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On Politics has moved to a new location
by Ian Donnis
Please stop by to visit the new Web site of Rhode Island Public Radio.
You can find the On Politics blog here.
Thanks, as always, for stopping by.
Senate bill would delay parts of state education merger until September
tags: education, general assembly, higher education, lincoln chafee
A bill introduced Wednesday by state Senator Hanna Gallo would delay until September 1 the "final plan for the permanent administrative structure" for the controversial combined state Board of Education.
In a signal of a green light for the bill, cosponsors include Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed and Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio.
As previously reported, Gallo's bill would delay until March 7 the creation of a comined education board. But her legislation pushes back the finalization of the administrative structure, as well as the deadline for the first report on the implementation of the merger, until September 1.
The merger of boards for K-12 and public higher education was approved with little notice as part of the budget debate in the House last June. Lorne Adrain, the outgoing chair of the Board of Governors for Higher Education, in an interview with RIPR, characterized the process as typical of pre-democratic societies.
On the Friday before Christmas, the Chafee administration issued a news release indicating George Caruolo had asked to take his name out of consideration as the chair of the combined education board. Caruolo was named as the chairman of the merged education board in November.
Proponents of the merger, including House Finance chairman Helio Melo, describe it as a necessary part of trying to improve public education Rhode Island.
Mediating the pension overhaul — and what it means for 2014
tags: 2014 governor's race, general assembly, gina raimondo, legal issues, lincoln chafee, pension
The court-ordered pension mediation set to begin this month will take place against an intensifying political backdrop: the early stage of the 2014 gubernatorial race. State Treasurer Gina Raimondo says politics can remain separate and apart from the mediation process.
During a wide-ranging interview set for broadcast Thursday morning on RIPR, Raimondo pointed to the pension overhaul passed into law in 2011 as an example of policy-making in the public interest.
Raimondo, an expected gubernatorial candidate in 2014, favored litigating the pension case before Superior Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter last month ordered mediation. The treasurer pledges a good-fath effort, and says the 2011 pension overhaul shows that political considerations need not enter into the court-ordered mediation:
"I'm so proud of the work the General Assembly did, and I believe the reason that whole process — which was transparent and many months long — was successful is because, by and large, people did leave politics aside. You know, they acted out of interest to protect all Rhode Islanders and to protect peoples' pensions.
"I'm confident that the great work that led to this reform that has made Rhode Island a national leader in the regard — Rhode Island is now known as the state that put politics aside to do the right thing for the people. And I think we're going to stay on that path."
It's really not accurate, though, to say politics wasn't a key part of the 2011 pension overhaul; One can no sooner take politics out of the Statehouse than oxygen. Thanks in large part to Raimondo's skillful use of the bully pulpit, the political cost of voting against the overhaul became greater than the cost of voting for it.
When out of town reporters and others talk about the supposedly apolitical nature of the reform, what they should have said is how the overhaul's promoters tried to not make it personal.
Bringing the issue into the present, the court-ordered pension mediation could have big political consequences for 2014. What those consequences are depend on what emerges.
Governor Lincoln Chafee received key public-sector union support when he won election in 2010. In the time before mediation was ordered by Judge Taft-Carter, Chafee was a characteristically early supporter of negotiating with labor.
Neither Chafee nor Raimondo would comment on what specific criteria they'll use in assessing whether to support a possible settlement.
If a settlement emerges that preserves the majority of savings from the pension overhaul while buying labor peace, Chafee might be inclined to hail that a victory. Raimondo could potentially call it a watering-down of a law approved for the benefit of taxpayers.
The big question, of course, is what — if anything — comes out of mediation.
RI political history tells us to hedge bets
tags: scott mackay
With a new year comes the inevitable round of Rhode Island political prognosticating. RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay says anybody who says they know what is going to happen probably doesn't.
The past often provides a roadmap to the future. This is the case with Rhode Island political predictions. Every election cycle one candidate or another becomes "`the lock,'' the overwhelming favorite to become the next governor or senator or congressional representative
What we are here to tell you as the new year dawns and election cycle speculation accelerates is to beware the pollsters, pundits, political science professors and politicians. And don't put stock in predictions from Democrats, Republicans or moderates.
Rhode Island's long and florid political history tells us that our state's voters are adept at confounding the early predictions. And the favored politicians all too frequently play along by running desultory campaigns that doom them.
So let's run the reel back a few years. What is remarkable about Rhode Island politics is how often the "can't lose'' candidates, the front-runners of 18 to 24 months away from an election, have gone down to ignominious defeats.
This front-runner syndrome has played out in U.S. Senate and congressional elections, but has been most pronounced in elections for governor.
At the beginning of the 1972 cycle, it appeared that Republican John Chafee, the former governor, was headed for a U.S. Senate victory over Democratic incumbent Claiborne Pell; one respected poll had Chafee up 20 points. When the votes were counted that November, Pell, buoyed by growing opposition to the Vietnam War, handily defeated Chafee.
In 1976, everybody who is anybody in politics figured the U.S. Senate matchup would be between then-Gov. Phil Noel, a Democrat, and Chafee. Then Noel lost the primary to Richard Lorber, a wealthy, little-known car dealer who spent a fortune. Lorber lost to Chafee.
Flip the remote to 1980. At the beginning of this campaign, Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci, then a Republican, had a shot to become the next governor. He was clobbered by Democratic Gov. Joe Garrahy, the genial master of the outstretched hand and the hi-how-are-ya.
In 1984, all the experts pegged Warwick Democratic Mayor Joe Walsh as the next governor. Walsh, who had the Democratic Party endorsement, never got out of a caustic primary against Gen. Treasurer Anthony Solomon, who lost to Republican Ed DiPrete, the Cranston mayor.
By 1990, the chattering classes and the pundits anointed Providence Democratic Mayor Joe Paolino as the odds-on governorship choice. Paolino had the party endorsement, but he never made it out of the primary, losing to businessman Bruce Sundlun, who crushed DiPrete.
All those elections were for two year governor terms. But in the aftermath of the banking crisis, the General Assembly, prodded by the business community, moved to 4-year terms. Cianci was back again, this time in his second reign as mayor, riding the crest of the Providence Renaissance.
But the Democrats who ran the General Assembly didn't want Cianci bringing his pay-to-play political brand to the State House (it turned out some Democrats were running their own), so the Assembly shifted the new four-year governor terms to the capital city's mayoral cycle. That meant that Cianci had to give up running for mayor if he wanted to contest the governorship. He never did.
By 1994, Sundlun's approval ratings were imploding. Republican Congressman Ron Machley appeared to be on a path to be the state's first 4-year term governor. Machtley had the GOP endorsement and support from such top Republicans as John Chafee. But Macthley lost the primary to Lincoln Almond, who narrowly won the State House over Democrat Myrth York.
When Almond's two terms were up and the 2002 cycle rolled around, Democratic Atty. Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse was the consensus choice for governor. Whitehouse lost the primary to York, who was defeated by Republican Don Carcieri.
As the New Year's Eve champagne toasts heralding 2010 were poured, Gen. Treas. Frank Caprio was the front-runner for governor. Caprio crashed after telling President Barack Obama to "shove'' his endorsement and independent Linc Chafee ended up with the big office on the 2nd floor of the State House.
And the one element all the self-appointed experts agreed on at the beginning of the 2012 election was that the Providence financial mess had ended any chance for Congressman David Cicilline's reelection. He, of course, waltzed to victory.
After you sing Auld Lang Syne tonight and the talk turns to who is likely to be the next governor, all the insiders will have opinions. Gina Raimondo, you say. How about Angel Taveras? Maybe Alan Fung?
Before you make a predtiction, remember the words of the Bible: "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong…but time and chance happeneth to them all.''
Don't bet money on your pick. And have a happy, healthy and peaceful 2013.
Scott MacKay's commentary can be heard every Monday on Morning Edition at 6:35 and 8:35. You can also follow his political analysis and reporting at our `On Politics' blog at RIPR.org
Fox, Paiva Weed easily regain leadership posts; pledge heightened economic focus
tags: economic development, general assembly, speaker gordon fox, teresa paiva weed
House Speaker Gordon Fox and Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed cruised to re-election in their leadership positions Tuesday while pledging increased legislative attention to trying to boost Rhode Island's underperforming economy.
Fox, who has served as speaker since 2010, won another term on a 66-6 vote, with the six-member House Republican faction voting for GOP minority leader Brian Newberry. Abstaining from the vote were Representatives Spencer Dickinson (who had backed Fox's rep opponent, Mark Binder); Patrick O'Neill (who split from Fox's leadership team) and John Lombardi (who didn't attend a House leadership caucus).
Paiva Weed was re-elected with the support of every senator except Republican Dawson Hodgson. She has signaled plans for a bigger focus on jobs and the economy in the new session.
Fox did likewise in comments following his re-election as speaker. Without naming his opponent, he referenced his re-election challenge by Mark Binder and how a constituent questioned whether he deserved a kick in the pants because of the state's disastrous investment in 38 Studios. Fox said it remains incumbent on elected officials to do better and move beyond past mistakes:
"It didn't work, apologize, but don't stop from keep pushing, from keep trying. It means you try a little harder, you do a little different."
The speaker outlined these efforts to try to bolster the economy:
— a January 17 economic conference at Rhode Island College meant to spark "specific policy changes that we address this session."
— An attempt to better coordinate job skills training programs.
— "I am committed to looking closely and then taking legislative action to restructure the EDC [state Economic Development Corporation].
— Fox says he backs the RI Public Expenditure Council's call for "a coordinated effort involving education, job skills training, transportation and infrastructure, regulatory reform and tax policies. I also embrace RIPEC's concept of the Council of Economic Advisers to develop a consistent plan for long-term economic success."
As seen in the photo at the top of this post, Fox was joined at the rostrum for his swearing-in by his domestic partner, Marcus LaFond — a scene that once would have been hard to imagine in the House.
Fox says he expects a same-sex marriage bill to be introduced in the House as soon as this week. In an interview, he called on the Senate to pass it, although he says he's received no assurances from Paiva Weed about the bill's chances of success in the other chamber.
Are there too many lawyers in the General Assembly?
tags: general assembly, legal issues, moderate party
As the General Assembly starts a new session on Tuesday, one legislative constant will remain unchanged — a lot of the 113 lawmakers on Smith Hill are lawyers.
The ProJo's Political Scene says there are 24 lawyers in the legislature — 15 in the 75-member House and nine in the 38-member Senate:
The list includes House Speaker Gordon Fox and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, both expected to be reelected by their respective chambers. It includes others in powerful positions, among them: House Majority Leader Nicholas Mattiello, D-Cranston, House Majority Whip Stephen Ucci, D-Johnston, House Deputy Whip Christopher Blazejewski, D-Providence, and House Deputy Speaker Donald Lally, D-Narragansett.
It's understandable that lawyers gravitate to politics; there's common ground, after all, between legal work and the sometimes-abstruse process of legislating.
Yet some view the broader prevalence of lawyers in government as a sign of the hostile terrain facing blue-collar workers with political aspirations.
Moderate Party head Ken Block recently argued that lawyers are so commonplace in the Assembly since their professional schedules permit them to fit in legislative public service. That was part of Block's rationale in calling for shorter legislative sessions — a move , he says, that would promote a greater variety of occupations among lawmakers:
When in session, the General Assembly meets three days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday), usually beginning the session day at 4:00pm. Legislators serve on committees that typically meet directly after the daily legislative floor sessions, with committee hearings running from 4:30 or 5:00pm until sometimes quite late in the evening. This schedule is not at all friendly to most standard 8 hour a day workers with a family at home. …
It does not need to be this way.
The vast majority of states with part time legislatures meet for far less time than the Rhode Island legislature. According to data I pulled from the National Conference of State Legislatures, 30 state legislatures meet for a shorter session than Rhode Island, many of them for far less time than the Rhode Island legislature.
11 states complete their sessions within 3 calendar months, and another 5 only meet biennially.
Suffice it to say, the General Assembly didn't rush to consider Block's concept. There are also additional reasons for why more people don't run for public office, including a distaste for public scrutiny and the perennial struggles of the state GOP.
Reasonable people can disagree about the merits of longer versus shorter legislative sessions.
So with lawyers set to remain part and parcel of the legislative mainstream, making better use of the sessions lingers as an ideal.
TGIF: 12 answers to RI's top political questions of 2012
tags: angel taveras, david cicilline, general assembly, gina raimondo, lincoln chafee
We're offering a slight break from TGIF's usual format this week with a look back at how 12 of the big questions of Rhode Island politics played out in 2012. As always, feel free to share your thoughts and comments on the blog or by email: idonnis (at) ripr (dot) org.
Question 1. Will Governor Lincoln Chafee offer a more coherent message that helps lift his slumping approval rating?
Answer: Chafee went into 2012 with a 27 approval rating in a Brown University survey. By October, WPRI put the governor's backing at a virtually identical 29 percent. Chafee continues to march to his own drummer, without much apparent concern for how he's perceived — and with uncertain impact for his re-election hopes in 2014.
Question 2. Will the General Assembly approve a meaningful overhaul of severely underfunded locally managed pension funds in an election year?
Answer: No. As expected in an election year, the legislature opted to leave the issue for cities and towns to resolve. Some of those clamoring for legislative help made progress through negotiations. Yet other communities, like West Warwick, continue to struggle, and more still face severely under-funded local pensions.
Question 3. Will Rhode Island be able to stanch the bleeding from a leading revenue source when casinos open for business in Massachusetts?
Answer: It's not entirely clear whether expanded gambling at Twin River in Lincoln, set to ramp up in the new year, will preserve Rhode Island's big revenue stream from gambling in the face of new casinos planned in Massachusetts. But it's probably too much to hope that it does. Legislators acknowledged as much during a budget debate last June. A best-case scenario, they suggested, might be preventing even greater erosion in a key source of state revenue.
Question 4. Will the hangover from Providence's fiscal problems prove the undoing of David Cicilline, or will the incumbent survive, thanks to his energy, fundraising, reshaped congressional district, and how he'll be running during a presidential election?
Answer: The Cook Political Report was prophetic when it likened Cicilline to Lazarus in the weeks before the November election. The freshman Democrat, helped by President Obama's coattails and the locally toxic reputation of national Republicans, cruised to a surprisingly large victory over Republican Brendan Doherty.
Question 5. Will labor rebuild its influence on the General Assembly, or will Gina Raimondo and Engage RI have a lasting impact?
Yes, on both counts. Defeating conservative Woonsocket Democrat Jon Brien was among labor's legislative victories. Raimondo has remained a media favorite, and she came out in support of disclosing EngageRI's donors after the group got some big exposure in the Wall Street Journal. Many eyes remain upon Raimondo as we move closer to 2014.
Question 6. Will other fossilized deposits of old-school Providence mismanagement and cronyism surface?
The Providence Economic Development Partnership offered grist to help some stay busy for much of the year.
Question 7. Will Rhode Island be able to move past its perennial struggles to bolster economic development and competitiveness?
Answer: No, although we did see a sharper rift between Governor Chafee defending his approach and other individuals (Gary Sasse) and groups (RIPEC, the RI Foundation, etc.) calling for more idea, energy, and focus.
Question 8. Will the Providence Journal's recently adopted online approach enable the state's largest news organization to stanch the bleeding in its print subscriptions and ad revenue?
Answer: Not so much, at least not yet, and more talent and expenses got cut on Fountain Street.
Question 9. Will the pension law linger as a singular accomplishment, or will it signal a new ability on the part of state government to tackle other complicated policy problems?
Answer: The meltdown of 38 Studios — Rhode Island's top story of the year — lingered as a hard-to-forget example of bad government. In the area of public policy and politics, there was nothing in 2012 to match the boldness of the pension overhaul a year earlier.
Question 10. Will Angel Taveras be able to maintain his high approval rating while continuing to fight big fiscal challenges in the state's most important city, possibly with another tax increase?
Answer: The mayor had a strong year, keeping his approval rating up while drawing a series of new contributions from non-profits and closing cost-cutting deals with city unions.
Question 11. How will the increased spending from outside groups made possible by Citizens United impact RI elections and campaigns?
Answer: There was some noise around the margins, but big spenders on a national level didn't always emerge as winners.
Question 12. Will the RI Republican Party, after losing an experienced leader with high-level experience in Ken McKay, be able to increase its modest presence in the General Assembly?
Answer: No. Despite what continues to seem like a fertile atmosphere for an alternative to legislative Democrats, the RI GOP continues to struggle. Every legislative Democrat who sought election in November won their race, and the Republican presence on Smith Hill is shrinking from 18 to 11 lawmakers.


According to our records, Maya Zapata is possibly single.
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Maya Zapata is a 37 year old Mexican Actress. Born Maya Ávila Zapata on 30th November, 1981 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico, she is famous for Soy tu fan, Kdabra, Run Coyote Run, Ellas son... la alegría del hogar. Her zodiac sign is Sagittarius.
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Maya Zapata - At The "Teatro Helenico" On June 25, 2009 In Mexico City, Mexico - In The Drama "Espina Y Flor"
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The prevalent trend in books, at least on these battered old islands, seems to be for the overnight discovery. It's a tempting myth for journalists to find some literary Kaspar Hauser out of nowhere (despite the fact there are no nowheres) and display his or her talents before the court. Yet it remains very much a myth and does little to demonstrate how much time and effort the likes of Eimear McBride have put in through the years and how many barriers they faced in trying to get their stories to the public. We like our myths though and the idea of overnight success (holding out the hope we will have our own) prevails even if it was years in the making and came almost in spite of those heralding it.
Given that it chimes with the cult of youth, and the idea of book award juries as the arbiters of taste and gatekeepers to The Canon (insert an ominous rumble of thunder), this tendency will likely continue. Which is fine provided we recognise that there are others, swimming against the tide, quietly, brilliantly writing great books and evolving as writers as the years go by. One such writer is Benjamin Myers. I spoke to him here for Susan Tomaselli's magnificent Gorse; issue two of which is imminent and, like Ben's books, is an essential purchase. Enjoy.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged ben myers, books, gorse, gothic, literature, noir. Bookmark the permalink.


Last One Standing is the 11th Book of USA TODAY Bestselling author, W.J. May's bestselling series, The Chronicles of Kerrigan.
Rae Kerrigan and her friends have finally crossed the line, and this time, there's no going back. After a violent standoff with the entire Privy Council, the gang wakes up under the protection of the last people they ever expected to see: the Xavier Knights.
Old bridges are burned. New alliances are formed. There's a storm brewing on the horizon, and unless they unite together—it will overtake them all. What they need, is time. But an unexpected visit from an old enemy sets off a spark, and suddenly, Rae's entire world is in flames.
Can she and her friends get the people they need together in time? Even if they can, will they ever be strong enough? More importantly, are she and Devon strong enough to survive what's about to come?
A dangerous game has begun and the only question that remains is: who will be the last one standing?
Could not put it down...can't wait for the next one!!


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Purple Jalapeño Chile Peppers
• 1 Recipe Idea
Purple Jalapeño chile peppers are curved to straight, short pods, averaging 7 to 12 centimeters in length and 2 to 5 centimeters in diameter, and have a uniform, conical shape tapering to a rounded point on the non-stem end. The skin is smooth, taut, and glossy, ripening from green to dark purple appearing almost black, to red when mature. Underneath the surface, the thick flesh is crisp, light green, and aqueous, encasing a central cavity filled with membranes and a few round and flat, cream-colored seeds. Purple Jalapeño chile peppers have a bright, vegetal, and subtly sweet flavor mixed with a mild to moderate level of spice.
Purple Jalapeño chile peppers are available in the late summer through fall.
Purple Jalapeño chile peppers, botanically classified as Capsicum annuum, are an heirloom variety that belongs to the Solanaceae or nightshade family. Considered to be a smaller, ornamental pepper favored for home gardening, Purple Jalapeño chile peppers are also edible and can be utilized at any stage of maturity, with the purple stage being the most popular in culinary applications. Purple Jalapeño chile peppers contain a moderate heat, ranging 5,000-10,000 SHU on the Scoville scale, and are used as a colorful substitute in any recipe calling for a green jalapeño.
Purple Jalapeño chile peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C, which is an antioxidant that can help boost the immune system and rebuild collagen within the body. The peppers also contain vitamins A, B6, K, and E, dietary fiber, folates, and potassium. In addition to vitamins and minerals, the peppers contain capsaicin, which is the chemical compound that triggers the brain to feel heat or spice. Capsaicin has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and can help aid in digestion.
Purple Jalapeño chile peppers are best suited for both raw and cooked applications such as roasting, grilling, simmering, stir-frying, and baking. The pods are favored for their unusual coloring and are primarily used in their purple state in applications to showcase the dark hues. The peppers can be chopped with tomatoes, mangoes, or pineapple in tropical salsas, diced into salads, blended into sauces and marinades, or sliced as a garnish over pho. The dark purple peppers will also retain their color if cooked for a brief period. The peppers can be grilled as a spicy side dish, stuffed with dips, cheeses, and grains, sautéed into eggs, layered in enchiladas, or sprinkled over pizza. Pickling Purple Jalapeño chile peppers will also preserve their deep purple hues and can be used as a condiment over sandwiches and burgers. Purple Jalapeño chile peppers pair well with meats such as fish, pork, beef, and poultry, shrimp, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, radish, corn, avocado, potatoes, cilantro, and arugula. Fresh peppers will keep up to one week when stored whole and unwashed in a paper bag in the refrigerator.
Purple Jalapeño chile peppers are a specialty cultivar primarily grown in home gardens as both an ornamental and edible variety. The bushy plants bear multi-colored, striated leaves, brightly colored flowers, and green, purple, and red pods. Each individual pod will mature at different times, giving the plant a variegated appearance, and home gardeners favor these pods for added colors to their gardens. Purple Jalapeño chile peppers are also valued by self-proclaimed "chiliheads" for their unique coloring and the ability to be substituted in traditional green jalapeño recipes.
Jalapeños are native to Xalapa, which is the capital city of Veracruz, Mexico, and have been cultivated since ancient times. The exact history of Purple Jalapeño chile peppers is unknown, but they are believed by experts to have similar origins to common jalapeño varieties. Today Purple Jalapeño chile peppers are not commercially produced and are grown through small farms and sold through online seed catalogs for home garden use in Mexico and the United States.
Recipes that include Purple Jalapeño Chile Peppers. One is easiest, three is harder.
Salt and Tamarind Delightful Tomatillo & Purple Jalapeno Salsa

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Dallas Gene Therapy Startup Closes $95M Series B to Bolster its Initial Clinical Studies
Taysha Gene Therapies, which was been operating in stealth with UT Southwestern until this April, plans to use the financing to advance its initial cohort of lead programs into its clinic. By the end of 2021, Taysha expects to file four Investigational New Drug applications.
by Quincy Preston and Alex Edwards • Aug 5, 2020
R.A. Session II, president, CEO, and founder of Taysha Gene Therapies [Background image: Olena Yepifanova via iStock]
On the heels of Taysha Gene Therapies emerging from stealth with a $30 million Series A and a strategic partnership with UT Southwestern in April, the Dallas-based biotech has closed on a lot more money.
Taysha has closed on an oversubscribed $95 million Series B financing. A premier group of life science investors, led by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, contributed to the round. Founding investors PBM Capital and Nolan Capital participated.
New investors include funds and accounts managed by: BlackRock, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Invus, Casdin Capital, Franklin Templeton, Octagon Capital, Perceptive Advisors LLC, Sands Capital, ArrowMark Partners, and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners.
According to the patient-centric gene therapy company, the funding will be used to advance its initial cohort of lead programs into its clinic. It will also accelerate progress on IND (Investigational New Drug) submissions, build a commercially scalable GMP manufacturing facility, and continue development of the company's portfolio in partnership with the UT Southwestern Gene Therapy Program.
Taysha aims to end severe and life-threatening diseases of the central nervous system caused by variation in a single gene, also known as monogenic CNS diseases. According to R.A. Session II, Taysha's president, CEO, and founder, the new significant investment will allow he and his team to advance that mission.
The work could help "thousands of patients who suffer from these devastating disorders."
"We remain on track and expect to file four Investigational New Drug applications by the end of 2021, with TSHA-101 initiating clinical studies later this year for the treatment of GM2 Gangliosidosis," he said.
The company initially launched with a pipeline of 15 adeno-associated virus gene therapy programs. Now, it has 17 gene therapy product candidates with exclusive options to acquire four additional programs across three distinct franchises.
The team has plans for human testing this year and expects to file four IND applications in 2021. In addition, Taysha is developing an improved treatment delivery platform that uses machine learning, DNA shuffling, and something it calls "directed evolution."
Sean Nolan, Taysha's chairman of the Board, predicts the new financing will enable the company to rapidly translate programs from preclinical development into the clinic.
"We have brought together experts in gene therapy with leading healthcare and institutional investors to create a company that is uniquely positioned to advance the development of potentially curative gene therapies for CNS disease in rare and large patient populations," he said.
The strategic partnership with UT Southwestern could help Taysha do so.
The UT Southwestern Gene Therapy Program—led by Steven Gray, director of the Viral Vector Core and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, and Berge Minassian, division chief of Child Neurology—has the capacity to support Taysha's wide range of preclinical and clinical development programs.
Together, Taysha and UTSW plan to merge cutting-edge translational research, hands-on clinical care, and expertise.
Under the partnership, UT Southwestern, which has developed a "state-of-the-art viral vector manufacturing facility," will run discovery and preclinical research, as well as lead studies, provide manufacturing, and execute natural history studies.
For its part, Taysha will lead all clinical development, regulatory strategy, commercial manufacturing, and commercialization activities.
A joint steering committee of key leadership members from Taysha and UT Southwestern will govern the collaboration.
The story was updated on Sept. 25, 2020, at 4:53 p.m. Taysha launched with a $30 million in Series A funding.
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With the new Toyota Supra taking an age to actually be released, our hopes for a manual gearbox in the car have slowly been dwindling. Add on the fact that the new BMW Z4, which the Supra shares the majority of its parts with, only comes with an auto, we have no reason to believe we'll ever shift a gear manually in the Japanese sports car again.
This however, may not be the case. It's been revealed that BMW and Toyota in fact haven't communicated at all for years since the project began, which has meant they've mostly been left to their own devices when it came to designing and producing their cars.
On speaking to Car Advice, assistant chief engineer at Toyota Masayuki Kai confirmed that there is a manual 'box in the works.
"We have developed it, yes, there is hardware ready. Right-hand drive? Yes, of course. It needs to be sold in Japan, which is a right-hand drive market," he said.
Let's not get our hopes up however, as the car not only needs to go through more testing, but much more market research needs to be carried out to establish that there is a market for the manual gearbox. Let's hope the market shows that there is an opportunity for the old clutch and stick. So if a Japanese man wearing a Toyota badge asks you if you'd buy a manual… please say yes?
We can't wait to see the Supra on the road, but until then, it will probably show its face at the Detroit Motor Show in January.


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Lake Placid Links
Lake Placid Introduction
A summary of what Lake Placid has to offer.
Dramatic mountain crags fall away to reveal forest-flanked lakes in the Lake Placid Region, a stretch of the Adirondacks known for the easy access it affords to year-round outdoor activities.
Searchable list of Lake Placid tour companies, guides and outfitters, rental companies and more.
Full information on Lake Placid Tourist Attractions, Scenic Drives and other easy vacation activities…
Searchable listings of Lake Placid hotels, motels, resorts, bed & breakfast, and more.
Searchable listings of Lake Placid RV parks and campgrounds.
Transportation companies, driving directions and more for Lake Placid.
Lake Placid weather report, historic temperatures and climate info,…
Searchable lists of Lake Placid tourism offices and other helpful government agencies.
Explore destinations near Lake Placid.
Lake Placid Photo Gallery
Lake Placid Video Gallery
Whiteface Mountain Ski Resort
• New York • Lake Placid
Lake Placid, New York Travel Guide
Complete Vacation, Recreation and Tourism Information
The village of Lake Placid is the most boisterous town of the Adirondack Region, sparked with year-round activity. It is in some ways a misnomer because the town actually sits along the shores of Mirror Lake. Lake Placid itself, a much larger body of water, is located directly north.
When it was chosen as the spot for the Winter Olympic Games of 1980, the small and almost forgotten town grew exponentially to meet the demands of the expected crowds. Today, it remains a bustling and happy place with summer and winter sports, fine dining, quaint shops and thickly crowded streets.
The Olympic Center greets visitors at the gateway to the town and offers tourists a place to cool their heels at its huge public skating rink. In its museum, visitors can examine memorabilia from the 1932 and 1980 Winter Games that were held here. The village has a year-round vacation feeling and is never dull. Main Street is long and climbs its way through the town in an upward slant, passing numerous restaurants and shops that are not only quaint, but unique in their wares. Shoppers fill the streets in the summertime in search of trinkets and souvenirs and usually leave quite happy.
If sports are what you like, sports are what you'll get in this rugged little town with fun on its mind. Mountain peaks as high as 5,344 feet (Mount Marcy) beckon climbers and hikers. Year-round bobsled and luge rides zip brave passengers down a very curvy, steep run at the Sports Complex. And, of course, skiing facilities are everywhere, downhill and cross-country. In the summer months, horseback riding, fishing, swimming, boating, canoeing, and mountain biking are all popular sports in this neck of the woods.
Although Lake Placid is not an easy place to get to because of its withdrawn posture from all major thoroughfares, it is a remarkably scenic and ruggedly beautiful spot of Olympic proportions about 140 miles north of Albany.


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There's a thread on the Steam Era Freight Car Group about a composite gondola that looks a lot like the one in this picture. I've been trying to determine the road on this car because I'd like to model it myself. It looks like the Intermountain USRA composite gondola would be a good starting point. We'll see what the experts on the site determine.
New Britain Yard 1949.
I forget the photographer, it was from a NHRHTA calendar - one of the few I don't have!
Posted by Randy at 9:50 PM 2 comments: Links to this post
Labels: Freight Cars
Here's a couple of things I've been meaning to send to the Thursday night guys but decided I might as well share them here for everybody.
More USRA Hopper Info
First is an interesting document from the B&O railroad about rebuilding their hoppers:
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~nbf23/Keysercardept.pdf
It's a nice companion to a similar book that Pieter has about CNJ/CRP hopper rebuilds.
It's of particular interest now because I'm trying to determine which roads still had USRA hoppers with K-brakes c1947 since the MTH hopper can be used as is for those. So apparently the B&O upgraded theirs to AB brakes, with a horizontal handbrake. I don't see any USRA hoppers (B&O Class N-17) in the pictures but you can see a reweigh date of 1945 on one of them that gives a rough idea of when the rebuilding project was underway.
So, the question is, how many of the USRA hoppers were rebuilt by 1947, and were any still using K-brakes at that time. According to the rosters in B&O modeler Vol 2, No 3 there were 1,853 N-17's in 1948, and 1,764 of them still in service in 1954, the year after K-brakes were outlawed in interchange service. While roads could retain K-brakes for online service only, these numbers were reported in the ORER so they would have been upgraded.
That still doesn't tell me when they were upgraded, but it's a safe bet that the majority of the cars were in the upgrade program. So I'll most likely want to upgrade them to AB Brakes.
The RDG also upgraded theirs, although the confirmed upgrades so far were photographed post '54.
NYC Railroading
I mentioned this site to the guys a while ago and never got around to sending it to them. It's an excellent site on the terminal railroads of NYC. I came across the site because of Dave Ramos's New York Harbor Railroad.
Joseph was also checking it out because one of the things he's thought about modeling is street running and there was a bit in NYC in Brooklyn (which we went to check out on the way to Dave's).
36' Double Sheathed Box Cars
Another post? Wow!
While I was researching hopper rosters I was looking at the various ways John Nehrich has broken down the 1949 fleet of freight cars on the RPI site. Among this data was an interesting tidbit - in 1949 there were approximately 60,000 36' cars on the railroads. Of those, nearly 2/3 are CN and CP Fowler Patent single sheathed box cars. Leaving just 20,000 or so 36' double sheathed cars. About 5,000 of those are ACL and SAL ventilated box cars.
So not many 36' double sheathed cars at all.
Chris pointed out that there would have been more in 1947. So I was curious, and rather than keeping this between the two of us (and also so this info is someplace where I can find it later...), here's what I've compiled (with much thanks for John's research).
RPI Data
The percentage of composite to all steel box cars went from 56% in 1940 to 44% in 1945 and 31% in 1949.
This amounts to about 106,000 cars of a total box car roster of about 700,000+. And that's assuming all of those cars were 36 footers.
There were still 26,000+ all wood box cars in 1945, with about 7,500 'other' box cars in 1949, so that reduction was most likely all double sheathed cars since I'm not aware of any single sheathed car being made without a steel underframe. And I'm not aware of many 40' all wood cars.
In 1949 there were 60,000 of 223,0000 composite cars were 36' box cars, or about a 1/4. But of those, 40,000 were Fowler patent single sheathed cars. Leaving about 20,000 double sheathed plus the 7,500 'other' cars. That amounts to about 3% of the total box car fleet being under 40' and double sheathed.
So if all of the difference was double sheathed, and the number of Fowler patent cars remained constant, then 36' double sheathed cars would account for about 120,000 of 160,000 composite cars, plus most of the 'other' cars, which amounts to only 19% of the fleet as 36' cars.
Most likely the drop off accelerated instead of being linear. So it's somewhere between 19% and 3%, so 10% of the entire box car fleet as 36' double sheathed cars sounds reasonable. But I'm guessing it's lower.
In 1949, the roads with more than 1,000 cars (not including the CN and CP since they were all single sheathed) - Southern, L&N, NC&StL, D&H, ERIE, and Nationales de Mexico. Adding local roads that had at least 500 there's BAR and DL&W.
ORER Data from 1947
Comparing a few roads between 1947 and 1949:
SOU - 9,228 - 3,928
L&N - 7,438 - 2,829
D&H - 1,751 - 1,560
ERIE - 1,275 - 1,005
BAR - 1,099 - 903
DL&W - 832 - 538
RDG - 2,135 - 223
LNE - 190 - 183 (but these are 39' 10")
NYC - 752 - 156
In 1947 5,407 of these cars were ACL or SAL ventilated box cars.
So obviously some roads were retiring cars faster than others. But I think that up to 10% of box cars being 36' is reasonable.
So how many 36' double sheathed cars do we need? Well, I think that the NH cars being home road cars don't count. We'll need a couple of them for revenue service, and a few more for MOW service.
I think that specialty cars like the ventilated box cars also don't count, provided we're modeling a season when they would be in use as ventilated box cars. If they are in use as regular box cars then they would be treated as such.
So I think the must have cars are those for direct connections with a decent percentage of 36' double sheathed cars (CV and RDG are both around 25% in 1947). The SOU SU design is also one that was such a large class of cars, and the Southern had the largest number of 36' double sheathed cars even in 1949.
As for other cars I think it depends on whether we identify commodities coming for other roads. Assuming there's a model available, then it's a question of how those cars relate to their larger box car fleet. But these would be low priority cars.
So for Chris' layout this amounts to, well, one 36' double sheathed box car. He's got two trains with 20-25 cars each, and perhaps 30ish cars on the layout. So less than 100 cars.
In my case, I've got 8 trains of 15-25 cars each, plus another 50 or 60 on the layout. So at any given time I'm probably looking at 2-3 36' double sheathed cars in any given session. Of course, on some days there could be more, others less.
F&C has the most 36' double sheathed car models. I've got the CV, NH and NYC
I also have SOU (Westerfield, but F&C makes the same prototype).
The NYC car is a great example of a rare car. Their 1947 roster of 752 36' cars is only 3% of their USRA design steel box cars (25,000+), just one class of steel box cars on the road, or about 1% of their 60,000+ box car fleet.
Roster vs Operating Session
Having said that, I go back to my assertion that there's a difference between your model roster, and the cars you run during a given operating session. I'll use Chris's layout as an example. Until he has an operating Shore Line, he needs about 100 cars for an operating session, probably less. So by our calculations he needs a single 36' double sheathed box car. And that's assuming (as we will for now) that all 100 cars per session are box cars.
So looking at the choices, he decides he likes the CV one. If he has an industry that is directly serviced by an industry on the CV then this is a good choice. I might even argue that it's no longer a rare car, as that industry would have about a 25% of receiving this type of car based on the CV roster (assuming they never use a foreign road car).
Problem is, if this isn't a car in semi-captive service, then this 'rare' car becomes 'common' if we choose to run one 36' car per session and that's the only car available.
So I think that it's worth modeling at least a handful of cars. This is why your roster should be larger than what you'd run in an operating session (or a couple of sessions).
Instead of running one 36' double sheathed box car per 100 cars per session (which would be a statistical anomaly anyway), these cars would simply fall under the 'rare' category. Rare cars could make up 10-20% of the cars used in the session. If we go with 20% then 2 cars of his 100 would be rare. Sometimes one would be a 36' car, sometimes none, sometimes two. In that mix are other rare cars.
One of the main reasons I like this approach is that I like freight cars. It allows me to have more cars, and more unusual cars, than most people would choose to model. But I also think it means that from session to session the mix of cars is good, and individual rare cars continue to be rare.
My initial approach was to model one car per 'x' number of a given car on the prototype. But for large classes of cars (PRR X29 for example) this would require 20+ cars. These are cars that belong in pretty much every ops session. But I can make that happen with far fewer cars. Folks won't remember car numbers from session to session, but they will remember unusual cars.
So now I'm working on finding an upper limit to the number of cars needed for any large class. This will probably vary depending on your prototype (you might need 25 X29s if you model the PRR). It's important to have enough common cars, whether a specific class, or a specific design used by many roads (1937 AAR Standard Box Car).
I suppose that's a next step - figure out what a representative mix of cars is for each session. That's for another post.
Posted by Randy at 11:25 AM 1 comment: Links to this post
Labels: Freight Cars, Operations
More about hoppers
So in the course of getting the LNE hopper project going, I've been doing some research on hoppers in general. I won't pretend to be an expert on hoppers, and there has been a lot published online and in various magazines and books, although I would start with Bob Karig's "Coal Cars: The First 300 Years", John Teichmoeller's "Pennsylvania Railroad Steel Open Hopper Cars", and the various Railway Prototype Cyclopedias, particularly Volume 25. Of course, the RPI Railroad Heritage website should be a primary source for any freight car modeling as well.
I haven't looked into books on the hopper fleets of the B&O or NYC which were both substantial and they would be helpful. But I've been able to find enough online information for now relating to them. The B&O is a particular challenge because there aren't a lot of accurate models for their hoppers. At least not yet.
Based on information provided in several resources, I believe that while hoppers for C&O, N&W and other more southerly roads would have travelled occasionally on the New Haven, I suspect they were in far fewer numbers than the roads I'll cover here. This was largely because coal from these fields came to CT primarily by water. And while NH hoppers have been photographed offline, I suspect a large number of them were used to ship coal from waterborne loads to their final destinations on the NH.
As a starting point, I've been looking at existing models that are available either only in (resin) kit form or simple projects like the LNE one which is primarily upgrading a shake-the-box style model. Initially this is covering twin hoppers (HM), but I'm already looking into triple and quad hopper (HT) projects.
More extensive kitbashing projects will wait. I have already purchased RTR cars that are appropriate and meeting my modeling standards (BLI, Intermountain, Kadee, etc.).
As for the roads that I think are most important for my (and Chris and Pete's) layout are coal hauling roads with direct NH connections:
CNJ/CRP
O&W
Secondary sources are the other large roads that have service connections (based on published schedules), photos, and anthracite roads:
DL&W
Several roads have been bumped up in priority due to the identification of specific brands of coal handled by local New Britain industries:
Stanley Svea - Old Company's Lehigh (D&H, DL&W, LNE)
Household Fuel - Glen Alden Coal Co (CNJ, DL&W, RDG)
So then there's the question of how many of any given hopper I need. For box cars I settled on 1 car per 1,000 rostered for a foreign road car. But then what about cars like the PRR X29 or NYC USRA Design steel box car, each of which rostered over 25,000? I don't really need 25 of each do I?
Probably not. So I think a reasonable goal is around 10 of each. But hoppers aren't as free roaming as box cars. However, I also think that for a bulk commodity it's common to see a string of 2-3 cars, even if it's a road with a small roster. That doesn't mean they'll all be the same prototype.
So I know I'll do at least two cars for each of the target roads, but typically more. I've settled on 1 car for each 500 rostered to try to get the mix right for each road that has multiple prototypes available. But I think 3 to 4 of a given prototype will probably be sufficient, with more for particularly large rosters (PRR, basically). I may make exceptions for roads that serve mines that I know are selling to New Britain industries.
For retail industries I haven't determined a specific brand of coal (Shurberg & Sons,) I'll focus on anthracite roads, and the large industries (Stanley, Russell & Erwin, etc.) will receive bituminous, often in triple and quad hoppers, from B&O, NYC, PRR, etc.
As noted, the first project we're starting is the LNE AAR Standard cars.
Fishbelly Hoppers
Next will probably be cars based on the Bowser (ex-Stewart) fishbelly hoppers, and as long as we can find the proper decorated cars, these won't require decals.
CNJ 67000-67999 (1)
CRP 67000-67999 (1)
D&H 4701-6100 (2-4)
LV 25000-25499, 25500-25939 (2)
RDG 65000-65999, 67000-67338, 80000-80999 (4-6), plus 1-2 of the F&C War Emergency variation (66000-66999)
USRA and USRA Clone Hoppers
I've got Accurail, Tichy and MTH USRA hoppers, and I've settled on making some modifications (modernizing) the MTH model, primarily upgrading to AB brakes. These will definitely need painting and lettering.
B&O (2-4)
CNJ (1)
CRP (1)
D&H (1, plus one Tichy panel side rebuild)
DL&W (2)
NH (2-4)
NYC (4, plus two Tichy panel side rebuilds)
RDG (2-4)
GL hoppers (Westerfield and/or F&C) - mostly GLca class, and the majority (if not all) will be the excellent F&C one piece body kit.
PRR (5-10)
GLA and 1905 "Common Design" (Westerfield and/or Bowser)
Note: while individual roads had some specific variations, the main difference was apparently the angle of the center slope sheets. PRR had a 30 degree angle, and most others a 45 degree angle. I'm not sure if I'll be able to modify the interior, but the Bowser car is the PRR 30 degree angle so it may be possible (since it's less than 45 degrees). Otherwise, along with the detail upgrades the rivet line in the middle of the car will be modified.
Chris has a photo of a PRR H21 at Wethersfield coal, and found that Bowser makes a model (yay!) but it has molded on parts (boo!). I pointed out that they had over 25,000 H21's c1947 and that he had a choice - build a half-dozen or more Westerfield kits, or start shaving Bowser cars. He's ready to shave. The same thing applies for the PRR GLA class.
CNJ/CRP (1-2)
LV (4-6)
Berwind-White Mini Project
A few years ago Laura and I went to Newport, RI and one of the mansions we visited was The Elms, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Julius Berwind. So at the very least I'm sure that Berwind coal hoppers would be seen on the New Haven on the Shoreline servicing their home. In addition, there are models available that covers the entire Berwind roster in 1947. So that's kind of fun. One of those kits, now available from F&C, was originally manufactured by Funaro for Yankee Clipper Models, which were produced by Bill Dulmaine, the current President of NHRHTA and he and Cosette are responsible for publishing the Shoreliner.
Mount Vernon Shops makes a set of decals that letters 4 GLca, 6 GLa, and 2 BW-1 hoppers so that will give us enough for the group to split.
GLa (Bowser) 1501-1900, 3351-4980
GLca (F&C) 2001-3000, 4981-5000
BW-1 (F&C) 5001-5050, 5051-5160
In addition to the GLca and BW-1 hoppers, I'll need several of the F&C CNJ/CRP 9-panel hoppers (the model that started this study, actually), and RDG Channel Side hoppers, also from F&C.
That will get me (us) started, and will provide a solid foundation for the hoppers that I think would represent a proper mix, recognizing that there will be too few B&O and probably DL&W hoppers, among others. Beyond these, I don't have a problem with an occasional visit from other hoppers that would be less common. But we've now found three photos with C&I hoppers on the New Haven so it's clear that there are always interesting cars to include.
Posted by Randy at 12:23 AM No comments: Links to this post
LNE #14103-13600 Hopper Correction
Thanks to Ed Hawkins I have an update on the LNE hoppers. The photo in Bob Karig's book that looked like a unique prototype was taken at a museum. So it appears that the road number used in the restoration was incorrect, and that this class of cars was similar to the earlier cars in their detail.
I may still pick up an Accurail kit to see what they look like, though, and it could be used for a B&O car.
LNE AAR Standard 50-ton hoppers
I've learned that Stanley Svea Grain & Coal sold "Old Company's Lehigh" coal.
If the logo looks familiar, it should. Old Company's Lehigh coal was produced by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. In 1904 Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co acquired a majority of stock of the Lehigh New England Railroad.
The Company had several collieries mining anthracite. Two of the ones I've been able to verify that had breakers (Lansford and Tamaqua, PA) were both served by the LNE. They had other breakers served by the D&H, DL&W, ERIE, and RDG.
Of the roads I've verified that serve Old Company's Lehigh, the DL&W will be the toughest to model. D&H, ERIE and RDG won't be too difficult. But Chris and I have decided to start a project to fill some holes in our hopper fleets with LNE hoppers. And since we're getting started on this we figured we'd check with the other Thursday night guys to see if they'd like to build a few as well. As it turns out, models are also available in N-scale (for Dick) and S-scale (for Pieter), so we can all add a few cars to our rosters.
How easy/difficult will it be? Well, the first place to start is the ORER for 1947. Out of a roster of about 3,000 freight cars, almost half are hoppers. Of those, 86% are AAR Standard 50 ton hoppers, or 1,250 cars.
That's great news, or so you'd think, because the Kadee hopper is an AAR Standard 50 ton twin hopper. But, consulting the information and rosters in Railway Prototype Cyclopedia Vol 25, we find that the LNE cars are two different types. All except the last 300 of those are of an early design with sloped side sills at the end, with a straight side sill between the bolsters, and pressed steel channel end posts. The remaining 300 cars have straight side sills, with a fishbelly side sill between the bolsters, and z-bar end braces.
The Kadee car is closest to those 300 cars, with the correct side details, but the end posts are spaced wider apart and are composed of steel angle to the top of the ends, instead of pressed steel channels attached at the bottom of the hopper end.
The Intermountain car, marketed as 'Alternate' AAR Standard cars (identified in RP Cyc as AMC Standard Design cars) don't match either. So the two best available models won't work.
Accurail, Athearn, Atlas and Walthers all make 'offset side' 2 bay hoppers that are also based on AAR Standard cars. Unfortunately these have molded on detail parts. The Accurail one has the finest detailing, but is apparently a match of a B&O car with different details. The Athearn and Atlas cars are better detailed than Walthers, and fortunately the Atlas car is nearly an exact match.
So the Atlas car looks like a good starting point. Even with some extra work it won't measure up to the current state-of-the-art Kadee or Intermountain, but we should be able to turn it into a very good model that's not just a stand-in.
They are available undecorated (Atlas #18870 in the Trainman line). There is a second Atlas offset side hopper in the regular line (Atlas #1850) but it has a different bracing pattern along the top of the sides, which seems odd to me (particularly because I can't find a prototype that it matches).
Anyway, here's what we're modeling:
LNE AAR Standard 50 ton twin hopper
13001-13250 blt 11-36
13251-13350 blt 5-39 (pictured)
14001-14300 blt 4-41
14301-14600 blt 2-42 (see below) (pictured - I love the crooked '3')
The paint scheme will be similar to the second picture, without the billboard 'LNE' using Highball Graphics decals. Each set covers 3 cars, and a set is available for N-scale as well.
Most of the cars used coil elliptical trucks available from Tahoe Model Works
All had Ajax handbrakes, AB Brakes, plate steel brake steps, and Wine door locking mechanisms.
More information can be found in the excellent Railway Prototype Cyclopedia Vol 25 (pictures on pg 54-5), Vol 2 (picture on pg 87 - a better version of 14382 above), and Bob Karig's "Coal Cars: The First Three Hundred Years" on pg 307, including an interior shot.
A third variation?
Well what do you know? Looking closer at the overhead shot of #14518 in Bob's book, which also shows the end, it is of a different design. It has the sloped side sills as with the earlier cars. But it has the z-bar end posts like the later cars. It's stenciled with a build date of March, 1941, which is earlier than listed on the roster by about a year. It appears that the Accurail car is a close match to this prototype, which will allow us to model a subtle variation with little additional effort since most of the modifications will be the same as the Atlas model. This kit has some extra details lacking from the Atlas (like slope sheet bracing) that will help with the rest of the project as well.
The question is, how early was this change made? The photo of #13283 (blt 5-39) in RP Cyc Vol 25, pg 54 clearly shows the earlier end, as does #14299 (blt 4-41) on the next page. So it would appear the change was made for the #14301-14600 series, although that doesn't necessarily mean it was for the entire group.
In any event, I think this will be a fun project, and I'm hoping that by doing it as a group we'll (I'll) actually get them completed and in a relatively quickly.
Well, I'll post the question on the Steam Era Freight Car Group. In the meantime, it's time to pick up some models, decals, and parts.
Posted by Randy at 10:21 PM No comments: Links to this post
OK, it's been a while since I've posted anything significant. So I'll have some new things soon, but here's a quick rundown as to what I'm up to.
NE Proto Meet
First, the NE Proto Meet was great fun. The response for the True Line Trains minibox continues to be extremely positive, and I can say I'm very happy with the work the new factory has done for us.
I attended a few clinics, but most of the time was spent chatting with friends and checking out the models. It's always a great place to pick up new ideas and techniques.
Layout Tour
The layout tour went well on Sunday too, but that's becoming somewhat routine. Dave Friedman brought over an R-1-b and L-1 for testing. The Key R-1-b had trouble (consistently) with only two turnouts that I'll work on. The Custom Brass L-1 was shorting on one of the 28" radius curves, but appeared to be something that might be rectified with tweaking the locomotive since he hasn't run it on anything less than 30".
I have both locomotives myself, and they have operated OK so far, but it's been a while (they are both DC still). So I will have to do some more testing and tweaking.
Operating Session
On the Thursday just before the meet, I hosted an ops session for several attendees. Bill, Chris and Joseph were helping out (and Bill supplied the motive power so the NH was leasing all power from the O&W that night). Two were new to me, Dave Fullerton and Will Lawrence from Nova Scotia. Dave Ramos and Tom Callan rounded out the crew. This was a great addition because I've been studying Dave's operation quite a bit for ideas.
Although initially he thought that he might be biting off more than he could chew, Chris had a blast as the Freight Agent. While we have a fair amount of tweaking to do, the process seemed to work pretty well.
Bill and Dave operated the Stanley Works, and completed their initial work very quickly. This is job we'll need to 'complicate' a bit. Will and Joseph handled the many through trains, and Dave and Tom were operating the New Britain switcher. We learned quite a few things about that job as well, but once they really got a handle on the layout it worked pretty well. Bill and Dave jumped in with an extra switcher for a bit to help out.
We identified some updates that are needed in the process and the paperwork, as well as the design of the layout (thankfully nothing major).
Layout Progress
So, as for the 'nothing major'. As things have been progressing well and we've been figuring out how to do things faster at Harvey's, it was time to get moving on my layout. So first up I decided to complete the ground cover and ballasting for all of New Britain Yard. I was able to spray paint the track, put down all of the ground cover and ballast, and glue it all done in an afternoon. Worked like a charm. Until...
For some reason, and for the first time ever (to me anyway), the glue didn't dry clear. It's patchy and looks horrible across the entire yard. I considered pulling up the track and cleaning it all that way, and would replace what was necessary. Which led to me thinking that I could do everything that I wanted appearance-wise if I handlaid all of the track in the yard. It's a dozen turnouts and track.
In the end, while considering my options, I started scraping up all of the scenicking (yes, between all of the ties too), and redoing it. I love how it's coming out, just a bit slow. But I'm making progress. Unfortunately it's time I feel I could have spent making more progress on the layout rather than redoing the yard.
I'll have more info with pictures in a future post.
So Chris and I have been looking into what we want to work on. Because I've come upon more information about two of the four coal dealers that I'm modeling in town, I've been particularly interested in a proper fleet of hoppers. While we now have some fantastic RTR models from Kadee and Intermountain in particular, this is an area that will need to be supplemented by a number of resin kits and, yes, even some kitbashes. Well, more of a cleanup/modification of models with molded on parts rather than actual kitbashes. Either way it will require me to carve things off which is not one of my strong modeling points. I have a little practice on a DL-109 I've been working on as well.
So we've invited the rest of the Thursday Night Crew (the modelers anyway) to join us in working on some hopper projects. We've identified enough to keep us busy at least through the summer, but there will still be a few holes.
So that's about it for the current news. More information to come in future posts on these projects and more!
Labels: Freight Cars, Layout construction, Layout Visit, Model Meet, Operating Session
A tour of Harvey's layout:
Posted by Randy at 7:33 AM No comments: Links to this post
I really need to get to some posts. But here's a revisit to the same location as the last post, the logging line on Harvey's layout. Joseph (and his Mom!) have both been helping at Harvey's. We've been making a lot of puffball trees, and working on the scenery. Joseph did the trees and some of the scenery here, including installing the rock casting above the portal. I completed more of the scenery, including my first attempt at hand carving Sculptamold rocks. I'm really happy with the way they've come out, and pretty happy with how they blended into the rock mold.
Labels: Scenery
Saw Mill
A saw mill? In New Britain!?!
Well, not quite. I'm helping work on a layout for Harvey and he's said that I can include his layout on the blog. So today I'm working on the saw mill. Here's the start of day picture:
I'll provide more details about the layout later, but I built a good portion of these mountains and installed this siding. Since I had started basic groundcover, John thought we should figure out how to install the saw mill, as this is the logging line.
Harvey bought the mill after it had been cut out from another layout. It's a nice scratchbuilt structure, and half of the roof was left off to allow you to see the detail. So we wanted to make sure that side faced the aisle. The problem was that side originally faced the siding. It just fit behind the siding here, but since it's fairly high it made it difficult to see. So I tried it in a few places on this side of the track and we decided to add some foam to the terrain to give it a home. As you can see, John also added a road to the location and up between the mountains.
I built a retaining wall the night before, and here I'm filling the spaces with grout:
I had started by making a 'template' with what was handy, a piece of newspaper. Initially I was going to transfer that to some other material, but decided it would work just fine as backing. I used The Chopper to cut all of the small pieces then just glued it together. After brushing the grout into the spaces I used diluted white glue to set it while I worked on the hill.
Going back a day, here was the hole I cut in the hill and the piece of foam that was made to fit with the rough placement of the mill:
So I spent the day doing basic groundcover (more grout), decided that the road would stand out more as gravel instead of a dirt road, and installed the retaining wall. The gravel road was a blend of the grout, light gray ballast, and cinder ballast. It will be a lighter color when dry.
There's a lot more work to do, but I did figure out one other thing. I was trying to figure out something to put in the space between the siding and the mainline, partially as justification for the siding to be swung so far out and for them to build the mill on the edge of a cliff. While I was working on it it came to me - a water tower. For that matter, some basic railroad maintenance sheds, etc. for servicing the Shay. This is really the only location where they'll fit. So I think I may try my hand at scratchbuilding them because I'd like them to match the quality of the nearby mill.
Labels: Layout construction, Scenery
Location: Roxbury, CT, USA
Chris Adams Ops Session
Wow. Two posts in one night. Here are some photos from the Second Official Valley Line Ops Session. Due to some technical difficulties I couldn't get these posted until now.
I wasn't running trains this time. I helped get things started, and experimented with a few photos before helping out upstairs for the Photo Library Night that was happening at the same time.
Labels: Layout Visit, Operating Session
Location: Old Saybrook, CT, USA
Dave Ramos Ops Session
Chris, Pieter, John, Tom, and new buddy Jim Schweitzer drove down to NJ for an ops session at Dave's place with a much larger crew. Dave's modeling Manhattan in 1947 and it's a really unique layout.
Or really, layouts. I'll give a brief description, but there's a ton more information about NYC railroads at Industrial and Offline Terminal Railroads of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx and Manhattan.
The Erie and Lehigh Valley Yards are covered on the site in detail, the High Line and NYC Yard are not.
Chris, Craig Bisgeier and I were operating the NYC West 33rd Street Yard. It basically operates as an independent layout of its own, with freights terminating in the yard. All of the freight is handled at several industries right around the yard, a freight house and REA terminal. We usually had two switchers doing the work of breaking apart and building the freights. It's a cool operating scheme with waybills, cars sit for a minimum time as listed on the waybill and managed by the fast clock. There's also a cleanout track and cars are left a minimum amount of time based on an egg timer.
Switching out the cleanout track.
Reefers at the cleanout track.
Anheuser Busch is the large building behind it.
The gons in this and the next picture are on the Steel Track.
The Steel Track will eventually have an overhead crane.
The track to the right of the Steel Track is a Team Track.
The track on the other side of the High Line is another Team Track.
The large building in the back is the Stanley Soap Co. served by its own track.
The track with the reefers is the Perishable Track.
The two tracks in front of that (that come together in front of the reefer)
are the Terminal Stores inbound/outbound tracks.
The two tracks in front of that are outbound tracks, with an inbound track off the picture in front of those.
Part of the job Chris was handling was servicing the Terminal Stores building. This building is adjacent the Erie Railroad West 28th Street Yard that in Dave's basement is a standalone island in the middle of the room. This yard is served by car float. The Erie also services the Terminal Stores building, and the NYC crosses the tracks from the Erie car float to the Erie yard.
A somewhat blurry picture of Chris taking a picture of the Erie Car Float.
In the background is the Erie Yard, and the large building beyond Chris's camera
is the Terminal Stores Building.
The NYC West 33rd Street yard is off camera to the left and connects to this section via a lift out.
The High Line can be seen around the perimeter of the room.
On another standalone section is the Lehigh Valley West 27th Street Yard. This is another entirely independent layout other than the fact that the LV also services the Terminal Stores building.
I didn't take a good shot of the LV yard, but in the picture above it's behind and to Chris's right.
There is no interchange at all between NYC, Erie, or LV, they just service the Terminal Stores building independently.
The fourth section of the layout is the High Line, which passes over the NYC West 33rd Street Yard and continues around the entire room. The High Line terminates at the St John's Park Terminal inside a large building.
St John's Park Terminal on Dave Ramos's layout.
Note that beyond the angled wall all of the tracks are inside the building.
On the back wall is the active staging that serves the entire layout.
All of these four sections operate independently.
Here are a few more pictures of the Erie West 28th Street Yard.
Overview of the Erie West 28th Street Yard.
The NYC West 33rd Street Yard is in the back right corner.
The NYC crosses left to right, Terminal Stores is to the right.
The two Erie tracks are to the car float.
I can't wait to get back down there and try one of the other layouts. Thanks Dave!
Location: Clifton, NJ, USA


"The only being that Vader fears in the entire galaxy is the Emperor, even though Vader is more naturally gifted and talented in the Force than the Emperor. However, always seeking an advantage over his rivals, challengers and followers, the Emperor has a secret method which makes him more powerful than anyone else, even Yoda, in the ways of the Force. So in the prequels, we will finally learn how the Emperor has the power to fire lighting out of his hands . . . Second, and this is unclear, some believe that the Emperor has control over Vader's life-supporting armor. If Vader gets out of line, then the Emperor can kill Vader. However, this is not true. Another theory holds that the Emperor has told Vader that he will kill the exiled Luke and/or his wife if Vader does not uphold complete loyalty to the Emperor . . . But this is also doubtful . . .
But what I do know for certain is that after you watch Episode 3, you will realize why thematically (i.e., divine retribution, poetic justice) Boba Fett, Jabba, Vader and Palpatine must die in ROTJ at the hands of the new Jedi. The reason is that Boba Fett, Jabba, Vader and Palpatine presided over the demise of the Jedi in Episode 3. Consequently, it becomes Luke's fate to contribute to the death of all four of these villains (Fett's resurrection by popular demand not withstanding) as payback for the atrocities they committed against the Old Republic and the Jedi . . .
R2-D2 never claims that Ben once owned him, he simply announces that "he is the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a resident of these parts". This is most likely simply because of the Princess' programming of him - he has been re-programmed to serve Ben and now considers him his new owner, whether or not he has ever "met" the man.
In ROTJ, Ben tells Luke, "when I first knew your father, he was already a great pilot, but i was amazed at how strong the force was in him." For Anakin to be a great pilot, we're looking at mid to late teens here. I don't think Ben will meet Anakin until the very latter part of Episode 1, much less begin training.
In the Star Wars universe, Rome (the Old Republic) took tens of thousands of years to fall because it was protected by the Jedi Knights, an ancient and mystical religious order, which harnessed the Force. A Jedi Knight has no desire to be king, emperor or dictator, his/her's "job" is to preserve the rightful government in power. Yoda said, "Adventure, excitement, a Jedi craves not these things...anger, fear, aggression, the Dark Side of the Force they are. Easily they flow, quick to join in a fight. Beware of them. A heavy price is paid for the power they bring." Anakin was not satisfied to be a mere follower and protector of others. He wanted something more and that is exactly what Palpatine was able to offer him: adventure, exitement, tremendous riches and vast power.
What famous person taught a Force-type philosophy during the Roman Era? To give you a clue, he also chose to die rather than fight back against an evil tyrant. Immediately after he died, his body mysteriously disappeared, and he reappeared in a vision to his disciples.
this film a dozen or more times.
Hence, the ingredients exist for the prequel to shatter all box-office records. The Lost World averaged about $ 22 million (per day) during its first four full-days of release. The prequel will probably average around $ 20 to $ 26 million per day. So from May 25 to May 31, the prequel may take in as much as $ 180 million in its first seven days of release in North America. However, this figure seems impossibly high to realistically be achieved and I would say the prequel should take in around $ 140 million or so.
Knights of the Republic. Well, it doesn't matter what he calls it. This is the film we have all waited over 15 years to see. No one can argue that Star Wars saga is the most influential film series of the last 25 years: it was the founding film of the blockbuster form which has controlled Hollywood ever since. It's not the perfect trilogy that some say it is, but it's also not as bad as some of its critics would have you believe. When it came out Star Wars was attacked as being too insubstantial, too fun, too easy; "like getting a box of Cracker Jacks that is all prizes," as Pauline Kael put it. As the years went by the second wave of scorn came from those critics who liked to blame it for what followed, holding Lucas accountable for the many poor imitations that Hollywood has produced since. Against this, the fans rallied, building a huge cult. Now in the summer of 1999, Lucas is poised again to redefine the way we see motion pictures in the future. We are about to enter a new realm of Star Wars mania and, unfortunately, at the same time the other films in Hollywood will get worse as Hollywood will try to imitate the success of the prequel. And of course, Lucas will be unfairly blamed for this . . .
What Lucas did, essentially, was to invert the way movies are made, by taking a B-movie plot and giving it the A-movie treatment. Moments of Star Wars: Episode 1 are therefore extremely corny. Sometimes, I thought I was watching a remake of the original Star Wars since the plotline is so similar to that of the first film. A rescue, a duel, an attack on the bad guys fortress, etc . . .
For instance, young Anakin Skywalker complaining to his mom that nothing ever happens on Tatooine. I realize Anakin is supposed to be impatient and immature, but Lucas overdoes it. The audience knows something big is going to happen on Tatooine and it does. The section of the film that gets really silly, though, is the long fight sequences between the Jedi Knights and the Mandalorian super commandos. Does any Star Wars fan really want to see several hundred Jedi battle the "Boba Fett" warriors? I think not. How many ways can a Mandalorian lose an arm or leg? Lucas, apparently, thinks there is no limit . . .
Though the special effects in this sequence are spectacular and jaw-dropping and the best ever seen on film, I think they were added solely for the sake of seeing what has never been seen on film before. It's strictly kid's stuff as young Kenobi and Liam Neeson blunder through the water planet against the world's dumbest super commandos. The silver C-3PO gets rid of one Mandalorian with little more than "they went that away," (a cliche that is seen again in Episode 4: A New Hope). Additionally, young Anakin and his future bride, the young Queen, played exquisitely by Natalie Portman, wander the hallways of a massive cloning base without ever being asked: "What are kids doing here?".
The weirdest plot point comes at the end, though: Why does Kenobi's Millenium Falcon just happen to be water submersible during the water battle? Just because the Falcon can fly in space doesn't necessarily mean it can fight under water also. The water battle appears to be too long, just like the death star battle scene in the original Star Wars, maybe Lucas has run out of ideas . . .
However, these script problems are overwhelmed by so many good elements, however, that I almost feel guilty about harping on them. The production design (inspired by Doug Chiang's design drawings) is stunning, with a great deal to marvel at: it's hard to believe Lucas achieved so much for under $ 70 million. The fully computer-generated character played by Ahmed Best, the new Chewbacca, is a great example of Lucas' imaginative vision, yet there is a great deal more for an alert viewer to enjoy. The hidden cameos in certain scenes, for example, are terrific, though their appearance is brief. And of course there's some of the coolest looking spacecraft we've seen on screen. The most impressive is the star ships used by the Mandalorian, which appears from above the screen in the film's soon-to-be a classic opening shot, just like back in 1977 - a moment that must have knocked audiences dead back then.
Is Old Obi-wan in ANH supposed to be Jesus Christ? Yes and no. Obi-wan is one thousand generations down the line from the first Jedi, who would have been the Jesus of the Star Wars universe. The first Jedi was probably more of a religious type instead of a fanatical warrior sworn to defend the Republic at all costs. For a parallel, read about The Mule in Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, which curiously also deals with the fall of the Galactic Republic and the rise of the Empire.
"The Kenner and Galoob Star Wars merchandise were among our top three best selling toy lines for 1997 and was the number one boy's toy for the year . . . The problem we're seeing with the Star Wars line is a glut of the same action figures and vehicles. Kenner and Galoob will both be phasing into new packaging and different toys for the first quarter of 1998. This should help to continue and bolster the interest in the Star Wars line of merchandise through 1998 . . . Both companies plan to produce the trilogy toys for the next 18 months, but, from what we have been told, 85 to 90% of the Star Wars toy line will be dedicated to Episode 1 by May 1999. So the trilogy line of merchandise will be going into "semi-retirement" for a while when the new Star Wars film is released . . .
Both Kenner and Galoob have promised exclusive toys for our chain that will not be available anywhere else . . . The development and production of the Episode 1 toys will take approximately 18 months. Hence, when we met with Kenner executives last November, they only had some rough sketches of some of the Episode 1 toys for us to peruse. The sketches that I saw more complex and higher in quality than the production sketches that I have seen in the past for the present line of Star Wars toys. Also, there will be about 3 to 4 times as many exotic creatures produced and dozens of more ships released than in the original trilogy. According to the Kenner officials we spoke to, the new Star Wars film is overflowing and crowded with a giant assortment of creatures, people and vehicles. The Galactic Senate contains dozens and dozens of weird looking creatures that have never been seen before on film. So the Episode 1 toy line is going to have a much greater selection and variety available to the public than the original trilogy line of toys . . .
Lucas created Obi-Wan as the most credible source for his philosophy. An old soldier knows more about the morality of killing than a young conscientious objector. Luke is the inocent farm boy that Old Ben teaches how to avoid the pitalls of life in the big city.
The confusion about Jesus comes from thinking he was the only legendary figure who underwent a resurrection. There were lots of others, particularly in Roman mythology. It's probably the most popular attribute of the legendary hero. Death is the most terrifying of all of mankind's experiences because none of us can escape it; therefore, only the greatest heroes can conquer it.
I think Episode 1 has a legitimate chance of being the first billion-dollar box-office movie. Several things will work in its favor. As already stated this will be the most anticipated film ever. It willl also be review proof. If it does receive mixed reviews (I doubt that it will) will anyone not see it? People like us, knowing that there are two more movies to come, will see it several times in order to gain clues about the movies to come. Jurassic Park, ID4, MIB and other films that have done well internationally had zero history. Episode 1 will be bigger internationally than anyone can imagine.
Monday: A Lucasfilm employee tells us how Lucas is ingeniously keeping certain portions of the final version of the Episode 1 plot a secret from everyone including himself at this point . . .
"One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding the production of Episode I is that George is deliberately filming misleading scenes in order to keep spies from revealing the sensitive plot points of the movie. The story for Episode I has been bouncing around in George's head for the past 20 years and during this time George has envisioned multiple versions of the plot (i.e., Should X die in Episode I or should he/she survive until Episode II?) In order to capture all these possibilities for the plot, George has to film each variation. In the editing room, George will select which version to include in the final version of Episode I . . .
George is filming multiple versions of the same scene to keep his options wide open. In the editing room, George will decide which scene has the greatest dramatic impact and adds most to the overall story arc of the saga. Some scenes that have been filmed won't be seen in the film at all because they may not be needed or add anything significant to the direction in which George decides to go . . . One of the biggest problems is, of course, deciding who lives and dies and who is related to whom. George has the option to leave holes in the Episode I plot that can later be filled in by the novels, comics or later Episodes. Do we really need to know that X is Y's daughter at this point in the prequels? That's the type of question George is asking himself.
Tuesday: The Book of Revelations' influence on the prequels and why one scene in ANH points to the fact that we may see the Millenium Falcon in the prequels . . .
The Millenium Falcon will probably make an appearance in the prequels. And here is why: When we get our initial look at the interior of Docking Bay 94, you can tell by the way the shot of the Falcon was taken combined with the roar of Williams' film score that the Falcon is of great importance to the entire saga. Ben seems to be giving the ship a curious/disbelief/irony/shock filled look. When Luke shouts, "What a piece of junk!", at that moment Ben throws Luke a stare. When Han says his "She may not look like much kid, but she's got it where it counts .." line.
Wednesday: A plethora of prequel rumors including the people who may have piloted the Falcon in the prequel(s) from a Lucasfilm-sanctioned source . . .
A few days ago, it was stated here that STAR WARS was behind JURASSIC PARK and INDEPENDENCE DAY in worldwide Box-Office figures . The person that said this is not taking into account inflation. Of course JURASSIC PARK is going to make more than STAR WARS.......it costs about twice as much to go to the movies nowadays !
So, STAR WARS is THE most popular movie ever made. I am not counting GONE WITH THE WIND because it was made in 1939 when there was no television, and people's forms of entertainment were different. Going to the movies was one of the only things to do.
STAR WARS, meanwhile, taking into account inflation (it originally made 300 million or so back in 1977), in todays prices it really made about 550 million !
Thursday: A Lucasfilm source tells us why those who criticize Lucas for being greedy are being extremely unfair and, after receiving numerous e-mails on this subject, we will start posting the latest rumors at the top of the page starting with tomorrow's update . . .


text:
Assessing oxygen requirement after discharge in chronic lung disease: a survey of current practice
A. Solis, G. Harrison, N J Shaw
In order to survey current management of oxygen in children with chronic lung disease (CLD) of prematurity in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 260 questionnaires asking about criteria that were considered important when removing supplemental oxygen from a child with CLD were sent to consultant paediatricians identified as being likely to be involved in the follow-up of children with CLD. A total of 120 questionnaires were returned from 114 centres. The factors that were considered important when removal of the patient's supplemental oxygen was being considered were: the oxygen saturation level in 100% responders; the respiratory rate in 62%; the heart rate in 37%; the length of time that the child had been in oxygen in 25%; changes on the chest radiograph in 22%; capillary blood gases in 18%, and arterial blood gases in 7%. The specific oxygen saturation level above which it was felt that the patient could stop oxygen therapy ranged from 85% to 98% (mean 93%). The situations which would prevent discontinuation of oxygen were: desaturation while feeding/ sleeping or exercising in 95% responders; failure to gain weight in 78%; presence of pulmonary hypertension in 62%, the parents' opinion or perception of their child's needs for supplemental oxygen in 58%; recent withdrawal of steroid therapy in 52%; a recent infection of the respiratory tract in 42%; history of cyanotic spells in 28%; and the advent of winter in 23%. Conclusion: there is an enormous variety of practice with regard to the management of supplemental oxygen for children with chronic lung disease suggesting an urgent need for research and evidence-based guidelines.
European Journal of Pediatrics
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Assessing oxygen requirement after discharge in chronic lung disease: a survey of current practice'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Lung Diseases Medicine & Life Sciences
Chronic Disease Medicine & Life Sciences
Oxygen Medicine & Life Sciences
Gases Medicine & Life Sciences
Ireland Medicine & Life Sciences
Consultants Medicine & Life Sciences
Respiratory Rate Medicine & Life Sciences
Solis, A., Harrison, G., & Shaw, N. J. (2002). Assessing oxygen requirement after discharge in chronic lung disease: a survey of current practice. European Journal of Pediatrics, 161(8), 428-430. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-002-0991-z
Solis, A. ; Harrison, G. ; Shaw, N J. / Assessing oxygen requirement after discharge in chronic lung disease: a survey of current practice. In: European Journal of Pediatrics. 2002 ; Vol. 161, No. 8. pp. 428-430.
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title = "Assessing oxygen requirement after discharge in chronic lung disease: a survey of current practice",
abstract = "In order to survey current management of oxygen in children with chronic lung disease (CLD) of prematurity in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 260 questionnaires asking about criteria that were considered important when removing supplemental oxygen from a child with CLD were sent to consultant paediatricians identified as being likely to be involved in the follow-up of children with CLD. A total of 120 questionnaires were returned from 114 centres. The factors that were considered important when removal of the patient's supplemental oxygen was being considered were: the oxygen saturation level in 100% responders; the respiratory rate in 62%; the heart rate in 37%; the length of time that the child had been in oxygen in 25%; changes on the chest radiograph in 22%; capillary blood gases in 18%, and arterial blood gases in 7%. The specific oxygen saturation level above which it was felt that the patient could stop oxygen therapy ranged from 85% to 98% (mean 93%). The situations which would prevent discontinuation of oxygen were: desaturation while feeding/ sleeping or exercising in 95% responders; failure to gain weight in 78%; presence of pulmonary hypertension in 62%, the parents' opinion or perception of their child's needs for supplemental oxygen in 58%; recent withdrawal of steroid therapy in 52%; a recent infection of the respiratory tract in 42%; history of cyanotic spells in 28%; and the advent of winter in 23%. Conclusion: there is an enormous variety of practice with regard to the management of supplemental oxygen for children with chronic lung disease suggesting an urgent need for research and evidence-based guidelines.",
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journal = "European Journal of Pediatrics",
Solis, A, Harrison, G & Shaw, NJ 2002, 'Assessing oxygen requirement after discharge in chronic lung disease: a survey of current practice', European Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 161, no. 8, pp. 428-430. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-002-0991-z
Assessing oxygen requirement after discharge in chronic lung disease: a survey of current practice. / Solis, A.; Harrison, G.; Shaw, N J.
In: European Journal of Pediatrics, Vol. 161, No. 8, 2002, p. 428-430.
T1 - Assessing oxygen requirement after discharge in chronic lung disease: a survey of current practice
AU - Solis, A.
AU - Harrison, G.
AU - Shaw, N J
N2 - In order to survey current management of oxygen in children with chronic lung disease (CLD) of prematurity in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 260 questionnaires asking about criteria that were considered important when removing supplemental oxygen from a child with CLD were sent to consultant paediatricians identified as being likely to be involved in the follow-up of children with CLD. A total of 120 questionnaires were returned from 114 centres. The factors that were considered important when removal of the patient's supplemental oxygen was being considered were: the oxygen saturation level in 100% responders; the respiratory rate in 62%; the heart rate in 37%; the length of time that the child had been in oxygen in 25%; changes on the chest radiograph in 22%; capillary blood gases in 18%, and arterial blood gases in 7%. The specific oxygen saturation level above which it was felt that the patient could stop oxygen therapy ranged from 85% to 98% (mean 93%). The situations which would prevent discontinuation of oxygen were: desaturation while feeding/ sleeping or exercising in 95% responders; failure to gain weight in 78%; presence of pulmonary hypertension in 62%, the parents' opinion or perception of their child's needs for supplemental oxygen in 58%; recent withdrawal of steroid therapy in 52%; a recent infection of the respiratory tract in 42%; history of cyanotic spells in 28%; and the advent of winter in 23%. Conclusion: there is an enormous variety of practice with regard to the management of supplemental oxygen for children with chronic lung disease suggesting an urgent need for research and evidence-based guidelines.
AB - In order to survey current management of oxygen in children with chronic lung disease (CLD) of prematurity in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 260 questionnaires asking about criteria that were considered important when removing supplemental oxygen from a child with CLD were sent to consultant paediatricians identified as being likely to be involved in the follow-up of children with CLD. A total of 120 questionnaires were returned from 114 centres. The factors that were considered important when removal of the patient's supplemental oxygen was being considered were: the oxygen saturation level in 100% responders; the respiratory rate in 62%; the heart rate in 37%; the length of time that the child had been in oxygen in 25%; changes on the chest radiograph in 22%; capillary blood gases in 18%, and arterial blood gases in 7%. The specific oxygen saturation level above which it was felt that the patient could stop oxygen therapy ranged from 85% to 98% (mean 93%). The situations which would prevent discontinuation of oxygen were: desaturation while feeding/ sleeping or exercising in 95% responders; failure to gain weight in 78%; presence of pulmonary hypertension in 62%, the parents' opinion or perception of their child's needs for supplemental oxygen in 58%; recent withdrawal of steroid therapy in 52%; a recent infection of the respiratory tract in 42%; history of cyanotic spells in 28%; and the advent of winter in 23%. Conclusion: there is an enormous variety of practice with regard to the management of supplemental oxygen for children with chronic lung disease suggesting an urgent need for research and evidence-based guidelines.
JO - European Journal of Pediatrics
JF - European Journal of Pediatrics
Solis A, Harrison G, Shaw NJ. Assessing oxygen requirement after discharge in chronic lung disease: a survey of current practice. European Journal of Pediatrics. 2002;161(8):428-430. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-002-0991-z


text:
Milwaukee School of Engineering | Campus Center Chiller & Cooling Tower Replacement
The Milwaukee School of Engineering was operating on an outdated chiller that was in need of replacement. Dynamic provided a new 600 ton chiller to replace the existing 800 ton chiller as the building has gone through adjustments over time allowing for a smaller chiller. Since the last chiller was installed over twenty (20) years ago, the need to upgrade the mechanical room to comply with the current refrigeration code requirements was necessary. A new ventilation system was provided for conditioning the space and to allow for refrigerant purge of the room should it be required.
The cooling tower on the roof was the same vintage as the chiller and were also in need of replacement. This allowed the new cooling towers to be equipped with variable frequency drives on the fans to save energy compared to the two-speed fans previously in place. The existing steel structure supporting the towers was able to be retrofitted for the new system saving significant first cost on the project. New chilled water and condenser water pumps were provided to address the new flow requirements of the system.
Serves 230,000 SF
Johnson Controls | Mechanical Contractor