text:
Research Article - Biomedical Research (2017) Volume 28, Issue 14
The impact of silymarin extract on oxidative stress induced by gold nanoparticles
Amin Ahmadzadeh1*, Mohammad Reza Aghababaei2, Zahra Allameh1, Saeid Rezaei Zarchii1 and Mohammad Fazilati1
1Department of Biology, Payam-e Noor University, Iran
2Department of Biology, Damghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran
Amin Ahmadzadeh
Department of Biology, Payam-e Noor University, Iran
Accepted date: June 2, 2017
Background: Gold nanoparticles are associated with oxidative stress due to free radical production. Antioxidants can reduce the damaging effects of free radicals in the long-term. Given the importance of enhanced oxidative stress in the incidence of tissue damage by nanoparticles and the role of silymarin in reducing oxidative stress index, this study was conducted to evaluate the protective and antioxidant effects of silymarin on male rats treated with gold nanoparticles. In this study, 32 male Wistar rats (250-350 g) were divided into four groups: one control group and three intervention groups. The intervention groups included a group receiving 100 ppm gold nanoparticles, a group fed with 200 mg/kg silymarin, and a group receiving the same doses of gold nanoparticles and silymarin. All injections were performed intraperitoneally for a period of 4 consecutive weeks (28 d).
Result: Levels of catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and malondialdehyde (MDA) of red blood cells were measured. Data was analyzed using ANOVA and Bonferroni tests. In the animals treated with gold nanoparticles the MDA concentration significantly increased while a significant decrease was seen in GPX and CAT activities (P<0.05). Also, silymarin extract significantly reversed these effects and the group receiving both silymarin and gold nanoparticles had increased GPX and CAT activities and decreased MDA concentration (P<0.05), as compared to the group receiving gold nanoparticles alone.
Conclusion: Overall, our results suggest that silymarin decreases the toxicity induced by gold nanoparticle in diabetic rats and can be considered for further treatment studies.
Catalase, Glutathione peroxidase, Malondialdehyde, Silymarin, Gold nanoparticles.
TEM: Transmission Electron Microscopy; UV-Vis: Visible- Ultraviolet Spectrums; CAT: Catalase; MDA: Malondialdehyde; GPX: Golotation per oxidase
Further studies are needed to investigate the pollutants, such as nanoparticles, entering into the digestive system. With the increase in the number of nanoparticles made and their application in industrial and consumer products, there is an increasing risk of exposure of humans and aquatic ecosystems, which may threaten human health and the environment [1-3]. With the reduction of the size of nanoparticles and increase in the ratio of their surface area to volume, their chemical and biological reactivity rises. This leads to increased production of free radicals such as reactive oxygen species (ROSs) beyond the tolerance of biological systems to eliminate or reduce their harmful effects [4]. ROS production has been observed in a diverse range of nanomaterials [5]. Materials with antioxidant properties are used to strengthen the antioxidant system and reduce the effects of free radicals [6]. Antioxidants are able to inhibit or halt the production and aggregation of free radicals and ROSs [7]. As natural antioxidants, flavonoids' action mechanism has been attributed to increase in the gene expression of antioxidant enzymes or increase in mRNA stability through the feature of free radical elimination [8]. The medical part of milk thistle (silybum marianum), with the therapeutic silymarin, is beneficial in reducing blood cholesterol. The leaves of this plant contain a bitter and tonic substance, which is used to treat loss of appetite and digestive disorders. A substance called glutathione in this plant plays a major role in liver detoxification. Silymarin consists of a group of elements called flavonoid-lignan. There is also a new form of milk thistle called silymarin-phosphatidylcholine complex, which is absorbed better than standard milk thistle. In clinical trials, this new drug alone has done better than silymarin in the treatment of liver disorders [2-6]. Studies have shown that silymarin antioxidant effects protect liver cells [7]. Many studies have been conducted on in vitro effects of silymarin on different types of cells, which reveal anti-cancer and antioxidant effects of this plant extract [9-11]. Antioxidants such as silymarin and quercetin stabilize the membrane gangliosides and thus make biological membranes durable and increase cell viability. The carcinogenic agents such as arsenic make skin cells malignant and induce oxidative stress but silymarin somewhat tackles both phenomena [12]. Despite ample information on favorable effects of medicinal plant extracts in diet of livestock, poultry and aquaculture as well as commercial applications of these compounds in animal feed industry. There is still no comprehensive information about the possibility of using these compounds to reduce the adverse effects of emerging toxins in nature and aquatic ecosystems as well as in the body of aquatics particularly through contamination of food chains. However, several studies have been conducted on the protective effects of antioxidant compounds on the health of various species exposed to conventional pesticides in agriculture as well as some organic compounds [12]. This study aims to evaluate the oral administration of gold nanoparticles and silymarin in laboratory mice with an emphasis on oxidative stress factors and, therefore, it can be used to inform and alarm people working in industries and research laboratories related to the production/research of/on nanomaterials and people who are exposed to nanomaterials.
Nanoparticle characterization
AUCL4 was used as a precursor for the synthesis of gold colloid. Gold ions in the resulted solution were restored by citrate and the suspension of gold nanoparticles was produced. The size of gold particles in the colloid was measured by X-ray diffraction device and controlled by TEM microscope (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The microscopic picture of spherical gold nanoparticles with a diameter of 10 nm.
Adult male Wistar rats were used for the experiments. Thirtytwo 8-week-old rats weighing 250-350 g were purchased from Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences and were divided into 4 groups of 8 animals (1 control and 3 experimental groups). They were put in polypropylene cages at the animal kennel in biotechnology department. The floor of the cages was covered with sawdust. The animals were kept under controlled conditions of about 22 ± 1°C temperature and 60 ± 10% humidity with easy access to water and nutritionally complete concentrated food. All the rats were kept for 4 weeks (28 days) before the experiments in animal nests with the same environmental conditions in order to get familiar with the environment in terms of adaptation and diet. Mice in each group were identified by signs and were fed intraperitoneally for 28 days. All animal experiments were performed in accordance with the ethics committee rules. We obtained the approval letter No. 13930126 from ethics committee against the present animal study.
Experimental groups
In this experiment, 32 rats were divided into four groups, including a control group, which received saline, a group receiving 100 ppm gold nanoparticles, a group receiving 200 mg/kg silymarin, and a group receiving both gold nanoparticles and silymarin for 28 consecutive days through 0.5 cc intraperitoneal injections.
Preparation of tissue homogenates
Specimens from each organ were separated into three parts. Each part was weighted and homogenized separately with a potter- Elvenhjem tissue homogenizer. One part was homogenized in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) 50 mM pH (7.4) for estimation of CAT enzymes activities and level, the second was homogenized in potassium phosphate buffer 10 mM pH (7.4) for estimation of MDA, PCO levels and GPx activity. The crude tissue homogenate was centrifuged at 10,000 rpm, for 15 minutes in cold centrifuge, and the resultant supernatant was used for the different estimations. Protein content in tissue homogenate was measured according to the method of Lowry et al. [13].
This method depends on the formation of MDA as an end product of lipid peroxidation which reacts with thiobarbituric acid producing thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), a pink chromogen, which can be measured spectrophotometrically at 532 nm, an MDA standard was used to construct a standard curve against which readings of the samples were plotted [14].
CAT (EC 1.11.1.6) activity was measured according to Clairbone (1985). The method is based on the direct measurement of the decrease in absorbance at 240 nm (ε240 nm=43.6 M-1 cm-1) due to H2O2 consumption by CAT. To optimize the assay conditions, relatively low H2O2 concentration was used. Assays were carried out in 50 mM Kphosphate buffer, pH 7.0, with 10 mM H2O2 at 25°C. In this work, CAT specific activity was expressed as units of CAT by mg of protein of enzymatic preparation. One CAT unit was defined as the mmol of H2O2 consumed per min.
The activity of GPx was evaluated with GPx detection kit according to the manufacturer's instructions. GPx catalyses the oxidation of glutathione (GSH) by cumene hydro-peroxide. In the presence of glutathione reductase (GR) and NADPH, the oxidized glutathione (GSSG) is immediately converted to the reduced form with a concomitant oxidation of NADPH to NADP+. The decrease in absorbance was measured spectrophotometrically (S2000 UV model; WPA, Cambridge, UK) against blank at 340 nm. One unit (U) of GPx was defined as mmol of oxidized NADPH per min per mg of tissue protein. The GPx activity was expressed as milliunit per mg of protein (mU/mg) 1 protein).
The data obtained from the spectrophotometer was saved using SPSS and then transferred to Excel and edited if necessary. Then the parameters in the injection method (MDA concentration and the activity of CAT and GPX) were extracted and the data obtained from ANOVA table was taken out of the SPSS and recorded in the Excel. The results were expressed as mean and standard deviation. Given the normal distribution of data, repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare enzyme results in each group before and after the trial; ANOVA and Bonferroni tests were used to compare the groups in any time periods and then the frequency table was drawn. The level of significance was considered to be less than 0.05.
Comparing the average concentration of malondialdehyde
The effect of different concentrations of gold nanoparticles and silymarin after 28 days of intraperitoneal injection on the specified parameters in rats was compared in terms of observed averages in control and test groups. The basic statistical model was developed which included gold nanoparticles, silymarin variables and within-group concentrations. After determining the basic model, the overall averages of different concentrations of nanoparticles and silymarin were compared and it was determined whether there were significant differences between them. In line with this, statistical data were examined to determine which concentrations of gold nanoparticles show a significant difference with the control.
According to Table 1, MDA level in the group receiving nanoparticles has increased compared to the control group; it has significantly decreased in the group receiving silymarin. In the group receiving both gold nanoparticles and silymarin, MDA level has significantly decreased compared to the group receiving gold nanoparticles but it has increased compared to the control (Figure 2). This indicates that silymarin solution reduces the effects of gold nanoparticles and has antioxidant effects. MDA is produced by membrane lipid oxidation caused by a strong oxidizing agent.
MDA(nmol/ml)
Control 8 3.85 1.43 0.50
Nanoparticles 8 6.33 1.45 0.51 0.004**
Silymarin 8 1.50 0.32 0.11 0.006**
Nanoparticles + Silymarin 8 4.25 1.52 0.53 0.018##
**Compared with the control group
##Compared with the silymarin group.
Table 1: Comparison of average concentrations of MDA in injected nanoparticles and silymarin solution in Wistar rats.
Figure 2: Comparison of average concentrations of MDA in injected nanoparticles and silymarin solution in Wistar rats.
Comparing the average activity of catalase
According to Table 2, catalase activity in the group receiving nanoparticles has decreased compared to the control group; it has significantly increased in the group receiving silymarin. In the group receiving both, gold nanoparticles and silymarin, catalase activity has significantly increased compared to the group receiving gold nanoparticles but it has decreased compared to the control (Figure 3). This indicates that silymarin solution reduces the effects of gold nanoparticles and has antioxidant effects.
CAT(U/mgpr)
Control 8 73.38 14.55 5.14
Nanoparticles 8 53.20 5.17 1.82 0.019**
Silymarin 8 95.73 14.30 5.05 0.008**
Nanoparticles + Silymarin 8 71.26 13.41 4.74 0.044##
##Compared with the silymarin group
Table 2: Comparison of average catalase activity in injected nanoparticles and silymarin solution in Wistar rats.
Figure 3: Comparison of average catalase activity in injected nanoparticles and silymarin solution in Wistar rats.
Comparing the average activity of glutathione peroxidase
According to Table 3, glutathione peroxidase activity in the group receiving nanoparticles has decreased compared to the control group; it has significantly increased in the group receiving silymarin. In the group receiving both gold nanoparticles and silymarin, glutathione peroxidase activity has significantly increased compared to the group receiving gold nanoparticles but it has decreased compared to the control (Figure 4). This indicates that silymarin solution reduces the effects of gold nanoparticles and has antioxidant effects.
GPX(U/mgpr)
Control 8 38.12 6.32 2.23
Silymarin 8 47.47 3.73 1.32 0.007**
Nanoparticles+Silymarin 8 34.15 4.69 1.66 0.027##
**Compared with the control group; ##Compared with the silymarin group
Table 3: Comparison of average activity of glutathione peroxidase in injected nanoparticles and silymarin solution in Wistar rats.
Figure 4: Comparison of average activity of glutathione peroxidase in injected nanoparticles and silymarin solution in Wistar rats.
Numerous experimental and clinical studies have shown that administration of antioxidants such as alpha lipoic acid in animal diabetes model eliminates oxygen free radicals and, therefore, increases insulin sensitivity [14]. Although the mechanism of action of silymarin and its active ingredient that lowers blood sugar is not clear, several studies have reported the efficacy of silymarin in protecting pancreas cells and preventing metabolic disorders induced by high glucose [15]. However, several mechanisms of action have been proposed for the therapeutic effect of silymarin including silymarin's antioxidant properties, increasing the concentration of cells and blood glutathione and stabilizing the cell membrane [15]; in this study, also, the effect of silymarin was to reduce oxidative stress and increase glutathione peroxidase. While the mechanism of action of silymarin in reducing blood glucose and lipids is unclear, one study has suggested that this effect is due to the reduction of lipoperoxidation and insulin resistance [15]. Silymarin eliminates oxygen free radicals such as hydroxyl anions, phenoxy radicals, and hypochlorous acid in various model systems such as platelets, fibroblasts, liver microsomes and mitochondria and inhibits oxidative stress [13]. Preventing lipid peroxidation and modifying the level of glutathione, silymarin also has the ability to protect neurons against oxidative stress [13]. Silymarin affects cell membrane by eliminating free radicals and iron buffer [13]. In type I diabetes, reduction of antioxidants and increased production of lipid peroxidation depend on the degree of blood glucose level control [13]. Silymarin also prevents depletion of glutathione and even increases its level, induces superoxide dismutase and inhibits 5-lipo-oxygenase thus preventing lipid peroxidation and production of ROS [16]. In this way, it can prevent liver, kidney, heart and brain injuries. In line with this, its efficacy in models of reduced blood and oxygen supply to tissues has been confirmed [16]. Studies on the effects of silymarin on cell survival have concluded that silymarin prevents PC12 cell apoptosis by strengthening the action of NGF. Free radicals such as superoxide, hydroxyl radicals (•OH) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) radicals caused by lipid peroxidation can cause damage to the nervous tissue and, as a result, lead to neurodegenerative diseases including epilepsy, schizophrenia, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's [16]. One or more antioxidants in milk thistle extract are responsible for the neuroprotective effect. The powerful antioxidant activity of silymarin increases cellular glutathione and stimulates the production of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and catalase (CAT) in rats' brain [17]. In this study, the same silymarin characteristics were confirmed. Oxidative stress in humans is caused by antioxidant imbalance, which, in most cases, will ultimately lead to oxidative damage. It appears that reactive oxygen species are produced in all tissues through different mechanisms. Nanotechnology researchers are familiar with a wide range of nanoparticle applications that may be much effective in medicine including prevention and treatment of diseases and drug production. Germicidal property of silver rises to more than 99% in nanoscale, which affects metabolism, respiration and reproduction of microorganisms. So far, this nanoparticle has destroyed more than 650 types of bacteria [18]. Silver nanoparticles are one of the strongest antibacterial and anti-fungal materials, but there is concern that excessive use of this material is a potential threat to ecosystems, human life, and other organisms. One of the most common effects of long-term exposure to silver is irreversible pigmentation in the skin or eyes [19]. Zinc and Copper are among the most important microelements that are involved in oxygen metabolism and biochemical reactions or redox. Zinc is one of the auxiliary agents of superoxide dismutase [20], which brings about simultaneous superoxide oxidation and reduction (because of aerobic metabolism) and converts it to oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. In addition to being a cofactor for SOD by the induction of response to stress signals, zinc plays a role in coping with oxidative stress [20]. Zinc oxide nanoparticles are able to protect the integrated structure of cell membrane against oxidative damage caused by free radicals, increase antioxidant enzyme levels and reduce malondialdehyde level [20]. In this study, gold nanoparticles increased the production of free radicals. In a study on the effect of 2.5 mg/kg intraperitoneal injection of gold nanoparticles to mice, researchers concluded that gold nanoparticles decrease catalase and glutathione peroxidase in healthy and diabetic mice [21]. A large number of in vitro studies have shown the toxicity of zinc oxide. For example, in one study it was demonstrated that zinc oxide nanoparticles in the medium lead to the production of ROS and subsequently cause oxidative damage, inflammation and cell death, as well as decomposition of zinc oxide in cell culture medium. Also, intracellular ROS is significantly associated with lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels. The elevated LDH level and cell death is consistent with the results of this study. Research on antibacterial effects of zinc oxide and the measurement of zinc oxide spin resonance indicated that aqueous suspension of zinc oxide nanoparticles induce the production and increased activity of ROS and a significant increase of oxidative stress [22]. Observations of this research in terms of cellular damage correspond with the above study. Platinum nanoparticles inhibited pulmonary inflammation by reducing oxidative stress caused by smoking. This indicates its antioxidant properties, which reduce oxidative stress and lower blood sugar [22]. Melatonin-selenium nanoparticles (MT-Se) have antioxidant effect and lower blood sugar in diabetic rat [23]. The effect of magnesium oxide nanoparticles on Wistar rats showed that they increase oxidative stress by reducing antioxidant capacity in mice and causes acute toxicity by reducing superoxide dismutase and catalase [24]. The results of this study are consistent with these results. Silver nanoparticles in 100 and 200 ppm doses increase catalase; higher doses will lead to higher levels of this enzyme. Therefore, researchers have concluded that silver nanoparticles reduce oxidative stress and induce antioxidant enzymes [25]. Copper oxide nanoparticles at a dose of less than 50 nm decreased superoxide dismutase and catalase; the damage became severe after a day and a week following intra-pulmonary injection [26]. The researchers have shown that copper oxide nanoparticles increase the secretion of superoxide dismutase and catalase [27]. Oxidative stress increases when nanoparticle toxicity rises. Increased production of ROS and increased oxidative stress can be one of the symptoms of nanoparticle toxicity [27].
The results of this study suggest that silymarin decreases the toxicity induced by gold nanoparticle in diabetic rats and can be considered further in clinical applications.
We would like to thank all those who supported us in doing this research.
This article was extracted from the thesis of Amin Ahmadzadeh and the expenses of this research were paid by the corresponding author.
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
A.A conceived the project, revised the manuscript and the biological experiment and performed the experiments of nanoparticle assembly and in vitro tests, and designed the experiment. S.R has done the statistical analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Availability of Data and Materials Section
The datasets supporting the conclusions of this article are included within the article and its additional files. Data will not be shared through a general repository due to very large size of microscopy data.
The authors hereby give their consent for the publication of this article.
Ntshalintshali SD, Manzini TC. Paraquat poisoning: Acute lung injury - a missed diagnosis. S Afr Med J 2017; 107: 399-401.
Goli-malekabadi N, Asgary S, Rashidi B, Rafieian-Kopaei M, Ghannadian M, Hajian S, Sahebkar A. The protective effects of Ziziphus vulgaris L. fruits on biochemical and histological abnormalities induced by diabetes in rats. J Complement Integr Med 2014; 11: 171-177.
Ebrahimpour Koujan S, Gargari BP, Mobasseri M, Valizadeh H, Asghari-Jafarabadi M. Effects of Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. (silymarin) extract supplementation on antioxidant status and hs-CRP in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytomedicine 2015; 22: 290-296.
Di Pierro F, Putignano P, Villanova N, Montesi L, Moscatiello S, Marchesini G. Preliminary study about the possible glycemic clinical advantage in using a fixed combination of Berberis aristata and Silybum marianum standardized extracts versus only Berberis aristata in patients with type 2 diabetes. Clinic Pharmacol 2013; 19: 167-174.
Sherif IO, Al-Gayyar MM. Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects of silymarin on hepatic dysfunction induced by sodium nitrite. Eur Cytokine Netw 2013; 24: 114-121.
Brace EC, Engelberth AS. Enhancing silymarin fractionation using the conductor-like screening model for real solvents. J Chromatogr A 2017; 1487: 187-193.
Xiao L, Xue Y, Zhang C. The involvement of multidrug and toxin extrusion protein 1 in the distribution and excretion of berberine. Xenobiotica 2017.
Cicero AF, Baggioni A. Berberine and Its Role in Chronic Disease. Adv Exp Med Biol 2016; 928: 27-45.
Abd El-Wahab AE, Ghareeb DA, Sarhan EE, Abu-Serie MM, El Demellawy MA. In vitro biological assessment of Berberis vulgaris and its active constituent, berberine: antioxidants, anti-acetylcholinesterase, anti-diabetic. BMC Complement Altern Med 2013; 13: 218.
Zhao L, Sun LN, Nie HB, Wang XL, Guan GJ. Berberine improves kidney function in diabetic mice via AMPK activation. PLoS One 2014; 9: e113398.
Yurtcu E, Darcansoy Iseri O, Iffet Sahin F. Effects of silymarin and silymarin-doxorubicin applications on telomerase activity of human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2. J BUON 2015; 20: 555-61.
Piazzini V, Rosseti C, Bigagli E, Luceri C, Bilia AR, Bergonzi MC. Prediction of Permeation and Cellular Transport of Silybum marianum Extract Formulated in a Nanoemulsion by Using PAMPA and Caco-2 Cell Models. Planta Med 2017.
Kamel RO. Interactions between mefloquine and the anti-fibrotic drug silymarin on Schistosoma mansoni infections in mice. J Helminthol 2016; 90: 760-765.
Soto C, Pérez J, García V, Uría E, Vadillo M. Effect of silymarin on kidneys of rats suffering from alloxan-induced diabetes mellitus. Phytomedicine 2010; 17: 1090-1094.
Momeny M, Ghasemi R, Valenti G, Miranda M, Zekri A, Zarrinrad G, Javadikooshesh S, Yaghmaie M, Alimoghaddam K, Ghavamzadeh A, Ghaffari SH. Effects of silibinin on growth and invasive properties of human ovarian carcinoma cells through suppression of heregulin/HER3 pathway. Tumour Biol 2016 37: 3913-3923.
Avci H, Epikmen ET, Ipek E, Tunca R, Birincioglu SS, Aksit H, Sekkin S, Akkoç AN, Boyacioglu M. Protective effects of silymarin and curcumin on cyclophosphamide-induced cardiotoxicity. Exp Toxicol Pathol 2017; 0940: 30090-30098.
Song X, Zhou B, Zhang P, Lei D, Wang Y, Yao G, Hayashi T, Xia M, Tashiro S, Onodera S, Ikejima T. Protective Effect of Silibinin on Learning and Memory Impairment in LPS-Treated Rats via ROS-BDNF-TrkB Pathway. Neurochem Res 2016; 41: 1662-1672.
McArdle H, Jimenez-Mateos EM, Raoof R, Carthy E, Boyle D, ElNaggar H, Delanty N, Hamer H, Dogan M, Huchtemann T, K'rtvelyessy P, Rosenow F, Forster RJ, Henshall DC, Spain E. TORNADO - Theranostic One-Step RNA Detector; microfluidic disc for the direct detection of microRNA-134 in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. Sci Rep 2017; 7: 1750.
Hamzian N, Hashemi M, Ghorbani M, Bahreyni Toosi MH, Ramezani M. Preparation, Optimization and Toxicity Evaluation of (SPION-PLGA) ±PEG Nanoparticles Loaded with Gemcitabine as a Multifunctional Nanoparticle for Therapeutic and Diagnostic Applications. Iran J Pharm Res 2017; 16: 8-21.
Dowding JM, Song W, Bossy K, Karakoti A, Kumar A, Kim A, Bossy B, Seal S, Ellisman MH, Perkins G, Self WT, Bossy-Wetzel E. Cerium oxide nanoparticles protect against Aß-induced mitochondrial fragmentation and neuronal cell death. Cell Death Differ 2014; 21: 1622-1632.
Selim ME, Hendi AA, Alfallaj E. The possible counteractive effect of gold nanoparticles against streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes in young male albino rats. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2016 May;29(3):823-36.
Jiménez Pérez ZE, Mathiyalagan R, Markus J, Kim YJ, Kang HM, Abbai R, Seo KH, Wang D, Soshnikova V, Yang DC. Ginseng-berry-mediated gold and silver nanoparticle synthesis and evaluation of their in vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxicity effects on human dermal fibroblast and murine melanoma skin cell lines. Int J Nanomedicine 2017; 12: 709-723.
Jiang HS, Yin LY, Ren NN, Zhao ST, Li Z, Zhi Y, Shao H, Li W, Gontero B. Silver nanoparticles induced reactive oxygen species via photosynthetic energy transport imbalance in an aquatic plant. Nanotoxicology 2017;11: 157-167.
Kiranmai G, Reddy AR. Antioxidant status in MgO nanoparticle-exposed rats. See comment in PubMed Commons below Toxicol Ind Health 2013; 29: 897-903.
Rónavári A, Kovács D, Igaz N, Vágvölgyi C, Boros IM, Kónya Z, Pfeiffer I, Kiricsi M. Biological activity of green-synthesized silver nanoparticles depends on the applied natural extracts: a comprehensive study. Int J Nanomedicine 2017; 12: 871-883.
Sandhya rani V, Kishorekumar A, Chpradeepkumar A, Ram NR. Pulmonary toxicity of copper oxid (CuO) nanoparticles in rat. J Me Sci 2012; 13: 571-577.
Liu Z, Liu S, Ren G, Zhang T, Yang Z. Nano-CuO inhibited voltage-gated sodium current of hippocampal CA1 neurons via reactive oxygen species but independent from G-proteins pathway. J Appl Toxicol 2011; 31: 439-445.


text:
Q: Container's clipped children not visible on scrolling
I have a VBox inside a Canvas. The 'red bars' are custom components based on 'Canvas'. All red bars are of equal height. I have 20 red bars inside the VBox. The scrollbars visible in the screenshot are the Canvas's scrollbars. The scrollbars of the VBox are disabled using verticalScrollPolicy = off.
Without scrolling, only 16 red bars (and a part of the 17th bar) are visible. However, when I scroll down the Canvas I expect to see the remaining red bars - but the bars that are not visible when the application starts don't get 'drawn'. What am I doing wrong? I want the user to be able to see the 17th - 20th bars when the Canvas is scrolled down.
INITIAL VIEW
Before scrolling
AFTER SCROLLING DOWN
After scrolling
Also note, that after scrolling, the last red bar isn't completely drawn either.
Thanks in advance for your time!

A: Ah. My bad. The VBox's height was explicitly set to the height of the Canvas. So this behaviour was expected. And since the VBox's scrollbars were disabled, its content (which was actually drawn, but not visible) could not be seen.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
PZL I-22 Iryda, PZL M93 Iryda, PZL M96 Iryda je reaktivno šolsko vojaško letalo poljskega proizvajalca PZL Mielec (takrat WSK-Mielec). Prvi prototip je poletel 3. marca 1985.

Projekt so zaradi cene in drugih težav v 1990ih preklicali.

Specifikacije (M93K)

Glej tudi
Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet
Aero L-39 Albatros
BAE Hawk
Soko G-4 Super Galeb

Sklici

Letala PZL
Šolska vojaška letala

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Amid a slack in demand due to weak economic growth, PC sales in India grew by 4.8 per cent annually last year to 11.5 million units on the back of special projects by various state governments, research firm IDC today said.
However, the market research firm projects 2014 sales to decline on account delay in public sector spending and no big announcements around education projects.
In 2013, the commercial PC segment hit a high of 6.7 million units in 2013, with a year-on-year growth of 15.8 per cent over 2012.
"However, outside special projects, demand conditions have worsened in the course of the year and sentiments remain largely subdued owing to multiple factors including the sharp devaluation of rupee, weak economic growth, slowdown in new hiring mixed with layoff fears in large enterprises," IDC market analyst Manish Yadav said in a statement.
There was a lot of uncertainty amongst investors and businesses and buying decisions were noted to be typically stretched over 2-3 quarters, he added.
"The overall consumer PC market recorded 4.8 million units, a year-on-year drop of 7.4 per cent over 2012. The soaring consumer inflation tightened up the discretionary spending for consumers," IDC Research Manager Kiran Kumar said.
Further shift in share of wallet towards smartphones and tablets have led the demand trends to be adverse, Kumar added.
For 2014, IDC expects the decline in overall PC market to be steep, primarily in the commercial PC segment.
"With general elections around the corner, the focus is expected to be on populist measure and hence, buying decisions in state-owned organisations and e-governance projects is expected to be much delayed," Yadav said.
On the consumer segment, the shift of mobile platform will continue and consumers will continue to drift towards phone and tablets, Kumar said.
HP topped the list with a share of 28.5 per cent of the India PC market in 2013, helped by execution of the largest education deal by the UP government. In consumer PC segment, it had a share of 19.5 per cent.
Dell, at the second spot, had a share of 13.2 per cent with a year-on-year growth of 5.7 per cent in volumes.
Lenovo saw strong placement in the enterprise and all-in -one desktop category. It had a market share of 12.2 per cent in 2013.
In the October-December 2013 quarter, PC shipment stood at 2.03 million, a 37 per cent over Q3 2013 and a year-on-year decline of 19 per cent over Q4 2012.


text:
template <unsigned MinBits, unsigned MaxBits, boost::multiprecision::cpp_integer_type SignType, class Allocator, boost::multiprecision::expression_template_option ET>
struct is_checked_cpp_int<boost::multiprecision::number<boost::multiprecision::cpp_int_backend<MinBits, MaxBits, SignType, boost::multiprecision::checked, Allocator>, ET> > : public std::integral_constant<bool, true>
{};

template <unsigned MinBits, unsigned MaxBits, boost::multiprecision::cpp_integer_type SignType, class Allocator, boost::multiprecision::expression_template_option ExpressionTemplates>
struct is_twos_complement_integer<boost::multiprecision::number<boost::multiprecision::cpp_int_backend<MinBits, MaxBits, SignType, boost::multiprecision::checked, Allocator>, ExpressionTemplates> > : public std::integral_constant<bool, false>
{};

template <>
struct related_type<boost::multiprecision::cpp_int>
{
   typedef boost::multiprecision::int256_t type;
};
template <unsigned MinBits, unsigned MaxBits, boost::multiprecision::cpp_integer_type SignType, boost::multiprecision::cpp_int_check_type Checked, class Allocator, boost::multiprecision::expression_template_option ET>
struct related_type<boost::multiprecision::number<boost::multiprecision::cpp_int_backend<MinBits, MaxBits, SignType, Checked, Allocator>, ET> >
{
   typedef boost::multiprecision::number<boost::multiprecision::cpp_int_backend<MinBits / 2, MaxBits / 2, SignType, Checked, Allocator>, ET> type;
};

int main()
{
   test<boost::multiprecision::number<boost::multiprecision::cpp_int_backend<64, 64, boost::multiprecision::signed_magnitude, boost::multiprecision::unchecked, void> > >();
   return boost::report_errors();
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Pyramid Gallery is a privately owned shop and gallery in the heart of medieval York, close to The Minster. Established in 1982, Pyramid offers one of the country's finest selections of British made contemporary crafts, jewellery and original prints. Pyramid Gallery is currently owned and managed by Terry Brett who took over the business in 1994, initially with his partner Elaine Brett.
Take a GOOGLE 360 interactive tour
Selected in 1990 for Quality by the Crafts Council, the gallery displays work by many leading designers and makers who work in Glass, Ceramics, Wood and Metal as well as work by designer jewellers. One of the conditions of the Crafts Council selection was that items offered for sale were made in the UK. Whilst the Crafts Council has discontinued the selection of individual businesses, Pyramid Gallery has maintained the principle of showing and stocking work from UK based designers and makers. The only exceptions to this are a handful of British makers who have moved to France and some artists who have an element of their work made abroad. An example would be some bronze artists who might work with foundries located in the Far East. Please ask about specific makers.
On two floors of a National Trust owned fifteenth century building, the work of up to 150 British craft makers and artists may be viewed and purchased. Displays are constantly changing and the two first floor galleries are used for regular exhibitions of which details may be viewed on this web site.
Mon to Fri 10am until 5 pm
Saturday 10 am until 5.30pm
SUNDAY 12.30pm until 4.30pm. But please check by texting the number below
Please text Terry on 07805 029 254 to check a specific Sunday opening.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Yep, it's a unicorn party, complete with free glitter and UNICORN-LED CARRIAGES. The Magical Unicorn Party will be at Toy Joy on Sunday, Jan. 12 from 3 – 5 pm.
Kids and adults are invited to wear their royal attire and take advantage of 10 percent off prices of ALL Unicorn related merchandise, including the popular Toki Doki characters, unicorn farts, plastic unicorns and unicorn bandages. Free glitter will be handed out for you to toss around freely so you can be all sparkly for Princess Photos!
Unicorns will arrive at 4 pm! Anjeli Carriages are bringing two unicorn-led carriages for families to enjoy. A carriage ride is just $2, and pictures with the unicorns are free. Eeeek!
Parking at City Hall parking garage is free until 5 pm and street parking is free on Sunday.


Frogs Badass Wallpaper– This is certainly one of Great Ultra HD Frogs Wallpaper,you can find on the net posted by Julian Trantow on January, 13 2016. You can use these Frogs Badass Wallpaper for your own Desktops Device.
Great Frogs Badass Wallpaper for Notebook Device.
Beautiful Frogs Badass Wallpaper for Tablets Device.
Amazing Frogs Badass Wallpaper for Apple IPhone Device.
Related Posts of "Frogs Badass Wallpaper"


text:
Q: x axis label in plot overlaps I plot a time series graph of search volume on the word "shopping" which is deseasonalized over the period of January 2004 to December 2014. However the dates on my x axis shows all the months I have for my data and it overlaps which looks messy. How can I convert this into only the years that are shown?
This is my code:
ggplot(data=mergeddata, aes(x=Date, y=ShoppingDeseason, group=1)) +
  geom_line(colour="red", size=1) + xlab("Date [Year]") +
  ylab("ShoppingDeseason [SearchVolume]") +
  ggtitle("Search Volume on Shopping from 2004 to 2014") +
  theme(axis.text.x=element_text(size=20,angle=90, face="bold"),
        axis.text.y=element_text(size=20, face="bold"),
        axis.title=element_text(size=22,face="bold"))

A: Try to use scale_x_date():
# Generate Random data
mergeddata <- data.frame(Date = seq(as.Date('2004-01-01'),as.Date('2014-12-31'),by = "month"),
                         ShoppingDeseason = sample(20, 132, replace=TRUE))

ggplot(data=mergeddata, aes(x=Date, y=ShoppingDeseason, group=1)) +
  geom_line(colour="red", size=1) + xlab("Date [Year]") +
  ylab("ShoppingDeseason [SearchVolume]") +
  ggtitle("Search Volume on Shopping from 2004 to 2014") +
  theme(axis.text.x=element_text(size=20,angle=90, face="bold"),
        axis.text.y=element_text(size=20, face="bold"),
        axis.title=element_text(size=22,face="bold")) +
  scale_x_date(labels = date_format("%Y"), breaks = date_breaks("year"))


Elecosoft Sweden awarded the "Sustainable company of the year" at this year's Alvargala in Sweden (Skellefteå). The recent development of the Bidcon climate module for the estimation of carbon footprint is the main driver behind winning the award.
Andreas Forsfjäll, Product Manager for Bidcon said,"We are about to release version nr 2 of the climate module in Sweden, where we have continued to develop an improved database for calculating carbon footprint. Therefore, it feels great to be recognized for the investment we are making in Bidcon and climate module".


"Pieces with advanced technology do well: G-Shock, Tissot, Suunto. In Florida, people want a durable watch. The G-Shock has a classic look that can be worn in the office if you're known for your adventurous spirit." —Katie Wudel, managing editor of Our Minutes, the digital publication for Tourneau, in Aventura, Bal Harbour and Coral Gables.


text:
Inuit is de naam waarmee de Eskimo's van Canada en Groenland zichzelf aanduiden. Het woord inuit is het meervoud van inuk, dat mens of echte mens betekent in het Inuktitut.

Het woord Inuit wordt ook gebruikt als alternatief voor de benaming Eskimo, omdat die term door sommige Inuit als beledigend wordt beschouwd. De Inuit Circumpolar Conference van 1977 in Barrow (Alaska) besloot om als overkoepelende term het woord Eskimo te vervangen door Inuit, ongeacht welke plaatselijke namen in gebruik zijn en ook voor minderheden die er niet toe behoren, zoals de nauw met de Inuit verwante Joepiken. Dit advies wordt in het Nederlands niet algemeen gevolgd. De Joepiken zien zichzelf liever aangeduid als Eskimo. In Nederland behartigt de Stichting Arctic Peoples Alert de belangen van de Inuit.

Gebied
De Groenlandse Inuit wonen langs de kusten van het eiland Groenland. De Canadese Inuit leven vooral in het noorden en noordoosten van het land. Het betreft met name Nunavut en de Northwest Territories, met daarnaast de regio Nunavik in het noorden van Quebec en de regio's Nunatsiavut en NunatuKavut in Labrador.

Cultuur
De Inuit spreken verschillende talen van de Eskimo-Aleoetische taalgroep (de Inuittalen), waarvan Inuktitut in Canada en het Groenlands het meest gesproken worden. De Inuittalen zijn agglutinerend van aard: de inhoud van een gehele zin wordt vaak gegeven in de vorm van één, complex woord. In Groenland is het Groenlands niet alleen ambtstaal, maar tevens de enige taal die het grootste deel van de bevolking leert. De Inuit kennen geen literaire traditie, wel bezitten zij een rijke schat aan mondeling overgeleverde mythen en verhalen, de Inuitmythologie. De Inuit spreken verschillende talen, die niet allemaal onderling verstaanbaar zijn. Het Groenlands is in Groenland naast het Deens de officiële taal, terwijl de Canadese Inuittalen in Canada hooguit als regionale talen erkend worden. Deze talen hebben vaak slechts enkele duizenden sprekers. De Inuit zijn erg gastvrij en onder alle omstandigheden bedienen zij hun gasten. Ze hebben hun eigen keuken. Het meest gegeten wordt vis en zeehondenvlees.

Bibliografie
 Giulia Bogliolo Bruna, Apparences trompeuses. Sananguaq. Au coeur de la pensée inuit, (Préface J. Malaurie, Postface R. Santoni), Yvelinédition, coll. Latitude Humaine, Montihny-le-Bretonneux, 2007.

Nunavut
Cultuur in Groenland


University of Sydney undergraduate students were recognised as the most employable of any Australian university, during last week's GradConnection awards.
The University of Sydney was announced as the winner of the GradConnection Top100 Most Employable Students Award at a special ceremony on 9 February.
The award comes as the University prepares to strengthen its offerings even further with the Sydney Undergraduate Experience to be launched in 2018.
"All students enrolled in a three-year Bachelor degree will have the option to earn a four-year combined degree by adding a Bachelor of Advanced Studies. This won't be compulsory, but we are certain that by 2020 it will be the popular option for most students", said Professor Pip Pattison, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education).
As part of the new Sydney Undergraduate Experience, every student will be able to build expertise in a second field that can be chosen from across the full breadth of the University's offerings.
Established in 2014, the Top100 GradConnection Future Leaders national competition acknowledges Australia's leading tertiary graduates and students.
Final year students from the University of Sydney were selected among the thousands of applications from across Australia as the winners in a number of categories.
Special congratulations go to our three outstanding students who won individual awards for their accomplishments.
Currently studying a Master of Economic Analysis in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Xueting said the award will help her build more confidence and provide powerful encouragement for her to pursue her higher career goals.
"I hope I can share my stories and experiences with more international students, especially those who are female," she said.
Why we're transforming our undergraduate offerings.
Fourth year Bachelor of Commerce/Law student at the University of Sydney Business School and University of Sydney Law School, Jasmin believes future leaders need to be resilient and ready to tackle challenges head on.
"The programs offered by the Business and Law Schools are transforming students like me into real, employable graduates with leadership attributes and a legitimate passion to make a difference," she said.
"I could not think of a better course to be in," said Colleen O'Connor.
Presently studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical – Telecommunications), in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies, Colleen is thankful for the knowledge and skillset she has accrued through her studies.
Thirteen University of Sydney finalists contested ten of the award categories, the largest representation of any Australian university.
These days, more than ever, having a university education isn't the only thing that'll land you your dream job. We spoke to employers to get their top tips on the employability skills you should have.


Felix Gaming is a smaller iGaming software development company with around 10 online slots.
The company was founded in Bulgaria in 2017 after three friends shared a coffee and came up with a plan – it just so happened they all had worked in the land-based slots industry for 15 years.
The company claims the missing element in a successful online slot is "feedback from players" and has vowed to continue accepting both criticism and compliments in a constructive manner.
Felix Gaming's slots are innovative and well-structured and have a good reputation in the iGaming industry; they are used by leading online casinos such as Slots Million and Nordic Casino. In total they have 10 different online casinos stocking their games.
Because Felix Gaming allows its games to be played at online casinos that serve markets such as the USA and Australia, there are few details about the company or the names behind it, although the general consensus is they are based in the UK.


Join us on our adventure of North Hill and step into spaces you've never experienced before. Enjoy the Hibernian Club bar, the Italian Club pasta, the Himalayan Music Academy, the shuffleboard courts of Water's Park, and the North Hill Farmer's Market. We'll park at the North Hill Branch Library, and the trolley will transport us to Waters Park.
Accessibility: bike friendly, strollers welcomed, pets welcomed, kid friendly. Waters Park is up a series of steps atop a hill. Total walk is 0.7 miles.
RSVP for the free event by following the Eventbrite page.


text:
NFL Player Nick Foles Gives God The Glory During Question About His Injury
When asked about his broken collarbone in week one, NFL Quarterback Nick Foles used that opportunity to give glory to God.
It was not what Foles or any player would have wanted especially before the start of the first season as a Jacksonville Jaguar, but he said that he didn't want to lose his joy because of it.
Foles had just signed a four-year contract worth $88 million in the offseason, and moved out of the shadow of Carson Wentz in Philadelphia to a team where he have a full-time starter, but found himself in the same situation as before where he had to watch from the sidelines as another quarterback had success.
Gardner Minshew, exploded onto the scene when he replaced Foles, averaging over 250 yards passing without throwing a single interception in his first four starts. It seemed that Minshew's awesome performance would cement his place in the team and Foles would be kept out, but as in the case of Quarterbacks, Minshew's completion percentage slipped and turnovers became more frequent.
Jaguars coach, Doug Marrone announced that Foles would return as starter for the team's Week 11 game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. And at a news conference, Foles was asked how it felt to be sidelined for the first part of the season. He said, "Right when I felt this thing breaking," of his injury, "I was going into the locker room, I just realized, 'God, this wasn't exactly what I was thinking when I came to Jacksonville.' … But at the end of the day, I said, 'God, if this is the journey you want me to go on, I'm going to glorify you in every action, good or bad.'"
"I still could have joy in an injury," he continued. "People hear that and say, 'That's crazy,' but it's like when you believe in Jesus and you go out there and you play, that changes your heart."
He compared the injury to his 2018 Super Bowl win with the Philadelphia Eagles. "Just like when I hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, the reason I'm smiling is my faith is in Christ," he said. "In that moment, I realized I didn't need that trophy to define who I was because I was already in Christ."
Foles said the injury hasn't stopped him from carrying out his purpose in life. "My purpose isn't football, it's impacting people," he said. "My ministry happens to be the locker room, and I've been able still to get to know people, get to know these guys through an injury."
He was able to point out some positives that came out from the collarbone injury. "[Not playing] is difficult from a fleshly perspective," Foles said, "but from a spiritual perspective, for my heart, I've been able to grow as a human being to where I feel like I'm at a better situation here as a person than I was before because of the trial I just went under."
No matter what the outcome of Foley's match on Sunday, one thing is clear: he knows who he is in Christ and that his purpose is not football but to stand for God in all situations.
St. Louis City Residents And Leaders Gather Together For Prayer Against Gun Violence
It was a day of inter-faith prayer against rising gun violence at Cardinal Ritter College Prep's football field in the...
Nurse Explodes in Praise as Paralyzed Patient Walks Again
Bailey Murrill 17-year-old girl from Denton, Texas had been paralyzed from the hips down for 11 days followed by an...
84-Year-Old 'Flower Gran' Steals Limelight At Granddaughter's Wedding
Little girls make the most adorable and cutest Flower girls at any wedding, but this 84-year-old grandma blew guests...
School Bus Driver Earns College Degree After Students Inspired Him To Go Back To Classroom
A Massachusetts school bus driver earned a college degree after being inspired by the students to back to the classroom...
Heroic Off-Duty Firefighter Saves 3 Girls Before Dying In Front Of His 10-Year-Old Daughter
It was a fun off-day for firefighter Sivad Johnson and his daughter which went terribly wrong for him and his family...
Elementary School Custodian Receives Early Christmas Gift From Secret Santa
Christmas time is coming and Secret Santa is back at Longfellow Elementary in a big way this time. The EastIdahoNews...


text:
Prati steht als Ortsname für:

 Prati (Rione), ein Stadtteil von Rom
 Prati, Ortsteil der italienischen Gemeinde Rimella in der Provinz Vercelli, Region Piemont

Prati ist der Familienname folgender Personen:
 Alessio Prati (1750–1788), italienischer Komponist
 Angelico Prati (1883–1960), italienischer Romanist, Italianist und Dialektologe
 Artemio Prati (1907–2004), italienischer Geistlicher, Bischof von Carpi
 Federica Prati (* 1996), italienische Tennisspielerin
 Pamela Prati (* 1958), italienische Schauspielerin und Showgirl
 Pierino Prati (1946–2020), italienischer Fußballspieler und -trainer


We started to Train & Recruit candidates with successful placement with our client projects. JAVA (Core and Advanced) Implementations for Clients. SAP Life Cycle Implemenatation of companies as per ASAP Methodilogy. QA Software testing porcesses for BUG free operations of any Software or an App. We work for MNC clients as per their requirements and deliver a product as per AGILE Methodologies. Product and a Process based company we are multitasking in every way.


Exterior stair railings custom metal fences custom. Aluminum fabrication, welding, forming, shaping rails and. Metal fabrication windsor ontario sunset metal fab custom. Hand rails railings foreman fabricators inc st.
Stair railing ideas. Cable, chicken wire and search on pinterest. Galvanized pipe deck railing shapeyourmindscom. Indoor railings interior glass railing projects in. Outdoor wrought iron railings wrought iron originals. Industrial stairs rustic staircase design railing house. Dwarf wall and wrought iron railings google search. Front steps with railings country house ideas pinterest. Interior ideas excellent dark brown wooden floating. 51 outdoor stair railing height, deck stair railing code. Glass, grid, panel railings the iron anvil salt lake. Patio with curved stairs this is fiberon composite.
Handrail construction safety net,cargo lifting net,safety. Rail cargo simulator steam cd key. Modern design outdoor stair balcony 304/316 stainless. Rooftop rail rack crossbar mount storage basket wind. Cargo net. 2mx3m white cargo rope deck railing net 6mm thickness. Download rail cargo simulator full pc game. Silver aluminum 50quot; roof rack rail basket cargo bag. Download rail cargo simulator full pc game. Modern stair railing kits modern stair railings interior. Abl 55quot; inch aluminum luggage cargo rail rack roof top. Southern patio 15quot; resin veranda planter in monzonite. Switzerland bls cargo container freight train cargo rail. New 2017 load rite cargo utility trailer in muncy, pa. Backyard play equipment foter.


text:
Billy Joel is spending New Year's Eve with us
In The City — 01 December 2017
By Greg Carannante
You know, if you type "Billy Joel's house" into Google maps, you get Madison Square Garden.
— Billy Joel in The New Yorker
We've never seen anything like him, have we?
This Piano Man phenomenon who's made none other than the Garden his "house" with an unprecedented residency of 49 consecutive shows. This last-millennium hitmaker turned 21st century gold miner who sells out arenas and stadiums despite not having made a new pop album in 25 years. This superstar songwriter who followed up 33 consecutive Top 40 hits with a collection of classical compositions that, even though he didn't play them, still topped the classical charts.
No, we've never seen anything like him, this New York force of nature known as Billy Joel.
Actually … we have. Joel's no stranger to South Florida and, for the third year in a row, he'll be ringing in the New Year with us at the BB&T Center in Sunrise on Dec. 31. He won't have a long commute if he's snowbirding at his nearly 4-acre Manalapan estate — unless someone comes up with the $27 million asking price before then.
Like the song's piano man asked to play us a memory, the 68-year-old Joel has for the past several years reserved his formidable energies and now-baritone vocal chords almost exclusively for live performances of some of the last century's greatest hits — his, of course. Getting a second wind at the 2012 Hurricane Sandy relief concert at "his house," he's been knocking it out of the park with killer shows ever since.
That resurgence just might have a little something to do with a concert tactic Joel's been employing for years now. He explained it in fairly hilarious fashion on a recent Jimmy Kimmel Live, coincidentally the night before his astonishing record 91st show at the Garden.
"I got tired of looking down at the first row, there's always somebody who paid way too much money to be a big shot," he said. "You see some guy … and he's got the gold chains and he's just sitting there like, [in his best Brooklyn accent] 'Entertain me, Piano Man.' I go, screw this. The real fans are in the back."
So, he stopped selling the first two rows and, before each show, dispatches his crew to the cheap seats to fish for fans to fill them.
"The road crew is all guys, so who do they bring up? The cutest girls they can find. So we look down — what a good-looking audience! They're all thrilled to be there, so the whole show goes voom!"
It's apparently working. As the Garden's first music franchise, the six-time Grammy-winner has performed a show at the storied venue every month since 2014.
"I thought things would taper off after four or five years, but tickets are selling faster now than in the beginning," he said.
The holiday shows here have become a bit of a tradition too. Still rocking well into New Year's Day, Joel's 2015 show threw in a few surprises: Led Zeppelin covers, piano shtick with Kevin James and a midnight countdown with Kimmel and Howard Stern.
The following year he added Puccini's Nessun dorma to the set list following the requisite Auld Lang Syne and his prophetic satire, Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway). Imagine the magic this year as he launches into it here — for the last time before it turns into a song about the past.


One thing you need to expect in your life is getting busy every day because of the demand that you work very hard to supply your basic means or even your family's. This is why sometimes you forget yourself and put a lot of effort into your work so that you can maintain your work, but that can pose a great threat because you can forget yourself. One thing that should stick into mind, however, is the text that you can only become productive if you are in good shape and health that is the peace of mind and also the strength you need to do so. Important thing is to eliminate anything that might limit your productivity and that means that you have to actually focus on you in different ways so that you can also be happy. The beautiful thing is that there are many ways you can actually achieve healthy living. Below are some guidelines that can help you achieve a healthy lifestyle.
One thing you need to do is watch out for is your diet. Many people failed in this area because poor diet can actually when your life. One of the reasons why this is what is the fact that you can carry your project with you meaning that you don't actually focus on preparing your meal. However, it is important to realize that it is critical that you actually watch out for these. Therefore, as you prepare yourself meals, ensure that you are also very choosy on what you buy and prepare. It is also necessary that you learn to avoid engaging processed food. Processed food is not good for your health because most of them contain chemicals such as preservatives, willing that is not good for your health. Living healthcare every day demands a lot of sacrifice and discipline because you need to ensure that you are eating fresh food or unprocessed such as fruits, vegetables, meat and so on as long as the content important nutrients which are required in your body to function. As you discipline yourself to avoid processed food, it is also important that you have a balanced diet and that is what is important that you learn to prepare a meal plan because that will not be stressed it comes to mealtime. The best thing is that you can get a lot of help. If you want to have a great meal plan because you can come across a health blog and many other websites that are actually advising you on nutrition. Another thing you need to focus on a lot even as you work on a balanced diet, is to ensure that you are also exercising because it can help a lot. When it comes exercising, you have more options in your table because of many exercises but if you find it hard, there are personal trainers can work with.


text:
Q: WPF Listview + GridView - View not Updating I have got a Listview Item with a Gridview Child, bound to a List of Objects.
Below the Gridview I have got texboxes to edit the content of the Gridview (bound to the Gridview).
I can add new content (which is displayed in the GridView).
When i edit content, it is in fact edited (in the object list) but not displayed in the Gridview (the GridView does not seem to update)
xaml code:
<!-- ========= -->
<!-- root Grid -->
<!-- ========= -->
<Grid x:Name="root" Margin="10,10,10,10">
    <Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <RowDefinition Height="*" />
        <RowDefinition Height="25" />
        <RowDefinition Height="25" />
        <RowDefinition Height="40" />
    </Grid.RowDefinitions>
    <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <ColumnDefinition Width="40" />
        <ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
    </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
    <!-- ========= -->
    <!-- Data Grid -->
    <!-- ========= -->
    <ListView x:Name="dataGrid" Grid.Row="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" ItemsSource="{Binding}">
        <ListView.View>
            <GridView>
                <!-- first solution -->
                <GridViewColumn x:Name="gridColumnName" Header="Name" Width="160">
                    <GridViewColumn.CellTemplate>
                        <DataTemplate>
                            <ContentControl Content="{Binding Path=Name, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}" />
                        </DataTemplate>
                    </GridViewColumn.CellTemplate>
                </GridViewColumn>
                <!-- second solution -->
                <GridViewColumn x:Name="gridColumnPath" Header="Path" DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding Path=Path}" Width="490" />
            </GridView>
        </ListView.View>
    </ListView>

    <!-- ========= -->
    <!-- Edit Menu -->
    <!-- ========= -->
    <Label Content="Name:" Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" HorizontalAlignment="Left"/>
    <TextBox x:Name="txtBoxName" Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Width="250" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" HorizontalAlignment="Left"
             DataContext="{Binding ElementName=dataGrid, Path=SelectedItem}"
             Text="{Binding Path=Name, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}" />

    <Label Content="Path:" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="0" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" HorizontalAlignment="Left" />
    <TextBox x:Name="txtBoxPath" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
             DataContext="{Binding ElementName=dataGrid, Path=SelectedItem}"
             Text="{Binding Path=Path, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}" />

Object List class:
class ItemList : ObservableCollection<LdapItem>
{
    public ItemList()
        : base()
    {
    }
}

Object class:
class LdapItem : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
    #region constructor

    public LdapItem(String name, String path)
    {
        this.iD = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
        this.name = name;
        this.path = path;
    }

    #endregion

    #region public proterties

    public String ID
    {
        get { return iD; }
    }

    public String Name
    {
        get { return name; }
        set { name = value; }
    }

    public String Path
    {
        get { return path; }
        set { path = value; }
    }

    #endregion

    #region public methods

    public void OnPropertyChanged(string prop)
    {
        if (PropertyChanged != null)
            PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(prop));
    }

    #endregion

    #region private variables

    private String name = String.Empty;
    private String path = String.Empty;
    private String iD = String.Empty;

    #endregion

    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
}

any ideas why updating the GridView doesnt work?

A: If you have a number of models use a base class that implements INPC. Then change your property changed event handler to:
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

public void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
    PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}

This will eliminate the need to specify the model property being changed. Reduces the number of misspelling errors or forgetting to put the name in. Still needs to call this.OnPropertyChanged() though which you are missing in several setters.
The ItemList class doesn't make sense. It could be replaced with:
public ObservableCollection<LdapItem> LdapItems

A: it seems like you forgot to fire the OnPropertyChangedEvent when your property changes:
public String Name
{
    get { return name; }
    set {
           name = value;
           OnPropertyChanged("Name");
        }
}

If you don't fire the PropertyChanged event, WPF will not be able to see if the object has changed.


text:
Woo hoo! I feel like celebrating, because last week I FINALLY experienced a positive shift in the way I feel about attracting a relationship again...dare I say it, I'm nearly back to feeling like my old self. It's always good to rejoice in the small victories in life!
It was about a week ago that I signed up for a free two-week long law of attraction program by Lara Shlafer called the "14-Day Manifest Miracles Challenge." I've mentioned Lara before on this blog; I find her to be extremely effervescent, informative, and beautiful. Sometimes when I watch her videos I wish that I could tap into her extroverted attitude and be more like her during my average day. In the meantime, however, her miracle challenge includes a daily email lesson and access to a closed group on Facebook with all of the members that signed up for it.
I actually signed up for the program a day after it started, and the first lesson had to do with miracles. Lara's video instructed us to comment on the Facebook page and simply state, "I choose to experience miracles today." Since I was leaving my comment on Monday night, I wrote, "I choose to experience miracles today." And added, "And every day."
I honestly didn't expect that much to happen. A lot of women were already posting comments on the Facebook page about the miracles they had experienced during the day, and they seemed like pretty deals, too. But on Tuesday, and as the week went on, I started to realize that I no longer cared that much about the whole "S" incident that happened to me last summer. I knew I'd be able to finally forget about it all and finalize moving on from it 100%. (He had reached out to me in January and wanted to resume email communication and that confused me and set me back, just when I thought I was over it.)
I let go of the lingering resistance, and I let go of any residual blame and resentment -- aimed at him or myself.
Not only that, but as recently as a few weeks ago I would still tear up at the ideal of attracting a relationship. I still wasn't quite believing it for myself. That has pretty much disappeared as well.
I've also been looking at men's profiles online and discovering that guys are just as vulnerable when it comes to dating as women are...I've seen comments such as, "I'm a one woman man. Please be straight with me and I'll be straight with you," "Separated means separate -- not still living with an ex-boyfriend or husband," and "I only date one woman at a time." I appreciate that it seems not everyone on there is a player -- it's definitely a change I've noticed compared to online dating about 10 years ago, when it seems a lot of men were looking for casual sex.
So...onward and upward. Is my miracle really all that huge? Not really, and not to the average person, I'm sure. But for me it was kind of a big breakthrough, and my frame of mind is getting closer to where I was about a year ago. I look forward to experiencing what this week is going to bring.
Labels: LOA Success Stories, Mindset
My Improving Vibration
Dealing With Unwanted Advice
I Manifested An Early Dismissal From Jury Duty


One of the great things that I get to do as president of NANPA is work with our High School and College Scholarship Program students. During the Summit event, college students work with a client on a multimedia project; they also meet NANPA members and participate in Summit activities. Over the past several years they have produced projects for the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Florida Land Trust.
During the summer NANPA brings the high school students to the Great Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont. This past year all of the NANPA instructors for the high school group were themselves past college participants.
These students are the future of NANPA; they will be our Board of Directors, committee chairs and volunteers. One of these past scholarship winners serves on the current Board. The NANPA Foundation raises the funds for these two programs and the majority of the donations come from our members. We all have lots of activities to attend with families and friends over the holidays but I hope each of you can donate $5.00 to the Foundation. These donations will help NANPA introduce these young photographers to all of the things we hold in high regard–nature photography, education, and being an ethical photographer in the field.
Susan Day, our executive director, wrote about the coming Nature Celebration in Jackson, WY, May 20 – 22, 2018 in her last newsletter column. I want to remind everyone about the presence of Canon, Fujifilm, Olympus, Panasonic, Sigma, and Tamron at the Celebration and that they will be lending the participants gear to be used out in the field. It's not often we will have access to so many cameras and lenses to use especially in such a beautiful location. Our presentations will be held at the Jackson Center for the Arts, a 500-seat theater located just off the center of downtown Jackson. We have a great line-up of speakers who will be making "Ted Talk" style presentations. I'm really excited about hearing the presentation by Dennis Jorgensen titled "Buffalo-People: The Path Back for Bison and Plains Tribes," and Jenny Nichols' presentation, "The Power of Multi-Disciplinary Projects" among others. Check the schedule to see a listing of all the other wonderful presentations at this event.
If you're looking for a warm place to photograph this winter, NANPA has one event that still has space available in January—at Lake Hodges in southern California. Registration deadline is December 28th.
During the upcoming year NANPA will be offering several new locations for regional events and workshops. The committee is exploring possible locations along the Oregon coast, Moab, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Madera Canyon in Arizona. We'll update you as soon as more information is available.
Wishing you and yours a Festive and Peaceful Holiday Season.
2017 High School Program Participant Hannah Mirando photographs a damselfly during this week's program. Photo by Andrew Snyder.


Portable Power: Off-grid power supply for camping or emergency backup, capable of powering lamps, phones, laptops, TVs and even mini fridges. PowerHouse boasts triple output modes: a 12V car socket, an 110V AC outlet (for devices up to 160W) and 4 fast-charging USB ports.
AC output is 110V only, but voltage converters will work.


Blue Color Fleck Buttondown - Made in USA Menswear | Stock Mfg. – Stock Mfg. Co.
Reintroducing one of Stock's most iconic styles. These shirts are the only garment we've been making since day one. Like a classic blue button down, but with a twist. Made from a super soft, color-flecked chambray, this shirt puts a unique spin on an old standby. Available in our classic fit with updated details, this shirt still fits trim but comfortably throughout the body as always.
Model is 6'1"/170 and wearing a Medium.


text:
The Lede | A Rare Visit With a Jailed Journalist in Egypt
A Rare Visit With a Jailed Journalist in Egypt
By Liam Stack
January 7, 2014 2:18 pm January 7, 2014 2:18 pm
A first-person account of a visit with Mohamed Fahmy, part of a team of journalists from Al Jazeera English who were arrested 10 days ago on accusations that their coverage of the Muslim Brotherhood constituted "false news" and "incitement," has provided a rare glimpse into prison conditions in Egypt as the government cracks down on the Brotherhood and anyone suspected of supporting it.
The account was published on Monday by McClatchy Newspapers, whose Cairo correspondent, Nancy Youssef, secured a visit with Mr. Fahmy when he was briefly transferred from Egypt's notorious Tora prison, used to house many political prisoners, to another facility on the outskirts of the capital for interrogation.
Mr. Fahmy, who previously worked for CNN and the BBC and has contributed to The New York Times, was detained with several other Al Jazeera English staff members, including Peter Greste, an Australian correspondent who won a Peabody Award in 2011 for his coverage of Somalia for the BBC.
Video of Peter Greste's Peabody Award-winning BBC documentary, "Somalia: a Land of Anarchy," has been posted to YouTube in three parts.
In addition to his work in daily journalism, Mr. Fahmy is also a published author whose books include an account of Egypt's 2011 uprising entitled, "Egyptian Freedom Story." Ramy Yaacoub, a political analyst, recently tweeted a picture of his copy of the book, and noted the sad contrast, given its author's imprisonment.
Found this at home, coauthored by @Repent11. Such irony. #Egypt //t.co/fHZSSeku2d
— Ramy Yaacoub (@RamyYaacoub) 5 Jan 14
They are all believed to be held in Tora, which Ms. Youssef noted is home to "Egypt's worst criminals." It has also housed both former President Hosni Mubarak and his deposed successor, Mohamed Morsi.
Ragia Omran, a well-known Egyptian human rights lawyer, posted an update to Twitter on Sunday describing the conditions in which Mr. Fahmy, who uses Twitter under the handle @Repent11, was being held.
@Repent11 being held at maximum security prison at Torah prison, in a cell on his own,sleeps on floor,doesn't get out to see the sun at all
— Ragia Omran (@rago_legal) 5 Jan 14
To see Mr. Fahmy, Ms. Youssef wrote that she and a colleague presented themselves to prison officials not as journalists, but as his friends, "for fear of being arrested." It is rare for a reporter to be granted access to a prisoner in such a politically sensitive case, and Ms. Youssef said she was not sure why they had been allowed in at all.
"In Egypt, the legal system is strict until it's not; every rule, it seems, can be broken," she wrote
Fahmy looked haggard and confused but healthy. He had the early signs of a beard and he hadn't combed his hair. He rarely looked his visitors in the eye, seemingly confused. "I am fine," he said.
He said prison authorities had refused to give him a sleeping bag and pillow that had been sent to him in prison after lawyers reported that he was sleeping on the floor. "They didn't allow it," he said.
He said he was being held in solitary confinement in Tora, with no light and with "insects." He asked for food – Egyptian prison food is notoriously bad – and his friend turned over a duffle bag and four other bags filled with food, toiletries, clothing, water, towels, notebooks, a pen and cigarettes.
"He can trade favors from the guards with the cigarettes," a lawyer had explained earlier.
Fahmy only glanced at the bags. "I'm being held the worst of everyone," he said. "Why are they putting me in a highly secured prison?"
Whether he meant he was being treated worse than other prisoners or worse than Greste and the other Al Jazeera English staff members was unclear.
He said he hadn't yet received medical treatment for a shoulder injury that he'd suffered before his arrest but that had grown worse since. "I am trying to get to the hospital, but it is slow," he said, pointing to his shoulder.
Mr. Fahmy's Twitter account, which is followed by more than 18,000 people, is now being run by his family members, who use it to post occasional updates about his case, including efforts to secure him access to medical care. In an update posted to Twitter on Saturday, they said he had been promised a trip to the hospital once his most recent round of interrogations had ended, but on Sunday they said that officials had reneged on that promise.
Interrogation with @Repent11 will continue tomorrow. He will be transferred to the hospital after tomorrow's hearing.
— Mohamed Fadel Fahmy (@Repent11) 5 Jan 14
Third interrogation with @Repent11 is now completed. Next hearing is Wed, 8th. Transferred to prison again not to hospital as promised!!
Egyptian Bloggers Who Mobilized Support for 2011 Uprising in Jail or Under Threat
Airline and Rail Travelers Stranded During Severe Cold Weather


text:
740 W Fulton is a 14-story building offering loft-style units in the very trendy Fulton River District in Chicago's West Loop. The builders of 740 W Fulton were catching on to the trend of traditional loft living, but were frustrated that traditional rehabbed lofts did not offer the amenities or the city views that newer and higher buildings could afford. So in 2005 they built 740 W Fulton, a striking, 14-story modern glass and concrete tower. The "imitation lofts" in this West Loop building have all the desired traits of traditional lofts: ultra high ceilings (up to 18 feet!), spacious and open floorplans, exposed ductwork, hardwood floors, and even concrete painted ceilings.
For more than a decade now, true Chicago lofts have been evolving to offer first-class finishes and amenities, a trend that started with developers like Hal Lichterman and Bruce Abrams, continued with projects like the Sexton and Union Square, and is still going strong. Fewer true lofts are on the market now than during the flood of the mid- to late '90s, and the dearth of convertible loft buildings is one reason builders began imitating lofts in new construction.
Yet, unlike what you would find in most lofts, 740 W. Fulton units have stainless steel appliances, granite counters, and are situated in a full-service, full-amenity building with a 24-hour concierge, a private fitness center, and a business center. Plus, the building's height affords great city views to a large number of units.
740 W Fulton is located right on the edge of the hot Fulton River District in what has now become one of the most popular neighborhoods in downtown Chicago real estate. The growing community has been attracting urbanites that are drawn to its immediacy to downtown, and has since become a trendsetting neighborhood, home to the hottest restaurants and clubs, and with an up-and-coming gallery scene. Walking along "Restaurant Row" on Randolph Street, one will find scores of trendy, top-notch restaurants, like Sushi Wabi, De Cero, and Avec. Other bars and clubs, like Victor Hotel, Lumen, and Teatro, are just around the corner.
740 West Fulton Street #905
60607 Neighborhood, Luxury Condo's In Chicago, West Loop News
Fulton Market Luxury Apartments, Lofts for sale in Chicago, luxury apartment rentals in Fulton market, Luxury Lofts For Sale In Fulton Market, Luxury Lofts For Sale In West Looop, West Loop Condos For Sale, West Loop Lofts For Sale
River North New Luxury Apartment Rentals At Wolf Point East


The brethren of East Lancashire gathered at Rochdale Masonic hall for the annual Provincial Meeting. They were joined by many distinguished visiting brethren from far and wide including East Scotland, the West Midlands and southern counties. Also from a little nearer over the border from Yorkshire as well as neighbouring West Lancashire.
Once assembled in the superb surroundings of the large lodge room the Provincial Grand Supreme Ruler, Frank Hood Smith accompanied by his Deputy, Chris Givvons and a delegation of the out going officers paraded in. This perfect entrance was under the guidance of Stephen Holcroft who later was appointed as the Provincial Director of Ceremonies. Music is the perfect accompaniment to any procession and this was provided by Rochdale's very own Stephen Holt, Provincial Grand Organist.
Once assembled, Frank proceed to open Provincial Grand Conclave and welcome everyone to the meeting. The visiting dignitaries were introduced as well as the heads of some of the other masonic orders and greeted with acclamation by the brethren.
Reports were received from the Recorder, Treasurer and The Guide all as part of the business section of the meeting. It was the final report given by Les Bond who was to step down after giving sterling service as Provincial Guide for the last two years. He has martialed his troops in the form of the Visiting Deacons to ensure each meeting was attended by a Visitor which is a vitally important part of the makeup of our order.
Frank then appointed and invested his officers for the year, with a little bit of a 'geordie' flavour as Ken Laidlaw (Counsellor) and Allan Shields (Guide) both hail from the same home town of Jarrow on Tyneside.
With all his team in place Frank delivered his report on the Province which is doing well. With new members joining the order and conclaves that were low in numbers now thriving. The hall is very large so a PA system was in use which had been set up by Les Bond, Frank was 'Miked up' and had said that he felt a bit like a TV star! The meeting was conducted with sincerity and warmth by Frank and the final Knock from acting Sentinel, Nigel Dunlop signified the closing of another successful meeting of Provincial Grand Conclave.
The brethren now retired to the festive board which was a superb meal of Roast Beef and Apple Crumble for dessert.
He wished the brethren good health and a safe journey home following what had been a most enjoyable day for all who had attended.


This A3 poster may be more useful during Halloween or for a librarian who is a fan of Blue Öyster Cult.
Hi Michael, welcome to TeenLibrarian. Thank you for giving up your time to answer a few questions about The White Hare.
Before we begin would you please introduce yourself to the audience?
I am a publishing director at Bloomsbury, where I have authors like Peter Frankopan (whose book The Silk Roads was on the bestseller lists for thirty-one weeks last year, William Dalrymple, Frank Dikotter, Adam Sisman, John Simpson, Anna Pavord and many others. Lots of biography, history, memoir. I live in south London, and have a family that includes three now rather tall sons.
I think that I am right in saying that The White Hare is your first novel for young readers?
It is. I've written two other, adult novels; Smashing People and Sacrifices.
What inspired you to begin writing for a teen audience?
About fourteen years ago I went with a New Zealand friend to see the film 'Whale Rider', where a young girl has to win the trust of her grandfather by proving herself the natural leader of their tribe; she forms a bond with a whale and is ridden out to sea, and indeed under the sea. It made me want to write something that combined human relationships with a magicality that perhaps transcends and heals the fractures in the real world. I think Robbie's encounter with Mags's world helps him reconcile himself to the world he finds himself in, and ultimately to forgiveness towards his father.
What feeling did you have when you saw the first finished copy of The White Hare?
As a book comes together you see all sorts of aspects of it; cover ideas, proofs, book proofs, bits of flap copy, the look of the pages, and you know the text back to front from working on it so long. So in a way there's no surprise when you see the final thing; but it is just amazing anyway, especially when your publisher has taken such care and paid such attention as Zephyr has. And detail such as the light blue silk ribbon and the way in which they have used the cover on the pages within the book, which I didn't know about, were a source of lovely surprise and delight.
To be honest, it's simply the writing; making something up on the pages, especially when you have an idea you are confident with and are just working it through. I write in ink in a rather lovely library, so there's a very pleasurable feeling of seclusion and communing with one's own thoughts and ideas; I'm always rather astonished that I have any.
TWH is also the first novel published under the Zephyr imprint – do you feel any pressure being their headline author?
I'm very proud to be their launch title, and I so hope it works for them (and me). They've done a terrific job, and I feel just the ordinary anxiety about what's going to happen to my poor little brainchild, whom I hope many will love as I do.
Is any part of the story based on personal experiences?
That's tricky. Lots of little bits and pieces along the way. Generally, I grew up in south London, as did Robbie, and we've been going down to a cottage between Arthur's Seat on the Stourhead estate and Cadbury Castly, King Arthur's castle, as Mags tells Robbie for twenty-five years, which I always felt was a deeply magical place (the cottage overlooks the Somerset Levels, which feature in the book).
Do you ever read the works of other Teen/MG authors? If yes what can you recommend?
Apart from Rowling and Patrick Ness, I drew upon my own favourites: Alan Garner, John Masefield and Barry Hines's A Kestrel for a Knave (a friend of mine spotted a bit of Jez Butterworth in there, too).
How would you describe The White Hare to pique the interest of a potential reader?
That's a hard question and something I am still working on! To any readers out there I would say that The White Hare is, at its core, a coming-of-age story. I would love the reader to join me on Robbie and Mags' journey as they learn about what it means to love in a world where this is the bravest thing a person can do. And if you enjoy my story as I tell it, then I have succeeded in all I set out to do.
Do you ever visit reading groups in schools and libraries? If yes what is the best way to get hold of you?
Not so far, but very happy to do so. You can get in touch with the Publicity Director at Head of Zeus, Suzanne Sangster.
London, 13th March 2017: Sophia Bennett triumphed over fellow competing authors to win the Romantic Novelists' Association's highest accolade, The Goldsboro Books Romantic Novel of the Year, with Love Song, published by Chicken House. This is only the second time in the award's 57 year history that the RNA's most prestigious prize has been awarded to a Young Adult title, reflecting the increasing popularity of this sub-genre. Prue Leith presented Sophia with her trophies and a cheque for £5,000 at a star-studded event, compèred by author and broadcaster Jane Wenham-Jones.
Sophia Bennett was the winner of the Young Adult Novel of the Year category. Her book then went forward, along with those of the six other category winners – Contemporary, Epic, Historical Romantic Novel, Paranormal or Speculative Romantic Novel, Romantic Comedy and RoNA Rose – to contest the Romantic Novelists' Association's (RNA) most coveted award, the Goldsboro Books Romantic Novel of the Year. For the first time in the awards' history the shortlist included both traditionally and independently published authors.
It was a double first for novelist Kate Johnson, who was named winner of the first Paranormal or Speculative Romantic Novel Award for Max Seventeen, and was also the first self-published author in the award's 57 year history to win one of the prestigious RoNAs.
A panel of independent judges read the seven category winners' novels before meeting to debate the finer points of each book. The panel included Matt Bates, Fiction Buyer for WHSmith Travel; journalist and novelist Fanny Blake; Ron Johns, bookseller and publisher; and Caroline Sanderson, Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Worcester and Associate Editor for The Bookseller.
Prior to announcing the overall award winner, Prue Leith revealed the winners of the individual categories and presented them with star-shaped crystal trophies.
Barbara Erskine is the author of thirteen bestselling novels and three collections of short stories that demonstrate her interest in both history and the supernatural. It is thirty years since the publication of her first novel, Lady of Hay, which has been in continuous publication since 1986 and sold over three million copies worldwide.
Adele Parks has sold over three million UK edition copies of her novels and her books have been translated into over 26 languages. Every one of her 15 novels has been a bestseller in the UK. Both Barbara and Adele were presented with outstanding achievement awards for their continued championing of the RNA and romantic fiction.
Every now and then a book will come out of nowhere and hit you so hard that you don't know whether you are coming or going!
For me The Hate U Give is that book!
It had me openly weeping on a train by page 26.
It stoked anger within me – against the systems that keep people down, that normalise the murder of children at the same time as denying them fair and equal choices, freedoms and education.
I am a child (and adult) of privilege; growing up white and male insulated me from what most of the world experiences. Having a conscience and sense of social justice I naturally gravitate left and believe that the inequalities of the world have to be fought and the systemic racism and patriarchialism of the world as it is need to be challenged and dismantled. What I do not have are the experiences of those that are not white and male.
The Hate U Give has been my first experience of seeing the world through the eyes of a person that lives in a world that judges her and her friends and family by the colour of her skin and gender.
It has been said that writing is a political act, and it cannot be more true with The Hate U Give, reading this novel is activism. But it is more than that, to merely describe it as a political novel or an 'issues book' would be to diminish it. This is a story about life, love, family, community and loss. For people who daily experience the acts contained within its pages, this book is a mirror showing themselves and their lives; for communities disconnected from these experiences it can act as bridge to understanding and building empathy.
To Angie Thomas I say want to say thank you! With this book you have strengthened my resolve to fight for and with my friends and colleagues for a better world.
To everyone else I say – read this book!
If you know people that say things like "All lives matter!" in the face of the Black Lives Matter movement and the institutionalised oppression and murder of those whose skin colour does not resemble their own, or they believe that we live, love, work and play on a level playing field then buy then a copy. While you are doing that, buy yourself a copy, The Hate U Give is a book for everyone.
CILIP is due to publish its Equality and Diversity Action Plan, led by the CILIP Ethics Committee and the Board of Trustees, in the summer of 2017. The Plan is as a result of on-going work, following previously published research commissioned in 2015 by CILIP and the Archives and Records Association, which outlined diversity issues in the library, archives, records, information management and knowledge management sector, including a gender split in the workforce of 78.1% female to 21.9% male (UK workforce 50.1% female and 49.9% male) and 96.7% of the workforce identify as 'white' (UK workforce 87.5% identify as 'white').
We are committed to championing diversity, equality and inclusion through all of CILIP's activities, from the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals to the wider library and information sector, while also confronting and challenging structures of inequality. We know there are long-standing and embedded challenges and we see this as a tremendous opportunity to promote positive change for ourselves and the sector. For this reason, we are announcing the publication of our Equality and Diversity Action Plan and an independently chaired review into the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals.
Tricia Adams, Chair of the Youth Libraries Group National Committee and Chair of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards judging panel, commented: We are completely committed, as Medals judges and librarians, to championing diversity, equality and inclusion and challenging issues of structural inequality in a positive and constructive way.
Hi Amy, welcome to Teen Librarian, now at the moment you are best-known for the YA Book of Ivy series but (strangely for a Teen Library blog) we are not going to be discussing those today, rather we are going to focus on your first novel for adults: The Roanoke Girls.
The proof of which I must say was the darkest and one of the most twistedly brilliant books that I read last year.
But before we get into the book would you like to introduce yourself to the audience?
Well, as you said, I'm the author of The Book of Ivy YA series and The Roanoke Girls is my first novel for adults. I am a former criminal defense attorney and now work as a full-time writer. I live in Missouri with my husband and two teenage children.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but to my mind at its heart The Roanoke Girls is about being a woman and what women face now and throughout history – objectification, having to pander to the needs and desires of others, hatred, abandonment, being replaced and murder!
Yes to all of that! I've always been interested in the ways in which women are viewed by society and also by the sometimes fraught relationships women have with one another. I'm fascinated by how women often turn on one another, rather than on the person who has wronged them. And on the flip side of that, the ways in which women are valued, or devalued, by society is of tremendous interest to me as a writer. Women are so often viewed as a commodity, valued for their beauty and their ability to act a certain way. The blaming of female victims, both blatantly and subtly, for their own abuse is also something I wanted to tackle.
The Roanoke Girls made me think of two quintessential American art-works American Gothic by Grant Wood and Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth in my mind I identified Allegra quite strongly with both the women portrayed in the paintings. Similarly Roanoke reminded me of Manderley from Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and the themes made me recall the discovery of Flowers in the Attic in the Library by a group of students when I was in school – it caused a rush of students reading together and discussing it in hushed tones in the corridor which stopped whenever someone walked past. What were your inspirations for writing The Roanoke Girls?
You are spot on with the Rebecca reference. The first line of The Roanoke Girls is actually my own homage to Rebecca. Growing up, I was fascinated by gothic novels and so those have a huge influence on the book. I also took inspiration from Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. That book evoked such a strong sense of place and I knew I wanted to try and do the same with The Roanoke Girls. My hope was to transport the readers to the world of Roanoke as they were reading. I was also somewhat inspired by my own work as a criminal defense attorney. I think people have a tendency to judge victims by the characteristics of the perpetrator of the crime. So if you have someone who looks like a monster and acts like a monster, then the victim is more likely to be believed. But what about someone who seduces rather than forces? Who charms rather than assaults? Then people are much more likely to blame or disbelieve the victim, I've found. And I definitely wanted to explore those feelings and ideas in the book.
The interactions between Lane and Allegra seemed very real to me do you have any close cousins or siblings that you based their relationship on?
Interestingly enough, I have no siblings and my cousins are much younger than I am and live far away. But because of that void, I always had very strong female friendships growing up. My best friends and I were inseparable and they took the place of siblings for me. I think female friendships, especially as teenagers, can sometimes take on slightly obsessive undertones, so I drew on that for the relationship between Lane and Allegra.
At times The Roanoke Girls made uncomfortable reading – which I suppose is the point, without giving away too many spoilers were there any parts of the story that you found difficult to write?
The interludes from the points of view of the past Roanoke girls were probably the most difficult to write from a purely emotional standpoint.
You tell the story of Lane, Allegra and the other inhabitants of Roanoke and Osage Flats through Lane unpicking the contemporary mystery of Allegra's disappearance and flashbacks to the summer that Lane lived at Roanoke – how much planning went into the writing as it all flows so seamlessly?
First of all, thank you. You never really know if a past/present narrative is going to work until people begin reading it, so I'm gratified to know it's being well-received. In answer to your question, not much planning at all. I don't outline when I write, not even with a dual timeline narrative such as this one. And I didn't write all of the present day portion and then go back and insert the past. I wrote the book as it's meant to be read: a "then" section and then a "now" section, etc. I did go back and add in the interludes from the other Roanoke girls after the first draft was finished. For some reason, it wasn't difficult for me to keep it all straight in my head as I was unspooling it. More proof, I think, that sometimes writing is a kind of magic.
The online response to The Roanoke Girls has been phenomenal – did you expect this when you first started writing it?
Ummm…no? I mean, at the time I was writing it, the first Ivy book had been published, but I knew I'd need a new publisher for this book because it was adult. So I didn't even know if it would ever see the light of day. I hoped, of course, that it would be published and people would like it, but I knew it was dark and would be too disturbing for some readers. So the reaction thus far has been amazing and I'm so, so grateful.
If you had to describe the novel in six words or less to entice a potential reader what would you say?
Dark, disturbing, character-driven psychological suspense.
Give up ignorance for Lent! Go to the Library and be tempted by awesome books for 40 days! Great for puns "The Librarian Lent me this book!"
This morning I started building a display around it and created a poster.


On September 1, 2013, Mr. Rose, owner of T.Rose Karate Dojo, generously awarded three full scholarships to children served by the Northborough Food Pantry. When asked why, he explains with one word: Giri.
"It is a Japanese word that means to pay forward a gift so great that it can not be repaid," explains Mr. Rose. The gift he refers to: the scholarship, time, and interest his own karate teacher invested in him. "Without that help, I would not be here."
Congratulations to the three lucky children.
Mr. Rose: domo arigatou gozaimasu. Thank you so very much.
Learn more about T.Rose Karate Dojo.
Northborough Food Pantry, a 92% increase since September, 2007.
Since July, 2013, 135 families have used the Pantry at least one time.
Food is low, and we need your help.
Scouting for Food will take place Saturday November 2nd in Northborough. Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Venture Scouts will go door to door to collect food for the Northborough Food Pantry.
This year Scouts are "going green" and will not distribute plastic bags the week before, instead they will leave door hangers reminding residents about the food drive. Northborough residents are reminded to put their donations out by 9 am on Saturday November 2.
A huge Thank You to Genzyme!
Genzyme's Northborough facility provided the Northborough Food Pantry with a much-needed large summertime food drive.
Pictured above, Laurent Boer, VP Global Distribution and Logistics, GM Northborough Operations, Marsha Golden Department Senior Administrative Assistant, and Food Pantry Director Sarah Rothery.
Thank you for being a great community partner!