text:
We hate the Beretta M9, but why?
by SOFREP Dec 18, 2016
Anyone who has been into guns knows that Beretta is a big name in the gun world. They have been making things that go "bang" (some would argue "click") for about 500 years. They are THE oldest gun makers in the world today. But let's skip ahead so you don't fall asleep. In the 80s they put forth their 92 model for the military trials, went toe to toe with some other big names in the gun world, and came out the other side with Sig. Now this is the point where people will claim this gun was better than that one, argue and fight over the details of the testing, blah, blah, blah. Let's just get real here for a minute. No matter what the legends state, the fact is that Beretta won the M9 contract. This is how Beretta came on the map in a big way and enabled them to build a reputation for world-class manufacturing of tough duty weapons.
People will talk and talk about what gun would have done this or that better than the M9. I highly doubt that any other pistol would do much better, seeing how the military treats its gear. I was one of those guys who carelessly lugged around gear too. As a grunt, I didn't get time to gingerly place my stuff here or there at my own pace like civilian operators do. Though, we treated our weapons as best we could, because that's how we learned to handle them. But no matter what, you and your gear were going to be put through the grinder during your time in. After seeing what I put my weapons through, just by using them, I have great admiration for the Beretta M9/92. This pistol has a story of love and hate with people across the gun community, but the reasons are vague and most are based on echoing whatever some forum operator stated. The biggest thing is that apparently everyone who has ever raised their right hand has had a personal "experience" with the M9.
Now I know that a good amount of the pistols did have problems in schools and such where they'd just shoot them until they died, but the same happened with rifles and MGs. Units like mine would use a pistol for so long and then hand them off to schools or wherever when they got a new batch. Most of the people who were in units like mine (infantry) didn't really complain about the pistols, only their rifles. I usually hear people who were in noncombat units that would complain about the M9 being crap. Now in my experience, most people in the military don't rate having a pistol or even qualifying, so I find it interesting when all these people complain about the pistol. But I don't remember units that were deploying in a combat role, bringing along weapons that weren't good to use. The military may not make the best decisions for its people, but it doesn't use complete crap.
Just so everyone understands how the military orders their guns, lets look at how they dictate quality. The military places orders for guns and specifies some things like metal type, barrel making method, finish type, etc. depending on the gun. Then they proceed to give their expected tolerances such as + or – 0.000000000000002 MM for the finish, and + or – 0.000000000000001 grams for the weight of this component, etc. Okay, so I'm dramatizing it a little, but the tolerances have to be really consistent from one gun to the next. Every component is scrutinized and tooling is changed at a faster rate that the tooling used to make commercial products, to ensure perfect manufacturing quality and 100% interchangeability with pistols made today and the ones made 30 years ago. This means that the military is getting the best work that the company can offer as far as QC for those specific orders. So if the military gets crap, what do you think you have? Remember though, all the company is doing, in some cases, is making what the military tells them to make. It may have been the company's basic design, but now the military will dictate certain details. Like if McDonalds was hired to make burgers for the military MREs. But the bun has to be gluten-free, and it better taste the same and be the exact same consistency.
Let's take a brief look at what it might be like to be a pistol issued to the careless masses called the US Military. You're issued out to someone who warrants a sidearm for one reason or another. They don't look to make sure you're lubed, or that you function fine. They just clear you and toss you in a holster. Then you are swaying around and being smacked against gear and being bumped against hard surfaces. You may get shot some when you are issued out. You could perform at peak efficiency but you're still just another gun that needs to get cleaned before being stored again for god knows how long. But since people don't know how, most just don't bother lubing you at all since as long as it looks clean, your good. Imagine going 30 years like this and barely having any upkeep while getting passed from person to person like a hot potato. You can't remember the last time your recoil spring has been changed. And by this time, all your metal parts are still original and the locking block falls free from the barrel on disassembly, but you are still strong and capable. Your springs are worn and on the verge of breaking, but you aren't going to get any replacement springs until they break. This is common for a lot of the M9s that are used today. They are neglected and rarely used in todays military, except in training for the most part. This has not stopped people from making vast claims and coming up with stories that have Hollywood jealous of the fake drama.
After this kind of record, how has the Beretta M9 been a piece of crap? In my evaluation and experience, it has proven to be a golden standard for durability, just as the 1911 has. It may be an old design, but I don't know of many guns that would survive this long. Some people say that we should have stuck with the 1911. Well my friends, the same argument about moving away from the M9 is what got rid of the 1911. Almost anyone who was in Vietnam will tell you that they loved their pistol. It may have been heavily used, but it was still ready. But that was back in the day that pistols were for everyone, and they actually got to use them, unlike today. Now they are finite items to be issued to select few people and when they are used, it changes the minds of the people who hated on it.
Is the M9 the best metal framed pistol? Heck no, but it is something that other metal framed pistols aren't…It is proven! It really hasn't experienced the ridiculous string of criminal malfunctions that these internet operators claim. But look at it this way, if you weren't issued one and didn't constantly shoot or use one, don't lay an opinion on it. That pretty much disqualifies anyone who did nothing more than qual or run a few drills at times. Be careful about who you believe when it comes to this. If they claim the rounds failed to fire, they had a bad hammer spring. If they had a stovepipe, it is a bad extractor/spring. If the round failed to extract, the recoil spring is probably so loose that the timing in the cycling is off. I personally had one with a safety that could be actuated either way just while running around in a leg holster.
Read Next: SIG P320 Wins, but what's wrong with the M9?
The M9 has served 30 years with a record of durability and reliability through abuse and lack of maintenance with a strict diet of only 124 grain NATO ammo. For those who have actually used them, this pistol has been terrific and does what it was designed to do, provided it receives proper maintenance. It has gone through all these years and has suffered a lot of abuse, but refuses to die. Also keep in mind that Beretta has constantly been improving there metals and designs to where the pistols and their components are lasting way longer than the older parts. The other metal components like the slide and frame are now expected to last almost indefinitely with proper maintenance. You will see cracks on the older slides, but the frames seem to last an unnaturally long time. And there were only 3 total cases of the slide breaking and flying back at the shooter, with merely a chipped tooth as the worst result. The other 11 failed while they were tested in a lab setting. This pistol has been absolutely mistreated for three decades and it is still spitting out lead like it's the cool thing to do, which it most certainly is. With proper spring change internals, inspections, and care, these pistols will last any civilian for decades. The military destroys everything it uses, whether intentionally or not. That's just how it works, but don't hold it against the gear when it fails after decades of service. So just remember that if someone talks about a pistol or rifle that broke, remember that the military has held onto these guns for decades, and they are now starting to show their age after hundreds of thousands of rounds.
I would be willing to put down a wad of cash that when this pistol is replaced, because it sure will be eventually, that people will crap on that pistol too. This is what it is like to be a sidearm of the US military gents. I certainly don't enjoy some of the features and characteristics of the gun like the fat grip or the safety/decocker. But in the face of adversity, it runs and chugs on and on. That is why I own my 92FS and the PX4 Storm. They are made by a company that is absolutely serious about their firearms. They are devoted to making the best firearms on the market and they are proving their worth with every shot our servicemen take from the M9. With a consistent record of an AVERAGE MRBF (Mean Rounds Between Failure) over 22K, it has certainly remained Reliable, Accurate, Proven.
Please put all questions in the comments below. Thank you for your time.
This article is courtesy of David Donchess from The Arms Guide.
SIG P320 Wins, but what's wrong with the M9?
What the Army does with its surplus M1911s and M1 Garands
Top five rifles: To never buy
AlumaGrip Beretta 92 checkered grips: Good looks meet improved function
Steyr M9: Giving Glock the boot
Over one century ago the US Army adopted the M1911 pistol


Opal Tometi, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement and globally recognized human rights advocate, will be in Galvin Auditorium at 6 PM TOMORROW! This moderated discussion will dive into the Black Lives Matter movement and immigration, exploring how the two connect with one another. This event has limited tickets left at Damen Desk - so get yours now!
This event is presented by DOP, African Student Alliance, Immigration Advocacy History Project, Sociology Department, Department of History, and the Women Studies and Gender Studies Program.
You must present a valid Loyola ID to enter.


to address the high number of submissions we've been getting, "cornswap catalogue" joined the swampcone publishing fleet. cornswap comes with 1 guest editor spot and doubles the space for publishing comics.
We're launching the new issue dec 9!!
Well........... It's time again to release another bundle of comics. We've been gathering comics on the theme of MISSING and come December 9th these 5"x8" gems will be printed in a staple-bound publication and ready to sit on your bedside table so you can read comics about absence, loss, milk, ghosting and disappearance before you sleep through another long winter!
Swampcone Magazine acknowledges this event takes place on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.
Issue 4 a&b: "For You"
Thank you everyone for the submissions!!
This Swampcone cover is made from an animation frame!
I'll be publishing a new issue of Call Out Comics, to debut at Broken Pencil Canzine in Toronto in October. Call Out seeks confrontational comics that challenge a person, idea, pet-peeve, etc. and/or attempt to hold someone/something accountable for their words/actions. Think fierce. Older not new work is ok.
- Full page: 10" x 13 "
Selected artists will receive $10/comic + 10 complimentary copies.
Thanks to Graham Sigurdson & Broken Pencil for the review of Issue 1!
We'll be at Vancaf on May 19&20 in the Lucky's Lounge room at table L6. We are also presenting a panel at 2pm on Saturday.
Presented by Swampconemag. Unaffiliated strangers will Cold Read all three issues of Swampconemag and give their Hot Take. All the readers involved will be experiencing this local comics anthology for the first time.
Submissions are open and underway for issue 4! Send em in by June 1!!!!!!!!!!!!! Details under the submissions tab!
thanks for everyone who came by the party!!
lot's of people ask where swampcone got its name. well.. there was this swamp and in it was a cone fashioned by the earth into a cone. what an image! this is a supposed to be picture of it but i can't see it in the picture some things are hard to place.


The clock is ticking on our free prize draw! Don't miss you chance to win £1000 worth of furniture from Furniture123, the UK's leading online furniture and bed store.
Hurry, the draw closes on 31st August 2012!


Following on from the success of our first Summer Orchestral and Chamber programme in January, Rata Studios School of Music will be hosting a weekend of chamber and orchestral music from 20th to 22nd July 2018.
Based on the principles of WELLSO (Wellington Late Starters Orchestra) players of all levels are welcome to the programme. The Chamber groups will be organised according to experience and level of playing but the Orchestra will be for all the players and parts will be arranged accordingly so we can all enjoy playing together. The focus will be more on Chamber Music but there will be one session a day where we can all enjoy playing together.
The programme will be hosted by Rata Studios at Scots College in Wellington where there are excellent facilities and practice rooms. The cost will include all group tuition and sheet music, Dinner on Friday evening and lunches and teas and coffees during the weekend. Individual lessons will be available with the tutors during the weekend and a rota will be arranged nearer the time for those interested. The weekend will start with a sit down dinner all together on the Friday early evening followed by our first playing session and will finish late on Sunday afternoon.
If you are flying from outside of Wellington and are concerned about daily travel, we were able to arrange local players on the programme to give lifts every day in the summer and this worked very well.


text:
using media_session::mojom::MediaSessionAction;

namespace global_media_controls {

namespace {

MediaSessionNotificationItem::Source GetSource(const std::string& name) {
  if (name == "web")
    return MediaSessionNotificationItem::Source::kWeb;

  if (name == "arc")
    return MediaSessionNotificationItem::Source::kArc;

  if (name == "assistant")
    return MediaSessionNotificationItem::Source::kAssistant;

  return MediaSessionNotificationItem::Source::kUnknown;
}

// How long to wait (in milliseconds) for a new media session to begin.
constexpr base::TimeDelta kFreezeTimerDelay = base::Milliseconds(2500);

}  // namespace

MediaSessionNotificationItem::MediaSessionNotificationItem(
    Delegate* delegate,
    const std::string& request_id,
    const std::string& source_name,
    mojo::Remote<media_session::mojom::MediaController> controller,
    media_session::mojom::MediaSessionInfoPtr session_info)
    : delegate_(delegate),
      request_id_(request_id),
      source_(GetSource(source_name)) {
  DCHECK(delegate_);

  SetController(std::move(controller), std::move(session_info));
}

MediaSessionNotificationItem::~MediaSessionNotificationItem() {
  delegate_->HideItem(request_id_);
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::MediaSessionInfoChanged(
    media_session::mojom::MediaSessionInfoPtr session_info) {
  session_info_ = std::move(session_info);

  MaybeUnfreeze();
  MaybeHideOrShowNotification();

  if (view_ && !frozen_) {
    view_->UpdateWithMediaSessionInfo(session_info_);
    view_->UpdateWithMuteStatus(session_info_->muted);
  }
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::MediaSessionMetadataChanged(
    const absl::optional<media_session::MediaMetadata>& metadata) {
  session_metadata_ = metadata.value_or(media_session::MediaMetadata());

  view_needs_metadata_update_ = true;

  MaybeUnfreeze();
  MaybeHideOrShowNotification();

  // |MaybeHideOrShowNotification()| can synchronously create a
  // MediaNotificationView that calls |SetView()|. If that happens, then we
  // don't want to call |view_->UpdateWithMediaMetadata()| below since |view_|
  // will have already received the metadata when calling |SetView()|.
  // |view_needs_metadata_update_| is set to false in |SetView()|. The reason we
  // want to avoid sending the metadata twice is that metrics are recorded when
  // metadata is set and we don't want to double-count metrics.
  if (view_ && view_needs_metadata_update_ && !frozen_)
    view_->UpdateWithMediaMetadata(session_metadata_);

  view_needs_metadata_update_ = false;
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::MediaSessionActionsChanged(
    const std::vector<media_session::mojom::MediaSessionAction>& actions) {
  session_actions_ = base::flat_set<media_session::mojom::MediaSessionAction>(
      actions.begin(), actions.end());

  if (view_ && !frozen_) {
    DCHECK(view_);
    view_->UpdateWithMediaActions(session_actions_);
  } else if (waiting_for_actions_) {
    MaybeUnfreeze();
  }
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::MediaSessionPositionChanged(
    const absl::optional<media_session::MediaPosition>& position) {
  session_position_ = position;
  if (!position.has_value())
    return;

  if (view_ && !frozen_) {
    view_->UpdateWithMediaPosition(*position);
  }
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::MediaControllerImageChanged(
    media_session::mojom::MediaSessionImageType type,
    const SkBitmap& bitmap) {
  if (type == media_session::mojom::MediaSessionImageType::kSourceIcon) {
    session_favicon_ = gfx::ImageSkia::CreateFrom1xBitmap(bitmap);
    if (view_ && !frozen_)
      view_->UpdateWithFavicon(*session_favicon_);

    return;
  }

  DCHECK_EQ(media_session::mojom::MediaSessionImageType::kArtwork, type);

  session_artwork_ = gfx::ImageSkia::CreateFrom1xBitmap(bitmap);

  if (view_ && !frozen_)
    view_->UpdateWithMediaArtwork(*session_artwork_);
  else if (waiting_for_artwork_)
    MaybeUnfreeze();
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::SetView(
    media_message_center::MediaNotificationView* view) {
  DCHECK(view_ || view);

  view_ = view;

  if (view_) {
    view_needs_metadata_update_ = false;
    view_->UpdateWithMediaSessionInfo(session_info_);
    view_->UpdateWithMediaMetadata(session_metadata_);
    view_->UpdateWithMediaActions(session_actions_);
    view_->UpdateWithMuteStatus(session_info_->muted);

    if (session_position_.has_value())
      view_->UpdateWithMediaPosition(*session_position_);
    if (session_artwork_.has_value())
      view_->UpdateWithMediaArtwork(*session_artwork_);
    if (session_favicon_.has_value())
      view_->UpdateWithFavicon(*session_favicon_);
  }
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::OnMediaSessionActionButtonPressed(
    MediaSessionAction action) {
  UMA_HISTOGRAM_ENUMERATION(kUserActionHistogramName, action);

  if (frozen_)
    return;

  delegate_->LogMediaSessionActionButtonPressed(request_id_, action);
  media_session::PerformMediaSessionAction(action, media_controller_remote_);
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::SeekTo(base::TimeDelta time) {
  if (!frozen_)
    media_controller_remote_->SeekTo(time);
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::Dismiss() {
  delegate_->RemoveItem(request_id_);
}

media_message_center::SourceType MediaSessionNotificationItem::SourceType() {
  return media_message_center::SourceType::kLocalMediaSession;
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::Stop() {
  if (media_controller_remote_.is_bound())
    media_controller_remote_->Stop();
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::Raise() {
  if (!media_controller_remote_.is_bound())
    return;

  media_controller_remote_->Raise();
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::SetMute(bool mute) {
  if (!frozen_)
    media_controller_remote_->SetMute(mute);
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::SetController(
    mojo::Remote<media_session::mojom::MediaController> controller,
    media_session::mojom::MediaSessionInfoPtr session_info) {
  observer_receiver_.reset();
  artwork_observer_receiver_.reset();
  favicon_observer_receiver_.reset();

  is_bound_ = true;
  media_controller_remote_ = std::move(controller);
  session_info_ = std::move(session_info);

  if (media_controller_remote_.is_bound()) {
    // Bind an observer to the associated media controller.
    media_controller_remote_->AddObserver(
        observer_receiver_.BindNewPipeAndPassRemote());

    // TODO(https://crbug.com/931397): Use dip to calculate the size.
    // Bind an observer to be notified when the artwork changes.
    media_controller_remote_->ObserveImages(
        media_session::mojom::MediaSessionImageType::kArtwork,
        kMediaItemArtworkMinSize, kMediaItemArtworkDesiredSize,
        artwork_observer_receiver_.BindNewPipeAndPassRemote());

    media_controller_remote_->ObserveImages(
        media_session::mojom::MediaSessionImageType::kSourceIcon,
        gfx::kFaviconSize, kMediaItemArtworkDesiredSize,
        favicon_observer_receiver_.BindNewPipeAndPassRemote());
  }

  MaybeHideOrShowNotification();
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::Freeze(base::OnceClosure unfrozen_callback) {
  is_bound_ = false;
  unfrozen_callback_ = std::move(unfrozen_callback);

  if (frozen_)
    return;

  frozen_ = true;
  frozen_with_actions_ = HasActions();
  frozen_with_artwork_ = HasArtwork();

  freeze_timer_.Start(
      FROM_HERE, kFreezeTimerDelay,
      base::BindOnce(&MediaSessionNotificationItem::OnFreezeTimerFired,
                     base::Unretained(this)));
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::FlushForTesting() {
  media_controller_remote_.FlushForTesting();  // IN-TEST
}

bool MediaSessionNotificationItem::ShouldShowNotification() const {
  // If the |is_controllable| bit is set in MediaSessionInfo then we should show
  // a media notification.
  if (!session_info_ || !session_info_->is_controllable)
    return false;

  // If we do not have a title then we should hide the notification.
  if (session_metadata_.title.empty())
    return false;

  return true;
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::MaybeUnfreeze() {
  if (!frozen_)
    return;

  if (waiting_for_actions_ && !HasActions())
    return;

  if (waiting_for_artwork_ && !HasArtwork())
    return;

  if (!ShouldShowNotification() || !is_bound_)
    return;

  // If the currently frozen view has actions and the new session currently has
  // no actions, then wait until either the freeze timer ends or the new actions
  // are received.
  if (frozen_with_actions_ && !HasActions()) {
    waiting_for_actions_ = true;
    return;
  }

  // If the currently frozen view has artwork and the new session currently has
  // no artwork, then wait until either the freeze timer ends or the new artwork
  // is downloaded.
  if (frozen_with_artwork_ && !HasArtwork()) {
    waiting_for_artwork_ = true;
    return;
  }

  Unfreeze();
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::Unfreeze() {
  frozen_ = false;
  waiting_for_actions_ = false;
  frozen_with_actions_ = false;
  waiting_for_artwork_ = false;
  frozen_with_artwork_ = false;
  freeze_timer_.Stop();

  // When we unfreeze, we want to fully update |view_| with any changes that
  // we've avoided sending during the freeze.
  if (view_) {
    view_needs_metadata_update_ = false;
    view_->UpdateWithMediaSessionInfo(session_info_);
    view_->UpdateWithMediaMetadata(session_metadata_);
    view_->UpdateWithMediaActions(session_actions_);
    view_->UpdateWithMuteStatus(session_info_->muted);

    if (session_position_.has_value())
      view_->UpdateWithMediaPosition(*session_position_);
    if (session_artwork_.has_value())
      view_->UpdateWithMediaArtwork(*session_artwork_);
    if (session_favicon_.has_value())
      view_->UpdateWithFavicon(*session_favicon_);
  }

  std::move(unfrozen_callback_).Run();
}

bool MediaSessionNotificationItem::HasActions() const {
  return !session_actions_.empty();
}

bool MediaSessionNotificationItem::HasArtwork() const {
  return session_artwork_.has_value() && !session_artwork_->isNull();
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::OnFreezeTimerFired() {
  DCHECK(frozen_);

  // If we've just been waiting for actions or artwork, stop waiting and just
  // show what we have.
  if ((waiting_for_actions_ || waiting_for_artwork_) &&
      ShouldShowNotification() && is_bound_) {
    Unfreeze();
    return;
  }

  if (is_bound_) {
    delegate_->HideItem(request_id_);
  } else {
    delegate_->RemoveItem(request_id_);
  }
}

void MediaSessionNotificationItem::MaybeHideOrShowNotification() {
  if (frozen_)
    return;

  if (!ShouldShowNotification()) {
    delegate_->HideItem(request_id_);
    return;
  }

  // If we have an existing view, then we don't need to create a new one.
  if (view_)
    return;

  delegate_->ActivateItem(request_id_);

  UMA_HISTOGRAM_ENUMERATION(kSourceHistogramName, source_);
}

}  // namespace global_media_controls

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
For the Record: Choice Recent, Local Releases
CD Reviews, June 2016
Naomi Moon Siegel photo by Daniel Sheehan
Naomi Moon Siegel
Shoebox View
Break Open Records
Naomi Moon Siegel is a composer and trombonist of intuitive conception and thoughtfully focused execution, whose skillful presence has graced the bandstand with a wide variety of Seattle's most creative musicians. Sadly for the local scene, she is planning a move to Montana, but is leaving a new album, Shoebox View, as parting gift before she begins her next act.
Anchored front and center by the richly resonant and enveloping sound of Siegel's trombone, Shoebox View is warm and welcoming post-genre mélange of trance-inducing global timbres and cinematically rustic textures. Siegel's compositions are brought to life by a varied crew of sensitive collaborators such as drummer Eric Eagle, guitarist Sean Woolstenhulme, and Wayne Horvitz. The album manages to deftly blend uncluttered melodies, environmental sound, and varied instrumental traditions into a cohesive whole.
Though the eclectic approach on Shoebox View invokes touchstones such as producer (and former Seattle resident) Tucker Martine's work and Jon Hassell's "Fourth World" concepts, Siegel's musical worlds are less quirky than Martine's, and seem devoid of the self-consciously intellectual theorizing of Hassell's approach. Siegel is also not concerned with overt displays of virtuosity, but with creating and inhabiting a musical space. There's a welcome sense of openness, an almost dimensional quality to the music, as well as a centered, patient calm and connection to the rhythms of nature. Shoebox View is an aural balm that satisfies the body and soul, while still providing grit and diversion for the brain.
– Andrew Luthringer
Victor Janusz Band
Living in a Blue State
Self-released
Victor Janusz has made a name for himself as a modern cabaret-style singer and skilled pianist, with a broad repertoire and a flair for the dramatic and theatrical (including a successful semi-biographical one-man show, "Hands Solo: Pianoman"). Vocally, Janusz's richly expressive voice displays a debt to Frank Sinatra as well as obvious affinity for Elvis Costello.
On his new album Living in a Blue State, Janusz expands his music into a broader band sound with a multi-faceted group of contributors, including sterling work from saxophonist Mark Taylor and drummer Steve Banks. Janusz's songwriting (about half the tunes are originals) is stylistically varied, and like Costello, he has a lyrical ear for storytelling.
Highlights include the unexpected harmonic turns in the album opener "French Kiss," as well as a couple of the more stripped down numbers: "That's All," with Janusz's vocals backed by the the chiming guitar of Leif Totusek, and the album's closer, "A Song to Love" featuring just Janusz and his piano.
– AL
Birch Pereira & the Gin Joints
Dream Man
Over the years (and decades), there have been recurring cycles of popularity for many varieties of traditional country, early rock & roll, and "retro-swing," sometimes driven as much by fashion as by sound musical intent. Birch Pereira and The Gin Joints however, are clearly not about shtick, gimmicks, or ironic detachment. This is a top-shelf unit of superb musicians, and on their new album Dream Man, they explore a keenly curated repertoire of classic sounds, steeped with an obvious affinity and love for the music.
Birch Pereira is an almost eerily versatile bassist, arranger, and singer, as seemingly at home with the electronic beats and synth textures of his band Theoretics as he is wandering the dusty roads of American vernacular music with The Gin Joints. It's a fairly rare upright bass player who can sing great lead vocals while laying down a locked-in groove, but Pereira makes it sound easy. His high tenor is delicate but authoritative, and always in the pocket, and the stripped-down but superbly effective arrangements are spot on.
Able to blend Willie Dixon, Hank Williams, Fats Waller, and much more into a single tasty brew, The Gin Joints obviously have a distinctive skill at deftly exploring the sometimes treacherous seams between country, swing and the roadhouse, while finding the timeless essence of great songs from any era. Highly recommended.
← In One Ear 2016 Northwest Summer Festivals →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The present study was designed to investigate the therapeutic effects of bee venom (BV) on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) in rats at different levels.
Histological manifestations, hepatic lipid content, liver function tests, glucose homeostasis, lipid abnormalities, adipocytokines, lipid peroxidation, disturbed glutathione and antioxidant enzymes systems and dysregulation of Nrf2 transcription factor were assessed. In the present study, the NAFL rats were subcutaneously treated with BV with different doses (0.01, 0.05, 0.1 mg/kg). The results indicated that BV treatment completely normalized the lipid profile values of NAFL rats. Fasting blood sugar, insulin level and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance significantly decreased.
BV treated rats showed a significantly lower level of all liver enzymes and bilirubin. Moreover, BV treatment significantly increased the levels of active nuclear erythroid factor 2 like 2, glutathione (GSH) (total and reduced), GSH/glutathione disulphide ratio and activities of glutathione reductase, glutathione-S-transferase and glutathione peroxidase (total and Se-dependent). The level of tumor necrosis factor-α was reduced. Treatment showed correction of adiponectin level, and significant downregulation of hepatic triglycerides and cholesterol. At the histological level, BV improved the architecture of liver cells showing normal sinusoids.
It may be concluded that BV may represent an interesting therapeutic alternative for the treatment of NAFL disease.
Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), a bioactive component extracted from propolis, is widely studied due to its anti-cancer effect. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is distinct from other head and neck carcinomas and has a high risk of distant metastases. N-myc downstream regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) is demonstrated as a tumor suppressor gene in several cancers. Our result showed that CAPE treatment could repress NPC cell growth, through induction of S phase cell cycle arrest, and invasion.
CAPE treatment stimulated NDRG1 expression in NPC cells. NDRG1 knockdown increased NPC cell proliferation and invasion and rendered NPC cells less responsive to CAPE growth-inhibiting effect, indicating CAPE repressed NPC cell growth partly through NDRG1indcution. CAPE treatment increased phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, and p38 in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Pre-treatments by inhibitors of ERK (PD0325901), JNK (SP600125), or p38 (SB201290), respectively, all could partly inhibit the CAPE effect on NDRG1 induction in NPC cells. Further, STAT3 activity was also repressed by CAPE in NPC cells.
In summary, CAPE attenuates NPC cell proliferation and invasion by upregulating NDRG1 expression via MAPK pathway and by inhibiting phosphorylation of STAT3. Considering the poor prognosis of NPC patients with metastasis, CAPE could be a promising agent against NPC.
Determine the in vitro efficacy of a honey‐based gel (HBO) against meticillin‐susceptible S. pseudintermedius (MSSP), meticillin‐resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) and M. pachydermatis, by minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) and time‐kill assay (TKA). Efficacy of the product's honey component (HO) also was evaluated.
Sixty S. pseudintermedius and 10 M. pachydermatis canine isolates were selected. All isolates were tested against serial dilutions of an HBO containing 40% HO (40%, 20%, 10%, 5% and 2.5% w/v) and HO alone (undiluted, 40%, 20%, 10%, 5% and 2.5% w/v). Microbroth assay followed by subculture was used to determine MBC and MFC. The same protocol was applied after product exposure to catalase. A well‐diffusion assay for S. pseudintermedius was used to generate inhibition zones. A TKA for 10 isolates of S. pseudintermedius and 10 isolates of M. pachydermatis was performed.
MBC was 20% w/v (5–20% w/v) for HBO and HO. HBO had lower MBC values when compared to HO (P = 0.003). No statistical difference was observed between MSSP/MRSP isolates (HBO P = 0.757, HO P = 0.743). Only HO was affected by catalase (P = 0.015). MFC for HBO was 10% w/v (5–10% w/v) and 40% w/v for HO (20–≥40% w/v). All isolates were killed after 4 h of exposure.
Melittin is the peptide toxin found in bee venom and is effective against cancer cells. To enhance its activity, a branched dimeric form of melittin was designed.
The monomeric form of the peptide was more cytotoxic against gastric cancer cells at low concentrations (1-5 μM) than the dimer form, while the cytotoxic effect was comparable at higher concentrations (10 μM). Confocal microscopy showed that both the monomer and dimer forms of melittin with fluorescent label at the C terminus penetrated the cytoplasm and localized at the cell nucleus and disrupted the cell membrane.
The results indicated that both peptides localized in the nucleus and no significant difference in penetration was observed between monomer and dimer of melittin. Although the C and N termini are important for melittin activity, using C terminus for dimerization of the peptide resulted in similar activity for the monomer and dimer against bacteria and gastric cancer cells.
In this context, rats received daily injection of EEP (100 mg/kg) for 5 days prior to immunization or for 9 days commencing 5 days post immunization with α-Tropomyosin extract, then were sacrificed at day 14. Histological examination, NOS2, arginase-1, and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) expression were evaluated in the retinas. Plasmatic production of nitric oxide (NO), urea, IL-4, and TNF-α was assessed.
We have found that treatment with EEP substantially reduced the retinal histological damages induced by α-Tropomyosin. In the same context, a significant decrease of NO and TNF-α levels was noticed. Interestingly, EEP down-modulated NOS2 and NF-κB expression in retina. Also, an increase in urea and IL-4 levels was concomitant to an up-modulation of arginase-1 expression.
In this study, we investigated the chemical composition, and antioxidant and antibacterial properties of ethanolic extracts of propolis (EEP) from Melipona quadrifasciata quadrifasciata and Tetragonisca angustula.
Chemical composition of EEP was determined by colorimetry and chromatographic (HPLC-DAD and UPLC-Q/TOF-MS/MS) analysis. Antimicrobial activity of EEP was evaluated against gram-positive (S. aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, E. faecalis) and gram-negative (E. coli and K. pneumoniae) bacteria by the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) test using the microdilution method. Furthermore, the growth curve and integrity of cell membrane of S. aureus and E. coli were investigated using standard microbiological methods.
HPLC-DAD analysis showed that the EEP of M. quadrifasciata quadrifasciata has a more complex chemical composition than the EEP of T. angustula. Moreover, UPLC-MS analyses of M. quadrifasciata quadrifascita indicated flavonoids and terpenes as major constituents. The bactericidal activity of both EEPs was higher against gram-positive bacteria than for gram-negative bacteria. The EEP from M. quadrifasciata quadrifasciata presented MIC values lower than the EEP from T. angustula for all tested bacteria.
The EEP from M. quadrifasciata quadrifasciata caused lysis of the bacterial wall and release of intracellular components from both E. coli and S. aureus.
Our findings indicate that the chemical composition of propolis from stingless bees is complex and depends on the species. The extract from M. quadrifasciata quadrifascita was more effective against gram-positive than gram-negative strains, especially against S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus compared to T. angustula extract, by a mechanism that involves disturbance of the bacterial cell membrane integrity.
The aim of the present study was to survey the protective effect of pretreatment with Persian honey on amelioration of side effects of chemotherapy and ischemia/reperfusion induced testicular injury.
Forty adult's male wistar rats were divided into four groups of ischemia-reperfusion (IR), honey + ischemia-reperfusion (HIR), Busulfan (B) and Busulfan intraperitoneally+ honey (BH). The seminiferous tubules were rated for their modified spermatogenesis index (SI) by Johnsons score. Detection of single- and double-stranded DNA breaks at the early stages of apoptosis was performed using the in-situ cell death detection kit. Total serum concentration of Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) , Luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone was measured using ELISA. All data were expressed as mean ± SD and significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.
Honey improved SI in the HIR and BH groups and serum levels of FSH and LH in the BH and HIR groups (p < 0.001). Also, serum levels of testosterone were significantly higher in BH and HIR groups. But, apoptotic cells in IR and B groups significantly increased (p < 0.001), while in HIR and BH groups, the number of apoptotic cells decreased and the positive cells of TUNEL (TdT-mediated dUTP-X nick end labelling) staining were detected in spermatocytes and spermatid.
Pretreatment with honey protect testis against chemotherapy and testicular IR injury, increase FSH and LH and testosterone and decrease the cellular damage and apoptosis. Honey can decrease the side effects of chemotherapy on reproductive system and prevent sterility.
The effect of the use of thyme honey in minimizing radiation - induced oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients: A randomized controlled trial.
Radiation-induced oral mucositis is one of the main side effects during and after the treatment of head and neck cancer patients. The study was designed to provide evidence on the effectiveness of thyme honey on oral mucositis management.
This was a randomised controlled trial (RCT) with 72 head and neck cancer patients who were divided either to the intervention group (thyme honey rinses) or to the control group (saline rinses). Oral mucositis was assessed according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOC criteria), and assessments were performed weekly starting at the 4th week of the radiotherapy for seven weeks and repeated once 6 months later. Additionally, the Oral Mucositis Weekly Questionnaire (OMWQ) was given at 4th week of radiotherapy, 1 month after the completion of radiotherapy and 6 months later. The ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier for this study is NCT01465308. This paper reports on the findings regarding thyme honey's effectiveness on oral mucositis.
Generalized estimating equations revealed that patients in the intervention group were graded lower in the objective assessment of oral mucositis (p < 0,001), maintained their body weight (p < 0,001) and showed an improvement in their global health (p = 0.001) compared to the control group. Quality of life of the patients in the same group was also statistically significantly higher than that of the patients of the control group (p < 0,001).
The study provided evidence on the positive effect of thyme honey on the management of radiation-induced oral mucositis and quality of life in head and neck cancer patients.
The meeting, organised by the Romanian Apitherapy Society (Apimondia member), in collaboration with Apimondia (the International Federation of Beekeepers' Associations), will address the most relevant issues pertaining to apitherapy and the qualitative aspects of the production/use of bee products and is open to researchers, medical doctors, pharmacists, biochemists, biologists, therapists, students as well as to beekeepers.
The symposium will include: oral presentations, a poster session, keynote speakers, specific sessions (active compounds, properties, pharmacology and clinical applications of hive products; clinical aspects in human and veterinary medicine; best practices; residues in hive products; alkaloids in honey and pollen; standards and frauds) and practical training (practical demonstration and clinical evidence of apitherapy; on-field standard tools; innovative systems for beehives and hive products traceability).
In this study, we administered specially developed chitosan/alginate nanoparticle encapsulated BV (CH/AL-BV) which has slow-releasing properties and mucosal adhesiveness to pig via nasal route and evaluate whether it can facilitate systemic immune response and improve clearance of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV).
The CH/AL-BV-administered group with PRRSV vaccination showed significantly enhanced Th1-related responses including a high population of CD4+ T lymphocyte and cytokine mRNA levels including interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and interleukin (IL)-12 and increased PRRSV-specific IgG levels. In the PRRSV challenge experiment, the CH/AL-BV group showed a significant decrease of viral burden in the sera and tissues (lung and bronchial lymph node) and mild interstitial pneumonia signs on both lung gross examination and microscopic evaluation with high levels of PRRSV-specific IgG and viral neutralizing antibody. CH/AL-BV also effectively induced not only Th1-related immune responses including increase in portion of CD4+ T lymphocyte, cytokines (IFN-γ and IL-12), and transcriptional factors (STAT4 and T-bet), but also stimulated IFN-γ-secreting cell families such as CD4+ T lymphocytes and Th/memory cells. Interestingly, the CH/AL-BV group showed decrease in PRRSV-specific immune-suppressive actions, including the T regulatory cell population and its related cytokines (IL-10 and TGF-β) and transcriptional factors (STAT5 and Foxp3).
Therefore, nasal-delivered CH/AL-BV may effectively induce non-specific immune stimulating actions, particularly those related to Th1 responses and viral clearance activities against PRRSV infection. Based on these results, CH/AL-BV could be a promising strategy for overcoming the disadvantages of classical PRRSV vaccination and can be applied as a preventive agent against PRRSV and other viral diseases, particularly those with immune-suppressive characteristics.
Melipona subnitida Ducke (jandaíra) is a stingless bee native to north-eastern Brazil, which produces geopropolis, a mixture of beeswax, plant resins, pollens and earth that is used for sealing beehives.
To extend the knowledge on phenolic compounds in fractions obtained by C18-solid phase extraction (SPE) of nine geopropolis samples from Melipona subnitida collected at different times.
Chromatographic profiles of nine samples of geopropolis from jandaíra were analysed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-DAD-QTOF-MS/MS) and combined with the use of data-independent acquisition (MSE) for the profiling and structural characterisation of the phenolic compounds. The isolated compound was identified by nuclear magnetic resonance of hydrogen and carbon (1 H- and 13 C-NMR).
The present study with geopropolis of jandaíra resulted in the characterisation of 51 phenolics by UPLC-DAD-QTOF-MS/MS: four galloyl glucosides, one ellagic acid, 11 acyl-hexosides, 23 acyl-galloyl-hexosides and 12 flavonoids. The structures of two compounds (1,6-di-O-(E)-coumaroyl-2-O-galloyl-β-d-glucopyranoside and 1-O-cinnamoyl-6-O-(E)-coumaroyl-2-O-galloyl-β-d-glucopyranoside) were established by 1 H and the attached proton test (APT) experiments as well as high-resolution electrospray ionisation mass spectroscopy (HR-ESI-MS) analysis.
The geopropolis of jandaíra showed phenolic compounds galloyl hexosides, ellagic acid, acyl-(cinnamoyl/coumaroyl)-hexosides, acyl-(cinnamoyl/coumaroyl)-galloyl-hexosides and flavonoids (aglycones and acylated-O-glycosides).
The combination of lower concentrations of antitumor drugs (carboplatin - CARB, doxorubicin - DOX, and methotrexate - MET) with propolis was investigated against canine osteosarcoma (spOS-2) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in vitro. The mechanism of action in the combinations was analyzed.
spOS-2 cells were incubated up to 72 h with propolis (50 μg/ml) alone or in combination with CARB (10-400 μmol/l), DOX (0.5-2 μmol/l) or MET (50-200 μmol/l). Cell viability was assessed by MTT assay, apoptosis/necrosis by flow cytometry, and MSC was incubated with the optimum combination. Propolis alone exerted no cytotoxic action against spOS-2 cells, whereas CARB (400, 200 and 100 μmol/l) exhibited the highest cytotoxic effects comparing to DOX and MET.
The combination of propolis with the lowest concentrations of CARB led to better results comparing to CARB alone, which was not observed using DOX and MET. Apoptosis was involved in the action of propolis + CARB in spOS-2 cells. MSC were not affected by CARB/propolis, indicating that the cytotoxic action of the combination was specific to tumor cells but not to normal ones. Propolis improved the action of CARB against spOS-2 cells using lower concentrations of this drug, without affecting MSC.
These findings are relevant and indicate a possible application of propolis in OSA treatment.
Pasteurella multocida continues to pose a danger to prone farm and wild animals all over the world. Chemotherapeutic treatments are progressively losing their effectiveness, last for long time, and cost a lot of money, as well as being toxic to human consumers. Therefore, clearing the way for immunization as a big-wheel alternative against the economic grain. Yet, the vaccines available in the market do not confer the necessary protection against the pathogen. The integration of the well adjuvanted killed vaccine with the attenuated vaccines proved to offer an effective protection to the host animals. However, the bare use of the killed bacterin to provide protection from the possible harm of the live attenuated vaccine was doubtful.
In the present study, propolis extracts were used to ameliorate the immunogenicity of the Pasteurella bacterin. The cellular and humoral activities were assessed for the different bacterin formulations.
Propolis extracts adjuvants proved to broaden and extend the IgG potency, as well as to induce a unique mucosal protection against the bacterium. Simultaneously it offered an anti-inflammatory effect that increased the tolerability to the bacterin. While the cellular activity was relatively reduced with propolis extracts.
These results confirm the effectiveness of the formulation of the bacterin with propolis to offer a potent homologous primary protection to the animals against the long-life use of the attenuated Pasteurella vaccines.
Propolis is a well-known bee product containing more than 2000 identified compounds. It has many beneficial effects on human health that include antibacterial, antiviral, anticancer and hepatoprotective justifying its use as a dietary supplement. Platelet aggregation plays crucial role in thrombus formation that can cause stroke or heart attacks. As cardiovascular diseases, including those caused by thrombus formation, are related to 50% of deaths of Western population, the objective of this study was to determine antiaggregatory activity of propolis on platelet aggregation on the whole blood samples.
Twenty one propolis samples from Southeast Europe were characterized by spectrophotometric methods to determine content of the total flavonoids and phenolic acids. High performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection was used to identify and quantify individual polyphenols. Platelet aggregation was tested by impedance aggregometry on the whole blood samples of ten healthy volunteers.
The mean content of total polyphenols was 136.14 mg/g and ranged from 59.23 to 277.39 mg/g. Content of total flavonoids ranged between 6.83 and 55.44 mg/g with the mean value of 19.28 mg/g. Percentage of total phenolic acids was in the range 8.79 to 45.67% (mean 26.63%). Minimal antiaggregatory concentration, representing the lowest concentration of propolis extract sample that can cause statistically significant reduction of aggregation, ranged from 5 μM to 10.4 mM. Samples of propolis with lower content of luteolin and higher content of pinocembrin-7-methyleter showed better antiplatelet activity i.e. lower values of minimal antiaggregatory concentration.
This is the first study that shows antiaggregatory potential of propolis ethanolic extracts on the whole blood samples in the low micromolar concentrations suggesting that propolis supplementation may influence platelet aggregation and consequently thrombus formation. Further in vivo studies are needed to confirm the beneficial effects in prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
For those who suffer from hay fever, enjoying all that summer has to offer is far easier said than done.
As beautiful as the weather can be, attempting to make the most of it can seem fruitless when you have to simultaneously endure a runny nose, itchy eyes and a persistent cough.
The aim of the present study was to examine the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of 21 types of honey derived from Mount Olympus (Mt. Olympus), a region with great plant biodiversity. The antibacterial activity was examined against the growth of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) by the agar well diffusion assay and the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).
The antioxidant activity was assessed by using the 2,2‑diphenyl‑1‑picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'‑azino‑bis(3‑ethylbenzothiazoline‑6‑sulphonic acid (ABTS•+) free radical scavenging assays. These activities were compared to Manuka honey which is used as an alternative medicine. The results revealed that all tested honey types exhibited antibacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. The MIC of the tested honey types against S. aureus ranged from 3.125 to 12.5% (v/v), while MIC of Manuka honey was determined to be 6.25% (v/v).
The MIC values of the tested honey types against P. aeruginosa ranged from 6.25 to 12.5% (v/v) and the MIC of Manuka honey was determined at 12.5% (v/v). Moreover, the results suggested that the presence of hydrogen peroxide and proteinaceous compounds in the honey types accounted, at least in part, for the antibacterial activity. In addition, the total polyphenolic content (TPC) of the honey types seemed to contribute to the antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa. Furthermore, some of the tested honey types exhibited potent free radical scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS•+ radicals, which was greater than that of Manuka honey.
The results indicated that not only the quantity, but also the quality of the polyphenols were responsible for the antioxidant activity. Moreover, four honey types exhibiting great antioxidant activity were converted to powder using a freeze drying method. The results indicated that following conversion to powder all honey types, apart from one, retained their antioxidant activity, although their TPC was reduced.
In the several types of amyloidoses, participation of oxidative stresses in the pathogenesis and the effect of antioxidants on amyloidosis have been reported. Meanwhile, the relationship between oxidative stresses and pathogenesis of amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis is still unclear.
In this study, we used an antioxidant, Brazilian propolis, to investigate the inhibitory effects on AA amyloidosis. The results showed that AA deposition was inhibited by administration of propolis. Increased expression of antioxidant markers was detected in molecular biological examinations of mice treated with propolis. Although serum amyloid A (SAA) levels were strongly correlated with the immunoreactive area of AA deposits in the control group, the correlation was weaker in the propolis-treated groups. In addition, there were no changes in SAA levels between the control group and the propolis-treated groups.
The results indicate that propolis, an antioxidant, may induce inhibitory effects against AA amyloidosis.
Propolis has been extensively used to improve health and prevent inflammatory diseases. Different types of Cuban propolis (red, brown and yellow) have been documented. The purpose of this research was to investigate the cytotoxic effects of Cuban red propolis (CP) on MDA MB-231 cell line, since breast cancer is considered one of the most common causes of mortality among women.
Antiproliferative and cytotoxic activity of CP against MDA MB-231 cells were determined by the 3-[4,5-dimethylth-iazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazoliumbromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays. Apoptosis/necrosis, involvement of PI3K/Akt and ERK1/2 pathways, mitochondrial membrane potential and expression of genes were investigated. CP extract exhibited antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects on MDA MB-231 cells, what may be probably related to PI3K/Akt and ERK1/2 pathways. A decreased expression of apoptosis-related genes (TP53, CASP3, BAX and P21) was seen, whereas the expressions of BCL-2, BCL-XL, NOXA and PUMA were unaffected. CP extract induced mitochondrial dysfunction and LDH release, what indicated cell necrosis associated with reactive oxygen species production and decreased cell migration.
Our findings provide a basis for future investigation of chemopreventive and/or therapeutic studies against apoptosis-resistant breast cancer, in animals and humans.
Honey has successfully been used in treatment of a broad spectrum of injuries including burns and non-healing wounds. It acts as antibacterial and anti-biofilm agent with anti/pro-inflammatory properties. However, besides these traditional properties, recent evidence suggests that honey is also an immunomodulator in wound healing and contains several bee and plant-derived components that may speed up the wound healing and tissue regeneration process.
Identifying their exact mechanism of action allows better understanding of honey healing properties and promotes its wider translation into clinical practice.
This review will discuss the physiological basis for the use of honey in wound management, its current clinical uses, as well as the potential role of honey bioactive compounds in dermal regenerative medicine and tissue re-modelling.
There are a number of disorders that affect the gastrointestinal tract. Such disorders have become a global emerging disease with a high incidence and prevalence rates worldwide.
Inflammatory and ulcerative processes of the stomach or intestines, such as gastritis, ulcers, colitis, and mucositis, afflict a significant proportion of people throughout the world. The role of herbal-derived medicines has been extensively explored in order to develop new effective and safe strategies to improve the available gastrointestinal therapies that are currently used in the clinical practice.
Studies on the efficacy of propolis (a unique resinous aromatic substance produced by honeybees from different types of species of plants) are promising and propolis has been effective in the treatment of several pathological conditions.
This review, therefore, summarizes and critiques the contents of some relevant published scientific papers (including those related to clinical trials) in order to demonstrate the therapeutic value of propolis and its active compounds in the treatment and prevention of gastrointestinal diseases.
Alcoholic propolis extracts may be used to eliminate microbes in mucous membranes and skin inflammations and in wound infections.
The aim of this study was an assessment of the ethanol extract of propolis (EEP) activity against biofilm formation by P. mirabilis. Six clinical strains of P. mirabilis isolated from patients with chronic wound infection, and one reference strain of P. mirabilis ATCC 29906 were used. Biofilm was formed in 96-well plate. In order to evaluate the effect of EEP at a concentration range of 1.56-100 mg/mL on the forming and mature biofilm, P. mirabilis cells were released by sonication.
In this study the effectiveness of 25-100 mg/mL of EEP on the forming P. mirabilis biofilm and concentrations of 25-50 mg/mL of EEP on formed biofilm has been demonstrated.
Our results suggest the possibility of using the EEP in treatment of chronic wound infection caused by P. mirabilis.
Brazilian green propolis is produced by mixing secretions from Africanized honey bees with exudate, mainly from Baccharis dracunculifolia. Brazilian propolis is especially rich in flavonoids and cinammic acid derivatives, and it has been widely used in folk medicine owing to its anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, tumoricidal, and analgesic effects. Moreover, it is applied to prevent metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and arteriosclerosis. Previously, we demonstrated that propolis ethanol extract ameliorated type 2 diabetes in a mouse model through the resolution of adipose tissue inflammation. The aims of this study were to identify the immunosuppressive cells directly elicited by propolis extract and to evaluate the flavonoids that induce such cells.
Ethanol extract of Brazilian propolis (PEE; 100 mg/kg i.p., twice a week) was injected into lean or high fat-fed obese C57BL/6 mice or C57BL/6 ob/ob mice for one month. Subsequently, immune cells in visceral adipose tissue and the peritoneal cavity were monitored using FACS analysis. Isolated macrophages and the macrophage-like cell line J774.1 were treated with PEE and its constituent components, and the expression of immune suppressive myeloid markers were evaluated. Finally, we injected one of the identified compounds, kaempferol, into C57BL/6 mice and performed FACS analysis on the adipose tissue.
Intraperitoneal treatment of PEE induces CD11b+, Gr-1+ myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in visceral adipose tissue and the peritoneal cavity of lean and obese mice. PEE directly stimulates cultured M1 macrophages to transdifferentiate into MDSCs. Among twelve compounds isolated from PEE, kaempferol has an exclusive effect on MDSCs induction in vitro. Accordingly, intraperitoneal injection of kaempferol causes accumulation of MDSCs in the visceral adipose tissue of mice.
Brazilian PEE and its compound kaempferol strongly induce MDSCs in visceral adipose tissue at a relatively early phase of inflammation. Given the strong anti-inflammatory action of MDSCs, the induction of MDSCs by PEE and kaempferol is expected to be useful for anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory therapies.
Propolis is a natural bee product, and it has many effects, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihepatotoxic, and anticancer activity. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential in vivo anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiapoptotic properties of propolis extract on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in rats.
Forty-two, 3- to 4-month-old male Sprague Dawley rats were used in six groups. LPS (1 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally to rats in inflammation, inflammation + propolis30, and inflammation+propolis90 groups. Thirty milligram/kilogram and 90 mg/kg of propolis were given orally 24 h after LPS injection. After the determination of the inflammation in lung and liver tissues by 18F-fluoro-deoxy-d-glucose-positron emission tomography (18FDG-PET), samples were collected.
The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), nitric oxide (NO), and DNA fragmentation were determined. The decrease of MDA levels in inflammation + propolis30 and inflammation + propolis90 groups was determined compared to the inflammation group in lung and liver tissues. The increase of SOD% inhibition in inflammation + propolis90 group was determined in liver, lung, and hemolysate compared to the inflammation group.
Increased CAT activities in inflammation + propolis30 and inflammation + propolis90 groups were observed in liver tissue and hemolysate compared to inflammation group. In lung tissue, NO levels were lower in inflammation group compared to the control group, but DNA fragmentation levels were higher. 18F-FDG uptake of tissues in inflammation + propolis30 and inflammation + propolis90 groups was decreased compared to the inflammation group.
In conclusion, the data of this study indicate that the propolis application may serve as a potential approach for treating inflammatory diseases through the effect of reducing inflammation and free oxygen radical production.
Propolis is a bee-collected natural product that has been proven to have various bioactivities. This study tested the effects of a Mexican propolis on streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus in a murine model.
The results showed that an ethanolic extract of propolis of Chihuahua (EEPCh) significantly inhibited increases in blood glucose and the loss of body weight in diabetic mice. EEPCh increased plasma insulin levels in STZ-diabetic mice, whereas, in untreated diabetic mice, there was no detection of insulin. EEPCh had a high antioxidant capacity (SA50 = 15.75 μg/mL), which was directly related to the concentrations of total phenols (314 mg GAE/g of extract) and flavonoids (6.25 mg QE/g of extract).
In addition, increased activities of the enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase were observed in diabetic mice treated with EEPCh. Compounds such as pinocembrin, quercetin, naringin, naringenin, kaempferol, acacetin, luteolin, and chrysin were identified by HPLC-MS analysis.
This investigation demonstrated that propolis of Chihuahua possesses hypoglycaemic and antioxidant activities and can alleviate symptoms of diabetes mellitus in mice. These effects may be directly related to the chemical composition of propolis, as most of the compounds identified in propolis are reportedly active in terms of the different parameters evaluated in this work.
This study aimed to determine the prevalence, determinants and pattern of herbal medicine use among hypertensive patients in Freetown.
We conducted a cross-sectional study among hypertensive patients attending public and private health facilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone between August and October 2016. We analyzed the data using SPSS version 24. We used Chi-square, Fisher exact two-tailed test and regression analysis for data analysis. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Out of 260 study participants, over half (n = 148, 56.9%) reported using herbal medicine for the treatment of hypertension alone or together with comorbid condition(s). The most commonly used herbal medicine among users were honey (n = 89, 33.3%), moringa (n = 80, 30.0%) and garlic (n = 73, 27.3%). No significant difference existed between users and non-users of herbal medicine with regards to socio-demographic and health-related factors. The majority (n = 241, 92.7%) of respondents considered herbal medicine beneficial if it was recommended by a healthcare provider yet 85.1% (n = 126) did not disclose their herbal medicine use to their health care provider.
There is a high use of herbal medicines among hypertensive patients in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It is essential for healthcare providers to take heed of the findings of this study and routinely ask their patients about their herbal medicine use status. Such practice will provide the opportunity to discuss the benefits and risks of herbal medicine use with the aim of maximizing patient desired therapeutic outcomes.


text:
PSYCHOTHERAPY AND COUNSELLING UNION
admin@pcunion.org.uk
Tracey 07388 010189 | Milton 07307 873367
Join PCU
Members Area Info
PCU Committee 2019 - 2020
Following the AGM on 18th May 2019, the Union has an executive committee of 10 people drawn from many parts of the counselling and psychotherapy field. You can contact the committee via pcu.union@gmail.com
Richard Bagnall-Oakley - General Secretary
I work primarily with children and young people, currently in local schools in North London. Before I became a psychotherapist, I worked in play and youth projects (and was a Unison union rep) - play and creativity have always been central to my work and my values. I've been involved in various grass-roots, non-party political and community projects most of my adult life - for me, the most inspiring social movements are those which work in a decentralised, 'bottom-up' rather than 'top-down' way, empowering their members to make their voices heard and take action. I hope the union can also work in this way.
Juliet Lyons - Secretary
Having trained as Integrative Child Psychotherapist at the Institute of Arts in Therapy and Education, my specialist interest is in children and families and how we care for each other as a society. I have a strong cross-over interest with the expressive and healing potential of creativity and the use of the arts. I would like to see politics in this country being much more representative of gender, ethnic, cultural and class diversity and I would like to see this widening of diversity in our profession as well. I have come to see PCU as an important protective, critiquing and challenging voice for our complex profession. My particular concerns are in the direction economically driven policies are taking us, impeding the quality of in-depth relationships.
Andrew Price - Treasurer
I was one of the founding members of the PCU and soon after its inception I became a committee member. I am now the National treasurer.Prior to qualifying as an integrative counsellor, I had been an operational firefighter for 30 years and a Fire Brigades Union official. I have experience of being a lay advocate, negotiator and experienced union activist. My practice thus far, includes working with young people as a school counsellor and with a recognise national charity. Currently, I am working at a doctors surgery as their in house counsellor. We need an independent voice for counsellors and psychotherapist so that we can effect change as to how our profession is regarded and rewarded. To take our profession forward we will need to have influence in the workplace, professional bodies and politically.Building the union further is vital if we are to achieve the goals of the founding conference of the PCU. Come join us and be part of making history.Unity is strength!
Sasha Kaplin - Membership Secretary & Lead for professional complaints
Eleanor Lindlar (Health and Safety Lead),
I have worked as a Person-Centred counsellor since 2000 in education and private practice. I have expanded my work with individuals, children and young people over that time to include working within the performing arts, substance misuse and couples. I now work solely in private practice in Stratford upon Avon.
I see Person-Centred Therapy as intrinsically radical in its approach with a potential to bring about not only individual but societal change for the betterment of everyone.
Jayn Crowter
My name is Jayn Crowter (he/him) and I am a trainee therapist currently on the MA Person-Centred Experiential Psychotherapy and Counselling Practise at the University of Nottingham. I have over 2 years of experience as an unpaid volunteer counsellor for a local charity. I have been active in socialist and trade union movements from a young age, having been raised by a Union Representative. I am passionate about celebrating diversity and promoting inclusivity, stemming from my own experiences as a queer and disabled individual. I am excited by the potential power of a unified voice for counsellors, by counsellors. When I'm not studying I play board games and collect cats. (Left the committee on Nov/2019)
Maxim Ilyashenko
I am a Jungian-oriented psychotherapist (BACP), MA Psy, EMDR, Hypnotherapist (CNHC accred), Sandplay and couple therapist. Based in Shoreditch, London.
Victoria Childs (Family Court)
I am a founding member of PCU, after having been involved with the Alliance for Counselling and Psychotherapy in 2008. ACP formed as a response to the planned State regulation of counselling and psychotherapy via the (then) Health Professions Council. During the formulation of this response, the idea of a union began. I'd already been involved in a number of professional, academic, community and film projects since the 1990s, linking politics with psychoanalysis, which continue to date. I am a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and have been working in private practice for twenty-five years.
Initially forging a link with the Support Not Separation Coalition, my special responsibility is for liaising with the several campaign groups based at the Crossroads Centre, enabling us as a union to support their vital work, which includes campaign launches, regular protests and rallies.
I am particularly interested in a debate around class and the historic lack of class diversity within the psychotherapy profession. I have been involved in politics and campaigning around social justice since my early teens, when I grew up during the miners' strike in South Yorkshire. The union's work to me is very much a continuation of the political commitment I encountered all around me during those important times and it is therefore something I feel very proud to be involved in. (Left the committee on January 2020)
Audrey West
I have been a member of PCU since it was newly set up. One of our dynamic first meetings included a circle encounter exploring race and difference through personal experience and professional practice. This had a profound effect on the most present, and we agreed this discussion should continue. I intend to bring 'race equalities' higher up PCU the agenda.
I received her Post-Graduate diploma as a Psychosynthesis Counsellor and Psychotherapist in 1998. Following my MA in Cultural Memory, 2002, I pursued post-trauma therapy work alongside other engagements. This was a result of my raised awareness of the reverberation of trauma in subsequent generations of enslaved Africans who had suffered the onslaughts of the transatlantic chattel slave industry.
I am also a qualified PGCE modern languages teacher, a visual artist and writer. Since 1985, I have principally been employed in the not for profit sector in community development. I have worked at senior levels, including as psychotherapist, in this broad range of companies. I add training and life coaching to this prism. I apply creativity and spirituality to her various occupations. I have recently moved from London to North Wales to consolidate this work.
Reem Shelhi
pcu.union@gmail.com
Kate 07388 010189 | Milton 07307 873367
Psychotherapy and Counselling Union ©2018


How do you find information on people moving?
Welcomemat has built a proprietary system over the past 13 years that helps us identify families who are moving. We tap into over 30 data sources to find new mover data all over the country.


text:
Piers Morgan: 'My ex TV wife Susanna has tried over 12 suitors since I quit GMB'
By Alex Glenn • 25 April 2022 • 15:55
Credit: Piers Morgan Instagram
'My ex TV wife Susanna has tried over 12 suitors since I quit GMB,' says Piers Morgan.
Piers Morgan spoke out over his replacement Good Morning Britain presenters to Chris Evans on April 25.
During the radio show, Morgan commented: "Susanna asked me to go back and I'm glad I did, and then I finished the show,
"Susanna and I had a special on screen relationship, then suddenly had to get divorced immediately."
Piers went on to add: "I don't think their show has recovered yet. She has tried 12 to 15 different suitors but there is no marriage on the cards."
Piers dubbed Chris a talented broadcaster and said: "The Master! Known Chris Evans for 30 years – during our many combined ups and downs! – and there are few smarter or more talented broadcasters in Britain.
"Great to catch up with him today on his brilliant @virginradiouk show. Always such a fun & challenging experience. Thanks mate!"
Piers is all set to reappear on TV screens, as reported by Birmingham Live. Speaking of his imminent return Piers told Times Radio: "I am like a caged animal ready to be unleashed. I think the show is going to be great.
"I think it fills a void in this country where people are crying out for a bit of common sense about all this woke, cancel culture nonsense.
"I'm going to be the knight in shining armour, racing to the rescue of the nation. And we start with a corker of an interview tonight where you see Donald Trump lose his rag, what's not to love?".


text:
The Revolutions of the Hawthorne Mill
Posted on September 15, 2015 by lindaseccaspina
In March of 1924 the Hawthorne Woolen Mill had to close after many years in Carleton Place, and the prospects of it re-opening seemed bleak. The company was in liquidation, and Mr. Richard Thompson, the chief owner, pointed out that the assets of the company were some $425,000 more than the liabilities. Thompson said with the tariff conditions it was impossible to run a woolen mill in Canada. The manufacture of cloth would now stand idle in most mills. The closing of the mill was sad for him, as the 200 persons that worked there were responsible for their homes and families in Carleton Place, and had been devoted to the company. There was little or no other work for these people in town, and he had deep sympathy for them. Mr. Thompson explained that it was possible for other mills in Carleton Place to also be affected soon. The wages paid by the Hawthorne Mill amounted to $250,000 a year, and the mill was also the largest user of water and electricity in the town.
In April of 1946 the Hawthorne Mill, then owned by the Renfrew Woolen Mill went on strike. Kent Rowley, Canadian director of the United Textile Workers, said if the unions demands were not met they would prepare for general action throughout the valley to win those demands. The UTW had laid two major demands before the management of the Hawthorne Mills owned by M. J O' Brien. They wanted 15 cents more an hour in wage increase, and two weeks holidays for all employees. Mayor A J Coleman had offered to act as conciliator. In some places there were employees in various mills in the valley earning as low as 21, 29 and 32 cents an hour.
Mr. Rowley said the same demands made at the Carleton Place plant were made at its sister plant in Renfrew. He said H A Green, managing director of the O'Brien interests, were living in in the age of the past. It was added that anytime the union ever made an attempt to work out an agreement with the plant– it was always met with the word NO. The workers became disgusted and went out on strike. Their tents were pitched, and their fires lit and they meant to demonstrate to Mr. Green that we were going to stay there and fight, until they got some sort of an understanding. Mr. Green told them to go out on strike as he felt his workers were not that strong and their spirit would be broken in a week.
In Novemeber 1952 Renfrew Woolen Mills went on strike. Mr. O'Brien said they had been operating at a heavy loss for the past year and a half and the strike cost them their contract with General Motors for upholstery for their 1953 cars. The Carleton Place mill employing 90 men now covered by the union was still operating- but only on one shift. It would be forced to close in one week. Mass picketing had hurt the shipping output and both plants just closed down soon after that, never to open again.
Photos- Linda Seccaspina
Buy Linda Secaspina's Books— Flashbacks of Little Miss Flash Cadilac– Tilting the Kilt-Vintage Whispers of Carleton Place and 4 others on Amazon or Amazon Canada or Wisteria at 62 Bridge Street in Carleton Place
Filed under Uncategorized and tagged carleton place and beckwith heritage museum, Carleton-Place, hawthorne mill, renfrew mil |	Leave a comment


text:
Q: Displaying custom fields values under SKU in single product pages I am customizing WooCommerce and I would like to add and display custom texts ( Conditions and Brands) in the product pages.
The position is either under "in Stock" or "SKU" meta. I have managed to create and save the custom fields but how to print these meta values to the product pages.
Please help!
Here is my code in functions.php:
// Display Fields
add_action( 'woocommerce_product_options_general_product_data', 'woo_add_custom_general_fields' );
// Text Field
function woo_add_custom_general_fields() {
  global $woocommerce, $post;
  echo '
';
  woocommerce_wp_text_input(
    array(

        'id'          => '_conditions',
        'label'       => __( 'Conditions', 'woocommerce' ),
        'placeholder' => 'i.e: brand-new; refurbished; defected...',
        'desc_tip'    => 'true',
        'description' => __( 'Enter the conditions of the products here.', 'woocommerce' )
    )
);
  echo '
';
  woocommerce_wp_text_input(
    array(

        'id'          => '_bands',
        'label'       => __( 'Brands', 'woocommerce' ),
        'placeholder' => 'i.e: Lacoste; Hugo Boss...etc',
        'desc_tip'    => 'true',
        'description' => __( 'Enter names of the Brands of the products if any.', 'woocommerce' )
    )
);
}
// Save Fields
add_action( 'woocommerce_process_product_meta', 'woo_add_custom_general_fields_save' );

Thanks

A: The code provided in your question is incomplete and should be something like that:
// Enabling and Displaying Fields in backend
add_action( 'woocommerce_product_options_general_product_data', 'woo_add_custom_general_fields' );
function woo_add_custom_general_fields() {
    global $woocommerce, $post;

    echo '
';

    woocommerce_wp_text_input( array( // Text Field type
        'id'          => '_conditions',
        'label'       => __( 'Conditions', 'woocommerce' ),
        'placeholder' => 'i.e: brand-new; refurbished; defected...',
        'desc_tip'    => 'true',
        'description' => __( 'Enter the conditions of the products here.', 'woocommerce' )
    ) );

    woocommerce_wp_text_input( array( // Text Field type
        'id'          => '_brands', // ===> NOT '_bands'
        'label'       => __( 'Brands', 'woocommerce' ),
        'placeholder' => 'i.e: Lacoste; Hugo Boss...etc',
        'desc_tip'    => 'true',
        'description' => __( 'Enter names of the Brands of the products if any.', 'woocommerce' )
    ));

    echo '
'; // Closing
 tag HERE
}

// Save Fields values to database when submitted (Backend)
add_action( 'woocommerce_process_product_meta', 'woo_save_custom_general_fields' );
function woo_save_custom_general_fields( $post_id ){

    // Saving "Conditions" field key/value
    $conditions_field = $_POST['_conditions'];
    if( !empty( $conditions_field ) )
        update_post_meta( $post_id, '_conditions', esc_attr( $conditions_field ) );

    // Saving "Brands" field key/value
    $brands_field = $_POST['_brands'];
    if( !empty( $brands_field ) )
        update_post_meta( $post_id, '_brands', esc_attr( $brands_field ) );
}

Now, to display this metadata values in your product pages you will use get_post_meta() function in  a hooked function. Here below you will see all the hooked templates in woocommerce_single_product_summary hook with their priorities (the display order):
/**
     * woocommerce_single_product_summary hook
     *
     * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_title - 5
     * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_price - 10
     * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_excerpt - 20
     * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_add_to_cart - 30
     * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_meta - 40
     * @hooked woocommerce_template_single_sharing - 50
 */

The "in Stock" or "SKU" data is displayed by woocommerce_template_single_meta which have a priority of 40. Now you need to display your customs fields values just after. Then you can chose a priority of 45 for that purpose.

Here is the code that is going to output your custom fields values in product pages under "SKU":

add_action('woocommerce_single_product_summary', 'woo_display_custom_general_fields_values', 45);
function woo_display_custom_general_fields_values() {
    global $product;

    echo '
Conditions: ' . get_post_meta( $product->id, '_conditions', true ) . '
';
    echo '
Brands: ' . get_post_meta( $product->id, '_brands', true ) . '
';
}

Code goes in function.php file of your active child theme (active theme or in any plugin file).
This code is tested and works.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
, CAFE Blog
Modelling the Earth System and the dynamics of complex systems for understanding climate change - The Nobel Prize in Physics 2021
Shraddha Gupta | Potsdam Institut für Klimafolgenforschung, Berlin.
Nikolaos Mastrantonas | European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Reading, UK.
Cristina Masoller | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.
Jürgen Kurths | Potsdam Institut für Klimafolgenforschung, Berlin.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 was awarded to Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi "for groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex systems" including major advances in the understanding of our climate and climate change. The CAFE project celebrates their achievement with a blog article highlighting their main contributions to climate research.
This year's Nobel Prize in Physics recognized that our knowledge of Earth's Climate, one outstanding example of a complex system, rests on a solid scientific foundation of physics, mathematics and complex systems science. The key to understanding the concept of predictability is to understand the underlying causes of variability. Only then we can understand the stark reality of global warming and the role of human activity on it.
Complexity is intrinsic to nonlinear physical systems, from atomic to planetary scales. A complex system comprises various interacting components. Physicists have typically attempted to describe them mathematically over the past two centuries by studying the individual components separately. However, new properties emerge at each level of complexity as a consequence of the interplay of (dis)order and fluctuations. Similarly to the chaotic nature of weather, where small deviations in initial conditions result in huge differences at a later stage, noise-induced variability can determine the fate of some nonlinear dynamical systems. This year's Nobel Laureates have made seminal contributions to the study of complex phenomena, making substantial advances to the understanding of complex interactions in the Earth's Climate system.
One half of the Physics Nobel Prize 2021 was awarded jointly to Syukuro Manabe (Princeton University, USA) and Klaus Hasselmann (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany) for their pioneering work on the physical modelling of Earth's climate, quantifying variability and predicting global warming due to carbon dioxide (CO2) increase in the atmosphere, while the other half was awarded to Giorgio Parisi (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy) for his discovery of the interplay of noise-induced fluctuations and (dis)order in physical systems.
Advent of a new era in climate modelling
After receiving his PhD in 1958 from the University of Tokyo, Syukuro Manabe continued his career in the United States as a researcher at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), working on numerical weather prediction. At that time, weather forecasting was mainly treated as an empirical problem: studying weather maps and trying to predict the weather by extrapolating forward. Manabe believed that equal emphasis should be placed on both understanding as well as predicting climate change. He tried to find a relation between the increase in global temperature with that of the level of CO2 in the atmosphere. Research in this direction had already been started several decades ago from a rather global consideration by yet another Nobel Laureate, Svante Arrhenius (Chemistry Nobel Prize 1903) who understood the role of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which absorbed the long-wave radiation emitted from the Earth's surface, thereby maintaining the Earth's temperature at the observed value.
Manabe realized that the heating of the Earth's surface would warm the air in close contact with the Earth's surface, generating convection. Consequently, warm air (water vapour) would rise and, when meeting the cooler upper layers of the atmosphere, release its heat in the form of latent heat. Taking this convective adjustment into consideration, Manabe and Wetherald (1967) modelled the atmosphere as a one-dimensional vertical column with an initial profile of relative humidity and greenhouse gases. This profile evolved with time according to the dynamics of radiative transfer and upward convection of water vapour (see Figure 1). They found that although the change in oxygen and nitrogen levels has a negligible impact on temperature, doubling the CO2 concentration leads to an increase in the global temperature by 2.36°C, while the temperature in the stratosphere substantially decreases (see Figure 2). It is interesting to note that the British engineer Guy Callendar (1938) discovered the potential impact of anthropogenic CO2 emission into the atmosphere on the global climate through a simple radiative energy balance model of the Earth's surface. Although Fritz Möller, one of Manabe's collaborators, noted serious flaws in Callendar's approach, Manabe realised that his radiative-convective model was an excellent conceptual tool to study the greenhouse effect. Even with hundreds of hours of (at that time) very expensive computational time required to run these models, it is fascinating that Manabe's rather simple 1-D model was able to quantify climate sensitivity more accurately than the highly complex General Circulation Models (GCMs) that were used at that time. His findings remain valid even today, making his paper the most influential climate change paper of all time, as based on a recent survey by CarbonBrief.
Figure 1. Manabe's radiation-convective climate model. Johan Jarnestad / Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Proceeding one step further, Manabe incorporated effects of hydrology at Earth's surface in a three-dimensional GCM with 9 vertical layers resolving the atmosphere from the surface boundary layer till the stratosphere (Manabe and Bryan, 1969), and later, coupled an atmospheric model with a mixed-layer oceanic model (Manabe and Stouffer, 1980). He then continued improving the models by increasing their resolution and the number of equations. These advances brought additional insights about the Earth's complex interactions. In 1975, they (Manabe and Wetherald, 1975) simulated for the first time the three-dimensional response of the hydrological cycle and temperature to increased CO2 concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere, and found that the doubling of CO2 significantly intensifies the hydrologic cycle of the model. In 1980, they (Manabe and Stouffer, 1980) were able to show that around the Arctic Ocean the warming of the atmosphere surface layer would be much larger in winter than in summer, becoming an instructive example of complex interactions. Later, Manabe and his colleagues, based on their simulations, demonstrated an interhemispheric asymmetry in temperature changes under an increase of CO2 and how it is affected by oceanic processes (Stouffer et al., 1989): the warming of surface air was predicted to be faster in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere. At the same time, the warming over the northern North Atlantic was predicted to be relatively slow because of the weakening of the large-scale ocean circulation (thermohaline circulation) which acts as a countereffect.
Figure 2 The effect of C02 concentration changes in the Temperature of the Earth at different altitudes. Johan Jarnestad / Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences / Manabe & Wetherald (1967), Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
The "red noise" problem in climate signals
Large differences in weather patterns are observed all around the planet. The uneven spatial and temporal distribution of solar radiation (due to the shape of the Earth, its orbit around the Sun, and the tilt in its axis), is the main driving factor of the complex dynamical processes in the atmosphere and oceans. Although in principle a precise knowledge of the current state of the system and its governing equations allows determining the state at some later time, in reality it is impossible to precisely predict the values of climate variables like air temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed, etc., from our observations. As the equations describing climate processes are nonlinear, small uncertainties in the initial state propagate as large errors in predictions. The chaotic nature of weather (referring to its sensitivity to initial conditions) was first discovered by the American meteorologist Edward Lorenz in 1963. Therefore, the question that attracted much interest was: How can we quantify, in deterministic climate models like that of Manabe and others, the variability in climate predictions that is due to the chaotic nature of the weather system?
During the period in which Manabe developed his model, Klaus Hasselmann (Ph.D. 1957 from the University of Göttingen) worked on developing models of ocean waves and understanding the complex air-sea interaction processes at the ocean-atmosphere interface (Hasselmann 1966, 1967, 1991). His struggles with turbulence theory already as a Diploma student in Hamburg and later as a doctoral student in Göttingen taught him a lot on stochastic processes and interactions in nonlinear systems, which built his intuition and enabled him to solve problems later on. Hasselmann created a stochastic climate model in which he ingeniously incorporated the rapid fluctuations in climate due to weather as 'noise' (Hasselmann 1976). He attributed the variability of climate to internal random forcing by short time scale 'weather' components of the system. He drew a parallel between the response of the climate system and the random walk characteristics of large particles interacting with an ensemble of much smaller particles exhibiting Brownian motion, exploiting a theory originally proposed by Albert Einstein in 1905. His model was in very good qualitative agreement with the 'red' spectra observed in climate signals (Figure 3; Hasselmann 1977), i.e. he was able to solve the long standing "red noise" problem in climatology. Hasselmann's approach to include stochasticity in the climate model set a benchmark for climate scientists to address variability. It paved the way for modelling the dynamics of the climate system, by taking into account interaction of oceans with other complex sub-systems, such as the atmosphere, the air-sea interface and the carbon cycle.
Figure 3 The first application of Hasselmann's Stochastic climate model to climate data. Spectrum of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomaly at Atlantic Ocean Weather Ship India for the period 1949-1964. The arrows indicate 95% confidence interval. The smooth curve was calculated from the stochastic two-scale model of SST variability. The frequency spectra of large-scale, long-time SST anomalies exhibit a red noise behavior (inverse square law) in time scales intermediate to the response times of weather and climate. Therefore, they may be explained naturally as the response of the oceanic surface layers to short-time-scale atmospheric forcing. Frankignoul & Hasselmann (1977), Tellus 29.
The positive role of noise in understanding climate change
Statistical data analysis of climate records indicates the occurrence of major climate changes with an apparent periodicity of 100,000 years, which roughly corresponds to the alternation between glacial and interglacial stages. Milankovitch in 1930 related these periodic changes to the variations in the Earth's orbital parameters, thus associating climate change with external astronomical forcing. However, actual calculations show that the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit is too small to account for temperature variations of the order of 10 °C as observed in paleoclimatic records. This gave rise to the hypothesis that the cycle may arise from an internal mechanism due to atmospheric and oceanic circulations which could then have a nonlinear response to external forcing. Giorgio Parisi and his collaborators in the early 1980s, solved the above problem using the concept of 'stochastic resonance', a phenomenon observed in nonlinear physical systems like the Earth's climate wherein the combination of an external periodic perturbation with a certain amount of noise can amplify the signal-to-noise ratio thereby favoring a particular outcome. Influenced by Hasselmann's (1976) idea of modelling climate variability due to short time-scale phenomena as stochastic perturbations (noise), their model (Benzi, Parisi et al., 1982, 1983) described the 100,000-years cycle as an effect arising from the combination of the noise induced by the internal dynamics of the atmosphere and ocean with the external forcing due to the periodic variations of Earth's orbit.
Detecting climate change due to human impact
Later in his career, Hasselmann turned his focus to distinguish human-induced climate change from the natural variability observed in climate data. He noted that while the predictions of the state-of-the-art coupled ocean-atmosphere GCMs showed a surmountable qualitative and circumstantial evidence of global warming due to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, there was a substantial lack of a framework to quantitatively measure this effect. Between 1979 and 1997, Hasselmann invented a technique to systematically compare the spatiotemporal dynamics in climate models and observations (Hasselmann 1979, 1993, 1997). He found that the data from models and observations contain sufficient information about the properties of noise and signals. Different phenomena, such as changes in solar radiation, volcanic activity, or concentration of greenhouse gases, leave unique imprints in the climate signal, which can then be separated. His 'optimal fingerprinting' method, not only successfully detected signals of climate change but also distinguished effects of humans on the climate system from those due to natural causes (Figure 4; Hegerl et al. 1997, 2011, Barnett et al. 2005).
An early climate activist in science, Hasselmann's work laid the foundations for further studies in climate change with his fingerprint approach which continues to be widely used by climate researchers today.
Figure 4. Hasselmann developed the Optimal Fingerprinting method for discerning traces of human impact on atmospheric heating from that due to natural causes. Comparison between changes in mean temperature (in °C) with respect to the average for the period 1901-1950, Johan Jarnestad / Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences / Hegerl & Zweirs (2011), WIREs Climate Change.
Legacy for new discoveries and future advances
Over the years, state-of-the-art climate models have improved tremendously, thanks to unprecedented advances in computer science and computing power, and also, a massive amount of ground-based and satellite observations that have allowed gaining a much better understanding of the complex interactions between different components of the Earth's climate. The pioneering works of Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann established the pillars on which models for numerical weather prediction stand today. In fact, such numerical models are the key elements of the very recent "Destination Earth" initiative, which aims to simulate the Earth's weather and climate with an unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution, promising much better forecasts of extreme weather events, and improved understanding of climate change impacts.
The recognition of climate science and complex systems by the Nobel committee comes at a time when the world is battling a climate crisis. The groundbreaking works of Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi have provided definite answers to profoundly important questions related to the past, present and future of our planet and our role in it. It is fascinating that they were able to make such incredible advances with the limited computational resources available in the 1960s-1970s. Just for a comparison, a simple mobile phone nowadays is much more powerful than the best computers at that time. How much more would they have discovered half a century ago, if the current computational resources were available? Let your imagination run wild!
Manabe, S., Wetherald, R.T., 1967. Thermal Equilibrium of the Atmosphere with a Given Distribution of Relative Humidity. J. Atmospheric Sci. 24, 241–259. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1967)024<0241:TEOTAW>2.0.CO;2
Manabe, S., Stouffer, R.J., 1980. Sensitivity of a global climate model to an increase of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans 85, 5529–5554. https://doi.org/10.1029/JC085iC10p05529
Benzi, R., Parisi, G., Sutera, A., Vulpiani, A., 1982. Stochastic resonance in climatic change. Tellus 34, 10–15. https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v34i1.10782
Hasselmann, K., 1976. Stochastic climate models Part I. Theory. Tellus 28, 473–485. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2153-3490.1976.tb00696.x
Hasselmann, K., 1993. Optimal Fingerprints for the Detection of Time-dependent Climate Change. J. Clim. 6, 1957–1971. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1993)006<1957:OFFTDO>2.0.CO;2


There are 2 other files named transp.for in the archive. Click here to see a list.
C     DESCRIBED IN HADLEY'S LINEAR PROGRAMMING!.
C     ENTRIES ON THE BASIS.
C	LATER MODIFIED BY BOBBY HUNG.
C--------------- CONTAINS USER SPEC. FORMAT FOR OBJ. TIME FORMAT.
C--------------- IFLNMO, IFLNMI, IPJ, IPG, ARE RETURNED.
C--------------- 1 MEANS OUTPUT.  0 MEANS INPUT.
C---------------NOTF, ISTD RETURNED;  OTHER ARGS ARE INPUT.
C     THE CURRENT BASIS. IF NO LOOP EXISTS AN ERROR MESSAGE IS PRINTED.
C     ELEMENT. THIS IS THE ELEMENT WHICH WILL LEAVE.
C--------------- COMMON /TSP1/.  IND1 IS INPUT THRU COMMON /TSP2/.
C--------------- IND ARE INPUT THRU COMMON /TSP2/.  IND IS MODIFIED.
C--------------- COMMON /TSP1/.  IVBAS IS RETURNED THRU COMMON /TSP1/.
C--------------- INPUT THRU COMMON /TSPIO/.