (SSI) reports that year-to-date Class B sales are up 42.8 percent over 2009, illustrating the BVan lifestyle as a growing trend nationwide. As such, Airstream has restructured its sales force and hired a general manager for its touring coach division, Tim Garner, along with two regional sales directors – John Huttle for the western United States and Scott Lucas for the east.
The 2011 Airstream Interstate went on sale June 2010 and the 2011 Avenue Sept. 2010. Both are presently available at dealers across the United States.


text:
Killer Love ist das Debütalbum der US-amerikanischen Pop-Sängerin Nicole Scherzinger. Es wurde am 18. März 2011 erstmals in Großbritannien veröffentlicht. Mit den Arbeiten an dem Album hat Nicole Scherzinger bereits 2005 angefangen. Damals wollte sie das Album mit dem Namen Her Name Is Nicole herausbringen. Aber wegen zeitlicher Unstimmigkeiten in Bezug auf die Pussycat-Dolls-Tour hat sie die Arbeiten an ihrem Debütalbum verschoben. Am Album mitgewirkt haben Produzenten wie RedOne (Poker Face, Lady Gaga) oder auch Stargate (Broken-Hearted Girl, Beyoncé, Closer, Ne-Yo oder auch Rude Boy, Rihanna).

Singles
Als Lead-Single hat Nicole Scherzinger die von Red One produzierte Hymne Poison ausgesucht. Die Single war sehr erfolgreich und stieg in vielen europäischen Ländern in die Top 20 der Charts ein. In England schaffte es die Single auf Platz 3 der offiziellen Single-Charts.

Als zweite Single hat sie Don't Hold Your Breath veröffentlicht. Der Titel war ursprünglich für Timbalands zweites Album Shock Value 2 geplant, geschrieben und eingesungen von Keri Hilson. Aus unbekannten Gründen wurde der Song nicht auf Timbalands Album veröffentlicht und von DJ Dave Audé neu produziert. Die Single schaffte es auf Anhieb auf Platz 1 in England.

Als dritte Single hat Nicole Scherzinger Right There, ein Track mit Rapper 50 Cent, veröffentlicht. Es war ihre erste in den Vereinigten Staaten veröffentlichte Single. Sie erreichte damit in vielen Ländern hohe Positionen in den Charts. In den Vereinigten Staaten schaffte sie es auf Rang 39 der Billboard-Charts. Im Vereinigten Königreich gelang die Single erneut in die Top 3 der Singlecharts. In Deutschland erreichte sie allein durch hohe Downloadzahlen Platz 61 der offiziellen Singlecharts. Als Nächstes hat sie die Singles Wet und Try with Me veröffentlicht.

Promotion
Nicole Scherzinger promotete ihr Album in Europa durch ihre Killer Love-Tour. Außerdem hat sie viele Songs in der US-amerikanischen Version von X-Factor präsentiert.

Titelliste

Charts
In Deutschland erreichte das Album Platz 85 der Albumcharts und blieb eine Woche in den Top 100. In der Schweiz schaffte es das Album auf Rang 55 der offiziellen Albumcharts. In den britischen Albumcharts erreichte das Album auf Anhieb Platz acht. Nicole gab in einem Interview bekannt, dass das Album nicht mehr in den Vereinigten Staaten erscheinen wird.

Platzierungen

Quellen

Album 2011
Album (Pop)
Album (Contemporary R&B)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
from rpython.rtyper.test.test_llinterp import gengraph
from rpython.rtyper.lltypesystem import lltype
from rpython.tool.algo.regalloc import perform_register_allocation
from rpython.flowspace.model import Variable
from rpython.conftest import option

def is_int(v):
    return v.concretetype == lltype.Signed

def check_valid(graph, regalloc, consider_var):
    if getattr(option, 'view', False):
        graph.show()
    num_renamings = 0
    for block in graph.iterblocks():
        inputs = [v for v in block.inputargs if consider_var(v)]
        colors = [regalloc.getcolor(v) for v in inputs]
        print inputs, ':', colors
        assert len(inputs) == len(set(colors))
        in_use = dict(zip(colors, inputs))
        for op in block.operations:
            for v in op.args:
                if isinstance(v, Variable) and consider_var(v):
                    assert in_use[regalloc.getcolor(v)] is v
            if consider_var(op.result):
                in_use[regalloc.getcolor(op.result)] = op.result
        for link in block.exits:
            for i, v in enumerate(link.args):
                if consider_var(v):
                    assert in_use[regalloc.getcolor(v)] is v
                    w = link.target.inputargs[i]
                    if regalloc.getcolor(v) is not regalloc.getcolor(w):
                        print '\trenaming %s:%d -> %s:%d' % (
                            v, regalloc.getcolor(v), w, regalloc.getcolor(w))
                        num_renamings += 1
    return num_renamings

def test_loop_1():
    def f(a, b):
        while a > 0:
            b += a
            a -= 1
        return b
    t, rtyper, graph = gengraph(f, [int, int], viewbefore=False)
    regalloc = perform_register_allocation(graph, is_int)
    num_renamings = check_valid(graph, regalloc, is_int)
    assert num_renamings == 0

def test_loop_2():
    def f(a, b):
        while a > 0:
            b += a
            if b < 10:
                a, b = b, a
            a -= 1
        return b
    t, rtyper, graph = gengraph(f, [int, int], viewbefore=False)
    regalloc = perform_register_allocation(graph, is_int)
    num_renamings = check_valid(graph, regalloc, is_int)
    assert num_renamings == 2

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Asian Development (14)
[[missing key: search-facet.tree.open-section]] Environment (116)
Environmental Geography (16)
Agricultural Economics x
A History of the Global Economy
The Inevitable Accident
Colin White
Providing an exceptional overview and analysis of the global economy, from the origins of Homo sapiens to the present day, Colin White explores our past to help understand our economic future. He veers away from traditional Eurocentric approaches, providing a truly global scope for readers. The main themes include the creative innovativeness of humans and how this generates economic progression, the common economic pathway trodden by all societies, and the complementary relationship between government and the market.
In A History of the Global Economy
About this Research Review
Elgar Research Reviews in Economics
Raghbendra Jha and Raghav Gaiha
In The Economics of Food Security
The Economics of Food Security
Professor Jha and Professor Gaiha address important issues of food security in their wide-ranging selection of the most influential published contributions in this area of study. Their comprehensive, original Research Review discusses each article and places it within the context of twelve distinct themes, from which emerges a cogent view of the developing scholarly literature in this area and of the challenges that still remain.
Pay to Access Content (USD $35.00)
Centralized versus individual: governance of farmer professional cooperatives in China
Xiangping Jia, Yamei Hu and George Hendrikse
In recent years, China's government promoted the emergence of Farmer Professional Cooperatives (FPCs) and anticipated restructuring the production system of agriculture through larger-scale operations more like those in Europe or America. Notwithstanding the immense initiative, there is insufficient knowledge about how this changes the governance of farmer cooperatives at the local level. Based on a national survey conducted in 2009, this chapter shows that decision-making of production and marketing within FPCs in China is retained by individual farmers. However, the decision rights of farming are decomposed into input procurement, output marketing, and production. While the rights regarding production stay with family farms, the decision rights regarding input purchase and output marketing tend to be committed to FPCs. The governance structure of FPCs presents hybrid forms of both hierarchy and family farming. The study also finds that product attributes (such as perishability, marketing frequency, and branding), heterogeneity of the membership, and agribusiness policies affect the decision rights within the FPCs in China.
In Cooperatives, Economic Democratization and Rural Development
Edited by Jos Bijman, Roldan Muradian and Jur Schuurman
The changing nature of farmer collective action: introduction to the book
Jos Bijman
This chapter argues that farmer collective action in developing countries is in a process of transformation. While traditional farmer organizations and cooperatives had social, political and economic functions, the new producer organizations (POs) are mainly focusing on improving the market access of their members. Providing market information, establishing quality control systems and improving logistics are some of the main functions of the new POs. As POs come in many kinds and sizes, the chapter first presents a typology, particularly distinguishing between market-oriented business organizations and other rural membership organizations. This chapter reviews the literature on the role of POs in vertical coordination, contracting and market access. Finally, it discusses the effects of the assumed transformation process on the inclusiveness of the organization, on the efficiency of the internal governance, and on strengthening member relations.
Cooperatives, Economic Democratization and Rural Development
Agricultural cooperatives and producer organizations are institutional innovations which have the potential to reduce poverty and improve food security. This book presents a raft of international case studies, from developing and transition countries, to analyse the internal and external challenges that these complex organizations face and the solutions that they have developed. The contributors provide a greater understanding of the transformation of traditional community organizations into modern farmer-owned businesses. They cover issues including: the impact on rural development and inclusiveness, the role of social capital, formal versus informal organizations, democratic participation and member relations, and their role in value chains.
Cooperatives in rural development and poverty alleviation
Concepts of agricultural transformation promote market liberalization and commercialization of small farms as strategies for growth and poverty reduction. But small-farmer participation in globalizing agricultural markets is risky. In OECD countries, farmer collective action has managed to reduce some of the risks of participating in the market by forming powerful vertically integrated cooperative organizations. This chapter discusses key issues in the discussion on pro-poor agricultural development and identifies the position and functions of rural cooperatives for a concept of pro-poor agricultural transformation. Differentiating between types of farmer-based organizations, concepts of rural transformation, determinants for successful collective action and dimensions of poverty, the chapter seeks to conceptually contribute towards explaining why cooperatives are often presented as tools for poverty alleviation although the results of analysing their effectiveness in alleviating poverty are rather mixed. The chapter draws conclusions for future research on the subject and for drafting group-based development policies.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Creamy, crunchy, bacon-y: these deviled eggs are everything you're craving. For an instant upgrade, mix in sweet pickle relish and dijon, then top with French's® Fried Crunchy Onions and extra bacon.
LIGHTLY mash egg yolks in small bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except 30 mL crumbled bacon.
SPOON or pipe into egg whites. Garnish with Crunchy Onions, if desired, and additional crumbled bacon. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Test Kitchen Tip:Spoon or pipe leftover filling onto crackers or endive leaves for a delicious appetizer or snack.


Like all epic poems, The Odyssey is a cultural document that embodies the values of the society that created it, providing insight into ideas of heroism and virtue during the poet's day. The most important value at the core of The Odyssey is hospitality, a social custom common to nearly all pre-modern societies and essential to ancient Greek social structure. Hospitality, also called "guest-friendship," was a social ritual expected of men in the Greek world. Under the rules of hospitality, men would be expected to host visitors, providing them with food, a bath, friendship gifts, the promise of safety for the night, and safe escorted travel to their next destination. In return, guests would be expected to pose no threat to the life or property of their hosts and to return the favor if their hosts should turn up at their homes in the future. This idea underlies nearly every section of Odysseus's journey, from his encounter with the Cyclops to his stay among the Phaeacians to his defeat of the greedy suitors. The Odyssey can be thought of as a manual for a host of how to (and how not to) show hospitality to a guest and vice versa.
Telemachus, the focus of the first four books of The Odyssey, provides an early example of good hospitality as both a host and a guest. In Book 1, Athena comes to Ithaca in disguise as the hero Mentes to convince Telemachus to go in search of news of Odysseus. The narrator makes it clear that Telemachus is the only one in the household to treat the guest with the proper respect: "straight to the porch he went, mortified that a guest might still be standing at the doors…he clasped her right hand and relieving her at once of her long bronze spear, met her with winged words: 'Greetings, stranger! Here in our house you'll find a royal welcome. Have supper first, then tell us what you need.'" As is proper for hosts, Telemachus welcomes his guest and provides food and drink before even asking the guest's identity. Telemachus's behavior is especially notable because of the lack of attention paid by the rest of the household. Likewise, Telemachus displays proper behavior for a guest at the courts of Nestor and Menelaus in Pylos and Sparta, respecting his hosts' households and treating them with honor.
The true exemplars of good hospitality in The Odyssey are the Phaeacians who host Odysseus when he washes ashore near their town. In Book 6, Odysseus meets Princess Nausicaa, who, despite the threat of a strange man and the possibility of becoming the subject of rumor, offers him food and help reaching the city of Scheria. Her parents, King Alcinous and Queen Arete, are similarly hospitable. Before asking Odysseus's name, they provide him with food, entertainment, and lodging. Alcinous considers hospitality part of his sacred duty to the gods, declaring, "Mix the wine in the bowl, pour rounds to all our banqueters in the house so we can pour out cups to Zeus who loves the lightning, champion of suppliants—suppliants' rights are sacred." In Book 8, the king and queen even stop a performance of an epic poem when its subject matter, the Trojan War, causes Odysseus to burst into tears. After Odysseus reveals his identity and tells his story, the Phaeacians convey him to Ithaca and leave him on the shore with numerous precious gifts, the ultimate hospitable act.
Just as the Phaeacians are the pinnacle of good hospitality, the Cyclops represents the most extreme example of bad hospitality toward one's guests. Whereas the Phaeacians do not ask Odysseus's identity until after they have taken care of his physical needs, the first thing the Cyclops asks of his Greek visitors is their identities: "'Strangers!' he thundered out, 'now who are you? Where did you sail from, over the running sea-lanes?'" Odysseus begs that the Cyclops respect the gods and the customs of hospitality, but the Cyclops claims not to care about the gods or their customs: "We Cyclops never blink at Zeus and Zeus's shield of storm and thunder, or any other blessed god—we've got more force by far." Next, instead of providing his guests with a meal, he makes a meal of them, snatching up two of the men and eating them raw. Finally, when Odysseus asks the Cyclops for a "guest-gift," an official token of the guest-friend relationship, the Cyclops offers his sarcastic spin on the custom: he'll eat Odysseus last.
In The Odyssey being a good guest is of equal importance to being a good host, and the suitors represent the worst possible behavior for guests entering the household of a stranger. Telemachus describes their behavior in Book 2: "They infest our palace day and night, they butcher our cattle, our sheep, our fat goats, feasting themselves sick, swilling our glowing wine as if there's no tomorrow—all of it, squandered." In Odysseus's absence, the suitors take advantage of the lack of a male head of household to consume his entire livelihood in the hopes that Penelope will eventually agree to marry one of them. While normal guest-host bonds are about equal relationships, the suitors pervert this by taking advantage of the weakened household because there is no leader to stop them. This moral outrage, although somewhat less intense for modern readers, would have made the suitors' deaths at the end of the poem a supremely satisfying conclusion for ancient Greek audiences.


text:
How Gil Scott-Heron made way for a generation of rap revolutionaries
On what would have been his 70th birthday, we look back at the exceptional legacy of the poet, musician, and novelist
Even if you're not familiar with Gil Scott-Heron, it's likely you've unknowingly encountered his work in some form. The late artist's poeticisms have taken on a life beyond their architect, from his extensive sampling in hip hop music, to cover versions like soul singer Leon Bridges' recent resurrection of "Whitey On The Moon" [...]
Kurt Cobain's Undying Influence on modern Hip Hop
Kurt Cobain's influence on hip-hop past and present
In 2019, rappers idolize Kurt Cobain more than they idolize rap legends. The art form has been heavily influenced by SoundCloud rap; a subgenre which makes use of DIY aesthetics and shrill vocals—decades after Nirvana mastered those qualities without really caring to. Many of its stars see Cobain as an [...]


text:
THE SECRET HISTORY OF LOVE – Santa Monica, CA
By Sean Dorsey Dance
August 4 & 5
Dates: Saturday August 4 @ 8:30pm
Sunday August 5 @ 7:00pmFREE dance workshop
Sunday August 5 @ 1pm-3pm
(see listing below)
Location: Highways Performance Space
At 18th Street Arts Center
(½ block north of Olympic Blvd)
Santa Monica, CA 90404 [map]
Tickets: $20 general admission
$15 members/students/seniors
No one turned away for lack of funds
Information & Reservations: 310-315-1459
Online tickets: www.highwaysperformance.org
Fresh from sold-out runs in Boston, Miami, Santa Cruz and San Francisco … The Secret History Of Love comes to Los Angeles! DON'T MISS THIS TWO-NIGHTS-ONLY SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT! The weekend includes a FREE transgender- and queer-friendly beginning dance workshop on Sunday (see listing below).
The Secret History Of Love is a powerful new full-length production from award-winning Sean Dorsey Dance ("San Francisco's Best Dance/Performance Company" – SF Weekly). Through full-bodied dance, theater and storytelling, the show uncovers the ways that queer and transgender people managed to find – and love – each other in decades past. Secret love affairs, the history of outlawing love and the underground ways that transgender and queer people found each other through the decades are revealed in these powerful dances.
The show is based on Dorsey's national LGBT Elders Oral History Project and archival research. For two years, Dorsey conducted extensive research and recorded oral history interviews with LGBT elders. The voices and real-life stories of these remarkable people come alive onstage.
From 1920s speakeasies to outrageous 1940s love affairs, from police raids to passionate love letters, from Personals to the Internet, the "love that dared not speak its name" emerges from buried history and explodes onstage in these full-bodied dances. Read more about the show…
The Secret History Of Love features a stellar cast of dancers and performers: Juan De La Rosa, Sean Dorsey, Brian Fisher, Nol Simonse and Shawna Virago. Original music by Jesse Olsen Bay, Storm Miguel Florez, Alex Kelly, Ben Kessler, Jeffrey Alphonsus Mooney and Keith Kenniff; Sound Engineering by Laura Dean; Costume Design by Tiffany Amundson; Production Assistance by Emily Paulson.
The Secret History of Love's Los Angeles Tour is supported by these COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Los Angeles Transgender Film Festival, L.A. AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Eclectic Stage Productions, Gender Justice Los Angeles, Transgender Leadership Academy.
The Secret History Of Love was created with generous support from the Queer Cultural Center, the Creative Work Fund (a program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund supported by generous grants from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation), the San Francisco Arts Commission, the National Performance Network's Creation Fund, The Theater Offensive (Boston), Links Hall (Chicago) and The New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project (with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation).


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Resource Types 2 U.S. States 5 Counties 5 Years 4 Months 6 Days 9
Collection: Moses and Stephen F. Austin Papers Title: Austin Papers: Series III, 1831-1834 County: Philadelphia County, PA Clear All Filters
[Transcript of an invoice for Perry and Hunter from Brown, Chase and Co., October 4, 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for an invoice for goods purchased by Perry and Hunter from Brown, Chase and Co.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Text
[Transcript of an invoice for Perry and Hunter from Charles Harkness, October 12, 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for an invoice for goods purchased by Perry and Hunter from Charles Harkness.
[Transcript of an invoice for Perry and Hunter from Conrad and Kelly, October 4, 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for an invoice for goods purchased by Perry and Hunter from Conrad and Kelly.
[Transcript of an invoice for Perry and Hunter from Earps McCain and Co., October 8, 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for an invoice for goods purchased by Perry and Hunter from Earps McCain and Co.
[Transcript of an invoice for Perry and Hunter from Gil, Ferguson and Co., October 8, 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for an invoice for goods purchased by Perry and Hunter from Gil, Ferguson and Co.
[Transcript of an invoice for Perry and Hunter from J. Lukens and Son, October 11, 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for an invoice for goods purchased by Perry and Hunter from J. Lukens and Son.
[Transcript of letter from Brown, Chase and Co. to Perry and Hunter, October 8, 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for a letter from Brown, Chase and Co. to Perry and Hunter, informing Perry and Hunter that they have filled their order placed with Browns and Lewis.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Letter
[Transcript of Letter from Ferguson & Co. to James Perry, February 17, 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for a letter from Ferguson & Co. to James F. Perry, on February 17, 1831, informing him that they have sent the cloth for Stephen F. Austin's coat to Austin & Taylor in New York, and offering their condolences on the death of Samuel Perry.
Creator: Ferguson & Co.
[Transcript of letter from Gill, Ferguson and Co. to Perry and Hunter, November 29, 1831
Description: Copy of transcript for a letter from Gill, Ferguson and Co. to Perry and Hunter, in which they explain an error in charges and pass along an invoice for saddles from J. Lukens and Son.
[Transcript of letter from Perry and Hunter, December 21, 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for a letter from Perry and Hunter reporting that the schooner The Dart is missing with goods that the recipient had sent to Perry and Hunter.
[Transcript of letter from Perry and Hunter to John G. Stevenson, March 12, 1832]
Description: Copy of transcript for a letter from Perry and Hunter to John G. Stevenson, reporting the safe arrival of the schooner The Dart and discussing the payment for some of the goods on board.
[Transcript of Letter from Thomas F. Leaming to James F. Perry, October 21, 1834]
Description: Copy of transcript for a letter from Thomas F. Leaming to James F. Perry, on October 21, 1834, discussing the receipt of fifty dollars, the trial of Jacob Fox of Salem, and the second edition of a map of Texas. He also mentions a man and his family from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania who wish to move to Texas.
Creator: Leaming, Thomas F.
[Transcript of Letter from Thomas F. Leaming to Stephen F. Austin, February 27, 1833]
Description: Copy of transcript for a letter from Thomas F. Leaming to Stephen F. Austin, on February 27, 1833, discussing the postponement of the trial of the heirs of Jacob Fox, due to Fox's own death and their senior counsel being elected governor of Pennsylvania and subsequently being appointed to the United States Senate.
[Transcript of Letter from Thomas F. Leaming to Stephen F. Austin, October 14, 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for a letter from Thomas F. Leaming to Stephen F. Austin, on October 14, 1831, informing him of a letter written discussing the suit against Jacob Fox of Salem, and mentioning four maps that he has sent to Austin. He also asks that he receive $50 to continue to pursue the suit against Fox.
[Transcript of letter from W. W. Hunter and James F. Perry to John G. Stevenson, September 21, 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for a letter from W. W. Hunter and James F. Perry to John G. Stevenson requesting goods to purchase and send to Texas, as well as the discussing the settlement of James S. Terry's estate.
[Transcript of letter from W. W. Hunter to Fill Ferguson and Co., March 1831]
Description: Copy of transcript for a letter from W. W. Hunter to Gill Ferguson and Co. reporting on business and predicting when he will be able to pay back his debt for goods purchased.
Text 6 6 Letter 10 10
Louisiana 2 2 Missouri 1 1 New York 4 4 Pennsylvania 16 16 Texas 9 9
Austin County, TX 6 6 Brazoria County, TX 3 3 Dauphin County, PA 1 1 Orleans Parish, LA 2 2 Washington County, MO 1 1
1831 13 13 1832 1 1 1833 1 1 1834 1 1
February 2 2 March 2 2 September 1 1 October 9 9 November 1 1 December 1 1
4th 2 2 8th 3 3 11th 1 1 12th 2 2 14th 1 1 17th 1 1 21st 3 3 27th 1 1 29th 1 1


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European Commission takes UK to court over VAT on energy-saving products
The European Commission is taking the UK to court over its reduced VAT rate on energy-saving products.
The UK charges 5% instead of the standard 20%. Under EU VAT rules, discounts are only allowed for social policy reasons, not environmental reasons.
In a statement, the European Commission said: "Member States themselves unanimously decided on the list of goods and services that could benefit from a reduced VAT rate, and they also insisted that this list be strictly applied, with no room for manoeuvre or interpretation. This is important to prevent competitive distortions in the Single Market and to ensure a fair and level playing field between all Member States."
The Commissions added economic studies showed reduced VAT rates "are often not the best way to achieve policy objectives" and direct subsidies could be more efficient.
Stationary fuel cell developer ACAL Energy appoints new CEO
UK hydrogen fuel cell developer ACAL Energy has appointed Greg McCray as CEO, the company said in a statement.
McCray was previously CEO of Antenova Limited, a wireless components company. While at Antenova, Greg transformed the organisation into the world's fastest-growing innovative antenna business, backed by global venture capitalists and major institutional funds.
ACAL Energy claims it has a "revolutionary approach" to hydrogen fuel cell technology buy using 80% less platinum on average. This results in a significant cost and footprint reduction.
After eight years of R&D investment, ACAL Energy is now ready to license its FlowCath fuel cell technology to major automotive manufacturers and companies in the stationary power industry, it said.
Samsung and Xtreme Power team up for smart grid project
Samsung SDI and Xtreme Power are installing a 1MW/1MWh lithium-manganese oxide energy storage system for a demonstrative smart grid project in Texas. The system, to be installed at the Reese Technology Centre in Lubbock, is partly funded by the Department of Energy.
The project aims to promote utility scale energy storage with wind energy. The battery system will be utilised to regulate power generated from local wind turbines that suffer from intermittent loss of generation.
Samsung's lithium-ion battery technology together with Xtreme Power's Xtreme Active Control Technology (XACT), which gives millisecond response time, will enable the wind generated power to be fed into the national grid.
This is the first project Samsung SDI and Xtreme Power have worked on together to provide energy storage solutions for renewable integration and grid support. The companies have formed the alliance to reach renewable energy goals and promote a cleaner electric grid.
ESPL
MEMS Power Generation to keep power running at London Uni
A major London university contracted MEMS Power Generation to provide temporary power for the continuation of medical research and experiments during maintenance work.
MEMS supplied a total of 4100kVA to six buildings on the university site that house 20 years of experiments that cannot be affected by ongoing site maintenance.
Engineers installed two 800kVA generators, that will work in parallel redundancy, and 2600kg of cabling for total resilience. This was followed by two 1250kVA generators, which will work in parallel to power the site's main building.
MEMS Power Generation, commented: "The University is renowned for carrying out a vast amount of medical research, so the temporary power we supplied needed to ensure that experiments and testing could carry on as normal during the maintenance period. If power had been lost, potentially 20 yeas of experiments could have been lost.
"Our aim was to ensure that the buildings never lost power for more than 15 minutes on installation of the temporary equipment and on reinstatement of the mains supply."
Oz energy firm offer $10 000 in grants
Australia's biggest energy retailer, Origin, is offering AUS$10 000 in grants to encourage customers to install energy saving devices. The programme is intended to raise awareness of where energy savings can be made at household and business level.
The programme, called Origin Local Savers, is open to households, businesses and community groups in Ballarat, Victoria, with five grants being given out in total.
"We hope that Origin Local Savers will help Ballarat residents become more aware of the simple things that can be done around the office, home or in the community," said Amy Stockfield, Origin Consumer Media and Partnerships Manager.
The grant money can be used to upgrade electrical appliances, install eco-friendly lamps or set up timer switches to reduce the use of standby power.
New CEO at ACAL Energy to raise funds
UK-based ACAL Energy has appointed a new Chief Executive. Greg McCray will lead the hydrogen fuel cell company as it continues fundraising and trialing products in the automotive and stationary power industries.
ACAL is now ready to license its technology - a smaller, more durable fuel cell designed with 80% less platinum to keep costs low.
McCray said: "The clean power sector is on the crest of a new wave of technology innovation. Hydrogen fuel cells are an important part of that wave and commercialising hydrogen power will mean we break our reliance on fossil fuels. The future looks very exciting as auto-makers and power-hungry industries, such as manufacturing, explore hydrogen as an alternative fuel source."
ACAL has spent eight years developing what it calls a revolutionary approach to fuel cell technology that is ready to progress from trial deployments to licensing to car manufacturers.
McCray joins ACAL from Antenova Ltd, a global wireless components company, which he transformed into a fast-growing antenna business backed by venture capitalists worldwide. This experience will be utilised to mass-market the ACAL fuel cell, via licensing agreements, into the automotive industry.
Energy storage for commercial buildings set to grow $4bn over next decade
Global revenue for commercial building energy systems will grow from $3.9bn in 2013 to more than $7.5bn in 2022, according to a new report by Pike Research.
The commercial buildings market is currently the largest source of revenue for stationary energy storage companies, primarily due to a robust UPS industry, which requires an energy storage component. Pike Research says that segment alone is estimated to generate $3.7bn in global sales in 2013.
In addition, there is a relatively healthy market for thermal energy systems, which use thermal mass - either ice or ceramic brick - to store energy for later use in climate control in a building. That market is estimated to be worth $89.6m in 2013.
Finally, an emerging segment of electrical energy storage systems is beginning to be established in some parts of the world.
Cummins India sees 15-20% price rise on new emissions regulations
Cummins India expects a 15-20% price rise in the cost of its genset engines once new emissions control regulations are introduced.
CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB ) II emissions control regulations apply to genset engines below 800 kVA. CPCB II was due to be introduced in July 2013, but the CPCB is yet to notify engine manufacturers of the new standards.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18 in India, chief financial officer Rajiv Batra said: "So far the CPCB II norms have not been notified and after notification there is a cooling period, which the law stipulates as one year. But there could be a 15-20% price increase in the cost of the engine."
The company said last year that engines would cost 10-15% higher while gensets would cost 5-7% higher (up to 800 kVA) once CPCB II is implemented.
Enersys and Ioxus partnership to share expertise
Enersys and Ioxus have entered a joint agreement to develop and market new products incorporating the core experience of both companies. The benefits will combine Enersys's knowledge of batteries with Ioxus's expertise in the ultracapacitor market.
The partnership will focus on bringing to market products related to regenerative braking and energy recovery in the material handling market markets, UPS bridge to generator markets, automotive and heavy truck critical and cold start markets, as well as energy storage/power conditioning markets.
"The combination of Enersys battery technology with Ioxus ultracapacitor technology will benefit many vertical markets in need of high-performance, extended energy storage life under harsh environmental conditions, including select automotive markets," said Mark McGough, CEO of Ioxus.
John Gagge, Vice President of Enersys America's Reserve Power Sales and Service, said Enersys is pleased to be working with Ioxus to bring better solutions to its customer base. The joining of ultracapacitors with Enersys's product portfolio will expand the markets for both companies and Enersys hopes to bring benefits to users in both stand-alone and hybrid applications.
Flow-Rite welcomes new members to its team
Flow-Rite has two new members of staff coming to work at the company. Sara McMurray joins Flow-Rite as the Central Regional Manager and Tanya Jones has been announced as the Quality Manager.
McMurray has a background in thermal processing and brings this experience to the role. She will be working with new and existing distributors as well as developing new business with national accounts. "We're thrilled to welcome Sara," says Todd Hart, Sales Director for Flow-Rite. "As a talented, technical sales professional with an emphasis on customer service, Sara is a great addition to our team."
Jones has worked in quality processing from suppliers to OEMs and has experience implementing quality management systems. "We are extremely pleased that Tanya has joined the Flow-Rite team," says Mike Semm, General Manager for Flow-Rite. "With Tanya's experience as a Quality Engineer and in supplier development, she will offer a fresh perspective to our organisation and bolster our efforts on continuous improvement."


Australia's most powerful media organisation creating breakthrough marketing solutions that drive product sales and return on investment for our valued clients.
RED harnesses the resources of Australia's biggest audience company delivering content to 17 million people a month, across multiple touch-points.
But it's not just about delivering audiences. It's about creating connections between brands and customers through engaging content and activations that drive results.
RED offers the most extensive suite of integrated resources available in market; enabling Seven West Media to consistently deliver the most innovative marketing solutions to the industry through continuous investment in the future.
We are the cross-platform solutions division of Seven West Media. We are the industry leaders in developing creative campaigns that drive commercial success. We are the team who makes it happen.
Winner – Beauty - Priceline What's Your Health Age?


In the US of A and Europe we still have hours to go until we ring in 2015 with much revelry, merriment and perhaps a midnight smooch. But in Australia, the New Year has already arrived.
Two hours and two minutes ago (as of the very moment I write this sentence) Sydney celebrated the New Year, and already photos are rolling in from 500px photographers down under.
Chances are good many more photos of the spectacular fireworks display in Sydney harbor will go live over the next several hours and days, but we thought we'd reward the first to the game by posting the images newswire style as they go up.
So, from our 500px friends who spent the last several hours setting up their shots in Sydney, Happy New Year!
If you don't see your shot here, or you find one that we should have posted and missed, drop us a line in the comments! We'll try to stay on top of the comments and update the post as the day wears on.
And don't forget to visit the 500px ISO Group and let us know what your 2015 photography resolution is. The best 15 will be posted on ISO!


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You're here: Home»Tickets & Entertainment»Museums & Exhibitions »Twickenham World Rugby Museum and Stadium Tour
Twickenham World Rugby Museum and Stadium Tour
Duration Approx. 75 Minutes + Museum
Entry to the immersive Twickenham World Rugby Museum
Enjoy a behind-the-scenes stadium tour
Step inside the changing room for the England team
Feel what the players do as you experience the Twickenham tunnel
Take advantage of exclusive VIP areas
24 26 29 30 Jan 2020 Feb 2020 Mar 2020 Apr 2020 May 2020 Jun 2020 Jul 2020 Aug 2020 Sep 2020 Oct 2020 Nov 2020 Dec 2020 Jan 2021 Feb 2021 Mar 2021 Tour Calendar
10:30 AM 12:30 PM 2:30 PM
Adult $32.63 0 1 2 3 4 5
Child (5 - 15 Years) $19.57 0 1 2 3 4 5
Senior/Student $26.10 0 1 2 3 4 5
Infant (0 - 5 years) $0.00 0 1 2 3 4 5
1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020
Museum Opening Hours
Tuesday to Saturday: 10:00am – 5:00pm
Stadium Tours:
Tuesday to Friday: 10:30am, 12:30pm, 2:30pm
Saturday: 10:30am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm, 2:30pm
Sunday: 11:30am, 1:00pm, 2:30pm
Departure point: Tours start at the England Rugby Store, Twickenham South Stand, Whitton Road, Twickenham TW2 7BA (South West corner of the Stadium)
Regular Closures: Mondays, Easter Sunday, Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, New Year's Day.
Click here to view schedule closures due to matches and event
As one of the most iconic sporting locations in the world, Twickenham Stadium is an absolute must-visit for any rugby fan. Home to the world's best collection of rugby memorabilia, the World Rugby Museum takes you on a journey through the sport's history with fascinating exhibitions and immersive experiences.
Twickenham Stadium Tour
An exclusive look behind the scenes at the world's most famous rugby stadium. Take a seat in the England dressing room; soak up the atmosphere in the Royal Box and imagine the roar of the crowd as you run out of the players' tunnel.
Led by an informative guide throughout your tour, you will get to explore the sights of the pitch from the Royal Box, visit the hospitality suites and the medical room and discover interesting stories and facts as you go.
World Rugby Museum
Explore the five museum zones and learn about the history of rugby union - The Spirit of Rugby, Rugby's Story, Play Rugby, Rugby Moments and the special exhibition area.
Stadium and museum tour
Golden Tours act as an official agent for these activities, as such you are subject to the terms and conditions of the supplier.
Activity Code : TWR
The Spirit of London - Full Day Tour with Free Lunch Pack
Feel the spirit of London with this panoramic tour
Entry to St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London
See the historic Changing of the Guard ceremony
Take to the waters with a River Thames boat ride
Professional guide, lunch pack and luxury coach all included
Find more - Museums & Exhibitions »


Please forgive me for being out of touch for so long. There are at least a thousand reasons – I won't bore you with any of them.
I got into Mumbai (Bombay) something after midnight, got out of the Mumbai airport something after 2:30 am (my driver was there waiting for me, notwithstanding three changes of flights and the 2 1/2 hours in the airport. Yes there is a God! I caught about 4 hours sleep at a motel an hour from the airport and I'm now on the road to Ahmednagar, State of Maharashstra, (West Central India) where I will spend most of December.
I flew from Charlotte, North Carolina to Munich and then Munich to Mumbai. On the first flight most of the passengers appeared to be Americans. On the second flight I became a minority. It seemed that most people were either Indian or German.
So now, about wonderful and interesting people… first the Lufthansa flight crew. It was clear that they were all about serving people, seeing to our comfort and caring for us in any way that they could. There was so much that I appreciated about the way I was taken care of (and in the cheap seats!) I hate to say it but I've never had caring service anything like this on a U.S. airline.
The first person I met on the plane was a 25 year-old Indian woman. She was returning from the U.S. after 3 months of working there for a company that's based in India and in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is a mechanical engineer. When I asked her what she liked best about her time in the U.S., she said, "the driving." I couldn't begin to understand what that meant when she said it. More about driving later. I will call this woman Sani – not her real name. We sat together and we talked for almost all of the two flights. It was amazing how this engaging conversation made the time fly! I asked Sani at least a thousand questions. She was very open and told me much about her life and life in India generally. Well-educated, well-spoken, fluent and articulate in English, well-traveled, dressed stylishly in Western style, Sani appears to be the model of the contemporary Indian woman. She was raised in a well-to-do, conservative family. And the conservative part now presents her with an age-old conundrum. She wants to marry her boyfriend of some years and her parents want to "arrange" a marriage for her. She loves her boyfriend very much, but marrying him is likely estrange her from her entire family, with whom she is very close. She doesn't know what she will do. Meeting Sani was in many ways my pre-India cultural consciousness-raising. And I will remember her as my first Indian friend on my trip to India. She will return to work in NC for three months again about a year from now. We plan to stay in contact in India and later in the U.S.
On the flight from Munich I met a strikingly handsome fifty-something German man (I'll call him George because he reminded me of George Clooney) who teaches German and Spanish in many countries. On this trip he will be teaching in India, Ethiopia and Algeria. Telling me how much he loves his work, George and I connected as teachers and through our mutual love for the Spanish language. He indulged me by allowing me to talk with him in Spanish – with his assistance. Among other things I talked with him about my regrets that I have not disciplined myself to continue consistent and serious study of Spanish over the years, notwithstanding my many restorative justice trips to South America and Mexico. I was fluent in Spanish in my twenties and I regain much of my command of the language on my longer trips. Then I lose it after months or years not using it in the U.S. George and I also plan to stay in contact.
On the same flight I met two rather charismatic young Germans who work for Bank of America in Munich. Their perspectives on the banking crash are very different than what I've read in the mainstream or alternative US press or media such as The Guardian in the UK. According to these two men, the banking crash was caused by failures in technical systems – it had nothing to do with greedy and corrupt bankers and investors. They believe all of that to be a cover-up to protect the high-tech, mostly American corporations whose systems failed the financial history. It struck me as akin to Holocaust denial – in Germany.
I've been speaking this letter into the voice recorder on my iPhone as my shuttle driver takes me to my destination. The driving here (by my US standards) is absolutely insane. I've been told that foreigners in India should never drive – they should always have a local driver. Now I can see why. I love my driver, Michael. He is keeping me alive. There do not appear to be any rules of the road, posted or otherwise. No posted speed limits, few signs to direct traffic and no courtesies between drivers, as far as I can tell. There appear to be only goals – get there as quickly as you can – alive and without having a collision. Worthy goals. Actually there is one thing everyone seems to agree on – that is driving on the left side of the road. Large trucks, small cars, motorcycles, scooters, pedestrians and animals all compete for right of way and seldom give way to another. Oh yes, there does seem to be an unmarked HOV lane on the leftmost side of the left lane, reserved for motorcycles and scooters carrying three or more people! A couple of on-the-road amusements – I saw two billboards advertising companies called "Sham Marketing" and "Shlock Publicity." Truth in advertising?
The air pollution is absolutely unfathomable, unbelievable unless you understand a few statistics about the population density. The population of India is 1.2 billion, but it's difficult to understand what that really means. Here it is: the population density of the U.S. is one person per square kilometer. (A square kilometer is about one-third of a square mile.) The population density of China is 4 people per square kilometer. The population density of India is 30 people per square kilometer. I'm going to need some time to let that sink in.
(Yeah I know, what's with Martin?) During all of the years I was working in Latin America lots of people wanted to call me Mart′in – they just couldn't quite get Marty. I got as far as letting them call me Mart′in without correcting them. I actually liked the sound of it, but I wasn't bold enough to take it on at that time, tempted as I was. Now in India, Martin is very British and familiar to Indians. It sounds more dignified than Marty and more appropriate to an elder. And what the hell – it's the name my parents gave me. It's on my driver's license and my passport. I'm claiming it. Please call me Martin.


Just like everyone else in today's real estate market, Puget Sound housing authorities, non-profits, and entities are looking for property in a region that has become very expensive. That has resulted in stiff competition from all purchasers – private and non-profit --for developing even contaminated sites, which only adds to the already high cost of development. Into this mix, money for affordable housing is tighter and lending requirements more conservative. Conversely, outside the Puget Sound region, contamination commonly puts property values under water, leaving key land underutilized.
However, affordable housing success stories are happening and showing that buying and redeveloping a brownfield property can lead to homes; more productive use; a cleaner environment; jobs; and retail. On April 20 in SeaTac, Aspect's Dave Cook and Jessica Smith join Ken Lederman and Jacquie Quarré of Foster Pepper PLLC for a panel discussion hosted by the Association of Washington Housing Authorities (AWHA). The group will cover the potential of brownfields sites for Housing Authority entities from the regulatory, legal, and environmental perspectives and present several recent affordable housing development stories, including Rainer Court and the Mt. Baker Housing Association.
Learn more about AWHA here.


A gifted songwriter of the Nashville Sound era, Don Gibson brought much popularity to country music through his tales of love, heartbreak and loneliness. Gibson composed over 200 songs, including some that were covered by legends Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, Emmylou Harris, and Roy Orbison.
Don Gibson recorded 504 masters in 132 sessions, all cataloged and cross-referenced with issues by format. Indexes of songs, composers and session personnel are available. Several radio transcriptions and media performances are included in this discography. In total, there are approximately 600 recorded performances of Don Gibson listed within this discography.


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Malnutrition is associated with both structural and functional pathology of the brain. A wide range of cognitive deficits has been reported in malnourished children. Effect of chronic protein energy malnutrition (PEM) causing stunting and wasting in children could also affect the ongoing development of higher cognitive processes during childhood (>5 years of age). The present study examined the effect of stunted growth on the rate of development of cognitive processes using neuropsychological measures.
Development of cognitive processes appeared to be governed by both age and nutritional status. Malnourished children performed poor on tests of attention, working memory, learning and memory and visuospatial ability except on the test of motor speed and coordination. Age related improvement was not observed on tests of design fluency, working memory, visual construction, learning and memory in malnourished children. However, age related improvement was observed on tests of attention, visual perception, and verbal comprehension in malnourished children even though the performance was deficient as compared to the performance level of adequately nourished children.
Chronic protein energy malnutrition (stunting) affects the ongoing development of higher cognitive processes during childhood years rather than merely showing a generalized cognitive impairment. Stunting could result in slowing in the age related improvement in certain and not all higher order cognitive processes and may also result in long lasting cognitive impairments.
Malnutrition is the consequence of a combination of inadequate intake of protein, carbohydrates, micronutrients and frequent infections . In India malnutrition is rampant. WHO report states that for the years 1990–1997 52% of Indian children less than 5 years of age suffer from severe to moderate under nutrition . About 35% of preschool children in sub-Saharan Africa are reported to be stunted . Malnutrition is associated with both structural and functional pathology of the brain. Structurally malnutrition results in tissue damage, growth retardation, disorderly differentiation, reduction in synapses and synaptic neurotransmitters, delayed myelination and reduced overall development of dendritic arborization of the developing brain. There are deviations in the temporal sequences of brain maturation, which in turn disturb the formation of neuronal circuits . Long term alterations in brain function have been reported which could be related to long lasting cognitive impairments associated with malnutrition .
A wide range of cognitive deficits has been observed in malnourished children in India. In a study, malnourished children were assessed on the Gessell's developmental schedule from 4 to 52 weeks of age. Children with grades II and III malnutrition had poor development in all areas of behaviour i.e., motor, adaptive, language and personal social . Rural children studying in primary school between the ages of 6–8 years were assessed on measures of social maturity (Vineland social maturity scale), visuo-motor co-ordination (Bender gestalt test), and memory (free recall of words, pictures and objects). Malnutrition was associated with deficits of social competence, visuo-motor coordination and memory. Malnutrition had a greater effect on the immediate memory of boys as compared with those of girls. Malnourished boys had greater impairment of immediate memory for words, pictures and objects, while malnourished girls had greater impairment of immediate memory for only pictures. Delayed recall of words and pictures of malnourished boys was impaired. Malnourished girls had an impairment of delayed recall of only words. The same authors measured the intelligence of malnourished children using Malin's Indian adaptation of the Wechsler's intelligence scale for children. IQ scores decreased with the severity of malnutrition. Significant decreases were observed in performance IQ, as well as on the subtests of information and digit span among the verbal subtests . The above study has shown that though there is decrease in full scale IQ, yet performance on all the subtests was not affected. This suggests that malnutrition may affect different neuropsychological functions to different degrees. Studies done in Africa and South America have focused on the effect of stunted growth on cognitive abilities using verbal intelligence tests based on assessment of reasoning . Such an assessment does not provide a comprehensive and specific assessment of cognitive processes like attention, memory, executive functions, visuo-spatial functions, comprehension as conducted in the present study. Information about the functional status of specific cognitive processes has implications for developing a cognitive rehabilitation program for malnourished children.
A neuropsychological assessment would throw light on functional status of brain behaviour relationships affected by malnutrition. Deficits of cognitive, emotional and behavioural functioning are linked to structural abnormalities of different regions of the brain. Brain structures and brain circuits compute different components of cognitive processes . Malnutrition has long lasting effects in the realm of cognition and behaviour, although the cognitive processes like executive functions have not been fully assessed .
The differential nature of cognitive deficits associated with malnutrition suggests that different areas of the brain are compromised to different degrees. A neuropsychological assessment would be able to delineate the pattern of brain dysfunction. Malnutrition is a grave problem in our country as 52% of our children are malnourished. Effects of protein-calorie malnutrition are inextricably blended with the effects of social cultural disadvantage; even within the disadvantaged class, literacy environment at home and parental expectation regarding children's education are powerful variables. Perhaps membership in a higher caste confers some advantage in regard to home literacy, and parental expectation. Short and tall children do differ in some cognitive tests, but not in all as demonstrated in a study done in Orissa, India . But whether or not stunted growth alone is the causative variable for cognitive weakness is not determined as yet. Moreover, the functional integrity of specific cognitive processes is less clear. Chronic PEM resulting in stunting and wasting could result in delay in the development of cognitive processes or in permanent cognitive impairments. Neuropsychological measures can demonstrate delay in normally developing cognitive processes as well as permanent cognitive deficits.
The present study is an attempt to investigate the effect of stunting (as a result of PEM) on the nature of cognitive impairments and on the rate of cognitive development. Neuropsychological measures, standardized with respect to the age trends of cognitive processes in children in the age range of 5–15 years have been employed which would also inform about the neuropsychological performance of malnourished children. The study aimed to investigate if malnutrition would result in a diffuse impairment and a general slowing in the rate of development of all cognitive processes or these effects could be present for some specific cognitive processes. The purpose was also to determine the cognitive processes that are more vulnerable to the effects of malnutrition in two ways: in terms of impairment without affecting the rate of development and with respect to the effect on the rate of development of cognitive processes itself.
Children in the age range of 5–10 years attending a corporation school in the city of Bangalore participated in the study. Corporation schools in India are government schools with minimal fee attended by children from low-middle class. There were 20 children in adequately nourished group and 20 in the malnourished group. The gender distribution was equal. Children in both the groups were from the same ethnic/language background. They were natives of Karnataka living in Bangalore. Mother tongue of all the participants was Kannada. Informed consent was obtained from the parents. All the participants were screened for vision and color blindness using brief tests of visual acuity and color discrimination. Children with normal or corrected to normal vision were taken for the study. None of the participants had color blindness. All the children were right handed which was one of the inclusion criteria. Handedness was measured using the Edinburgh handedness inventory.
Children studying in a corporation school were screened for malnutrition. The students of this school belonged to families belonging to the low socio economic status. Socio economic status was assessed by 1 the parental income as given in the school records. Chronic malnutrition was identified by anthropometric indices. These were height of the child for age (stunting) and body weight for the height (wasting) with reference to the national centre of health statistics (NCHS) standards of growth and development . Stunting as well as stunting and wasting were taken as indices of moderate to severe malnutrition. Height for age and weight for height measures of each participant were compared to age and grade appropriate norms with reference to the NCHS standards of growth and development. Height for age/weight for height score less than 2 standard deviation (-2 SD) from the median was considered as indicative of moderate to severe malnutrition. In the age range of 5–10 years, children from preparatory to fifth grade were screened. Each grade had about 30 children. All the children in a class were taken for height and weight measurements. Out of the total of 180 children 14.4% children were found stunted or stunted and wasted. Only those children who were stunted or those who were both stunted and wasted were included in the malnourished group. Children who were only wasted were not included in the study to take account of only chronic PEM.
A semi-structured interview was used as a measure of home environment because a tool standardized on Indian population with norms based on population from south India was not available. The semi-structured interview was designed to collect information about the parents' educational level, recreational activities at home, caste. Mothers of most of the malnourished children were illiterate and fathers were literate. Watching television and playing indoors with friends were the only recreational activities at home. Children had the opportunity to play outdoors at school. Caste hierarchy did not differ much across children.
Adequately nourished children were also taken from the same school in order to control the differences in socioeconomic background as well as home and school environment. It was important to take both the groups from the same school to control for factors like family background, literacy level of parents as the children attending the corporation school were mostly from similar locality and family backgrounds. Apart from this, the school environment, pattern of teaching was also similar for both the groups.
Adequately nourished children were matched with malnourished children with respect to age and grade level also. Anthropometric assessment was done for adequately nourished children also. Children who were ≥ 50th percentile on the parameters of height for age and weight for height as per the NCHS standards were included in the study. Children in this group also came from families belonging to lower-middle as well as middle socioeconomic status groups similar to the malnourished group. The socio economic status was determined by parental income from the school records. Table 1 presents the details of the demographic characteristics of the participants.
After identifying the malnourished and adequately nourished children the coloured progressive matrices test  was administered to rule out mental retardation. Children falling at or below the fifth percentile were excluded from the sample, as the 5th percentile is suggestive of intellectually defective range. The percentile points were calculated from the raw scores using Indian norms . Mental retardation was ruled out as otherwise scores on neuropsychological tests would be uniformly depressed and a differentiation of deficits might not occur. Intelligence was not treated as a covariate in the study. The groups did not differ significantly in their scores on CPM. CPM was taken as a screening instrument to rule out intellectual impairment in both the groups.
The children's behaviour questionnaire form B  was administered to the class teachers of the identified children. Children who scored above the cut off score of 9 were not included in the sample. The personal data sheet was filled in consultation with the parents and teachers to rule out any history of any neurological/psychiatric disorders including head injury and epilepsy and one child with epilepsy was excluded. This was one of the exclusion criteria.
Mean years of education for the adequately nourished group was 2.5 years for the younger children and 4.6 years for 8–10 years age group. Mean years of education for the malnourished group was 2.8 years for the younger children and 5.2 years for 8–10 years age group. F test did not find significant differences between the mean age of the malnourished and adequately nourished groups, which suggests that the two groups were matched. Mean years of schooling also did not significantly differ. Both the groups were taken from the corporation school in Bangalore city. A large percentage of children from the malnourished group as well as the adequately nourished group (92% and 89% respectively) came from low socio economic status.
NIMHANS neuropsychological battery for children was developed as a psychometric instrument for comprehensive neuropsychological assessment of children in the age range of 5–15 years. The battery consists of neuropsychological tests to assess motor speed, attention, executive functions, visuo-spatial relationships, comprehension, learning and memory. Instructions are in English as well as one local language that is Kannada. The participants in the present study were Kannada speaking children.
The battery has been standardized on a normative sample of 400 children (5–15 years). Norms were developed on the basis of empirical validation of age related differences using the growth curve modeling approach. Norms of the battery have been developed for each age level for 7 percentile points considering 5th percentile as a cut off for accuracy measures and 95th percentile for time measures. Cut-off scores for each test score and for each age level were calculated on the basis of the predicted values derived from the identified growth curves. The test retest reliability coefficients of the various tests in the battery range from .53 to .82 that indicates a fairly good test retest reliability of the battery. The battery has been validated on children with cortical tumors, intractable epilepsy and diffuse head injury. Norms of the battery were not used in the present study as we have grouped three age levels in each of the two age groups in the present study (5–7 and 8–10 years). Scores were also not compared to the age norms of the battery as the normative sample would not match the malnourished group on factors like family background, educational level of parents, socioeconomic status, school environment, and pattern of teaching.
The tests have been grouped under specific cognitive domains on the basis of theoretical rationale and factor analysis. Factor analysis has been done for the battery and the grouping of tests under cognitive functions like executive functions, visuospatial functions, comprehension and learning and memory was done on the basis of the clustering observed in factor analysis as well as on theoretical grounds.
1. Finger tapping test : This is a measure of motor speed. The test has shown stronger age effects than education in children and has been standardized on children in the west . The subject is asked to tap the mounting key on a finger-tapping instrument as rapidly as possible using the index finger of the preferred hand. A comparable set of measurements is then obtained with the non-preferred hand. Five trials are given for each hand, with each trial lasting for 10 seconds. Average number of taps for each hand comprised the score. The finger tapping test has shown improvement in performance up to 9 years of age .
2. Expressive speech test was administered to rule out speech related deficits. Expressive speech was assessed using tests of repetitive speech, nominative speech and narrative speech in question answer form. Purpose of this test was rule out speech related problems in the participants. None of the participants in both the groups showed speech related difficulties.
3. Color trails test  is a measure of focused attention and conceptual tracking. Children aged 5 to 16 years show a steady age progression on this test. It is sensitive to the effects of frontal lobe damage . Children aged 8 to 16 years show a steady age progression on this test . The participant was asked to serially connect the numbers 1–25 printed in two colours irrespective of the colour on colour trails 1. They were required to connect the numbers serially from 1 to 25 alternating between pink and yellow circles and disregarding the numbers in circles of the alternate color on colour trails 2. Time taken to complete each part is the score.
4. Color cancellation test  is a measure of visual scanning/selective attention. It consists of 150 circles in red, blue, yellow, black and grey. The participants were required to cancel only the yellow and red circles as fast as they can. Time taken in seconds to complete the test comprised the score.
5. FAS phonemic fluency test is a measure of verbal fluency. This test evaluates spontaneous production of words beginning with a given letter within a limited time. Deficits in verbal fluency have been found to be more in left frontal damage (70%) compared to right frontal damage (38%) . Participants are asked to produce orally as many words as possible beginning with a given letter F, A, and then S. One minute is given for each letter. Words produced are noted. The test-retest reliability of the FAS test in 8 years old children is reported to be .54. Concurrent validity has also been established indicating better validity for letter fluency than for category fluency .
6. Design fluency test  is a measure of design fluency, cognitive flexibility and imaginative capacity. It is a visual analogue of verbal fluency task. Patients with right frontal or central damage have difficulty on this test . The participants are required to generate and draw as many abstract designs as possible in five minutes. The participants obtain a novel output score and a perseverative score. Children show improvement in scores on design fluency test until 12 years of age .
7. Visuo-spatial working memory span task : This test is a measure of visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM) span. A gradual improvement in working memory from childhood until adolescence has been reported . Another study showed a steady linear improvement in performance between 5–12 years on the VSWM span task . A developmental study on children across 5–13 years of age showed a steady developmental trend between 5–8 years with respect to the maintenance and manipulation components of VSWM .
The visuospatial working memory span task consists of 4 cubes/blocks arranged in a row. The examiner taps these four cubes with a fifth cube. The tapping is performed in different sequences as given below. The subject is required to repeat the sequence of four taps tapped by the examiner. Five trials of forward and five trials of reverse sequence are given. Number of taps remains the same for all the forward and reverse sequences but each sequence is different from the other. Number of correct sequences tapped by the subject for both the forward and reverse condition together comprises the total score for this test.
8. Motor-free visual perception test  is a measure of visuoperceptual ability, having 36 items for visual discrimination, visual closure, figure-ground, perceptual matching and visual memory. Since this test has been originally developed for children between 5–8 years of age, it was modified and items in increasing difficulty level were added by the authors to make it applicable for the children above 8 years. Number of correct responses comprises the score.
9. Picture completion test  is a measure of visuoconceptual ability, visual organization and visuo-conceptual reasoning. It consists of 20 cards with pictures of different objects with a missing feature. The participants are required to name or point out to the missing feature. Number of correct responses comprises the score.
10. Block design test  is a measure of visuoconstructive ability. It consists of 10 designs to be constructed using 4–9 blocks in a specified time limit. Performance on this test is scored with respect to the time taken to complete each item.
11. Token test  is a measure of verbal comprehension of commands of increasing complexity. It is a sensitive test of receptive aphasia and also developmental aphasia. Its sensitivity has been reported by demonstrating problems of speech comprehension by patients who showed no difficulty in understanding a normal conversation. It consists of tokens in two shapes (circle and square), two sizes (large and small) and 5 colours (red, blue, yellow, green, and white). There are 36 commands read out one by one by the examiner. As the examiner gives the command, the subject has to carry it out by manipulating the tokens accordingly. One point is given for each correctly performed item. A correct response after one repetition earns a score of 0.5. Two repetitions are deemed as failure.
12. Rey's auditory verbal learning test (RAVLT)  is a measure of verbal learning and memory. It is a measure of immediate memory, acquisition or new learning, retention, primacy, and recency effect, susceptibility to proactive and retroactive interference. Nonlinear age effects on RAVLT have been reported in children, with greater improvement in performance during middle childhood than during early adolescence . Age related improvement up till 9 years of age have been reported on RAVLT . It consists of a list of 15 words presented five times with an immediate recall after each of the 5 trials. A delayed recall is taken after a delay of 30 minutes filled with other nonverbal tests.
13. Memory for designs test  is a measure of visual learning and memory. The role of right temporal lobe in memory for visual patterns is well documented . The test consists of 18 abstract designs each printed on a separate card. Number of designs presented to the children varies across age groups. Five learning trials are given with a delayed recall after a delay of one hour filled with verbal tests. Number of correct designs on each of the five trials gives the learning rate. Number of correctly recalled designs on delayed recall is the other score.
All the neuropsychological tests were individually administered to the children in well-controlled and testable conditions. Two rest pauses of five minutes each were given to avoid the effect of fatigue on test performance. All the tests had accuracy as the measure of performance except the color cancellation test and color trials test in which the measure of performance was time in seconds. Color trails test showed a significantly poor performance in malnourished children but it was not taken as a variable while comparing the age related differences between the two age groups as this test was not administered for 5–7 years age group. The battery on average took two and a half hours to administer. Some of the tests like verbal fluency and design fluency being timed tests take 3–4 minutes only. Some malnourished children were slow in responding so it took a litter more time for them. Adequate rest pauses were given during the assessment. Light refreshment was offered during the break other than the two five minute rest pauses.
ANOVA was computed to compare the performance of the two groups of children across the two age groups (Table 2). Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS 10) was used for statistical analysis. Post hoc comparisons for each test score were computed using the Tukey's post-hoc test.
Table 2.0 shows that malnourished group differed significantly from the adequately nourished group on tests of phonemic fluency, design fluency, selective attention, visuospatial working memory, visuospatial functions, verbal comprehension and verbal learning and memory showing poor performance. The two groups did not differ on the test of finger tapping. Since expressive speech was a question answer type assessment looking at repetitive speech, nominative speech and narrative speech, which is like an initial screening for aphasia, like symptoms. Since it did not give a quantitative score, hence was not taken for analysis. As a descriptive account of expressive speech it was observed that malnourished children did not have any difficulty with respect to expressive speech.
Data was further subjected to post hoc analysis to compare the two groups across the two age groups to study the rate of improvement with age (Table 2). In both the age groups of 5–7 years and 8–10 years the adequately nourished children performed better than the malnourished children. Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 indicate age related improvement in performance across different cognitive functions in adequately nourished children as compared to malnourished children. Motor speed and coordination was not significantly affected in malnourished children as compared to the adequately nourished children (figure 1). The rate of age related improvement across the two age groups was found rapid on certain functions like selective attention (figure 2) and verbal fluency (figure 3) in malnourished children. However, working memory, design fluency, visuospatial functions, comprehension, learning, and memory showed slowing in terms of age related improvement in malnourished children. Most of the cognitive functions like design fluency (figure 3), working memory (figure 3), Visual perception (figure 4), visuo-conceptual reasoning (figure 4), visual construction (figure 4), verbal comprehension (figure 5), verbal and visual memory (figures 6) have shown a very slow rate of improvement with respect to the difference in performance between the two age groups of 5–7 and 8–10 years. On the contrary functions like verbal fluency (figure 3), motor speed (figures 1), and selective attention (figure 2) showed similar rates of improvement in adequately nourished children and malnourished children while comparing the two age groups.
Age related comparisons between adequately nourished and malnourished children on motor speed (right and left hand). Note: MS (R): motor speed (right hand); MS (L): motor speed (left hand); AN: adequately nourished; MN: malnourished.
Age related comparisons between adequately nourished and malnourished children on selective attention (color cancellation test). Note: SA: selective attention; AN: adequately nourished; MN: malnourished.
Age related comparisons between adequately nourished and malnourished children on executive functions. Note: VF: verbal fluency; DF: design fluency; WM: working memory; AN: adequately nourished; MN: malnourished.
Age related comparisons between adequately nourished and malnourished children on visuospatial functions. Note: PC: picture completion; BD: block design; MVP: motorfree visual perception; AN: adequately nourished; MN: malnourished.
Age related comparisons between adequately nourished and malnourished children on verbal comprehension and verbal learning. Note: VC: verbal comprehension; VL: verbal learning; AN: adequately nourished; MN: malnourished.
Post-hoc comparisons were computed with Tukey's post-hoc tests to compare the means across age groups between malnourished and adequately nourished children for those test scores that showed significant effects. Hence, post hoc tests were not computed for the finger tapping test scores assessing motor speed. Table 3 presents the post-hoc results with the significance (probability level) levels of the differences across age groups and between adequately nourished and malnourished children.
Note: AN: adequately nourished; MN: malnourished.
Post hoc results have been done to support our theoretical claims about the lack of age related improvement in certain cognitive functions on one hand and the nature of cognitive impairments on the other in malnourished children. Four comparisons were interpreted i.e., comparing performance between the two age groups of adequately nourished and malnourished children separately. The other comparison was between the adequately nourished and malnourished children for the age group of 5–7 years and similarly for the age group of 8–10 years. Results indicate age related differences within each group as well as between the two groups. Age related differences were found significant for some of the test scores between 5–7 and 8–10 year old children in the adequately nourished group but not for most of the test scores for malnourished group indicative of a delay in development of certain cognitive functions. Differences were found significant between the adequately nourished and malnourished children for the same age group for most of the test scores indicative of a deficit in a particular cognitive function. In few of the tests, performance was not found to be significantly different between the two age groups for both adequately nourished and malnourished children.
Results indicate a lack of age related improvement in malnourished children with respect to cognitive functions of attention, cognitive flexibility, visuo-constructive ability and verbal learning. Post-hoc results also indicate cognitive impairments in attention, working memory, visuo-perceptual ability, comprehension, and visual memory, revealed by significantly poor performance of malnourished children as compared to adequately nourished children in the same age group. Lack of age related improvement in malnourished children was not observed for functions like working memory, visuo-perceptual ability, comprehension, and memory. For these functions malnourished showed poorer performance as compared to adequately nourished children although they showed an age related improvement for the same functions. This is indicated by a non-significant difference between the two age groups for adequately nourished as well as malnourished children. However, the performance was impaired for these functions as indicated by the significant differences between adequately nourished and malnourished for each age group. These results need verification with a larger sample but they show interesting trends about the vulnerability of cognitive functions being affected by malnutrition (stunting).
The findings of the present study could be discussed in terms of the effect of chronic malnutrition on neuropsychological performance and with respect to the rate of development of cognitive processes.
Our study indicates that malnourished children perform poor on most of the neuropsychological tests except that of motor speed as compared to adequately nourished children. Malnourished children showed poor performance on tests of higher cognitive functions like cognitive flexibility, attention, working memory, visual perception, verbal comprehension, and memory. These findings are supported by another study on Indian malnourished children, which reported memory impairments in undernourished children and spared fine motor coordination . Malnourished children showed poor performance on novel tasks like tests of executive functions i.e., working memory spatial locations. Poor performance on the tests of fluency and working memory also coincides with very slow rate of improvement between the age groups of 5–7 years and 8–10 years. Poor performance on most of the neuropsychological tests indicated a diffuse impairment including attention, executive functions, visuospatial functions, comprehension and memory.
Both the groups were tested on a neuropsychological battery, which has been found to be sensitive to age related differences in cognitive functions in children (5–15 years). The age trends reported in the present study are based on the assessment that employed the NIMHANS neuropsychological battery for children . The test battery has been standardized based on the growth curve modeling approach for empirical validation of age-related differences in performance on neuropsychological tests. The tests in the battery were found sensitive to show age related differences.
Motor speed (right and left hand) was not found impaired in malnourished children and the rate of development was also found similar to adequately nourished children. Chronic protein energy malnutrition does not seem to affect basic cognitive processes like motor speed which is affected in case of other nutritional deficiencies.
Executive functions such as design fluency, selective attention and working memory were found deficient in malnourished children also showing poor rate of improvement between the two age groups. All the three tests of executive functions like fluency, selective attention and working memory for spatial locations involved novel stimuli and performance required cognitive flexibility as well as faster information processing which was affected in malnourished children. Results also indicate that malnourished children showed a very slow rate of improvement on these functions. At one level age appropriate performance on tests of executive functions is affected as well as the gain due to increase in age is also affected. However, in case of verbal fluency the performance of malnourished children was poor but the rate of improvement between the two age groups was better than adequately nourished children.
Malnutrition affects brain growth and development and hence future behavioral outcomes . School-age children who suffered from early childhood malnutrition have generally been found to have poorer IQ levels, cognitive function, school achievement and greater behavioral problems than matched controls and, to a lesser extent, siblings. The disadvantages last at least until adolescence. There is no consistent evidence of a specific cognitive deficit . The functional integrity of specific cognitive processes is less clear.
Stunting in early childhood is common in developing countries and is associated with poorer cognition and school achievement in later childhood . Deficits in children's scores have been reported to be smaller at age 11 years than at age 8 years in a longitudinal study on malnourished children stunted children suggesting that adverse effects may decline over time . In our study also all the children in malnourished group were stunted and the cross sectional assessment of age related improvement has shown similar rate of improvement across 5–7 years to 8–10 years age groups as observed in adequately nourished children though the baseline performance was low in malnourished children. These results indicate that the adverse effects of malnutrition (stunting in particular) may decline with age only for certain cognitive functions but the rate of cognitive development for most of the cognitive processes particularly higher cognitive processes including executive processes and visuospatial perception could be severely affected during the childhood years. Decline in the effects of malnutrition overtime has been reported to be independent of differences in educational, socioeconomic and psychosocial resources . Hence, malnutrition (particularly stunting) may result in delayed development of cognitive processes during childhood years rather than a permanent generalized cognitive impairment.
Chronic protein energy malnutrition (stunting) results in cognitive impairments as well as slowing in the rate of the development of cognitive processes. Rate of development of cognitive functions may follow different patterns in children with malnutrition. Chronic protein energy malnutrition affects the development of cognitive processes differently during childhood years rather than merely showing an overall cognitive dysfunction as compared to adequately nourished children. Stunting could result in delay in the development of cognitive functions as well as in permanent cognitive impairments which show minimal improvement with increase in age. Rate of development of attention, executive functions like cognitive flexibility, working memory, visuospatial functions like visual construction is more severely affected by protein energy malnutrition in childhood years, a period that is marked by rapid ongoing development of cognitive functions.
The authors deeply acknowledge the help and guidance provided by Prof. Tara Gopaldas, consultant, health and nutrition, Tara consultancy services, Bangalore, Dr. Rajiv Kurpad and Dr. Sumitra, health and nutrition division, St. Johns medical college and hospital, Bangalore.
BRK has made substantial contribution to the conception, design, data collection and analysis for the study. SLR and BAC have contributed to the conception, design and in drafting the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.