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When You Know, You Know
by Patriot-Bridge Staff • April 12, 2012 • 3 Comments
After a heavy meal of MSG-laden noodles and spare ribs, helped down by a dozen gulps of sweetened green tea comes the best part of the Chinese dining experience- your fortune. But after tearing open the crinkly plastic wrapping and cracking the factory-produced cookie at its middle to reveal the small white paper, you are disappointed to receive a factory-produced answer; An answer that is in no way related to your leading question about the vast unknown.
"Will I be rich? How many children will I have? When and how will I die?" are questions for professionals with an intangible gift. Psychic conjures the image of a haggard looking woman, sitting in a darkened room at a small, round table with a crystal ball in the center. Those who are ill-informed of the practice will probably visit a tacky storefront psychic boutique and get exactly that, along with an unsatisfying reading of their fortune.
But savvy Charlestown residents interested in going beyond the five senses know that there is only one source to see for a genuine experience. More of an intuitive consultant than a psychic, MaryLee Trettenero helps clients diagnose plaguing concerns and general curiosities alike in her sunny Prospect Street apartment.
A local to Charlestown for 25 years, Trettenero has performed readings for many residents and has even become somewhat of a town celebrity by those who recognize her from the funky purple streak that runs through her light hair.
"The kids sometimes stop me and want me to read their future," Trettenero said. "One girl in town (about 10 years old) keeps trying to ask me who she's going to marry. But I never read for a kid without the mom having approved for it first."
Although Salem is considered to be the most witchcraft-centric town in Massachusetts, Trettenero suggested that Charlestown has its own bewitching history. "The very first Charlestown resident was accused of being a witch. There's a big history there, and it's a pretty interesting topic for people in Charlestown," Trettenero informed, adding that at the Charlestown Library last year, she held a seminar on ghosts and spirits, where over 100 residents discussed the difference between the two entities and shared their own personal experiences.
But Trettenero does more than talk about spirits, she talks to them. Or more specifically, her spirits transfer insightful messages after talking to a client's spirits. "We all have our own guides," she established. "I know that when I'm doing a reading, my guide is talking to your guide." And throughout one's lifetime, there is primarily only one guide that stays with you, according to Trettenero, who expressed interest in the intuitive realm before hitting double-digits. "My mother and my grandmother are intuitive and psychic, and my two sisters and three brothers, all except for one, admit to being pretty intuitive," Trettenero said. "My mother always had books she brought into the house…and she would play telepathic games with us. Like if we weren't home she would say 'call me,' and we would. I think everybody's pretty intuitive. It doesn't have to be a dramatic feeling, but more of a gut instinct that people base decisions off most of the time anyways."
What Trettenero is able to do, that most people can't, is isolate that intuitive feeling and delve into its deeper meaning. Sitting comfortably on the couch in her living room, surrounded by relevant books and tarot cards, Trettenero spoke so knowingly of her gift that it was shocking to hear that she refuted it for several years.
"I was in the hotel business first," she revealed. " I tried to have a normal career and started with the Westin Hotel chain in Chicago. So, I was working my way up the ladder and every hotel I worked in was very, very stressful…When I got to Boston (as a senior assistant manager) I just felt like the incentives were not as appealing to me as having my freedom. When I was doing a career transition nothing else appealed to me." Now, Trettenero imagines herself still reading people's cards at 90 years old. "I really love the work that I do," she said.
But every field has its bad apples, and Trettenero was quick to identify the ones in hers. "The people that do it in a false way, we call them gypsies," she said. The gypsies are the ones with storefronts, luring undiscerning customers with vapid tarot card readings and vague visions that are just as cloudy as the fake fog floating through the room from a machine.
"I always feel badly when I hear from a client that they got taken," said Trettenero, "especially when there's a lot of money that's been changed. Not all of us operate like whoever they had that bad experience with, and fortunately, somebody will go out of business because you have to be good at what you do. The word will spread if you're good, and the word will spread if you're bad." For Trettenero, the word is undoubtedly good.
Her list of services includes personal readings with tarot cards, past life readings, energy healing, spiritual house cleansings, seances, emotional freedom programs, and missing persons cases. "I really do run the gamut," Trettenero said of her multi-faceted profession.
Despite being highly sought-after, Trettenero always stays faithful to meditating for about 20 minutes before a reading, separating appointments by a half hour to allow necessary time to disconnect from the last reading. "I feel like my obligation is to come to the reading in the right state," she said. "I don't try to plan too many activities in a single day. I also have energy practices so that I'm grounding myself." One of the practices Trettenero uses to disconnect from one reading to another is to imagine a cord that goes into the earth, and starting from the head, it is slowly released. This practice can also be used by anyone who needs to disconnect from a bad experience, emotion, or relationship. But for anything to work in this Bermuda Triangle of professions, the key factor is believing.
"Everybody is open differently," Trettenero explained. "If you're really open, you can get such a different reading than someone who is shut down. When someone comes in for the first time they have no idea what they're in for. I get a lot of believers in the reading. What I usually ask people to do is wait until the second half of the reading to ask questions. It's really consistent that when we get to the second half I've already answered all their questions."
Aside from personal questions of career and love, one of Trettenero's most commonly received questions is how people can be in touch with their own guides. "The best way to do that is to set aside quiet time," she suggested, adding that, "meditation is the most recommended. Another thing you can do is set up tests. A fun thing to do is take a deck of cards and play black or red. It gives you an idea of your accuracy, and over time you get used to that voice between logic and intuition."
While developing your own intuition may help you become more confident in following your gut instinct, nothing can replace Trettenero's natural born gift. "In the reading itself, I rely on my guides," she said. "The guides talk to each other and relay it to me. I work with tarot cards, but when people experience a reading with me they know I'm working with more than just cards."
To see her in action, you would think she was having a conversation as normally as you would in a coffee shop- only, there is no one on the other side of her. And for the moments when Trettenero is receiving a message about you, it is as if you don't exist to her. But you most definitely exist to the guides, or spirits, which you can feel surround you, creating a tingling sensation that overcomes your body. When the message is received, Trettenero turns back to you, and the tingling sensation leaves as swiftly as it came.
Sometimes it is a string of words that she relays, and other times they are images that she describes. And even though you hear it from a third party, you'll find yourself recognizing exactly what it is. You know when you were young, and a parent or mentor left you with a cryptic life lesson saying that when the time came you would just know? Well, when you experience a reading with the esteemed Trettenero, you'll just know.
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3 comments for "When You Know, You Know"


Cathy is a key member of a dynamic team of individuals who are passionate about education and improving the quality of life for children and families in our community.
Monty has been responsible for initiating and designing numerous post-secondary options for Aboriginal learners and his commitment to the education and well-being of Lake Babine Nation members has provided unique college and university level possibilities for all residents of the Lakes District.
Bernice realizes that a small community is built by the volunteers and when she is not attending a meeting, she enjoys sewing, reading, fishing and travelling to exciting places in the world.
Lynn has fundraised and managed multiple community projects with a focus on increasing education, community health and economic vibrancy.
Mr. Blattner has provided consultation, leadership and facilitation in program development, conflict resolution, board training, employment training, staff development, customer service and many other programs and projects for government, schools, business and local organizations.
Anne is recognized for the expertise in designing and developing programs that reach marginalized women and families and has led several provincial training initiatives for the Public Health Agency of Canada focusing on the professional development of front line workers.


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Янгиз — река в России, протекает в Оренбургской области. Устье реки находится в 6 км по правому берегу реки Салмыш. Длина реки составляет 76 км. В 60 км от устья впадает левый приток — Богдановка.

Происхождение названия
Предположительно, вначале топоним был двухсловным, по типу Янгыз-кайын («Одинокая береза») в Башкирии, позже основная часть названия была опущена, а определение («янгыз») осталось. По другой версии, гидроним восходит к татарскому личному мужскому имени Энгиз (имя по происхождению иранское).

Данные водного реестра
По данным государственного водного реестра России относится к Уральскому бассейновому округу, водохозяйственный участок реки — Сакмара от впадения реки Большой Ик и до устья, речной подбассейн реки — подбассейн отсутствует. Речной бассейн реки — Урал (российская часть бассейна).

Код объекта в государственном водном реестре — 12010000712112200007067.

Примечания

Притоки Салмыша
Реки Октябрьского района Оренбургской области
Реки Сакмарского района

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Two lifesaving discoveries help four generations of women
February 26, 2019 | Media Contact Lori Sundeen Soderbergh
DALLAS – Feb. 26. 2019 – Her great-grandmother volunteered in groundbreaking cholesterol research at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Now, 9-year-old Zoe Allen is benefiting from that decision.
Kathryn Geddie, Shanon Allen, and Zoe Allen all have a hereditary condition that causes unusually high cholesterol levels.
Four generations of women, who all have the same hereditary condition – familial hypercholesterolemia – form a story interwoven with the discovery of new treatments that have benefited millions of people.
In 1987, Kathryn Geddie was a 33-year-old mother of two. At her annual physical, she told her doctor that her mother had extremely high cholesterol levels at a young age. After testing, Kathryn learned she had the same condition and began taking statins.
"My mother is the reason that I was tested. My physician began treating me in 1987 because my cholesterol was in the upper 300s," remembered Kathryn, now 64.
Kathryn's immediate concern drove her to have her then 11-year-old daughter, Shanon, tested. Despite her young age, Shanon's cholesterol was soaring at 400 mg/dL. Normal range is less than 200. Little did they know then that their shared struggle with high cholesterol would lead them on a road to reverse the disease – one paved by the generation who came before them.
Statin discovery
In the early 1980s, Kathryn's mother, Estelle, took part in leading-edge research at UT Southwestern Medical Center where molecular genetics professors Drs. Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein were seeking answers to how people develop high cholesterol. They identified the basic mechanism of cholesterol metabolism, which led to the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Kathryn Geddie enjoys hiking as a way to maintain her good health.
Soon after their discovery, statins were developed to lower cholesterol and help prevent heart disease. Thousands of adult patients benefited. However, there were unknown risks for children. As a precaution, parents were advised to treat their children with statins only after puberty.
Familial hypercholesterolemia affects how the body processes cholesterol, raises the risk of heart disease, and increases the risk of suffering an early heart attack or stroke. Knowing her mother's connection to research, Kathryn returned to UT Southwestern and enrolled her 11-year-old daughter in clinical trials with a pediatric cardiologist.
"I remember I had to eat some weird grains and bad tasting medicine. I was a sixth- or seventh-grader and didn't like taking the medicine," recalls Shanon Allen, now a 42-year-old married mother of two. "I remember going to UT Southwestern on Saturdays to do stress tests."
When she turned 16, Shanon was old enough to begin taking statins, just like her mom. She had no side effects while she was young. "I was off statins for two to three years while I was trying to get pregnant, during pregnancy, and while I was breastfeeding. During this time, my doctor and I monitored my cholesterol and weighed the risks and benefits of statins."
With time, Kathryn's story became more complicated.
Changing course
"Three decades after I started taking them, the highest dose statin would no longer work," Kathryn recalled. "My doctor added another drug to my high dose statin. It literally turned me into a cripple. My muscles stopped working and I stopped treatment."
Now 9, Zoe Allen has learned she was born with familial hypercholesterolemia.
Then her doctor added a new drug to her regimen called a PCSK9 inhibitor– one of a class of drugs developed from game-changing research at UT Southwestern.
Renowned geneticist Dr. Helen Hobbs – a Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics at UT Southwestern, Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator – made the surprising discovery of the effect of PCSK9 mutations while studying data from the Dallas Heart Study.
Early in her career, Dr. Hobbs worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Drs. Brown and Goldstein.
Pioneering research by Dr. Hobbs and her colleague, Dr. Jonathan Cohen, Professor of Internal Medicine and in the Center for Human Nutrition and the McDermott Center, has provided novel insights into the genetic basis of cholesterol metabolism, which together with the work of other investigators has led to the development of this new class of agents to treat hypercholesterolemia, approved by the FDA in 2015.
The PCSK9 inhibitor treatment helped Kathryn, but not entirely, and getting it covered by insurance was difficult. Still seeking a balance between managing her risks and the side effects of medication, Kathryn was referred to cardiologist Dr. Parag Joshi, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern. She was thrilled to have access to research that helps people who don't benefit from the standard treatment. She was hopeful for a solution.
Dr. Joshi works with preventive cardiology to help patients avoid cardiovascular events, such as heart attack or stroke. "When Kathryn came to me, she was seeking answers not only for herself, but also for her daughter and granddaughter," he said.
In November 2018, Dr. Joshi recommended confirming Kathryn's diagnosis with genetic testing.
Kathryn followed up with the test – a simple saliva test – and the diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia was confirmed. The results empowered her with knowledge while giving cause for her insurance to cover the treatment.
"I need to know I'm doing everything I can to manage my health as I age. I have the gene. It gives me peace of mind to know I'm maintaining my health," Kathryn said.
Research that began with Drs. Brown and Goldstein and continued with Drs. Hobbs and Cohen has made a dramatic difference in her treatment. "Neither the statin nor the PCSK9 inhibitor alone were doing the trick. It was a combination of a dose of statin that she could tolerate plus the PCSK9 inhibitor that created an additive effect and got her cholesterol down to levels she had never seen before," Dr. Joshi said.
"We're proud to have a personal connection to UT Southwestern research that impacts so many," Kathryn said.
Shanon and her daughter, Zoe, are both waiting for their own genetic testing results. "Now we want to find the right treatment for Zoe," she said.
Their family is hoping for the best possible future, and they're thankful to Estelle. "If my grandmother had not taken part in the study, we might not have known we had the problem," Shanon said.
Research with results
Dr. Goldstein is Chairman of Molecular Genetics at UT Southwestern, and Dr. Brown is Director of the Erik Jonsson Center for Research in Molecular Genetics and Human Disease. UT Southwestern Medical Center is the top institution within the "healthcare" category internationally for publishing high-quality scientific research, according to the Nature Index 2018 Annual Tables.
Dr. Brown, a Regental Professor, holds The W.A. (Monty) Moncrief Distinguished Chair in Cholesterol and Arteriosclerosis Research and the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine.
Dr. Cohen holds the C. Vincent Prothro Distinguished Chair in Human Nutrition Research.
Dr. Goldstein, a Regental Professor, holds the Julie and Louis A. Beecherl, Jr. Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Research and the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine.
Dr. Hobbs holds the Eugene McDermott Distinguished Chair for the Study of Human Growth and Development, the Philip O'Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology, and the 1995 Dallas Heart Ball Chair in Cardiology Research.
UTSW expands neurosurgical program to Texas Health Dallas
UT Southwestern Medical Center is expanding its neurological surgery program to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.

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A State of War: Arkansas Remembers World War I
Heritage Month - Monday, April 24, 2017 Department of Arkansas Heritage - Monday, April 24, 2017
Often dubbed the Great War, World War I had a profound impact on Arkansas. The 2017 Heritage Month theme, A State of War: Arkansas Remembers World War I, reflects the ongoing centennial commemoration of the role of Arkansas – and the entire United States – in the war, as well as the impacts of the war felt back home.
Each year, an original poster celebrating Arkansas Heritage Month is made available to the public. This year's Heritage Month poster depicts Arkansas soldiers in front of the Logan County Courthouse, preparing to go to war. To receive your free copy, call 501-324-9150 or click here.
Some 71,862 Arkansans served in the war, including 18,322 African Americans. There were 2,183 of these men and women who died in service, more than half from illness, and 1,751 were wounded or injured.
The Old State House Museum, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, served as the backdrop for the World War I Centennial Commemoration kickoff in April. The museum was a fitting setting, as it was designated the Arkansas War Memorial Building in 1921 and was "dedicated to the use of the American Legion, American Veterans of World War I, United Spanish War Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and all other statewide, non-profit organizations." The building retained the War Memorial title until 1947.
Since 1982, Arkansans have celebrated Heritage Month with festivals, special studies, concerts, nature walks, tours and much more! Arkansans host scores of events in communities across the state, all proudly proclaiming the message that Arkansas heritage is worth knowing and celebrating. The Department of Arkansas Heritage sponsors annual Heritage Month Grants to help communities and organizations develop meaningful Heritage Month events and programs in their areas.
"We encourage residents and visitors alike to explore authentic Arkansas opportunities in your areas – and all around the state – throughout May," Stacy Hurst, director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, said. "Programs and events designed to explore the significance of World War I, life back home during the war and the rich culture of Arkansas are among this year's Heritage Month offerings."
For a full calendar of Heritage Month events happening in May, click here.


We are living in the age of digital transformation when voluminous data is getting created in diverse forms and shape. Every business is trying to derive more and more value out of the available data.
One of the focus areas in data modernization is the addition of Data Lakes in the new scheme of things.
A data lake is a collection of data, not a platform for data. These are usually managed on Hadoop, less often on RDBMS. A common myth states that data lakes require open source Apache Hadoop or a vendor distribution of Hadoop. It's true that majority of data lake implementations are on Hadoop and these are called Hadoop based data lakes. However few data lakes are deployed atop RDBMS and these are called relational data lakes.
Although there are many potential benefits of data lake but my focus will be more on the key barriers to data lakes.
Also Read Can AI Be An Effective Therapist?
In most of the scenarios, data warehouse architects design the data lake and get carried away with traditional approaches/ principles of data warehouse design. A data lake is not a data warehouse and a zone is not heavily structured like a subject area or a dimension.
Expect few zones, and within each zone, data is still in the raw format or slightly standardized. Typical zones are data landing, data staging, data domains (Example: HR or Customer data), departmental domains (Example: data used by marketers), analytics archives and analytics sandboxes. Once, the zones are decided, design data flow for moving data from one zone to another. Expect to revisit how data is organized in your data lake. In case of restructuring the data, the data should leave the lake and go to a more structured environment, such as a data warehouse of mart. One of the functions of the lake is to feed other databases.
When a data lake is not managed and governed properly, it deteriorates into a data swamp. It becomes nearly impossible to navigate, trust and leverage the disorganized data store for organizational benefit.
This risk can be easily mitigated by bringing in proper collaborative data governance, curation and stewardship.
Data Governance: Data governance is usually enforced via people and processes. From people perspective data governance takes the form of a board or committee, having mix of data management professionals (who create enterprise standards of data) and business managers (who serve as data owners, stewards and curators with focus on compliance). All these people collaborate to establish and enforce policies that ensures data is compliant, secured, standardized and trusted.
Implementers (Technical teams) of Data Lake must work with their enterprise governance board so that the lake and its data complies with the established policies.
Data Stewardship: Data is an asset to the lake and it should be curated by a data steward who is responsible for driving improvements in the data. Best data stewards are business people (non-technical staff) because they can prioritize based on business need and keep data management work aligned with business goals. Priority should be given to metadata, data quality and data lineage.
Cyber attackers are now organized and well equipped with the tools and technology to rapidly extract high value data assets from enterprises.
Such risks and liabilities can be alleviated by implementing multi layers of security.
Data Lake needs standard protection in the forms of authentication and authorization.
It is useful to record an audit trail of access by users and tools. Operational metadata can enable such audits.
Unlike the user centric or application centric security mentioned above, data centric security layer operates on or near the data to cleanse, block and de-identify sensitive (personally identifiable information) or high value data. That way, when the data is stolen, the thief has nothing to sell or commit a crime with.
There are very few data management professionals available who have prior experience with data lakes and Hadoop. The people who are available tend to command rather high salaries.
For these reasons, organizations should cross-train existing employees in these skills instead of hiring new folks in the team. This strategy works out well as it increases the value of employees and they are more engaged and committed.
As with any emerging technology, it will take time before data lakes reach to their full potential. But those who can start the journey now – strategically and with a long-term vision – stand to create an enormous competitive edge with the competitors that will be difficult to diminish in the years to come.


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Matthew S. Mulqueen
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Matt Mulqueen represents clients in complex business litigation, with a particular focus on the financial and health care industries.
Financial Industry Class Actions: Using eDiscovery to Your Advantage January 30, 2019
Class Action Trends and Developments June 27, 2018
Obtained dismissal of a complaint in federal court alleging that a joint venture Physician Hospital Organization (PHO) violated various antitrust laws by engaging in anticompetitive conduct. The dismissal was with prejudice and terminated proceedings against the PHO in the district court before the commencement of discovery.
Obtained injunctive relief for global logistics company in state court action involving claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, tortious interference and breach of fiduciary duty.
Defended a global orthopedics device manufacturer in state court litigation involving claims of breach of separation pay agreements, retaliatory discharge, violations of the Tennessee Public Protection Act and defamation.
Matt strives to provide creative solutions to clients at every stage of litigation, including early resolution and dismissal of actions, complex motion practice, the collection and review of electronically-stored information, and trial in state and federal courts. At the appellate level, Matt has represented clients in proceedings before the Tennessee Court of Appeals, the Tennessee Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Matt has significant experience defending clients in class actions in state and federal court. His recent class action experience includes:
Defending a state-chartered bank in a proposed class action in state court alleging claims related to "authorize positive, settle negative" overdraft fees and multiple return item fees on items.
Defending a national banking association in a proposed class action in state court involving tort and contract claims relating to the posting order of debit transactions.
Defending a bank holding company, its state-chartered bank, and members of the holding company's board of directors in a proposed class action in state court alleging fraud, breach of contract and violation of the Tennessee Securities Act.
Defending a regional hospital system in a proposed class action in federal court asserting a claim for respondeat superior liability relating to alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The district court dismissed the plaintiff's complaint against the hospital system after holding, as a matter of first impression, that the doctrine of respondeat superior is not available under ERISA as a matter of law.
Defending a regional hospital system in a proposed class action in state and federal court alleging tort and contract claims relating to third-party liability billing.
Defending a national lawn care provider in a proposed class action in federal court alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), including a successful motion to compel arbitration that resulted in the provider's dismissal from the class action.
Matt also has substantial experience representing clients in the financial services and health care industries:
Defending a national banking association in a suit relating to allegedly fraudulent wire transfer.
Defending a national banking association in class action involving claims of breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, conversion, unjust enrichment and constructive trust in connection with the assessment of banking fees.
Defending a national banking association in state court action involving claims of fraud, conspiracy, negligence, conversion and violations of the Uniform Commercial Code.
Prevailing on a motion to dismiss on behalf of national banking association, its capital markets division, and affiliated broker-dealer in state court action involving institutional customer's claims of securities fraud, common law fraud, negligent misrepresentation.
Representing a national banking association and its capital markets division and affiliated broker-dealer in federal court action alleging violations of federal and state securities laws, commercial bribery, and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duties.
Defending a national bank in AAA arbitration involving breach of contract claims relating to transfer of home equity lines of credit under a purchase and assumption agreement.
Representing a pharmacy in dispute with national pharmacy benefit manager regarding allegedly improper recoupments following an audit.
Successfully assisting a pharmacy seeking reentry into national pharmacy benefit manager's network following dispute regarding allegedly improper network termination.
Representing a pharmacy seeking the return of money wrongfully recouped by a pharmacy benefit manager following a purchase verification audit.
Representing a group of specialty pharmacies in administrative proceedings and a state court lawsuit challenging a Medicaid agency's reimbursement methodology for clotting factor replacement therapy.
Representing a Complex Rehab Technology provider in an unfair competition lawsuit brought against former employees and a competitor.
In addition to his civil litigation practice, Matt serves on the Board of Directors for the Community Legal Center and maintains an active pro bono practice. Recent pro bono work includes obtaining guardianships, filing petitions for special immigrant juvenile status, and representing clients in removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
Before joining Baker Donelson, Matt clerked for the Honorable Loretta A. Preska, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Matt is a shareholder in the Memphis office.
Advised global manufacturer on application of indemnity provision in sales agreement to a vendor's employees, agents and independent contractors.
Represented shareholder in state court action seeking restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions based on claims of breach of a shareholders' agreement and civil conspiracy.
Successfully defended a physician hospital organization against claims that it conspired to boycott a surgery center and two of its physician investors from the outpatient surgery market in the Memphis area in violation of the Sherman Act, as well as state law unfair competition and tortious interference claims in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Defended a complex breach of contract complaint filed against an individual related to an employment agreement that included non-competition, non-solicitation, and confidentiality provisions. The individual formerly worked for a nationwide specialized pharmaceutical company in recruiting and servicing clients. Baker Donelson took the position that the entire Agreement is enforceable and that jurisdiction in Maryland is improper; a motion to dismiss the complaint is pending. Baker Donelson resolved the matter through settlement.
Professional Honors & Activities
Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Commercial Litigation (2020)
Named a Mid-South Rising Star by Mid-South Super Lawyers (2014 – 2019)
Member – American Bar Association (Young Lawyers Division)
Contributing Editor – ABA Section of Litigation's Litigation News
Member – Tennessee Bar Association
Member – Tennessee Bar Association Limited Partnership Act Drafting Committee
Member – Memphis Bar Association
Member – Federal Bar Association, Memphis Mid-South Chapter
Named an Attorney for Justice by the Tennessee Supreme Court (2018)
Member – Leo Bearman, Sr. American Inn of Court (2013 – 2015)
Member – GiVE 365, Community Foundation of Greater Memphis
Vice President – Board of Directors, Community Legal Center
Chair – Pro Bono Committee, Memphis Office
Recipient – Memphis Bar Association, Access to Justice - Champion of Justice Award (2017)
Recipient – Memphis office Pro Bono Award (2016)
Recipient – Memphis office Clients First Award (2014)
Recipient – Memphis Associate of the Year (2013)
Co-Chair – St. John's Public Interest Law Committee (2009)
Dean Mary C. Daly Memorial Prize (2009)
Ned D. Frank Award (2009)
International Academy of Trial Lawyers Award (2009)
"Trends in Overdraft Fee and NSF Litigation" (August 2019)
"Tennessee Supreme Court Accepts Certification of Non-Economic Damages Cap Question" (June 2019)
"Data Privacy Class Actions," Tennessee Bankers Magazine (March/April 2019)
"Access to Counsel in Immigration Proceedings," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (February 2019)
"U.S. Court of Appeals Declares Tennessee Punitive Damages Cap Unconstitutional | Part 2: Breaking Down the Issues" (January 2019)
"U.S. Court of Appeals Declares Tennessee Punitive Damages Cap Unconstitutional | Part 1: The Lindenberg Decision" (January 2019)
"ABA Working Group Tackles Mental Health and Substance Use Crisis," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (December 2018)
"Failure to File Surreply Leads to Waiver on Appeal," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (August 2018)
"Joint Client May Compel Disclosure of Privileged Documents," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (June 2018)
"General Contract Clauses: Alternative Dispute Resolution (Multi-Tiered)(TN)," Practical Law (February 2018)
"New Test for Forum Selection Clauses," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (January 2018)
"Client Intake Call Does Not Disqualify Conflicted Counsel," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (January 2018)
"ABA Provides Ethical Advice to Protect Electronic Communication," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (August 2017)
"Post-Judgment Tender Cannot Trigger Unaccepted Rule 68 Offer," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (May 2017)
"Courts May Consider Foreign Law Declarations on Motions to Dismiss," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (January 2017)
"Deletion of Emails Leads to Sanctions," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (November 2016)
"Head E-filing Ineptitude Results in Suspension and Censure," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (August 2016)
"New Practice Considerations under Federal Rule 26 Amendments," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (May 2016)
"Independent Counsel Required for Insurers to Avoid Conflicts," Litigation News, ABA Section of Litigation newsletter (February 2016)
"Advisers Charged with Cleansing Dirty Money from Industry" (September 2015)
Financial Industry Class Actions: Using eDiscovery to Your Advantage (January 2019)
Class Action Trends and Developments (June 2018)
Baker Donelson Names Pro Bono Committee Office Leaders (December 11, 2019)
77 Baker Donelson Attorneys Named to 2019 Mid-South Super Lawyers; 45 Named to Mid-South Rising Stars (November 6, 2019)
Baker Donelson Announces Newly Elected Shareholders Firm-Wide (May 15, 2017)
98 Baker Donelson Attorneys Named to 2016 Mid-South Super Lawyers; 57 Named to Mid-South Rising Stars (November 14, 2016)
Memphis Business Journal Highlights New Shareholder Matt Mulqueen and Baker Donelson's Parental Leave Policy (May 25, 2017)
Matt Mulqueen Profiled as 2017 Best of the Bar Finalist in Ace Associate Category by Memphis Business Journal (March 6, 2017)
Financial Industry Class Actions: Using eDiscovery to Your Advantage (January 30, 2019)
Class Action Trends and Developments (June 27, 2018)
Matthew Mulqueen
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Commercial/Business Litigation
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Baker Donelson Names Pro Bono Committee Office Leaders
Press Release / December 11, 2019
77 Baker Donelson Attorneys Named to 2019 Mid-South Super Lawyers; 45 Named to Mid-South Rising Stars
Press Release / November 6, 2019
Trends in Overdraft Fee and NSF Litigation
Publication / August 27, 2019


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Methods & Statistics
Alpha - Type I error
Alpha (Type I error)
Alpha (α) is the probability of making a Type I error while testing two hypotheses.
Alpha represents an area were two population distributions may coincide. Data that fall within this area may pertain either to one or the other population. Thus, deciding whether the data are representative of one or the other is subjected to two types of error:
A Type I error is made when we decide that the data is representative of one population (typically phrased as the alternative hypothesis) and not the other (typically phrased as the null hypothesis) when the data is, indeed, representative of the latter. Said otherwise, we make a Type I error when we reject the null hypothesis (in favor of the alternative one) when the null hypothesis is correct.
The alpha level (α) is the probability we want to have, thus determined beforehand, of making such error. It is conventionally set at 5% (ie, α = 0.05), indicating a 5% chance of making a Type I error.
The alpha level also informs us of the specificity (= 1 - α) of a test (ie, the probability of retaining the null hypothesis when it is, indeed, correct).
A Type II error is made when we decide that the data is representative of one population (typically phrased as the null hypothesis) and not the other (typically phrased as the alternative hypothesis) when the data is, indeed, representative of the latter. Said otherwise, we make a Type II error when we fail to reject the null hypothesis (in favor of the alternative one) when the alternative hypothesis is correct.
The beta level (β) is the probability we want to have, thus determined beforehand, of making such error. It is conventionally set at 10% (ie, α = 0.10), indicating a 10% chance of making a Type II error.
The beta level also informs us of the power (= 1 - β) of a test (ie, the probability of accepting the alternative hypothesis when it is, indeed, correct).
Neyman and Pearson used the concept of level of significance as a proxy for the alpha level. This level of significance, always set beforehand, represents the probability of making a Type I error in the long run, ie after repeated experimentation under control conditions. Thus, an alpha / significance level of 0.05 indicates a 5% chance of making such error in the long run (quoted by Gigerenzer, 2004). In any case, the alpha level is better understood within Neyman-Pearson's theoretical positioning within statistics:
Inference is based on a frequentist approach with repeated measuring, thus random sampling, controlled experiments and repeated experimentation, are a necessary prerequisite to reduce non-random error. Given these conditions then, the level of significance is a property of the test (not of the data).
Two hypotheses are tested at once. Thus, we may be able to prove or disprove the null hypothesis, as well as to prove or disprove the alternative one.
Because we are testing two hypotheses, we can make two errors with the same test: a Type I error (rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is correct), or a Type II error (rejecting the alternative hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is correct). Thus, we need to decide beforehand acceptable levels for both errors, α and β, as well as acceptable power for the test (1-β), which depends on the sample size.
The alpha level is a probability figure between '0' and '1'.
This figure is used to decide whether to reject the null hypothesis and, thus, accept the alternative one.
1. NOYMER Andrew (undated). Alpha, significance level of test. In, Paul J LAVRAKAS (undated). Encyclopedia of survey research methods. ISBN 9781412918084.
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text:
Q: What is request.getSession(false) for? Im currently into Grails in Action book on the part wherein the author is writting a custom tag named loginToggle under a TagLib class
I don't quite get what is request.getSession(false) is for
def loginToggle = {
    out << "
"
    if (request.getSession(false) && session.user){
        out << ""
        out << "Welcome ${session.user}."
        out << ""
        out << ""
        out << "Logout "
    }
    else{
        out << ""
        out << ""
        out << "Login "
    }
    out << "

"
}

Great book BTW

A: Above code means, if there is a session (but don't create one) and contains a user.
Check the docs:

HttpSession getSession(boolean create)
Returns the current HttpSession associated with this request or, if there is no current session and create is true, returns a new session.
If create is false and the request has no valid HttpSession, this method returns null.
To make sure the session is properly maintained, you must call this method before the response is committed. If the container is using cookies to maintain session integrity and is asked to create a new session when the response is committed, an IllegalStateException is thrown.
Parameters:
create - true to create a new session for this request if necessary; false to return null if there's no current session
Returns:
the HttpSession associated with this request or null if create is false and the request has no valid session
See Also:
getSession()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The deadline for registering to vote in Pennsylvania's Nov. 3 election is one week away.
Secretary of State Pedro Cortes reminded residents Monday that they can register online for the first time. But those who do not have a PennDOT driver's license or PennDOT identification card should apply before the Oct. 5 deadline if they use the new electronic system, Cortes said.
In addition to thousands of local school board, municipal and judicial races, voters will fill three open seats on the seven-member Pennsylvania Supreme Court. There also are two other state appellate court openings — one each in the Superior and Commonwealth courts.
Pennsylvanians also can still register by mail or in-person at many state and county offices.


text:
Home :: Military :: World :: Europe :: Moldova :: Introduction :: Government ::
Moldova Politics
Moldova Politics - 1991-2000
Moldova Politics - 2019
Moldova - Political Parties
Moldova - Corruption
Gagauz Autonomous Region (GAR)
Moldova - Politics
Mircea Ion Snegur 27 Apr 1990 15 Jan 1997 PCM
Petru Chiril Lucinschi 15 Jan 1997 07 Apr 2001 PCRM
Vladimir Nicolae Voronin 07 Apr 2001 11 Sep 2009 PCRM
[interim] Mihai Toader Ghimpu 11 Sep 2009 28 Dec 2010 PL
[interim] Vladimir Vasile Filat 28 Dec 2010 30 Dec 2010 PLDM
[interim] Marian Ilie Lupu 30 Dec 2010 23 Mar 2012 PDM
Nicolae Vasile Timofti 23 Mar 2012 Mar 2016 Non-party
Igor Dodon Dec 2016 Dec 2020 PSRM
Maia Sandu Dec 2020 Dec 2024 PAS
Mircea Druc 26 May 1990 28 May 1991 FPM
Valeriu Tudor Muravschi 28 May 1991 01 Jul 1992 FPM
Andrei Nicolae Sangheli 01 Jul 1992 25 Jan 1997 PDAM
Ion Condratie Ciubuc 25 Jan 1997 12 Mar 1999 Non-party
Ion Mihai Sturza 12 Mar 1999 21 Dec 1999 Non-party
Dumitru Petru Braghis 21 Dec 1999 20 Apr 2001 Non-party
Vasile Petru Tarlev 20 Apr 2001 31 Mar 2008 PCRM
Zinaida Petru Greceanîi 31 Mar 2008 14 Sep 2009 PCRM
Vitalie Vasile Pîrlog 14 Sep 2009 25 Sep 2009 PCRM
Vladimir Vasile Filat 25 Sep 2009 25 Apr 2013 PLDM
Iurie Leanca 25 Apr 2013 18 Feb 2015 PLDM
Chiril Gaburici 18 Feb 2015 22 Jun 2015 Non-party
Natalia Gherman 22 Jun 2015 30 Jul 2015 PLDM
Valeriu Strelet 30 Jul 2015 30 Oct 2015 PLDM
Gheorghe Brega 30 Oct 2015 20 Jan 2016 PL
Pavel Filip 20 Jan 2016 14 Jun 2019 PDM
Maia Sandu 08 Jun 2019 14 Nov 2019 PAS
Ion Chicu 14 Nov 2019 Non-party
The European Union, the United States, and Russia seek more influence over the small agricultural country of 3.5 million inhabitants, located between EU member Romania and Ukraine. Historically, Moldova was a classic borderland, fought over and divided by outside powers eager to remake the inhabitants in their own image.
Economic mismanagement, trade pressure from Russia and the failure of successive governments to tackle corruption mean nostalgia for Soviet times and traditional links with Moscow remains high among large sections of the population. The social fragmentation along ethno-linguistic, religious or political lines in Moldova is reflected in election results, which significantly differ depending on the urban-rural, North-South, ethnic majority- ethnic minority criteria.
Lack of consensus over national unity has inhibited democratic consolidation, but it has done the same with various tries at firming up a more autocratic order. Competing claims over Moldovan territory created a situation in which leaders found it difficult to consolidate either a democratic or an authoritarian regime. High subjective expectations of reform have not been met; and in some particulars (corruption, to name one) there has apparently been deterioration in the objective situation. The rule of law and government effectiveness because they see these factors as cornerstones of the political system. If they are absent or grossly deficient in a modern country, no regime, whether it is democratic or authoritarian, has a chance of consolidating fully. Unaccountability and a pervasive lack of effectual linkages between the ruled and the rulers amount to a systemic deficiency of Moldovan politics, and that this failing, unless remedied, will doom any future attempts to make improvements with respect to the key concerns of rule of law and government effectiveness.
When it comes to elite consensus regarding bedrock rules of the game, over and above national unity, a widely shared code of behavior exists in the Moldovan political class. Mutually policed, it consists mostly of negatives that are shunned because experience teaches the high cost of failing to do so. The pitfalls to be avoided encompass flagrantly unconstitutional activities, egregious cheating in elections, attempts to destroy as opposed to harass a rival political party,20 use of the courts to throw opponents in jail, and intimate prying into fellow politicians' financial activities and connections. The code has not yet reached the point of deep moral belief, but this does not drastically threaten the stability of the political system. Depending on the election results, mutual distrust of the political parties' supporters and allegations of election manipulation by the authorities generate conflicts with a potential for political destabilisation. The realities of the modernisation period created new negative clichés for the perception of the Republic of Moldova, both internally, by the citizens, and abroad: the poorest country in Europe, exporting cheap labour force, a source and a transit country for illegal migration and trafficking in human beings, one of the highest "failed states index"
There is a gaping disconnect between national elites and ordinary people. Conversations with politicians, government officials, and civil society leaders at the central level demonstrate a startling lack of dialogue with, and regard for, the needs, concerns, and interests of citizens. A number candidly acknowledge that the two strata have different agendas and were dismissive of the average citizens' focus on survival and their ability to comprehend or care about other matters. Few leaders pursue active engagement with any kind of defined constituency, seeing legalistic formalities – such as the requirement to make draft legislation available online for comment – as a primary and sufficient consultation method. These conversations were mirrored at the local level, where citizens confirm the perception that political figures care about their own interests rather than a greater public good. Polls indicate similar findings: in the April–May barometer of public opinion by the IPP, 76 percent of respondents answered "no" to the question "Does the people's will rule in the Republic of Moldova?"
Moldova's government was controlled by an unstable but decidedly pro-Western coalition government. It was a successful participant in the European Union's Eastern Partnership program and had been granted a visa-free travel regime with the bloc. In 2016, however, former Socialist Party head and outspokenly pro-Russian politician Igor Dodon was elected president of Moldova. In June 2019, Dodon struck an agreement with Moldova's pro-Western parties to form a coalition against oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc. This unlikely alliance of pro-Western and pro-Russian forces was broken in November 2019 when the Socialist Party filed a successful no-confidence motion against the coalition government – voting together with Plahotnuic's party to oust the coalition government. Dodon was able to install technocrat Ion Chicu as prime minister and more than half of Chicu's cabinet seats were filled by former Dodon advisers.
Incumbent President Nicolae Timofti, who was elected in 2012, completed his term in March 2016. He would stay on afterwards as acting president until parliament set a date for direct presidential elections. Lawmakers had up to two months to do that. Protesters have been demanding early elections, a move that would favor pro-Moscow opposition parties.
Moldova voted 30 October 2016 in its first direct election presidential election since the 1990s. The vote could move the former Soviet republic closer to the European Union or to closer relations with Russia. Election authorities declared the vote valid after the turnout reached the minimum eligibility requirement of one-third. The favorite of the nine candidates running for president was Igor Dodon, a 41-year-old pro-Moscow political figure who heads the Socialist Party and who has taken advantage of widespread dissatisfaction with the pro-European government, which has been in office since 2009.
Dodon, a 41-year-old economist, had said he wants to throw out Chisinau's 2014 EU Association Agreement and join the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union. Metropolian Vladimir of the Moldovan Orthodox Church publicly backed Dodon in a sermon on October 28 -- the first time in years that the church has waded into electoral politics at this level. Dodon's election campaign was boosted by tapping into the popular anger about corruption under the pro-European government that came to power in 2009 - particularly over the estimated $1 billion (923 million euros) that went missing from Moldovan banks before 2014 parliamentary elections.
Pro-Moscow candidate Igor Dodon of the Socialist Party won 48.7 percent, but he needed to win an outright majority to avoid a runoff on November 13. Dodon's main pro-EU challenger, Maia Sandu of the Party for Action and Solidarity, had 37.9 percent. Sandu, a former education minister and head of the Party for Action and Solidarity, wants instead to build on Brussels' Association Agreement The Our Party candidate, Dmitri Ciubasenco, was far behind with 6 percent of the votes. Turnout was almost 49 percent -- well above the 33 percent mark needed to make the election valid.
Dodon declared victory in the 13 November 2016 presidential runoff. With nearly all the votes counted in the former Soviet republic, Dodon, who campaigned on promises to restore closer ties with Russia, earned about 55 percent of the vote, well ahead of pro-European rival Maya Sandu. He pledged to foster good relations with Moldova's neighbors, Romania and Ukraine. Such appeasement gestures, however, may face stiff resistance in Kyiv by many who object to Dodon's support for Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. The former economy minister - who served under a communist government between 2006 and 2009 - called for deeper ties and increased trade with Moscow.
Igor Dodon was sworn in as Moldova's new president on December 23, calling for unity in the divided country and pledging to maintain Moldova's neutrality. The inaugural ceremony at the Palace of the Republic in Chisinau was attended by dignitaries from Russia, Belarus, Hungary and other European Union and former Soviet states. "A union of both banks of the Dniester River is a primary objective of my tenure," he said. "I would like to address those who had voted for other parties: let's descend from the barricades and rally together for the sake of a better future. All of us -- the Moldovans, the Russians, the Ukrainians, and the Gagauz, are all citizens of one country."
The parliamentary elections in Moldova would be held under the mixed electoral system, Moldovan Parliament President Andrian Candu said 20 July 2017. "The election will be held in late 2018 under the mixed electoral system. This is a new beginning in Moldova's political life. We are fulfilling the promise which many parties made to voters but failed to keep. We did what others should have done. We hope that this will lead to a change of political class and that members of parliament will be closer to the people, will be more incorruptible and responsible to voters," Candu told a news conference at the parliament after the legislature passed a bill amending the country's electoral law.
Hundreds of people have marched in Moldova's capital to protest against the controversial new electoral law. Participants at the September 17 rally in Chisinau were waving flags of Moldova and the European Union. Some of them condemned the country's Russia-friendly president, Igor Dodon, for "selling the country to Moscow." The demonstration was organized by two opposition parties: the Dignity and Truth Platform and the Party of Action and Solidarity. The bill introducing a mixed electoral system was approved by lawmakers and signed into law by Dodon in July despite mass protests in Chisinau and criticism from the EU and the United States.
On 19 December 2017, Democratic Party of Moldova (Partidul Democrat din Moldova, PDM) leader Vlad Plahotniuc announced a cabinet reshuffle "to improve the efficiency" of the cabinet.


SVKM's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) is one of the pioneers among private B-Schools in India with a rich 35 year legacy of sustained growth. In the best traditions of its parent brand, NMIMS Bengaluru has during its 9 years of existence carved a niche for itself in the management education space in the garden city. With over 500 full time and executive participants pursuing management studies, the talent needs of diverse sectors ranging from BFSI, IT/ITES and Media to Automobiles, Engineering, Healthcare and Start-ups are served by the Bengaluru campus. Analytics, Innovation and Infrastructure Management are the strategic differentiators of NMIMS Bengaluru. AMBA, UK have accredited NMIMS-Bengaluru and it is an exclusive group of 247 institutions in the world and 10 in India to have secured this prestigious accreditation. Ed-Universal, France has in 2016 ranked the PGDM and Executive PGDM Programs of NMIMS, Bengaluru at 8th and 16th in Central Asia respectively.
Steinbeis is one of the world's most successful providers of know-how and technology. Steinbeis brand has stood for the successful transfer and sharing of know-how and technology for over 30 years and builds made-to-last bridges between the source of knowledge and the area of application. This is because Steinbeis employees are at home at both ends of the bridge. Steinbeis has developed into an international network of about 1000 technology transfer enterprises and has helped many business access innovation techniques and methods through practical business-related training and continuing professional development. Steinbeis operates independently of state backing and is based on entrepreneurial transfer processes, underpinned by decentralized operations that are coordinated through a centralized framework. This has enabled a network comrising of over 6,000 experts in interdisciplinary teams .
This program is most beneficial for experienced owners of companies, senior executives, functional leaders and general managers who represent growth focused organizations including large established organizations, new ventures or growing arms of multinational firms. This program is not suitable for students, faculty members or consultants.


text:
What does it mean when Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition/Technical Advisory Group (DRCC/TAG) says that our work is driven and guided by community? This could just mean that we look at some neighborhood plans or host a public comment meeting to determine if the path we are on is the right one –- but in our work, this is often just the first step.
The Duwamish Valley Youth Corps
Instead, DRCC/TAG takes the time and energy to build relationships, listen to the communities' interests and needs, and collaborate with them to develop action plans that focus on empowering their voices and actions. This, in part, has enabled DRCC/TAG to leverage a $60,000 EPA Urban Waters Small Grant into close to $1.5 million invested in Duwamish Valley community priorities. Taking action on these priorities improves the health of the community and the urban waters that flow through them. This includes increasing tree canopy (currently at 4%), expanding accessible green space (currently at 40 square feet in comparison to the citywide average of 387 square feet), picking up litter and removing graffiti, reducing exposure and sources of air pollution (the neighborhood includes a disproportionate number of polluting industries and is surrounded by three major highways), and building the capacity of the youth and broader community to be long-term stewards of their neighborhood.
The Story of Community Engagement and Community Priorities
The Duwamish Valley, which includes the neighborhoods of South Park and Georgetown, is exposed to multiple environmental justice concerns and includes a high percentage of susceptible or vulnerable populations –- including 42% foreign-born, 70% non-white minorities, and 71.7% living below the 200% Federal Poverty Line, the highest percentage of any health reporting area in King County. In addition, the life expectancy of these neighborhoods is a full eight years shorter than the City of Seattle and King County averages (Just Health Action and DRCC/TAG, 2013)
Since our founding, DRCC/TAG has focused on ensuring these communities were meaningfully involved in shaping and implementing the Superfund cleanup of the Duwamish River. This deep work with the community spread beyond the Superfund site, as DRCC/TAG began understanding other priorities of the community.
DRCC/TAG publications
To better capture the communities' broader vision for the Duwamish Valley, DRCC/TAG convened more than 500 diverse community members to create a Duwamish Vision Plan and Map in 2009. In this process, the community identified a "healthy community" as their main goal, leading to the publication of both the Cumulative Health Impacts Analysis (CHIA, published by Just Health Action and DRCC/TAG, 2014) and the Health Impact Assessment of the Proposed Cleanup Plan for the Duwamish River Superfund Site (HIA published by University of Washington School of Public Health with Just Health Action, and DRCC/TAG, 2014). The information captured in these publications was informed by a diverse group of community members, organizations, businesses, and other stakeholders engaged through surveys, focus groups, interviews, community asset mapping, and one-on-one conversations.
DRCC/TAG's current Community Health program, established in 2014, grew out of these publications, focused on taking action on and continuing to define community priorities. In addition to a project solely focused on tackling air pollution (the communities' number one priority), this program includes the Healthy Rivers/Healthy Communities project.
Delving into Healthy Rivers/Healthy Communities Project
The Healthy River/Healthy Communities project, funded through an Urban Waters Small Grant, is aimed at taking action on community revitalization priorities that result in improved urban waters. DRCC/TAG collaborates with communities and decision-makers to accomplish these goals, specifically through the official project partners and the Community Action Team or CAT.
The official project partners are a diverse set of official project partners representing federal, state, and local decision makers – including organizations, government, and academia. These partners provide connections, ideas, and, at times, resources to address community-identified priorities.
CAT Working Group
However, the most important partners in this process are those involved in the CAT. The CAT is a group of community members and business owners representing the language, ethnic, and socio-economic diversity of the Duwamish Valley. Each year, the CAT is convened to review identified priorities and develop action plans for what they consider to be the top priorities for the coming year. Each time the CAT meets, they are compensated for their time and expertise.
Through this process, the community works together to develop project details – including what community organization could take the lead to the specific objectives that the project might accomplish. Community members then work with DRCC/TAG and the selected fiscal sponsor to develop grant applications and budgets.
The Happy Trail
This process has resulted in over 10 grant submissions to the Duwamish River Opportunity Fund and countless other efforts in a three-year period. Those projects that were successfully funded continue to make a consistent difference in the community – even after the funding was used. Take the Happy Trail, a project funded in 2014 through the Duwamish River Opportunity Fund (DROF). The 8th Ave Trail in South Park, Seattle is a trail that should be heavily used—it connects two different pieces of the neighborhood—including the local elementary school, the public library, the community center, and more. But it wasn't – instead youth went the long way around, avoiding needles, encampments, and overgrown weeds.
In partnership with the local Seattle Parks Foundation and others, this trail transformed from the "Scary Trail" into the "Happy Trail" (dubbed such by the local youth). While it needs constant care, the community-driven nature of the project ensures that is also a place the community is now invested in and discusses regularly. And the youth involved want to ensure it stays a place that they can go to!
Check out some of the projects that resulted from this process:
The Duwamish Valley Youth Corps – this 12-week training program for Duwamish Valley youth has served close to 150 youth!
Georgetown Urban Farm and Food Forest
Duwamish Tree Canopy Enhancement project
Duwamish Tribe's Traditional Native Food Program
The Future Work of Community Priorities
Sand River Outreach Project
In addition to continuing to work on the ground with community members to take action on community priorities, we are also working to ensure there are transparent systems of accountability for how local government and decision-makers are investing and taking action in the Duwamish Valley. This includes deepening the understanding of community-identified priorities as well as ensuring that equity is core to these investments. In addition, it includes building better connections between the communities and decision-makers to continuing informing and updating community environmental and health priorities.
This Urban Waters Small Grant has enabled the community's voice and energy to be the driving force for positive and sustainable impact on environmental and health concerns. We are excited to continue to work with the community and make space for their voice to shape their future!
For more information, contact Hannah Kett, Development and Communications Manager, DRCC/TAG – Hannah@duwamishcleanup.org or 206-359-1774


Four months after buying the struggling Regency Square Mall, the New York-based owners have hired a general manager and assistant, new tenants are opening and more are preparing to set up shop.
With a focus on the East Mall, from Belk to JCPenney, mall staff says occupancy there will be up to 75 percent, with at least 15 new leases signed in the past three months. A dozen of those tenants could open by Aug. 15.
"I believe we have something very, very good and all it needs is tender, loving involvement," said James Kramer, who said he was hired three months ago to boost occupancy at the Arlington property.
The regional mall was built in 1967, later expanded and then battered by the loss of tenants to newer shopping centers in growing parts of town.
The owners focus on buying and redeveloping aging shopping malls.
Kramer, Regency's general manager, and administrative assistant Sondra Anderson, who worked at the mall since last fall with former owners, said Wednesday they are the two-person main office staff. Anderson also is the community-relations coordinator.
"We're encouraged," Kramer said in his mall management office, after fielding calls from prospective tenants.
Kramer said this morning he is executing a lease for Sports Mania to open next week.
One of the new tenants is Shawn Hundley, a retired U.S. Marine who opened Like Mama's in the food court on May 23.
He hired cook Mark Corbitt, who brings more than 20 years of experience to the comfort-food restaurant.
Kramer said he brings 35 years of experience to Regency, including time with Simon Property Group malls. Simon has long had ownership interests in St. Johns Town Center, The Avenues mall and Orange Park Mall.
Kramer declined to comment about Belk's future at Regency. A site was cleared several miles east of the mall for a new Belk department store, expected to open in March. A Belk departure creates another large space to fill.
Regency Mall Realty LLC, which is the lead company that bought Regency, is a joint venture of Namdar Realty Group LLC and Mason Asset Management, both of Great Neck. They bought the property from General Growth Properties.
Regency Mall Realty paid $13 million for the mall Feb. 14 and took out a $10 million mortgage April 25. Kramer said owners haven't decided about upgrades yet.
Owners bought the mall after it had fallen to a 37.9 percent occupancy rate by year-end 2013, down from 60.1 percent at the end of 2012.
About a week after the purchase, a representative said the group intended to reposition the shopping center's tenants to the east side of the mall and was considering redevelopment options for the largely vacant west side of the mall.
Mason Asset Management recently distributed a marketing flier that says the mall was seeking tenants and has a gross leasable area of 1.39 million square feet. Kramer said the total square footage is 1.6 million square feet, including stores owned by Sears and Dillard's.
High-profile tenants that continue to operate in the East Mall include Aeropostale, Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, GameStop, Kay Jewelers, Wet Seal, Foot Locker, Claire's, LensCrafters and Jacksonville staple, Regency Health Foods.
Kramer said owners have redone some leases to keep tenants.
Another tenant is the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, which maintains a substation near JCPenney.
Customer traffic in the East Mall corridor appeared light mid-afternoon Wednesday, although the largest clusters of cars were at the entrances to JCPenney and Belk.
Kramer said customer traffic is soft, but not too shabby. Some retailers have opened their second or third stores within the mall, indicating optimism.
Kramer said changes the past three months have been rapid. "We're changing every day," he said.
"The true answer is December," Kramer said. The November-December holiday season is the bellwether for retailers, who generally log more than a third of their annual sales from Thanksgiving to Christmas, he said.
Kramer also said that as the mall continues to serve its existing customer base, it also will add diversity. "We're bringing in different stores that reach different ethnicities," he said.
Meanwhile the West Mall, from Belk to Sears, is open, although the leasing focus is on nontraditional retailers, Kramer said. For example, he said Torch Bearers Church should open about Aug. 1 in 15,000 square feet next to the Dillard's clearance center.
The remaining retailers in that part of the mall, in addition to Dillard's, are Sears, Regis Hair Salon and GNC. Sears and Dillard's own their buildings, and Kramer said Regis and GNC said sales are strong enough that they want to stay put.
The children's play area will remain in the West Mall for now. Kramer said no decision has been made about relocating it.
Kramer said he expects to start work next year on the West Mall.
"As we prove ourselves on this side, it's stirring interest among retailers," he said.
Also on the mall's 100 acres at 9501 Arlington Expressway is the closed Piccadilly Cafeteria. Kramer and Anderson say they hope to interest another buffet restaurant in the 14,000-square-foot building.
Anderson also is leading an effort to shore up Regency's community involvement.
• Change thrown into the fountain in the East Mall will be donated to the Hubbard House domestic violence shelter.
• PACE Center for Girls can hand out materials over the summer for its programs, which assist at-risk girls and teenagers.
• Enroll America, a nonprofit that provides information about the Affordable Care Act, will set up for a day in July and do a larger event in November.
• A black-tie event the night before for Florida Black Expo that is scheduled Oct. 23 at the Prime Osborn Convention Center. From 1,300 to 1,500 attendees are expected at the Regency event.
• Trick-or-treating and a haunted house for Halloween.
• Christmas caroling and tree-decorating events for area churches and school children.
"We're going back to what shopping centers used to be 25 years ago," Kramer said.
• $5 & Under opened about a month ago near JCPenney. The operators of the former Dollar Star by Dillard's opened $5 & Under, whose specials Wednesday included wines sold four for $10.
• The Sunshine Express, the children's train ride, re-opened Friday.
• Hair Bar recently opened near the mall's front entrance. It sells hair pieces, extensions and jewelry.
• Rogers Jewelers opened June 13 in a former jewelry store near the food court. The owners also operate the Milan Jewelry kiosk near the store.
• Stag, a men's urban ready-to-wear store, opened three weeks ago.
• Sports Mania could open Monday near JCPenney.
• Anointed Creations Art Gallery caters to adults and children who want to create on canvases, provides art classes and more. Adult events include wine and cheese. Children's events include snacks. It should open about July 1.
• Boost Mobile could open in two weeks.
• Rainbow clothing will move across the corridor to a larger space about Aug. 1. It remains open in the existing location until then.
• A men and women's hair salon, near JCPenney, should open in 45 days.
• A children's clothing store could open before school starts.
• A sports bar and restaurant should open about Aug. 1 in the former Tilt game center near the food court, with interior and exterior entrances, allowing it to remain open till midnight seven days a week.
• A women's ready-to-wear clothing store could open in the existing Rainbow store by Sept. 1.
• Like Mama's, comfort food, which opened a month ago near Subway.
• Captain O's, seafood and garlic crabs, should open in mid to late July. The Captain O's owner also operates Stag, another operation and possibly might open a fourth store.
• New York Pizza will take the Sbarro's space and should open by Aug. 1. Sbarro's closed more than 200 stores nationwide after filing this spring for bankruptcy protection.
• A comedy club, which would open near the front entrance in the former Boaters World location. It would have a separate outside entrance.
• Possibly two furniture stores, one from Jacksonville and one from Fort Lauderdale. One would open near Belk and the other near JCPenney. One or both leases could be signed in 60 days.


Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the pharmacogenetic role of the factor XIII (FXIII) valine 34 leucine (Val34Leu) polymorphism in the fibrinolytic therapy of acute myocardial infarction (MI).
Background Fibrinolytic therapy is an established treatment for acute MI, but up to 40% of treated patients do not achieve optimal tissue reperfusion. The FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism is one of the most relevant functional polymorphisms described in the haemostatic system. The common Leu34 allele associates with an increased FXIII-transglutaminase activity, which results in an increased and faster rate of fibrin stabilization.
Methods We genotyped this polymorphism in 293 consecutive MI patients (62 ± 12 years; 231 males) from two different European populations. All patients were treated with standard doses of fibrinolytic drugs. Noninvasive assessment of the efficacy of coronary fibrinolysis was evaluated by serial electrocardiograms and creatine kinase time-activity curves. The clinical outcome was also re-evaluated at 24 h (death, reinfarction, or urgent revascularization).
Results Multivariate analysis showed that Leu34 carriers displayed a significantly less efficient fibrinolysis than carriers of Val/Val genotype (p = 0.021; odds ratio [OR] 1.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10 to 3.28). At 24 h, Leu34 allele carriers had the worst outcome (p = 0.006; OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.25 to 3.68). Interestingly, the combination of the Leu34 allele and nonsmoking status increased the risk of non-reperfusion criteria (p = 0.003, OR 3.77), and worse outcomes at 24 h (p = 0.001, OR 4.55).
Conclusions In a large cohort of nonselected and consecutive acute MI patients from two different European populations, we show clinical evidence that the presence of the Leu34 allele reduces the efficacy of fibrinolytic therapy.
Fibrinolytic therapy is used to achieve the most important objective in patients with an acute myocardial infarction (MI), to open quickly the coronary flow after the occurrence of an acute coronary occlusion. Indeed, fibrinolytic therapy leads to better survival, recovery of left ventricular function, and remodelling following acute MI (1–3). Unfortunately, approximately 40% of treated patients do not achieve optimal tissue perfusion (4), and the potential benefits are limited by early (thrombotic) re-occlusion of the infarct-related artery (5). However, few factors have been identified to be involved in this inter-individual heterogeneity, such as age, delay between symptom onset and fibrinolytic therapy, smoking habit, and infarct size or site (6,7).
Coagulation factor XIII (FXIII) is a tetrameric structure consisting of two A (active) and two B subunits. Calcium and thrombin activate factor XIII in the final phase of the coagulation process. Activated FXIII catalyzes the formation of covalent gamma-glutamyl-gamma-lysine bonds between fibrin monomers, increasing the resistance of fibrin to degradation by plasmin (8). Multiple polymorphisms have been described in the FXIII-A subunit gene. A common G-to-T polymorphism in exon 2 causes a valine (Val) to leucine (Leu) change at position 34, three amino acids upstream to the thrombin cleavage site. This Val34Leu polymorphism affects the function of FXIII by increasing the rate of FXIII activation by thrombin, which results in an increased and faster rate of fibrin stabilization (9,10). However, the thrombotic role of this polymorphism is controversial and might be specific to populations (11–14).
In a small and retrospective cohort of survivors of premature MI, our group observed—for the first time—that Leu34 allele carriers could show more "resistance" to fibrinolytic therapy (15). In the present report, we prospectively studied an unselected, consecutive cohort of acute MI patients, eligible for fibrinolytic treatment, from two different European populations, and noninvasively assessed the efficacy of fibrinolytic therapy. Again, our hypothesis was that the presence of the Leu34 allele reduces the clinical efficacy of fibrinolytic therapy for acute MI.
From September 2002 to March 2004, we included 293 consecutive acute MI patients (mean age 61.8 ± 12.3 years; 231 males) from two different European populations: 170 from City Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom (this consisted of 109 white Caucasians and 61 Indo-Asians) and 123 from Hospital General Universitario, Alicante, Spain (all white Caucasian), who were eligible for fibrinolytic therapy. Both are University tertiary hospitals with 800 and 915 beds, respectively. Although at the time of this study there was no formal primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) program for acute MI in both hospitals, about 88 patients were not included in the present study as primary PCIs were performed. All recruited subjects gave their informed consent to enter the study, which had been approved by the local research committee and was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, as amended in Edinburgh in 2000.
Major cardiovascular risk factors (current smoking status, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes and hypertension) were recorded. Clinical features of patients and controls are indicated in Table 1.All patients were treated with standard doses of fibrinolytic drugs (tenecteplase, n = 199; streptokinase, n = 87; and recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, n = 9). Delay in initiation of fibrinolytic drugs from symptom onset was recorded.
Noninvasive assessment of the efficacy of coronary fibrinolysis was evaluated by a combination of clinical assessment, serial electrocardiograms and creatine kinase (CK) time-activity curves. A 12-lead electrocardiogram was registered at 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, and 300 min after fibrinolysis initiation. Blood samples for CK determination were drawn at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 21 h after fibrinolysis initiation. A resolution of ST-segment elevation more than 50% at 90 min and an early peak of CK (≤12 h) were considered as reperfusion criteria (16). All electrocardiograms were reviewed by two investigators who had no knowledge of the genetic determinations. When electrocardiograms were considered not interpretable (four patients) the early peak of CK was considered as the unique reperfusion criteria. The efficacy of fibrinolysis and the clinical outcome were also re-evaluated at 24 h (death, reinfarction, or necessity of urgent PCI).
Total genomic deoxyribonucleic acid was obtained from the white blood cell following the instruction of the Wizard genomic deoxyribonucleic acid purification system (Promega Innogenetics, Madrid, Spain). Genomic polymerase chain reaction of the FXIII-A chain exon 2 gene was performed with mutated primers, essentially as indicated elsewhere (17). The FXIII genotype was established after restriction of the polymerase chain reaction product with Bsa HI (17).
Results are expressed as mean value ± standard deviation for continuous variables and as percentages for categorical variables. Univariate statistical analysis was performed by the chi-square test. The strength of the association of the polymorphism with the occurrence of end points (reperfusion or clinical outcome at 24 h) was estimated by calculation of the odds ratio (OR) and the Cornfield method for the calculation of 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression, Enter method (adjusting by gender, age, time delay, cardiovascular risk factors, ethnicity, and fibrinolytic agent). Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS statistical package for Windows 10.0 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois) and Epi-Info software (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia). Differences with a two-tailed p value <0.05 were considered significant.
Clinical characteristics and genetic frequencies are summarized in Table 1. We did not detect any age or gender differences, and the distribution of genotypes was not significantly different from Hardy-Weinberg proportions (data not shown). The prevalence of the FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism in the different ethnic groups (Val/Leu + Leu/Leu: Mediterranean Caucasians 35.0%; British Caucasians 44.0%; and Indo-Asians 29.5%) was broadly similar to that previously described (11–14,17).
In the univariate analysis, only the FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism was statistically associated with the efficacy of fibrinolytic therapy (Table 2)and clinical outcome at 24 h (Table 3).The percentage of efficacy of fibrinolytic drugs was 60.6% in Leu34 allele carriers versus 71.7% in patients with the Val/Val genotype (p = 0.049; OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.73). Moreover, 52.3% of Leu34 allele carriers were free of end points at 24 h, compared to 65.8% of patients with the Val/Val genotype (p = 0.023; OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.84). There were no statistically significant differences in the success rate of fibrinolytic therapy between clinical characteristics, age, type of fibrinolytic drugs, blood pressure, or time delay (Tables 2 and 3). Importantly, ethnicity did not have a significant influence on fibrinolytic efficacy or the 24-h outcome (Tables 2 and 3).
In the multivariate analysis (logistic regression), fibrinolysis in Leu34 allele patients was significantly less efficient than that achieved among patients carrying the Val/Val genotype (p = 0.021, OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.10 to 3.28) (Table 2). Re-evaluation at 24 h revealed that the FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism was the only factor displaying a significant role (p = 0.006, OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.25 to 3.68) (Table 3).
Smoking habit did not significantly influence fibrinolytic therapy efficacy on a crude analysis (Table 3), but after adjustment for clinical variables, this was associated with a better outcome at 24 h (p = 0.049).
As previous observations have described a higher rate of reperfusion in smokers (18–20), we also analyzed the possible synergistic interaction between FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism and smoking habit. In a multivariate analysis, the simultaneous combination of Leu34 allele and nonsmoking status increased the risk to non-reperfusion (p = 0.003, OR 3.77, 95% CI 1.55 to 9.16) and a worse outcome at 24 h (p = 0.001, OR 4.55, 95% CI 1.89 to 10.97) (Figs. 1A and 1B).
(A)Influence in fibrinolytic efficacy of the interaction between smoking habit and factor XIII Val34Leu polymorphism (logistic regression, Enter method, after adjusted by age, gender, cardiovascular risk factors, time delay, and fibrinolytic drug). (B)Influence in outcome at 24 h following fibrinolytic efficacy of the interaction between smoking habit and factor XIII Val34Leu polymorphism (logistic regression, Enter method, after adjusted by age, gender, cardiovascular risk factors, time delay, and fibrinolytic drug). Leu = leucine; OR = odds ratio; val = valine.
Consistent studies have demonstrated that primary PCI may be the preferred reperfusion strategy in acute MI, with reduction in death, reinfarction, and stroke compared to fibrinolytic therapy (21). Unfortunately, several features limit the availability of PCI in a significant proportion of patients (22). Hence, renewed interest has arisen about initiatives that could improve the fibrinolytic efficacy, including pre-hospital fibrinolysis programs, new therapeutic agents (tenecteplase), or new pharmacological reperfusion strategies (e.g., half-dose fibrinolytic agent plus glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor blockade) (23).
Pharmacogenetics has emerged as a new field in medicine that tries to identify gene variants able to explain the heterogeneity in patient response to a drug (24). Polymorphisms affecting disposition, metabolism, transporters, or targets of the drug could modify the individual response to one therapy, and its side effects (25). The present study explores the hypothesis that there is a genetic influence on fibrinolytic therapy efficacy, by analyzing the role of a common polymorphism that affects the target of fibrinolytic drugs. Only one recent study has analyzed the role of the C-1562T polymorphism affecting the promoter region of the matrix metalloproteinase-9 gene in the haemorrhagic transformation of stroke after fibrinolytic therapy in 61 patients, finding no significant effect (26). Therefore, to the best of our knowledge, our study is the first prospective one supporting a significant pharmacogenetic effect of one polymorphism in fibrinolytic therapy.
The main finding of the present prospective study in two different European populations (including three ethnic groups—Mediterranean white Caucasians, British white Caucasians, and British Indo-Asians) is that FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism was independently associated with less efficient fibrinolysis for acute MI. Accordingly, Leu34 allele carriers had a two-fold risk to not achieve optimal reperfusion, as well as a worse outcome at 24 h. These results are similar to those observed in a previous small and retrospective cohort of survivors of premature MI (15). All our results support the observation that the FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism could modify the therapeutic effect of fibrinolytic drugs, and this presumption is also supported by the biochemical and haemostatic effect of the FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism: the Leu34 allele associates with increased FXIII activation by thrombin, affecting the structure and resistance of the cross-linked fibrin clot (10).
Additionally, our study suggests a synergistic effect between FXIII Val34Leu polymorphisms and smoking. The simultaneous combination of one Leu34 allele and nonsmokers significantly increases the risk of poorer efficacy of fibrinolysis and a worse 24-h outcome. Smoking habit has been demonstrated to modify the effect of fibrinolytic therapy, with the highest reperfusion rate in smokers (18–20). Different hypotheses in this setting relate to a greater contribution of thrombus to the initiation of coronary occlusion (18) and impaired acute endogenous fibrinolytic capacity in smokers (27). Both mechanisms could enhance the influence of the FXIII polymorphism. These results support that a combination of genetic and environmental factors could explain the broad heterogeneity of fibrinolytic therapy efficacy.
Interestingly, the influence of the FXIII Leu34 allele on fibrinolytic therapy was similar in the three main populations analyzed in our study, even after adjusting for several possible confounders. This is relevant because the prothrombotic role of this polymorphism has been suggested to be different in the three populations (11–14,17).
One possible limitation of our study may be the assessment of the reperfusion efficacy by classical noninvasive criteria (16). To achieve optimal Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow grade 3 has been considered the goal of reperfusion (6,28), with independent prognostic value (29). However, recent studies have demonstrated renewed interest in ST-segment recovery as an accurate marker of myocardial reperfusion (30,31), whereas time-activity curves of myocyte necrosis markers have been consistently described as good indices of reperfusion (31–33).
In conclusion, in a prospective cohort of nonselected consecutive acute MI patients from three different ethnic groups, we show clinical evidence that the FXIII Leu34 allele reduces the efficacy of fibrinolytic therapy and confers the worst clinical outcome at 24 h. Additionally, a synergistic association is observed between smoking habit and FXIII polymorphism. The present findings could have important influence in clinical practice. For example, the development of a rapid determination of FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism at bedside could help determine the more appropriate reperfusion strategy in acute MI patients, informing clinicians on the necessity of performing an urgent PCI or planning the possibility of rescue angioplasty.
This study has been supported by FIS 00/0328 and SAF2003-00840 (MCYT & FEDER). Drs. Corral and González-Conejero are Contratados de Investigación Ramón y Cajal from the Universidad of Murcia.
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