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Seiki Ichihara
Japan Women
Seiki Ichihara (市原 聖曠, Ichihara Seiki) is a former Japanese football player and manager. He managed for Japan women's national team.
Biography[change | change source]
In June 1981, the Japan Football Association formed the first Japan women's national team for the 1981 AFC Women's Championship in Hong Kong.[1] The Japan Football Association appointed Ichihara as the first Japan national team manager. The first match of this tournament was on June 7, and Japan played against Chinese Taipei. This match was the Japan team's first match in an "International A Match". However, Japan lost this match (0–1) and its second match, against Thailand (0–2), on June 11. The third match, against Indonesia, was on June 13, and Japan won 1–0 with Etsuko Handa's goal. This was the Japan team's first victory.[2][3]
In September, the team played two matches in Japan. However, they lost in both games, against England (0–4) and Italy (0–9).[2] The match against Italy was the greatest loss in the history of the Japan national team.
Result[change | change source]
Jun 07, 1981 Hong Kong Chinese Taipei 0–1 1981 AFC Women's Championship
Jun 11, 1981 Hong Kong Thailand 0–2 1981 AFC Women's Championship
Jun 13, 1981 Hong Kong Indonesia 1–0 1981 AFC Women's Championship
Sep 06, 1981 Kobe England 0–4 Portopia'81
Sep 09, 1981 Tokyo Italy 0–9 Portopia'81
↑ Japan Football Association(in Japanese)
↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Japan Football Association(in Japanese)
↑ RSSSF
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Japan squad – 1981 AFC Women's Championship
GK Hase
GK Iwaya
FP Handa
FP Homma
FP Honda
FP Ishida
FP Iwata
FP M. Kaneda
FP S. Kaneda
FP Kioka
FP Kondo
FP Mishima
FP Shima
FP Shimizu
FP Shiraishi
Coach: Ichihara
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seiki_Ichihara&oldid=7435903"
Japanese footballers
Japanese football managers
Japan women's national football team managers
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Year of birth missing (living people)
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Articles |20 July 2004
Benefits and Harms of Doxycycline Treatment for Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Free
Sam T. Donta, MD; Charles C. Engel Jr., MD, MPH; Joseph F. Collins, ScD; Joel B. Baseman, PhD; Lisa L. Dever, MD; Thomas Taylor, MD; Kathy D. Boardman, RPh; Lewis E. Kazis, ScD; Suzanne E. Martin; Rebecca A. Horney, BS; Annette L. Wiseman; Douglas S. Kernodle, MD; Raymond P. Smith, MD; Aldona L. Baltch, MD; Christine Handanos, MD; Brian Catto, MD; Luis Montalvo, MD; Michael Everson, PhD; Warren Blackburn, MD; Manisha Thakore, MD; Sheldon T. Brown, MD; Larry Lutwick, MD; Dorothy Norwood, MD; Jack Bernstein, MD; Catherine Bacheller, MD; Bruce Ribner, MD; L. W. Preston Church, MD; Kenneth H. Wilson, MD; Prabhakar Guduru, MD; Robert Cooper, MD; Joseph Lentino, MD; Richard J. Hamill, MD; Arnold B. Gorin, MD; Victor Gordan, MD; David Wagner, MD; Cliff Robinson, MD; Pierre DeJace, MD; Ronald Greenfield, MD; Lisa Beck, MD; Marvin Bittner, MD; H. Ralph Schumacher, MD; Fredric Silverblatt, MD; James Schmitt, MD; Edward Wong, MD; Margaret A.K. Ryan, MD, MPH; Javier Figueroa, MD; Christopher Nice, MD; John R. Feussner, MD, MPH; and the VA Cooperative #475 Group
Sam T. Donta, MD
From Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (Boston, Massachusetts; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Montgomery, Alabama; Perry Point, Maryland; East Orange, New Jersey; White River Junction, Vermont; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Bedford, Massachusetts; Nashville, Tennessee; Albany, New York; Augusta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Bronx, New York; Brooklyn, New York; Dayton, Ohio; Charleston, South Carolina; Durham, North Carolina; Fargo, North Dakota; Hines, Illinois; Houston, Texas; Manchester, New Hampshire; New Orleans, Louisiana; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Omaha, Nebraska; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; Richmond, Virginia; and San Juan, Puerto Rico); Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland; University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas; Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California; and Department of Veterans Affairs National Central Office, Washington, DC.
Charles C. Engel Jr., MD, MPH
Joseph F. Collins, ScD
Joel B. Baseman, PhD
Lisa L. Dever, MD
Thomas Taylor, MD
Kathy D. Boardman, RPh
Lewis E. Kazis, ScD
Suzanne E. Martin
Rebecca A. Horney, BS
Annette L. Wiseman
Douglas S. Kernodle, MD
Raymond P. Smith, MD
Aldona L. Baltch, MD
Christine Handanos, MD
Brian Catto, MD
Luis Montalvo, MD
Michael Everson, PhD
Warren Blackburn, MD
Manisha Thakore, MD
Sheldon T. Brown, MD
Larry Lutwick, MD
Dorothy Norwood, MD
Jack Bernstein, MD
Catherine Bacheller, MD
Bruce Ribner, MD
L. W. Preston Church, MD
Kenneth H. Wilson, MD
Prabhakar Guduru, MD
Robert Cooper, MD
Joseph Lentino, MD
Richard J. Hamill, MD
Arnold B. Gorin, MD
Victor Gordan, MD
David Wagner, MD
Cliff Robinson, MD
Pierre DeJace, MD
Ronald Greenfield, MD
Lisa Beck, MD
Marvin Bittner, MD
H. Ralph Schumacher, MD
Fredric Silverblatt, MD
James Schmitt, MD
Edward Wong, MD
Margaret A.K. Ryan, MD, MPH
Javier Figueroa, MD
Christopher Nice, MD
John R. Feussner, MD, MPH
and the VA Cooperative #475 Group
Disclaimer: The views expressed by authors associated with military institutions are their own and not the official position of any university, medical center, or department of the U.S. government.
Note: SF-36 is a registered trademark of the Medical Outcomes Trust.
Grant Support: By the Cooperative Studies Program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development and the U.S. Department of Defense. Pfizer Inc. donated the study drug and placebo.
Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest:Employment: R.P. Smith (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), A.L. Baltch (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), S.T. Brown (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs); Consultancies: C.C. Engel Jr. (U.S. Department of Defense), M. Bittner (Pfizer); Honoraria: J. Lentino (Pfizer), R. Greenfield (Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott, Merck, Wyeth), M. Bittner (Pfizer); Grants received: R.P. Smith (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), M. Bittner (Pfizer).
Requests for Single Reprints: Joseph F. Collins, ScD, Veterans Affairs Maryland Healthcare System, Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center (151 E), PO Box 1010, Perry Point, MD 21902.
Current Author Addresses: Dr. Donta: Boston Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 151 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02130.
Dr. Engel: Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20815.
Dr. Collins, Ms. Horney, and Ms. Wiseman: Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System, Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center (151E), PO Box 1010, Perry Point, MD 21902.
Dr. Baseman: Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78284.
Dr. Dever: Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System, 385 Tremont Avenue, East Orange, NJ 07018.
Dr. Taylor: White River Junction Veterans Affairs Hospital, 215 North Main Street, White River Junction, VT 05008.
Ms. Boardman: Cooperative Studies Program, 2401 Centre Avenue SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.
Dr. Kazis: Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, T3-W, Boston, MA 02118.
Ms. Martin: Cell Signaling Technology, Inc., 166 B Cummings Center, Beverly, MA 01915.
Dr. Kernodle: Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 1310 24th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212-2637.
Drs. Smith and Baltch: Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 113 Holland Avenue, Albany, NY 12208.
Dr. Handanos: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 1501 San Pedro SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108.
Drs. Catto and Montalvo: Veterans Affairs Medical Center Augusta, 1 Freedom Way (235), Augusta, GA 30904.
Dr. Everson: Capstone Clinical, 1222 14th Avenue South, Suite 208, Birmingham, AL 35205.
Dr. Blackburn: Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 700 19th Street, Birmingham, AL 35233.
Dr. Thakore: VA Medical Center (151), 150 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02130.
Dr. Brown: Bronx Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468.
Drs. Lutwick and Norwood: Veterans Affairs New York Harbor Health Care System, 800 Poly Place, Brooklyn, NY 11209.
Dr. Bernstein: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 4100 West Third Avenue, Dayton, OH 45429.
Dr. Bacheller: Wright State University/Veterans Affairs, 4000 West Third Street, Dayton, OH 45429.
Dr. Ribner: Emory University, 1364 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30322.
Dr. Church: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 109 Bee Street, Charleston, SC 29403.
Dr. Wilson: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 508 Fulton Street, Durham, NC 27705.
Drs. Guduru and Cooper: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 2101 North Elm Street, Fargo, ND 58102.
Dr. Lentino: Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital, Fifth Avenue at Roosevelt Road, Hines, IL 60141.
Dr. Hamill: Veterans Affairs Medical Center (111G), 2002 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030.
Dr. Gorin: Baylor College of Medicine, 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030.
Dr. Gordan: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 718 Smyth Road, Manchester, NH 03104.
Dr. Wagner: Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 5000 West National Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53295.
Dr. Robertson: Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System, 215 Perry Hill Road, Montgomery, AL 36109.
Dr. DeJace: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 1601 Perdido Street, New Orleans, LA 70112.
Drs. Greenfield and Beck: Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 921 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104.
Dr. Bittner: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 4101 Woolworth Avenue (111D), Omaha, NE 68105.
Dr. Schumacher: Veterans Affairs Medical Center (151K), University and Woodland Avenues, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Dr. Silverblatt: Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 830 Chalkstone Avenue, Providence, RI 02908.
Drs. Schmitt and Wong: McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 1201 Broad Rock Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23249.
Dr. Ryan: Branch Medical Clinic, Naval Training Center, 2659 Stockton Road, Room A203, San Diego, CA 92106.
Dr. Figueroa: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 10 Casia Street, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00921.
Dr. Nice: Veterans Affairs Hospital, North Main Street, White River Junction, VT 05001.
Dr. Feussner: Medical University of South Carolina, 96 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425.
Author Contributions: Conception and design: S.T. Donta, C.C. Engel Jr., J.F. Collins, J.B. Baseman, L.E. Kazis, R.A. Horney, A.L. Wiseman, V. Gordan, P. DeJace, M. Bittner, H.R. Schumacher, J.R. Feussner.
Analysis and interpretation of the data: S.T. Donta, C.C. Engel Jr., J.F. Collins, J.B. Baseman, L.L. Dever, T. Taylor, L.E. Kazis, S.E. Martin, R.A. Horney, A.L. Wiseman, K.H. Wilson, D. Wagner, P. DeJace, M. Bittner, F. Silverblatt, M.A.K. Ryan, J.R. Feussner.
Drafting of the article: S.T. Donta, C.C. Engel Jr., J.F. Collins, J.B. Baseman, T. Taylor, S.E. Martin, R.P. Smith, A.B. Gorin, P. DeJace, M. Bittner, J.R. Feussner.
Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: S.T. Donta, C.C. Engel Jr., J.F. Collins, J.B. Baseman, L.L. Dever, T. Taylor, K.D. Boardman, L.E. Kazis, S.E. Martin, D.S. Kernodle, S.T. Brown, D. Wagner, M. Bittner, H.R. Schumacher, F. Silverblatt, M.A.K. Ryan, J.R. Feussner.
Final approval of the article: S.T. Donta, C.C. Engel Jr., J.F. Collins, L.L. Dever, T. Taylor, K.D. Boardman, R.P. Smith, A.L. Baltch, C. Handanos, L. Montalvo, W. Blackburn, S.T. Brown, L. Lutwick, J. Bernstein, C. Bacheller, K.H. Wilson, R. Cooper, R.J. Hamill, V. Gordan, D. Wagner, P. DeJace, R. Greenfield, M. Bittner, H.R. Schumacher, F. Silverblatt, J. Schmitt, E. Wong, M.A.K. Ryan, C. Nice, J.R. Feussner.
Provision of study materials or patients: S.T. Donta, C.C. Engel Jr., L.L. Dever, T. Taylor, K.D. Boardman, D.S. Kernodle, R.P. Smith, A.L. Baltch, C. Handanos, B. Catto, L. Montalvo, M. Everson, W. Blackburn, M. Thakore, B. Ribner, L.W.P. Church, K.H. Wilson, P. Guduru, R.J. Hamill, A.B. Gorin, V. Gordan, D. Wagner, C. Robinson, P. DeJace, R. Greenfield, L. Beck, M. Bittner, H.R. Schumacher, F. Silverblatt, J. Schmitt, E. Wong, M.A.K. Ryan, J. Figueroa, C. Nice.
Statistical expertise: J.F. Collins.
Obtaining of funding: J.F. Collins, A.L. Wiseman.
Administrative, technical, or logistic support: J.F. Collins, S.E. Martin, R.A. Horney, A.L. Wiseman, D. Norwood, A.B. Gorin, D. Wagner, L. Beck, C. Nice, J.R. Feussner.
Collection and assembly of data: J.F. Collins, J.B. Baseman, T. Taylor, R.A. Horney, A.L. Wiseman, D.S. Kernodle, A.L. Baltch, C. Handanos, B. Catto, L. Montalvo, M. Everson, W. Blackburn, M. Thakore, S.T. Brown, L. Lutwick, D. Norwood, J. Bernstein, C. Bacheller, B. Ribner, P. Guduru, R. Cooper, J. Lentino, A.B. Gorin, D. Wagner, R. Greenfield, L. Beck, H.R. Schumacher, J. Schmitt, E. Wong, M.A.K. Ryan, C. Nice.
It has been hypothesized that certain Mycoplasma species may cause Gulf War veterans' illnesses (GWVIs), chronic diseases characterized by pain, fatigue, and cognitive symptoms, and that affected patients may benefit from doxycycline treatment.
To determine whether a 12-month course of doxycycline improves functional status in Gulf War veterans with GWVIs.
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with 12 months of treatment and 6 additional months of follow-up.
26 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and 2 U.S. Department of Defense medical centers.
491 deployed Gulf War veterans with GWVIs and detectable Mycoplasma DNA in the blood.
Doxycycline, 200 mg, or matching placebo daily for 12 months.
The primary outcome was the proportion of participants who improved more than 7 units on the Physical Component Summary score of the Veterans Short Form-36 General Health Survey 12 months after randomization. Secondary outcomes were measures of pain, fatigue, and cognitive function and change in positivity for Mycoplasma species at 6, 12, and 18 months after randomization.
No statistically significant differences were found between the doxycycline and placebo groups for the primary outcome measure (43 of 238 participants [18.1%] vs. 42 of 243 participants [17.3%]; difference, 0.8 percentage point [95% CI, −6.5 to 8.0 percentage points]; P > 0.2) or for secondary outcome measures at 1 year. In addition, possible differences in outcomes at 3 and 6 months were not apparent at 9 or 18 months. Participants in the doxycycline group had a higher incidence of nausea and photosensitivity.
Adherence to treatment after 6 months was poor.
Long-term treatment with doxycycline did not improve outcomes of GWVIs at 1 year.
Some experts hypothesize that Mycoplasma species cause Gulf War veterans' illnesses (GWVIs).
In this double-blind trial, 491 deployed Gulf War veterans with GWVIs and detectable Mycoplasma DNA in their blood were randomly assigned to receive either doxycycline, 200 mg, or matching placebo daily for 1 year. There were no long-term differences between the 2 groups in physical or mental function or in pain or fatigue symptoms. Patients given doxycycline had nausea and photo-sensitivity more often than did patients given placebo.
Long-term doxycycline treatment probably doesn't benefit veterans with GWVIs and may harm them.
An estimated 15% to 20% of the 700 000 troops who were deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1990 through 1991 have reported debilitating symptoms that as yet have no definitive explanation (1-6). The most common are fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, and neurocognitive problems. This complex of symptoms is clinically indistinguishable from that of the chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, and the resulting disorders have been called Gulf War veterans' illnesses (GWVIs).
Several explanations for GWVIs have been proposed, including exposure to bacterial pathogens or neurotoxic chemicals, allergic reactions, metabolic disorders, rheumatologic conditions, and psychological factors (7-11). However, the cause or causes of GWVIs have yet to be identified. It has been hypothesized that GWVIs are caused by an underlying systemic infection with Mycoplasma species, the most common being the bacterial pathogen M. fermentans, and that long-term treatment with doxycycline might be efficacious (7, 12-14). Preliminary observations were not strong, and controlled clinical trials to support this treatment approach were lacking. However, because of the need to provide relief to veterans with GWVIs, the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial to determine whether doxycycline treatment would improve physical function.
The background, methods, and rationale for the study design have been described in detail elsewhere (15) and are only briefly described here.
Study Design and Participants
We performed an 18-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The primary objective was to determine whether a 12-month course of treatment with doxycycline improved functional status in deployed veterans with GWVIs whose blood tested positive for Mycoplasma DNA. Secondary objectives were to determine whether doxycycline treatment reduced the symptoms of GWVIs and whether results of DNA tests for Mycoplasma species converted from positive to negative after treatment.
The study was conducted at 26 Department of Veterans Affairs and 2 Department of Defense medical centers between April 1999 and November 2001. Participants were recruited through mailings, advertisements, and physician referrals. Veterans were eligible for study enrollment if they had been deployed from active duty, the National Guard, or the military Reserve to the Southwest Asia theater of operations between August 1990 and August 1991 and developed at least 2 of 3 primary symptoms of GWVIs after deployment (fatigue, musculoskeletal pain involving 2 or more regions of the body, and cognitive problems). Symptoms had to have lasted more than 6 months and had to be present at the time of screening. Additional requirements were a score less than 40 on the Physical Component Summary of the Veterans Short Form-36 (SF-36) Health Survey, which was completed at screening, and a positive result on a polymerase chain reaction DNA test for M. fermentans, M. genitalium, or M. pneumoniae DNA in whole blood (sensitivity level, 1 to 10 Mycoplasma genomes).
The study coordinator initially reviewed veterans for study eligibility, but physician-investigators at each site made the final determination regarding inclusion. Veterans were excluded for the following reasons: attribution of symptoms to another medical condition (morbid obesity; autoimmune diseases; uncontrolled cardiopulmonary and endocrine disorders; malignant conditions, except skin cancer, within 2 years; or known current liver disease); doxycycline allergy; previous treatment with doxycycline for more than 6 months since the onset of symptoms; continuous treatment with a tetracycline, macrolide, or quinolone antibiotic for more than 1 month during the past year; history of severe psychiatric illness (history of psychosis or hospitalization for mental illness in the past 2 years); active substance abuse requiring hospitalization or active treatment within 2 years of enrollment; organ transplantation; life expectancy of less than 1 year; required treatment with phenytoin, carbamazepine, or barbiturates; unwillingness to be randomly assigned to doxycycline or placebo; or, if female, unwillingness to use barrier-method contraceptives. Veterans who had received a diagnosis of the chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia were not excluded because these disorders are similar in character and definition to GWVIs. All participants provided written informed consent.
Treatment Protocol
The Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Evaluation Committee, a central human rights committee, and each participating site's institutional review board approved the study protocol. An independent data and safety monitoring board reviewed the study semiannually. Participants assigned to the doxycycline group received doxycycline, 200 mg/d, and those assigned to the placebo group received identically matched lactose capsules. Because doxycycline can cause photosensitivity to sunlight, all participants were provided with sunscreen (sun protection factor, 30) and were advised to limit sun exposure. Participants were followed for an additional 6 months after withdrawal of study drugs to determine potential relapse rates.
Because of the expense of Mycoplasma testing and an expected 3- to 4-week delay in receiving the test results, participants had to meet all other eligibility criteria before blood was drawn. To ensure that outcome measure testing was performed as close as possible to the start of treatment with the study drug, baseline testing, including repeated administration of the Veterans SF-36 Health Survey, was completed at randomization just before the study drug was dispensed to participants.
Major assessments were completed at baseline and at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 months. Major assessments consisted of the Veterans SF-36 Health Survey (16-18), the McGill Pain Questionnaire (19), the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (20), and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (21). Monthly follow-up visits were conducted to dispense medication; to monitor adherence to treatment regimen by pill counts and discussions with participants; and to collect information on hospitalizations, clinic visits, other medications used, and adverse events. Participants who were not taking their medications routinely were encouraged to do so. Laboratory evaluations (blood chemistry tests and testing of doxycycline level) were performed on participant blood samples at the 6- and 12-month follow-up visits. Polymerase chain reaction detection of M. fermentans, M. genitalium, and M. pneumoniae DNA was determined in blood samples obtained at baseline and at 6, 12, and 18 months.
Outcome Assessments
The primary outcome measure was the Physical Component Summary score of the Veterans SF-36 Health Survey at follow-up compared with baseline. The Veterans SF-36 Health Survey is modified from the Medical Outcomes Study SF-36 Health Survey and is adapted for use in veterans with improved reliability and precision (16-18, 22-24). The Physical Component Summary is a weighted standardized summary measure, normalized to a mean score of 50 on the basis of a general U.S. population (18). Higher scores denote better functional status. The Physical Component Summary was selected as the primary outcome measure because there is no validated disease-specific assessment of functional status for GWVIs and because the Veterans SF-36 Health Survey spans a spectrum of functional status that is conceptually and clinically relevant to GWVIs. The primary end point was the dichotomous measure of the proportion of participants with more than a 7-unit increase in the Physical Component Summary score at 12 months. Treatment was considered to have failed in participants who did not have more than a 7-unit increase from their baseline Physical Component Summary score, those who did not complete the study, and those who had missing 12-month Physical Component Summary scores. The change of 7 units or greater was selected because it is outside the 95% CI for an individual participant score (standard error of the measurement), as estimated from the standard deviation and score reliability (25). Differences of this magnitude have also been shown to be clinically relevant (26-29).
The secondary outcomes were reduction in symptoms, improvement in physical and mental health function as continuous measures of change, and conversion to Mycoplasma negativity (that is, negative results for Mycoplasma DNA by polymerase chain reaction testing of whole blood). A reduction in symptoms was determined by using 3 self-report questionnaires: the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire. Changes in physical and mental health function were measured by using continuous measures of change in the Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary scores of the Veterans SF-36 Health Survey. Table 1 summarizes the measures from each of these questionnaires.
Table 1. Secondary Outcome Measures
Laboratory Methods
Polymerase chain reaction testing was performed at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. Whole blood samples were drawn from participants at baseline and at 6, 12, and 18 months by using a sterile technique. Samples were immediately frozen, shipped on dry ice to San Antonio, and kept frozen at −80 °C until testing. The tests were performed by using a slightly modified version of previously developed polymerase chain reaction assays (30-32). Positive and negative DNA controls were included for each group of test samples, and Mycoplasma DNA could be detected at levels of 10 genomes by using a combination of polymerase chain reaction and hybridization–autoradiography techniques.
Doxycycline levels were determined to help assess adherence to doxycycline therapy. Coded blood samples from 6 and 12 months were transferred from the central laboratory to the doxycycline testing laboratory. Doxycycline was extracted from 1 mL of whole blood by using Varian Bond Elut C18 cartridges (Varian, Inc., Palo Alto, California) and was quantified by using high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (33). The lower limit of detection of doxycycline was 50 ng/mL.
Adverse Events
The principal investigators at each site used an open-ended questionnaire to evaluate adverse events at every follow-up visit. They determined date of onset, severity, required action, outcome, and date of resolution, as well as whether the event was attributable to the study medication. Adverse events were defined as serious if they were fatal or life-threatening, resulted in hospitalization, or led to persistent disability. Serious adverse events were reported to the study chairman and pharmacy coordinating center within 24 hours. The data and safety monitoring board reviewed a summary of adverse events by treatment group at 6-month intervals.
Randomization and Blinding
Randomization was performed separately for each site by using varying block sizes. The site coordinator randomly assigned participants by calling into a central, automated telephone randomization system at the coordinating center. After the system verified that the participant met the study entry criteria and had provided informed consent, a treatment kit number that randomly assigned the participant to doxycycline or placebo was given to the coordinator. This kit number corresponded to a drug treatment kit located in the facility's pharmacy. In an emergency, the blind could be broken by calling the central pharmacy or the coordinating center or, if they were not available, by opening a sealed envelope at the local pharmacy. No attempt was made to assess the adequacy of blinding.
We assessed adherence with the study medication by using monthly pill counts and discussions with participants. Doxycycline levels in blood were obtained at 6 and 12 months but were not determined until after completion of the study.
The projected study sample size of 450 participants was based on the ability to detect a difference of 15 percentage points (15% vs. 30%) between the placebo group and the doxycycline group for the primary outcome measure (>7-unit increase in the Physical Component Summary score from baseline to 12 months). The α value was 0.05 and the power was 0.95, with an expected 10% loss to follow-up.
Intention-to-treat analyses were performed by using 2-sided statistical testing. The primary outcome variable, as well as other dichotomous variables, was analyzed by using the Fisher exact test. Continuous variables were analyzed by using analysis of covariance, where the baseline score of the particular variable being analyzed was used as the covariate. Secondary outcome measures and adverse events were reported as differences between groups (doxycycline − placebo) with 95% CIs.
All participants who had a baseline Physical Component Summary score or who had no baseline score but terminated the study early were included in the primary outcome analysis (10 participants who completed 12 months of treatment were excluded from the primary analysis because they had missing baseline scores). Treatment was considered to have failed in participants with missing 12-month Physical Component Summary scores. Thus, all available data (except those for the 10 participants with missing baseline scores) were used in the primary analysis. Only participants who had data for the secondary outcome measures at the appropriate times are included in those analyses.
A secondary analysis of treatment failure and success (>7-unit increase in Physical Component Summary score from baseline) at 3-month time intervals was performed by using generalized estimating equations (PROC GENMOD, SAS software, version 8, SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, North Carolina). The generalized estimating equation method accommodates correlations among the repeated observations and allows inclusion of available data from persons with missing observations. In our model, both treatment group and time were modeled as class variables, which allows assessment of both main effects for treatment group assignment (the overall difference between treatment groups across all time points) and interactions of treatment group by time (the difference in slopes). We used an unstructured covariance structure, which allows the observations for each pair of times to have their own unique correlation. The model was adjusted for the baseline value of the Physical Component Summary score. Only observed data were used in this analysis (that is, missing values were treated as missing and not as treatment failures). Longitudinal analyses of the secondary outcome measures, which were all continuous, were performed with a random-effects repeated-measures analysis (PROC Mixed, SAS statistical software, version 8), using the same class and covariance structure as for the generalized estimating equations. Baseline scores for each measure were used as covariates.
Role of the Funding Sources
The Cooperative Studies Program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development and the U.S. Department of Defense funded the study. The Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Evaluation Committee scientifically reviewed and approved the study protocol. John R. Feussner, MD, MPH, the chief research and development officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs and an author on this paper, initiated the planning process and served on the planning and executive committees but did not participate in the review process by either the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Evaluation Committee or the data and safety monitoring board. Both sponsors approved the manuscript for submission for publication, but neither sponsor was involved in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data.
Figure 1 shows the flow of participants through the study. Of the 2712 veterans who were screened, 2134 met the clinical inclusion criteria. Of these, 1565 had a score of less than 40 on the Veterans SF-36 Health Survey. Thirty-nine percent of the participant blood samples tested (541 of 1387) were positive for 1 or more Mycoplasma species. Four hundred ninety-one participants were randomly assigned: 245 to the doxycycline group and 246 to the placebo group. Fifty participants infected with Mycoplasma species were not randomly assigned, and 12 participants did not complete the Veterans SF-36 Health Survey at baseline. Four hundred eleven participants (83.7%), 199 in the doxycycline group and 212 in the placebo group, completed the Veterans SF-36 Health Survey both at baseline and at 12 months.
Progress of participants through the trial.
Participants randomly assigned to the 2 groups were comparable at baseline (Table 2). Sex, age, and ethnicity were similar, as were Physical Component Summary score, Mental Component Summary score, and other outcome measures. The mean Physical Component Summary scores of 30.6 in the doxycycline group and 30.5 in the placebo group indicated that the participants had serious physical problems.
Table 2. Baseline Characteristics of Participants
All participants randomly assigned to a study group had positive results on polymerase chain reaction for 1 or more species of Mycoplasma. Three hundred twenty-four participants (66%) had M. fermentans infection, 197 (40.1%) had M. genitalium infection, and 53 (10.8%) had M. pneumoniae infection, singly or in combination. The 2 treatment groups did not differ in the distribution of Mycoplasma species.
We compared baseline characteristics (Table 2) in participants who had a Physical Component Summary score at 12 months and those who did not. Participants who completed the 12-month evaluations were more likely to be older, white, and married and to have lower (worse) Physical Component Summary scores (30.2 vs. 32.7; P = 0.007) and higher (better) Mental Component Summary scores at baseline (36.8 vs. 31.1; P = 0.016).
Primary Outcome Measure
No statistically significant difference in the primary outcome measure, that is, improvement in physical health function, was seen between the 2 groups after 12 months. Overall, 18.1% of participants (43 of 238) in the doxycycline group and 17.3% (42 of 243) in the placebo group had increases of more than 7 units in Physical Component Summary scores at 12 months (difference, 0.8 percentage point [95% CI, −6.5 to 8.0 percentage points]; P > 0.2) (Figure 2). A statistically significantly greater proportion of participants in the doxycycline group compared with the placebo group showed improvement at 3 months (51 of 237 [21.5%] vs. 24 of 242 [9.9%]; difference, 11.6 percentage points [CI, 4.7 to 18.5 percentage points]; P = 0.001), but not at 6, 9, 12, or 18 months (Figure 2). Sensitivity analyses using varying increases in Physical Component Summary scores from 5 to 7 yielded the same results as were found with the increase of more than 7 units.
Study participants who improved more than 7 units on the Veterans Short Form-36 Health Survey Physical Component Summary score at each rating period compared with baseline.
When only participants infected with the most common Mycoplasma species, M. fermentans, were considered, results were similar to those in the primary analyses. That is, no difference was seen between the doxycycline and placebo groups at 12 months (34 of 164 participants [20.7%] vs. 29 of 154 participants [18.8%]; difference, 1.9 percentage points [CI, −7.5 to 11.3 percentage points]; P > 0.2), and a statistically significant difference in favor of doxycycline was seen at 3 months (33 of 163 participants [20.2%] vs. 12 of 153 participants [7.8%]; difference, 12.4 percentage points [CI, 4.3 to 20.5 percentage points]; P = 0.002).
The secondary analysis using a generalized estimating equation to compare treatment failure and success over time indicated a statistically significant visit-by-treatment interaction (P = 0.042). Consideration of the contrasts at each time point in this analysis showed significant differences at 3 months (P < 0.001) and 6 months (P = 0.035) but not at 9 months (P > 0.2) and 12 months (P > 0.2).
No statistically significant differences were seen between the treatment groups in any of the measures of pain, fatigue, cognitive symptoms, and mental health function (that is, Mental Component Summary score) at 12 months (Table 3). As with the primary outcome, mean Physical Component Summary scores (±SD) showed a significant difference in favor of doxycycline compared with placebo at 3 months (32.4 ± 8.4 vs. 30.7 ± 7.9 at 3 months and 30.3 ± 7.3 vs. 30.2 ± 7.3 at baseline; difference, 1.7 [CI, 0.6 to 2.8]; P = 0.004); a difference was also seen at 6 months (32.4 ± 8.2 vs. 31.0 ± 8.5 at 6 months and 30.4 ± 7.3 vs. 30.2 ± 7.4 at baseline; difference, 1.2 [CI, 0.0 to 2.4]; P = 0.049), but not at the other time points. A random-effects repeated-measures model showed statistically significant differences between groups for the Physical Component Summary score at 3 months (P = 0.003) and 6 months (P = 0.045) but not at 9 months (P = 0.09) or 12 months (P = 0.12). The random-effects repeated-measures models for the other secondary outcomes showed no statistically significant differences.
Table 3. Comparison of Secondary Outcome Measures in the Doxycycline and Placebo Groups at 12 Months
The percentage of participants whose blood remained positive for Mycoplasma species by polymerase chain reaction testing decreased throughout the treatment period in both treatment groups. One hundred fourteen of 206 participants in the doxycycline group (55.3%) and 124 of 213 participants in the placebo group (58.2%) had negative results on tests for any Mycoplasma species at 6 months. One hundred fifty-four of 200 participants in the doxycycline group (77%) and 159 of 211 participants in the placebo group (75.4%) had negative results at 12 months, and 171 of 190 participants in the doxycycline group (90%) and 174 of 201 participants in the placebo group (86.6%) had negative results at 18 months.
Thirteen serious adverse event forms were submitted for 12 participants in the doxycycline group, and 19 forms were submitted for 17 participants in the placebo group. Most of these serious adverse events (24 of 32) were considered to be unrelated to the study drug, 4 were rated as having an "unknown" relationship, and the remaining 4 (1 in the doxycycline group and 3 in the placebo group) were considered possibly related. Most adverse events (23 of 32) were reported because they resulted in hospitalization. Three adverse events led to death (1 in the doxycycline group and 2 in the placebo group); all 3 were considered to be unrelated to the study drug. Table 4 lists the most common adverse reactions that the site investigators rated as possibly or probably related to the study drug. Adverse events were similar in both treatment groups except for an expected higher incidence of nausea and photosensitivity in the doxycycline group and a higher incidence of reported myalgia among participants receiving placebo.
Table 4. Adverse Events Considered Possibly or Definitely Related to the Study Drug
Participants appeared equally adherent regardless of treatment type in terms of clinic visits, pill counts, and timely completion of outcome questionnaires. Site personnel rated adherence as good or excellent in 77.5% of the doxycycline group (176 of 227 participants) and 74.5% of the placebo group (172 of 231 participants) at 6 months and in 65.6% of the doxycycline group (145 of 221 participants) and 66.6% of the placebo group (156 of 234 participants) at 12 months. In the doxycycline group, among those who had blood samples available, doxycycline levels were undetectable in 20.3% (42 of 207) at 6 months and 38.9% (75 of 193) at 12 months. Doxycycline levels were undetectable in 99.1% of participants taking placebo at 6 months (211 of 213) and in 98% (199 of 203) at 12 months.
Use of Health Care Resources
During the 12-month treatment period, compared with the doxycycline group, participants in the placebo group had more unscheduled clinic visits (201 of 243 [82.7%] vs. 216 of 244 [88.5%]; difference, −5.8 percentage points [CI, −12.4 to 0.9 percentage points]) and hospitalizations (24 of 243 [9.9%] vs. 33 of 244 [13.5%]; difference, −3.6 percentage points [CI, −9.8 to 2.5 percentage points]) and used more nonstudy antibiotics (74 of 243 [30.5%] vs. 101 of 244 [41.4%]; difference, −10.9 percentage points [CI, −19.8 to −2.1 percentage points]). No participants were hospitalized for study medication toxicity, although 12 participants (8 in the doxycycline group and 4 in the placebo group) were seen at unscheduled clinic visits because of suspicion of such toxicity.
Veterans with GWVIs have relatively poor physical function as measured by the Physical Component Summary score. The mean baseline scores of 30.6 in the doxycycline group and 30.5 in the placebo group are about 2.5 SDs below the U.S. population norm and about 0.6 SD below the score for veterans who receive Veterans Affairs care (22). To put this score into further context, reports have shown that the mean baseline Physical Component Summary score is 42 for persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus, 36 for persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 35 for persons with chronic heart failure (24, 25). Studies of individuals with the chronic fatigue syndrome have reported mean baseline Physical Component Summary scores of 25 to 29 for those with and without current psychiatric comorbid conditions (34, 35).
Our study was designed to examine whether doxycycline treatment would significantly improve symptoms in veterans with GWVIs whose blood tested positive for certain Mycoplasma species. It had been postulated that Mycoplasma species, the most common being M. fermentans, may be important in the pathogenesis of GWVIs. This hypothesis was based on preliminary observations of Mycoplasma species in the blood of 40% to 50% of selected participants with GWVIs, according to positive results on polymerase chain reaction DNA tests (13).
In our study, doxycycline treatment did not lead to the hypothesized outcome. At 12 months, 18.1% of participants in the doxycycline group and 17.3% of participants in the placebo group improved more than 7 points on the Physical Component Summary scale. More participants receiving doxycycline improved at 3 months (21.5% vs. 9.9%), but no statistically significant differences were seen at later time periods of 9, 12, and 18 months. Analyses using the mean Physical Component Summary scores showed that some improvement may have extended up to the 6-month rating period. However, even most participants who improved still had considerable symptoms and Physical Component Summary scores that reflected continued physical dysfunction. In addition, no differences were seen in any of the secondary outcome measures.
Veterans receiving doxycycline were significantly less likely to use nonstudy antibiotics. They also had fewer unscheduled clinic visits and hospitalizations, although the difference was not statistically significant. Therefore, veterans received some benefit from long-term use of doxycycline that may or may not have been related to their GWVIs.
Doxycycline may have had limited effectiveness in treating GWVIs because there was no underlying infection, or the GWVIs may have been sequelae of previous infection. Nonadherence to the doxycycline regimen over a 12-month period may have affected our results. A significantly greater proportion of participants in the doxycycline group was improving at 3 months, and it cannot be determined whether greater adherence to doxycycline treatment over the remaining 9 months would have resulted in greater improvement or a progressive increase in the proportion of participants improving by the end of the 12-month trial. Conversely, a subpopulation of participants may have responded to doxycycline at 3 months because of some underlying or intercurrent infection susceptible to that antibiotic or because of a possible anti-inflammatory effect of the drug (36). It is also possible that another antibiotic regimen might have been more effective (37).
Polymerase chain reaction testing of DNA in whole blood showed that, in accordance with preliminary observations (2, 3), 39% of participants with GWVIs who met the study's entry criteria had M. fermentans, M. genitalium, or M. pneumoniae infection. Most participants were infected with M. fermentans or M. genitalium. Rates of Mycoplasma positivity decreased dramatically over the 18-month observation period, but the decrease was similar in both groups. Because not much is known about the typical or predictable infectious course associated with chronic Mycoplasma infections, it is difficult to predict whether such a decrease should be expected (38). In addition, other factors can influence the sensitivity and specificity of polymerase chain reaction assays, such as source and quality of individual clinical samples, handling and storage conditions, and polymerase chain reaction–related reagents. (39). It is also possible that the low levels of Mycoplasma DNA present in the blood of participants at baseline reflected an underlying reservoir of Mycoplasma infection elsewhere in the body. It is, however, difficult to reconcile the findings of equal rates of decreasing Mycoplasma positivity over time in both doxycycline-treated and placebo groups with any relationship between Mycoplasma infection and illness. These results do not necessarily exclude a possible immunomodulatory role of previous Mycoplasma infection.
In our study, doxycycline was no better than placebo in improving physical function and symptoms in participants with GWVIs. However, nonadherence to doxycycline treatment may have affected the results. No relationship between persistent Mycoplasma infection and GWVIs could be established. It is possible that participants in the doxycycline group received less medical care because the study drug was helping to treat an unrecognized infection. Further studies are needed to determine whether infectious or noninfectious causes are responsible for GWVIs.
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Steven L. Sparks
Gulf War-Possible Selenium or Selenoprotien Metabolism Deficiency
For over 3 years I have been researching the long lasting side effects of statin drugs, which parallel those symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome. I have discussed these similiarities by Dr. Beatrice Golomb and others.
I must disclose that I have no medical training. I have read and evaluated the medical records of over 1,400 previous statin users, along with reading some 15,000 medical journal articles in an attempt to help trace down the pathways. At one time I discussed the possibilities of Mycoplasmas with Dr. Golomb and Dr. Nicholson.
Currently I hypothesize that a Selenium deficiency is leading to hyperphenylalaninemia as there is a lack of free ascorbate to recycle the BH3 radical back to BH4. The lack of selenium appears to cause the anti- oxident system to become oxidized due to the lack of glutathione peroxidase and other elements. Two previous statin users, off for 2-3 years, both tested Low for Oxidized Glutathione to Reduced Glutathione(GSSG/GSH) equal to 1.0. These two individuals along with two other similiar individuals also tested Low for Carnitine, possibly due to mitochondrial dysfunction and CPT-II deficiency.
I feel the hyperphenylalinemia is causing low tyrosine, low norepinephrine, low epinephrine, low dopamine and low Beta2-Adrenoceptors.
The statin victims suffer from chronic fatigue, muscle pain and weakness, bouts of occassional raised CPK-especially with exercise, short term memory loss, inability to sleep, hard muscles and cramps(intracellular calcium), arthritis like swelling in the joints, polyneuropathy, autoimmune disorders similiar to lupus, depression, sticky platelets and neurodegenerative diseases similiar to ALS.
Those that seem to be most affected seem to have high triglycerides and many have hypothyroidism, both which could be signs of low selenium.
Steve Sparks
None declared
Donta ST, Engel CC, Collins JF, et al, and the VA Cooperative #475 Group. Benefits and Harms of Doxycycline Treatment for Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Ann Intern Med. 2004;141:85–94. doi: https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-141-2-200407200-00006
Published: Ann Intern Med. 2004;141(2):85-94.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Blog Home-sharing Ride-sharing
Sharing economy in the post-COVID world: what's new?
By Maria Chaplia
In May, the Consumer Choice Center published the first-of-its-kind Sharing Economy Index, ranking the best and worst cities in the world for regulations on sharing economy services. The top 10 cities according to the index are Tallinn, Vilnius, Riga, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Kyiv, São Paulo, Tbilisi, and Helsinki. On the other hand, the cities of Prague, Dublin, Amsterdam, Bratislava, Ljubljana, Sofia, Tokyo, The Hague, Luxembourg City, and Athens found themselves at the very bottom of the list.
For better or worse, the world isn't static: there have been some new developments in the field of sharing economy in the last few months. Many governments have used the pandemic as a precondition to hinder innovation, and yet platform businesses persisted and tapped the demand that challenges brought about by lockdowns and responded with creativity.
Let me start with some good news.
The UK legalises e-scooters
Electric scooters will become legal on roads in England, Scotland and Wales beginning in July if obtained through a share scheme endorsed by around 50 municipal councils. The scooters will be limited to travelling at 15.5mph (25kmph) and forbidden from use on pavement and sidewalks.
UberEats has been killing it during the pandemic
In the first quarter of 2020, Uber Eats revenues went up by more than 50 per cent globally. Uber Freight – an app that helps carriers make hassle-free bookings and allows shippers to tender shipments easily – grew revenues by 57 per cent. In July, Uber also launched a grocery delivery service, partnering with grocery delivery startup Cornershop.
Bolt is now available in Thailand
Today, Bolt, a competitor of Uber, announced that it has rolled out its services in Thailand. That's a huge win for Thai consumers and riders.
Bolt said its pilot venture in the Thai capital has more than 2,000 drivers already on board and will offer better rates to drivers and riders.
"For a minimum of six months, Bolt in Thailand commits to charging drivers no commission for using the platform and offers fares 20% lower than other competitors," the Estonian company said.
… And now some bad news.
Amsterdam regulates Airbnb further
In June, Amsterdam banned short-term accommodation rentals including Airbnb from operating in the three districts of its historical centre.
In other areas of Amsterdam, Airbnb will face new regulations too: hosts must acquire special permits, and renting out their apartments will only be allowed to lease to short-term tenants for 30 days out of the year to groups of a maximum of four people.
Amsterdam was one of the least sharing economy friendly cities, according to our Index, and this new policy only pushes it further down the list.
Lisbon wants to get rid of Airbnb
In June, Lisbon mayor has pledged to "get rid of Airbnb" once the coronavirus pandemic is over.
As part of the affordable housing plan, landlords afraid of their apartments lying empty can apply to rent them to the municipality, for a minimum term of five years. The city, in turn, will be responsible for finding tenants, through the programme targeted at young people and lower-income families.
Uber to face more legal battles in London
A dispute over whether its drivers should continue to be classified as self-employed has begun in the U.K.'s Supreme Court. In a second legal clash scheduled for September, Uber will appeal the loss of its operating license in the UK's capital.
Despite grim predictions at the beginning of the pandemic, the sharing economy has survived though not without any losses. As with every service that has made our lives easier, platform businesses are extensively enjoyed by millions of consumers globally. Now that we know how great it feels to be able to ride an e-scooters, to rideshare, or to share a flat with locals, governments will have a hard time trying to rid us of those choices. The sharing economy is driven by creativity and entrepreneurship: what doesn't kill it, makes it stronger.


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Rapper Chance Donates 1500 Free Meals To Celebrate His 29th Birthday
admin April 24, 2022, 12:06 pm
Chance celebrated his 29th birthday by giving away 1,500 free meals in Chicago
It is not the first time that the rapper does charity in his hometown. In 2017 he launched an arts and literature fund for Chicago Public Schools and donated $ 2 million to 20 public schools. When he turned 24 he had a party where he raised $ 100,000 that would go to "empowering the youth through arts, education, and civic engagement."
When asked by reporters he replied "I think it's indirectly my faith. I get a lot of my sense of understanding and kindness from my mom. And then my dad and his side of the family were all community organizers. My great grandmother marched with Dr. Martin Luther King and organized. My grandmother worked for Harold Washington when he ran for mayor of Chicago. "
"Child of God" as it is called and the rapper celebrated his 29th birthday by giving 1500 free meals to families in need for the Easter holiday. Chance took to social media on Saturday, April 16th, to let Chicago residents know he would be giving meals away in partnership with Social Works at 8560 S. Cottage Grove.
The event was a success and hundreds of people came. In addition, he had different characters to entertain the children. Alongside the meals, families were also given cups of "Mint Chocolate Chance," a new ice cream flavor the rapper helped create in partnership with Ben & Jerry's.
Also on the same day, he shared some photos from his childhood with his mother, making them think that she is his greatest gift.
"He's 29. The best gift you can get me is showing someone they're a child of God today," he captioned the photos.
Do you think that such initiatives should be taken by other rappers? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook.
Chris Rock's Mother Reacts For The First Time "When Will Slapped Chris, He Slapped All Of Us."
Melissa Lucio Is Sentenced To Death For Killing Her Baby, Her Supporters Say She Is Innocent


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December 30th, 2020 | by LYNN ELBER / AP Television Writer
In this June 8, 2008 file photo, actress Dawn Wells arrives at the TV Land Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. Wells, who played the wholesome Mary Ann among a misfit band of shipwrecked castaways on the 1960s sitcom "Gilligan's Island, died Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, of causes related to COVID-19, her publicist said.(AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
This story was updated Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, at 8 p.m. with more information.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dawn Wells, who played the wholesome Mary Ann among a misfit band of shipwrecked castaways on the 1960s sitcom "Gilligan's Island," died Wednesday of causes related to COVID-19, her publicist said. She was 82.
Wells died peacefully at a residential facility in Los Angeles, publicist Harlan Boll said. "There is so much more to Dawn Wells" than the "Gilligan's Island" character that brought her fame, Boll said in a statement.
Besides TV, film and stage acting credits, her other real-life roles included teacher, motivational speaker and conservationist, Boll said.
Tina Louise, 86, who played Ginger the movie star, is the last surviving member of a cast that included Bob Denver as the title character; Alan Hale Jr. as the Skipper; Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer as wealthy passengers Thurston and Lovey Howell, and Russell Johnson, known as the Professor.
"I will always remember her kindness to me," Louise said in a statement. "We shared in creating a cultural landmark that has continued to bring comfort and smiles to people during this difficult time. I hope that people will remember her the way that I do — always with a smile on her face."
"Oh, this so sad. Bon voyage, Mary Ann," Jane Lynch posted on Twitter.
"Two and a Half Men" star Jon Cryer tweeted that it was a "thrill" to meet Wells when she visited the show, adding, "She could not have been more lovely and gracious."
Wells, a native of Reno, Nevada, represented her state in the 1959 Miss America pageant and quickly pivoted to an acting career. Her early TV roles were on shows including "77 Sunset Strip," "Maverick" and "Bonanza."
Then came "Gilligan's Island," a goofy, good-natured comedy that aired from 1964-67 that became an unlikely but indelible part of popular culture. Wells' comely but innocent Mary Ann complemented Louise's worldly Ginger, and both became innocuous '60s TV versions of sex symbols.
In this 1965 file photo, Dawn Wells, center, poses with fellow cast members of "Gilligan's Island," Bob Denver and Alan Hale Jr., in Los Angeles. Wells, who played the wholesome Mary Ann on the 1960s sitcom "Gilligan's Island," has died. Her publicist says Wells died early Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, in Los Angeles, of causes related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/File)
Wells' wardrobe included a gingham dress and shorts that modestly covered her belly button, with both costumes on display in Los Angeles at The Hollywood Museum.
TV movies spinoffs from the series followed, including 1978's "Rescue from Gilligan's Island," but Wells also moved on to other TV guest roles and films including the 2002 vacuum cleaner salesman comedy "Super Sucker" with Jeff Daniels. She starred on stage in dozens of plays, including "Chapter Two" and "The Odd Couple."
In 2013, she was honored by for her work with a Tennessee-based refuge, The Elephant Sanctuary.
To mark the 50th anniversary of "Gilligan's Island." Dawn wrote "A Guide To Life: What Would Mary Ann Do?" with observations about her character and the cultural changes that took place while she was stranded.
Two years ago, a friend launched a GoFundMe drive to help cover medical and other costs for Wells, although she protested she didn't need the assistance. She did end up acknowledging her need and accepted more than $180,000 in donations.
"Wow! I am amazed at the kindness and affection I have received" in response to the fundraising drive, Wells said in a social media post at the time. She said a "dear friend" undertook it after a frank conversation.
She recounted musing to him, "'Where did the time go? I don't know how this happened. I thought I was taking all the proper steps to ensure my golden years. Now, here I am, no family, no husband, no kids and no money.'"
Wells added in the post that she was grateful to her supportive fans and that her outlook remained positive.
Dawn is survived by her stepsister, Weslee Wells, Boll said.
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These nails might seem rather lazy but I had barely any time to do this design in and I couldn't think of anything inspired by artwork that wouldn't take a billion hours to do.
I have done this design before, before I had this blog and before I could actually take pictures of my work that were in focus. I have a few designs on my computer that are all out of focus and I've been intending to redo them all for a while, mainly so that I have good pictures of them but also to see how I've improved in the last year or so. So consider this the first installment, perhaps I should post before and after photos? What do you think?
For this design I used Barry M for the red, yellow and blue, and unnamed pink from a set I got ages ago and China Glaze - Gaga For Green. Then I did the details in acrylic paint and Barry M - Matt White. Hope you like them!
Nice design^^ Did you colour the white over the basecolour?


The ADE BPM 1401 is the latest in ADE's high-tech health monitoring devices. As well as allowing you to store up to 60 readings in the unit, you can link it instantly to your phone to track and analyse your data in the free adeVital app. If there are two people in your household who need to monitor their blood pressure, then both can use this device and link it to separate accounts. Keeping track of your health has never been so easy!
You can look back at past readings at any time on the unit's LCD screen by pressing 'search'. This shows you an average of your last three measurements, then allows you to scroll through your last 60 readings by date and time. For more detailed stats, you can use the units Bluetooth technology to link to the adeVital app on your phone or tablet.
Using the free adeVital app, you can instantly transfer data from the monitor to your phone or tablet using Bluetooth 4.0 technology. When you use it with the BMP 1401 you can link two separate accounts so that both of you can use the app. In adeVital you can view all of your measurements in graphs, tables and charts that make it really simple to get a clear picture of your overall health. It will display individual readings with their date, systolic and diastolic values and pulse rate and frequency. You can then choose to see these as line charts, customised for any date range you need. This makes sharing your progress with doctors and other health professionals so much easier; you can even send them the data via email, twitter or facebook! If you are using an iOS device, adeVital can be paired with Apple Health to link to your other health data.


Period Correct 302 cui / 290 HP Chevrolet small block (casting 3892657). M21 Muncie 4 speed manual transmission with Hurst shifter. G80 12 bolt posi-trac rear end with 3.55 gears. Painted Maderia Maroon with White Stripes and Black vinyl top. Deluxe Black vinyl bucket seat interior. Power front disc brakes. Power steering. Dual exhaust with manifolds. Factory style hose clamps. Factor undercarriage markings. Electric conversion RS hide-away headlights. Rosewood steering wheel. In-dash tachometer. Center console with factory style center gauge cluster. Functional factory style clock. Padded dash. Front / Rear lap belts. Delco AM/FM radio. Tinted glass. Front / Rear bumper guards. 15″ Rally wheels with Redline Radial tires.
This First Generation Camaro received a full rotisserie restoration, built to replicate a tribute to the RS / Z28 by installing a period correct '67 302 cui, M21 transmission, and 12 bolt posi-trac rear end. Highly detailed build in mind with factory style markings and NOS parts. Receipts goes along with this well built & highly optioned vehicle.


Divorce: How soon can I start using my maiden name?
After divorce or separation, some women may want to immediately revert to using their maiden name to reclaim a sense of identity. Others may decide revert to their maiden name so that they are not reminded of their former spouse.
For a variety of other reasons, however, some women may choose to keep their married name. For example, they may want to have the same name as their children, they do not want to go through the effort to revert to their maiden name, or they like the consistency of having all of their family and friends know them by the same name.
Regardless of whether you choose to continue to use your married name or revert to your maiden name, the good news is that you do have choices. You also have some choice about when you want to make the change. For example, you can request the change during the divorce process, request the change after the divorce, or never make a change.
Legally reverting to your maiden name following the divorce is a simple matter. First, you will need to include the name change request in the divorce petition or complaint for divorce. If you have hired a lawyer to help complete the divorce forms, they can include this request. If you are filing for divorce on your own, there is generally a place to request the resumption of your maiden name. If you are the respondent and you did not file the divorce petition, you can request the name change when you file your answer.
If the divorce petition has already been filed and you failed to make a name change request, you can file an amended divorce petition and include the name change request. It is also recommended that you discuss this request with the judge and remind them of this request at the final divorce hearing.
The steps to request a name change after the divorce is finalized vary by state. In some states, you will have to file a motion or petition with the court requesting the name change, and make a court appearance to provide information about the reasons for the request. In other states, however, you may be able to file a post-judgment motion.
In other states, such as California, you may be able to avoid legally changing your name through a court order by using a process called the "usage method." Under this method, individuals can simply start using their preferred name in all areas of their life. While this is simple, certain governmental agencies and other states will require a court order to recognize a legal name change. For this reason, it's recommended that individuals avoid the informal usage method and make the legal change through a court order.
Can I use my maiden name while I am separated?
Some women want to use their name right away after the separation. They may not want to have to wait until the divorce is finalized. Whether you can use your maiden name while you are separated, before the divorce has become finalized, and before your name has been legally changed depends on how you want to use it.
For example, if you are asked your legal name by a governmental institution, or are required to provide your legal name for any type of financial account or legal document, you will need to provide your married name if the divorce is not finalized and your name has not legally been changed.
If, however, you are informally introducing yourself to friends or posting information on a social networking site, you are free to use any name that you want to use.
If you decide to change your name back to your maiden name following a divorce, you will need to notify all the necessary agencies including your financial institutions, the IRS, the Social Security Administration, banking institutions, credit card companies and the Department of Motor Vehicles. As mentioned above, even if your state allows an informal name change through the usage method, you may still have to provide a court order or divorce decree as proof of the change.
Bottom line: Can you use your maiden name any time you want? Yes, but to legally change your name and use it on legal documents, such as your driver's license or passport, you will generally need a court order. Considerations, however, should be made prior to a name change. Consider the steps that you will need to take, the fees that may be incurred, and whether it is important to you to retain the same name as your children.


~~Annunziata Mazza, 91, of Springfield, NJ passed away on November 30, 2017 surrounded by her loving family. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. James the Apostle, 45 S. Springfield Ave. in Springfield on Wednesday, December 6th at 11:30am. Entombment will be in Vallata, Italy. To send a condolence, please visit www.bradleyfuneralhomes.com.
Born and raised in Vallata, Italy, the daughter of Pasquale and Mechelina (Cirillo) Bove, Annunziata came to the United States in 1958. An amazing cook, she will be fondly remembered for how she dedicated her whole life to her family and church.
Annunziata was the beloved wife of the late Rocco Emilio Mazza who passed away in 2000. She was the loving mother of Michael Mazza (Carol), Maria Pellegrino (Silvio), Antoinette Tourkay (Parviz) and Carmelo Mazza (Antoinette). She is also survived by her cherished grandchildren, Nancy Castillo-Mazza(Chris), Christina Pellegrino, Michele Mazza, Silviene Grzybowski (Francis), Rocco Mazza, Erica Boylan (Michael), Alyssa Mazza, Roxanne Tourkay, Rocco Mazza and Michael Mazza and great grandchildren, Anthony Olivera, Maria Grzybowski, Joseph Grzybowski, Mia Mazza, Ava Castillo, Michael Mazza, and Luca Boylan.


Watching the Space Needle fireworks ringing in the New Year with family and friends, from the warmth and dryness of the PCC Central Office!
Just one of many stunning sunset views of downtown Seattle and Mt. Rainier from the deck at work.
A rather old PCC tote bag on display in the "Edible City: A Delicious Journey" exhibit at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI).
*cue thunder* and dark clouds gathered over the PCC offices . . .
The old office sign is brought to be installed in our new office location -- something that made me very happy, because I love preserving history!
Last day of operation at the old West Seattle store, looking moderately apocalyptic.
Celebrating Kibby's 15 years at PCC -- three months after her actual anniversary date. But that made it an effective surprise!
Celebrating my 15 years at PCC -- only one day off from the actual anniversary date (because I won't let anyone forget it), which fell on a weekend -- taken out to lunch by Scott and Noah, to our favorite Thai restaurant in the PCC office's old neighborhood.
The card I made for Randy's retirement party.
A peak inside the front doors of the old PCC central office location in the U District, a little over a year after we left it.
Field trip! -- to Lucky Hook Farm in Moses Lake!
Prepping the dishes for the 2017 PCC Holiday Potluck.
Going out with a bang: saying goodbye to retirees Mimi and Marilyn.
Wrapping up at the 2017 PCC Holiday Cookie Exchange and Ugly Sweater Contest, and moving on toward 2018!


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Markets Gather Some Momentum As Volume Remains Light, Geopolitical Tension Improving
August 14, 2014 4:37pm 2199 Comments
U.S. stocks rose to close the day with moderate gains despite a larger than expected increase in jobless claims.
"The end of 2015 Q1 is still my preferred liftoff date," St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard told The Wall Street Journal. The end of the first quarter is ahead of the second half of 2015 timetable that the Fed President Janet Yellen previously hinted at.
Bullard also said that "we're way ahead of schedule for labor-market improvement" and that unemployment "could go below six percent by the time we end bond buys."
Looking forward to the day ahead, PPI and industrial production figures will be released Friday morning.
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The Dow gained 0.37 percent, closing at 16,713.58.
The S&P 500 gained 0.43 percent, closing at 1,955.18.
The NASDAQ gained 0.43 percent, closing at 4,453.00.
Gold lost 0.04 percent, trading at $1,314.00 an ounce.
Oil lost 2.18 percent, trading at $95.46 a barrel.
Silver gained 0.25 percent, trading at $19.90 an ounce.
News Of Note
Initial Jobless Claims rose 21,000 to 311,000, above the consensus of 295,000.
July Import Prices declined 0.2 percent month over month, in-line with the consensus.
July Export Prices remained flat month over month, above expectations for a decline of 0.1 percent.
EIA Natural Gas Inventory rose 78 bcf, less than the expected gain of 83 bcf.
Eurozone GDP saw a 0.2 percent growth in annualized terms, down from the first quarter's 0.8 percent pace. German GDP declined 0.2 percent from the first quarter, as did Italy's.
Analyst Upgrades And Downgrades Of Note
Analysts at Tigress Financial downgraded Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ: BLMN) to Neutral from Buy. Shares lost 2.51 percent, closing at $16.28.
Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) to Outperform from Neutral. Shares hit new 52-week highs of $58.85 before closing the day at $58.34, up 3.17 percent.
Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus maintained an Equal-Weight rating on Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) with a price target raised to $26 from a previous $25. Also, analysts at UBS maintained a Buy rating on Cisco with a price target raised to $29 from a previous $26.50. As well, analysts at Barclays maintained an Equal-Weight rating on Cisco with a price target raised to $26 from a previous $25. Shares lost 2.70 percent, closing at $24.52.
Analysts at Credit Suisse maintained an Outperform rating on Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) with a price target lowered to $98 from a previous $104. Shares gained 0.44 percent, closing at $84.86.
Analysts at Guggenheim Securities upgraded Dresser-Rand Group (NYSE: DRC) to Buy from Neutral with a $100 price target. Shares gained 0.78 percent, closing at $64.52.
Analysts at Credit Suisse maintained a Neutral rating on Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) with a price target raised to $95 from a previous $90. Shares finished the day unchanged at $99.09.
Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) to Hold from Buy while removing a previous $37 price target. Shares lost 0.93 percent, closing at $36.05.
Analysts at Wunderlich initiated coverage of Guess? (NYSE: GES) with a Buy rating and $31 price target. Shares gained 1.76 percent, closing at $25.48.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank maintained a Hold rating on Health Care REIT (NYSE: HCN) with a price target raised to $60 from a previous $58. Shares gained 1.15 percent, closing at $65.70.
Analysts at Evercore Partners upgraded Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LMCA) to Overweight from Equal-Weight with a price target raised to $57 from a previous $53.74. shares gained 3.83 percent, closing at $48.54.
Analysts at Credit Suisse initiated coverage of Molson Coors Brewery (NYSE: TAP) with an Outperform rating. Shares gained 3.24 percent, closing at $74.90.
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Analysts at Needham upgraded NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) to Buy from Hold with a $49 price target. Also, analysts at UBS maintained a Neutral rating on NetApp with a price target raised to $43 from a previous $36. Meanwhile, analysts at Deutsche Bank maintained a Hold rating on NetApp with a price target raised to $40 from a previous $35. Shares gained 5.27 percent, closing at $41.37.
Analysts at Barclays maintained an Equal-Weight rating on Noodles & Co (NASDAQ: NDLS) with a price target lowered to $22 from a previous $35. Also, analysts at UBS maintained a Neutral rating on Noodles with a price target lowered to $26 from a previous $30. Shares hit new 52-week lows of $19.54 before closing the day at $21.16, down 16.08 percent.
Analysts at Stephens & Co upgraded Pinnacle Foods (NYSE: PF) to Overweight from Equal-Weight. Shares gained 0.19 percent, closing at $31.46.
Analysts at Wells Fargo downgraded SeaWorld Entertainment (NYSE: SEAS) to Market Perform from Outperform. Also, analysts at Macquarie downgraded SeaWorld to Neutral from Outperform while analysts at Barclays downgraded SeaWorld to Underweight from Overweight. Not issuing a downgrade, analysts at JPMorgan maintained a Neutral rating on SeaWorld with a price target lowered to $21 from a previous $34. Shares hit new 52-week lows of $17.83 before closing the day at $18.00, down 4.76 percent.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY) with an Equal-Weight rating and $92 price target. Shares gained 0.15 percent, closing at $71.19.
Analysts at Gabelli & Co downgraded Wynn Resorts (NYSE: WYNN) to Hold from Buy. Shares gained 0.44 percent, closing at $202.23.
Equities-Specific News Of Note
Sweden based Electrolux, along with other interested parties are in talks with General Electric (NYSE: GE) to acquire its appliances business. Shares of General Electric gained 0.19 percent, closing at $25.88.
NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) has agreed to acquire Goal Zero, a maker of solar-charged batter packs for an undisclosed sum. Shares gained 0.41 percent, closing at $29.42.
Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) announced a new lineup of stand-up comedy shows, including Chelsea Handler's premier on October 10 and a Bill Cosby feature premiering on November 28. Shares lost 0.15 percent, closing at $450.87.
Keurig Green Mountain (NASDAQ: GMCR) announced it will raise the price of its K-Cup packs by nine percent as of November 3. Shares gained 0.22 percent, closing at $114.30.
General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced it will invest $2.8 billion in Brazil over the next five years. Shares finished the day unchanged at $33.95.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) hostile takeover attempts of Allergan (NYSE: AGN) on alleged violations of insider trading laws. Shares of Valeant gained 1.71 percent, closing at $111.04 while shares of Allergan gained 0.45 percent, closing at $155.60.
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Winners Of Note
This morning, Perrigo (NYSE: PRGO) reported its fourth quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $1.74, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55. Revenue of $1.14 billion beat the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Net income for the quarter for the quarter rose to $131.7 million from $118.5 million in the same quarter a year ago as sales rose 18 percent from a year ago. The company stated that its record sales were driven primarily by new product sales of $65 million, $112 million in sales attributable to its recently acquired Elan, and product acquisitions from Fera Pharmaceuticals and Aspen Global. Gross margin improved to a company record of 44.5 percent with GAAP gross margin of 36.5 percent and a quarterly adjusted operating margin of 28.4 percent, with GAAP operating margin of 17.3 percent. Perrigo issued guidance and sees its fiscal 2015 net income being in a range of $546.1 million to $586.6 million. Earnings per share for fiscal 2015 are expected to be in a range of $7.20 to $7.50. Shares gained 7.29 percent, closing at $149.29.
This morning, Advanced Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $2.08, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01. Revenue of $2.35 billion beat the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Net income for the quarter rose to $139.49 million from $13.68 million in the same quarter a year ago as comparable-store sales rose 2.6 percent in the quarter. Total sales for the quarter rose 51.5 percent from a year ago, partially due to the acquisition of General Parts and the addition of new stores over the past year. However, gross profit rate for the quarter declined to 45.2 percent of sales from 50.3 percent a year ago due to a higher mix of commercial sales which have a lower gross margin rate. The company did see its SG&A rate fall to 34.0 percent of sales from 37.6 percent a year ago as a result of the General Parts acquisition which has a lower SG&A costs and fixed cost leverage from the positive sales performance. Shares gained 7.04 percent, closing at $131.59.
NewLink Genetics (NASDAQ: NLNK) stated that it has enough doses of an Ebola vaccine to begin a trial involving 20 to 100 healthy volunteers in a matter of weeks. The company also said it has two or three contract manufacturers standing by to produce tens of thousands of doses within a month or two. Shares gained 11.60 percent, closing at $26.16.
Decliners Of Note
This morning, E-Commerce China Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.06, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02. Revenue of $316.10 million beat the consensus estimate of $314.28 million. Net income for the quarter for the quarter rose to RMB28.8 million ($4.6 million) from a net loss of RMB63.9 million in the same quarter a year ago as the company saw revenue gains in its main categories. Media revenue rose 43.5 percent from a year ago to $218.6 million; General Merchandise revenue rose 8.2 percent to $84.5 million; Marketplace GMC revenue rose 81.6 percent to $230.7 million while Other revenue rose 26.1 percent to $13 million. Gross margin improved from 18.2 percent last quarter to 18.3 percent. Fulfillment spend fell to 9.7 percent of revenue from 12 percent a year ago while active customers rose 23 percent from a year ago to 8.5 million, which is slightly lower than last quarter. However, the company guided its third quarter revenue to be RMB1.984 billion ($322.50 million), below the consensus estimate of $325.7 million. Shares lost 11.19 percent, closing at $14.36.
This morning, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (NASDAQ: RRGB) reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.68, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90. Revenue of $256.10 million missed the consensus estimate of $263.37 million. Net income for the quarter fell to $9.47 million from $11.14 million in the same quarter a year ago, as total traffic fell 2.5 percent. Comparable-restaurant sales rose 1.2 percent, while the average check rose 3.7 percent. However, restaurant-level operating margin declined by 110 basis points to 22.2 because of higher food and beverage costs, and to a lesser extent, higher operation costs and occupancy as a percentage of sales. The company issued guidance and sees its comparable restaurant revenue growth being in the low-single-digits. The company plans to open 20 new Red Robin restaurants and four to five Red Robin Burger Works. The new restaurants are expected to add $44 million in revenue in the second half of 2014. Also, the company expects its restaurant-level operating profit margin to be approximately 21.3 percent. Shares hit new 52-week lows of $50.50 before closing the day at $52.63, down 18.47 percent.
Earnings Of Note
This morning, Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $1.13, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07. Revenue of $4.24 billion missed the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Net income for the quarter improved to $232 million from $231 million in the same quarter a year ago despite a decline of 1.3 percent in comparable-store sales. Gross margin declined by 10 basis points from a year ago to 39.0 percent, while inventory rose 1.1 percent to $3.9 billion. The company ended the quarter with 1,160 stores in 49 states, compared with 1,155 stores a year ago. Shares gained 3.27 percent, closing at $56.91.
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This morning, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $1.21, in-line with the consensus estimate. Revenue of $119.30 billion beat the consensus estimate of $118.98 billion. Net income for the quarter rose to $4.09 billion from $4.07 billion in the same quarter a year ago despite U.S. traffic declining by 1.1 percent and the average ticket rose by 1.1 percent. Total U.S. net sales were $70.6 billion, an improvement from last year's $68.73 billion. Sam's Club comp traffic rose 0.3 percent in the quarter while average ticket declined by 0.3 percent. Total Sams Club sales rose from $14.53 billion a year ago to $14.86 billion in the quarter. E-commerce sales added 30 basis points to the company's comp in the quarter, while International revenue rose 3.1 percent to $33.9 billion. Walmart issued guidance and lowered its full-year earnings per share expectations to a range of $4.90 to $5.15 from a previous range of $5.10 to $5.45. Third quarter earnings per share is expected to be in a range of $1.10 to $1.20. Shares gained 0.49 percent, closing at $74.39.
After the market closed, Agilent (NYSE: A) reported its third quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.78, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74. Shares were trading lower by 0.22 percent at $55.50 following the earnings report.
After the market closed, Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of $0.95, in-line with the consensus estimate. Revenue of $3.39 billion was also in-line with the consensus estimate. Shares were trading lower by 1.15 percent at $67.90 following the earnings report.
After the market closed, J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) reported its second quarter results. The company announced an EPS of -$0.56, beating the consensus estimate of -$0.93. Revenue of $2.80 billion beat the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Shares were trading higher by 5.34 percent at $10.26 following the earnings report.
"In view of the unusual market activity in the company's stock today, the New York Stock Exchange contacted the company in accordance with its usual practice. The company stated that its policy is not to comment on unusual market activity." –Statement provided by USEC (NYSE: USU) following unusual market activity in the company's stock. Shares hit a daily high of $7.13 before closing the day at $6.15, up 34.57 percent. Shares were trading within a normal range in the early morning trading session before soaring mid-morning.
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LATEST President Bio to Launch Multi-Purpose Biometric ID Cards Today LATEST Julie Tombo Secures New Apartment in America LATEST Statistics Sierra Leone Gets $4.1M Support LATEST SLPP Carefully Planned The Introduction of The PR System Well LATEST Babadi Kamara Responds to Unexplained Wealth Queries
Grumbles, Concerns As Poor Performance Trails Students In Kambia
According to the acting principal of Kambia Islamic Secondary School (KISS), Mohamed Sidique, Kambia District had little above 5% of candidates that passed both the WASSCE and BECE exams in 2019.
"This was indeed a mass failure for the entire district," he explains, adding that "One of the major reasons behind the mass failure is because we don't have trained, experienced and qualified teachers."
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) public exams results for Basic Education Certificates Examinations (BECE) and the West African Senior Secondary School Examinations (WASSCE) shows that in 2019 pupils in Kambia District in the northwest region of the country are indeed amongst those that performed poorest.
Like Sidique, the principal of Saint Mary Secondary School in Kambia District, Joseph Young, also attributes the poor performance of students in public examinations to a lack of trained and qualified teachers in his school.
"My school has over 300 pupils," he says, "but only five teachers are on government payroll."
With over 20 secondary schools in the district, over 1,000 students separately take the BECE and WASSCE examinations each year. Those who do not achieve the required number of passes in these examinations, according to WAEC, do not meet university entry requirements.
Foday Kamara is just one of the pupils at Kambia Islamic Secondary School who sat to the WASSCE exams in 2019, but was unable to get the required grades which would have qualified him to be admitted into university. He said that the major challenge he faced as a student was non-completion of the examination syllabuses; he said that if the tutors had been there, and if they had exhausted the entire syllabus they would have been prepared better prepared for the exams.
"We also had constraint with textbooks for core subjects," he says, "like English Language and Mathematics. They are not available. The free quality education textbooks that were given to the school were not enough for us all," he concluded.
Kadiatu Sankoh is currently studying at the Kambia Islamic Secondary School. She says that learning is not effective in her school; and they don't have enough notes to study, in order to pass exams.
"Teachers do not teach us effectively," She laments, "and mostly, when they come to class, they only explain some passages from books which are sold to us by the very teachers themselves – and if you are without the books, you won't understand from those teachings."
She went further to disclose that the English and Mathematics books that were supplied to them through the free quality education program were collected from them again by the school authorities – they were not allowed to take them home to study.
Ahead of this year's WASSCE and BECE exams, teachers in the district are engaged in teaching normal school classes, though some are untrained and unqualified.
Alex Musa Koroma, a Senior Teacher at the Kambia Islamic Secondary School, says the process of recruiting teachers in the district has not been favorable for them, which is why many schools in Kambia do not have the trained and qualified teachers they need.
Responding to the issue of teachers failing to complete their syllabuses, Koroma says, "I can't deny the fact that teachers in the district do not complete their syllabuses, as this has been a major problem in the teaching field over the years – and not only Kambia District.[While] a good number of teachers do complete their syllabuses, likewise a very good number of teachers do not complete their syllabuses, which boils down to the supervision of higher school authorities by the District Education Office in Kambia."
Kadiatu Kamara lives in Kambia, and is a single mother of two. According to Kadiatu, her children sat to both BECE and WASSCE exams in 2019, and it was very painful for her to have learnt that both her children failed the exams, which deterred them from progressing to the next stage of their education.
"I am going back to square one in terms of providing for them, and now it is a burden for me, because I have a lot of them to take care of," she says.
The Deputy Director of Education in the district, Alimamy Kamara, who served at the time of the mass failure refused to comment on the issue. However, his successor Ibrahim Yayah Fofanah, who recently took over the position, says that he is aware of the mass failure of pupils in the district in external exams last year, but says that he is ready to work with all stakeholders in the education sector to ensure that such an outcome does not repeat itself.
Joseph Sannoh is the Executive Director for Heal Sierra Leone, a civil society organization that has been campaigning for the right to access free quality education across the country. According to him, the mass failure in pubic exams in Kambia District is caused by many factors, ranging from teaching techniques to parental care, in addition to what he agrees is a distinct lack of trained and qualified teachers in the district.
"I have seen a whole district having only one science teacher," Sannoh explains, "while the rest do not even have a certificate or diploma. It is also in Kambia that I have seen a whole school having only one teacher that teaches pupils from class 1 unto class 6, with a population of over 500 pupils. Most of these teachers are not trained or qualified, and having a degree does not qualify one to be a teacher."
He says that the supervisions and monitoring aspect of schools in the district is also lacking, and he describes it as a major factor for not having effective learning in the district.
Janneth Sankoh, Public Relations Manager for the Sierra Leone Teachings Service Commission, however, says that during the 2018/2019 academic year, the commission did recruit trained and qualified teachers. She says that during the recruitment process, they allocated quotas to each district, and 334 teachers were approved for Kambia District.
She went further to say that, "We don't want to give special allowances to teachers to go into these communities to teach, but we are however working towards sustainable steps that will encourage them to go into these places and teach."
Some of the responsibilities of the Kambia District Council are to provide logistics and monitory supports to schools.
The Chairman of the council, Mohamed Yayah Bangura, says that the mass failure in public exams by pupils in the district was not a surprise to many of them, citing that during the Ebola outbreak, a lot of children went out of school and returned in recent times, which he attributed as another major factor behind the mass failure in public exams.
He says: "My administrations has taken this into consideration, and have formed a district education committee to look into this situation and come up with recommendations to ensure we minimize failure in public exams in the district."
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