Calling all photographers and local food enthusiasts!
Each year ASAP produces a printed calendar showcasing the seasonality of local food and farms in our Southern Appalachian Mountains. Last year we hosted our first calendar photo contest and chose thirteen out of over a hundred submissions. It was our best calendar to date!
We are thrilled to bring back our calendar contest for 2019. This year's calendar theme is called "Local Food & Farm Connections" and will feature the diverse ways our region interacts with and experiences local food and farms throughout the year. Thirteen winning photos will be printed in our calendar (twelve months + the cover), and will be spotlighted each month in ASAP's social media and e-newsletter.
The calendar photo contest is open to amateur and professional photographers. Photos received by Friday, October 12 will be given first consideration. You may submit as many photos as you like.
Please email images and photo descriptions to ASAPphotography@nullasapconnections.org.
Submitted photos must be in digital format. No print or film submissions will be accepted. All digital files must be at least 3500 pixels wide x 2500 pixels tall, in color, and submitted in JPEG or .jpg format. Winning images will be printed in a 7" x 10" horizontal format calendar.
Winners will be notified by mid-November, and will receive credit in the calendar, spotlights on social media, and three calendars and a ticket to ASAP's 2019 Farm Tour on June 22-23.
With your submission, you certify that you own the rights to your submitted work, and grant a non-exclusive, non-transferable right for ASAP to use your photographs in our internal and external communications including, but not limited to: our 2019 Calendar, social media, websites and web communications, e-newsletters, Local Food Guide, and other ASAP publications and promotions. Written permission from a parent or guardian is required for any photos containing children ages 18 or under. Any photos containing people's faces will require written or verbal permission from subject for ASAP to use.
Images should depict your experiences with local food and agriculture in the Appalachian Grown Region. Below is a list of image suggestions, but images are not limited to these topics.
Your photographs help ASAP tell the stories of local food and farming in the Southern Appalachian Region. Thank you for helping to further our mission through your photography! If you have questions about this photo contest please contact us at ASAPphotography@nullasapconnections.org.


I have expressed my love for the Mint newspaper, often. Especially the Mint on Saturdays. But one author whom I did not like much thus far, was Aakar Patel. In the past, I have seen too much of "secularism" weave in his columns, and that put me off.
But his column on this Saturday was a revelation. He makes a convincing statement that Indians are too self obsessed to be really good team players. He gives many examples from sports to make the point.
About how, after playing footall for 100 years, we are nowhere in the picture. About how, in hockey, once the world figured out how to stop our star players (e.g. Dhyan Chand) with their team play, we never managed to make a serious mark. And also why cricket cannot be clubbed into this – because, in spite of being a team sport, it boils down to an individual one-on-one, between the batsman and the bowler. And which is why, we have great individual players like Sachin and Gavasakar, but we are still weak as a team when it comes to fitness, fielding and the like.
The extension that Aakar points out, specifically for cricket, about how players have honed their personal skills, but have not thought as much about the sport, and how to improve it as a whole, is disturbing. But then when he points out the fact that nearly ALL of the IPL teams have foreign coache, and that how Indian commentators can only talk of individual technique, but can rarely give interesting thoughts on game strategy, again tells an important tale!
The summary of the article is that we do not value harmony, but only value genius, that we'd be more happy getting to see a Sachin 100, than an Indian victory! Sad, but true.
The article goes ahead and tries to find a reason for this, but which I do not agree upon. We have to recognise that sometimes we may NOT have answers, and then we look for these.
How does the attitude reflect in work, beyond sports? Team work demands that the focus be on end goal, and each must complement the other. How often do we see this NOT happening in companies?? Star performers in large companies? Partners pulling company in different directions in smaller companies?!
It is a refreshing change then, to find exceptions today, which are goal focused, and where partners / senior executives are not concerned about personal victories, as much as they are confirmed with large goals of the organization.
Focus on harmony, beyond just the genius..
I still have my questions on the subject. I think there was in fact, total lack of coordination in 26/11. We do not have a mechanism of how the army, the police, the NSG, the political leadership etc. will work together. Team work would be that. To get together, strategically, sacrifice personal heroics, and yet get to the objective.
In any case, armed forces are a different breed. But ordinary citizens, I am not sure, if culturally, we are at all tuned to be really good team players. I think Aakar Patel makes some interesting points here.
Old money vs New money? Or just about attitude??


AMAUROSIS - amaurosis n. Any form of blindness that is accompanied by no obvious change to the eye; often the result of disease.
AMBAGIOUS - ambagious adj. Roundabout; vague.
MALARIOUS - malarious adj. Causing or relating to malaria.
MOSASAURI - Sorry, definition not available.
SIMAROUBA - Sorry, definition not available.


A student-run, not-for-profit, organisation that aims to get more young children and girls especially excited about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
We visit schools in and around Aberdeen to conduct fun and engaging STEM based workshops for all ages and genders. We aim to show kids that science can be fun, and that no matter where you come from or how much science knowledge you have, STEM is for everyone!
Our workshops range from coding and robotics to making rockets and experimenting with slime.
We aim to bridge the gender imbalance in STEM. Only 13% of STEM careers consists of women. By having the right role models, we can show our local community that STEM is not just for men.
Robogals Aberdeen is a volunteering chapter that is a part of an international community, with chapters based in Australia, USA, Japan and more! Robogals is unique to the volunteering sector as you will be experiencing first hand what it is like to make a difference. Forget your cake sale!!! This is much more rewarding.
Not only will this be fun, but you will also gain valuable skills and experience that will go hand in hand with your CV and application to jobs and placements.
Please do not hesitate to contact us via aberdeen.exec@robogals.org or join our volunteers group on https://www.facebook.com/groups/1762532797349800/!
We hope to see you at our workshops, training sessions and socials!


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Decade of Risk
The deadly coronavirus pandemic is more than a public health emergency – it is a crisis of international cooperation, argues David Morris of the Sustainable Business Network of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Instead of working together, the US and China are deeper into a geopolitical contest. A dangerous decade lies ahead for the global economy as well as for health and safety, and only a fundamental rethink about how nations can collaborate will be the cure.
We are all learning about identifying and managing risks as the world struggles to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. Many of us have learned to practice social isolation and accepted other extreme measures to deal with a risk that spread faster than the responses of our national governments. But beyond this public-health emergency, we are facing a crisis of international cooperation. Instead of uniting to tackle common challenges, leaders are doubling down on the politics of division and tribalism, eroding trust in government, institutions and experts, slinging blame and spreading conspiracy theories.
Sometimes we choose to ignore risks, even when they are looming in front of our eyes. For decades, climate scientists have been warning about the risks of climate change, yet the world has made very little progress in reducing the risks. We had a wake-up call in Australia at the beginning of the year. Months before the catastrophic bushfires, in April 2019, emergency services chiefs from all Australian states and territories tried to warn Prime Minister Scott Morrison of an approaching fire disaster as a result of record hot and dry conditions. Morrison, who leads a government that lags the world in acting against climate change, and who famously brandished a lump of coal in parliament, refused to meet them. When the summer arrived, disastrous fires swept the nation, entirely as predicted by the experts. The fires were a clear signal that we must get much more serious about working together to confront climate change.
Meanwhile in December, when a Wuhan doctor, Li Wenliang, shared information in a chatgroup with other doctors about a possible new coronavirus (from which he later died), the initial response of local police was to accuse him of "spreading rumors". Li's concerns should have triggered the direct reporting system set up after the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic in the early 2000s to immediately alert authorities to a new infectious disease, but the system clearly did not work as intended. The delay did not just affect China, which later implemented unprecedented containment measures in close cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), but became a threat to people around the world. A virus knows no national borders, and neither should expert scientific advice.
Crisis management in crisis
In a crisis, the first thing we must do is listen to experts, who are best positioned to assess risks and recommend proportionate actions. Equally, with longer-term challenges we must also listen to those with relevant expertise, to avoid future crises.
Expertise, however, is under unprecedented attack. Populist leaders across the world have for decades undermined trust in public institutions, waging ideological culture wars against universities, public broadcasters and other evidence-based organizations, maligned as "elites" and starved of resources. Yet at a time of crisis it is precisely these organizations to which we turn for facts and sound advice.
One of the puzzles in identifying risks, and then cooperating to avoid or minimize them, is that often we just see things differently. Politicians who resist taking action against climate change, like the Australian prime minister, see bigger short-term risks to industries that will not survive a move to zero net emissions, while hoping technology will solve the problem in the long run. The Wuhan police saw a bigger short-term risk of social panic about something that had not yet been established to be a new coronavirus. In retrospect, we may determine first responses were wrong, but variation in how we assess risk is perfectly human. Sadly, so is local political game playing in any system. That means for global risks we need robust international cooperation to ensure we hear the advice of experts and not just the ideologues.
We have plenty of experience in devising systems of international cooperation to predict and minimize risks. When we take a commercial airline flight, we place our trust in the international rules and practices of aviation that have proven over decades to be highly reliable to ensure we arrive safely at our destination. While we are aware that there is a small chance of something going wrong, say a technical fault or terrorist attack, we know these risks are as close as possible to zero because of the protective systems designed and implemented by professionals in whose hands we feel safe.
We have even eliminated some risks. The hole in the ozone layer, for example, was closed by concerted international action to eliminate chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were previously widely used in refrigerators. In both the development of the aviation industry and in the elimination of CFCs, risks were self-evident, we listened to expert advice and we developed a global consensus for action to reduce the risks. We set new global rules and we have followed those rules to stay safe. As we are seeing in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, people will change behavior to remain safe but, when needed, can we rely on international cooperation to develop new rules to avoid the risks we will face in the future?
Rewriting global rules
The bad news is that international cooperation and rule making have fallen out of favor. Under President Donald Trump, the United States has walked away from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. A growing chorus of public opinion in the powerful, rich countries is turning against globalization, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the proliferation of trade agreements and rules that have brought hundreds of millions of people in the developing world out of poverty and into the international economy.
The prospects for the decade ahead are grim. It is likely the lockdowns in response to this massive health crisis will send the world into recession, and that will not end well. Last time the US and Europe went into a recession, China kept the world economy growing. This time, though, China has troubles of its own. Further, the US has cast itself as engaged in a new "strategic competition" with Beijing, including a trade war and steps to decouple key sectors of its economy. There is a palpable closing of minds occurring in both countries, with insults being traded daily, journalists expelled by both sides, and conspiracy theories spreading like viruses.
Again, it is human to see things differently. A few years ago globalization was popular and the co-dependence of the US and China was commonly perceived as a great strength, a relationship too big to fail. Today, that perspective is out of fashion. Muscling up for worst-case scenarios has become the new strength, and most people like to be with the strength. While the narrative used to be about economic opportunity, it has turned to geopolitical threats, with expectations that the world will emerge from the Covid-19 crisis more nationalist, with a stronger China and a weakened US.
The rapidly evolving digital economy, which is likely to be the backbone of global recovery, has become a key battleground in the new geopolitical contest. High-speed 5G telecommunications networks are set to connect devices from phones to driverless vehicles and artificial intelligence will transform their capabilities. If we do not urgently develop rules and norms for these new interdependencies, as we did for air travel, we risk weaponizing every network and every device.
The US, which distrusts China, is pressing its allies to ban Chinese companies that are leaders in 5G, such as Huawei, accusing them of posing a security risk. Might it be possible to construct a set of verifiable rules and norms for 5G that mitigates the risks of which the US warns? Washington vigorously opposed international rule setting for the internet, while its firms enjoyed monopoly advantages, and has resisted extension of rule-setting powers for the digital economy to the world's oldest international organization, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Perhaps that needs to be reviewed.
How to get back on track
Even in the depths of the Cold War, systems of international cooperation were constructed. Hard-nosed realists on both sides put in place hotlines and other confidence-building mechanisms to avert disaster. The Cold War occurred in a much less connected world, though, and its primary focus was military competition. We must consider what new kinds of international cooperation, rules and norms will be needed to mitigate the risks of a world in which China and the US are locked in a downward spiral of competition. It is not predetermined that either must act in a way that will threaten the rest of the world. Those are choices. Meanwhile, the rest of the world needs both the US and China as partners.
Climate change, pandemics and the global economy all underline how inter-connected our world has become. It must be intoxicating for populist leaders to win support as they herald a return to tribalism and isolation, but that is beating a path towards system failure, because there are no national solutions to global problems. That applies to China as much as it applies to the US. We need to do much better as an international community next time we have an imminent global crisis, and we need to get much more serious about the entirely predictable longer-term risks, such as climate change. It is time to rethink international cooperation, to listen to experts, to dispassionately assess the risks and to develop joint approaches to solving global challenges as a global community. That might mean changing some behavior. It will not be easy, but despite our differences people have a remarkable ability to work together and to build new solutions. It is what makes us human.
Published in Asia Global Online, April 1, 2020

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Paul Furnival trading as Ebor Windows.


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TONY® AWARD-WINNER LEN CARIOU PRESENTS & STARS IN "BROADWAY AND THE BARD: AN EVENING OF SHAKESPEARE & SONG" AT STAGE 773 JUNE 6-10
June 4, 2018 Michael J. Roberts
Tony® award-winning actor Len Cariou (Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Applause), in collaboration with Aruba productions, proudly presents and stars in Broadway and the Bard: An Evening of Shakespeare & Song at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, previewing Wednesday, June 6 with a press opening Thursday, June 7 and closing Sunday, June 10, 2018.
Conceived by Len Cariou, Barry Kleinbort and Mark Janas, Broadway and the Bard made its Off-Broadway premiere in 2016 and opened to general acclaim. The New York Times raved, "Intelligent and eloquent… Mr. Cariou makes for jovial company and draws the audience into a comfortable intimacy with little effort." Curtain Up wrote, "It is a delicious confection of Shakespeare and Broadway songs, served a la Cariou." And Onstage also chimed in: "The iconic stage actor and his accompanist (Mark Janis), in collaboration with director Barry Kleinbort, triumph in achieving Mr. Cariou's idea of combining his two great loves – Shakespeare and the American Musical."
Although recognized for his presence on television for the past eight seasons (as Tom Selleck's dyspeptic father on the long running hit series "Blue Bloods,") Mr. Cariou has previously held a long and distinguished career in the theater, including originating male leads in two landmark Stephen Sondheim musicals. In Broadway and the Bard, he is able to give full voice to an idea that he has harbored since his first prophetic Broadway season when he appeared as Shakespeare's Henry V and then, the following spring, starred the musical, Applause; that is, combining his two great loves – Shakespeare and American Musical Comedy – into one rich and diverse tapestry; outfitting trenchant classical soliloquies and sonnets with inventive musical pairings from beloved writers of the Great White Way – the result is an eighty-minute melding of superb soliloquy and memorable song by a one-of-a-kind master actor of exquisite vintage in what the Bard might refer to as "a most rare vision."
The creative team for Broadway and the Bard also includes Josh Iocavelli (sets) and Matt Berman
(lights and sound). The tour is produced by special arrangement with Aruba Productions, LLC and Starry Night Productions.
Len Cariou is a distinguished member of the Theatre Hall of Fame and a three-time Tony nominee, for Applause, A Little Night Music, and for his legendary performance as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, (Tony award-winner, Best Actor). His other Broadway credits include Nightwatch, Cold Storage, Teddy & Alice, Dance a Little Closer, The Speed of Darkness, Neil Simon's The Dinner Party, and Proof. Showing his range, he toured the U.S. as Cap'n Andy in Showboat, and as Nils Bohr in Copenhagen. He scored his most recent triumph in The Gate Theatre's definitive, hit production of "All My Sons," in Dublin, Ireland, reprising his role as Joe Keller, which he also won raves for at the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles in 2007. In addition, he was recently lauded for his performance as Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon at the Vancouver Playhouse and Canadian Stage. In 2008 he directed a production of Glengarry Glen Ross (Manitoba Theatre Centre) which sold out its mid-winter run despite outside temperatures of 40 below zero. His classical stage repertoire is far ranging, encompassing the title roles in Oedipus the King, Macbeth, Cyrano, Coriolanus, and two productions of King Lear, as well as Iago, Petruchio, Prospero and many others. Off-Broadway, he is proud of his work as Ernest Hemingway in Papa, William O. Douglas in Mountain, and Joseph Stalin in Master Class. Regionally, he has starred in a multitude of productions at theatres throughout North America, including The Kennedy Centre, The Mark Taper Forum, The Manitoba Theatre Centre, The Stratford Shakespeare Festivals in both Ontario and Connecticut, The Guthrie Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre and The Old Globe. He is a former Artistic Director of the Manitoba Theatre Centre, and former Associate Director of the Guthrie Theatre. Several feature films include the popular The Four Seasons, Executive Decision, Thirteen Days, and About Schmidt with Jack Nicholson, as well as Secret Window with Johnny Depp, Flags of Our Fathers, and 1408.He was awarded a Genie, Canada's Oscar, for Best Actor in the film One Man. On television, Mr. Cariou currently stars as Henry Reagan (Tom Selleck's father) on the hit CBS series "Blue Bloods." He spent two seasons as powerhouse political appointee Judd Fitzgerald in the Showtime series "Brotherhood" with Dublin's own Fionnula Flanagan. He has guest starred on CSI:Las Vegas, The Practice, West Wing, Law & Order, The Outer Limits, Swift Justice, and Murder She Wrote, to name only a few. Myriad TV movies include Surviving, Man in the Attic, Who Will Save Our Children, There Were Times Dear (PBS), Miracle on Route 880, Killer in the Mirror, Hallmark Hall of Fame's The Summer of Ben Tyler, Nuremberg (TNT) and as Franklin Roosevelt in HBO's Into the Storm. Mr. Cariou is known for his voice-over work in commercials, books-on-tape and film, especially on The Jonestown Flood, which won an Academy Award, and as Harry Bosch in Michael Connolly's well-known novels.
Barry Kleinbort has earned the prestigious Edward Kleban Foundation Award for Lyric Writing, two Gilman-Gonzalez Musical Theatre Awards, the Second Stage Musicals Writers Award, the Jamie deRoy/ ASCAP award, two Back Stage Bistro awards and ten Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC) awards for his directorial and songwriting efforts. He wrote the book and lyrics for the musical, Was, (music by Joseph Thalken) which was the inaugural production of the American Musical Theater Project in Chicago. He co-wrote with David Levy Perfect Harmony, a musical play about the lives of the Barry Sisters, which ran for six months in South Florida. As a composer/lyricist, he wrote music and lyrics for Metropolita(i)n, a bi-lingual musical revue, which has successfully played in Paris and New York. He provided scripts for eight PBS TV specials and most recently was an "artistic consultant for "Cathouse: The Musical" for HBO. His newest musical 13 Things About Ed Carpolotti starring Penny Fuller had a successful off-Broadway run at 59E59 Theaters and made its regional theater debut last year at the Merrimack Rep in Lowell, Massachusetts, again with Ms. Fuller, and under Mr. Kleinbort's direction. He has directed and/or written material for Brent Barrett, Petula Clark, Marvin Hamlisch, Kaye Ballard, Regis Philbin, John Barrowman, Tony Roberts, Anita Gillette, Karen Mason, Sylvia McNair, Harolyn Blackwell, Heather MacRae, and many, many others. He has also directed topical revues and intimate theater productions, including Rita Gardner's "Try to Remember – A Look at Off-Broadway" and Kaye Ballard's off-Broadway revue, "Kaye Ballard- Working 42nd Street at Last!" He adapted and directed the New York premiere of Bob Merrill's musical, The Prince of Grand Street for the Jewish Rep and John Epperson's autobiographical one man outing, Show Trash at both the Studio Theater in Washington, D.C and off-Broadway as part of the acclaimed Lypsinka trilogy at the Connelly Theater. A well- received revue of his theater songs, "Big City Rhythm," is available on Harbinger Records.
Mark Janas began his piano studies at age of three, composed a sonatina at 5, and by high school was conducting the Hammond Area Youth Orchestra. At Indiana University he studied with pianist Karen Shaw, composer Bernhard Heiden, and conductors Jan Harrington and Tibor Kozma, among others. While a senior at Indiana, he was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to conduct at Bernstein festivals in Israel and Austria. He was twice Bernstein's assistant, for concerts with the New York Philharmonic and Boston Symphony orchestras. After receiving a bachelor of music degree from Indiana University and a brief stint as associate conductor of Texas Opera Theatre, he acquired a master's degree in orchestral conducting at Rice University, while simultaneously founding and conducting a professional group, Orchestra Texas. In 1982, he was a conducting fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, studying with Bernstein, Tilson Thomas, Hogwood, and Blomstedt. In 1984, he jumped the fence to musical theater, composing a score for an historical drama The Lone Star, later recorded in London with members of the LSO, and later conducted the Houston Symphony in a performance of a Suite from the work. Janas music directed the world's largest production of Hello, Dolly!, creating all- new arrangements for its star, Marilyn Maye. He performed all over the United States as associate conductor for two national tours of Les Misérables, as well as music directing for the Yale Repertory Theatre, Hippodrome State Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and New Dramatists, to name a few. He music directed the Chautauqua Opera Cabarets in 1998 and more recently has performed and released a CD with 2001 Best Debut BackStage Bistro and MAC award winner Julie Reyburn. Performances with Maree Johnson took him to Australia, and last summer two New York readings of his original musical, PoeSCrypt, were very well received; a recording of the work is currently in process. Mr. Janas won the 2002 BackStage Bistro Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Direction, and, having taught before at Yale, Barnard, Concordia, and NYU, as well as his Acting the Song class with colleague Andy Gale.
Performances of Broadway at the Bard are as follows: Wednesday, June 6 at 8 p.m., Thursday, June 7 at 8 p.m., Friday, June 8 at 8 p.m., Saturday, June 9 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 10 at 3 p.m. All tickets are $35. To purchase tickets, please visit http://www.stage773.com/show/broadwayandthebard or call (773) 327-5252.
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Located in the most sought after West end of PC Beach; this is the perfect spot to escape those freezing temperatures of the North. A quaint Florida beach home, on a quiet Laguna Beach street. Just a short golf cart ride, in our golf cart friendly community, to the white sandy Gulf. A place for your pets too. Too many things to say; you must see it instead.


For those of you who are fans of the Netflix series Hemlock Grove, you're in luck. The series will make an appearance again next year, though with ten episodes instead of this year's thirteen. Having watched this season, I can say I'm definitely interested enough to see what season two delivers in 2014.


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NG, DHS Technologies to support SICPS/TMSS
ORANGEBURG, N.Y., June 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has contracted Northrop Grumman Corp. and DHS Technologies for mobile tactical operations centers for units in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The $240 million contract with Northrop Grumman and DHS will go to support the Army standardized integrated command post systems family of trailer-mounted support systems. The mobile military command centers are capable of being deployed in the battlefield with short notice.
Officials say the Northrop Grumman/DHS units, equipped with climate control and power for lighting and computers, will be deployed at U.S. Army operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
DHS will manufacture their deployable rapid-assembly shelters for the SICPS/TMSS contract, while Northrop Grumman will be responsible for program management and integrated logistics support.
"The military has already been using our deployable rapid-assembly shelters products for years," A. Jon Prusmack, DHS Technologies chief executive officer, said in a statement.
"We are excited to be able to work with Northrop Grumman to provide an even more complete system to our men and women serving with the military."
New drugs, if approved, could have big impact in 2023
White House: 26 million applied or are eligible for student debt forgiveness
Ohio man charged with immigration fraud over lying about war crimes


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Posts Tagged 'Frank Zappa'
January 5th, 2012 14 comments
December"s headline death probably is that of the great Cesária Évora, who emerged from the tiny West African island of Cape Verde, a former Portuguese colony.
But as a soul fan, percussion maestro Ralph MacDonald is my headline departure of the month. He wrote some stone-cold classics and appeared on an impressive catalogue of soul and fusion albums, including those released in their heyday by Bill Withers, George Benson, Donny Hathaway, Ashford & Simpson, Brothers Johnson, Margie Joseph, Patti Austin, Grover Washington, Maynard Ferguson, The Crusaders, Michael Franks, Eric Gale, Bob James, Herbie Mann, Earl Klugh, and Sadao Watanabe, as well as on pop albums by the likes of Billy Joel (The Stranger, 52nd Street, Innocent Man) and Paul Simon (Still Crazy"¦, One Trick Pony, Graceland).
The Ragovoy curse struck again. First the great songwriter died in July; then his occasional collaborator Jimmy Norman, with whom he wrote Time Is On My Side, died in November; in December singer Howard Tate, for whom Ragovoy wrote and produced several songs (including Get It While You Can, which Janis Joplin later covered, and 8 Days On The Road) passed away at 72.
Three of the world"s longest-performing artists died in December: Myra Taylor first took to the stage as a 14-year-old in 1931; she made her final performance in a career spanning 70 years on 24 July this year. Fans of The Originals will appreciate the first recording of the great Ink Spots hit I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire, which featured Myra Taylor on vocals (originals fans will also enjoy Ruby and the Romantics" Our Day Will Come, covered by Amy Winehouse on her new posthumous album) .
Johannes Heesters, who died at 108, had been a huge star in Nazi Germany and counted Nazi leaders among his friends "" a stigma that followed him to his death. Hated in his native Holland, he was still hugely popular in West Germany. He still toured as a centenarian, and performed to the age of 105.
Bill Tapia, dead at 103, was a ukulele maestro. Check out his version of Stars and Stripes Forever, from just two years ago, which he introduces as having played during World War I "" the audience laughs, but the guy isn"t joking. He has been performing since 1918.
Among the more bizarre deaths is that of Willie Nelson"s drummer Dan Spears, who fell outside his house and, unable to move, froze to death.
Sadly, this will be the final monthly In Memoriam. Compiling each instalment simply takes up much more time than I can afford to spend, so this is a decision I had to make "" with much regret, because I don"t think anyone is doing it quite this way on the Internet.
Michal "˜Michal the Girl" Friedman, singer, from complication during the birth of twins on November 25
ATB "" The Autumn Leaves (2004)
Categories: In Memoriam	Tags: Bill Withers, Billie Jo Spears, Billy Joel, Cesaria Evora, Dobie Gray, Donny Hathaway, Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, Grover Washington Jr, Howard Tate, Howlin' Wolf, Hubert Sumlin, Johannes Heesters, Lalo Schifrin, Pink Floyd, Roberta Flack, Ruby and the Romantics, Sam Rivers, The Highwaymen, Willie Nelson
Step back to 1980 – Part 2
November 8th, 2011 7 comments
In past instalments of this series I have been very careful to issue a caveat about the music that I would feature, emphasising that the songs were chosen not because I endorsed them, but because they had the power to transport me back to a particular time or place. This caveat still applies, but it is becoming less necessary than before as the series goes on. This episode features some of my all-time favourite singles, and a few songs which I don"t mind hearing again. There is only among these eight songs from which I"d emphatically have to distance myself. During the second quarter of 1980, which is the time period we"re dealing with now, I turned 14. As ever, music and football were about the only bright lights in my teenage dejection.
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The Vapors "" Turning Japanese.mp3
Sometimes you go through life with a fresh-faced innocence until your face doesn"t look so fresh any longer. And so it"s only a couple of years since I discovered that Turning Japanese is not an ode to acquiring a taste for sushi and saki (which in The Vapors" case would have been quite visionary), nor  a narrative about the notoriously difficult act of assimilating to life in Tokyo, Osaka or Fukuoka. Turning Japanese apparently refers to the narrowing of the male"s eyes as he reaches the point of orgasm (in the case of the song brought about by masturbation). I cannot verify that this is indeed an accurate description of the physiological response to the point of climax, as I have no habit of observing other specimen of my genus as they engage in sexual activity, nor have I filmed or photographed myself in the act of copulation (and actors in movies of the pornographic genre cannot be depended upon to convey an accurate portrayal of the man in the throes of base relief).
Apparently, however, men"s toes tend to curl at the point of orgasm. I don"t suppose The Vapors had any bright ideas as to how ascribe that physical reflex to a racial or ethnic characteristic. "Turning poor Chinese girl whose feet are deformed so as to appear dainty to misogynist patriarchs" does lack the zip of the title the Guildford quartet had their hit with.
New Musik "" Living By Numbers.mp3
This is one catchy new wave song, before that genre demanded the application of extravagant make-up, overdoses of hair gel, silly facial growths (yes, you, Midge Ure) and often injudicious use of synthethizers. I dig the sound of Living By Numbers, with its judicious use of synth. One of New Musik"s former members was Nick Straker "" he left the group in 1979 "" who had a disco hit later in 1980 with A Walk In The Park.
The lyrics of Living By Numbers are perfectly situated in 1980: the paranoia of the 1970s anticipating the computer age of the 1980s. Towards the end, there is a series of different English-accented individuals proclaiming: "They don"t want your name" (they want "just your numbah", apparently). I derive much fun from imitating the different voices as I sing along, with correctly locating the strangely shrill and nasal women"s moment at 2:46 being a moment of particular personal triumph.
Marti Webb "" Take That Look Off Your Face.mp3
In early 1980 our family joined the video generation. An acquaintance was selling his video recorder, with his video tape collection. I don"t know whether the man opted for VHS or the system with the flamboyantly futuristic moniker Beta 2000. I do know that the video reorder he sold us conformed to neither system. The clunky cassettes we got with the bargain included such films Psycho and The World of Suzie Wong, an instalment in the Angelique series, and a hardcore porn movie, the first I had ever seen and the dialogue of which has equipped my brother and me with a bunch of good catchphrases which obviously make no sense to anybody else (it also had a funny cartoon interlude involving a Sex Olympics for medieval knights). And one of the first things we recorded was an episode of the legendary German music show Musikladen, which ran on Thursday nights.
Those were exciting days: I watched that recording repeatedly, until the novelty wore off. It made such an impression that three songs from that show feature in this instalment, though I had already bought the single of one of them, Living By Numbers. I quite liked Marti Webb"s song, and I still do, cheerfully disregarding the fact that it was written by Andrew Lloyd-Webber (for the flop musical Tell Me On A Sunday). I hope the dreadful Lloyd-Webber produced this single, so that I can hold him personally responsible for one of the worst fade-outs of all time: just as Webb is hitting a big theatrical note, the song does a two-second fade out (normally a fade-out takes something like five seconds). It"s a song from a stage musical: it shouldn"t even have a fade out.
Godley & Creme "" An Englishman In New York.mp3
An Englishman In New York (no relation to the Sting number) was the other song we recorded from Musikladen that day. It"s a strange song, and was even stranger then. In fact, it sounds as though pieces of three different songs were cobbled together by the two ex-10cc men. The performance on Musikladen was even more bizarre, featuring mannequins playing instruments, as did the groundbreaking promotional video of the song (something like THIS).
Eric and Lol would later produce another groundbreaking video, for 1985″s Cry, which featured morphing heads (a technique later used in Michael Jackson"s Black And White video). They also produced videos for hits such as The Police"s Every Breath You Take and Wrapped Around Your Finger, Duran Duran"s Girls On Film and A View To A Kill, Herbie Hancock"s Rockit, Go West"s We Close Our Eyes, Frankie Goes to Hollywood"s Two Tribes and The Power of Love, and Sting"s If You Love Somebody Set Them Free.
Ramones "" Baby I Love You.mp3
For some reason I had no idea at the time that this was a cover version of The Ronettes" 1963 hit, even as I did know Be My Baby. So, to me, Baby I Love You will always be firstly a Ramones song. And I love their version, which appeared on the punk pioneers" album End Of The Century (a point in time not all of them would live to see), produced by Phil Spector. The Ronettes" version was, of course, also produced by Spector. It seems none of the Ramones except for singer Joey appear on Baby I Love You. Dee Dee later expressed his hatred for the cover version, and for the album in general. He also claimed that at one stage during the sessions, Spector held him and Joey at gunpoint "" a claim which we now know is not as outlandish as it might have appeared when Dee Dee made it. It"s safe to say that the recording sessions were not a happy time for either Spector or the Ramones.
Dexys Midnight Runners – Geno.mp3
This is my favourite single ever. Now, when I call Geno my favourite single ever, I am not saying that it"s the best single ever, or even that it is my favourite song to be released as a single. It is my favourite single because never before or after have I loved a single "" as an item and a song at a particular place and time "" as much as Geno. I remember clearly buying it and sitting on the bus home, anxious not so much to play it, but to own it, to place it in my collection of singles, as if this new acquisition was going to complete it.
The song may be somewhat derivative, but it sounded like nothing I had ever heard before: the stirring yet sad brass, the urgent chants of the titular name, and then Kevin Rowland"s distinctive style of staccato singing. It caused a weird sensation in my guts. I"ve heard Geno many, many times since then, but I can still feel that sensation. Incidentally, the line "You were Michael the lover, the fighter that won" refers to a track called Michael (The Lover) which had been a UK Top 40 hit in 1967for the subject of the song, soul singer Geno Washington.
Johnny Logan – What's Another Year.mp3
Before it became the cultish reality TV circus it is now, it used to be the righteous option to criticise the Eurovision Song Contest for producing horrible, banal music. Still, winners have included such greats as ABBA and Sandie Shaw, and the 1978 winner, Izhar Cohen's A-Ba-Ni-Bi, was quite excellent as well (I"ll even confess to having a soft spot for Brotherhood of Man). The year after, Cohen"s Israeli compatriots Milk & Honey won with the utterly wretched Hallelujah, and then it was Ireland"s turn, with the clean-cut, Australian-born Johnny Logan.
At the time, I thought What"s Another Year was a pretty good song (though evidently not good enough to buy the record). It isn"t really, though. It is by-the-numbers US soft rock, but of the kind which Christopher Cross and Air Supply might have scoffed at for being too soft. It even has a saxophone solo which sounds like those featured, by some unwritten law, in every hip film of the 1980s starring members of the Brat Pack. Kenny G certainly has done an impressive job turning the coolest musical instrument of the "80s into the lamest ever since. Anyway, Logan made music history when he won the Eurovision Song Contest a second time in 1987, with an utteerly forgettable ditty called Hold Me Now.
Frank Zappa – Bobby Brown.mp3
Incredibly, Bobby Brown received extensive airplay on West German radio. I can understand why the terminology of "golden shower" or "she had my dick in the vice" went over the heads of the German censors. But were they really happy to pass a line like "I"ve got a cheerleader here, wants to help with my paper. Let her do all the work, and maybe later I"ll rape her"? Zappa was not endorsing the sentiments of his protagonist, of course, and recording Bobby Brown was his prerogative (yes, I just did that). I'm sure Zappa, who is delivering a great vocal performance on Bobby Brown, was tickled to know it was being played on foreign radio. It"s a nasty and incredibly catchy song.
More Stepping Back
Categories: Uncategorized	Tags: Dexys Midnight Runners, Frank Zappa, Godley and Creme, Marti Webb, New Musik, Ramones, The Vapors


Developing an integrated aluminium industry with the help of private investors from all around the globe is the goal of Ghana's government. Such was the message from President Nana Akufo-Addo to Parliament late last week, assuring that a request for proposal would be sent out by the end of February.
Highlighting the work done so far, Akufo-Addo also said that stakeholders already began consultations.
"Since its formation the leadership of the corporation has been working tirelessly with transaction advisors and other stakeholders to ensure that all steps are taken to realize the set objectives," explained Akufo-Addo.
At present, the government has several agreements in place related to bauxite mining and production. Last year, the Government of Ghana had sealed a deal with the Chinese government to sell bauxite to Sinohydro Group Limited in exchange of infrastructural projects worth US$2 billion.However, some economists and the Minority in Parliament had opposed to this deal calling on the government to classify it as a loan. Nonetheless, later on, the legislature approved the deal, including the first payment of US$646.6 million via a deferred payment agreement.


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According to Jewish author Judith, King Tigran II's army included chariots and 12,000 cavalrymen. The Armenian king also had 120,000 infantrymen and 12,000 mounted archers. But the bulk of the army were the foot soldiers. Roman-Jewish historian Josephus talks of 580,000 men in total. As a result, the marching Armenian army was a "huge, irregular force, too many to count, like locusts on the dust of the earth." The Jewish historians of the time might have been exaggerating the size of the Armenian army because the Hasmonean Jews had lost the war against King Tigran, known as "Medzn" Dikran by Armenians
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King Dikran II was still fighting at the age of 75…against the Roman Legions. He remained on the…


Essentially, some Tribesmen Motorcycle Club members with familial links to the Rebels in Australia have "patched over". Now everyone is waiting to see whether the entire Tribesmen gang goes over.... 13/07/2015�� Alex Vella, 62, Rebels Motorcycle Club president, had his visa revoked in June last year while visiting his native Malta. The decision left him exiled in Malta after 47 years living in Australia.
Rebels MC is a one percenter motorcycle club founded in Brisbane, Australia in now international. View club history, clubhouse photos, crimes and... The letter "h" is the eighth number in the alphabet and "a" is the first -- shorthand for "Hells Angels" [source: Hells Angels Motorcycle Club World]. The Hells Angels are known by law-enforcement officials across the globe as an "outlaw" biker gang.
17/10/2010�� The Largest Motorcycle club in Australia - The BIGGEST All Big Twin Harley Davidson club it the World - the REBELS MC Australia ! Outlaws Elite... A screenshot of the Mongols' webpage. But the expansion is being closely watched by NSW police, with the Mongols considered one of the most notoriously violent bikie clubs in the United States.
The Rebels and other Australian motorcycle clubs have evolved from groups of males who shared common interests and banded together after the Second World War. The Rebels associate said that members of the Rebels used to join because they believed in living and acting a certain way.


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Desert Trip road closures announced
Colin Atagi, The Desert Sun
Indio announced road closures for October's Desert Trip Music Festival, and they're not much different from what happens during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Country Music Festival.
Actually, it's pretty much the same thing.
According to the city of Indio, the following roads will be closed:
Avenue 49 between Hjorth and Monroe streets
Avenue 50 between Madison and Jackson streets
Hjorth Street between Avenue 49 and Avenue 50
Madison Street between Avenue 49 and Avenue 52
Dr. Carreon Boulevard between Oasis and Arabia streets
Those streets are within the immediate vicinity of the Empire Polo Club, where the concert takes place during the weekends of Oct. 7 and Oct. 14. It will likely cause major delays on the roads that lead to the venue. They include:
Southbound Jefferson Street, between Interstate 10 and Avenue 52
Southbound Washington Street, between Interstate 10 and Avenue 52
Southbound Monroe Street, between Interstate 10 and Avenue 52
Highway 111 at Jefferson Street
Highway 111 at Monroe Street
Interstate 10 at Jefferson Street
Interstate 10 at Monroe Street
Anyone trying to avoid the area should use Washington, Jackson and Calhoun streets and Golf Center Parkway when traveling north or south. Anyone heading east or west should use Fred Waring Drive, Miles Avenue, Avenue 48 and Avenue 54.
Uber and taxis will be available for anyone who needs a ride. They will be available in a shuttle lot on the north side of Avenue 50, east of Hjorth, until 8 p.m. each night. Afterward, Uber and taxis will only be able to go to the Riverside County Fairgrounds and shuttles will transport concertgoers between there and Avenue 50.
Pedestrians will not be allowed on Monroe, between Avenue 49 and Avenue 52. Entrance to the concert will be at Monroe and Avenue 49, and the corner of Madison and Avenue 52.


Who else should I consider for milling an SP01 slide for an optic? CZC is 8-10 weeks turn-around. Is there anyone else that will do a proper job?
Cajun Gun Works is top notch and specializes in CZ's.
Duh, I forgot about CGW. Thanks.
I sent my shadow slide to CZ Custom to have the red dot plate system cut. While they quoted 8-10 weeks, I got mine back last week. It took 4 weeks.
Can't speak for anyone else, but last year alone we milled just over 400 CZ slides for optics.
Glock I believe was almost 4 times that. For just optics, not counting our other slide packages.
Geeez, I can't even imagine how busy your workshop is. Good for me though, I absolutely can't wait to get my P07 back Gonna be my first milled gun!
Another reason to go with Primary Machine is their milling prices tend to be cheaper than CGW and CZC (same excellent quality though!).
Again, can't speak for anyone else, but 100% of our work is done in house. And we have a much larger facility and more CNC's than the vast majority of companies doing what we do in the industry. We also have a complete dedicated cerakote area in our shop. This means faster turn around, and 100% control over quality of every aspect. All leading to better prices for our customers with zero sacrifice to quality.
Primary just did my ported P 10c for optic's , excellent work !
Anyone got any pics of their slide after the milling?
Check out Primary Machine's instagram.
Do you machine for a specific optic or can you use a plate system?
Specific optic only. We feel it's just the best way to go.


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Sport > World > Lists > Most Popular Sports > Regional
Regional Most Popular Sports
In our attempt to determine the world's most popular sport, it was clear that there are regional differences in the popularity of sports, and sometimes this creates bias in the analysis.
For example, a very popular sport in India may have a large total number of players or fans, but such support may not be widespread. Regional differences also affect the methods used, as some analyses based on internet search traffic have only looked at English sport terms, and so limits the sample to parts of the world that speak English and have a computer too.
Here are some attempts to quantify the popularity of sports in the regions of the world.
National Federations in Each Region — the top 10 sports based on the number of National Federations for that sport in each of the world's major regions: Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. These lists give an indication of how widely each of the sports are played within the region.
Top Sports by Country — find out which sports are more popular in certain countries of the world.
Top Countries by Sport — find out in which countries sports are most popular.
See also a ranking of sports based on the total number of National Federations for each sport.
other top 10 lists of the world's most popular sports
Other world sport lists
Lists Extra
Football/Soccer is clearly the world's most popular sport, and has the most popular athletes, but which sport has the fittest players (but not necessarily the greatest athlete). These players do not always earn the most. The best of the best have made it to our 7 Sporting Wonders Lists.


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Researchers discover new risk factors for blindness
Combining a map of gene regulatory sites with disease-associated loci has uncovered a new genetic risk factor of adult macular degeneration (AMD), according to a new study published Jan. 17 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Ran Elkon and Ruth Ashery- Padan of Tel Aviv University, Israel, and colleagues. The finding advances understanding of the main cause of visual impairment in adults.
AMD is caused by dysfunction in the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE), a layer of tissue sandwiched between the photoreceptors that receive light, and the choriocapillaris, which nourishes the retina. Because of the central importance of the RPE in AMD, the authors began investigating a transcription factor (a protein that regulates specific genes) called LHX2, which, based on the team's analysis of mouse mutants, is central to the development of RPE. By knocking down LHX2 activity in RPE derived from human stem cells, they found that most of the affected genes were down-regulated, indicating that LHX2's role was likely that of a transcriptional activator, binding to regulatory sites on the genome to increase the activity of other genes.
The authors found that one affected gene, called OTX2, interacted with LHX2 to regulate many genes in the RPE. By mapping the genomic sites to which OTX2 and LHX2 could bind, they showed that 68% of those that bound LHX2 were also bound by OTX2 (864 sites in total), suggesting that they likely work together to increase the activity of a large set of genes. involved in the development and function of RPE.
A common method of finding genes that may contribute to a disease is to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS), which identifies genomic sequence differences between individuals (called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs) that co-occur with the disease. Numerous such studies have been done before at AMD. However, a GWAS by itself cannot reveal a causal mechanism. Here, the authors compared their LHX2/OTX2 binding data with GWAS data to map variations that affected transcription factor binding and thus may contribute to disease.
One such binding site was located in the promoter region of a gene called TRPM1, previously linked to AMD, and found that the sequence variant at that site altered the binding strength of LHX2; the so-called C version bound it more strongly than the T version, and the activity of the TRPM1 gene was higher when the C allele was present instead of the T allele.
The results of the study indicate that the previously known increased risk of AMD of the variant identified in the GWAS was due to a reduction in the binding of the LHX2 transcription factor to the TRPM1 gene promoter, resulting in a reduction in activity of this gene. . The gene codes for a membrane ion channel, and previous studies have shown that mutations in the gene also cause visual impairment.
"Our study illustrates how delineation of tissue-specific transcriptional regulators, their binding sites across the genome, and their downstream gene regulatory networks can provide insight into the pathology of a complex disease," said the authors.
Adds Ashery-Padan: "The findings reveal a regulatory module comprised of LHX2 and OTX2 that controls the development and maintenance of the retinal pigmented epithelium, an important tissue of visual function. The genomic analyzes further link the genomic regions bound by the two developmental factors to the genetics of the common, multifactorial blinding disease age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Magazine reference
Cohen-Gulkar M, David A, Messika-Gold N, Eshel M, Ovadia S, Zuk-Bar N, et al. (2023) The LHX2-OTX2 transcriptional regulatory module regulates retinal pigmented epithelial differentiation and underlies the genetic risk for age-related macular degeneration. PLoS Biol 21(1): e3001924. DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001924


Stock Purchase Agreement - Titan Corp. and Sencom Corp.
THE STOCKHOLDERS OF SENCOM CORP.
hereto (the "Company Stockholders", and together with "Acquiror," and "Company"
consideration specified in Section 1.02.
leases or other contracts of the Company.
and the Tax Adjustment, if any.
2.04 hereof) prior to release of the Holdback Consideration.
willful misconduct or bad faith on the part of the Stockholders' Representative.
Closing Adjustment or the Accounts Payable Adjustment.
Common Stock as set forth on EXHIBIT A.
(o) authorize, or commit or agree to do any of the foregoing.
Purchase Agreement to be satisfied on or before the Closing Date.
set forth in Article VI of this Purchase Agreement not being satisfied.
Stockholders under the following paragraph.
withheld pursuant to the immediately preceding paragraph.
shall each pay one-half of the filings fees in connection therewith.
for Acquiror's use in connection with Acquiror's financing.
contemplated hereunder (the "Exon-Florio Notice") by June 15, 2000.
suspended or downgraded as a result of the transactions contemplated hereunder.
(d) For purposes of this Purchase Agreement, the "Cognizant Agencies"
the transactions contemplated by this Purchase Agreement.
to obtain such consent, approval or waiver.
entered by any court or other Governmental Entity vacated or reversed.
manner as set forth in Article IX of this Purchase Agreement.
Adjustment and the Accounts Payable Adjustment.
right possessed by the Company to purchase such Company Common Stock.
to be so qualified would not have a Material Adverse Effect.
There are not now, nor have there ever been, any Subsidiaries of the Company.
the provisions of its articles of organization or bylaws.
which it has with respect to the sale of Company Common Stock.
and are maintained at the Company.
Governmental rule, policy or other applicable law.
to be conducted does not infringe any third-party Intellectual Property rights.
director, consultant and contractor has executed such an agreement.
or trade practices under the laws of any jurisdiction.
Company's, respectively, prior to the Closing.
a basis consistent with prior accounting periods.
non-recurring nature for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2000.
of the things referred to elsewhere in this Section 3.09.
unmatured, known or unknown) other than in the Ordinary Course of Business.
Financial Statement based on GAAP and consistent with past practices.
court, arbitrator or Governmental Entity.
or hold interests in any Real Property.
obligation (including indebtedness) of any other Person.
where the failure so to comply would not have a Company Material Adverse Effect.
options granted and available for grant under the Company Stock Plans.
(without regard to any waiver) provided for in Section 412 of the Code.
defined in Section 4001(a)(2) of ERISA.
alleged failure) to pay any Tax.
independent contractor, creditor, stockholder or other third party.
additional Taxes for any period for which Company Tax Returns have been filed.
foreign law), as a transferee or successor, by contract or otherwise.
intercompany transaction" as defined in Treas. Reg. Section 1.1502-13(a)(2).
and filing procedures for such treatment.
otherwise arising from the Company's activities involving Hazardous Materials.
Company from third party suppliers.
Business consistent with past practices.
overruns in an amount exceeding $50,000.
prior to the last three (3) years is pending.
effect on the Closing Date.
this Purchase Agreement in any respect).
shares to Acquiror pursuant to this Purchase Agreement.
to which Company or such Company Stockholder is a party.
of this Purchase Agreement by Company.
not have an Acquiror Material Adverse Effect.
hereunder on a timely basis.
that would have an Acquiror Material Adverse Effect.
basis for an assertion that this condition is not satisfied.
the HSR Act shall have expired or been terminated.
and (ii) changes permitted by or consistent with this Purchase Agreement.
Company Stockholder to that effect.
with the transactions contemplated hereby, an Acquiror Material Adverse Effect.
each Company Stockholder to that effect.
(as to Company) and of each Company Stockholder to that effect.
(effective as of the Closing).
Acquiror to the foregoing effect.
such noncompliance that does not have an Acquiror Material Adverse Effect.
chief financial officer of Acquiror to that effect.
disclosed in the Disclosure Letter.
anticipate that the Closing Date shall be on or about June 30, 2000.
(c) such other documents as Acquiror may reasonably request.
(h) such other Documents as Acquiror may reasonably request.
Company and the Company Stockholder.
or otherwise shall not constitute a waiver of such rights.
with respect to such claim until the final resolution thereof.
made against the Indemnification Holdback.
amount of the Loss Amount to be made to the Indemnification Holdback.
in the amount of the Agreed Amount to be made to the Indemnification Holdback.
binding and conclusive on such parties.
state or federal court of competent jurisdiction.
this Article IX through an action in a court of competent jurisdiction.
from and after the Closing Date.
and the basis for such Loss.
enforcement of any other remedies available to Company Stockholders.
Purchase Agreement, the sum of $15,000,000.
SECTION 9.04  THIRD PARTY CLAIMS.
Indemnifying Party to defend, settle or compromise such Third Party Claim.
the Indemnifying Party's risk and expense.
and expenses are so incurred.
in order to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Purchase Agreement.
other agreements and documents contemplated hereby.
remedies against the other parties, or their respective successors or assigns.
Attention:   Richard K.A. Becker, Esq.
Attention:   David R. Gluck, Esq.
that transactions contemplated hereby are fulfilled to the extent possible.
any other Person any rights or remedies hereunder.
finder or other agent for brokerage fees, finder's fees or commissions.
of any nature whatsoever under or by reason of this Purchase Agreement.
document be construed against the drafter.
govern under applicable principles of conflicts of law.
the plural and VICE VERSA.
indemnification claims, file tax returns, and take other similar actions.
taxation, indemnification and litigation matters.
"Acquiror" is defined in the Preamble to this Purchase Agreement.
change in the market price or trading volume of the securities of Acquiror.
Controlled by, or is under common Control with such Person or entity.
intangible), including, without limitation, real and personal property.
"Closing Date" is defined in Section 7.01 of this Purchase Agreement.
"Company" is defined in the Preamble to this Purchase Agreement.
could have any liability, contingent, secondary or otherwise.
Company (without regard to extensions of time permitted by law or otherwise).
voting securities, as trustee or executor, by Agreement or otherwise).
disposal, transport or handling of any Hazardous Material.
amended, and all Laws promulgated pursuant thereto or in connection therewith.
"GAAP" means United States generally accepted accounting principles.
material or thing containing or composed of such substance or substances.
been known, to the Company.
fire prevention; and environmental protection, including Environmental Laws).
"Loss Amount" is defined in Section 9.02(b) of this Purchase Agreement.
"Loss Notice" is defined in Section 9.02(b) of this Purchase Agreement.
consistent with past practices and reasonable business operations.
entity, or a Governmental Entity.
"Purchase Price" is defined in Section 1.02 of this Purchase Agreement.
governing body or otherwise exercise control of such entity.
penalties or additions to tax imposed thereon or in connection therewith.
that has been to Company's knowledge proposed, asserted or threatened.
those terms are defined in Part I of Subtitle E of Title IV of ERISA.


The word 'good' is so commonplace and associated with so many fleshly things that we easily lose sight of what God's goodness really means. Yet this and His mercy are key to imperative to praise Him constantly, for no other reason but that God is good and His mercy endures forever.
It's with great joy that I find myself, for the first time in around three weeks, able to focus on more than simply hanging on to Jesus in an effort to make it through each hour. I returned from a trip to the Lowveld the proverbial 'dead woman walking' and headed for the doctor. Tuberculosis was the very last thing on my list of possibilities, but that's what it is. When people say the treatment is worse than the disease, it is. No doubt about it. Two weeks in and I seem to have turned a corner, though there is a long way to go. But through it all, a verse that stuck in my head on the long drive home has never left me. In my dark moments – and some were very dark – it has remained, and I've had time to ponder the reality that God is good.
Understanding the measure of God is good.
We have watered down the understanding of 'good' – ice cream is good, as is a movie, a weekend away, a book, and any number of things through the day. But when God looked at creation, He saw that it was good. This was because creation was the manifestation of the perfect will of God. It could only be good because it was the work of a God who is wholly and intrinsically good. It goes far deeper than simply saying we cannot separate Him from His goodness. That's true, but it's a characteristic that defines and embodies every aspect or characteristic of God. Whatever He does is good. His will and purposes are good. Within Him is absolutely no trace of sin or evil or weakness. He is perfect, and that perfection includes the limitless measure of goodness that is Him and infuses all He does.
The tendency is to define His goodness in terms of what He does for us. It's not entirely incorrect, because His goodness includes all he does and provides. But it's a limiting view because it's focused on self rather than on Him. We define God is good by what we perceive in His interaction with us or action for us. But He isn't good because does good things. He does good things because He is good. He can do no less. To do even 'slightly' good would deny His basic, intrinsic nature. It has nothing to do with us at all. Anything He does is good. Yes, He desires to do good to us because He loves us. But this is the outworking of the eternal goodness that is who He is. Even when chastising us, He is good, though it may not feel like it at the time.
This is a critical part of today's verse because His goodness and mercy go hand in hand. Without His inherent goodness, it would not be possible for God to be eternally merciful. We need only think of ourselves to understand this. Today, in a good mood, we might be more inclined to mercy than when we are short-tempered or things aren't going well. Mercy, from a human perspective, is frail and tenuous and without certainty. Yet, as humans, mercy is something we all desperately need. Our transgressions and weaknesses would destroy us were it not for God's eternal mercy. This mercy is the natural outworking of His goodness. It is God is good in action. All those little acts of protection and provision or forgiveness are His mercy at work. It's the manifestation of His goodness in an active and vital way.
The reality is that He does not have to do anything for us. He's God, we're saved by grace, and even that was not an unavoidable 'have-to' on His part. Yet His mercy, like His goodness, is eternal. It's the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, just as He is – as His goodness is. It's eternal because God is good eternally, perfectly, and completely. We must understand that we cannot separate the two. Our verse today makes that clear. For He is good and for His mercy endures forever. They carry the same weight. Note also that it's mercy not mercies. The Bible does say that there is no limit to His mercies. These are the acts of mercy that manifest His goodness in our lives. But His mercy is eternal because His goodness is eternal. If it were not, there would be no assurance of limitless mercies each day.
God is good and giving thanks.
The Bible provides any number of verses relating to giving thanks. Today's verse is a simple imperative. We're told to do it. This carries two implications. The first is that it's not situation-specific. In other words, it's not part of prayer or in response to His mercies. This doesn't mean those other instances of thanksgiving can be ignored. They are and always will be relevant and must be part of our lives of worship. But the injunction today is to give thanks to the Lord. It's universal, ongoing, and unchangeable. We are to give thanks to the Lord over and above our daily thanksgiving and praise. The reason for this is He is good and His mercy endures forever. These are immutable and never change. So irrespective of what may be happening to and around us, we must continually give thanks because God is good and merciful.
The second truth is that giving thanks has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Him. This kind of thanksgiving goes beyond the basic He helps us and we give thanks. It's a way of life rather than a suggestion. Our spiritual attitude must shift to accommodate the reality that we're commanded to give thanks continually as part of our daily lives. We do so not because we receive something or expect something. It's because God is good and His mercy eternal. What the Bible tells us here is that the simple truth of these two things is all we need for thanksgiving. Everything else is simply the outworking of the powerful truth which defines Him. First, that He can nothing that is not good and second, that His goodness actively and dynamically manifests through His eternal mercy. That's sufficient reason to obey and give thanks.
Taking hold of God is good.
I don't doubt for a moment that receiving this verse on the road had a particular purpose. There were many times where the darkness and struggle felt 'life and death' with Jesus the only hope. I have repeated this over and over and focused on the reality of His goodness. It reminded me of who and what He is. I was able to look beyond the intensity of the struggle and focus on His power, sovereignty, and victorious authority. But the reason I could stand firm in this assurance was that He instilled these truths deep in my heart through constant meditation. God is good and His mercy endures forever. Sometimes, like the last two weeks, this is the only truth that can carry us through.
Faith is an active, powerful thing when rooted in the Rhema or Logos Word of God. This simple verse has the power to help us stand when sometimes, we're capable of little else than to take hold of the truth and give thanks.
Gracious Father, we give thanks today for the truth and the reminder that You are good and your mercy endures forever. Thank You that Your goodness knows in advance what we need, even in times of intense trial. Your mercy provides what we need, even without us realising it, and You Yourself are the power that sustains our faith because You provide the deep revelation of all You are to strengthen us.
This has really blessed me today. I bookmarked your site last week but i have'nt had time to browse through. And today I really needed to hear about His mercy and His goodness and the Lord has blessed you with a soothing hand to encourage the childdren of the God.


Arran is the only distillery on the Isle of Arran and was founded in 1994 by Harold Currie, a former Chivas Brothers director. While this distillery is relatively new, it has already proven that it is capable of producing outstandingly distinct Whisky. In the past 20 years they have won a number of prestigious awards and accolades. Most of this liquid gold is turned into single malts, but they also produce blended Scotch as well as a liqueur. It shows that great Scotch can be produced even if decades or centuries of tradition in a distillery are absent. Arran is one of the last remaining independent Scottish distilleries.
The Arran Lochranza Reserve is matured exclusively in American Oak barrels that have been used to store Bourbon before. The name derives from the village of Lochranza on the northwestern tip of the Arran Island where the distillery is situated. Due to the warm Gulf Stream that blows past the Island Arran, this is regarded as the fastest ageing Scotch Whisky. It is non- chillfiltered and no artificial colouring is used in making of this no age statement Dram. Let's repeat: non, no & no.
What does Arran Lochranza Reserve taste like?
The Flavor Spiral™ shows the most common flavors that you'll taste in Arran Lochranza Reserve and gives you a chance to have a taste of it before actually tasting it.
Lemons, apples and all that fresh fruit with a hint of malt and salty breeze.
Citrus fruits, apples and vanilla with subtle notes hailing from the vicinity of salty sea.
A delicate, long finish that shows the presence of oak and some spices in between.
Citrus, Salty, Apple, Toasted oak, Caramel, Fresh fruit, Nutty, Vanilla sweetness, Sweet.
Young and weak. Nice subtle hint, but probably too subtle.


My connection properties are: "fileExtension=txt;"
I'm using driver 3.0 version.
Please don't modify manually any byte, otherwise it's possible to lose data!
How can I get rid of the starting binnary data?
You should login to download the latest package, which won't create that header.
For your older package, you need to prepare a zero-byte length (empty) file, then your crete table sql won't create starting binnary data.
You need to check your classpath, and remove all other older jar files from HXTT. If you're using other JDBC driver from HXTT, you should download the latest package also.
It happen for both 3.0 and 4.0 versions.
If I leave Text driver alone -or without Excel driver- it runs properly and generates the text file as I needed. Thank you!
I hopy you can help me with this new problem.
>I hopy you can help me with this new problem.
Both of Text and Excel should be released at the same day.
I found in Excel download page drivers dated on 2016-01-04 but in Text driver they are dated 2015-11-21.
How can I get either Excel driver from 2015-11-21 or Text driver from 2015-11-21?
I was trying to say "Text driver from 2016-01-04"
Ajusted so that you can download the same serial version. BTW, you should consider renewing to get the latest package.
We just finished fixing some backward compatibility issues and we plan to move to 4.0 shortly.
JDBC 3.0, 4.0, 4.1, and 4.2, packages are released at the same version serial for different Java VM version. Your version was stayed at 2016 Jan, and you can choose to renew your license to get the latest pakage, only when you want.


The Chattanooga Mocs have the early lead at the Southern Conference Men's Golf Championships. The Mocs turned in 290 over their opening 18 holes at Pinehurst No. 9.
Will Porter led the consistent effort with a 2-under 70. Andrew Weathers and Etienne Brault shot 73s with Lake Johnson's 74 rounding out the team score. Luke Long had the drop score of 76.
"It was a good, solid day out of everybody," Coach Mark Guhne stated. "If you have one guy playing really good, but it's just covering a couple of guys who are struggling, that's tough.
Porter was near perfect on the day. He had three birdies and 14 pars with just a bogey at 14 blemishing his card. The counting cards played 62 of the 72 holes par or better, a season-best 86.1 percent rate.
The 290 is 10-plus strokes better than the squad's opening round average of 300.40 over the regular season. The second and third round average of 292.68 provide a positive outlook for the next two days.
"We've worked on (getting better starts) all year," Guhne continued. "I think it's getting through to us that you don't have to get off to 6 under starts. Just go out, hits some fairways and greens, make some pars…things will care of itself.
"Today, we were much more patient. The guys had really good lines, made good choices and committed to their shots. They did exactly what we knew we were capable of doing but hadn't this year.
The Mocs lead second-place ETSU (292) by two. UNCG (297) is in third followed by Furman (301), Samford (303), Mercer (309), Western Carolina (319) and Wofford (320). Samford's Harlan Winn is the individual leader at 3 under, one ahead of Porter.


MicroRNAs are frequently downregulated in cancer, and restoring expression has tumour suppressive activity in tumour cells. Our recent phase I clinical trial investigated microRNA-based therapy in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Treatment with TargomiRs, microRNA mimics with novel sequence packaged in EGFR antibody-targeted bacterial minicells, revealed clear signs of clinical activity. In order to detect delivery of microRNA mimics to tumour cells in future clinical trials, we tested hydrolysis probe-based assays specific for the sequence of the novel mimics in transfected mesothelioma cell lines using RT-qPCR.
The custom assays efficiently and specifically amplified the consensus mimics. However, we found that these assays gave a signal when total RNA from untransfected and control mimic-transfected cells were used as templates. Further investigation revealed that the reverse transcription step using stem-loop primers appeared to introduce substantial non-specific amplification with either total RNA or synthetic RNA templates. This suggests that reverse transcription using stem-loop primers suffers from an intrinsic lack of specificity for the detection of highly similar microRNAs in the same family, especially when analysing total RNA. These results suggest that RT-qPCR is unlikely to be an effective means to detect delivery of microRNA mimic-based drugs to tumour cells in patients.
MicroRNAs are short non-coding RNAs that play a role in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression [1, 2]. In several human cancers, microRNAs with tumour-suppressive properties are down-regulated , and the potential therapeutic application of re-expressing these microRNAs has drawn significant attention in recent years . A well-studied example of microRNAs dysregulated in cancer is the miR-15/16 family. This was first demonstrated in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia where there is frequent loss of miR-15a/16-1 expression due to deletion of the 13q14 region . Subsequent studies confirmed the importance of miR-16 in suppressing cancer-associated genes such as BCL2 . A duplication of miR-15a/16-1—miR-15b/16-2—is located at locus 3q26 . Another family member, miR-195, is located on chromosome 17 and has been linked to targeting of Raf-1 and Ccnd1 . Recent studies have shown that this is suppressed in solid tumours including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) , prostate cancer  and malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) . In these and other tumour types, increasing the levels of the miR-15/16 family by transfecting cells with microRNA mimics resulted in growth inhibitory effects in vitro.
Due to sequence similarity at positions 1–7, several authors have proposed that miR-103 and miR-107 together with the miR-15 members, form the larger miR-15/107 group . Our own studies led to the development of a series novel mimics based on the consensus sequence derived from members of the miR-15/107 group . These mimics later became the microRNA component of targeted microRNA-loaded minicells (TargomiRs) and a phase I trial was recently completed [13, 14]. As TargomiRs contain a consensus mimic, this provides the possibility to specifically detect the non-natural sequences. Such an assay would be of use in future trials to confirm delivery of microRNA mimics into the tumour cells of patients.
In this study we employed an RT-qPCR method that uses a microRNA-specific stem-loop reverse transcription (RT) primer and a hydrolysis probe-based qPCR assay to specifically amplify microRNAs . Using this method, let-7 microRNA family members, some differing by only one nucleotide, could be specifically detected , suggesting that the same approach would allow us to discriminate the consensus sequence mimics from the natural microRNAs on which their sequence is based. Here we report that despite high specificity of detection and quantification for the consensus mimics using synthetic RNA templates, there is a lack of specificity of the method in the detection of the novel microRNA in transfected cells. This suggests that alternative methods will be required to track the delivery of microRNA mimics in patients.
The human MPM cell line MSTO-211H was purchased from ATCC (Rockville, USA) and VMC23 was kindly provided by A/Prof Michael Grusch at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Cells were cultured in RPMI medium 1640 with 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS) (both Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA) at 37 °C with 5% CO2.
Synthetic RNAs with sequences corresponding to the guide strands of hsa-miR-15a, hsa-miR-15b, hsa-miR-16, conmiR-15/107.2 and conmiR-15/107.4 were purchased from Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT, Iowa, USA). The microRNA mimics detailed in Table 1 were synthesised by GenePharma (Shanghai, China). All templates and mimics were reconstituted in nuclease-free water.
Reverse transfection of microRNA mimics and controls was performed using Lipofectamine RNAiMAX (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA) as described . Cells (9 × 104 per well in 6-well plates) were transfected with miR-16, conmiR-15/107.2, conmiR-15/107.4 or negative control at a final concentration of 5 nM, and were harvested 48 h post transfection for RNA isolation.
Total RNA was extracted from cells using TRIzol (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, USA) as described , and concentration and sample quality assessed using a Nanophotometer (Implen, Munich, Germany). RNA was aliquoted and stored at − 80 °C until further use.
TaqMan assays for hsa-miR-15a, hsa-miR-15b hsa-miR-16 and custom assays for conmiR-15/107.2 and conmiR-15/107.4 were purchased from Life Technologies. RNA was reverse transcribed using the TaqMan MicroRNA Reverse Transcription kit (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, USA). The reactions were carried out on a MultiGene Thermocycler (LabNet International Inc., Edison, NJ, USA) with the following parameters: 30 min at 16 °C, 30 min at 42 °C, 5 min at 85 °C and immediately cooled at 4 °C. The resulting cDNAs were diluted 1 in 10 with nuclease-free water. Following the RT reaction, qPCR was performed immediately using KAPA Probe Master mix (Kapa Biosystems, Wilmington, Massachusetts, USA) under the following cycling conditions: 95 °C for 20 s, and then 40 cycles of 95 °C for 1 s and 60 °C for 20 s.
We first determined the efficiency and specificity of the assays to their respective synthetic RNA template. All three assays were able to efficiently amplify their respective microRNA species: hsa-miR-16 (87.3%), conmiR-15/107.2 (81.1%) and conmiR-15/107.4 (75.3%). We then tested the specificity of each assay using the experimental scheme described in Fig. 1a. Here, each synthetic RNA template was separately reverse transcribed with three RT primers, and each cDNA then used as template for qPCR using each TaqMan assay. For miR-16 and conmiR-15/107.4, only the specific RT primer and TaqMan assay combination led to discernible amplification. In contrast, the experiments with the conmiR-15/107-2 template indicated cross-reactivity with the RT primer specific for conmiR-15/107.4.
The cross reactivity of the custom assay was further investigated using total RNA from cell lines as template. First, we used total RNA from untransfected cells in which only miR-16 was present, and applied a matrix similar to that in Fig. 1a. As expected, the miR-16-specific RT primer and TaqMan assay resulted in a Cq value in the early 20 s, as previously observed . However, there were signals with a Cq of less than 30 when cDNA generated with the RT primers for conmiR-15/107.2 and conmiR-15/107.4 was amplified with the miR-16-specific TaqMan assay (Fig. 1b). In addition, the conmiR-15/107.2-specific RT primer and TaqMan assay produced a Cq value of 30.5.
To further test this apparent cross reactivity between microRNA assays, total RNA from mimic transfected cells was used as template (Fig. 2). The transfection of miR-16 mimics into the cells resulted in a 10- to 100-fold increase in miR-16 levels compared with cells transfected with conmiR-15/107.2 or conmiR-15/107.4, which already have substantial miR-16 expression (Fig. 2). In conmiR-15/107.2 transfected cells we observed a much larger increase in amplification compared with cells transfected with miR-16 or conmiR-15/107.4 for both lines. However, there was also a substantial signal using the conmiR-15/107.4 assay. Similarly, there was a non-specific signal detected in the RNA from conmiR-15/107.4-transfected cells when the conmiR-15/107.2 RT primer and assay were used.
Using microRNAs as therapeutic agents has long held promise for cancer treatment. Recently, two phase I trials were carried out to test the safety and optimal dose of microRNAs, with one showing early signs of activity . In the next stage efficacy will be tested and an important part of demonstrating activity is to confirm the delivery of microRNA-based drugs to cells within the tumour. RT-qPCR is an attractive option to detect and quantify microRNAs due to its speed, low cost and purported specificity . We chose to use a two-step RT-qPCR platform in an attempt to specifically detect our novel microRNA mimic sequences . This method, which employs microRNA-specific stem-loop RT primers, gained prominence as it was demonstrated to specifically amplify a large number of microRNAs, and was able to discriminate between the highly similar members of the let-7 family . Our results for the most part confirm these findings. When using synthetic RNA templates, we found that each assay was highly specific for its intended template when the RT primer and hydrolysis probe and PCR primers from the same TaqMan assay were used.
To further investigate potential cross reactivity, we combined cDNA synthesised with the RT primer from one assay with qPCR detection using the hydrolysis primers and probe from another and found some low level cross reactivity. This was most apparent in experiments using the custom assays, in which the conmiR-15/107.4 assay was able to detect conmiR-15/107.2 template at a Cq only four cycles later than the conmiR-15/107.2 specific assay. Combining the conmiR-15/107.2 RT primer with the conmiR-15/107.4-specific qPCR assay did not produce the same cross reactivity, suggesting that the RT step introduces cross-reactivity. Interestingly, in the original Chen study, the authors did not use the combination of stem-loop primer specific for one microRNA with qPCR specific for another that we adopted here, although they did identify mispriming due to G:T mismatches during the RT step as the most likely cause of cross reactivity when detecting the most similar family members (let-7a and let-7c) . In our study, there was greater cross reactivity evident when total RNA from cell lines was used as template for RT-qPCR. We 'detected' both conmiR-15/107.2 and conmiR-15/107.4 in total RNA from untransfected MPM cell lines, which can only be the result of non-specific reverse transcription and amplification of related endogenous microRNAs. The underlying microRNAs responsible for these results are unknown at present, but due to the ubiquitously high expression of the miR-15/16 family members in most cell lines, it is likely that they contribute at least in part.
Based on our data showing cross reactivity of the consensus mimic-specific TaqMan assays for endogenous microRNAs, it is interesting to consider how this might impact on the detection of these mimics in tumour biopsies in future clinical studies. Our phase I trial of TargomiRs revealed a maximum tolerated dose of 5 × 109 minicells, which is equivalent to 1.5 µg mimic . Considering that RT-qPCR for the consensus mimics using total RNA from untransfected cell lines gave Cq values of around 30, even 100% delivery of this dose to the tumour is unlikely to enable detection above this level in total RNA from a tumour biopsy. This is also complicated by the fact that although suppressed, the expression of miR-16 and related microRNAs remains relatively high in tumours and is ubiquitously expressed in normal tissue. This is in contrast to the case of miR-34a mimics, which in preclinical studies were shown to increase in xenograft tumour tissue following tail-vein injection . The high abundance of miR-16 in red blood cells and plasma  would also make RT-qPCR-based determination of pharmacokinetics very difficult. This is in contrast to the observations related to the miR-34a trial, in which the increase in miR-34a in blood could be readily quantified by RT-qPCR due to the higher doses used and the lower abundance of miR-34a in the blood .
In conclusion, we have found that an RT-qPCR-based approach to the detection of novel microRNA mimics related to the miR-15 family is able to distinguish their sequences from endogenous microRNAs, but has difficulties when trying to discriminate between microRNAs populations in total RNA. Therefore, it is likely that determination of microRNA delivery in future studies will need to employ a sequencing-based approach.
Our results indicate a low-level cross reactivity of TaqMan assays specific for related microRNAs. Although the RT step would appear to be responsible, the precise mechanism responsible for this observation remains unclear and would require cloning and sequencing of qPCR products. In addition, our study only used miR-16 as a wild–type microRNA species in the comparison with two consensus sequences, and other microRNAs, especially miR-15a and 15b could also potentially contribute to cross reactivity.
PW performed the experiments and wrote the manuscript. MW assisted with experiments and contributed to the writing of the manuscript. EM, NN and NvZ contributed to the study design. GR designed the study and wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
The authors acknowledge ADRI Director Professor Ken Takahashi for his critical appraisal of this manuscript.
All authors give their consent for BMC Research Notes to publish this manuscript.
The work was funded by a translational program grant (11/TPG/3-06) from the Cancer Institute New South Wales to NvZ and GR, and a project grant (RG14-17) from the Cancer Council NSW to GR. MW is supported by a Ph.D. Scholarship from Sydney Catalyst.