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International Consensus Conference
Diamond Blackfan Anemia Foundation Hosts 14th DBA International Consensus Conference
The 14th Diamond Blackfan Anemia International Consensus Conference was a huge success. It is a privilege to continue the meeting founded and previously sponsored by Marie Arturi and the Daniella Maria Arturi Foundation. The DBA Foundation is grateful for the support of DBA Canada, the Daniella Maria Arturi Foundation, DBA-UK, Captain Courageous (Australia) and the Resource Capital Funds Foundation. The cooperation of all of these deeply dedicated and passionate organizations truly makes this an international effort. The meeting was supported by the National Institute Of Diabetes And Digestive And Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R13DK109587. (Dislaimer: The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.)
Our sincere thanks to our friends at Mopdog Creative & Marketing Firm for their talent, time, friendship, and constant support. Many congratulations to the recipients of the 2016 Pioneer Awards: Irma Dianzani, MD, Ph.D. of Eastern Piedmont University in Novara, Italy and Harvey Lodish, Ph.D. of Whitehead Institute and MIT in Boston, MA.
We would like to extend a very special thank you to our Research Director, Dr. Steven Ellis. Steve manages to explain complex scientific information to parents who are eager to find a glimmer of hope in any new research. He has his finger on the pulse of the DBA research community and guides our efforts to fund research that moves us closer to our goal of a cure. Steve is instrumental to the DBAF's success.
Our deep, sincere thanks to Dr. Adrianna Vlachos. Dr. Vlachos is loved and respected by our DBA families. Her true commitment to our patients and genuine care has improved the lives of countless patients and literally, saved the lives of many. She is both a year round doctor extraordinaire and an instrumental force in helping to organize this meeting.
It is an honor for the Diamond Blackfan Anemia Foundation to host a meeting that brings together such a dedicated group of doctors, researchers, scientists, families and patients all striving for the same goal.
Summary of the 2016 International Consensus Conference from DBAF's Research Director, Steven Ellis, PhD:
SYNERGY– the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate parts.
The word synergy therefore provides me with a ready means to summarize the Diamond Blackfan Anemia International Consensus Conference held in Atlanta Georgia, March 5-7, 2016. This was the 14th ICC meeting where experts from around the globe were brought together for 42 hours to exchange information and ideas pertaining to all facets of Diamond Blackfan anemia.
One of the most exciting elements of helping to organize this year's meeting was the number and quality of abstracts submitted in the area of emerging therapies. As you can see below there are a number of potential new therapies on the horizon for DBA. Some of these involve reversing the genetic change that causes DBA, while others involve more traditional small-molecule based drugs. With so many different pans in the fire (so to speak) it seems likely that we will have new therapies reaching DBA patients in the not-too-distant future.
EMERGING THERAPIES
Gene Therapy/Editing
This year's meeting began with the keynote address by Dr. Mark Osborn of the University of Minnesota. The title of Dr. Osborn's talk was "Gene editing and cellular engineering for inherited anemia." Dr. Osborn has considerable experience using various gene-editing technologies to correct genetic lesions causing human disease. Dr. Osborn gave an overview of the various gene-editing technologies available for potential use in treating genetic diseases, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Of particular importance in selecting Dr. Osborn for this year's keynote address was his ongoing work in developing CRISPR technology as a potential therapy for Fanconi anemia. The strategy for using CRISPR to treat an inherited bone marrow failure involves isolating hematopoietic stem cells from a patient, using CRISPR to change the mutant sequence back to the sequence found in healthy individuals, and then using the corrected hematopoietic stem cells to repopulate the patient's bone marrow using standard bone marrow transplant methodologies.
While his work was directed toward a cure for Fanconi anemia and not DBA, there is every reason to believe that the approaches developed for Fanconi anemia could be directly applied to DBA once the field matures. In fact, there was considerable discussion that using CRISPR technology to treat DBA might actually be easier than treating Fanconi anemia, given that the genetic defect in Fanconi anemia involves some of the same cellular machinery than CRISPR technology relies upon to work its magic.
We will be anxiously awaiting the work in Dr. Osborn's laboratory and many other laboratories around the world as CRISPR technology moves closer and closer to the clinic.
Lest you wonder, there are individuals applying CRISPR technology to DBA. Dr. Erik Westin working with Dr. Fredrick Goldman at the University of Alabama, Birmingham presented their pre-clinical studies using CRISPR technology to correct a mutation in RPS19 in patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSC). Briefly, IPSC are created from cells isolated from the skin of a patient. These cells are then engineered to behave more like embryonic stem cells, which could then be induced to differentiate into potentially any cellular lineage in the body. In theory, one could potentially create IPSC cells from a patient, correct the genetic lesion, induce these cells to differentiate into hematopoietic stem cells, and then use these corrected cells to transplant back into the patient. The advantage of using CRISPR to correct IPSCs as opposed to hematopoietic stem cells isolated from a patient is that IPSCs could potentially be easier to manipulate in culture making them easier to more thoroughly characterize before transplant. Unfortunately, IPSCs currently have significant safety concerns relating to their use therapeutically. Nevertheless, these cells serve as an excellent pre-clinical model for studying how CRISPR technology could be used to treat DBA.
The talks on gene therapy/editing finished with Dr. Stefan Karlsson from Lund University in Sweden. Dr. Karlsson's work is well known to readers of this column as I have discussed his work on using classic gene therapy to treat his mouse model of DBA several times. You might think that a person who spent much of his career developing classic approaches to gene therapy might feel a little threatened or frustrated by all the hype given to CRISPR technology these days, but Dr. Karlsson's talk was an outstanding example of the type of synergy that occurred at this year's meeting. In the previous two talks on gene editing, a major issue that was raised related to how well the cells manipulated outside of the body during the gene editing process would be able to compete with endogenous cells when transplanted back into a patient. At issue, was the extent to which transplanters might have to ablate the current marrow to maximize successful reconstitution with the gene-edited cells. Dr. Karlsson's pioneering work on correcting mouse hematopoietic stem cells by introducing normal copies of genes like RPS19 has provided some of the answers to these questions and importantly showed these the corrected cells actually compete very well with endogenous cells in successfully reconstituting the marrow after gene therapy.
Thus, rather than having a raucous debate on whether CRISPR or other forms of gene editing were better than classic gene therapy, the different technologies fed off of one another with one informing the other. This type of synergistic interaction will certainly help move these technologies forward into clinical application.
Another example of synergism at work in the DBA field arose from the next two talks by Drs. Johan Flygare from Lund University and Ross Hannan at the Australian National University. Both of these investigators have initiated high-throughput screens for small molecules that reverse DBA-like phenotypes in their respective model systems. Both have also developed large screens for genes that when disrupted, reverse these DBA-like phenotypes. Both of these screens work on a very large scale and involve considerable resources and personnel. While both investigators reported progress in their respective screens, what was most encouraging is that these two investigators, separated by almost 10,000 miles, decided to join forces rather than compete, and work together toward a common goal.
The next talk in this session was by Dr. Anu Narla, filling in for her father Dr. Mohandas Narla who was unable to attend the meeting. This talk emphasized some of the differences in erythropoiesis between mice and humans. This was an important talk at this juncture in the meeting, in that several of the drugs screens currently being carried out are at least initially performed in mice before being tested in human cell culture models. The differences between mice and humans may explain how drugs that look encouraging in one system may eventually fail in another. We were all reminded that no matter how efficacious a drug may be in model systems, it is ultimately how well they perform in clinical trials with patients that will dictate whether they will successfully compete with current therapies for use in the broader DBA patient population.
While the screens being carried out by Drs. Flygare and Hannan were still in relatively early stages, other screens carried out on a more limited scale have nevertheless yielded exciting new drug prospects, which were the subject of the next three talks. The first of these talks was from Dr. Harvey Lodish at the Whitehead Institute in Boston. In studying the genes expressed at a critical juncture in the development of red blood cells, the Lodish group discovered a signaling pathway that appears to suppress red cell production at this stage. Interfering with this signaling pathway was shown to increase the production of red blood cells. Importantly, a drug that interferes with this pathway has already been tested clinically as an anticancer drug and so there is already information pertaining to the pharmacological parameters of this drug in humans. Having this information in hand could in principle shorten the time needed to get this drug into clinical trials for DBA patients should further studies warrant.
If the previous talk sounded familiar, it was. Dr. Lodish has recently published on another drug currently used clinically that synergizes with glucocorticoids to stimulate red blood cells production. In an ongoing collaborative effort with the Lodish lab these initial studies have been followed up and extended by Dr. Sandra Martinez-Morilla in the laboratory of Dr. Shilpa Hattangadi at Yale University. Discussions are currently underway with Drs. Vlachos and Lipton to set up a clinical trail to test this drug in DBA patients.
Finally, Dr. Elizabeth Macari from the laboratory of Lenoard Zon at Harvard Medical School presented a drug screen begun in zebrafish models of DBA that yielded yet another repurposed drug that may be of potential benefit to DBA patients. This drug, quite distinct from the drugs identified in the Lodish screen, also looks very promising in human cellular models of DBA. Here again, discussions are underway to see if this drug ready to be tested in a clinical trail with DBA patients.
I hope you can appreciate what an exciting session this was. The latter three drugs have already been used in humans for other purposes means that we already have information pertaining to their adverse effects, which will allow physicians, patients, and families a much better understanding of the risks and benefits associated with participating a clinical trial.
GENOTYPE/PHENOTYPE RELATIONSHIPS
In this session on genotype/phenotype relationships we heard from DBA registries in Canada, Europe, and the US.
The session began with a presentation by Dr. Omri Arbiv, working with Dr. Yigal Dror at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, on information from the Canadian Inherited Marrow Failure Registry. The focus of this talk was on the frequencies of different genes affected in DBA and whether there was an association between genes affected and any of the clinical parameters measured in DBA patients. The two major finding from this analysis were that patients with mutations in RPL11 tended to have milder hematological phenotypes than patients with mutations in RPS19 and that only patients with mutations in RPL5 and RPS26 appeared to be associated with certain types of congenital anomalies. It was somewhat surprising that patients with RPL11 mutations did not show an association with congenital anomalies since this has been reported previously. Whether this difference reflects relatively small numbers in the Canadian Registry or unique characteristic of the Canadian DBA population remains to be determined.
The second talk in this session was from Dr. Marcin Wlodarski at the University Children's Hospital in Freiburg Germany. Dr. Wlodarski presented data on behalf of the EuroDBA Consortium. The focus of this talk was on the prevalence of microdeletions in the EuroDBA patient cohort that had originally tested negative for mutations in known ribosomal protein genes. Over 20% of these patients were shown to have small deletion mutations in known DBA genes that were missed by DNA sequence analysis. The inability of DNA sequence analysis to identify deletion mutations is well documented and has required the development of alternative technologies to better cover the complete range of mutation types that could be encountered when trying to pinpoint a causative gene for human diseases. Many of the patients with these deletions in the European cohort had one or more congenital anomaly including some rarely observed in DBA patients. Some of these more unusual traits may be associated with genes found near the ribosomal protein gene affected by these deletions and so may be related to the loss of these contiguous genes. These studies re-enforce that deletion mutations can represent a significant fraction of mutations in DBA patient cohorts and that deletions should be tested for when trying to identify a causative mutation in DBA patients.
This session finished with a talk by Dr. Adrianna Vlachos at the Cohen Children's Medical Center (now Northwell Health) in New York. Dr. Vlachos spoke on the incidence of cancer in the DBA Registry of North America. This was a follow up on a recently published paper by Drs. Vlachos, Lipton, Alter and others on the cancer risk in DBA patients. New data as the DBA patient cohort in the DBA Registry of North America ages has been gathered and is currently being evaluated and will hopefully soon be ready for publication. These new data should provide additional insights into the links between DBA and cancer and be of immense importance in counseling patients on cancer risk and surveillance.
PATHOGENIC MECHANISMS I
Over the years there have been several mechanisms proposed whereby defects in the production of ribosomal proteins could give rise to the clinical features of DBA. One of the most difficult aspects of these mechanisms to reconcile is the seemingly selective effect of mutations in genes encoding ribosomal proteins on the production of red blood cells in DBA patients.
The first talk in this session was from Dr. Lydie Da Costa at the hospital Robert Debre in Paris. Dr. Da Costa provided data that appeared to tie together the ribosomal protein and GATA1 worlds of DBA. She showed that mutations in certain ribosomal proteins interfered with the synthesis of a cellular chaperone for the GATA1 transcription factor. Without this chaperone, levels of GATA1 fall. Since GATA1 is a critical transcription factor required for erythropoiesis, a decrease in its levels could potentially explain how a defect in something as ubiquitous as a ribosomal protein could have a selective effect of production of red blood cells. Dr. Da Costa also showed that globin synthesis was affected in cells haploinsufficient for certain known DBA ribosomal proteins, consistent with models where excess heme could contribute premature death of red cell progenitors.
Dr. Da Costa's talk was followed by Dr. Nicholas Watkins from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Watkins spoke from the perspective of an alternative model for DBA pathogenesis caused by nucleolar stress linked to abortive ribosome assembly. His talk focused on the mechanism by which abortive ribosome assembly activates p53, thereby promoting apoptotic cell death. The central player in this pathway is a subcomplex of 5S rRNA with two ribosomal proteins Rpl5 and Rpl11. His talk centered on how this subcomplex is regulated and how these regulatory properties might be exploited as targets for the development of novel drugs to treat DBA.
The next talk by Marie-Francoise O'Donohue in the laboratory of Pierre-Emmanuel Gleizes at the University of Toulouse seemed to bridge the gap between the translation-centric and ribosome stress-centric mechanisms of DBA pathogenesis by reporting on new DBA gene that had both a nuanced effected on ribosome synthesis and also appeared to influence ribosome function. Haploinsufficiency for this new ribosomal protein leads to the production of slightly altered ribosomes with distinct functional properties. These novel ribosomes may have distinct ways that mRNAs are selected for translation, potentially disrupting erythropoiesis. Therefore, identifying transcripts whose translation is influenced by these novel ribosomes may provide new insight into DBA pathogenesis.
The session wrapped up with a talk by Dr. Rajiv Khajuria from Dr. Vijay Sankaran's lab at the Dana Farber Institute. The Sankaran lab was the first to show a connection between ribosomal proteins and GATA1 in DBA pathogenesis by showing that GATA1 expression is selectively decreased in cells with reduced amounts of ribosomal proteins. The current study was focused on whether the translational defect in DBA is because of a reduction in the amount of presumably ribosomes or, if as suggested by the previous talk from the Gleizes lab, that the ribosomes themselves may be functionally altered. While they could not rule out the latter possibility, the work from the Sankaran lab seemed most consistent with a reduction in the number of otherwise normally functioning ribosomes. The two studies could be potentially reconciled, if there were one or more rare ribosomal proteins that affected both ribosome number and function. It will be very interesting to see if patients with mutations in these new genes have unique clinical phenotypes because of their combined effects on ribosome synthesis and function.
Dr. Pakaj Qasba, Program Director of the Blood Diseases Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute began Day 2 with a talk on ongoing programs at the NHLBI of relevance to meeting attendees.
PATHOGENIC MECHANISMS II
This last session was a bit more eclectic, covering a range of topics related to the potential mechanisms underlying DBA pathogenesis.
The session began with a presentation by Dr. Barry Paw from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Paw's work is focused on the regulation of protein synthesis in erythroid progenitors by amino acids. This work is relevant to DBA because one of these amino acids is leucine, which has been studied as a potential treatment for DBA through its ability to stimulate ribosome synthesis. This up-regulation is mediated through a critical sensor by the name of mTOR. Dr. Paw hopes that these studies may lead to more effective strategies to exploit this regulatory network as a therapeutic target for DBA.
The next talk in the session shifted away from ribosomes and protein synthesis to the relationship between two transcription factors GATA1 and GATA2. This talk was by Dr. Shai Izraeli from the Sheba Medical Center and Tel Aviv University. Dr. Izraeli is testing the hypothesis that the balance between the amount of GATA1 and GATA2 plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of DBA. His studies reveal that the increased ratio of GATA2 to GATA1 in patients with mutations in GATA1 disrupts erythropoiesis. These data would suggest that one or more genes regulated by GATA2 may be contributing to the effect on erythropoiesis and by identifying these genes it might be possible to target them in future drug development.
We turned back to the ribosome with a talk by Dr. Fabrizio Loreni from the University Tor Vergata in Rome. Dr. Loreni is interested in the signaling pathways involved in nucleolar stress, particularly the role of a protein kinase called Pim1 in the process. Protein kinases are a huge family of cellular signaling enzymes involved in controlling a wide range of processes within cells. The signaling pathway regulated by Pim1 may converge on p53 together with the pathway involving the 5S subcomplex and so provide an alternative target for therapeutic intervention.
The next talk by Dr. Jason Farrar from the University of Arkansas used an in vitro culture system to study the effects of ribosomal protein haploinsufficiency and the reduction of GATA1 on the ability of CD34+ progenitor cells from DBA patients to differentiate along the erythroid lineage. This model system should closely mimic what is going on within the marrow of DBA patients. One of the surprises from Dr. Farrar's presentation was the view that GATA1 functions upstream of ribosomal protein, perhaps in regulating ribosome synthesis during erythroid differentiation.
The final talk of the meeting was by Dr. Colin Sieff from Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Sieff presented work on a new mouse model of DBA. This mouse is haploinsufficient for Rpl11. This mouse is unusual because these mice more closely resemble the clinical picture of DBA seen in humans than some of the other mouse models that have been developed over the years. While there is still much to learn about these mice, they could be a valuable resource for the DBA community.
In addition to the oral sessions there were two poster sessions at this year's meeting. These sessions followed a format introduced at the previous ICC meeting where presenters gave a brief overview of each poster to all attendees prior to individualized viewing. There were a range of topics presented in the poster session and I will groups posters together under a limited number of topic headings for discussion.
There were several posters relating to clinical features of DBA. Drs. Alyson MacInnes and Ina Hainmann presented data on characteristics patients registered with the European Diamond Blackfan Anemia Consortium including an analysis of patients with still unidentified genes. These patients showed similar clinical characteristics with patients that have identified genes suggested shared pathogenic mechanisms.
There were also two posters from Dr. Blanche Alter's group at the National Cancer Institute, one of which dealt with pregnancy outcomes among unaffected mothers with children with DBA. The second poster outlined Dr. Alter's efforts in developing a strategy to mathematically model potential outcomes of bone marrow transplantation for DBA patients taking into consideration data available on risks and benefits. This model is in its early stages of development but could of tremendous importance in weighing decisions as to if or when a DBA patient should go to transplant.
Dr. Irma Dianzani also had two posters that dealt with new methodologies to help diagnose DBA. One of the methods involved monitoring pre-rRNA processing as a means to monitor ribosome biogenesis in a blood sample from suspected DBA patients. The other approach involved the analysis of small pieces of cells that break off red cell progenitors, with the rationale being that these cellular fragments may be more prevalent in patients where the progenitors are suffering stresses linked to ribosomal protein haploinsufficiency.
Drs. Anu Narla and Dagmar Pospisilova presented patients with mutations in known DBA genes that had unusual clinical presentations. These patients may create new classes of genotype/phenotype relationships and demonstrated the scope of DBA continues to broaden, presenting in adults and with markedly different severities.
Dr. Takuya Kamio from Hirosaki University in Japan also presented a poster identifying a new ribosomal protein gene responsible for DBA.
Jimmy Hom working in the laboratory of Dr. Lionel Blanc described a mouse model of DBA where they are studying the effects of ribosomal protein haploinsufficiency on skeletal development and the induction of osteosarcoma, part of the extended clinical phenotypes in DBA that have not been extensively studied in the past.
The mechanisms by which glucocorticoids stimulate erythropoiesis remain a mystery. Consequently studies on the mechanisms of glucocorticoid action are relevant to the DBA world. Dr. Eliza Geer from the laboratory of Dr. Anna Migliaccio presented a poster on the mechanisms whereby glucocorticoids stimulate erythropoiesis in patients with Cushing's disease.
New Targets for Drug Development
Brian Dulmovits, Dr. Elizabeth Macari, and Dr. Kathleen Sakamoto each presented posters identifying new targets for developing drugs to treat DBA. These studies, together with the ongoing drug screens discussed above, have opened up a number of new avenues for therapeutic development. Complementing these ongoing drug screens, Dr. Michal Hetman outlined a structural approach he plans to take to identify small molecules that disrupt the signaling pathway linking ribosome stress to p53 activation. Whereas, Anna Aspesi outlined a novel form of gene therapy that she intends to use to up-regulate the synthesis of ribosomal proteins affected in DBA as a way to offset ribosomal protein haploinsufficiency. These results add to the growing enthusiasm that there should be new drugs available for DBA patients in the foreseeable future.
Along these same lines, Shuo Lin had a poster outlining his work on identifying the mechanism of action of RAP-011, the generic form of Sotatercept, which has already been in clinical trials for DBA.
Pathogenic Mechanisms
Dr. Johnson Liu presented a poster on his work using cord blood from DBA patients as a source of hematopoietic stem cells to study the pathogenic mechanisms involved in DBA. One of these pathogenic mechanisms involves p53 activation, which Dr. Sharon Singh showed can also be induced by oxidative stress observed in cellular models of DBA. This represents yet another mechanism converging on p53 activation that may be involved in DBA pathogenesis.
Dr. Tamayo Uechi presented data derived from their zebrafish model of DBA analyzing mRNA selection by defective ribosomes. These studies are aimed at identifying critical mRNAs required for erythropoiesis that may be adversely affected by reductions in ribosome number in DBA patients.
In closing, I would like to thank everyone who attended this year's Diamond Blackfan Anemia International Consensus Conference for your willingness to share ideas and unpublished data as the field continues to progress toward our common goal of improving the lives of patients and families affected by Diamond Blackfan anemia. I would also like to thank the meeting organizers, with a particular shout out to Dr. Adrianna Vlachos who did a yeoman's job in putting together this year's agenda from the list of selected abstracts. Individuals involved in the abstract review process included Dawn Baumgardner, Drs. Vlachos, Lipton, Dianzani, Flygare, Blanc, Nathan, Bodine, and myself. Finally, I would like to thank the various foundations, agencies, and organizations mentioned for their generous financial support for this year's meeting: The DBA Foundation, DBA Canada, the Daniella Maria Arturi Foundation, DBA-UK, Captain Courageous (Australia) and the Resource Capital Funds Foundation. The meeting was supported by the National Institute Of Diabetes And Digestive And Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R13DK109587. (Dislaimer: The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.)
Previous DBA International Consensus Conference Summaries:
ICC Summary – 2014
Grants Proposal Forms
Projects Funded
Kendra – 34 years
With out the DBAF I would not be connected to others that have Diamond Blackfan Anemia. The DBAF has saved my life by educating me on what I need to do to combat this rare illness.
Elton – 2 years
As parents it is difficult to watch our son go through so much (IVs, pokes, transfusions, ER visits, steriod side effects, tests, ect.), but the resilience and toughness Elton shows each day is what gets us through.
Carlee Nina – 4 months
"In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." ~ Job 12:10
Avari – 22 months
Thank you DBAF for being there for us as we continue on this journey.
Jamie – 7 years
This is Jamie…Jamie is 7 years old, from the U.K… and he has DBA…. he's brave, he's strong, and above all, he's always smiling.
Angus – 4 years
Our greatest inspiration!
Seth – 4 years
Though in our hearts we desire to be free from DBA, we have learned patience, love, trust, perseverance, compassion, courage, and to cry.
Natalie – 9 years
I am here. I am in the present tense. I'm not always here, and sometimes here is a very difficult place. Sometimes it is a labyrinth, or a Minotaur, or a rope I can neither let go of nor follow. It's hard to find the right words, but I guess I would say that it's something like feeling the floor. And that it is my privilege to feel it. -Meg Howrey
Ty – 16 years
It is the tough things I have gone through with DBA that has made me the man I am.


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Donna and Mark Du Boise have a seemingly wonderful life as professional gospel singers. After their last performance of the year, Donna sits in her dressing room crying in despair. She remembers how they met and how happy they had once been, but now ten year later she wasn't so sure. She wonders if Mark would be better off married to someone who could give him a child. That ended for her when she lost their first and only baby.
Donna wakes up a few mornings after they're home to a note from Mark that he's gone on a two week fishing trip. Feeling abandoned and pouring out her problems to her friend Ellie, Donna finds herself agreeing to go on a missionary trip to the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky.
Upon arrival at her host home, Donna meets Sara Cagle. The woman, her two sons and adopted daughters, Jessie and Lexie, live in extreme poverty and have very little to eat. Sara's husband died from black lung disease and her two sons must work in the coal mine to help support the family.
Donna works helping with the assigned tasks of the mission group. She is so overcome with her own sadness, she finds herself in a church talking to the minister and that's when she realizes her real missionary assignment is to help with Sara's family.
Sara falls ill and is taken to the hospital. Donna fixes up the old shack Sara and the children live in and loads it with food. Donna wants to have a real Christmas for Sara's children.
Sara takes a turn for the worse. What will happen to her four children and will Mark understand why Donna has used so much of their savings to help this family?
Kimberly B. Jackson touches your heart with the story of a family full of love despite their circumstances. Her characters learn to reach out beyond themselves and let God's grace surround them.
Jack Stewart's job search just hadn't been going as he planned and he couldn't marry Molly without a job and a home for her. He'd exhausted all the opportunities in Popular Bluff but he couldn't leave the grandmother who raised him behind to pursue a job in a larger city. He would stick to his plan even if it meant losing Molly.
Molly has a dead end job at the nursing home but has had an excellent recommendation to a larger children's hospital in the state capitol. She can't leave Jack and he won't leave Popular Bluff. She knows that one day they'll be a family and she's willing to wait.
When Jack decides he's a failure even though he's done a wonderful job at restoring his grandmother's house and remodeling his former pediatrician's kitchen, he breaks off his engagement with Molly.
Jack wise grandmother and three special gifts at Christmas turn Jack's heart around. But when he decides to listen to God and go by His plan is when he wins Molly back into his arms.
Claire Sanders writes a wonderfully romantic story where believable characters face some very real problems. They learn to rely on their creator and trust His will.
I left my review. I enjoyed both of these stories and would read them again.
Thanks for stopping by Mary. They are great stories.
These stories sound great to get me into the Christmas spirit. Thanks!


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Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a means of extracting natural gas from deep shale formations. Once a well is drilled, millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are injected, under high pressure, into a well. The pressure fractures the shale and props open fissures that enable natural gas to flow more freely out of the well.
How deep do the wells go?
The average well is up to 8,000 feet deep vertically and another 1,000 to 6,000 feet horizontally.
Between 1 and 8 million gallons of water is used per frack job, and each well can be fracked up to 18 times.
Only 1% of frack fluid is comprised of chemicals, but that still amounts to about 7,500 gallons of chemicals per well. Because of the lack of regulation, the natural gas industry does not have to disclose chemicals used in the process but scientists have identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene.
What is done with the liquid frack waste?
According to Dr. Anthony Ingraffea, Cornell engineering scientist, over the life of the well virtually all of the fluid comes back up. However, shortly after a well is fracked about 20% of the wastewater returns to the surface and is stored in steel tanks or lined pits. The wastewater is then transported to a new location and injected in a Class II injection well which are not rated to receive hazardous wastes, are only inspected in Ohio every 5 years, and are not monitored in Ohio for leakage or water contamination.
The 2005 Energy Bill, also known as the Halliburton Loophole, removed the rights of the EPA to regulate hydraulic fracturing and exempted the process from important provisions of the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Clean Air Act.
Will fracking affect my property value?
Some banks and insurance companies consider gas-leased properties an unacceptable risk. Loan companies have policies that deny mortgages on leased property and insurance companies are hesitant to insure leased parcels because accidents associated with oil and gas drilling usually put the blame on the landowner.
Should I be concerned about my health?
According to experts, 93% of chemicals used in the fracking process have known adverse health effects. 60% are known cancer-causing agents and 40% are endocrine disruptors. BTEX, or benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene, are a few known chemicals used in fracking. Short term exposure effects of these chemicals include confusion, rapid pulse, anemia, damage to the nervous system and death.
See dangersoffracking.com, a simple online graphic, for more.


Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a new mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council, represents a unique chance for a State to look at the human rights situation in their country from a broader perspective - looking at the challenges faced, the developments made, as well as a way forward.
The OHCHR Regional Office for South East Asia is organizing its second regional UPR briefing. The two-day workshop will bring together representatives from countries about to submit for review in 2010 and 2011 as well as representatives from civil society organizations and UN country teams. The experiences of countries in the region which have already undergone the process will be shared with a view to identifying good practices.
Throughout the two day program, participants will discuss the principles, objectives and modalities of the review process, along with the challenges faced for States and other stakeholders in preparing information for UPR. One of the key benefits of UPR is constructive engagement between government, national human rights institutions, civil society and UN agencies. This meeting will bring together representatives from these sectors, with the aim of building genuine consultation and an exchange of ideas, to ensure that improvement of human rights on the ground is more than just rhetoric.


text:
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void edges(int height, int width, RGBTRIPLE image[height][width])
{
RGBTRIPLE imagecopy[height][width];

for (int i = 0; i < height; i++)
{
    for (int j = 0; j < width; j++)
    {
        float GxB = 0, GxG = 0, GxR = 0, GyB = 0, GyG = 0, GyR = 0;
        float sobel[3][3] =
        {
            {-1, 0, 1},
            {-2, 0, 2},
            {-1, 0, 1}
        };

        for (int m = -1; m < 2; m++)
        {
            for (int n = -1; n < 2; n++)
            {
                if (i + m > height - 1 || i + m < 0 || j + n > width - 1 || j + n < 0)
                {
                    continue;
                }
                else
                {
                    GxB += image[i + m][j + n].rgbtBlue * sobel[m + 1][n + 1];
                    GxG += image[i + m][j + n].rgbtGreen * sobel[m + 1][n + 1];
                    GxR += image[i + m][j + n].rgbtRed * sobel[m + 1][n + 1];

                    GyB += image[i + m][j + n].rgbtBlue * sobel[n + 1][m + 1];
                    GyG += image[i + m][j + n].rgbtGreen * sobel[n + 1][m + 1];
                    GxR += image[i + m][j + n].rgbtRed * sobel[n + 1][m + 1];
                }
            }
        }

        int B = round(sqrt(pow(GxB, 2) + pow(GyB, 2)));
        int G = round(sqrt(pow(GxG, 2) + pow(GyG, 2)));
        int R = round(sqrt(pow(GxR, 2) + pow(GyR, 2)));

        if (B > 255)
        {
            B = 255;
        }
        if (G > 255)
        {
            G = 255;
        }
        if (R > 255)
        {
            R = 255;
        }

        if (B < 0)
        {
            B = 0;
        }
        if (G < 0)
        {
            G = 0;
        }
        if (R < 0)
        {
            R = 0;
        }

        imagecopy[i][j].rgbtBlue = B;
        imagecopy[i][j].rgbtGreen = G;
        imagecopy[i][j].rgbtRed = R;
    }
}

for (int i = 0; i < height; i++)
{
    for (int j = 0; j < width; j++)
    {
        image[i][j] = imagecopy[i][j];
    }
}
return;
}

Screenshot of errors

A: There is a typo there:
GxR += image[i + m][j + n].rgbtRed * sobel[n + 1][m + 1];

It should be GyR.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Dubai Derma is being held annually and it is under the patronage of H. H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and President of the Dubai Health Authority. It is organised by Index Conferences & Exhibitions, a member of Index Holding in cooperation with the Pan Arab League of Dermatology, Arab Academy of Dermatology & Aesthetics (AADA) and GCC League of Dermatologists with the support of the Government of Dubai and Dubai Health Authority (DHA).
In addition to the excellent educational opportunities, a specialised exhibition held in conjunction with the conference, provides an avenue for business entities in the industry to showcase and promote the most up-to-date equipment, machine and product.


text:
Q: alert before anything load I want to check if browser support pdf viewer or not before anything loads on page and then if pdf viewer is not enable, I want to display alert pdf viewer is not enable and redirect to some other page.
I tried
window.onload = function () {}

$(document).ready(function () { });

$( window ).load(function() { });

but it still shows page in background. I do not want to display page until it is confirmed that pdf viewer is installed. Please help.

A: If it is enough to just hide the page, the you can put style="display: none" on root element and then if PDF is enabled you just show it
HTML

         ... Your content goes here ...

And in javascript you just show it up
if( pdf ) document.getElementById('hideItAll').style.display = ''; else alert( ... );

Other approach is to redirect user on page with content after PDF check is ok


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text:
Home » News » Opinion » Much Changed for India in Annus Horribilis 2020, but Its Rabble-Rousing Politics Didn't
Much Changed for India in Annus Horribilis 2020, but Its Rabble-Rousing Politics Didn't
A woman wearing a protective mask watches Prime Minister Narendra Modi on TV screens inside a showroom, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Ahmedabad on October 20, 2020. (REUTERS/Amit Dave)
The country's annus horribilis draws to a close and 2021 dawns with the promise of sweeping reconfigurations.
Last Updated:December 29, 2020, 17:25 IST
Bhavdeep Kang
In a year of radical change in every other sphere, it was politics as usual: "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". Politicians of all hues bickered endlessly as India struggled from crisis to crisis. The Congress continued leaderless and directionless. The BJP lost allies and won elections. The Left protested for the sake of protest.
It was a year of striking visuals: of rioting in Delhi, of migrants returning to their villages, of health workers in PPE gear, of soldiers' bodies coming home from Galwan, and of farmers blocking highways. But the image that lingered in public consciousness was that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his raj-rishi avatar. The challenges of the post-pandemic global reality, he seemed to say, demand both statecraft and spiritual resources.
The Modi makeover went down well with voters, judging from the NDA's electoral successes in the latter half of the year. It won Bihar thanks to the Modi magic and a stronger-than-anticipated showing by Nitish Kumar, swept the bye-elections and did well in elections to local self-government bodies in Hyderabad, Rajasthan, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
The Congress, on the other hand, struggled with numbers all through 2020. Zero, its tally in the Delhi assembly election. Twenty-five, the number of MLAs who defected to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh. Nineteen, the total number of seats (out of 70) it won in Bihar. Twenty-three, the number of Congress leaders who wrote to the interim party president, demanding change.
India, China Military Talks on Resolving Border Issue Went on for 12 Hours
Galwan Valley Clashes: India and China Hold Marathon Corps Commander-Level Talks
Politics hit its lowest point in mid-year, with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. As Covid cases in Maharashtra surged past 1.8 million, the Shiv Sena-led government plunged into a proxy war with the Centre. Each side preyed on soft targets in Bollywood and the media, apparently heedless of mounting Covid-induced deaths.
The theatre of the absurd then shifted to Uttar Pradesh, with the enactment of the so-called 'love jihad' law, a misnomer for an absurdly strict anti-conversion statute. The law did not forbid interfaith marriage but contained enough fuzzy language to give plenty of scope for harassment by the police and irate parents of the bride/groom.
That such an obnoxiously paternalistic piece of legislation did not provoke an outcry commensurate with its chauvinism spoke volumes about the gender-insensitivity of political class. The Opposition, which had taken to the streets to protest the ghastly Hathras case, confined itself to platitudes.
All its firepower was reserved for the Farm Acts of 2020. In a stunning volte face, the Congress demanded a repeal of the very agricultural reforms it had sworn, in 2019, to champion. Regional parties, even in states facing no farmer unrest whatsoever, found a convenient club with which to bludgeon the BJP.
To the 2020 lexicon of terms like 'pandemic', 'community transmission', 'social distancing', 'lockdown', 'asymptomatic', 'comorbidity' and 'WFH' was added 'MSP' or Minimum Support Price.
It was the year that the Opposition delved into the BJP's bag of semiotic tricks and discovered that optics, aspersions and deflection yielded more political capital than debate. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was presented as an instrument of disenfranchisement, the Farm Acts as pro-corporate and anti-farmer, and Shaheen Bagh and Singhu Border as a reclaiming of political agency by 'the people'.
The attempts to create a climate of protest had to contend with Modi's ability to reflect the subliminal hopes of the silent majority. The progressive, incorruptible vikas purush of 2014 and the warrior-king of 2019 became the paterfamilias, reassuring, guiding and occasionally chiding his 'family', urging them to be mindful of their social dharma.
If an increasing section of citizens saw an abuse of power, an undermining of institutions and a mishandling of the economy, still more saw Modi as a harbinger of a virus-vanquishing vaccine, a resurgent economy and geo-political realignments advantageous to 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'.
Meanwhile, the pandemic eased, foreign investment (FPI) inflows breached all records and India's economic recovery was pitched as more V- than U-shaped. Politicians turned their attention to forthcoming elections in Assam and West Bengal, with the BJP quicker off the mark as usual.
India's annus horribilis draws to a close and 2021 dawns with the promise of sweeping reconfigurations. Protocols against pandemic will be put in place, digital technology leveraged in all fields, the borders and the economy China-proofed and new geostrategic imperatives negotiated. But whether the shape of Indian politics will change remains to be seen.
Disclaimer:The author is a senior journalist. Views expressed are personal
Bhavdeep Kang is a freelance writer and author of Gurus: Stories of India's Leading Babas and Just Transferred: the Untold Story of Ashok Khemka. A jo...Read More
china galwan valley
delhi riots
hathras rape case
Yearender2020
first published:December 29, 2020, 17:25 IST
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Residency provides an interesting dynamic in that you're placed with a group of other people who want to attain the same goal as you. I think of it as a team. As with any team, there are those who see being a part of the team as a simple means to an end, and others who truly enjoy being part of a group. Some residents enter the program with the mindset of simply trying to do the minimum needed to pass. He or she leaves the program in a whimper. After this person has graduated, they have not left a mark or made a difference to the program. On the other end of the spectrum are the residents who do what is asked of them and more. They attend every function, and perform every task. I like to think that I fall somewhere in the middle, hopefully more towards the go-getter end. I do more than what is asked of me; one of the main reasons I wanted to be a chief resident was because I thought that position would allow me to give back to the program.
No matter what your approach to this team, a strong bond is formed between the residents. This bond exists for a variety of reasons: each person goes through the same struggles, has similar goals, and if one is unable to perform his duties, his co-residents are called upon to 'pick up the slack'. Regardless of where the resident falls on the spectrum of individual to team player, these factors form a bond between residents of the same program, and to a small extent between all residents across all specialties. I mentioned that I spent almost one year training in the Emergency Medicine program. One poignant stance that the (then) director said (when asked of all the bad-mouthing that everyone seemed to have to say about the Emergency Department) was that, "Let them say what they want, they don't understand what we do here." I feel that this holds at least partly true for every residency: people in general don't understand what it means to be a resident—only other residents can have this understanding; for this reason, this bond underlies all relationships between residents.
Even before the surgery, I have always felt incredibly close to all of my co-residents, especially those in my year. After the surgery, I have become even closer to each and every one of them. They have all been there for me and my family in one way or another: whether it's bringing us a dinner, sending me a 'get well!' card, or covering a missed shift for either my wife or me, they have all helped in their own way. These acts of kindness, even though appreciated, were not needed for them to have my love. Whether it was love my family and me, or just love for the program that motivated them, the bottom line is that love was key in their actions.
When I met with Dr. Janet Osuch, she warned me that of everyone, her co-workers distanced themselves the most from her—her rationale was that they feared something like this happening to them, and that a co-worker with this medical condition hit a little too close to home. But somehow, in a strange twist of fate, this horrible tumor not only hasn't distanced me from my co-residents but has actually brought me closer to them.
 I have had much experience in team situations and have often been called a 'good team player'.
 For example, if someone is sick and cannot go to work, another resident (a designated back up resident) is asked to fill his/her place.
 I mentioned in an earlier post that the Emergency Department (ED) acts as the whipping boy of the hospital—if something goes wrong, someone has to wait, or a treatment doesn't work, the blame ultimately and inevitably goes to the ED.
 See an earlier post titled, 'Dr. Janet Osuch'.


After weeks and weeks of cold, dry weather, is your skin feeling a bit leathery? You might be saying, "Yes, but it's winter. What choice do I have?" Well, girlfriend, it is winter, but you do have a choice. And, since spring will be here in exactly one month, it's time to get to work in turning that leather into velvet.
One of my current absolute fave products is Nourish Organic Body Butter. Let me tell you why I love, love, love it. First of all, there's the turning leather into velvet thing. It adds moisture to my skin and makes it much softer and healthier looking. That's amazing in itself, but the ingredients are pretty impressive, too.
Just like with my Jing Ai products, Nourish is made using USDA organic ingredients so you don't have to worry about chemicals hurting your skin. The products are also gluten free, vegan and they're certified by the Leaping Bunny Program that promises that no new animal testing is used in any phase of product development by the company, its laboratories, or suppliers. Cruelty-free beauty products are very important to me.
And, like Jing Ai, Nourish gives back. They contribute to organizations like The Women's Center, Association for the Blind, City Rescue Mission, Meals on Wheels, and the Salvation Army as well as local sports teams and schools. I totally respect that in a company.Nourish has five great all-natural scents: almond vanilla, fresh fig, lavender mint, pure unscented, and wild berries. I particularly love the simplicity of the almond vanilla. I buy Nourish at my local Wegmans Market, but you can purchase it from the Nourish website or from Amazon.
What are you doing to get your skin in velvety condition for all those fun spring clothes that are going to show more skin?


I can do anything. Just take a look. It's on a .js hook. Reading Repo.
Ah, thanks. I will post that way in the future.
This blog post that glosses over pretty much the entirety of the Twitter process. I wrote a post to that fact but I see it was edited out.
That's too bad. It filled in the gaps missing in the content above.
Ah, Moz. You guys are funny. "Yea just grab a three-letter Twitter account... two years ago."
I decided to supplement the information here with some of my own, but only as it pertains to Twitter // Three Hard-and-Fast Tips to Re(brand) on Twitter. Enjoy.


Gym Class Heroes posted a clip of their new single, "Stereo Hearts" featuring Adam Levine of Maroon 5. This will be the first single from their new album Papercut Chronicles II. The song will be available on June 14 for download. You can listen to the stream here.
William Beckett of The Academy Is… posted a video of him covering The Cure's "Just Like Heaven." Check out the video below.
Here it is, the moment the UTG crew has been waiting for all day, the first music video from Bad Meets Evil. Entitled "Fast Lane," this song comes off of the dynamic duos' upcoming release Hell: The Sequel. Take a look at this awesome video and let UTG know what you think of it!
Ja Rule was sentenced today to serve two years in prison after he pleaded guilty, 6 months ago, to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. These charges stemmed from the rappers' 2007 incident, after police pulled him over in NY and found a handgun hidden in his vehicle.
Panic! At The Disco surprised fans at their June 7 concert by performing "The Calendar" live for the second time in their career. You can view a fan-shot video of the performance below. We've said it before and we'll say it again: If you can go to the Vices & Virtues tour – DO IT!
Taking Back Sunday have released the lyric video for their latest single, "This Is All Now." You can stream the clip below. If you like what you hear, be sure to pick up TBS' self-titled album on June 28!
Rock Access are streaming Blindside's latest release, With Shivering Hearts We Wait, in its entirety on their website. Listen to the album by clicking right here and let us know how it compares to their past releases.


text:
WMW or wmw may refer to:

 WMW, the National Rail station code for Walthamstow Queen's Road railway station, London, England
 wmw, the ISO 639-3 code for Mwani language, Mozambique

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The Otter trail is officially the oldest and undoubtedly the most iconic hiking trail in South Africa. The trail, which runs along the spectacular coastline between the Storms River mouth and Nature's Valley, was opened in 1968 and is considered one of the finest multi-day trails in the world. It is named after the shy, mostly nocturnal, Cape Clawless Otter which inhabits the estuaries and streams of the South African coast.
Difficulty rating: 7/10: The Otter might not be as demanding as some other longer trails, like the Amatola or Outeniqua, but it should not be underestimated. It has some steep climbs and descents, as well as technical river crossings.
Technical rating: Mostly standard trail walking interspersed with "walk-through" river crossings. However, the main technical difficulty of the trail is the Bloukrans River crossing which involves swimming across the river and climbing up steep terrain by use of a rope.
The distance is below average for 5-day hikes (just about 45km) but the variety and splendour of the landscapes make it truly mesmerising. Any fit hiker will probably be able to finish each day before lunch time, but the trail offers so much to savour along the way that days are blissfully spent swimming in rivers and streams, walking through dense coastal forest, relaxing on beautiful beaches, gawking at huge waves crashing into the shoreline, enjoying the rich floral, insect and bird life, exploring the underwater world in tidal pools, or gazing at dolphins playing in the waves.
One has to report to the Storms River Park Reception to pay conservation fees, get the trail map and watch a short video which highlights the trails most recent changes. The trail starts nearby at a parking area.
The trail finishes in Nature's Valley. There is a compulsory check-out at De Vasselot Rest camp where Otter Trail Certificates are also issued.
The short and relatively easy first day allows for a late start, but do not hurry past the beautiful features along the way! The hike starts with a steep descent through coastal forest to an abrupt entry onto seaside rocks and magnificent scenery.
Around the halfway mark on Day 1, you will come across the Jerling River waterfall, which cascades into a large pool. It is a perfect spot for a break and a swim, if you can handle the chilly water. After that there's a climb through natural forest and then on to the huts with their large communal braai-area.
The second day provides the first real challenge with some steep ascents and descents in the coastal forest, with the steps being high and irregular. Be sure to walk across to the top of Skilderkrans (2km mark) for some spectacular panoramic views, but also keep an eye out for birdlife and surprises offered by the micro environment.
From Skilderkrans, the trail goes through its characteristic ascents and descents to reach the Kleinbos River with its sizeable pools and steep flanks – a worthy spot for a break and a swim.
Bloubaai beach at the 5km mark is a fantastic lunch & swim spot in fair weather. The descent to the beach is steep and it is a good option to leave backpacks near the main trail if it is for a quick stop only.
This is arguably the best day on the Otter, with forested sections, several streams, a lovely tidal pool, walks along beautiful stretches of coastline and some visits to the plateau. In-season wild flowers abound. The terrain is also a bit easier than day 2.
There's a tidal pool with a good jump (take care!) early in the day. It is worthwhile to bring a diving mask to explore the underwater world of colourful fish, sea anemones and starfish that inhabit the pool.
It is advisable to try and cross the Lottering River close to low tide – at high tide you may be in for a swim with your backpack. After the river crossing, the Oakhurst huts are close by and are situated in a spectacular location – it is worthwhile arriving before sunset to explore the area.
Day four presents the greatest challenge for both distance and river crossings. The trail undulates through forest and dramatic coastal sections for the first 10km, after which the famous Bloukrans River crossing is reached.
It is important to cross the Bloukrans close to low tide, which might necessitate a pre-dawn start.
Even at low tide the river is likely to require a short swim and one therefore must have survival bags in which to float your backpack. If the river is flooding, or you arrive there when the tide is full and the sea is rough, it is strongly recommended to rather make use of the escape route (see map).
If conditions are favourable for a crossing, it is a good idea to send a strong member of the party across to identify a suitable landing spot before everyone goes across – there is a sandy gully near the mouth of the river (when the tide is low) or a rocky landing in a small cove which will require some scrambling, but a safety rope is fixed in place.
After the river crossing there is a steep and long climb to the plateau. The path then descends to Andre huts on the banks of the Klip River.
The day starts with a short walk on a rocky beach, and then a steep climb up to the plateau. From there the trail stays mostly on top of the plateau on easy terrain. Rich fynbos and Erica's abound. Also keep an eye out for king proteas. There are some good lookouts on the spectacular cliffs as you approach The Point.
The panoramic views of the Groot River estuary and Nature's Valley beach announces the end of the trail. There is a slight sting in the tail after the descent, with 4km of beach walking left to De Vasselot – an appropriate time to celebrate and reflect on a remarkable trail.
The trail takes a maximum of 12 hikers at a time. If not fully booked by a group, the remaining spots will be available for booking by the public. It should also be noted that the minimum and maximum ages are 12 and 65 respectively.
It is essential to plan and book long before the time – the trail is normally booked for up to a year in advance in all except the winter months. There are, from time to time, spots open on short notice due to cancellations.
There are two huts that sleep 6-people each at the end of days 1 to 4. The huts are equipped with bunk beds and mattresses. There's a toilet (often with a scenic view), a braai area with firewood, a cold shower, a rainwater tank and a bag/bin to dispose of rubbish.
There are many streams and perennial rivers along the way. The tea-coloured water from mountain streams are generally safe – do not be put-off by the dark hue, it is due to the tannins from the indigenous fynbos. Water from the larger rivers often runs past human settlements and should preferably be treated or filtered. See the SAN Parks website for updated information on water.
There are several river and stream crossings which should be approached with care. After heavy rainfall, even small streams can become difficult to cross. Consult the map for the location of larger rivers and be sure to pack a large, durable plastic bag (survival bag) in which to float your backpack. For the Elandsbos, Lottering and Bloukrans rivers it is advisable to cross at low tide. The Bloukrans River crossing can look daunting, but if done at low tide it may be surprisingly easy.
I've done the Otter twice, and this article (and especially the pics) make me want to HEAD STRAIGHT BACK!! Fantastic!
I had a hip replacement in nov 2017. Would the otter trail be to difficult for me? Thinking of doing it next year?
That's a very difficult question to answer. My suggestion would be to hike a 2-day hike first, carrying a fully loaded backpack, to see how your hip handles the extra weight as well as walking 2 days in a row. That being said, I know people who have had hip replacements and hiked the Otter Trail without any trouble.
Do you any guide ?
Hi Jacques, the best place to post your questions is on our community forum (https://community.hikingsouthafrica.co.za/). There are a number of professional guides in and around Cape Town: Venture Forth, Hike Table Mountain, Platteklip Tours, to name but a few.
Just completed the Otter last week. Absolutely amazing!
Bloukrans was ankle height at 9:30 am and shoulder height at 1pm ! Don't be late like me LOL.
Hi Mell, you would have to check this directly with SANParks (+27 12 428 9111).
I also think the age limit is strange – any adult should be able to assess their own ability. I would suggest taking it up with SANParks well in advance; I would be surprised if they do not allow exceptions. Otherwise I'm sure they won't actually check your birthday; maybe you can just quote your "fitness age" – just don't get into trouble on the trail!
I turned 66 now in June and hiked the Otter as at 65 in May. I had to get a doctor's certificate that I handed in at the start. No problems.
Where can I see the exact costing for the Otter trail?
We're going to do the trail on October & I'VE few questions: What about food? What do you recommend us to take? is it possible to cook something at the huts? Dyou know about the weather in Oct. as we are not from S.A. Thanks.
Regarding cooking food, you will need to be entirely self-sufficient (carry your own gas stoves, pots and cutlery).
We are a group of 12 doing the Otto Trail in May 2019, Can you advise if you, or if you know someone who can assist us with porterage?
You could also try contacting SAN Parks (where you made the booking) – I think they facilitate slack-packing options.
My wife and I are interested in doing the otter trail in the near future. I would like to ask if a person can take a fishing rod along to do a bit of fishing when not hiking?
To my knowledge fishing isn't allowed in the reserve (and hence on the trail); the harvesting of mussels is also prohibited. For a definite answer I suggest contacting SAN Parks.
And do take a diving mask – a couple of lovely pools in which to explore the underwater-world.


text:
The Untold Story of Post-War European Jewry
At GSJS lecture, author David Weinberg speaks about the Holocaust survivors who returned to their former communities.
Much of the research on post-war Jewry concludes that European Jewish life vanished in the catastrophe of World War II. And indeed, statistics show that many Holocaust victims did emigrate from Europe to rebuild their lives in other countries. But, at the same time, there were also masses of Jews who willfully decided to stay on the continent.
What happened to them?
Prominent historian Professor David Weinberg, Ph.D. recently addressed this question in a special lecture he delivered to the students, faculty, and staff of the Graduate School of Jewish Studies (GSJS). His presentation, titled "Recovering a Voice: The Revival of the Jewish Communities of Western Europe after World War II" focused on the topic of the Jews who chose to return to their French, Belgian and Dutch communities rather than immigrating to other countries like Israel or the United States.
Weinberg, whose interest in post-war European Jewry is matched by only a handful of other scholars around the world (including GSJS's own associate professor of modern Jewish history Dr. Natalia Aleksiun), says he was drawn to it due to the "lack of study of this period," as this has been "a field that has largely been ignored."
"The trope is essentially disappearance," said Weinberg.
"No one can deny, of course, that European Jewry emerged from the Second World War physically weakened and psychologically traumatized," he elaborated. "Yet while most communities faced devastating losses and some all but disappeared, a few re-established themselves relatively quickly." Among these communities were the French, Belgian, and Dutch Holocaust survivors.
These Jews faced a number of challenges while trying to rebuild, Weinberg described: the issue of rehabilitation, the need to restructure communal institutions, the crisis of Jewish identity among survivors, and the struggle to control public memory of the war. They were also impacted by the reemergence of anti-Semitism and the crisis of the Cold War. Since "revival of life was painful," it required a lot of optimism. But it was through their successful responses to these challenges that these three Jewish communities were able to reassert themselves as a distinctive voice among global Jewry.
"What you do see here is a voice that's struggling—and that's what makes it an interesting story," he concluded.
Professor Weinberg, author of A Community on Trial: The Jews of Paris in the 1930s and Between Tradition and Modernity: Haim Zhitlowski, Simon Dubnow, Ahad Ha-Am, and the Shaping of Modern Jewish Identity, has been a visiting professor of modern Jewish history at the University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania, among others. He served as Professor of History and Director of the Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies at Wayne State University from 1993 through 2013.
His upcoming book on the reconstruction of Western European Jewish life after the Holocaust will be published in Winter 2015.


text:
Ondores é um distrito da província de Junín, localizado do Departamento de Junín, Peru.

Transporte
O distrito de Ondores é servido pela seguinte rodovia:
 JU-100, que liga o distrito à cidade de Junín

Distritos da província de Junín


Alójese en Galata; sea un local, sienta el real Estambul.
Principalmente, podemos coordinar un trasporte privado para Ud. directamente del aeropuerto a World House Hostel. Envíenos una solicitud vía mail.
Tome el metro hasta Yenikapı, luego cambie de metro, tome el que va hacia Hacıosman y bajese en la estación Sishane y encuentre la calle Istiklal. Para más información descargue el folleto de direcciones.
Tome el metro hasta Yenikapı y luego cambie de metro con dirección hacia Hacıosman. Bájese cuando lleguea la estación de Sishane y encuentre la salida a Istiklal Caddesi (camino peatonal) y caminar sobre laizquierda.
The World House Istanbul is a great place. We stayed there for 6 nights as a group of 4 people. We recommend the 6 bed room in the forth floor with his own balcony. Even the bathroom is a funny experience ;-). Everything was clean. The breakfast leaves nothing to be desired. One single deficiency: There is no bar in the hostel because of the mosque next to the building. But the stuff is very sympathetic and helpfull. They even dealed really discreet and professional after one of us was "lost"!The World House Istanbul is a great place. We stayed there for 6 nights as a group of 4 people. We recommend the 6 bed room in the forth floor with his own balcony. Even the bathroom is a funny experience ;-). Everything was clean. The breakfast leaves nothing to be desired. One single deficiency: There is no bar in the hostel because of the mosque next to the building. But the stuff is very sympathetic and helpfull. They even dealed really discreet and professional after one of us was "lost"!
This hostel had the best facilities I've encountered so far. Staff was very kind and helpful. I have only one advice to give- bring your own laptop!! The hostel has one on the first floor but the internet connection is poor and a place for the USB stick is broken. Hostel is also very big so if you're very shy, don't expect to mingle that easily. Rather than that- a perfect location and a very pleasant stay! I would come back!!This hostel had the best facilities I've encountered so far. Staff was very kind and helpful. I have only one advice to give- bring your own laptop!! The hostel has one on the first floor but the internet connection is poor and a place for the USB stick is broken. Hostel is also very big so if you're very shy, don't expect to mingle that easily. Rather than that- a perfect location and a very pleasant stay! I would come back!!
The breakfast was banging, the location was great, and the staff was unbelievably wonderful. Mustafa is the coolest dude and he sat with us for a solid amount of time telling us what to do/see and how. Deniz was also a cool dude and helped me decide what to do with my last morning. The bar crawl was certainly and interesting experience- definitely try it. Met some really cool people there, the atmosphere was great, but again- the breakfast was awesome. We'll be back.The breakfast was banging, the location was great, and the staff was unbelievably wonderful. Mustafa is the coolest dude and he sat with us for a solid amount of time telling us what to do/see and how. Deniz was also a cool dude and helped me decide what to do with my last morning. The bar crawl was certainly and interesting experience- definitely try it. Met some really cool people there, the atmosphere was great, but again- the breakfast was awesome. We'll be back.
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Warning: This essay has a non linear structure.
Reminds me a lot of my elderly mother - re the rambling delivery and the free association of ideas, plus the tendency to treat any event (no matter how big or small) with the same degree of importance.* My mother, or maybe a nine-year-old.
Is it just me or does 'And straightway coming up out of the water' sound eerily contemporary? Or (at very least) kind of 'unbiblical'?
* What John the Baptist is wearing and Christ's trial in the wilderness being accorded the same amount of space.
Modern Bibles usually have not only chapter divisions (which are themselves artificial and not by the author) but also divide up the chapters into readings with headings written by the editor. When those are not there and do not cause you to artificially pause, it is much easier to note the lack of narrative flow. "This happened. And this happened. And this happened."


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LAMB OF GOD: 'VII: Sturm Und Drang' First-Week Chart Positions Revealed
"VII: Sturm Und Drang", the seventh full-length album from Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD, has registered the following first-week chart positions:
Canada: #1
Australia: #2
USA: #3
UK: #7
Germany: #12
Japan: #13
Netherlands: #13
Finland: #3
New Zealand: #11
Sweden: #19
Belgium: #23
Ireland: #25
"VII: Sturm Und Drang" was released on July 24 via Epic in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Entertainment in all territories outside of North America. The CD was once again produced and mixed by Josh Wilbur with engineering by Wilbur, Nick Rowe and Kyle McAulay, and was recorded at NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California and Suburban Soul Studios in Torrance, California.
Regarding the "VII: Sturm Und Drang" album title, LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton told the Swiss TV show "Living Room": "When Randy [Blythe, vocals] and I were putting the lyrics together for this album, we were discussing what the themes were. And we were trying to find a phrase that best encompassed the common threads that ran through the lyrics of all the songs. And it just happened to be that 'Sturm Und Drang' represented that inner conflict and the pressure and the turmoil and the chaos and how one responds to those things. If it had been a French phrase, we would have probably named it that. But it just happened to be German."
"VII: Sturm Und Drang" track listing:
01. Still Echoes
02. Erase This
04. Embers
06. Overlord
07. Anthropoid
08. Engage The Fear Machine
09. Delusion Pandemic
10. Torches
The album's first single, "Still Echoes", was made available on May 18 via all digital retailers and streaming services.
Tags: lamb of god
JOSH TODD Says BUCKCHERRY 'Wanted To Step It Up' On New Album 'Warpaint'
First-Ever Heavy Metal Knitting Championship Held In Finland (Video)
ARMORED SAINT Performs 'Underdogs' Live For First Time In 32 Years (Video)
SAXON's BIFF BYFORD: 'We're Still Making Great Metal Albums'
STEVEN ADLER Performs Live For First Time Since Stabbing Incident (Video)


The PPG PAINTS brand unveiled its 2017 Color of the Year: Violet Verbena (PPG1169-5), a grayed-off, moody purple with a chameleon-like presence.
HOURGLASS: A classic palette with a contemporary spin, this theme represents the earth element, with consumers finding stability in what they know and gravitating toward designs rooted in historical relevance. The palette incorporates rich, royal hues such as PPG Paints brand colors Burgundy Wine (PPG1053-7), Old Mill Blue (PPG1171-6) and Castle Stone (PPG1128-7), blended with a healthy dose of neutrals such as Pearl (PPG1087-2) and Go To Gray (PPG1004-1), to pair beautifully with wood, marble and stone tile. The lavender hues of Violet Verbena add to the royal nature of these colors, while still blending effortlessly with greens, blues and neutrals.
ES/SENCE: This theme focuses on the element of water, purity and the premise that less is unequivocally more. In a time when many consumers are embracing minimalism, the colors in this palette evoke a sense of simplicity and relaxation. Watery blues, lush greens and soft blended tones provide a mellow, calming and refreshing mentality. Sea Mist (PPG1227-1), Ancestral (PPG1047-4), Almond Cream (1086-3) and Simply Elegant (PPG1155-3), a few of the colors in the palette, create a soft, calming ambiance and pair beautifully with soothing Violet Verbena.
IMPOWER: Centered on change powered by the fire element, this complex palette incorporates deep tones, light neutrals and everything in between. It celebrates the fact that consumers do not have to define themselves by any specific design personality, but can exist somewhere in between. Consumers drawn to this palette can pair furnishings and colors from various genres and disciplines in a decadent yet easy fusion. Bold colors of the PPG Paints brand such as Azure Tide (PPG1231-6), Cenote (PPG17-02), Red Licorice (PPG1186-7) and Crushed Pineapple (PPG1213-7) pair with muted neutral tones such as Willow Tree (PPG1112-6), Gray Violet (PPG1014-5), Silver Screen (PPG1014-3) and not-quite gray Violet Verbena.
BIOCENTRIC: This design story is representative of air and the idea that we are all connected, and the palette dazzles with space-inspired hues and saturated organics. PPG Paints brand colors Spinach Salad (PPG11-16), Blueberry Muffin (PPG1164-5) and Enchanting Eggplant (PPG13-07) give the palette an organic vibe, while Black Flame (PPG1043-7), Cavalry (PPG1041-7) and Witchcraft (PPG1037-7) offer blue-black mystery to the palette and pair beautifully with Violet Verbena. Incorporating these colors into the home gives the look of contemporary elegance and laid-back charm.
Violet Verbena and all the colors of the 2017 Pendulum color trend stories, along with 2,000 colors in PPG's palette for THE VOICE OF COLOR system, are available at PPG Paints stores and independent retailers across the United States in the PPG Paints, PPG PORTER PAINTS and PPG PITTSBURGH PAINTS product lines.


When the calling rang out for the Resident Evil movie poster contest, I worked a many 24 hour days to meet the deadline. Unfortunately, I was turned down by the man. The company man. Damn Umbrella Corporation!


401 S. Walnut Grove Ave.
Compare Roosevelt Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
Compare Roosevelt Elementary employs 16 full-time teachers.
Read all reviews and ratings detail for Roosevelt Elementary.
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The teachers and staff at Roosevelt Elementary School are AMAZING. They are dedicated to the kids. My son thrived at Roosevelt. And the music program is absolutely phenomenal. If I could, I would give this school 10 stars.
Be the first to know when there is an update for Roosevelt Elementary!


A house with great living spaces, with a strong connection to the spectacular landscape (and seascape) beyond.
Located in a conservation area, this sloping site was occupied by an existing house in a state of considerable disrepair, so extensive that the only feasible option was to demolish the existing property and rebuild.
The design provides accommodation over three levels on a tight site close to the sea shore in this East Neuk of Fife village.
Entrance to the property is possible to the middle floor from the north and to the ground floor from the south. The open plan accommodation on the mid-level is complemented by bedrooms on the lower and top floors as well as a playroom, laundry, storage and a second sitting room. A striking modern stair provides a feature linking the different levels. Externally the design, whilst contemporary, has a slightly softer traditional quality and the palette of materials includes natural slate and render with natural stone detailing, all in keeping with the prevailing aesthetic of the conservation area.


ALVAC has a lifting machine for every need. Here are some of the many options.
Over the years, we have developed a wide range of lifting equipment for many different purposes. You will find everything from machines that are built to handle curbstones and paving stones, to vacuum lifting devices that can lift concrete slabs up to 18 tonnes.
ALVAC CONSTRUCTION's vacuum lifters optimise production and protect your employees from inappropriate lifting and movement.
A customised basic module from ALVAC can lift all kinds of items, from small, simple devices to big, heavy and cumbersome items, primarily with vacuum.


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53rd World Athletics Congress Press Conference
Home / Marketing in Guelph / 53rd World Athletics Congress Press Conference
19.Nov, 2021 Chris 0 Athletics, IAAF, track and field, World Athletics, World Championships, worldAthletics	Marketing in Guelph
Subscribe to our channel – https://www.youtube.com/worldathletics
⭐ Follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics ⭐
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Make sure you subscribe for athletics highlights, interviews with the athletes, training tips and more!
How to Write a Music Press Release | Template & Guide for Artists | Ditto Music	Hisense | CES 2021 Press Conference


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Joachim Horsley
Composer, Arranger, and Pianist.
VIA HAVANA
LA Orchestra Show Reel Nov2022
CARIBBEAN NOCTURNES IN CONCERT
in LA!
NOV. 11th, 2022 7:30 PM
NEUEHOUSE,
When Classical meets Afro-Caribbean music! Virtuoso American pianist and film composer Joachim Horsley's ambitious goal is to make the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin dance to Afro-Caribbean rhythms, like Rumba, Son Montuno, Zouk, Bachata, and many others. His second album, "Caribbean Nocturnes", was recorded over 3 years with an international team from the Classical and Caribbean world, including Jeanine De Bique, Charlie Siem, Damian Nueva Cortes, Pedro Barrios, Orito Cantora, Jenn del Tambo, Natascha Rogers, Thomas Bellon, The Hollywood Chamber Orchestra and Miami's Nu Deco Ensemble. Two timeless musical worlds are braided together in this unique, joyous and inspired rendez-vous.
ABOUT JOACHIM
Joachim Horsley is a composer, pianist, and arranger. He creates original music for film and TV, and specializes in combining classical music and Afro-Caribbean rhythms with is VIA HAVANA album and video series. His much anticipated follow-up to album, with "Moonlight Mozambique" and many other tracks will be released later this year. Join the mailing list below to get the news about concerts and new releases first.


Australia has announced that Indian nationals can apply for a visitor visa online starting from first July.
Australia will offer benefits like 24/7 accessibility, electronic payment of the visa application charge and the ability to check the status of applications lodged online, all through the department's ImmiAccount portal.
Being able to check the status of an application online, as soon as it is finalised, will allow Indian applicants to finalise their travel arrangements as soon as possible, Hawke said.
An official statement said, there has been a significant increase in demand for Australian visas in India with the rising popularity of Australia as a holiday destination.


I am having trouble creating reports within Qlikview. Might the reason be that I am still using the free version?
As per my knowledge using free version will not cause you any problem if you are creating a report for your personal laptop/desktop. However If you would like to import/export those report it wont work. Free Edition is only for the creating report for your personal use, not for distribution. That's the only restriction in QlikView free version. Remaining you can enjoy all the features, what a personal edition provides. If this doesn't answer your question, please come back with the problem what exactly you are facing.
The free version has all the features fo Licensed version, except that you can't open the files created by others for more that 4 times. This is the only limitation that free version has. Can you explain what you are trying to do?


text:
Acantholimon glutinosum är en triftväxtart som beskrevs av Karl Heinz Rechinger och Mogens Engell Köie. Acantholimon glutinosum ingår i släktet Acantholimon och familjen triftväxter. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Triftväxter
glutinosum


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Sly Cooper Movie to Hit Theaters in Early 2016
Posted by The Dace Man Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Hey, Hey, Hey Dacetacular Nation! It is I, Chris "The Dace Man" Dace bringing you hot-off-the-press news! Announced by Rainmaker Entertainment with independent production company Blockade Entertainment, Sony's favorite raccoon Sly Cooper will be hitting the big screen in early 2016, joined by his gaming companions Bentley Turtle and Murray Hippo.
Although we only have a teaser and announcement, David Wohl, vice president of development and a producer on Sly Cooper, had this to offer about the upcoming video game to motion picture: "The film will stay true to the franchise, though it will not be a complete origin story. In the film, Sly and his buddies are already together, though they are far from being great at what they do."
Most notably the gang will make a transition from the world of 2D to the world of 3D. The producers of the franchise are working very closely with the original studios to stay true to the story. Going forward, the studio is taking the approach of trying to mix both original voice actors and outside actors to help freshen up the series. Although this will not serve as an origin story for Sly, it will show the gang in their early stages, far from the experts they are in the game. Below you can find the teaser trailer that was released today!
As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Until then, for the few, the proud, and of course the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case your your thieving gear—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!


Do you know the key that dictates the shift for each letter?
No, try to determine key and message based on analysis of encrypted text .
TIP: This codebreaker analyzes the encrypted text to determine the most probable key length and then tries to guess the key based on known character frequencies/words in the English language. It may not find the actual key, so make sure to perform your own human analysis of the results. For example, the codebreaker may guess the key is "dacrypk". You can then determine the key is actually "decrypt" and run the codebreaker again with "decrypt" as the key.
Codebreak may take up to a minute to finish.
A Vigenère cipher shifts each character of a plain text message a number of positions based on a keyword. Essentially, a Vigenère cipher consists of several Caesar ciphers in sequence with different shift values.
The shift value for any given character is based on the keyword. The keyword is repeated so that it is the same length of the message. Then, the corresponding keyword character determines the shift for it's respective message character.
Our first step is to examine repetitions in the encrypted text so we can guess at the length of the key. In a Vigenère cipher, common words such as "the" or "that" can be encrypted differently each time. However, if the message is long enough, repetitions in the code can still be exploited. This codebreaker analyzes the space between these repetitions to make a guess at the key length.
After making an educated guess at the key length, we now need to guess at the key text itself. Research of the English language has produced a table of how often each letter of the English alphabet is used in the English language. For example, "e" is used most often, so for most encryptions we can guess that the most often used character is probably actually an "e". With a Vigenère cipher, this is difficult because an "e" could be encrypted in multiple ways based on the key. Counting the characters won't work.
However, if we know that the key is of length N, then we know that every Nth character is encrypted the same way. We can split the whole encrypted message into N messages by lumping the characters that are encrypted with the same shift. Then we essentially have N different messages that are normal Caesar shifts. Each is shifted by one value - a single character of the key. We can apply frequency analysis to each individual message to guess at those single characters. We combine our best guesses at each character to get the best keyword guess.
Since the above method makes many assumptions, it's likely that the best guess is not the key. This codebreak tries to overcome that limitation by making many best guesses. For example, the 2nd best guess may use the 2nd most likely letter based on frequency analysis to guess the 1st character of the key. We find about 1000 best guesses.
Then we further rank the "strength" of these best guesses. A guess is considered "stronger" if it contains a word from the English dictionary. After all, a key is most likely going to be an actual word or multiple words. A guess is considered even stronger if it contains special geocaching terms like "cache." The best of the best guesses rank higher and are displayed higher on the list.


Victory Fighting Championship can now be seen on the world's largest digital combat sports subscription service UFC FIGHT PASS! Start your free 7 day trail now!
Visit Cagetix.com for all your Victory Fighting Championship event ticket needs.
Download the Victory App to stay up to date on all the upcoming Victory news and events.
Victory Fighting Championship, in partnership with Hoosier Fight Club, held its official weigh-in today for VFC 60. The 10-bout main card for VFC 60 takes place on Saturday, April 14th live at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, and airing live on live on UFC FIGHT PASS® beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. PT.
VFC's first major show of the year will take place at the Horseshoe Casino located just outside Chicago in Hammond, Indiana. Victory Fighting Championship will make its 2018 debut on UFC FIGHT PASS® with VFC 60 on Saturday, April 14th.
Victory Fighting Championship is the premier mixed martial arts organization in the Midwest. Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, Victory has provided its thousands of fans with high-quality, competitive, and entertaining fights since 2002.
A catalyst for success, Victory has launched the careers of numerous elite fighters such as former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, Spencer Fisher, Josh Neer, Kevin Burns, Jake Ellenberger, Jason Brilz, Anthony Smith, Justin Salas, Tecia Torres, Kamaru Usman, Chris Camozzi, John Halverson, Joe Ellenberger, Mirsad Bektic, Drew Dober, and Travis Browne. These Victory fighters have made their way to the largest, most competitive stages across the United States including the UFC Octagon®.
As an organization that continues to grow, thrive and gain strong, consistent momentum, Victory Fighting Championship presents between 8-10 live events per year in the Midwest's top venues, which can be seen exclusively through the world's largest digital combat sports subscription service UFC FIGHT PASS.
Get the latest news from Victory.
Never miss out on whats happening in and outside the Victory cage. Sign up today!


I'm settling in at my new home at Scrap Orchard and I teamed up with Liz of Scrapping with Liz to make a fabulous template collab this week called Yin and Yang Template Collab!
The Asian concept of yin and yang describes how opposites are connected and dependent on one another. Scrapping with Liz and Fiddle-Dee-Dee Designs have teamed up to bring you an awesome template set combining both of their styles in a stylish balance of creativity. The simple clean designs and blended masks of Scrapping with Liz paired with Fiddle-Dee-Dee Design's element grouping and layering make this a perfect set of templates ideal for scrapping all the special moments of your life. Click on the image to zip over to the Scrap Orchard Market! The collab is on sale for a limited time.
I also have some re-releases this week: Fuss Free: Artisana Set 1, Fuss Free: Artisana Set 2 and Fuss Free: Scalloped Borders. These are all on sale for a limited time as well. All the images are linked to the Market.
Fuss Free: Artisana Set 1 and Set 2 feature templates highlighted in issues of The Artisan Notebook. These sets are sure to be ones that you will reach for time and again. Loaded with options from photo sizes to paper use and element layering, you'll find these templates are versatile enough to scrap a variety of moments in your life.
Fuss Free: Scalloped Borders are a perfect beginning for any layout. Designed to appear as if they have been hand punched, these borders showcase papers beautifully without overwhelming your page design. Use them singly or in pairs, or stack all of them on your layout!
My Creative Team and the HoneyBees were busy this week creating beautiful new layouts to show off these templates.
If you purchase any two template sets, you'll get Fuss Free: Scalloped Borders for free!
If you are signed up for my newsletter, you'll find an exclusive coupon for newsletter subscribers only. Sign up if you haven't already (the subscription form is right on this blog!) so you don't miss out on exclusive coupons and freebies!


On April Fool's Day 1978, Robert Caulfield and Ivo Krivanek started their architectural practice in the front room of Ivo's Hawthorn home. 'We looked very professional,' remarks Robert, 'except if clients needed to use the bathroom, they stumbled across a normal, chaotic family home, beyond our office.' Forty years on, the founders of Caulfield Krivanek Architecture, can reflect on an enduring and successful partnership, that has seen them collaborate on over 3000 projects both locally and overseas.
As the driving force behind one of Australia's most enduring architectural practices, Robert and Ivo's broad portfolio demonstrates an impressive suite of luxury homes, aged care and retirement residences, multi-level apartments, commercial and tourism projects. On the international stage, they have master planned cities for Chinese provincial governments and tycoons, and developed multi-level apartments in Dubai, and across China.
Both Robert and Ivo look back over the last 40 years fondly. They attribute their strong business and personal relationship to a mutual appreciation and respect for each other's strengths, allowing them to find a unique balance that proved successfully both creatively, and in the running of their business. "We were able to approach things from different aspects, but we never found our ideas were in conflict with each other" says Ivo.
Beyond their award-winning projects and busy practice, both men have made lasting contributions to their profession over the last 4 decades. Also in 1978, Robert founded the Archicentre building advisory service, that he went on to manage for 31 years. During the 1990s he was the National President of the Australian Institute of Architects, and provided strong leadership throughout this difficult economic time, guiding architects with sensible advice and his optimism for the future. In 1995, he became involved in KidSafe, an organization that works to prevent injuries in and around the home. In 2002, Robert was awarded the prestigious Australian Government Centenary Medal, for his services to architecture. Amongst all this, he's travelled extensively, lecturing and presenting papers promoting the 'business of architecture'. Outside this world, Robert's had an energetic community involvement in the Western Bulldogs Forever Foundation and is a keen sailor.
Four decades on, the pair have seen numerous technological developments within the industry, as well as many architecture trends and styles. "We have our favourites of course," says Robert "some of those from the early days, because they are ageless – in design and materials, and they have their own style." "Buildings convey a lot about their owner, or the people who use them, and while your outlook might change with time, I always enjoy designing properties that communicate to the environment around them" remarks Ivo.
Both Rob and Ivo, still have a passion for what they do. More recently, they have both enjoyed mentoring young architects within their firm and are actively involved in all aspects of their business from designing sustainable suburban homes to aged care and retirement facilities, as well as visionary apartment and retail spaces. Robert has been instrumental in the Melbourne Skyloop concept, and continues to provide the public with invaluable home purchasing and renovation advice through resources such as his Home Inspection Checklist, and Home Renovation Cost Indicator.
As for the future … "Architects tend to take a long time to mature professionally, so the best is yet to come!" jokes Ivo "I'm always excited by new projects and the challenges they present – I think I am sometimes like a child with a new box of Lego … I just can't stop until it's finished!