text:
Engineers Journal / Biomedical
Did COVID-19 leak from a lab? It's complicated
The virus's origins are still unclear, and credible voices are calling for a serious discussion of a lab leak.
There is no direct evidence to support the theory that SARS-CoV-2, better known to the world as COVID-19, was engineered in a lab. The most likely explanation for its origin continues to be that a bat coronavirus similar to the one that caused the original SARS outbreak of 2002-2003 found its way into humans via an animal intermediary (whether bat, pangolin, or otherwise) in an event known as a 'zoonotic spillover'.
That spillover most probably occurred at a market in the city of Wuhan, China, an environment that presented the virus with ample opportunity to rapidly mutate and spread from one organism to another.
It's also a possibility that COVID-19, whether a bioengineered chimera or not, leaked from a laboratory environment due to some combination of the hubris and carelessness of the researchers who were studying it.
Much of the scientific world has spent the last year playing down the possibility of a lab leak, due to its unfortunate proximity to the xenophobic wailings of political opportunists and conspiracy-loving provocateurs, and in that respect, hesitation to address the prospect head-on has made some sense.
But as the number of credible scientific and political figures highlighting the need to seriously examine the possibility has grown in recent months, it is clear that ignoring the theory would be both intellectually dishonest and ethically irresponsible.
Lab leak likelihood
When you begin looking at the tenebrous forest of information connected to the virus's origins, one thing quickly becomes clear: there is as yet no direct evidence for either a natural spillover event (as investigators have yet to find the animal from which the pathogen jumped to humans) or a lab leak.
That doesn't mean the two possibilities are equally likely. A zoonotic spillover, according to a number of sources, including the World Health Organization (WHO), is the more conceivable of the two scenarios. Horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus sinicus) are known hosts of a family of SARS viruses closely related to SARS-CoV-2, and it's not unheard of for those pathogens to mutate to be able to infect humans.
But the circumstantial evidence surrounding the lab leak hypothesis is more robust than might be immediately obvious, and it's certainly not doing the animal spillover hypothesis any favours.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), one of a handful of coronavirus research centres in the world, happens to be located a dozen kilometres from the market where epidemiologists believe the virus began infecting people. The Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, another facility known to have conducted work on bat coronaviruses, sits within a single kilometre of it. Such proximity would be less notable if it weren't for the fact that, historically, viruses and other pathogens escape labs where they're being studied with unsettling frequency.
In 1972, a strain of smallpox found its way out of two English labs on three separate occasions, infecting 80 people and killing three. After seemingly disappearing in the aftermath of the 1918 pandemic it caused, the H1N1 influenza virus reappeared in Russia in 1977, the result of a lab leak, and continued circulating until as late as 2009. More recently, the original SARS virus escaped virology labs in Taiwan, Singapore, and Beijing on six separate occasions.
Investigations into these leaks showed that they occurred in lab environments whose biosecurity measures were either insufficient or poorly enforced. All the more discomforting, then, is the fact that in 2018, the US Embassy in Beijing sent officials to the WIV several times, reporting back that safety protocols at the research centre were starkly inadequate.
The Washington Post was recently able to obtain the first of two cables sent to Washington detailing these visits. In it, officials explicitly warn that the facility's bat coronaviruses constitute a risk of human transmission and even of a potential pandemic.
The virus in the room
A good deal of the conversation surrounding the origins of the pandemic has to do with what's known as 'gain-of-function' research and the biosecurity levels at which it's carried out.
Organisms in nature have the ability to acquire new functions or features that are the result of natural selective pressures. But scientists can also replicate the process in a lab, creating conditions favourable to the changes they wish to study and better understand. Using technologies like CRISPR, they can even make such changes at the level of an organism's genetic code.
It's just such gain-of-function research that has led to scientists engineering drought-resistant plants. This research could one day help create mosquitoes unable to carry malaria, and other beneficial advances. Viruses are by no means exempt from this kind of research, which usually involves experiments – often carried out specifically in the name of pandemic prevention – to make the virus either more or less transmissible.
The value of experimenting with modified strains of pathogens to make them more virulent has been the subject of pointed debate within the scientific community for years, and answering the question of how much risk is acceptable has never been straightforward. Ralph Baric, a well-known virologist at the University of North Carolina, is among those who believe the research is well worth the risk.
Baric's work with coronaviruses began in the late 1990s and expanded significantly after he witnessed the emergence of SARS in 2002 and MERS in 2012. Gain-of-function research with these viruses, he believed, must become a societal priority. Engineering virus chimeras in the lab meant the possibility of developing an all-purpose vaccine against them, something that could save countless lives in the future.
His work eventually connected him with Shi Zhengli, the top coronavirus researcher at the WIV. Over the course of her career, Shi's work at the institute, which was born out of attempts to find the origins of the virus that caused the 2002 pandemic, revealed numerous virus species in nature that are just a few mutations away from being able to jump to humans. One key virus her lab discovered, SHC014, was found to be a close genetic relative to SARS.
Baric and Zhengli began collaborating with one another after meeting in 2013, with Baric sending genetically modified mice with human lung receptors to Wuhan and Zhengli sharing SHC014's genetic sequencing with researchers at UNC. During this time, however, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had begun scaling back its funding for gain-of-function research both in the US and abroad.
Due to the convincing arguments of researchers like Baric, who defended the need for continuing such work, the NIH decided to fund studies at the WIV; research that, according to the MIT Technology Review, included reverse-engineering coronavirus chimeras of their own.
As investigators have yet to find the host animal that made the COVID-19 jump to humans possible, Zhengli and her lab's work has come under increasing scrutiny. Shi denies the possibility that her lab played any role in the start or spread of SARS-CoV-2 outright, but also admitted in an interview with Scientific American in June 2020 that she initially wondered if the virus could have come from her lab.
In a more recent interview with the New York Times, however, Zhengli stoutly rejected the likelihood of her lab's involvement, saying, "My lab has never conducted or cooperated in conducting gain-of-function experiments that enhance the virulence of viruses".
It's possible that she's telling the truth. Even if her lab did play a role in the virus's emergence, such work may have taken place outside of her direct supervision. Unluckily for Zhengli and her team, at least some of the coronavirus research that did take place at the WIV has since been found to have been conducted at biosafety level 2 (BSL-2), a level that Richard Ebright of Rutgers University recently described to Financial Times as being, "roughly equivalent to a standard dentist office".
This is far below the level of safety needed to work with such viruses, even according to gain-of-function proponents like Baric, who carried out his research at BSL-3 or above. More and more scientists have begun raising their voices about this revelation, calling it scandalous, even if the Wuhan lab had nothing to do with the pandemic.
Zhengli is in the unenviable position of being pressured by international organisations and media outlets to be forthcoming and honest while simultaneously having every word she utters labelled as suspicious. The fact that she has displayed some degree of inconsistency in her remarks about the virus may not be entirely her fault or necessarily suspect. The Chinese government has a tendency to stifle information that doesn't serve it – even if Zhengli did possess knowledge of a leak, she might not be free to speak about it.
Pathogenic politics
The English-language report of the US diplomats' final visit to the WIV in 2018 has since been taken down from the virology institute's website. It's one indication of many that China intends to keep a tight and uniform lid on information connected to the virus from the run-up to the outbreak, an unhelpful trend that doesn't exactly inspire confidence that the government is being candid with what they know (or don't know).
In February, during an official WHO investigation into the virus's origins, Chinese officials turned down requests from WHO members to provide raw data on 174 cases of COVID from the very early stages of the pandemic. Authorities instead provided investigators with comprehensive summaries and aggregate data from their own investigations, saying they found no evidence of the virus in the Wuhan region in the months leading up to its emergence.
Information on these early cases is vital to being able to determine if the Wuhan market was the source of the outbreak or simply a place where it began to proliferate. Compounding matters is the fact that a full year had passed before WHO officials were allowed into the country to begin what was, by all accounts, a closely supervised investigation. Without detailed information on these cases, and with a year of time lost in the interim, assembling a complete picture may not be possible.
Many observers doubt the integrity of the final WHO report that resulted from that visit, including the organisation's director, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who recently said in a press release that, "As far as WHO is concerned, all hypotheses remain on the table."
The furin cleavage site conundrum
The presence of an enzyme that makes COVID-19 particularly good at infecting humans is called the furin cleavage site, and depending on who you ask, it's either evidence for or against a potential lab leak.
"The reason that some say it might be laboratory-derived is because it has this furin cleavage site that is relatively rare in adjacent species of coronaviruses, but does show up in other viruses," says Dr Christopher Mason.
A professor of genomics, physiology, and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, Dr Mason has spent the last year sequencing the virus's RNA profile and learning how the pathogen interacts with the human body on multiple levels.
"The thing that's amazing is that we can see genes for haemoglobin regulation and olfactory reception go down. Olfactory, of course, is your sense of smell. You can see it in the data. We're using more and more assets to give us a really broad view of the host-microbial and immunological state at the site of infection."
The presence of the furin cleavage site and its relative rarity in related coronavirus species has led some to think that it was genetically engineered into existence, something that isn't an extreme consideration, according to Dr Mason.
"It's not impossible for this to occur naturally," he says, "it's just uncommon in this clade of viruses. The other thing is that there was gain-of-function research going on at the Wuhan institute which played with the same cleavage site."
Speaking with Foreign Policy this June, Stephen Goldstein, a postdoctoral research associate in evolutionary virology at the University of Utah, claimed that the cleavage site is an important signal that the virus's origins are natural rather than designed.
"You cannot, in a normal cell culture, maintain the furin cleavage site. It is possible to replicate the virus in a lab while preserving the cleavage site, [but that would] require doing things differently than everyone does them."
Sceptics also point to the fact that, since the pandemic began, Covid has infected hundreds of millions of people and only managed to mutate into a few different versions of itself in that time. Speeding things along in the lab to engineer new strains of a virus during gain-of-function research is certainly possible, they add, but would be unlikely and difficult to conceal if it were being done.
Infect me once, shame on you
Lessons from the pandemic are already shaping the discussions that will form the basis of the future of public health, social responsibility, biomedical research, for example. This is for the better.
'Gain-of-function experiments, when done appropriately, can be very safe and very informative.'
For people like Nicole Hassoun, co-director of Binghamton University's Institute for Justice and Well-Being, the pandemic has clearly highlighted the need for better oversight of pathogenic research.
"Good governance of gain-of-function research is essential and, although a precautionary attitude seems warranted, we should also evaluate risks on a case by case basis if the US plans to fund such research," she explained in an email to Interesting Engineering. "Moreover, international engagement is important to manage risks that may cross international borders. I think it is also worth considering whether international guidelines for engaging in such research should be created."
Dr Mason echoes this case-by-case sentiment, noting that not all viruses are alike.
"Should you synthesise smallpox and study it in a lab? The answer is clearly no. It's not circulating, it's not dangerous. Operating on and modifying that organism is probably not worth the risk. There, you're tinkering with something that you don't really need to defend against, whereas coronaviruses have been and continue to emerge, so there's an ethical argument that doing some research is required, and the question then becomes how much and how do you do it? Gain-of-function experiments, when done appropriately, can be very safe and very informative."
Key technological and medical advances have made the need for risky study of this sort less of a necessity, however. The pandemic overhauled the world's ability to produce vaccines at record speed and scale, and these changes undermine some of the justifications behind conducting gain-of-function studies.
'It's an extraordinarily solvable problem.'
"People have been asking, 'If we can't do it in a way that's perfectly safe, should we just not do it'?" says Dr Mason. "If you'd have asked me two years ago, I would've said yes. Today, I think it might not be worth it. We don't need to have as much of a better understanding of the most aggressive version of a virus and see how it enters into human cells. All of that is because, until about 16 months ago, we had no rapid way to create a global vaccine and deploy it. But now we can do it within weeks – that has fundamentally changed the priorities of research."
Masking the data
By most accounts, keeping an open mind regarding the virus's origins is probably the most reasonable approach to take at this point. Likewise, keeping a healthy and critical attitude regarding the available evidence (and political sensitivities that set the conditions for how that evidence is gathered or accessed) seems to be the better half of wisdom.
To expect greater transparency from Chinese officials and a sober discussion on the realities and ethics of biomedical research is not to automatically claim that the virus came from a lab. Neither is considering the likelihood that the virus came from nature an excuse to ignore the disregard for lab safety protocols sometimes involved in the study of dangerous pathogens.
Whatever happened, it's clear that understanding the origins of the virus could be more straightforward than it has been. Dr Mason sums up the situation well: "We can't know from the data that we have whether [the virus] was from [the WIV] or naturally derived. It can happen in either [situation], but what did happen requires us to get the lab notebooks on the exact experiments that were being run. It would be really easy to solve if we just got some of the samples that were being tested and used in the past two, three years at the institute. It's an extraordinarily solvable problem."
Unfortunately, investigators and researchers have so far been attempting to piece together a puzzle with ill-defined edges whose pieces seem to have been at least partially locked away from view.
"It's really easy to tell [where it came from]," says Dr Mason. "It takes a matter of days and we'd know the answer. All you need are the samples. If we had that, the mystery would be over, but so far, that has not happened."
Due to these blind spots, it's possible we'll never find a definitive answer to the question of how the COVID-19 pandemic originated. However, thanks to the insights already gained from simply trying, it's an encouraging fact that we might not need an answer to stop it from happening again.
In any case, Dr Mason implores people to get vaccinated.
"Many of the vaccines, especially the Moderna and Pfizer ones, are extraordinarily effective. The efficacy is good. It's not as good against the Delta variant, so it's about 70% or 80% versus 95%, but it's still pretty damn effective, frankly, compared to other medicines or vaccines. When else in medicine have you heard someone say, "This is 95% effective." That almost never happens. People have to remember that that's really good."
This article was written by Eric James Beyer and first appeared in Interesting Engineering.
To read the article please log in to your Engineers Ireland account or become a member

Read article later
SDG: Providing technical solutions to complex problems for Ireland's construction sector
Pipelife Ireland wins big at Ireland's annual Plumbing & Heating Awards!
maxon datasheets and why they contain everything you need to know
Workplace & Facilities Expo will be held on September 20-21, 2022, at the RDS, Dublin
Why engineers are choosing micro-credentials to keep pace with industry developments
Grant heat emitter range ensures excellent efficiency and improves sustainability


Sold by the inch! Please insert the number of inches you want in the quantity box.
Circumferential stretch range: 5 1/2" to 16"
Circumferential stretch range: 7 1/2" to 18"
Circumferential stretch range: 9 1/2" to 20"
Half Coated Body Sleeve puts the gel protection only on the side of the body where you need it, allowing the other side to feel less constricted and cooler. It has great fit and flexion. Excellent for use on legs or arms. This product has been used successfully by riders to protect thighs, knees, calves, ankles and to cushion the ball of the foot. It can also be used as a girth or billet/cinch buckle cover. Narrower widths can be used on curb straps, poll straps, cruppers and billets.


At www.howtofixaholeinthewall.com find guidance on popcorn ceiling repairs, to replace torn sheetrock ceiling, expert data on waterproofing wall texture while you browse through appropriate solutions for metal framing issues. Quotes on cheap textured ceiling costs, emergency storm repair for your house or office buildings, as you research house improvement helpful tips on renovating sheetrock. Watch videos and read informative blogs about installing wall texture by neighborhood reputed pro in your town. Homeowners and building maitenance crew can find 10 best companies near you for your homes or commercial jobs. Browse information on nailers & staplers, nails, backer board, trim, compound & structural metal panels. Listing of hose reels, patching compound, insulation, vinyl siding, precision hand tools, nailers, rigid insulation, spackle & wall patching compound at discount prices sold by your local contractor or distributor. Save money while browsing through specials and deals offered by these leading suppliers. www.howtofixaholeinthewall.com is your one stop resource when it comes to tape, sheetrock plaster, masonry products, pressure treated decking boards, wall mud, framing lumber, lath & plaster, rebar & supply. You may even contact our prominent professionals if you have any queries or need installation quotes.
Browse business pages of 24/7 sheetrock companies in temecula, ca for free quotes on repair holes in ceiling wall. Browse through special sale on products for metal framing restoration, knockdown texture repairs, replacing knock down ceiling, stucco maintenance and Drywall Ceiling installation for commercial and residential projects. You may also gaze through blog site to find assistance on wall projects & cleaning mildew, use cost calculator and request job quotes from recognized drywall replacement companies and plastering installers in your area.


Escondido, CA – June 21, 2017 – Castle & Cooke Mortgage, LLC®, one of the nation's leading independent mortgage lenders with locations across the U.S., announced the opening of its Escondido, CA branch (NMLS #309712). The new branch is led by industry veteran and San Diego County local Leslie Thomerson (NMLS #508360), who has 28 years of experience in the mortgage industry and understands the housing needs of Southern California well.
Prior to joining Castle & Cooke Mortgage, Thomerson was a sales manager for both Freedom Mortgage and Stearns Lending. Her extensive background in the mortgage business has prepared Thomerson to lead the Escondido branch with professionalism and skill. She is committed to providing her clients with a smooth and streamlined borrowing experience, adhering to Castle & Cooke Mortgage's standards of clear communication and transparency. Whether assisting a customer through their first home buying experience, or aiding a client through the process of obtaining a VA loan, Thomerson's team is committed to meeting each borrower's unique needs.
Thomerson can be reached at LThomerson@castlecookemortgage.com or at the Castle & Cooke Mortgage Escondido branch, located at 104 West Grand Avenue, A & B, Escondido, CA 92025.


text:
Home Fashion Karl For Ever: celebrities and muses gather in Paris to pay tribute...
Karl For Ever: celebrities and muses gather in Paris to pay tribute to legendary designer, Karl Lagerfeld
When news broke that the late Karl Lagerfeld had passed away aged 85 in February, the fashion industry came to a halt. The former creative director of the houses of Chanel, Fendi and his own eponymous label, German-born Lagerfeld left an imprint on the world that extends beyond his ateliers, his runway shows and the boutiques that house his designs, and is still felt today.
An example for fledgling and well-established designers alike, Lagerfeld's irrevocable mark on the world was memorialised with a special event, Karl For Ever, held in the Grand Palais on June 20, 2019.
As guests filed in—including Anna Wintour, Gigi Hadid, Alber Elbaz, Giambattista Valli, Stella McCartney and Tommy Hilfiger—attendees were greeted with a series of 56 enlarged portraits of Lagerfeld and his beloved cat, Choupette, that adorned the walls of the storied building.
The venue where Lagerfeld staged his Chanel runway shows, the Grand Palais was an apt setting for the occasion, and was covered in three huge screens from which a biopic played. Anna Wintour, Carine Roitfeld and Valentino Garavani made appearances, with each paying their respects to the late designer, whose interviews were also spliced in the video.
Maria Grazia Chiuri of Dior, Nicolas Ghesquière of Louis Vuitton, Simone Port Jacquemus of Jacquemus, Clare Waight Keller of Givenchy and Marine Serre, participated in the video, recalling their memories of Lagerfeld and his formative role in shaping their careers.
Pharrell Williams, Lang Lang, Fanny Ardant, Cara Delevingne, Tilda Swinton and Dame Helen Mirren paid homage to the late Lagerfeld with performances at the affair. Delevingne performed a reading from French author Colette, Mirren recited an extract from Lagerfeld's book, The World According To Karl (2013), and Swinton performed an extract from Virginia Woolf's Orlando (1928), celebrating Lagerfeld through his most favourite authors.
Other performers including jookin dancer Lil Buck, Argentinian choreographer German Cornejo and his tango troupe and violinist Charlie Siem—who played Lagerfeld's mother's favourite composer Niccolò Paganini—also took to the stage.
Models and muses, including Stella Tennant, Carla Bruni Sarkozy, Caroline de Maigret and Claudia Schiffer arrived in archival Chanel, their wares testaments to the designer's everlasting spirit that continues to live on despite his passing.
Notable industry guests included Silvia Venturini Fendi, Kenzō Takada, Jonathan Anderson, Haider Ackermann, Pierpaolo Piccioli and Alessandro Michele, reflecting Lagerfeld's immeasurable influence on designers working today.
Vale Karl Lagerfeld.
Previous articleMeet the woman behind the Scandinavian brand loved by Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid
Next articleIt's Time to Believe: Invest in the Possibility of YOU
7 Wardrobe Essentials to Add to Your Cart Now
3 Fall Outfits Inspired by Rooms in Our Home
6 foods that will boost your energy, according to experts
Amazon Prime Day 2019 was just announced—here's everything you need to know
Hello from Jackson Hole! Here's What I Packed for My Long Weekend Trip
10 expert-backed sex tips to spice up your time indoors—whether you're single or taken
The best street style from Shanghai Fashion Week spring/summer 2020

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Great for kids, these headphones come in a variety of colours and are the perfect size for smaller heads. Adjustable headband and over-ear soft padded cups ensure a perfect fit everytime. They have a built-in volume limiting device meaning the sound will never be too loud no matter what it's plugged into. Using a common 3.5mm jack, these headphones are great for portable music players, gaming devices or just at home on your PC.
What makes Kids headphones different?
There are obvious differences with kids headphones such as shape and size, however the most important feature is volume restriction. Prolonged exposure to high volume levels can adversely affect hearing, especially for young ears. Standard headphones deliver volumes as high as 105db (decibels). All Laser Kids headphones feature a volume limiter up to 85dBs for audio safety.
Normally: $12.09 Normally: $13.90 $9.46 ex. $10.88 inc.


text:
Bradford Teaching Hospitals celebrates Healthcare Science Week
Did you know that it's Healthcare Science Week (HSW)?
Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust (BTHFT) is celebrating the event by highlighting the difference healthcare science staff and the technology they use make to patients' lives.
Pat Campbell, the Trust's Director of HR, said: "Healthcare Science Week is a fantastic opportunity for us to celebrate the brilliant work of all healthcare science staff at Bradford Teaching Hospitals. It is also a great way for us to promote the many career options available at the Trust.
"Our healthcare scientists carry out often unseen but highly specialist work and are a vital part of our dedicated healthcare team."
To mark the week, we've profiled five healthcare science staff who explain in more detail why their roles are vital to the healthcare services we provide.
Cathy Haran, Senior Clinical Technologist
Mum-of-two Cathy, 43, is based in the Medical Physics Department at Bradford Royal Infirmary.
She originally studied for a degree in Biomedical Science before joining BRI in 1998 as a Trainee Clinical Technologist. In 2001, she gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Nuclear Medicine.
Clinical technologists operate complex and specialised medical technology used in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Cathy said: "A lot of people don't really know about us. We essentially inject dyes into patients and then complete scans using a gamma camera. The radioactive dyes give off gamma rays and the cameras detect these rays.
"We look at the anatomy and physiology of patients and provide evidence which can help clinicians diagnose conditions including cancers and heart problems.
"I like doing paediatric work best because I was ill as a child. I find that the most rewarding. We try to make it fun for our young patients so they don't feel scared.
"I remember one patient, a little girl, didn't want to have the test she needed, so I ended up having to hold her next to the camera to get the scan done. I think because I am little they can associate with me! We just try and make it the department a nice environment for patients."
Cathy really enjoys the diversity of her role.
She added: "It's so varied – we work closely with Cardiology because of the heart scans we do, and the breast team too because we identify lymph nodes which they then biopsy. We also work closely with the Pharmacy department and have our own regular radiopharmacy technologist.
"Imaging is like a jigsaw puzzle: x-rays, MRI, CT and nuclear medicine all provide different information that clinicians can put together to form a bigger picture."
To increase her knowledge, Cathy recently began studying clinical physics.
"It's quite nice because my children are a bit older now so I can work longer hours and study more. I'd like to learn more about clinical physics, which is a lot more about old-fashioned physics and sciences.
"But I will definitely stay with the department in the future. The team are all really good and we are all great friends."
Mohsin Patel, Biomedical Scientist, Histology
Mohsin, 25, has been with the Trust for a year after studying Biomedical Science at the University of Bradford and working as a medical lab assistant at St James's Hospital in Leeds.
He said: "I did my degree in Biomedical Science because I wanted to do something medical and help people.
"Histology can be life-saving work but it goes under the radar. Here at Bradford we analyse about 26,000 samples a year.
"In terms of the science we need to know about staining, anti-body matching, chemistry and biology."
Mohsin prepares tissue samples for clinicians using a raft of technology and his advanced knowledge of healthcare science.
He is now putting together a specialist portfolio which will allow him to perform a senior role within the department.
"I really like the job but it's a very competitive area and you need to work hard to get into it," he added. "But the job has opened my eyes to a whole new world that I didn't know existed."
Jonathan France, Senior Clinical Photographer
Jonathan, 43, started working at Bradford Teaching Hospitals in November 2015, after originally joining the NHS in Slough, Berkshire in 2004 as a trainee clinical photographer.
He particularly enjoys the high-tech nature of his job.
He said: "I saw the opportunity for promotion at Bradford and the job sounded really interesting. It's definitely proven to be that!
"At Bradford we work in operating theatres, on wards and in a whole range of departments including dermatology, maxillofacial, plastics, and ophthalmics.
"Although you need a degree to get a trainee clinical photographer position, there's still a lot of training on the job too. And the role is now very high-tech, and has become increasingly so over the past five years.
"Some of the photographs we take at Bradford go straight onto the hospital servers and are seen almost immediately by a clinician. Years ago it could take a couple of weeks for the photographs to be developed and sent to the correct person. Sometimes the film would not come out properly and you'd have to ask the patient to come back again. Now, there's no excuse!"
Jonathan added: "In short, we provide evidence to help clinicians diagnose conditions and help support good patient experience. It's a satisfying – but busy – job. You have to be prepared to move with the times and keep up-to-date with the latest technology and science.
"I like working with people, and I like the technical aspects of the job. For example, ICG (indocyanine green) photography and other ophthalmic imaging is technically challenging but diagnostically invaluable to ophthalmologists.
"I gained a gold award a couple of years ago from the Institute of Medical Illustrators with an image of a fluorescein angiography of the right iris rubeosis.
"I'd recommend the job to anyone. Working in Bradford has given me the opportunity to be part of a nationally-recognised department and get involved in award-winning research work too."
Lindsay Campbell, Audiologist
Lindsay, 34, joined Bradford Teaching Hospitals in 2008 as a newly-qualified Audiologist after studying for a BSc in Audiology at the University of Leeds.
While at university she spent a year on placement at the Trust, and was successful in getting a trainee position with us after graduating.
She said: "We are not that well-known but Audiology is a really good mix of healthcare and science. In the Audiology degree we learn aspects of physics and biology as we are talking about the anatomy of hearing and sound waves. We are also part of a multi-disciplinary team and work with doctors, nurses and assistant audiologists.
"I wanted a career in healthcare but was a bit squeamish for other fields and felt Audiology was a good balance of patient contact and science. From a scientific point of view the technology we use with hearing aids is very advanced and progressing very quickly. Smart hearing aid technology is not that far away!"
When she first joined the Trust, Lindsay performed mainly hearing aid work – assessing for, fitting and fine-tuning them. An opportunity to specialise then came up and she studied for a Masters degree module in balance assessment and rehabilitation. Her time is now split 50:50 between hearing aid and balance work.
"It's really enjoyable and rewarding. People can really struggle with hearing loss and it can be quite isolating. Fitting a hearing aid can make a huge difference to them. The patients are all different so they bring a different dimension to the job.
"We perform assessments and also complete a 12-week rehabilitation programme with patients who have balance disorders. We give them progressively harder exercises to help improve their symptoms and lifestyle.
"Balance disorders can affect any age and we work with older children and teenagers all the way to the very elderly.
"I'd recommend the job to anyone – there are quite a lot of areas you can go into once you have qualified."
Anne Gledhill, Biomedical Support Worker, Histology
Anne, 31, uses her knowledge of chemistry and biology to prepare and analyse body tissue to help doctors make a correct diagnosis.
She already has a degree in Marine Biology but is now studying for a second degree in Healthcare Science at the University of Bradford courtesy of the Trust, in a bid to qualify as a Biomedical Scientist.
She said: "Before coming to Bradford I had worked in another laboratory before. But I wanted to move to a NHS lab because people said that there was more job stability and more of a team mentality. They were right!
"I thought I would stay as a Biomedical Support Worker but when I got here they said I should go for it and study to become a Biomedical Scientist.
"The course I am on is actually an apprenticeship and I am studying for a BSc in Healthcare Science alongside my job. We are released one day a week to study at Bradford University.
"I think the job itself is really interesting and I can really see the benefits of what we do. We are helping a lot of people. Everyone knows someone who has had to send something off. It's a very busy department and quite hard work but we all pull together.
"I need to know quite a lot of chemistry, anatomy and cellular science. But the doctors also help you and will take time to explain things to you.
For more information on the healthcare science roles available in the NHS, please see: https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/healthcare-science
For information on specific roles at Bradford Teaching Hospitals, please see: https://www.bradfordhospitals.nhs.uk/our-people/join-our-team/


Reese Witherspoon has split from her husband Ryan Phillippe, according to a statement.
After a year of speculation and denials from Reese that her seven-year marriage was on the rocks, it's believed the Oscar-winning actress has approached divorce lawyer Robert Kaufman.
Mr Kaufman has previously worked for both Jennifer Aniston and Lisa-Marie Presley.
Back in November 2005, it was revealed that Reese, 30, and Ryan, 32, were having counselling.
However, Reese said: "What marriage isn't a journey? Nobody's perfect."
But in May 2006 she said: "Ryan and I have a great marriage. I see him as not only my husband but my best friend."
However, it appears that their problems have not gone away.
A statement released on the couple's behalf said: "We are saddened to announce that Reese and Ryan have decided to formally separate.
"They remain committed to their family and we ask that you respect their privacy and the safety of their children."
Reese and Ryan met at her 21st birthday party in 1997 and co-starred in the movie Cruel Intentions two years later.
They have two children, Ava, seven, and Deacon, three.


text:
SC Senate Legislative Update March 20 - 24, 2017
This Week in South Carolina | SC's District Seven Primary Race
2021 Session of S.C. General Assembly Begins Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
SC Inmates handcraft items for nursing home residents during COVID-19
The Senate Finance Committee continued its work this week on the state budget with the goal of advancing it to the floor for full Senate debate. Areas of interest in the approximately $8 billion budget includes K-12 education funding, higher education funding, improving the health of the state's pension system and cleanup costs for Hurricane Matthew. The Finance Committee is scheduled to resume deliberations on Tuesday.
The infrastructure funding package, H. 3516, also remains on the Senate's contested calendar, but some movement on it is expected next week.
Bills approved by the Senate this week include:
S. 114 - Senators Bennett and Senn: Allows for donations of alcoholic beverages to nonprofits for specially licensed events, as long as the beverages are sold and delivered through wholesalers.
S. 115 - Senators Rankin and Hutto: Establishes a new program to train persons who serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption.
S. 116 - Senators Rankin and Malloy: Requires that a person permitted or licensed to sell alcohol for on-premises consumption maintain liability insurance with coverage of at least $1 million during the period of the permit or license.
S. 173 - Senators Sheheen and Turner: Requires certain law enforcement officers to receive training in mental health and addictive disorder crisis intervention during their recertification.
S. 359 - Senator Cromer: Gives the responsibility for keeping records related to investigations of possible unfair trade practices of motor fuel retailers solely to the Attorney General's office by no longer requiring the Department of Consumer Affairs to do so.
S. 404 - Senators Campbell, Gregory, Reese and Williams: Allows agribusiness operations or packaging operations to claim an income tax credit after meeting certain qualifications.
S. 428 - Senator Reese: Clarifies the tax apportionment formula used in the state in regards to broadcast satellite providers and separately clarifies that an existing tax credit for utilities is an annual credit calculation and not a lifetime credit.
S. 325 - Senator Sheheen: Transfers the Client Assistance Program from the Department of Administration to Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc., a statewide nonprofit organization. This is a result of restructuring from 2014.
S. 354 - Senators Alexander and Verdin: Amends the State Certification of Need and Health Facility Licensure Act by creating a new category of facility for crisis stabilization units operated or authorized by the Department of Mental Health.
S. 275 - Senator Bennett: Authorizes brewpubs to become breweries with attached restaurants, and would allow breweries with attached restaurants to sell beer, wine, and liquor by the drink for on-premises consumption.
S. 201 - Senators McElveen, Campbell, McLeod, Talley and Gregory: Changes the validity of a driver's license from ten years to eight years to comply with the requirements of the federal REAL ID Act of 2005.
H. 3358 - Authorizes the DMV to issue driver's licenses and identification cards that are in compliance with the REAL ID Act to qualifying citizens.
The following bills were read the second time:
S. 261 - Senator Alexander: Provides owners of qualified commercial properties with a financing tool for the purchase and installation of energy and water efficiency improvements to their buildings.
S. 9 - Senator Hutto: Removes an exclusion for injuries related to intoxication or narcotic use that health insurers have been permitted to include in individual health and accident insurance policies. These change would only apply to policies issued or renewed after December 31, 2017.
S. 271 - Senator Allen: Establishes a procedure to allow an inmate confined in a Department of Corrections facility and determined not to be a security risk to attend funeral services of certain individuals.
S. 444 - Senator Grooms: Changes "automotive three-wheel vehicle" to "autocycle" and provides for the definition and to update references in state law.
H. 3438 - Establishes a protocol to authorize pharmacists to substitute interchangeable biological products that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Look ahead to next week and beyond:
H. 3516, aimed at addressing infrastructure needs in the state, is expected to receive significant attention in the coming weeks. The bill increases the motor fuel user few two cents per year over six years. When fully implemented, it's estimated to generate about $792 million. Discussions of the state budget will also dominate much of the work of the Senate as the end of session approaches.
Also, the General Assembly's crossover deadline, which is the last day for a bill to pass out of one chamber and then receive consideration from the other, occurs April 10.
Compiled by South Carolina Senate Pro Tempore Communications Director Michael Ulmer.


text:
Крис або кери́с — національний кинджал з характерною асиметричною формою леза. З'явився на острові Ява, розповсюджений по усій Індонезії, на Філіппінах та Малайзії. Етимологія пов'язана з давньояванським словом ngeris, «нгеріс», що означає «колоти», «пронизувати».

Матеріальне значення

У певній містичній — це частина чоловіка, його душі.
Це певна ознака статусу чоловіка, бо ж кожен дорослий має принаймні три кинджали — свій, подарований дружиною, та той, що перейшов йому від батька.

Крис — це також і легендарна ритуальна зброя, деякі кинджали мають свої історії.
Цим ножам присвячена спеціальна наука — крисологія, що вивчає генезис крисів, їх культурну та соціальну роль, а також технологію та особливості їх виготовлення.

Це кинджал, що має хвилясте лезо, кількість хвиль завжди непарна, і він виготовляється з так званої сталі «памор», що дуже схожа на дамаську сталь. Малюнок сталі може бути різним, та проявляється завдяки обробці у миш'яку та соку лайма.

Найбільше цінували криси, де виходив малюнок людини, трохи менш цінними вважались ті, на малюнку яких можна було вгледіти силуети тварин чи зірки. Якщо ж малюнок сталі створювався ковалем, то він міг бути будь-яким, а після приходу на ці землі ісламу на лезі нерідко можна було побачити висловлювання з Корану.

Руків'я криса має так звану пістолетну форму, а для більшої зручності використання біля гарди є два поглиблення для пальців.
Конструктивно крис скоріш призначений для уколу, але завдяки формі, схожій на ятаган, ним чудово можна різати чи рубати, до того ж рани не зможуть швидко загоїтися.

У деяких регіонах виготовлялись спеціальні криси, що використовувались для страт. Але це був скоріш виняток з правил.
Руків'я найчастіше виготовлялось з дерева, але зустрічались і зразки з металу. Часто на руків'ї вирізають фігуру чи обличчя демонів, ракшасів, тварин, богів, але можна зустріти й прості орнаменти.

Сакральне значення

Крис, без сумніву, один з найзначущих предметів Індонезії. В залежності від фігури на руків'ї, наприклад, чи від візерунку на лезі, крис міг чи то захищати власника від злих духів, чи слідкувати за його здоров'ям, чи взагалі приманювати багатство.

Важливо було також, щоб символіка крису підходила власнику. Інакше замість щастя такий ніж міг принести біду. Така ж сама ситуація могла виникнути, якщо крис, схований під подушку, навіював погані сни. В такому
випадку ніж треба було терміново змінювати.

Про криси є безліч легенд. Ходять розповіді про ножі, котрі самі по собі літали та шукали жертви.
Є легенди про те, що ніж, підвішений біля входу в хату, захищає своїх хазяїв.
Також, вважається, що крисом не можна показувати на людину, бо це принесе їй біду, а то й смерть.

Окрема легенда розповідає про міфічний крис, котрий був виготовлений з заліза різних регіонів, і сам по собі літав у пошуках жертви. Коли ж його спробували знищити, він перетворився на метеорит, й улетів в космос, причому, за легендою, він кожні 400 років має повертатись на Землю та призводити до бід.

Легенди та міфи є про різні види зброї. Але слід відзначити, що саме крис можна назвати одним з найовіяніших легендами кинджалів. Саме крис має одну з найнетиповіших форм леза. І саме крис має таке
значне сакральне значення для народу, що ним користується.

Мало де ніж має настільки значний вплив на культуру, як крис в Індонезії, Малайзії та країнах, що розташовані поруч. Мабуть, цей вплив більший, аніж у країнах Кавказу.

Див. також
 Ритуальна зброя
 Крисологія
 Фламберг
 Кинджал

Посилання
 Paul's Keris Page
 Спящий в ножнах
 Крис — Символ Индонезии
 The Keris
 Koleksi Keris

Клинкова зброя

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
« Life Insurance Myths You Need To Stop Believing
Infographic – Biotech Index Zooms to New High »
Ingested X-Ray Capsule Shown Safe, Feasible
By Alan, on December 30th, 2019
C-Scan capsule (Check-Cap Ltd.)
30 Dec. 2019. Results from a small-scale clinical trial show an ingested capsule to diagnose potential colon tumors is safe and feasible for most patients. Findings from the first pilot study of the technology in the U.S. were reported today by the capsule's developer Check-Cap Ltd. in Isfiya, Israel.
Check-Cap is the creator of the C-Scan system with an ingestible capsule that captures images from inside the colon to find precancerous polyps, candidates for becoming full-fledged cancerous tumors. The company says its system is an alternative to conventional colonoscopies that require extensive preparation to empty the colon, sedation of many patients, and an invasive endoscope. And the Check-Cap system does not ask individuals to collect or ship stool samples, as required by some screening technologies.
Because of these obstacles and limitations, says the company, one-third of Americans and up to 60 percent of adults age 50 to 75 outside the U.S. avoid colon cancer screenings. Yet, colorectal cancer is preventable and treatable with early detection, notes Check-Cap. Today, 1.4 million cases of the disease worldwide are diagnosed each year, leading to 700,000 deaths, including 49,000 in the U.S.
The C-Scan system asks individuals to swallow a capsule with an imaging-contrast agent. The capsule contains a tiny device emitting X-rays and a radio-frequency transmitter. As the capsule travels through the colon, says Check-Cap, the device sends out small amounts of X-rays, since it only needs to capture data from very close to the capsule. X-rays are emitted from the capsule only when it's moving, not when stationary.
Data from the capsule are then captured by collection units worn on the individual's torso that track the capsule's position until it's naturally excreted after two or three days. Data from the collection units are then downloaded to the physician's workstation. At the workstation, C-Scan system software creates two- and three-dimensional images of the colon from the data. The images highlight suspected polyps on the colon's interior surface, and with algorithms recreate different 3-D views of the colon's surface, including a simulated endoscope view, like that from a colonoscopy.
The clinical trial is a pilot test of the C-Scan system in the U.S., looking primarily at its safety and compliance by patients; the technology is already tested and cleared for use in Europe. The study team at New York University and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota enrolled 45 healthy adults age 40 to 80 to test the system, but also to undergo a colonoscopy to verify the results.
Of the 45 participants, 40 individuals took the C-Scan capsule and completed a questionnaire at the end of the study. Of these 40 individuals, 12 participants were not considered evaluable by the study team, "after factoring in technical and physiological dropouts and protocol violations." The disqualifying factors were not disclosed.
None of the remaining 28 individuals reported any more than mild adverse reactions to the ingested capsule, and participants reported higher satisfaction with the C-Scan system than a colonoscopy. The detection rate of precancerous polyps by the capsules with this sample, says Check-Cap, was consistent with results of the colonoscopies, and similar to findings from earlier studies of the technology in Europe.
"The results of the study are promising, both in terms of safety and patient compliance of the procedure," says Seth Gross, principal investigator of the study and gastroenterologist at NYU medical school, in a company statement. Gross is also a scientific adviser to Check-Cap. Alex Ovadia, CEO of Check-Cap adds, "Completing our first study in the U.S. constitutes an important milestone for our company as we work towards the initiation of a U.S. pivotal study in late 2020."
Device Offers Real-Time Monitoring of Swallowing Problems
A.I. Harnessed to Detect Cancer Cells
Once-a-Month Contraceptive Pill Demonstrated
Wearable Sensor Analyzes Sweat, Measures Chemicals
Implanted Overdose Rescue Device Being Developed
New products biomedical, cancer, clinical trials, engineering, Israel, life sciences, mathematics, medical device, physical sciences, software


Educate Tomorrow's Parents directly serves young adults (ages 13 to 21), their parents, educators, and community professionals through educational programs delivered by ETP educators in Southern California and the Triangle area of North Carolina.
Educate Tomorrow's Parents also serves the national and international community of educators, caregivers, mentors and social welfare professionals working with young adults through dissemination of curriculum and instructional materials, and guest speaking services.
Please click the links below to learn about our programs that meet your specific needs.


text:
is a Japanese professional golfer.

Career
Oda was born in Tagawa, Fukuoka. He turned professional in 2000.

Oda won the 2008 Casio World Open and the 2009 Token Homemate Cup. He competed in the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry, but failed to make the cut, finishing day two at 14 over par. He retained the Casio World Open in 2009 and the Token Homemate Cup in 2010. In 2011, he won the Diamond Cup Golf for his fifth Japan Golf Tour win. In September 2013, Oda won the ANA Open, the victory was his sixth on the Japan Golf Tour. In May 2014, Oda won the Kansai Open Golf Championship for his seventh Japan Golf Tour win. He would follow with his eighth victory on tour later that year in October, when he won the Bridgestone Open.

Professional wins (8)

Japan Golf Tour wins (8)

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (2–1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships
Results not in chronological order before 2015.

"T" = Tied

Team appearances
Royal Trophy (representing Asia): 2010
EurAsia Cup (representing Asia): 2014

References

External links

Japanese male golfers
Japan Golf Tour golfers
Sportspeople from Fukuoka Prefecture
People from Tagawa, Fukuoka
1978 births
Living people


Our discreet, experienced and friendly Burn Naze based private investigators are on hand to listen and give advice. No upfront cost, no commitment to go ahead.
Our team of male and female private investigators are local to Burn Naze, all are highly trained and experienced.
Being a private in Burn Naze is all about collecting information and facts. To be able to collect facts about Burn Naze first you need to know Burn Naze inside and out.
Within these second times, men and women once in awhile wanted solutions of a detective that is private British is not any exemption, without a doubt. Lancashire state, featuring its people of over 1,1 million somebody, residing a lot of areas and villages that are numerous supplies the personal investigators in Lancashire an abundance of strive to perform. Very normally, there are various other bureaus which promote favour of a investigator that is private Lancashire, but the treatments is made by way in front of the remainder of the field.
Twenty-five many years of odd experiences talk on their own, are not they? Furthermore, all of our expert employees of personal detectives in Lancashire can offer a fulfilment rate that is really surprising. The newest personal research Lancashire teams done incorporated criminal record checks; locating people, from delivery mothers, forgotten family relations and runaway teens to debtors and witnesses to criminal activities; probing into marital fidelity of partners; look for undetectable possessions; keeping track of workers' pc occasion and emails, and others that are many.
By phone and explain your hurdle if you faced a demanding case and stand is in desperate need of a private detective in Lancashire, get in touch with us. The officials, with many just who worked in authorities or unique power, comes your relief your Burn Naze with they within the many way that is optimal complimentary guidance appear as an added bonus!) It is possible when you hire our specialists, could be perfectly sure that your surveillance would be absolutely satisfied, as immediately and completely as.


text:
I was given up for adoption at birth and always wondered about my origins. When I hired a private detective to locate my biological family, I ended up discovering more than I was looking for
By Jessica Rose | November 27, 2017
I decided to search for my biological family on September 22, 2014, sitting at the top of a double-decker bus, stuck in traffic in Shoreditch, late for work at the Sunday Times Magazine in London. I'd just turned 36, and it occurred to me that my biological grandparents—their existence at that moment distant, hypothetical and abstract—were also getting older. If they were alive, I had to find them now or face the consequences of never. I immediately consulted Google, searching, "Adopted Ontario Canada Find Biological Family." I clicked on a few of the results: an adoptee who found her family in a cemetery and now fills her own void by helping other adoptees search (dreadful), a support group for searching adoptees (still dreadful) and a retired police detective in Ontario with a track record of finding birth parents (significantly less dreadful). By the time I crossed London Bridge, even later for work, I had emailed the private detective.
I had lunch with a journalist at the magazine at Elliot's in Borough Market, who was clearly horrified by my decision to search. "You just opened Pandora's box." He was right. I had tried and failed to search before. If I was fortunate enough to find my birth family this time or at all, I had no idea who—or what—I would be inviting into my life.
To search or not to search was a choice my parents prepared me for. It was a decision I could make when I turned 18. Whenever I tell people I am adopted, the response generally goes something like: "I didn't know you were adopted!?" It's a statement and a question. They're asking, are you all right with this? (Yes.) Why did your parents give you away? (Teenage pregnancy.) Will you search for them? (Yes.) Some adoptees, like my brother, have no desire to seek out their birth families. But I always knew I would.
Despite my parents' best intentions, the reality of a closed adoption meant that even when I turned 18, the ability to find out where I came from was way beyond my control—highly unlikely at best and impossible at worst. In accordance with Ontario laws, the identities of my biological parents were never disclosed. The information at my disposal was limited to a file the Toronto Children's Aid Society handed over to my parents when they handed me over, a few typed pages my father kept in a file folder in the bottom drawer of his oak desk. I was from a small town in Ontario, I was half-Italian, and my name at birth was Martina. That's all I got. My birth records were permanently sealed, the identity of my birth mother blacked out with an unforgiving marker, the identity of my birth father left off the form. The law upheld the idea that my biological mother's right to privacy was more important than my right to know where I came from.
The author in London in 2017. Photograph by Hana Knizova
When I was born in 1978, I was taken from my mother within hours of my birth. A temporary ward of the state, I was held in foster care for a cooling-off stage of a couple of months, during which time both my biological and adoptive parents could change their minds. Then an adoption order was issued, the birth records permanently sealed, and I was legally adopted. My parents, who were unable to have biological children, had been on a waiting list for over seven years. They did not change their minds.
For my birth parents, sealed adoption records were the point of no return. To relinquish me was to relinquish being identified, and to relinquish our identities in relation to each other. For my parents—my real parents—the past was sealed literally and symbolically to bring me into the family. A new birth certificate was substituted: I was renamed and reborn. A sealed birth record was meant to protect me, preventing any additional confusion about where I belonged. It was a paradox: how can you black out where you come from?
I grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, the daughter of two Jewish intellectuals—my dad a child psychologist, my mom a social worker. True to form, they always encouraged me to ask questions. "Why don't I look like you? Why didn't my parents want me? Are you my real dad? Can I look for my biological family? Am I really Jewish?" My parents told me it did not matter that I arrived in a different way than children born naturally into their families. I was loved as much ("but not more," my dad would say) as if I was their biological child. I came in the back seat of a blue Punch Buggy, my brother in a maroon Dodge station wagon. My dad loved to tell me how he counted my toes, right then and there on the driveway: "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and oh! Where did 10 go?!" he'd joke. "Dad!" I would scream. "I have 10 toes! Look! Look! Look at my toes!"
"Sweetie, even if you came with a missing toe, it would make no difference to me. Counting them meant you were really here."
I was curious about my biological family, who seemed real and vague, as if living in a parallel universe. But I embraced my difference. Different meant special. As I got older, I became aware that different can also mean something is wrong. The beginning of me was murky territory. Any attempt to pinpoint the source of my difference came up blank. Origins? Blank. My beginning? Again, blank. I arrived on my parents' driveway from blank, blank and blank. Waves of suffocating self-doubt and uncertainty kept me up at night.
As a child, Jessica vacationed with her family in Prince Edward Island
When I was 23, I acted in a play at the Tarragon Theatre, where my character had to face the truth about her adoption. For research, I devoured books on the subject and encountered what people other than my parents think: that a child separated at birth from her mother is "primally wounded," that adoption is a childhood trauma. Taking method acting to the next level, I applied to the Toronto Children's Aid Society, the agency that facilitated my adoption, to obtain non-identifying information about my birth family. More than a year later, long after the play was over, they called me in for an appointment. In a badly lit room, I sat across from a well-dressed volunteer. She held a 15-page report labelled "Your Birth History," compiled from my sealed records and information my biological mother provided in interviews before the adoption. Complying with the laws on disclosure, the volunteer had edited out information that could potentially reveal the identity of my biological relations. She said I was lucky. My birth mother had been forthcoming.
I was bewildered. Random Volunteer held the truth about my origins. She knew the identity of my biological mother and father. She knew more about myself than I did. In the report, I learned that some of my maternal relations have blue eyes (mine are brown). My maternal uncles are colour-blind (I am not). My paternal grandmother is Italian and glamorous (great, when can I meet her?). My biological father's name is Tony (so he could be anyone). His younger brother died in a boat accident before I was born (such excruciating information). The volunteer hoped the report would help me understand my identity. I also learned there is a room in the Children's Aid Society full of safety deposit boxes. A CAS officer showed me mine. Left behind, like a thread tying me to my birth mother, was evidence of my origins: a typewritten letter from a social worker who expressed compassion for my birth mother's decision, and a yearbook photograph, neatly cut to size, of my biological mother, a teenage girl I nearly recognized.
For the next phase of the official search, I applied to add my name to the Adoption Disclosure Registry, a provincial register for adoptees and birth relatives seeking contact. I was told there was, on average, a two-year queue for a "passive search": the counsellor appointed to my case would check if a birth relative was registered. (No one was searching for me.) The counsellor would then start an "active search" to obtain consent from my biological mother to disclose her identity. If the counsellor located her, she would mediate contact between us and, if all went well, facilitate a reunion. Within six months, I received the call: "We found her!"
Through the counsellor, my birth mother and I agreed to exchange letters within two weeks—the get-to-know-each-other stage before either of us could consent to be identified. I went first. I did not know what to say (truly a rare occasion). I was studying at OCAD at the time, so I sent my biological mother a handmade book about two ships harboured on distant shores, separated by a large expanse of ocean. The ships set sail, nearly cross course, and miss each other. Finally they meet, only to realize the sea connected them all along. After a year of waiting for a response that never arrived, I met with the counsellor. "Did I do it wrong? Was my book stupid?" I asked. She suggested I try again, this time by filling out a provided form. Months passed. Did I do it wrong again? Did my form letter have too many spelling mistakes?
In 2005, I received a letter from the Ministry of Community and Social Services. The department was being restructured, and all searches were suspended indefinitely, including mine. The only channel of communication between me and my birth mother was closed, putting an end to any hope that she would one day get back to me. Soon after, I learned why: a new law was passed to disclose information and records to adoptees and birth parents. My birth records would be unsealed. When the law took effect in 2007, I was afraid it would be overturned, so I applied immediately. Three years later, my original birth certificate arrived in the mail. I was 32 years old and finally had the information I needed to search for my family of origin: my biological mother's name and place of birth. I stuck my birth certificate on the fridge and left it there.
It took four years, a move across the world and an epiphany on a double-decker bus to act. By definition, a search means something is missing. I suspected my missing blank was an essential blank. I sensed I had never been further from the blank place called home and from the blank people to whom I was inherently connected. I was a missing person. Less than 24 hours after hiring the private detective in Ontario, I woke up to an email. He'd located my maternal relatives. He sent a report, along with links to some Facebook profiles. I logged on and, for the first time, I encountered my birth family.
Initially, I only wanted to see what my biological relatives looked like. From the detective's report and what I pieced together on Facebook, I learned I had five maternal siblings. I had two uncles and four cousins. And I had two living grandparents. For days, I was in a state of shock. Glued to my computer, I clicked back and forth between pictures. Like tracing a personal history that never was, connecting a cousin to an uncle to a sibling to a grandparent, I was looking at a gallery of artifacts from the parallel universe of my origins.
Knowledge of my family—and creeping them on Facebook—was not enough. As far as I could tell, my sister Krista was an architect living in Toronto. We had friends in common. I spent 15 minutes trolling her timeline, pieced together that she had worked at a friend of a friend's firm and procured her email address.
One of the great revelations of Jessica's search was the discovery of her biological sister, Krista, who is an architect in Toronto. Krista is shown here at age 10 in North Bay, with her grandfather Larry
To contact or not to contact my sister? I was afraid of disrupting her life. She was a stranger who could be hurt by what I suspected was a 36-year family secret. I googled "How To Write A Letter To A Separated-At-Birth Sister." The last time I'd written to a biological relation wasn't exactly fruitful.
I sent the email, and Krista responded within 20 minutes. She later told me she'd fallen off her chair at work when she received my note. From that moment, my life changed. It was as if the years and years of unknowing were set right. The cycle of separation was broken. The blip or fracture or mistake that separated us stood corrected, mended, rectified by the act of our reunion. No one, no circumstance, no law, no black Sharpie and no decision made by a teenage girl could change this irrevocable fact: I had a sister. I found for the first time something that was certain.
Krista is my older sister by two years and two months. I was teen pregnancy number two. I had been told that I was adopted because my biological mother was a teenager who wasn't ready or able to be a parent. A pertinent fact was omitted from my file: by the way, she kept the first one. When I found out that Krista and I have different fathers, I was disappointed—I wanted to answer the Who's My Daddy question. I also discovered that before my email, Krista had no idea I existed. We suspected the rest of the family was equally oblivious. I was my biological mother's secret.
Krista and I began corresponding non-stop over email. We had 36 years to catch up on. We compared our characteristics and looked for connections. We're both athletic. We both wear glasses. We both had nose piercings in the '90s. And we both love to talk. We traced our geographies and looked for points of intersection. Krista was raised in part by our grandparents in North Bay. After my parents divorced, I was raised by my dad in north Toronto. Krista moved to the Northwest Territories in high school. When I was in high school, I moved to Western Canada. We shared our journeys and significant moments to see if the plots of our lives overlapped. We eventually ended up on the same path and in the same place: Toronto. Between 2009 and 2010, we lived less than half a kilometre from each other in Parkdale. We both took the streetcar to work from west to east, our offices blocks apart. How many times did we sit across from each other on the TTC?
Once, Krista sent me an email: "What if we shared a lover?" (We did not.) We spent our 20s at almost the same places at nearly the same times, hanging out with some of the same people, always missing each other. One year, at a Halloween party in the building I lived in, a woman rocked up wearing an outrageous cocktail dress constructed from magazine pages. It was my sister.
We tried to sort out the mysteries to make sense of our separated paths. We imagined an alternate reality where I was not adopted and Krista was. Would we have found each other? Then there's the one where we were not separated, where we grew up together. Such painful speculation. It was as if I had been standing at a threshold—she was there, right in front of me all along, on the other side of what was possible. I was hit by a delayed grief. In finding Krista, I had to wrap my head around her being missing from most of my life. I mourned the loss like someone had died.
My father was elated that I'd found my sister. "Mazel tov!" he said. "Potential disaster averted!" He told me that I had always been a certain way: distant, floating, lost in space. He hoped finding Krista would change things for me. "There are people we carry around with us in our hearts, no matter what. Now you carry your sister with you, and she carries you. She was always there and now you know. This brings you back down to earth. With the rest of us."
Seven months after we started corresponding, Krista and I finally met in person at the Dean Hotel in Dublin in the spring of 2015. I saw her through the Georgian windows—petite, pregnant and in heels. When she sat down in front of me, I could not believe it. Krista and I don't look alike, exactly. But if you had joined us that day, it would have been hard to tell us apart: the sound of our voices (nearly identical), our dispositions (strangely similar), our mannerisms (often overlapping) and the conclusions we arrive at (always out loud and almost always in tandem). For the next five days, it was like we'd never been separated.
Krista let me know our biological mother was planning a pilgrimage to the U.K. on a reiki retreat. I cut and pasted the email I'd previously delivered to Krista with so much care and sent it to my birth mother. This time she wrote back about the universe lining things up for us to meet.
Meeting my biological mother was the beginning of the enormity of it all, of coming face to face with what it means to be adopted. It is impossible to confront the separation from my origins without tackling the mother-daughter relationship. Would the sacred bond withstand everything? The void of time, the uncertainty, the weight of secrecy? The taboo of giving away your own child? The grief that can't be spoken, or acknowledged or mourned? Can it withstand such extreme severing? Or does it just break? Like skin breaks when we cut it, even if we tried to avoid that sharp edge, like glass breaks when it slips out of our hands, making unfortunate contact with gravity and cement, like hearts shatter when someone we love leaves us, even if we saw it coming.
My birth mother, who I'm calling Bio Mom for the sake of privacy, met me in front of Hackney Central station in May 2015. It was raining, of course—this was London. I waved from across the street as cars passed between us. I stared, waiting for the light to turn, waiting for it to register: the stranger standing at the lights 15 feet away gave birth to me. We don't look alike, but I had hoped I'd somehow recognize her as my blood. I was struck by the foreign and familiar sound of her voice. It was high-pitched, melodic, childlike and disarmingly sweet. Did I sound like that too?
The weekend hosting Bio Mom was pleasant enough. We sat around the kitchen table and talked—rather, she talked. Bio Mom said she was happy I found her. She told me she has five other children with different partners. She never wanted to marry; she is too independent for a husband. She worked in finance doing something that involved accounting, or insurance, or both. Her true vocation is as a reiki practitioner and a healer.
She walked me through the family tree, starting with the great-grandparents on her father's side. When I thought she had covered everyone and suggested lunch, she said we were only halfway there. Lunch? Not yet. My heart raced as I braced in anticipation: was she going to apologize for abandoning me? She wasn't. But she was sorry she never got back to me in 2005. There was a flood in her house and she lost the phone number of "that woman from social services." She still had "all that stuff" I sent her, which she found a few years ago in a box in her basement.
I gave her the grand tour of my house, introducing her to my dog, Lucy, and my boyfriend, showing her the vanity Vitsoe shelves in my office displaying the magazine covers I had designed for the Sunday Times Magazine and Wallpaper. "Look at you!" she said. "Beautiful! Successful! Rich! Healthy! Smart! Loved!" There were at least three inaccuracies on that list, but I was not going to correct her. The signposts of my life seemed to validate her decision to give me up. "You did just fine without me."
The tour extended to East London. I bought her lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch. She slept in my room, and I took the Cassina couch. I told her about my family, how I am loved, how I was raised. I reassured her of a mostly charmed existence, as if to say, Don't worry about it, you gave me to good people. I had been refraining from asking The Big Questions out of politeness, not knowing her well enough—or at all—and because I felt uncomfortable. She answered some of them indirectly. Why did you give me up for adoption? "You probably would have ended up hating me anyway." Why didn't you tell your parents? "Giving you up was the hardest thing I've ever done." Why didn't you look for me? "I always think of you on your birthday."
I did not want to be a family secret. I wanted to meet my grandparents. I wanted my other siblings to know me. I desperately wanted to know them. And I wanted to know the identity of my biological father, without having to negotiate—with the law, or a volunteer doing charity work, or an adoption counsellor just doing her job, or especially with my biological mother. Toward the end of the weekend, over lunch, I finally addressed the elephant in the room: "Who is my biological father?" Bio Mom was holding all the cards to my missing self. And she was not prepared to tell me his identity. Instead she promised she would contact him on my behalf. "This is so much bigger than just you," she explained. She said she would tell everyone else in her family about me, including my siblings, who were minors. She wanted to have the conversation with her parents first when she returned to Canada in a week's time.
Seven months later, on Christmas Day in London, an urgent message from Bio Mom popped up on the iPhone. Her Christmas present to the family was going to be a surprise—and I was said gift. As soon as the dessert plates were cleared from the table of my boyfriend's family's Christmas dinner, I bolted home to receive the Skype call in time for Christmas morning in Canada. I am not sure who was more stunned: my biological relatives, who had learned of my existence mere moments before, or me. The pictures of my family members I'd Facebook-stalked for more than a year came to life on the screen in front of me: my younger siblings and my grandparents. Surprise!
For the next eight months, Skyping with my maternal grandparents became a regular Sunday occurrence. Larry, otherwise known as Grumpy, accepted me immediately and without question. A retired air traffic controller, he was quick-witted, sharp-tongued and open-hearted to a fault. We got on famously. When Grumpy was 20, he discovered his true loves: aviation and my grandmother, Beth. They married in 1958 and flew off to an army base in France. Many European misadventures later, Grumpy and Nana settled in North Bay. When he found out about me, he called the family historian to add a branch back onto the tree. Separation and loss were familiar to my grandfather: his mother, Evelyn, was adopted. Before that, his grandfather Alfred. When he was eight, his father died of tuberculosis. Alfred's mother could no longer care for her younger children and handed two of her sons over to Dr. Barnardo's, a British home for poor children, perhaps hoping to someday get them back. Two years later, he was separated from his brother, put on a boat and shipped off to Canada. He landed in Ontario and became a Barnardo Home Boy, one of 100,000 children used as indentured farm workers or domestic servants. I learned from Grumpy that the other intergenerational family pattern is reunion: the missing people always seem to find their way home, eventually turning up on a relative's doorstep.
Jessica spent months Skyping with her maternal grandparents, Larry and Beth, shown here after their marriage in 1958
By June, I was making travel plans for a reunion at the end of the summer with my grandparents in North Bay. Turning up on my biological father's doorstep was not even a remote possibility. I had a good idea of who he was, based in part on the "non-identifying" information from the volunteer's report. I knew his first name, Tony. I knew the story of a family who had lost a son in a boating accident in the mid-'70s. This led me to an Italian family from the area who looked remarkably like me in Facebook pictures. But after two years of looking at photographs, I was not prepared to send a letter to the number-one paternity candidate based on an educated guess. I needed 100 per cent certainty.
In the absence of proof, I believed Bio Mom was the one person who could confirm his identity. She had tried to contact him and said she knew he got the message. She was sorry he didn't respond. We reached a stalemate. I overcame the urge to jump to the worst conclusion or jump off a building. The belief in the validity of my search began to falter. Was it possible to return Pandora's box?
Days before the reunion, on August 22, 2016, Grumpy Skyped with news. At a bar in North Bay called the Portage, my uncle had run into a family friend: Tony. He congratulated my uncle on the acquisition of a new niece. Then he outed himself as my biological father—he later told me he had recently discovered Bio Mom's message on Facebook. I was still on Skype with my grandparents when I sent my birth father a Facebook friend request. He accepted immediately. I cut and pasted the email I had sent Krista and Bio Mom, adding: "I am 99.999 per cent certain I am your biological daughter." Tony responded that he was excited about our reunion in Canada.
In August 2016, I returned to North Bay, the town where I was conceived, a place where a soy latte is a unicorn and motor boating is the official form of public transportation. A friend dropped me off at Webers on Highway 11, where Grumpy and Nana picked me up and drove me to their house on Trout Lake—they call it the Cottage in summer, the Chalet in winter. I was greeted by balloons, roses and my three youngest maternal siblings.
The next morning I went to Arugula, a stone-baked pizza restaurant, to meet my biological father. I was so nervous that I unfolded out of the car, proclaiming, "I am going to be sick!" Greatest first impression ever. Tony was standing in front of a black SUV—tall, dark, handsome and smiling. "Hi?" I said. "I'm Jessica Rose…you must be…." Of course he was. We had the exact same smile. When we sat down for lunch, we compared medical notes. We both had the same scars across our necks because we both had half of our thyroids removed. I tried not to stare: is that my funny skinny lip? The shape of my face? The dark markings around my eyes?
Tony grew up in North Bay. Like half the population, his parents were originally from Calabria, the big toe of Italy. They owned a successful sporting goods store, which Tony eventually took over. Tony's wife, Colleen, is part Irish and part Nipissing Anishinabe. I have two paternal half-siblings: 29-year-old Nicholas, who had just been transferred to the North Bay military base, and 27-year-old Bella, who looks like an Italian movie star from the '60s. Tony said they could not wait to meet me.
I knew very little about Tony when we met. I figured he was just some teenage boy who got a girl pregnant and put a child up for adoption. He and Bio Mom knew each other from "around the lake." Bio Mom was almost 18, and Tony was 20. He told me that when he learned she was pregnant, about a month before I was born, she had already made the decision to put me up for adoption. He did not have a say. Within 60 minutes of our reunion, Bio Dad had filled in the big blank of the circumstance of my birth.
After I was born, Bio Mom gave him a photograph of me, with the name "Martina" written on the back. He locked himself in a dark room in the basement of a townhouse in Waterloo, where he was a third-year mathematics student at Wilfrid Laurier. He stayed there for hours, then days, then weeks. Eventually, he walked out of the basement, leaving me and Martina behind. He erased the adoption from his memory—a necessary omission. One day, more than 36 years later, he logged onto Facebook. There, he found a message from Bio Mom, time-stamped from more than nine months before, ending his self-inflicted amnesia about the adoption. He had also been keeping his family in the dark. He disclosed the story of Baby Martina, first to Colleen, then to my siblings, then to his parents. I was humbled. How could I have ever thought my adoption wasn't a major life event for my biological father? The moment I was given up was the moment I was taken away from him.
Tony gave me the grand tour of North Bay. It was the perfect day for a long drive. At Northgate Square Mall, we saw his family's old business. Everyone seemed to know Tony. He stopped to talk to a friend and with the woman who worked at the grocery store checkout, who mistook me for my sister Bella. He showed me the reserve, sharing his love of the area's natural beauty, on the way to his house on Lake Nipissing, the moody, windy lake that looks like a Canadian landscape painting. He built the house himself, modelling it after a classical ratio he was particularly fond of in the domed windows of the Hagia Sophia cathedral (Tony is Catholic). He eventually let it slip that I was probably conceived in Grumpy and Nana's bed at the Cottage. Mystery solved. By the time we arrived at the Miner's Son, the other good restaurant in North Bay, for a reunion with my two siblings and their respective families, he was the most familiar stranger I'd ever met.
The celebrations continued. On Labour Day weekend I was invited to join the family on a trip to the Nipissing First Nation powwow on Jocko Point. Amid birch trees, the smell of bannock and the beat of powwow dancers draped in Italian flags alongside their furs, Bio Dad introduced me to Chief Scott McLeod. He told the chief that I was his biological daughter visiting from London. The chief recognized our resemblance instantly. I was unmistakably Tony's daughter.
When Jessica met her biological father, Tony, she was shocked by how much they looked alike. He's shown here with his wife, Colleen, in Sudbury, in the late 1980s
The power of reunion was familiar to Chief McLeod. He explained that the headdress of the Nipissing First Nation had been lost in the 1800s. With its physical absence, knowledge of its existence also disappeared. For several generations, the Nipissing adopted another headdress, one with lots of feathers that, unbeknownst to them, looked nothing like the one that went missing. Recently, elders and archivists pieced together information about the original. The traditional headdress was reconstructed, and a new element was added: seven eagle feathers. In a ceremony at sunrise that morning, the headdress was reintroduced to the community. When something goes missing and is put back together, it may not look like what you imagined, but it finds its way home.
On the day before I returned to London, Grumpy and Nana hosted another reunion with my paternal grandparents, Al and Theresa—their friends of over 40 years. Theresa was dressed like it was Saturday morning in Rome. I recognized her from the strangely accurate descriptions in the report I had received from the Children's Aid Society 14 years earlier. During the search for my origins, I followed a feeling that on the other end of all this unknowing, I would be found—and this feeling was embodied in Theresa. I was no longer a missing person. I cried. No one minded. My grandfather Al teasingly said, "Sei la gioia del mio cuore. Do you know what that means?" I gave him a hug. "You're the joy of my heart, too," I replied. From then on, I was to call them Nonno and Nonna.
Jessica's paternal grandmother, Theresa (left), was born in Calabria, Italy. Here, she lounges on a beach with her two sisters-in-law
Whenever I tell people about my family now, to keep things simple, I say it's greatly expanded. It's impossible to keep track of which brother I am referring to (I have four) or which sister (I have five, including stepsiblings). I have two new sets of living grandparents. My biological mother and I were unable to form a relationship from a broken bond—we are no longer in touch. But unexpectedly, I've developed a father-daughter relationship with Tony. I now have two amazing dads.
I am still separated from all of my families—geographically, at least—but those I carry close to my heart are always with me. Now what keeps me up at night, beyond how to co-ordinate Skype dates across time zones and holiday schedules, is imagining a time when my siblings' children and my own future kids grow up together with no recollection of our separation. Our reunion has healed a generational rift.
On the first anniversary of my reunion in Canada, I find myself sitting in the front seat on the top of a double-decker bus on my old route to work at the Sunday Times Magazine. Tony has sent a note on Facebook Messenger: "And what a year…our reunion is like the bubbly foam on top of the best-tasting champagne."
Jessica's great-great-grandfather Alfred was given up for adoption in England in the late 1800s
I am on my way to the London address of my great-great-grandfather Alfred, before he was separated from his family. No need to type the postcode into Google Maps. The address is on Hackney Road, the same street where, three years ago and stuck in traffic, I hired a detective to find my origins. The house is also a familiar 20-minute walk from my home of seven years. When I moved across the world, I ended up down the road from the home of my long-lost relative. More than 120 years after Alfred's circumstances pulled him, in the most unfortunate of ways, to Canada, I discovered I was on his return ticket home. Once, I was floating, orbiting the earth, a missing person lost in space, separate and separated. Well, Alfred, I am certainly here now.
This story originally appeared in Toronto Life magazine. To subscribe, for just $24 a year, click here.
More memoirs
Toronto Life's top 10 memoirs of 2020
Classroom confessional: "The kids are scared—not just of Covid itself but of another lockdown"
"I wanted to get out of my condo during the pandemic so I bought a sailboat with a stranger"
"I was stuck at home, craving dishes I had no idea how to make": How the pandemic inspired one Toronto woman to get cooking
Fourteen days on the Covid Ward at Sunnybrook: a memoir


text:
eBooks.com Blog
3,800,805 members ⚫ 1,243,781 ebooks
New to eBooks.com?
Warfare & Terrorism
Body Mind Spirit
Suspense/Thrillers
Buy Multiple Copies
How many copies would you like to buy?
The Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides, Martin Hammond, P. J. Rhodes
Series: Oxford World's Classics
Give this ebook to a friend
More books by this author
More books by this publisher
Print & copy permissions
PDF off (no printing)
ePub off (no printing)
eb20 20% every 30 days
PDF off (no copying)
ePub off (no copying)
PDF off
ePub off
eb20 on
Android phones & tablets
Sony Reader
Cool-er Reader
Kobo Reader
Other e-readers with Adobe Digital Editions installed
History > Ancient
History > Asia
History > History of Greece > Ancient Greece > History > By period
Fiction > Classics
History > Europe
History > Great Britain
History > Military
Current Events > Warfare & Terrorism
History > World
ISBNs
'The greatest historian that ever lived'Such was Macaulay's verdict on Thucydides (c. 460-400 BC) and his history of the Peloponnesian War, the momentous struggle between Athens and Sparta as rival powers and political systems that lasted for twenty-seven years from 431 to 404 BC, involved virtually the whole of the Greek world, and ended in the fall of Athens. Thucydides himself was a participant in the war; to his history he brings an awesome intellect, brilliant narrative, and penetrating analysis of the natureof power, as it affects both states and individuals.Of his own work Thucydides wrote: 'I shall be content if [my history] is judged useful by those who will want to have a clear understanding of what happened - and, such is the human condition, will happen again ... It was composed as a permanent legacy, not a showpiece for a single hearing.' So it has proved. Of the prose writers of Greece and Rome Thucydides has had more lasting influence on western thought than all but Plato and Aristotle. This new edition combines a masterly translationwith comprehensive supporting material.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
OUP Oxford; June 2009
Read online, or download in secure PDF or secure ePub format
Title: The Peloponnesian War
Author: Thucydides; Martin Hammond (trans.); P. J. Rhodes (other)
Imprint: OUP Oxford
The most accurate and readable translation we now have... the only choice for a serious reading of Thucydides.
Martin Hammond taught Classics at St Paul's School and Harrow School before being appointed Head of Classics at Eton in 1974, and subsequently Master in College. He was Headmaster of the City of London School from 1984-90, and Tonbridge School from 1990-2005. He has published translations of the Iliad (Penguin, 1987), the Odyssey (Duckworth, 2000), and the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (Penguin, 2006).P. J. Rhodes retired as Professor of Ancient History at Durham University in 2005. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including Athenian Democracy (OUP, 2004), A History of the Classical Greek World, 478-323 BC (Blackwell, 2006), and editions of Thucydides, II, III, and IV.1-V.24 (Aris & Phillips).
More Current
The Hot Zone
Richard Preston
Not That Bad
The Sixth Extinction
Elizabeth Kolbert
About eBooks.com
Launched in 2000, eBooks.com is a popular ebook retailer hosting over a million unique ebooks.
Reader devices
A list of the non-computer reading devices we support
You can read most ebooks online, instantly, through your web browser
Have a problem with an ebook? Use our troubleshooter to find the solution.
Compare the different file formats we sell at eBooks.com
Answers to common questions regarding purchasing ebooks.
Reader software
A list of software for your computer that can open ebooks purchased from eBooks.com
Contact eBooks.com
Contact our help desk for further assistance.
Terms of Use & Licenses


Age-related Macular Degeneration is an age-related, degenerative condition of the retina. This problem arises when the central retina called macula gets damaged resulting in defective central vision.
People with damaged central vision find it difficult to read, see and recognize the faces. AMD effects only central vision but not peripheral (side) vision.
In most of the cases, AMD affects both the eyes, though the problem in one eye can be more than the other.
If AMD is left untreated, it becomes severe and may permanently damage the central vision.
In people, over 60 years of age, AMD is very common disease, which leads to vision loss.
Age-related Macular Degeneration is of two types, DRY AMD & WET AMD.
DRY AMD: It is the most common type seen in around 90% of AMD cases. It occurs when age-related deposits such as drusen form under the retina. Further, dry AMD results in thinning of central retina and gradually leads to central vision loss.
The risk of developing advanced AMD can be reduced with the help of specially formulated vitamins. We, at Challa Eye Care Center provide you the best treatment and medications that prevents the progression of DRY AMD.
WET AMD: It is a severe type of AMD and not so common in people. Wet AMD occurs when new, unusual blood vessels grow under the retina and results in bleeding, fluid leakage, and scar tissue formation, which damages the central vision.
The problem of Wet AMD increases quickly, however, if identified early, there are many treatment options available at Challa Eye Care Centre to stabilize the vision &reduce the risk of losing more vision.
Further, we perform tests such as Fluorescein Angiography and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) to get a detailed view of the retina.
In Fluorescein Angiography, a yellow dye is injected into a vein in the arm, this dye quickly spreads into the blood and hence into the vasculature of the eye, with a special camera photos of retina are taken to identify any abnormal new blood vessels in the retina.
To treat Dry AMD, we provide, nutritional supplements and specially formulated supplements that decrease the risk of developing advanced AMD and arrests loss if vision.
Though the above nutritional supplements prevent the progression of dry AMD, they don't cure it. Based on the patient's medical conditions and AMD severity our retina specialist s at challa eye care advice the best treatment option.
To treat Wet AMD we inject Anti-VEGF medications into the eye. These medication prevent the growth of abnormal blood vessels under retina, which is the major cause of wet AMD.
Wet AMD if not treated in time can lead to rapid loss of vision, which can be permanent.


Paul paints the 'Edge of London'; where the suburbs end and the countryside begins. Previous to being elected ARWS, his work had been selected for the Contemporary Watercolour Competition on a number of occasions, winning the RWS Award in 2016 and The Artist Award in 2017.
In 2001, Paul founded Insight School of Art; a school dedicated to providing an 'art school education for everyone'.


text:
END OF SEASON EVENT
Event due to take place on Tuesday 30th April
Port Vale will be holding an end of season event for supporters, to run in addition to the Awards Dinner which was announced last week.
The fans' event, which will be attended by the team management, players and Chairman Paul Wildes, will take place on Tuesday, April 30 in the Valiant Suite at Vale Park, commencing at 7pm. Tickets will cost £10 per head, which includes a free pie on the evening.
The event will encompass a quiz, where fans will be able to pit their wits against Vale's first-team squad. Special prizes will be on offer throughout the evening, which will be announced nearer the date.
The End of Season Dinner, which includes the presentation of awards and a three-course meal, will take place two days before, on Sunday, April 28. Tickets for this are priced at £40 per head, or £400 for a table of 12, which includes two first-team squad players. Please note that players for your table cannot be preselected. For more details, please email trish.brockbank@port-vale.co.uk
Tickets for the fans' event will go on sale on Thursday, March 7 from the club's Ticket Office at Vale Park. Please note that tickets will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis.


Why apply for Sales Jobs in Chicago at Applied Industrial Technologies?
Explore Sales Jobs in Chicago at Applied Industrial Technologies.
Receive emails by subscribing to jobs matching Chicago Sales Jobs when they are posted.