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Home > Journal Archive > Platinum Metals in Catalysis
Platinum Metals in Catalysis
A Review of Some of the Papers Presented at the Tenth International Congress on Catalysis
The 10th International Congress on Catalysis, arranged by an Organising Committee chaired by Professor L. Guzci (and sponsored by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, the Chemistry Section of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Federation of European Chemical Societies and the Hungarian Chemical Society), took place in Budapest from 19th to 24th July, 1992. It was attended by about 1000 persons; more than 100 papers were presented and over 350 posters were available for inspection. With such rich fare, it is impossible to do justice to all the contributions relating to catalysis by the platinum group metals. Reluctandy, therefore, attention is confined to the orally presented papers, and within this group almost one-third referred to platinum group metals.
Catalysis on Single Crystal Surfaces
Many powerful techniques are now available for the study of molecules chemisorbed on single-crystal metal surfaces, and important extensions now permit catalytic interactions between adsorbed molecules to be examined. It is however necessary to remember that there will be differences as well as similarities between these systems and the small supported metal particles found in practical catalysts. These factors are well illustrated by a group of papers discussed at the Congress.
It is now firmly established that some catalysed oxidation reactions, particularly the carbon monoxide-oxygen reaction, can under certain conditions exhibit oscillation. Use of photoemission electron microscopy, which senses the work function variation over the surface, showed that on Pd(110) various travelling waves and spatial patterns were formed in consequence of "gas-phase communication" (M. Ehsasi, M. Berdau, A. Karpowicz, K. Christmann and J. H. Bloch, Fritz-Haber Institut and Freie Universität, Berlin). Clearly such waves and patterns cannot exist on very small metal particles, but supported metals also show oscillatory phenomena, presumably because gas-phase communication is also possible there.
The trimerisation of ethyne to benzene is another reaction which has been well studied on palladium catalysts. C. J. Baddeley, R. M. Ormerod and R. M. Lambert (Cambridge University) reported that simultaneous adsorption of nitric oxide on Pd(111) caused compression of the adsorbed ethyne phase, with a consequent increase in rate. Palladium on alumina catalysts are also active in this reaction, and the use of bimetallic palladium-gold catalysts, formed by evaporating palladium onto Au(111), showed the extreme structure-sensitivity of the reaction.
The way in which the inert partner in a bimetallic catalyst affects the behaviour of the active one has been debated for many years, the consensus now being that it merely serves to reduce the mean ensemble size of the active element. However when palladium is deposited by evaporation onto tantalum, tungsten, rhenium and ruthenium surfaces, there are distinct differences in the palladium 3d binding energy observed in XPS, and in the temperatures at which adsorbed carbon monoxide desorbs (R. A. Campbell, J. A. Rodriguez and D. W. Goodman, Texas A and M University). This betokens some electronic modification, but, as the subsequent discussion showed, the interpretation is still controversial.
Noble Metals in Zeolites
Turning now to metals in a highly dispersed form, several papers presented results on small noble metal particles in zeolite cavities. The discovery, reported in 1980, that platinum particles in the non-acidic L-zeolite were highly selective in dehydrocyclisation of n -hexane to benzene has generated a number of further studies of this system, some of which were reported at this Congress. E. Iglesia and J. E. Baumgartner (Exxon Research and Engineering Co.) discussed the reaction mechanism in terms of inhibited deactivation of platinum sites within zeolite channels, while the effects of sulphur on platinum/KL-zeolite (J. L. Kao, G. B. McVicker, M. M. J. Treacy, S. B. Rice, J. L. Robbins, W. E. Gates, J. J. Ziemiak, V. R Cross and T. H. Vanderspurt from the same organisation) and of the type of cation on n-heptane aromatisation (R. F. Hicks, W.-J. Han and A. B. Kooh, University of California) were also described. G. Larsen and G. L. Haller (Yale University) prepared and studied palladium/L-zeolite catalysts made both by impregnation and ion exchange, and M. Vaarkamp, J. T. Miller, F. S. Modica; G. S. Lane and D. C. Koningsberger (Eindhoven University) used the intensities of the white lines at the Ln and Lm X-ray absorption edges to determine the local density of states. They concluded that platinum particles on acidic supports were more electron-deficient than those on neutral supports.
Two studies were reported of bimetallic particles in the cavities of Y zeolite. W. M. H. Sachtler, Z. Zhang, A. Yu. Stakheev and J. S. Feeley (Northwestern University, Evanston) examined palladium-nickel/Y-zeolite catalysts using XRD and EXAFS, and found that during carbon monoxide hydrogenation there was a pronounced metal redistribution at the macroscopic level. O Bong Yang and Seong Ihl Woo (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) prepared platinum-iridium particles in NaY-zeolite and found that they were more active and stable in n -heptane reforming than the monometallic platinum analogue.
Supported Metal Catalysts
Zeolites represent a somewhat special class of supports for metals, with their regular pore structure and facility for acid/base control. Interest continues at a high level in dispersed metals on more usual supports such as silica and alumina; the applicability of catalysts of this type in petroleum reforming clearly influences the kind of work performed. However, the interpretation of the behaviour of bimetallic catalysts continues to be the subject of debate, but in the cases of platinum-rhenium and platinum-tin reforming catalysts there are questions concerning the interaction of the second element with the support. G. Munuera, P. Malet and A. Caballero (Seville Institute of Science of Materials) explored the effect of CI- in stabilising the interaction of Re4+ with the alumina support, while G. C. Bond, R. H. Cunningham and E. L. Short (Brunei University, U.K.) determined the kinetics of hydrogenolysis of the lower alkanes on typical reforming catalysts which were either clean or partially coked. Disagreement still continues concerning the role of tin in platinum-tin reforming catalysts; J. Schwank, K. Balakrishnan and A. Sachdev (University of Michigan) concluded that most of the platinum was in a monometallic form, but that the particles were in contact with ionic tin (2+ or 4+) associated with the alumina support. B. H. Davis (University of Kentucky) on the other hand detected platinum-tin alloys, with the role of the tin depending on the acidity of the support. Clearly more research is needed to resolve these conflicting findings.
Other techniques of great potential usefulness in the characterisation of catalysts and their precursors were described. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) permits the creation of images of surfaces with a resolution approaching the atomic scale, and M. Komiyama and M. Kirino (Yamanashi University, Japan) reported topographic and barrier-height images of platinum particles vacuum-deposited on thick silica films. The resolution is however not yet sufficient to afford information of great value. Laser Raman spectroscopy (LRS) on the other hand can sensitively detect oxides of the platinum group metals (rhodium, iridium and platinum) attached to ceria microphases in ceria-alumina mixed oxide supports (L. L. Murrell, S. J. Tauster and D. R. Anderson, Engelhard Corporation).
The use of a neutral zeolitic support, as described above, is not essential for the effective conversion of linear alkanes to aromatics. E. G. Derouane, V. Jullien-Lardot, R. J. Davis, N. Blom and P. E. Højlund-Nielsen (Facultés Universitaires, Namur) have demonstrated that palladium on alumina-stabilised magnesia affords high selectivities in conversion of n -hexane to benzene. They used27 Al magic-angle spinning NMR to show that Al3+ ions occupied both tetrahedral and octahedral holes in the magnetic structure.
Syngas Reactions
The popularity of syngas reactions as a subject for research is now much diminished, and only three contributions to the Congress dealt with the role of the platinum metals as catalysts for these reactions. Rhodium is well-known for its ability to give higher oxygenates, especially ethanol, and A. L. Borer and R. Prins (Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich) confirmed previous findings on the promoting effect of lanthane on rhodium on silica catalysts. They showed moreover that the order in which the components are introduced to the support is important, higher dispersions of rhodium being obtained when lanthanum is applied first to the silica. Higher oxygenates can also be produced when carbon monoxide reacts on rhodium catalysts with adsorbed species formed from chlorinated molecules and alkenes (M. W. Balakos, S. S. C. Chuang, R. Krishnamurthy and G. Srinivas, University of Akron). K. R. Krishna and A. T. Bell (University of California, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) applied transient-response isotopic tracer methods to follow chain-growth during Fischer-Tropsch synthesis on ruthenium upon titania catalysts. The chain-growth probability, a, decreases with temperature because the activation energy for termination exceeds that for propagation.
The 10th International Congress on Catalysis proved a most stimulating and enjoyable occasion, and the organisation was faultless. The posters, as well as the papers presented orally, confirmed the pre-eminent role of the metals of the platinum group in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. The proceedings will be published in the first half of 1993. The 11th Congress will take place in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A, in 1996.


The International Day of Chess was celebrated with fun chess games and lessons by Silverstar Casino's Tsogo Sun Moves for Life programme at nine West Rand primary schools, from 25-28 July. The International Day of Chess, under the auspices of the World Chess Federation since 1966, traditionally falls on 20 July, and was celebrated by the pupils on their return from school holidays.
Nationally, Tsogo Sun Moves for Life operates in 50 schools around the country, with 19 549 participating learners, 543 educators, and 17 tutors from the local communities. The programmes are sponsored by seven of Tsogo Sun's casinos. Silverstar Casino has been sponsoring the chess programme in the West Rand for four years in the nine primary schools, accommodating 4 765 children.


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Healing art - Reconnect with the energy of your heart
02-20-2020 12:00 PM CET | Arts & Culture
Press release from: Infinity81
/ PR Agency: Nadine Roemhildt Social Media & PR
Time of Silence
Photography Art of Special Moments
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09/03 - 15/03/2020 Flyer Art Gallery - Art Rome - International
18/03 - 22/03/2020 Artbox Gallery - Artbox Projects Barcelona
20/04 - 26/04/2020 Flyer Art Gallery - World Wide Art Show London
01/07 - 07/07/2020 Flyer Art Gallery - World Wide Art Show - New York City
Nadine Roemhildt Social Media and PR
Flenshult 16
S-598 97 Mariannelund
Mail: nrsocialmediapr@yahoo.com
Petra B. Roemhildt
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Never. Never in the wildest dreams of my "possible self" did I imagine me as a school principal. Though I felt the time was right to begin the transition into a more focused leadership role, I was quite content to take the safe route of program administrator with an eye towards Curriculum Director. This seemed safe, doable and not too "messy"; I never imagined I had the skill-set to deal with contentious staff and disgruntled parents, always quipping "You couldn't pay me enough to be a principal". My impression was that Administration was largely made up of problems, roadblocks and paperwork; where's the joy in that? Indeed, Coyle (2011) paints a rather dire picture of the role of principal as someone entirely out-of-touch with education, more Office Space cubicle denizen than educator: "If class sizes increase, if students have varying learning styles and critical emotional or academic needs, if there are insufficient or outdated texts, administrators have little hands on connection with that reality. Their work remains quite separate from the work of the classroom" (p. 44). You see, my impression of administration was based on a narrow and wholly unimaginative misconception of what it can mean to be a principal, at least for people like Coyle. For me, the reality is much different than I could have possibly conceived. To my astonishment, I am finding a rapidly growing appreciation for the administrative portion of my internship, an experience that completely refutes Coyle's imagining of principals as outdated, middle managers feeding on the bloat of a top-heavy system.
They work to fashion a positive context (p. 51).
Much of the work I have been engaged with these first weeks of school is helping to refashion the academic and professional culture at our new school. I am playing a part in taking our school from a culture of weak academics to academic excellence; from a culture where teachers shut their door and just try to survive to a culture of collegiality and collaboration. First, understanding the unique culture and climate of a school is essential before sustainable, positive change can be made. I learn something new every day about the culture of our school through parent and student interaction; I learn which parents are supportive of our change in focus and which need a little more convincing that we are headed in a direction that will ultimately benefit their child. Returning staff is a rich source of information about the historic context of our school in everything from prior decision-making to parent and student expectations; they warn us about potential land mines and have played a big role in communicating their support to staff that have been less responsive. In reality, the learning curve is steep but it is important work as we reiterate the message that every decision is based on what is best for the kids.
Indeed, a big part of my internship has been creating the structures and climate necessary for student success: creating a curricular program that enhances academic rigor so graduating seniors can get into college; sitting in discipline meetings to ensure that accusations of bullying are dealt with, followed by a meeting with the victim's father; sitting in on an admissions meeting with a parent to clearly communicate guidelines and expectations for the conditional acceptance of their English Language Learner (ELL) students. My role in these meetings has been as an observer but I am gaining valuable insight and experience into setting the tone and direction of potentially difficult meetings, listening to concerns while redirecting conversation back to the issue at hand.
Providing time for teachers to meet for collaborative, reflective discussion, create cross-content curricular units, craft common assessments and talk about students and teaching in a dedicated block squarely places our school's emphasis on teaching and learning; it also helps support fellow teachers in building their leadership capacity. "Structuring time to work together is pivotal because it provides time for collaborative reflection and decision making, both essential components of leadership" (Coyle, 2011, p. 44). As I watch the HOS invite teachers into the decision-making process through the creation of Primary and Upper School Liaisons'; creating year-long and short term committees to work on the teaching, learning, safety and staff well-being; and having an open door policy where students, parents and staff are welcome to air their concerns and needs, I am keenly aware of the professional modeling that is happening, and I am taking note. Coyle (2011) laments that "The central dilemma in school improvement is restructuring in a way that keeps people involved and invested in the core work of the school, teaching, yet free to collaborate and lead" (p. 47) however, I wonderful if this is an issue that is more endemic in US schools rather than international schools? We are purposely structuring a professional environment that supports teaching and learning as our core values.
Teachers who aspire to leadership at the principal level need encouragement to start thinking like an administrator" (Searby & Shaddix, 2011, p. 58).
In the end, I have to disagree with Coyle (2011) and others that believe a strong administrative leader is not important to leading the work that must be done in schools; I know from first-hand experience working in schools in the US and abroad that leadership is key. I've seen the wreckage first-hand that comes from ineffective administrators (Principal or HOS), where teachers hunker down and just try to survive without the energy or time to lead out of the chaos. Teachers play a complementary and crucial role in working in tandem with the Principal and other administrative leadership to bring the teaching and learning to its fullest fruition; but teachers cannot do it on their own. Teachers need strong leadership and they need effective Principals.
I have come to appreciate the intellectual challenge inherent in observing, analyzing and suggesting strategies to move the many academic and school culture changes we're initiating this year forward. I find that sitting in on meetings with parents and students, even when tears are shed and anger and frustration is expressed, enlightening. I am excited to attend my second Board meeting Wednesday evening even though there will be tough questions to answer as we communicate the hard work that must be done this year to move forward, to remedy the leadership vacuum of the past. My awareness and imagination surrounding the positive and far-reaching impact that a school principal can have on the teaching and learning that happens in a school has expanded exponentially. Every day, every experience and leadership opportunity that I add to my repertoire builds a possible self that rather than saying "never" thinks someday.
Heller, Marjorie F. & Firestone, William A. 2011. Heroes, Teams, and Teachers: A Study of Leadership for Change. In Eleanor Blair Hilty (Ed.). Teacher Leadership: The "New" Foundations of Teacher Education. A Reader (pp. 61-82). New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Searby, Linda & Shaddix, Lisa. 2011. Growing Teacher Leaders in a Culture of Excellence. In Eleanor Blair Hilty (Ed.) Teacher Leadership: The "New" Foundations of Teacher Education. A Reader (pp. 53-60). New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
This entry was posted in Leadership in Applied Curriculum, Standard 01. Instructional Planning, Standard 03. Curriculum, Standard 07. Collaboration and tagged curriculum mapping, Educational leadership, Possible Self, Principal, principal as curriculum leader. Bookmark the permalink.


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Greenfield, Scotland
Willie MacRae Memorial
The solitary cairn marks a mysterious death that's still controversial more than two decades later.
Willie MacRae Memorial. Hugh Venables/cc by-sa 2.0
Willie MacRae Memorial. ssm67alba (Atlas Obscura User)
On a very scenic part of the A87 in Scotland stands a solitary cairn overlooking Loch Loyne. The monument is dedicated to Willie MacRae, whose mysterious death is still a controversial topic.
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Two Australian tourists found MacRae's crashed car on April 6, 1985. The tourists flagged down the next passing vehicle, which happened to contain a doctor. The doctor examined MacRae's slumped body and found he was still barely alive, though had suffered some kind of brain damage.
MacRae was transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where it was discovered he had been shot above his right ear. His condition was fatal, and his life support was switched off the next day. MacRae's gun was found outside the car, and despite the lack of fingerprints to prove otherwise, the verdict was suicide.
But this conclusion does not sit well with a great many people, as other odd occurrences happened near the time of his death. Some of his friends had been the victims of burglaries, and one even died in a mysterious house fire. People also found it odd that in Israel, a forest of 3,000 trees was planted in MacRae's honor. And, it's unclear how he could have shot himself in the head and then thrown his gun outside the car window.
To understand the controversy surrounding MacRae's death, you first need to understand his past. He had been an Officer in the British Navy and aide to Lord Mountbatten before Mountbatten was murdered by the IRA. MacRae later became a lawyer. He was fiercely opposed to storing nuclear weapons in Scotland, and became involved with the Scottish National party campaigning for independence.
Due to his previous connections, some believed MacRae unearthed something that the British government didn't want him exposing. He had suffered several burglaries in his home, and had taken to carrying his briefcase with him at all times. On the day of his accident, he had intended to travel to his cottage in Dornie, but was delayed due to his car tires getting slashed that day. His last words to one of his friends before heading off was "I've got them this time." It's unclear what happened or what information he had, but his case was missing from his car. Though people petitioned the government to initiate a Fatal Accident Inquiry into MacRae's death, no such action has been taken.
In 1990, a political pro-independence group called Siol nan Gaidheal erected this cairn in his memory, not far from where his crashed car was found.
If traveling north on the A87, the cairn is clearly visible on the left-hand side in front of the loch. There are no car parks around here, but there are suitable places to park up nearby.
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https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/the-truth-about-activist-willie-mcrae-s-tragic-death-1-3738745
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_MacRae
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Classes start today, and our Transition Year pupils set off on the next stage of their course. We will be studying Othello in class this term, and the other main task for them is to get going on their Work Portfolios. The sheet of possible titles is here (they can also submit other work, such as reviews of House Speeches), and the final ten pieces, revised and improved, are submitted by the end of their course in May.
This year we hope some pupils will also take on as part of their portfolios the Transition Year project proposed by Friends of the Elderly. This involves interviewing an elderly person (such as a neighbour or a grandparent) and then writing up his or her biography. We often get particularly interesting and moving essays for the Portfolio under the title 'The Oldest Person I Know', and this project will allow pupils to expand on this idea if they wish.


Skin Tags On Dogs: What Are They and Should You Get Them Removed?
Skin tags on dogs – they are a common problem, but can cause a lot of stress.
Has your pooch developed an unsightly skin tag? Or maybe your pooch has developed some sort of growth, and you're worried that it might be a sign of something serious? Can dogs even get skin tags?
Whenever your pup develops a new symptom, it can always be worrying—even if it is something as benign as a skin tag.
Luckily, we're here to help. We'll tell you everything you could ever need to know about skin tags on dogs, including whether dogs can even get skin tags, what they might look like and what causes them.
Can dogs even really get skin tags? Or are skin tags just something that humans develop?
A skin tag is a fibrous growth on the skin. It can appear as either a single bump-like formation, or as multiple. Just like their human companions, dogs can also develop these skin tags. They can develop on top of the skin and just underneath the surface.
Obviously, the skin tag will look different depending on its particular location and cause.
Warts are not the same as skin tags. Warts are contagious and usually caused by a virus, while skin tags are not. Furthermore, different factors increase your chance for warts and skin tags. We will look at other differences between the two conditions later in this article.
So, just what do these skin tags look like? And how can you tell if your pooch has a skin tag or something else?
Skin tags on dogs look very similar to skin tags on humans.
There are two main types of skin tags: Fibroadnexal Hamartomas and Follicular Hamartomas.
Fibroadnexal skin tags appear as small, pale growth branching out from the skin surface. These growths are usually very small—around the size of a pinhead, though they can sometimes grow to be slightly larger. They are usually hairless.
These growths are very commonly connected to the skin surface by a stalk-like tissue. If the skin growth is particularly developed or large, this connective tissue will appear noticeably smaller than the bulk of the growth.
Follicular skin tags are rarer in dogs, but they do still develop. These growths are usually found in groups, and can be identified by their flattened tops and thick hairs.
Normally, these skin tags do not appear to have connective tissues.
Skin tags can also rarely develop underneath the skin's surface. Skin tags that develop in this manner are usually unnoticed. However, if they are somewhat large, they might be noticed by gently feeling the skin.
Luckily, nearly all skin tags are completely benign. The only time a skin tag can be troublesome is if it is in an unfortunate location, such as on the underside of the eyelid.
There are many causes of skin tags on dogs.
Skin tags are made of fibrous tissues that contain proteins. These proteins function as supportive connections in the bodies and hold the internal organs in place.
Sometimes, the cells that cause the growth of these supportive tissues become overactive. This can cause a skin tag to form. In other words, a skin tag is the overabundant, unnecessary growth of connective tissue.
This abundant growth is usually not created by a single cause. Instead, it is caused by a number of factors.
Older animals have a higher chance of developing skin tags. Irritation and areas worn by repetitive movement, such as under the limbs or in-between a dog's toes, are also more likely to develop skin tags.
On top of this, some dogs simply seem to develop more skin tags than others. The reason for this is generally unknown, but genetics are thought to play a part.
Sometimes, skin tags form as a benign form of cancer. When caused by this, the skin tags generally spread around the body. These tumors are usually harmless, unless of course they grow in a troublesome area.
The main issue involving these types of skin tags on dogs is their ability to appear in particularly troublesome areas, such as the vascular system and the spinal cord.
These tumors can also grow in other areas besides the skin, and usually go unnoticed due to their benign nature and small size.
What should you do if you find a skin tag on your pooch?
Although nearly all skin tags are completely benign—even those that would be considered cancerous—it is important to get the growth checked out by a vet. While skin tags are pretty common, there are some more dangerous conditions that mirror the appearance of skin tags.
It is also important to watch the growth so that you can correctly give important information to your veterinarian. Take pictures of the growth next to something of a fixed size, like a coin, so that you can judge its growth later.
It might also be useful to take notes of any strange features or disfiguration of the growth to share with your vet.
Take special attention if the lump is rapidly growing; a different color from your pet's surrounding skin; or near your pet's eyes, nose or mouth.
If your pet shows any other symptoms, you should be sure to mention them to your vet. This includes factors such as changes in appetite, weight change, signs of discomfort, vomiting and diarrhea.
Now that we know exactly what a skin tag is and some important signs to watch out for, let's look at how warts on dogs are different from skin tags on dogs.
Wart like growths on dogs are different from skin tags in many ways.
As I mentioned earlier, warts are caused by the papillomatosis virus in dogs. Because of this, warts are contagious, unlike skin tags.
This virus can be spread from dog to dog through fluids and skin-to-skin contact.
Warts also have a tendency to go away by themselves, while skin tags do not.
Warts on a dog's paw can cause irritation if it is between the toes or in an area that rubs against the ground. These warts might call for vet removal if they are distressing enough.
Warts on a dog's head and/or face are not usually dangerous unless they are near the eyes or nose.
Warts on a dog's legs are one of the most common wart locations. These warts are usually not particularly irritating.
Because warts always go away by themselves, they do not usually need treatment. But some warts might become irritated and infected, in which case your vet might decide to remove it.
You should always take your pup to the vet if he or she has what you think might be a wart. This is important to diagnose that it is in fact a wart and not a more serious disorder.
So you've taken your pooch to the vet, and they confirmed that your pooch did have a skin tag. What now?
Most skin tags do not need removal at all. They are only superficial in nature and do not call for any particular treatment.
Yet, if they are in a troublesome area or are larger than normal, your vet might suggest getting them removed.
Without removal, most skin tags will remain. They might shrink in size, but they do not usually disappear completely.
If you and your vet decide removal is best, it will usually take the form of surgery. This surgery can differ a lot depending on where the skin tag is and your pet's particular situation.
For example, removing a skin tag on a dog's eyelid is going to be different from removing a skin tag from between a canine's toes.
Furthermore, if the skin tag becomes infected, the surgery will involve different aftercare than it would otherwise.
Cryosurgery is also an option for some cases of removal. In this type of removal, liquid nitrogen is used to remove the skin tag by freezing it. It is a lot like some human wart removing techniques in this way.
This procedure is used in dogs that are at risk of complication during a normal surgery. Of course, this procedure might not be available if the skin tag is in certain locations, such as around the face.
You vet will be able to discuss the best options for your pet and can answer any specific questions you have about your pup's situation.
The cost of removing a skin tag on a dog depends a lot on the specific situation.
Where is the skin tag located? What method is being used? Will the dog need antibiotics? Does the canine have any other infections? How many skin tags are being removed?
Truthfully, it all depends on your specific situation and the specifics of the skin tag.
You vet will be able to give you accurate pricing based on your canine's condition and the specific surgery.
Skin tags on dogs are almost always harmless. They usually only pose a threat if they are in a worrisome location or become irritated and infected.
Despite their benign nature, you should still take your pooch to the vet to make sure that it really is just a skin tag. Some more serious conditions, such as some cancers, can take the appearance of skin tags.
You vet will be able to provide a sure diagnosis for your pup.
Next articleCan Dogs Sense Pregnancy and Other Medical Marvels?
Thanks for the informative post, I will keep in mind if ever find anything on our dog. You are providing the best info about dog's skin tags. Thanks for the great article.


Which Homes Need Gutter Covers?
Are gutter covers useful in every home? Actually, no. But, a lot of homes can really benefit from having a great set of gutter guards. The homes that don't really need covers over the gutters are those that don't have any significant debris around them. This includes desert homes with few trees in the area, or city homes that aren't surrounded by green plants everywhere.
Most larger debris that gets in the gutters comes from trees and plants around the home. If these things don't exist around your house, you may not need gutter covers (but you still need gutters!). However, homes with any number of trees around and other plant life are great candidates for gutter covers. Covers are not meant to keep all of the dirt and small particles out of your gutters, but they do a great job of blocking larger debris like leaves and sticks.
If your house needs gutter covers, how can you make the right choice?
Here is what you need to look at when you want to select the top gutter covers for 2017 for your house.
Not all gutter covers can fit on every type of gutter. Make sure that the covers you want are actually compatible with your gutters before you make any purchases.
There are a variety of types of gutter covers available for homes. Some rest gently in the gutters while others are attached overtop with a specialized system for draining water and avoiding leaves and debris.
What is the gutter cover made from? Plastic covers are cheaper, but they don't work as well and aren't as durable. Metal are more expensive, but they work fairly well. Mesh and screen covers are easy to clean under when necessary, but they don't look as good.
Your budget is one of the biggest considerations to make when choosing gutter covers. If you can't afford a certain type, it doesn't matter how good they are! Calculate how much you can spend at maximum, then look for something that fits that range.


Corporate sponsorship is one of the most effective marketing channels, but most businesses haven't tried it.
What is event sponsorship and why should you consider it? From a 5K road race to a good old-fashioned neighborhood picnic, companies that get outside their walls can make a huge splash in the community.
Businesses that rely on local support understand that their company will grow primarily through the support of its neighbors.
How do you engage your neighbors?
By being a good neighbor! Put a face on your business by sponsoring a baseball league, hosting community events on your lawn, or by mobilizing your city to benefit a beloved charity.
Budweiser helps sponsor the annual "duck" tape festival in Avon, Ohio. With music, brews, fashion shows, and family-friendly movies, the three-day event draws more than 60,000 people from around the world to see taped parade floats and a playful tapestry of taped costume creations.
McDonald's and Pizza Hut sponsor "the Chicken Show" in Wayne, Nebraska, which features a "national cluck-off" and the world's largest chicken dance celebration.
In 2016 Pretty Pampers Beauty Essex hosted a charity event that offered affordable and luxurious experiences while raising money for The Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Local spas teamed up to provide steeply discounted services like massages and facials so donors could relax and unwind. Between sessions, guests could shop boutique vendor stalls featuring local clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, and home decor.
Hosting or sponsoring an event can help your business demonstrate its commitment to community involvement, philanthropy, and family fun. Of those local businesses who get involved in a community event, 80% said they were satisfied with the results and many reaped tangible benefits like features in local newspapers, tags in citywide blogs, promotional newsletter highlights, and social media selfies!
Events spread your name in print through T-shirts, prizes, water bottles, and giant displays, and photos of real people in action. This prompts word-of-mouth marketing that simply can't be captured elsewhere. In 2016-2017, companies who used local events saw sales increase by an average of 14 percent.
How can your business get started in spreading some cheer?
Sponsor a charity event or contest, host a sales or promo booth at a community festival, promote an on-site event, or allow your customers to nominate recipients of a "give-back" incentive you sponsor for your city. Sponsorship doesn't always have to be monetary: you can also look for ways to volunteer branded items, free service from your company, or concessions donations for a city-wide festival.
Want to multiply your marketing dollars and make a lasting impact? A micro-market event focus can bring better results and spread the love. When companies support issues they care about, they gain greater trust and loyalty from patrons. And that investment is sure to yield great returns!


text:
1 of 4 people killed in Maine highway collision was pregnant
Crash leaves just one survivor
Police say one of the four people killed in a head-on collision on a highway in northern Maine was pregnant, and the fetus didn't survive, either.Authorities say the crash happened Monday morning when 38-year-old Kimberly Lausier, of Madawaska, tried to pass an 18-wheeler. Her car collided with a vehicle driven by 33-year-old Bobbi-Jo Johnston, of Fort Fairfield.Lausier died. State police spokesman Steve McCausland says she was pregnant, though it's not clear how far along she was.In addition to Lausier, Johnston, her mother and her 2-year-old daughter also died.The only survivor was Lausier's 53-year-old husband, Robert. He was hospitalized with leg injuries that are not considered life-threatening.The crash occurred on Route 161 about 10 miles from the Canadian border. It is still under investigation.
CARIBOU, Maine —
Police say one of the four people killed in a head-on collision on a highway in northern Maine was pregnant, and the fetus didn't survive, either.
Authorities say the crash happened Monday morning when 38-year-old Kimberly Lausier, of Madawaska, tried to pass an 18-wheeler. Her car collided with a vehicle driven by 33-year-old Bobbi-Jo Johnston, of Fort Fairfield.
Lausier died. State police spokesman Steve McCausland says she was pregnant, though it's not clear how far along she was.
In addition to Lausier, Johnston, her mother and her 2-year-old daughter also died.
The only survivor was Lausier's 53-year-old husband, Robert. He was hospitalized with leg injuries that are not considered life-threatening.
The crash occurred on Route 161 about 10 miles from the Canadian border. It is still under investigation.


text:
DELETRA Translations
Linguists
Photo taken at the Football Museum in São Paulo
by Eve Langford
Originally published in the May 2016 issue of the ITI Bulletin
'I am the special one.' It was with these historic words that José Mourinho announced his arrival at Chelsea in 2004. And, despite the turbulence that accompanied his two periods at the London club, he went on to prove that he was nothing less. Any other foreign manager arriving at his first Premier League press conference might have made such an outlandish statement as a result of nerves or a wobbly grasp of English, but not Mourinho. The Portuguese superstar manager started his career in football in translating and interpreting. When he called himself the special one, he meant it.
Mourinho began his career in football humbly enough, playing in the second division in his native Portugal while studying sports science at the Technical University of Lisbon and attending coaching courses in the UK. Already fluent in French, Portuguese, English and Italian, he added Spanish and Catalan to his repertoire while working as Bobby Robson's assistant and interpreter at Barcelona in the early 1990s.Robson's reliance on his interpreter became so absolute that Mourinho was soon acting as the prestigious club's assistant coach. In fact, it was reported at the time that rather than translating Robson's words, Mourinho would add his own opinions and have arguments with journalists. Robson was relying on the young interpreter to prepare reports on the club's opponents, and Mourinho's passion for the sport soon became more of an asset to the English manager than his linguistic skills.Kirsty Heimerl-Moggan, a lecturer in interpreting at UCLAN and an active interpreter for Premier League football clubs in north-west England, believes that Mourinho went against the ethics of interpreting while at Barça. 'Mourinho was totally wrong [to add his own comments to Robson's],' she says. 'By doing that, you are taking away the power of speech from the person you are interpreting for, who is actually trying to express themselves.'
She says the media interest in Premier League footballers makes it even more important for interpreters to be precise in their work. 'Footballers are a vulnerable group without good interpreters. I work for one Premier League footballer who has really good English, but he worries about the press taking any misspoken snippet they can get and turning it into what suits them. When he's interviewed by the press, I interpret for him so it's exactly true to his word and not confused.' Heimerl-Moggan arrived at football interpreting from an academic background in translating and interpreting. She lives right between the Manchester United and Manchester City grounds and just a short drive from Liverpool, meaning she is ideally positioned for Champions League matches. 'I don't think you have to be a big football fan to be a football interpreter,' she says. 'I'm not into football but I know the terminology because I have learnt it through research and educating myself.'
Exciting roles
There are many exciting roles available in translating and interpreting in the world of football. Luciano O. Monteiro is a professional translator working in Brazil, translating English and Spanish for Portuguese readers. His route into football translating was wholly different from that of Mourinho: he studied journalism at university and started working as a reporter before obtaining his degree. After a period of travel, Monteiro started teaching English and took on some small translation assignments.
'Eventually I figured out I liked translation much more than working as a teacher or as a journalist, and then I became a full-time translator in around 2002,' he says. 'I have always been an avid football fan, and I did work as a sports journalist for some time but it was not until about three years into my career as a full-time translator that I realised there was a growing market in football translation. I had the credentials, I had the expertise and I had the love of the game, but before that I had never worked towards becoming a football translator.'
As with music, theatre, fashion or other niches, football translators need to apply different processes to recreate the source text, bearing in the mind the cultural context in which the target will be interpreted. An interesting problem faced by Portuguese writers and translators in particular is the difference between Brazilian and native Portuguese. The language is officially the same in both countries but the Brazilians have developed their own vocabulary for words such as 'season', 'field' and even 'goal'. 'The more jargon-heavy the subject, the greater the differences,' says Monteiro. 'We understand almost everything Cristiano Ronaldo says but he would be the team's laughing stock if he played for Brazil.'
For example, players from Portugal use the word camisola for 'jersey', whereas in Brazil the same word means 'nightgown'. The word balneário means 'locker room' in Portugal, but in Brazil it means a 'seaside resort', or 'spa'. Understandably, Brazilian fans love to hear a journalist from Portugal explain that the soccer players from his homeland are 'headed to the spa in their nightgowns' during half time.
Whole population
'Football is so massive here,' says Monteiro. 'It dwarfs any other sports - unlike in England, where cricket and rugby are also popular. And it encompasses every social segment, so it's as popular with the rich and highly educated as it is with the lower social strata. That means you're writing for a whole population, and this readership is a very demanding one. Even if you're a Brazilian who hasn't spent many years in school, you will spot a translator who's not a football expert. The Brazilian reader of the soccer pages is extremely demanding. He spends hours each day arguing about football with a passion that he will never have for politics, economics or religion.'
Monteiro's football translating career began at the World Cup in 2006, and the quadrennial competition has continued to be a highlight in his working life so far. 'In 2010 I didn't go to South Africa, but I spent most of the competition in the south of France with other FIFA translators and editors, and we developed some real camaraderie during that time,' he says. 'In 2014 the World Cup took place in my backyard, so to tell you the truth I did not work as much as I took a handful of days off to go to the stadiums as a common fan. But in the end, inevitably, work and fun became intertwined and I couldn't tell where one began and the other ended.'
Daniel Lane, 25, graduated in 2014 with a master's in translating and interpreting from the University of Bath. He now works as a freelance interpreter and translator after getting his break into the industry translating press conference transcripts from the 2014 World Cup. Only two years into his career, Lane is already interpreting for on-camera interviews with big-name stars - but he already has his sights set on bigger things.
'I'd love to progress to press conference interpreting,' he says. 'You have to serve your time doing the smaller jobs to earn the trust to be able to go on to those high-profile ones. There have been many occasions when unqualified or inexperienced interpreters have made a fool of themselves on the big stages of football, but I would love to do it and would jump at the chance to work at the big tournaments.'
Unusual challenges
Lane has already enjoyed some unusual challenges while on the job. 'There was one occasion when I was working for a sponsor. I'd just graduated and I was sent to accompany two footballers making fajitas with homeless kids. So there I was, somehow in a situation where I was cooking fajitas with two Premier League footballers, trying to relay instructions about how they wanted the onions and peppers chopped, which was pretty surreal.'
Lane believes his love of football has been a great asset in his career so far. 'My knowledge of the game as a fan absolutely helps my work,' he says. 'Football was the perfect fit for me. When you see an interpreter who doesn't love the game, the translation just doesn't come across naturally, especially if you are relaying a footballer's words. It helps to be familiar with that vocabulary and to be able to put their words into terms that would be familiar for an English football fan. You see so many translations where you can tell straight away that they are translations. Localisation is key - it's not just what someone has said, but embedding it in the target culture.'
In spite of the reputation some footballers have, Lane insists that they are just normal people. 'I was expecting lots of diva moments from the players but the vast majority have struck me as completely normal human beings. You soon get used to the fact that these are people that you see on TV, that you admire - it's just a regular job once you get over the celebrity aspect of it.' However, even if most players are surprisingly down to earth, football will always have its eccentric characters - and there is always room for a special one.
Return to The Deletra Times
DELETRA OÜ
Sepapaja 06, Tallinn 15551, Estonia
Phone: +372 7120200
Email: luciano@deletra.eu


Lumax released a new Lubrication Accessory Kit that holds Lumax's 11 most popular lubrication accessories. The kit allows you to organize and store your lubrication accessories in a convenient storage case. The lubrication accessories are compatible with all standard grease guns, grease pumps and dispensing devices.
LX-1410: Needle Nose Adapter 3/4 in.
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text:
Robert Houde Wines
We are an Illinois-based independent importer and distributor of the finest artisanal wines. Founded in 2009, owned and operated by partners Robert Houde and Mark Hutchens. With 50 years of experience combined, we continue to source unique properties that are characteristic of their origins, and exemplify quality and distinctiveness.
Robert Houde, President
Robert Houde has been in the wine and food business for over twenty-five years. He began his fine dining restaurant career as a server at the then acclaimed Lela B's restaurant in the Crockett Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, in the Fall of 1987. After four years with The Crockett, Robert spent four years with the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, and one year with classic French restaurant Chez Ardid in San Antonio, Texas.
With nine years of fine dining wine and food service under his belt, Robert returned to Chicago to work with world-renowned restaurant Charlie Trotter's. After four intense years with the Charlie Trotter's wine team, he was promoted to head sommelier, and continued in that role for two more years. During his tenure, Robert helped the restaurant achieve The Wine Spectator's award for "America's Best Restaurant," The Wine Spectator's reader's poll award for "Best Restaurant in the World for Wine & Food," as well as the James Beard Award for "Outstanding Restaurant" in 2000.
Robert moved to the wholesale/import side of the wine business in the Winter of 2000, joining Vin Divino Ltd., an importer and distributor of fine Italian and Austrian wines in Chicago, Illinois. Robert handled sales to the top Chicago restaurant and retail accounts, and conducted staff training for both accounts and the sales force. He quickly became a portfolio manager for several top importers locally–Terry Theise Estate Selections, Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Peter Vezan Selections, Torbreck Vintners and World Sake Imports, as well as helping to manage the Vin Divino Austrian portfolio nationally. Robert also helped top Spanish wine importer, Jorge Ordoñez, expand his distribution in Illinois from 2005 to 2011.
In March of 2009, Robert, along with partner Mark Hutchens, launched Robert Houde Wines, LLC, an Illinois-based importer and distributor specializing in artisanal European wines. The company began with 30 small estates from Italy, and now represents over 180 fine wine estates, including the Italian portfolio of Marc de Grazia Selections, the Austrian, German and Grower Champagne portfolio of Terry Theise Estate Selections, the French and Spanish portfolio of Europvin-Christopher Cannan Selections, and several Robert Houde Wines direct imports.
Mark Hutchens, Vice President
Mark Hutchens has worked in nearly all aspects of the wine business beginning in 1989, before he was of legal drinking age. Working his way up from stock boy to retail manager and eventually into distribution, Mark finally ended up in New York as National Sales Manager for Michael Skurnik Wines. His most formative experience came under the mentorship of Terry Theise, with whom Mark spent months each year at origin during his tenure, and continued to represent the wines in different positions around the US before co-founding Robert Houde Wines in 2009.
Although Mark is still considered a specialist in German, Austrian and Champagne wines, he is equally informed and engaged in the wines of Italy, France and Spain. Mark values distinction in wine above all else and considers a wines' strong identity its most important measure of quality. He shares in all the responsibilities at Robert Houde Wines, contributing to the sourcing of the portfolio and managing key accounts in the Chicago area.
Listen to Mark's Interview on
I'll Drink to That!
Liz DiCesare, Director of Operations
© Copyright 2014, Robert Houde Wines, LLC.


text:
package org.spongepowered.common.mixin.core.tileentity;

import static org.spongepowered.api.data.DataQuery.of;

import net.minecraft.potion.Potion;
import net.minecraft.tileentity.TileEntityBeacon;
import org.spongepowered.api.block.tileentity.carrier.Beacon;
import org.spongepowered.api.data.DataContainer;
import org.spongepowered.api.data.DataView;
import org.spongepowered.api.data.manipulator.DataManipulator;
import org.spongepowered.api.util.annotation.NonnullByDefault;
import org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.Mixin;
import org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.Overwrite;
import org.spongepowered.asm.mixin.Shadow;

import java.util.List;

@NonnullByDefault
@Mixin(TileEntityBeacon.class)
public abstract class MixinTileEntityBeacon extends MixinTileEntityLockable implements Beacon {

    @Shadow private int primaryEffect;
    @Shadow private int secondaryEffect;
    @Shadow private int levels;

    @Override
    public int getCompletedLevels() {
        return this.levels < 0 ? 0 : this.levels;
    }

    /**
     * @author gabizou - March 4th, 2016
     *
     * Bypass the vanilla check that sprouted between 1.8 and 1.8.8 such that it
     * prevented any non-vanilla beacon defined potions from being applied
     * to a beacon. This method is used for both setfield and when reading from nbt.
     */
    @Overwrite
    private int func_183001_h(int p_183001_1_) {
        if (p_183001_1_ >= 0 && p_183001_1_ < Potion.potionTypes.length && Potion.potionTypes[p_183001_1_] != null) {
            Potion potion = Potion.potionTypes[p_183001_1_];
            return potion == null ? 0 : p_183001_1_;
        } else {
            return 0;
        }
    }

    @Override
    public DataContainer toContainer() {
        DataContainer container = super.toContainer();
        container.set(of("effect1"), getField(1));
        container.set(of("effect2"), getField(2));
        return container;
    }

    @Override
    public void sendDataToContainer(DataView dataView) {
        dataView.set(of("effect1"), getField(1));
        dataView.set(of("effect2"), getField(2));
    }

    @Override
    public void supplyVanillaManipulators(List<DataManipulator<?, ?>> manipulators) {
        super.supplyVanillaManipulators(manipulators);
        manipulators.add(getBeaconData());
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Popular Science Monthly/Volume 9/August 1876/Our Common Moulds
< Popular Science Monthly | Volume 9 | August 1876
←Voice in Man and in Animals I
Popular Science Monthly Volume 9 August 1876 (1876)
Our Common Moulds by Byron David Halsted
What are Species?→
599238Popular Science Monthly Volume 9 August 1876 — Our Common Moulds1876
OUR COMMON MOULDS.
By BYRON D. HALSTEAD
THE following remarks are from personal observations which have been made from time to time as circumstances would permit. For convenience, the term mould will be extended beyond its narrow technical meaning, and include all those forms of vegetable life which are usually designated by that name. No lengthy argument is needed to prove that mould is of common occurrence. It is a fact well known to every person, from the wholesale provision-dealer down to the hungry child who eats his crust upon the street.
Where these plants do not grow it is difficult to say; but to point out the favorable conditions for their growth and some of the forms which they there assume is an easier task, and to this part of the subject the reader's attention is invited.
Moulds belong to that peculiar parasitic group of plants called Fungi, the members of which never have anything like green leaves, the workshops of higher plants, and are therefore unable to build up their tissue from unorganized matter. They must feed upon that which is already organized, either animal or vegetable, living or dead, as the species will decide.
One of the most essential conditions for the development of these minute fungi is the presence of a good degree of moisture. So well known is this, that to many minds moisture and mould bear to each other nothing less than the relation of cause and effect. A warm atmosphere is also required. In winter the housewife exercises fewer precautions to keep these intruders from her viands than during the warm summer weather. Besides organic matter, moisture, and warmth, a free access of oxygen must be added as an essential condition for the perfect development of moulds.
When the season comes and the soil is ready, the farmer knows he must sow the seed, or he cannot hope to reap a harvest. So it is with the moulds: to the conditions for growth there must be added the germs of life, or no mould will be produced. How this sowing is accomplished will be better seen after some of the species are considered more in detail.
Our common bread is a substance which offers special inducements for the growth of various moulds, and, in order to study them, a slice was taken and placed on a zinc rack on a dinner-plate and covered with a glass bell-jar lined with filtering-paper which dipped into some water in the bottom of the plate, producing thus a moist atmosphere by the evaporation from its extensive surface. This culture
Fig. 1.—Mould Culture.
(Fig. 1), placed in a warm room, secured all the important conditions for the production of a crop of mould. On the bread thus situated a mould made its appearance in about thirty-six hours, and proved to be one of the most common of the bread-moulds (Mucor stolonifer), shown in Fig. 2. When first noticeable, the surface of the bread is covered with a cobweb-like mass of fine white threads, called mycelium, which run in all directions through the tissue of the bread, and perform the work of absorbing nourishment. Soon other and larger threads begin to rise into the air, their tips enlarge, the protoplasmic contents of the threads passing up into the ends, which finally assume a spherical shape. At first these large round heads are of a white color; but soon they begin to grow darker, their contents shaping into little round bodies, which when ripe are dark-colored and fill the capsule to repletion. These little bodies thus produced in vast numbers in the swollen ends of these vertical threads are termed spores, and answer the same purpose for moulds that seeds do for
flowering plants. From the same base several of these capsules are produced, varying in age from threads with their tips little swollen, to the tall and aged ones which have ripened and scattered their spores. This mould has much the habit of the strawberry-plant, throwing out runners or stolons, which take root and in turn become new plants to increase and continue the species. In the culture we have often 6een this mould hanging from the bread on the rack to the plate below, a distance of four or five inches, with here and there the stolons with their fruit-clusters hanging in mid-air (Fig. 1).
The fruiting which has been described is asexual, and the spores thus formed can be likened to the bulbs in the axils of the leaves of the tiger-lily and other reproductive bodies in flowering plants which do not result from a fertilized ovule. Several trials were made to cultivate the sexual fruit of this plant, but without success; another member of the same genus (Mucor Syzygites), which grows on decaying toadstools, produced them under the bell-jar in large quantities. When this plant reaches the proper stage of development for the formation of its sexual fruit, the tips of various filaments become noticeably swollen. Two of such enlarged ends grow toward each other and finally meet by their extremities, or rather by the blending of the processes which each cell puts out, thus forming at first a small cell between the two united filaments. As maturity is reached, this zygospore acquires a diameter much greater than that of the filaments which have produced it, and is many hundred times the size of the spores formed in the capsules. It is also provided with two coats, the outer one thick, dark-colored, and covered with warty excrescences, except on the two ends where the remnants of the conjugated filaments remain. Successive stages in the development of these spores are shown in Fig. 3. At a the two swollen threads are near each other; b, the process partly completed, with the middle cell plainly seen; and c, the full-formed zygaspore, with the remains of the old cells. The importance of these sexual spores in the economy of the plant is not difficult to
Fig. 3.—Zygospores of Mucor Syzygites. De Bary.
understand. The minute asexual spores have a very thin covering, and under favorable conditions will germinate as soon as formed, but on the other hand are readily destroyed by extreme climatic changes. The large, well-protected zygospores which germinate only after months of ripening, are in every way fitted to carry the species through the unpropitious season of winter, times of drought, and severe exposure. When the zygaspore germinates it produces very soon a large crop of capsules, and their little spores are scattered far and wide ready to develop into plants in a few hours, as circumstances shall decide. This dual form of fruiting is an interesting feature in the life of these little plants, and is as effectual in preserving the species as it is interesting.
After upward of a week from the time the Mucor, of which we have been speaking, made its appearance on the bread, another mould was noticed growing-over its surface, which was of a much finer structure and dingy yellow in color. When placed under the microscope, it was found to be peculiar, both in structure and habit of growth. The filament which bears the spores, as it rises from the matted surface of the Mucor, divides into two branches, each of these into two others, and so on, until ten or more branches are reached. The same angle of divergence being preserved in all the branching, the compound top assumes a very regular, semicircular outline, as shown in Fig. 4, a, where the filaments are represented by single lines; the whole of the branch b is a more highly-magnified view of a dark tip at the end of one of the branches in a and at c is shown, on a still higher scale, one of the ultimate branches in b, with the spores arranged in rows of four around the enlarged end; while d is one of those tips after the spores have fallen away.
The reader will please bear in mind that this figure, and all the others, with the single exception of the first one, represent the object as greatly enlarged—the microscope used for most of the work magnifying 650 diameters. An entire plant of the one in question (Piptocephalis Fresœniana) is scarcely visible to the naked eye when prepared on a glass slide for investigation with the microscope.
Fig. 4.—Piptocephalis Fresæniana. De Bary.
That which makes this mould of particular interest is the fact that it is a parasite, and cannot live unless it has some other mould upon which to grow. This easily explains why it does not make its appearance until the Mucor is well established. Here we have a true parasite growing on a saprophyte; or one mould which steals its substance from another which derives its living from the bread. We will not stop to reason upon the matter, or wonder how this strange state of things came about, but will leave the fact as it exists to those who would know the cause of all things both great and small.
There were two or three other members of the Mucor genus which grew on various cultures, but, as they differ only in minor points of structure from the one treated, space will not permit of their being further mentioned.
The bones of a recently-killed dog proved to be very well adapted for the growth of the largest-known species of mould. Those who have a passion for scientific names may call it Phycomyces nitens. It is one of the few moulds which grow on oil or oily substances, and is so filthy in its habits as to flourish in the sewers and cesspools of cities. It is so much like Fig. 2 in structure and manner of fruiting, though many times larger, that it must pass without an illustration.
The pulp of oranges is an especially favorable diet for some of the most delicate moulds. A culture made of it will show decided signs of mouldiness in twenty-four hours, and after thirty-six hours of growth there is a fine crop for study. Those which we have seen on the bread are invariably the first to appear here, though followed in a short time by others, one of the most common of which is given in Fig. 5. At the base a are some mycelial threads which penetrate the tissue of the pulp, and from them, as they come to the surface, arise the fruit-stalks which branch near the top into a loose head with the spore capsules borne on the ends of the branches. At c is one of the Sporangia more highly magnified, showing the spores to be larger and few in number as compared with the Mucor. This species is a member of the same family with those already mentioned, and has its similar zygaspores.
Fig. 5.Fig. 6.
Corn-starch pudding, when placed in a bell-jar, remained unchanged until the fourth week, when its surface became coated with a peculiar yellow-colored substance, and a day or so after black specks began to appear. When viewed with the microscope, this mould exhibited the structure seen in Fig. 6. There arises from the unbranched and imbedded filaments a very much swollen end (a and b) filled with protoplasm, yellow globules of oil, and crystals (d). As this end increases in size, a contraction takes place near the upper end, and soon a distinct spore capsule is formed of the end thus separated. When the plant is ripe a black elastic coat covers the spore-case, which slips partly off when the spores are discharged from below. There are several species growing on various substances, which have the general structure of Fig. 6.
We now come to the most common of all the members of the group of moulds: the blue mould of cheese, bread, and almost every article of food. In its diet, it does not confine itself to those things found in a well-stocked pantry, but will flourish on old boots and other articles of clothing when they are left for a few days in a warm, damp place. No culture was made without its making its appearance, and often to the exclusion of all other forms. It is quite small, never reaching but a very short distance from the substance on which it grows, and under favorable circumstances forms an even blue crust over the surface of the nourishing material whether boots or bread. The structure of this frequent and often unexpected and unwelcome visitor is given in Fig. 7. Two fully-developed fruit-stalks are seen at a and b, branching
Fig. 7.—Penicillium crustaceum. Fr.
irregularly at the top, and bearing the naked spores in chains at the ends of the filaments. At c is a young stalk before the spores have formed from the threads, which is done by a constriction, a familiar but perhaps rude illustration of which is seen in the making of the links of sausage. As the spores fall away, new ones are formed below, and so the process of producing these simplest of reproductive bodies is indefinitely continued. At the base d are the threads which penetrate the nourishing substance, on some of which are formed, as the result of sexual action, spherical bodies which inclose the more enduring sexual spores. From this method of forming subterranean fruit this little mould is a close relative to the truffle so highly prized for food.
With the spores of this mould repeated sowings have been made, with gratifying results. When a slice of fresh bread was placed in the bell-jar and certain marked places were sprinkled with spores by means of a pair of forceps, in the course of twenty-six hours those spots sown were covered with the young mould, while all other places were entirely free from it. In one case a fresh slice of bread was wrapped in a piece of paper, with the exception of a star-shaped figure cut from the paper, which came in the middle of the slice. Over the whole a slice of mouldy bread was shaken so gently that no spores were seen to fall; the paper was then carefully removed, and the bread placed under the bell-jar. After the usual time a fine star of blue mould made its appearance, soon spreading over the whole of the bread. One could as easily write his name in mould on bread as with clover-seed upon the soil, though it would not be as enduring an inscription.
It seems difficult for some people to see how the spores of these various moulds can exist almost everywhere, ready to grow when the first opportunity offers itself. With the hope of making this matter appear clearer, the following calculations have been carefully made: The blue mould (Penicillium crustaceum) is very favorable for the estimation of the number of spores produced, as the heads are quite open, and the spores are naked and distinct.
Fig. 8.—Tricothesium roseum. Fr.
A piece of decaying apple was selected, because the mould can be removed from that portion covered with the smooth skin without being mixed with foreign matter. When the mould was still young and no spores had fallen away, it was viewed with the high power of the microscope. There were usually twenty filaments to each head, and twenty spores on a filament, or 4,000 spores to a head or single stalk. A small tuft was then carefully taken from the apple, and placed on a glass slide, and its area measured with the micrometer, and the number of fruit-stalks it contained determined. The surface was 1/100 of an inch square, and the number of stalks 800. As the square inch is a familiar unit of measurement, the estimate made for that small extent of surface gives 3,200,000,000 spores. It is a well-known fact that not only inches, but feet, and even acres of this mould are produced, and the number of spores for daily use must be perfectly appalling. They are light, airy, and invisible to the naked eye and therefore escape our notice; were they female mosquitoes, we would realize their nearness and number. With such multitudes of germs produced we need not wonder that the sowing for moulds should be natural and complete. The light which the microscope throws upon this subject makes it unnecessary to resort to "spontaneous generation" to account for the almost certain growth of mould when the proper conditions are combined.
Fig. 9.—Peziza Fucheliana. De Bary.
When a slice of bread which has been thoroughly overrun by the Penicillium is left under the bell-jar, another mould almost invariably comes, covering the blue surface with a rose-colored coat. The asexual spores and their method of formation are given in Fig. 8. It will be observed that the fruit-stalks are unbranched, the spores when mature always double, and arranged on the stalks in whorls. The development is from below upward: a showing an old stalk with the youngest spores nearly ripe, and some of the older ones gone from their attachments; at b is a younger stalk, where the older whorls are complete and the upper ones small and indistinguishable; c is a more enlarged view of a cluster of ripe spores. After this mould, which is of slow growth, has run its course, the bread seldom produces any other forms, and for further study a new culture must be made.
In Fig. 9 is given a mould which makes its home on decaying herbage, and is found to perfection in old waste-heaps where weeds and other green matter have been deposited. So common is it, that a culture is more a matter of convenience than necessity. The fruit-stalks are upright, considerably branched at the top, with the spores borne in bunches at the ends of the filament. At a is a much enlarged view of one of these naked heads of spores, and another where the spores have mostly fallen away. As the fruit-stalks grow old they break down in every way, giving the appearance of a forest over which a tempest has passed.
Of the black moulds Fig. 10 shows a common and very simple representation. It grew as a sooty coating on a culture made of sliced raw potatoes. It is so very simple that any space taken for description seems unnecessary. The black spores are nothing more than portions of single or branched filaments cut off in a very regular manner.
Fig. 10.Fig 11.
In Fig. 11 is given the general structure of a large number of related moulds which grow wherever they can get a foothold. The drawing was made from one found on some turnip-roots left upon the ground over winter. Like many others, it forms an olive-brown, velvety coating of considerable thickness; and, because of their low habits and inobtrusive nature, they pass readily for dirt or decay, and are seldom noticed. They are the lowly forms which some of the highest of the fungi assume in passing through one stage of their polymorphic existence.
A score of other species of moulds deserve mention here which are found on various substances either forced under the bell-jar, or growing naturally; but we know how unattractive such descriptions would be without accompanying figures, and therefore pass them by.
For the last place in this brief enumeration we have reserved one of the most common of household moulds. It is the prince of moulds, and claims relationship with the most perfect and beautiful of fungi. In diet it is something of an epicure, and may well be called the cake and preserve mould,.and on those substances the best results are always obtained when used for its culture. Though preferring its cake and preserves, it was induced to grow on a tempting dish of stewed prunes, which afterward furnished the substance for its culture.
To the naked eye this mould at first appears as white patches; soon stalks rise from the surface, and on the end of each a small spherical head is borne, which increases in size and turns to a bluish color, so that when this mould is ripe the surface of the nourishing substance does not differ greatly in color from the Penicillium on the bread, though this mould is much taller and more inclined to grow in tufts. Under the microscope the tip of a very young filament which is to form a head of spores is seen to be perfectly smooth and similar to those in the Mucor, but very soon small peg-like projections begin to grow from its surface, which increase in size and finally divide, forming radiating rows of spores.
Fig. 12.—Eurotium Aspergillus glaucus. De Bary.Fig. 13.
Various stages in the development of the asexual fruiting of this mould are shown in Fig. 12, a, a, with a view of an imaginary cross-section through one of these heads highly magnified in b, giving the method of attachment of the spore-threads.
Shortly after the heads have formed, the sexual fruit begins to develop on the mycelium at the base of the fruit-stalks. The method is more complicated than in any of the moulds already given, and places this plant among the most highly developed of fungi. The process begins with the coiling of the end of a thread in a corkscrew manner as seen in c and d (Fig. 13). The coils grow closer together as the filament increases in size, until a hollow cylinder is formed. From the same threads below the base of the coil one or more processes grow out which are the male organs, and, where one of these threads reaches the tip of the female coiled filament, that organ is fertilized. From this time on, this body undergoes various and complicated changes, which finally result in a bright-yellow spherical body (Fig. 13, f), which consists of a thin wall inclosing a large number of sacs, g, each of which contains eight spores.
To find all these various stages of development is a matter of some time and patience; but nothing is more satisfactory in the study of moulds than to trace all these steps, from the first bending of the filament to the perfect sphere with its multitude of spores.
For a long time these two forms of fruit in the Aspergillus were considered as belonging to distinct and widely-separated species, but, when the microscope shows that they are produced from the same mycelium, it is time to conclude that they are but two methods of continuing the same species.
Space forbids further details concerning our common moulds; but it is hoped enough has been said to show that among them the species are distinct. The tiny forests which the microscope reveals are made up of forms as decided as those which compose our woodlands and groves. In closing, the reader expects an answer to the question which very naturally arises, viz., "What good do they do?" Though often of great annoyance in domestic and other affairs, yet all in all it is safe to say the good they accomplish far overbalances the harm. They are scavengers which do in their own inobtrusive way a vast amount of sanitary work. Though small in themselves, they are great reducing agents, striving to bring about that equilibrium so necessary to perfect harmony in the organic world. They hasten decay, tear down the accumulating rubbish around us, and allow the elements thus liberated to pass again into the cycle of ceaseless activity and growth.
To the thoughtful mind moulds do not simply excite wonder or disgust, but teach a deeper lesson of adaptation and service of little things, in the perfect and economical scheme of creation.
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Last edited on 2 October 2018, at 08:21


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Ijayo
Iliyopita
Kerry in Saudi Arabia to Discuss Yemen Crisis
6 Mei, 2015
Secretary of State Kerry Meets With Djibouti President, FM
RELATED VIDEO: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with youth at a mosque in Djibouti, Djibouti
DJIBOUTI, DJIBOUTI —
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said talks about a "humanitarian pause" in Yemen would be a focal point of his meetings Wednesday with Saudi officials.
Kerry said that while in Riyadh, he would discuss the nature of a pause and how it might be implemented.
The secretary of state spoke from Djibouti, where he held meetings with President Ismail Omar Guelleh and other officials. Kerry said Somalia and Yemen's unrest were among the issues they discussed.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, and Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh shake hands at the Presidential Palace in Dijbouti, Dijbouti, May 6, 2015.
Djibouti has played a key role in hosting Americans and other foreigners fleeing from violence in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels who have taken control of some parts of the country.
Kerry said there are indications that parties involved in Yemen's conflict are ready to consider a humanitarian pause.
"In my conversation yesterday with another foreign minister from another country, there was an indication that others, the Houthi, might be willing to engage in a pause," he said.
Kerry made his remarks during a joint appearance with Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf.
US aid to Yemen
During the appearance, he also announced the U.S. would provide another $68 million in humanitarian assistance to Yemen. The money will be used to provide food, water, shelter, medical care and other aid.
"Millions of vulnerable people urgently need help," the secretary said.
The State Department said the money would help humanitarian organizations, which have been hampered by fuel shortages in the country, meet the needs of nearly 16 million people in Yemen affected by the country's crisis, including about 300,000 who have been internally displaced.
Ahead of Kerry's arrival in Djibouti, a senior State Department official said more than 500 American citizens evacuated from Yemen had come through Djibouti, along with an equal number of family members. The official said the number of foreigners leaving Yemen has been "steady."
Kerry thanked Guelleh and Youssouf for their assistance to Americans who sought refuge from the violence in Yemen.
In an interview with VOA's Somali service, Guelleh said the discussions with Kerry "went very well" and focused on bilateral cooperation as well as regional issues that included terrorism and piracy. He commended U.S. support to governments in the region.
Guelleh also asked Kerry to put increased effort into establishing a national army from all regions of Somalia with good training that would be ready when African Union troops leave Somalia. Otherwise, he said, "our efforts and your efforts will be incomplete."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with young people at Salman Mosque in Djibouti, Djibouti, May 6, 2015.
In addition to meeting with Djibouti officials, Kerry visited a mosque, where he talked to young people, including some who participated in the U.S.-organized Young African Leadership Initiative fellowship program.
He also met with U.S. service members at Camp Lemonnier. The U.S. base with about 4,500 personnel serves as a hub for U.S. military efforts in the Horn of Africa.
Kerry traveled to Djibouti from Kenya, where he met with the country's political leaders and civil society members. He made a side trip to Somalia on Tuesday, becoming the first sitting U.S. secretary of state to visit the country.
After Kerry wraps up his visit to Saudi Arabia, he will travel to Paris to meet with Gulf Cooperation Council members to discuss security and regional cooperation.


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Self-storage operators are seeing brisk business amid the COVID-19 pandemic
By George A. Allen on	 December 5, 2021 Industrial Facilities
SINGAPORE: Self-storage providers are experiencing a boom in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and some are already expanding their activities in Singapore.
Inquiries and occupancy rates for these spaces, which people and companies rent to store personal items or inventory, have skyrocketed, five vendors told CNA.
More and more people are realizing that they need extra space at home for remote work and new hobbies, according to providers. Demand is also increasing from companies rethinking office space requirements or stocking up on goods to protect themselves from supply chain disruptions.
However, demand plummeted during the "breaker" in Singapore last year. Lock + Store executive director Helen Ng said inquiries fell 90 percent between April and June last year.
But shortly after the country left the lockdown, things picked up again. Inquiries from private individuals have increased by 30 percent and from companies by 20 percent – a third of those individuals and half of these companies ended up using storage space, Ms. Ng said.
Lock + Store, with 12 locations across Singapore, has expanded capacity in three popular locations.
StorHub Self Storage, which was the first of its kind in 2003, said its revenue has grown more than 35 percent since early 2020, along with a 110 percent increase in inquiries. This year two new locations opened and the number of facilities in Singapore increased to 13.
COVID-19 has "changed the rules of the game," said Luigi La Tona, CEO of the Singapore company. "People used to see self-storage as a nice accessory. It is a must now. "
Work + Store, which opened its tenth warehouse here in August, said occupancy by individuals and businesses has increased 10 and 50 percent, respectively, compared to the days leading up to the pandemic.
At Extra Space Asia, inquiries and usage have increased by around 30 to 40 percent since the beginning of last year, with demand from companies being "slightly higher". Overall occupancy at its 11 locations is now 93 percent, up from 87 percent in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
"The pandemic has not affected our business as storage is vital to many, be it for personal or business use, although the reasons for the need for storage have changed slightly," said CEO Kenneth Worsdale.


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New ACS Secretary General to deliver inaugural Reparations lecture in St. Lucia
Don Rojas | August 14, 2016 | Caricom News | Tagged St. Lucia
ACS Secretary General Dr. June Soomer
Saint Lucia will take the reparations message to the rest of the Caribbean on August 17th, the anniversary of Marcus Garvey's birthday, when one of its foremost scholars will deliver an inaugural lecture in an educational series to be launched at the Open Campus of the University of the West Indies.
The new Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Ambassador Dr. June Soomer will deliver a live public lecture on the topic The Reparations Movement: "A Collection of Racial Justice Activists Marching to the Beat of Their Own Drum."
A former Saint Lucia Ambassador to CARICOM and the OECS, Dr Soomer is expected to draw the link between Slavery and Emancipation, Marcus Garvey and his struggle for Repatriation.
She is also expected to explain why it is important for Saint Lucians and all Caribbean people to support and carry on the CARICOM quest for Reparations for Britain, France and other European states for Slavery and Native Genocide in the Caribbean.
A former student and lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Ambassador Soomer was also responsible for Saint Lucia's Regional Integration and Diaspora Affairs before being selected to head the Trinidad & Tobago-based ACS.
Dr Soomer, who has already taken up her new post, is also a former founding member of the Saint Lucia National Reparations Committee (NRC).
The Saint Lucia lecture will be the first by the prominent Saint Lucian lady envoy in her new post.


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I'm always curious about how we select images when it comes to portraits of people we photograph. Here I have selected four out of eight images from a very quick little street portrait session. Each one has its own elements and feelings on its own, slight differences have occurred between the press of the shutter. In context of the person, he is sitting on the side of the footpath having a break in between work. You can see that in the first image, he's a little surprised and looks slightly defensive. Outside of the frame, his work colleagues start to laugh at the scene developing between the photographer and the subject. In the second picture the man has crossed his arms, third picture he starts to smile a little but still a little embarrassed at the attention he is getting. The last picture he puts his head down. The whole scenario lasted less than ten seconds and then it was finished.
Each image is worthy in its own outright and speaks its own words. Yet I often think about the dilemmas in representation and portrayal of the people we photograph. Why do we choose a particular image over the other.
When I am teaching photography in Chinatown, I talk a lot to my students about the beautiful mistake. The beautiful mistake is the un-intentional result through the intentional action of being loose with your exposures and loose with your shooting style. It can come in many ways, one is by frustration and failure of a process, the other is by abandoning the constraints that may inhibit your creative process and freeing your self of a particular criteria set that you place on your expectations about what it is you are trying to capture.
Below is a picture I took from the impressive and awe inspiring Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar. I've been to Yangon over 10 times and I had intentionally not visited the pagoda. The main reason is I prefer some kind of serendipity to lead me to a place, some random event to lead me into a place of unknown and not to intentionally go to one particular place. In this case, I was more eager to explore the surrounds of Yangon city first. To get lost in the streets and smells, the visual and aural allure and chaos - the assault of the senses. While doing this, the assault began to temper and to form a relationship with me. It was then that I could start to embrace the subtlety and discard the raw feelings I was experiencing. To feel I was becoming closer and clearer to the source of the inspiration.
So when I was asked by a friend who I was travelling with to go visit the Shwedagon Pagoda this October, It seemed the right time. The unscheduled, unplanned request was perfect in timing and mood on a balmy Sunday afternoon in Yangon.
Arriving at the Shwedagon is one of the most awe inspiring experiences one can have when visiting any place of worship. The feeling goes beyond the physical structure of the place - it goes into the people also. I felt overwhelmed and ill-equipped to find a way to photograph and portray such a structure. So I sat down on the marbled smooth cool floor for a couple of hours, watching the people, feeling the serenity and calmness of the surroundings while offerings were made. As the afternoon waned into evening, the incense smoke filled the air and burnt the nostrils, I watched families, young teenagers, tourists and monks walking the three clock-wise circles of the pagoda. I had walked around the pagoda and taken a few pictures but felt that I was not able to capture a sense of feeling of place. I decided to sit beside the stream of worshippers and watched them drift along. By that stage the moon was upon us and a beautiful atmosphere laid bare to all. In some frustration, I started to just shoot from my sitting position using a slow shutter and just have fun and relax. It was this moment the picture appeared. The expanding energy emitting from the centre of the pagoda, the physical structure and the physical bodies blending into each other and stretching time and space. Here and now, I was, in the moment finding my expression from the beautiful mistake.
Take a boat ride on the remote upper reaches of the Chindwin River and photograph gold panners, logging camps, fishermen and tracts of virgin forest along the way.