Do Full Moons Cause More Seizures In Epileptic Dogs And Cats?
Most of us have been told tales of lunar lunacy where bad or crazy things tend to happen in great frequency when the moon is in its full moon part of its cycle and animals and people tend to act weird. This belief has some parents taking care to tell their kids to exercise extra caution because of a full moon and spawned the birth of legends like the werewolf. The question is, however, is there some truth to the full moon exerting some kind of physical or psychological influence on animals?
As a past emergency and critical care veterinarianin New York, I saw wild and crazy things just about every night regardless of the lunar cycle. Although I did not take the time study or even casually pay attention whether there was an increase in accidents or epileptic seizures during the full moon phase, I cannot say that I ever observed a disproportionate incidence of emergencies during the full moon phase.
That stated, the conversation about an increase in seizures specifically in dogs and cats that lived with conditions like epilepsy that predisposed them to seizures was taken seriously enough that veterinary neurologists decided to study the possibility of this potential phenomenon. Veterinary neurologists Laura Stainbach and Leveque subsequently conducted a retroactive study of 211 epileptic dogs and cats from 2000-2008.
The results of their study proved conclusively that there is no correlation between the full moon phase of the lunar cycle and increased seizure activity in these dogs and cats. As much as many believe that the full moon produces physiological and psychological changes that trigger illness and odd behavior, at least in the case of seizures, any link to an increase in seizure activity during a full moon is little more than medical urban legend.
Next PostWhat Is It About Thunderstorms That Causes So Much Fear And Anxiety In Some Dogs?


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HOME BIO MUSIC Shows CV VIDEOS PODCAST Newsletter Inquiries
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Abdu Ali is an avant-garde electronic music artist, writer, and curator based in Baltimore whose work is an idiosyncratic blend of punk, jazz, Baltimore club music, and rap. Their work is a yielding poetic uprise that often interrogate ideas of identity as well as narrate and promote liberation from oppressive ideologies and systems. Unapologetically black and queer, Abdu Ali's work is bold, raw, and most importantly life-affirming.
Ali, is also the founder of Kahlon, an iconic underground party that radicalized the artistic climate and made space for marginalized musicians in Baltimore. Ali ended Kahlon in 2017 and created drumBOOTY: a curatorial platform that prioritizes social dialogue via podcasting & interdisciplinary public events in order to nourish black creativity & thought. Abdu has writing published in Niijournal, Art Papers, Afropunk, and more. Through their work as a writer and curator, Ali has been elected as a radical Baltimore cultural figure.
Abdu has done several tours across the U.S. and Europe, and through their energetic visceral performances, spiritualizing audiences, they have been anointed as a cosmic, punk, and soulful tempest on stage. They have shared stages with notable music acts like the Sun Ra Arkestra, JPEGMAFIA, Milo, Mykki Blanco, Dan Deacon, Lower Dens, Blaqstarr, FKA TWIGS, and has been covered internationally by the NY Times, Complex, AfroPunk, Saint Heron, Noisey, The Fader, Mask Magazine, Subbacultcha, Les InRocks, Tracks Arte TV, and many more.
Mx. Ali's spiritual lyrics ("I am the universe's mother, father, sister, brother, cousin, daughter, son / Am I the Holy Spirit? Who Am I?") transform performances into sermons of sorts, which draw on a Methodist upbringing but allow audience members to meditate and feel as close to whatever one may define as God. - New York Times
Abdu Ali, breakout star of what might be called Baltimore club music's fourth
wave. — THE FADER
Ali spits with deep, deity-like vocal effects...while mind-bending synths add to
the dystopian feel of it all. — NOISEY
Abdu Ali is challenging the stereotypes in the rap community. — NOW THIS ENT

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Add depth and sparkle to your Living Locket® with this 20-piece Deep Blues Swarovski® Crystals Stardust Pack. This stunning combination of deep- blue- tone Crystals will add inspiring dimension to every look.
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ORIGINAL POST......While thumbing through a recent issue of The Art Newspaper and turned the page to see Arab with Jug by Irma Stern, I was instantaneously and completely awestruck by this painting. I was blown away by the way you can immediately sense the entire life of the man portrayed. Every aspect of the painting—palette, brush strokes, facial expression environment—adds to feeling and understanding the life presented.
"An acrylic 'skin' is a dry acrylic film that can be made of paint, medium or a combination of paint and medium, that is not attached to any substrate," Golden Artist Colors, Inc. provided this definition in the most recent edition of its newsletter, JustPaint.org. And although it's sometimes too obvious that the primary purpose of the newsletter is to market Golden products, Golden also provides a lot of worthwhile information about the painting techniques. This specific article was a how-to for making these very cool, very versatile films using acrylic paints. All the materials needed and basic steps are presented.
I've been interested in this technique ever since I first saw works that incorporated it. I had some general thoughts on how the effect was produced but I wasn't sure on the process. Now Just Paint lays out the steps in an easy-to-follow guide and the usual practice makes perfect mantra. I definitely think this effect will work well with my style of art. I hope I have the patience to develop some level of proficiency.
If you want to know what can be done with acrylic skins in the hands of a master, check out the work of Erik Benson. His urban scenes and cityscapes are absolutely incredible. I have no doubt that his process, not to mention his skill and artistry, take the process presented on JustPaint.org to the ultimate level.
In a September 20th editorial for Artsy, Isaac Kaplan expresses concerns for the merit merit, or lack thereof, of the $150 million staircase sculpture which will be built and displayed in the Hudson Yards area of New York City. He makes several worthwhile statements disputing the merit of the 14-story, 2,500-stair piece, and the glaring contradiction in the artist's comments that the sculpture serves no commercial purpose, instead it is only for public use and enjoyment. The reason these remarked are self-contradicting that the entire project is being funded by a private real estate firm. And the fact that the real estate firm is developing a luxury complex adjacent to the site of the sculpture.
I am completely in board with what Mr. Kaplan is saying about the sculpture. Any project of this magnitude that is entirely privately funded by one firm definitely has a commercial purpose. Why else would the real estate firm make such a sizable investment. It's a calculated business decision with a favorable bottom line as its end game. However, I do take some comfort in the knowledge that public funds--ultimately taxpayers dollars--are not gong to be used for this project.
In its September issue, The Art Newspaper ran an article revealing the name of the recipient of Van Gogh's severed ear. Too young to be a registered prostitute, Gabrielle Berlatier was a maid at the brothel that inspired Van Gogh's painting, The Night Cafe. Although the details are sketchy it seems that Van Gogh gave the girl his ear as some type of sympathetic gesture because her ear was bitten by a rabid dog and had to be cauterized, leaving 18-year-old Gabrielle permanently scarred. Both the dog bite and the incident with Van Gogh's ear happened in 1888, but the girl's name and the details of the incident remained a mystery for decades. Almost 50 years later, a 1936 newspaper article revealed her first name but no other details. That's until last July when a book devoted to the topic was published.
Talk about having a bad year! That poor woman! Van Gogh is one of my favorite painters but I never understood the whole self-mutilation thing. Now, thanks to The Art Newspaper, I at least have more facts about the incident.
Although I whole-heartedly agree with Matisse's statement, it also causes me some anxiety. Now that I've said that out loud, I feel some added pressure to produce artwork that can live but to all the statement contends. I consider this the ultimate goal for an artist regardless of subject, media or skill level.


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Elmo Harold Langley (August 21, 1928 – November 21, 1996) was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number 64 on his race cars during his NASCAR career.

Racing career
Langley began his racing career racing modified cars in Virginia and Maryland in 1952. Langley came into NASCAR as a Driver/Owner in 1954. In 1966 he partnered with Henry Woodfield and created Langley-Woodfield Racing.  That same year Langley won the only two races of his long career.  After the second race of the 1969 season, Langley and Woodfield split and Langley continued to run the team on his own returning to the driver/owner role.

Langley finished 5th in season points in 1969 and 1971, 6th in 1968 and 1970, 7th in 1972, 8th in 1975, and 9th in 1967 and 1973. His final full season was as a driver for Langley Racing in 1975.

He continued to drive in a few select races until 1981 when he hung up the helmet for good.  Langley began to field his familiar #64 for other drivers to develop their career including Tommy Gale, Joe Millikan, Jimmy Hensley and Ken Schrader. Langley shut down his team after the 1987 season.

On April 15, 1988, Langley was named as the crew chief for Cale Yarborough and Dale Jarrett with his duties in effect after that year's First Union 400 where he attended as an observer.

Elmo's very last race was the Battle of the NASCAR Legends race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1991. The race featured such drivers as Cale Yarborough, Junior Johnson, Pete Hamilton, and Donnie Allison. The winner was Langley, beating Yarborough to the line by about 3 feet on the last lap.

From April 1989 through November 1996, Langley served as the official pace car driver for all Winston Cup events. Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace were well known to bump and draft his car during pace laps.

Personal life
Langley was married to Nancy and had four sons; Elmo Jr., Raymond, William and Steven. He lived in Harrisburg, North Carolina.

Death
On November 21, 1996, Langley was in Suzuka, Japan to drive the pace car in the NASCAR Thunder Special Suzuka exhibition race which was held on November 24. During a test drive, he began to experience chest pains. He was subsequently taken to the Suzuka General Hospital where he was pronounced dead when his heart stopped beating before arrival. NASCAR legend and TBS Superstation analyst Buddy Baker was in the pace car at the time Langley suffered his heart attack, and was one of the last people to see Langley still alive.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Grand National Series

Winston Cup Series

Daytona 500

References

External links

Photo and Biography

1928 births
1996 deaths
Burials in North Carolina
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Landover, Maryland
Racing drivers from Maryland
People from Harrisburg, North Carolina

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Articles "Symbols In Dairy Goat Breeding" Article Index
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SYMBOLS IN DAIRY GOAT BREEDING
By: "Goat Handbook, United States, 1992"
Original Document: Web Site
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1) AR -- Advanced Registry
AR is an abbreviation for Advanced Registry. The Advanced Registry is a special section of records kept for those does who have met minimum requirements for production of milk and/or butterfat for their age while on test under official supervision, and bucks who have sired daughters meeting such minimum requirements. These requirements are based on lactations of 305 days or less and begin with a base of 1500 lbs of milk and/or 52.5 lbs of butterfat for does freshening at age 2 years or less. For every day the doe exceeds 2 years of age at the time of kidding, up to the time she becomes 5 years of age, the requirement is increased by 0.2 lb of milk and 0.007 lb of butterfat. At the age of 5 years or more, a doe must produce 1719 lbs of milk and/or 60 lbs of butterfat in the 305 days or less.
For bucks the special AR record section is reserved for those who have sired at least three daughters by three different dams who have met their Advanced Registry requirements as listed above. They are known as Advanced Registry herdsires. There is also a unique provision whereby a buck may become an Advanced Registry herdsire if two of his sons have qualified to be Advanced Registry herdsires or if he has sired one son and two daughters who are Advanced Registry.
Usually the symbol AR has something following. It may be a number such as AR17 which when found with a doe's name would indicate that, at the time this registry certificate or pedigree was made out, her last record would be found in Volume 17 of the ADGA Yearbook. When found with a buck's name it would indicate that, at the time the registry certificate or pedigree was made out, the record for the last daughter or son to make Advanced Registry would be found in Volume 17 of the ADGA Yearbook. (The ADGA Yearbook is the annually published volume of production records and show awards for a given year.) Looking in the Yearbook will show the actual age at freshening, number of days milked, pounds of milk produced and pounds of butterfat actually produced. This record may have listed a former Yearbook number, say AR16, where a previous record was published. This keying to previous Yearbooks will continue back to the first official record made by the doe or, in the case of a buck, the first volume published after at least three of his daughters or two of his sons or a combination of daughters and sons made AR.
On some pedigrees the abbreviation AR may be followed with the actual record, so the information is available at a glance. It might look like this:
AR14270:6-2 282-2600-96 (3.7)
-- AR14270 is the Advanced Registry record number. Each qualifying record will have a new number.
-- 6-2 means the doe was 6 years and 2 months old at the start of this particular lactation record.
-- 282 indicates the total number of days milked in the lactation. (Note that in this case less than the usual 305 days.) Years ago records of 365 days or even longer were assigned their own record number providing a qualifying 305 day record had been made in the first 305 days.
-- 2600 is the actual pounds of milk produced in this 282-day lactation.
-- 96 is the actual pounds of butterfat produced in this 282-day lactation.
-- 3.7 0s the average percentage of butterfat in the milk during the lactation.
5) * -- Stars
The star designation (*) briefly means there are official records that can be looked up either on the animal itself or its immediate ancestors. A buck obtains one star by virtue of having:
1) a dam who has at least one official production test record that meets minimum production requirements for both milk and butterfat for her age when tested or is a star milker, and
2) has a sire who is an Advanced Registry herdsire, a star buck, a + buck, or has a dam who has met minimum requirements for milk and butterfat in at least one lactation. Stars in themselves are never a sufficient indicator of an animal's worth but are extremely useful as a quick guide to those animals with production records on themselves or their ancestry that can be looked up.
There are several ways in which a doe is entitled to have a star (*) suffix following her name. The most common one is to be an Advanced Registry doe as outlined earlier. The second most common way is to qualify as a star milker at a recognized official milking competition.
An Advanced Registry test requires a once-a-month visit year-round by an official tester to weigh and sample the milk.
A milking competition utilizes a single day's production to estimate an animal's producing ability.
Naturally, the Advanced Registry lactation record is one of more value, but because the production requirements for a one-day star milker test are so high, usually only quite deserving does can secure a star in this way. The testing supervisor will check at one milking to be sure the does are milked out dry and will then weigh and sample the milk at ++++MISSING DATA++++
10) +Plus Bucks
While a buck can get a star on the basis of his parentage, the plus (+) prefix before his name is always earned by siring worthy offspring. The usual way is to have sired at least three daughters by three different dams who have qualified as Advanced Registry or Star Milkers. He may also earn the +B prefix by having two sons who are Advanced Registry Herdsires. A +B buck is always an Advanced Registry Herdsire. If he qualifies by having both three qualifying daughters and two qualifying sons he is entitled to the + +B prefix. A buck may have a total of only one star (*) and two pluses (++) before his name which looks like this: ++*B. There is no such thing as a 5-star buck!
If a buck has a prefix of ++*B it means he has at least three daughters (from different dams) who are AR or Star Milkers, two sons who are AR Herdsires, and parentage with qualifying production records. Since both ancestry and progeny have been proven desirable for production, such a buck can be considered a valuable asset in a breeding program.
12) Lifetime Production Records
As official production testing has become more widespread and the dairy goat industry grows up, the emphasis on lifetime production becomes ever more important. Even as it is recognized that a complete lactation record is of more importance than a single day test, it is recognized that a summary of all lactation records in the life of a doe is the most important. In making such a summary the actual production records of every lactation in the life of the doe are added together regardless of length and regardless of whether AR requirements are met in every lactation. The result is summarized by stating the actual number of days milked, the total pounds of milk and total pounds of butterfat produced. Often the average percent of butterfat is stated since the importance of having an adequate butterfat test is very important. Here is an actual lifetime production of a real doe to give an idea of what should be included: 3,480 days 18,006 lb milk - 664 lb fat (3.7).
13) CH Permanent Champions
While classification scores are now of much more value than show wins in determining outstanding type, in earlier days the use of show wins was the best indication of demonstrated good type. A system was devised whereby an animal winning Grand Champion at three or more different shows with at least 10 animals of its breed shown by at least two exhibitors could win with designation of permanent Champion (CH).
While there were and are many other rules involved such as having at least two judges, two wins with at least eight milkers, allowance for Reserve Grand Championship wins, and the like, the three wins are basic necessities. Of course, at large shows with perhaps 100 head of the breed in competition, the championship is usually worth more than at a small show of 10 or 12 head. However, no satisfactory method of show size recognition has been approved. At any rate, the three wins make an animal a permanent champion and the prefix CH is placed before its name. If a doe holds an Advanced Registry or Star designation her prefix shall be GCH. If a buck is an Advanced Registry Herdsire his prefix shall also be GCH.
15) Classification Symbols
Official classification scores are now appearing on registry certificates, and, since all classified herds are allowed and encouraged to use their scores on pedigrees and in advertising, it seems worthwhile to present a brief summary of the most important designations.
In classification each animal is compared with the ideal of that breed, sex, and age and are given numerical scores in General Appearance, Dairy Character, Body Capacity, and, in does, Mammary System. The scores indicate the percentage of ideal the animal is. Along with this, an overall score is given. This overall score is computed on the basis of allowing 30 2256834976225877000000000000000000000
Dairy Character, 20 2256834976225877000000000000000000000000000000000000000
bucks 45 2.256835E+199eneral Appearance, 30Dairy Character, and 25Body Capacity).
The following table shows the numerical score and abbreviations used in each breakdown:
(E) Excellent 90 or more
(V) Very Good 80 to 89
(+) Good Plus 70 to 79
(G) Good 60 to 69
(F) Fair 50 to 59
(P) Poor Below 50
Also used is a series of numbers showing the relative excellence or deficiencies in specific areas. The wise breeder will have available an official code number chart for use in conjunction with official classification codes to determine if the animal in question is indeed useful in a type-improvement program. Of particular value in selecting breeding stock is the Whole Herd Classification Score. This is an average of the overall scores of every milking doe of a breed in a herd.
All the symbols are guides to help to look for better production and type conformation.
20) Purebred-American-Experimental-Grade
The term purebred as defined by the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA) means that the sire and dam of all animals to be registered must be purebred of the same breed, except for LaMancha. All LaMancha dairy goats with at least 3 generations of American LaMancha ancestry born after January 1, 1980 will be entered into an open purebred LaMancha herd book. Alpines, Oberhasli, Saanen and Toggenburg must also have erect ears besides the proper color markings. LaMancha can only have rudimentary ears: ''elf'' (short) or ''gopher'' (very short). LaMancha bucks must have gopher ears. Nubians must have pendulous ears. Saanen must be of white color or cream. Oberhasli must be of ''Chamoise'' color. Black Oberhasli does are registered with a ''b'' suffix to their registration number. Toggenburg must have a shade of fawn or brown with white facial stripes, outline of ears, white below knees and hocks, and a triangle on each side of the tail base in the pinbone area. Black Toggenburg does with above markings are registered with a ''b'' suffix.
Dairy goats registered with the American Goat Society (AGS) may be reregist ++++MISSING DATA++++
A doe of unknown pedigree may be recorded as ''Grade'' with the ADGA as a ''native on performance'' or ''native on appearance,'' depending upon certification by official DHIA or a nonrelated ADGA member as to conforming with one of the six specific breed types or the Experimental Registry. Recordation of grades is in 1/2, 3/4, and 7/8 levels as for American Registry.
Kids resulting from artificial insemination need an insemination certificate to accompany application for registration or recordation. At the time of service, the doe must have been positively identified by tattoo and registration papers. Semen containers (ampule or straw) must also carry complete sire identification. Color codes for dairy goats semen are as follows:
Alpine -purple
LaMancha -yellow
Nubian -red
Oberhasli -orange
Saanen -blue
Toggenburg -green
Kids resulting from embryo transplants need to include the appropriate transplant certificate with the application for registration.
About the author: Extension Goat Handbook - This material was contributed from collections at the National Agricultural Library. However, users should direct all inquires about the contents to authors or originating agencies.
H. Considine; Portage, WI
G. F. W. Haenlein; U. of Delaware, Newark
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text:
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    const newSpan = new Span(
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Sure, cats, dogs, and other domesticated pets are awesome but they certainly aren't as cool as the magical beasts that roam around the wizarding world. Of course we are jealous that the Magizoologist and former Ravenclaw pupil, Newt Scamander gets to chase down all of these rare creatures. But now us muggles can at least dress like Newt and his crew of helpful witches and wizards with all of these cool officially licensed merch!
Fans of J.K. Rowling's novel and major motion picture, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, will love all of these awesome gifts that you could buy for a friend or purchase for yourself. We sell apparel like a replica of Queenie Goldstein's scarf and Percival Grave's necktie. You can transform yourself into the infamous Newt Scamander himself with the officially licensed long blue coat. We also have tons of POP vinyl figures you can use to add to your Harry Potter inspired collection. Pick something out for you and a friend and go on your own hunt to find some fantastic beasts!


a- A horizontal link list above the header.
b- A horizontal link list below the header.
Place this code immediately right before where a line is highlighted as shown above.
If you'd like to have a horizontal menu bar below the header, just add the above code right after the closing div tag where a line is highlighted.
Save the template, click on 'Page Elements'. Choose "Edit" on the "Linkbar" box. And add things to your new link list widget for it to show up i.e add your links and their titles.
Posted by Is | at 4:11 PM | Labels: Blogging Tips | Estou lendo: A Link List Widget As A Horizontal Menu BarTweet this! | Feed.
The idea of this site is pretty cool! I like the system and its very comfortable.


The fly knee is the smaller lightweight version of the pro knee. With the weight loss and different design on the back this knee pad is more versatile.
The pro's love this knee pad and have been very popular recently among the scooter riders.


text:
Home 2015 World Cup Porterfield: We came prepared to win
Porterfield: We came prepared to win
Ireland captain William Porterfield said his side's victory over the West Indies, in their first match of the World Cup in Nelson on Monday, was not seen as an upset by his team.
West Indies, batting first, posted a competitive score of 304 for seven in their 50 overs. Ireland however made light work of the run-chase, knocking off the runs with more than four overs to spare.
Ireland are now playing in their third consecutive World Cup, and while they are still not a Full Member Test nation, most of their players are professionals playing in England.
Portefield, who plays for Warwickshire, said: "I don't see it as an upset. We prepared to come into this game to win, we're going to prepare to go into the UAE (United Arab Emirates) game to win, South Africa after that and so on.
"The term an upset, anything from minnows to associate, I don't see why a team has to be an associate or a team has to be a full member. Sure you're ranked one to whatever but It's not like that in any other sport and I don't see why it has to be like that in ours."
The Irish skipper said his side came into the game with the intention of winning, not just being competitive and staying in the contest.
He explained: "It was the intent we played with when we took the attack back to the West Indies (that was pleasing). They came at us pretty aggressively as well, and the way the lads came out and kept continuing the scoring was great and we knew there was more in the tank."
2015-world-cup ireland latest-news
England captain Joe Root celebrates a century against Sri Lanka
Root brought up his 18th Test ton after being stranded on 99 at lunch in Galle.
Joe Root 99 not out at lunch as England look to build big advantage
Root and Test debutant Dan Lawrence have steered the tourists to a lead of 71 with seven wickets intact.
Heather Knight excited by freedom on offer after New Zealand quarantine
England Women will be able to break out of the coronavirus 'bubble' lifestyle in a country which has effectively contained the disease.
Sri Lanka v England day one: Tourists carve out dominant performance in Galle
The tourists skittled Sri Lanka for 135 then replied with 127 for two.
Stuart Broad and England in 'dream world' after superb first day in Sri Lanka
Broad took three wickets and Dom Bess five before Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow took England within eight runs of their hosts' total.


Due to a bulging order book they now additional Multi-Skilled Operative/FLT Driver to join their Corrugator team. Working as a part of a team you will be responsible for moving pallets using a counter balance fork-lift truck, putting stock away, getting the raw materials to production.
Our client is looking for strong team player with experience within a warehouse or production environment and experience driving a counterbalance FLT is essential - as is a commitment to good Health & Safety practice. You will also need to be fit as this role can be physically demanding.


text:
On The RunPodcasts
OTR: A Look Inside the ISIS Battlefield (Ft. Hollie McKay)
Hollie McKay is the author of the recent book "Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield." Hollie is a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator. She was an investigative and international affairs/war journalist for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years where she focused on warfare, terrorism, and crimes against humanity. Hollie has worked on the frontlines of several major war zones and covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas. Her globally-spanned coverage, in the form of thousands of print articles and essays, has included exclusive and detailed interviews with numerous captured terrorists, as well as high-ranking government, military, and intelligence officials and leaders from all sides.
–Buy Hollie's book "Only Cry for the Living: Memos From Inside the ISIS Battlefield"
–Follow Hollie on Twitter
–Follow Hollie on Instagram
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text:
Photo: Patricio Saldivia Saldivia Noack
Stephen Roche's win at the controversy-ridden '87 Tour of Valencia
Stephen Roche is best remembered for the incredible Giro-Tour-Worlds treble he achieved in 1987, but it can be overlooked sometimes that he also notched up some other good wins that year including the Tour of Romandie and the Tour of Valencia.
By winning the Tour of Valencia that year, he joined such names as Rik van Looy, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault on the list of victors.
Roche went into the race in good form having gotten into the winning breakaway in the Trofeo Luis Puig just days before the start of the Tour of Valencia with Pello Ruiz Cabestany taking the win.
Amongst the other favourites expected to contend for victory were Roche's compatriot Sean Kelly, Pedro Delgado, Cabestany and Greg LeMond.
The race started with a 6.7 kilometre prologue in Benidorm which was won by Kelly's KAS team-mate Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke. The Belgian held on to the leader's jersey for the next couple of stages as sprinter Mathieu Hermans took the victory in stages 1 and 2.
However, that second stage was surrounded by controversy. The race was run off in appalling conditions as the riders first faced showers of rain as soon as they set off. As the race progressed, the rain turned to hail and then snow.
The snowfall became so heavy that the commissaires neutralised the race at kilometre 92. However, there was no let up of the snow and they had to extend the neutralised section.
When they eventually decided to restart at the town of Xativa, there was opposition from the Toshiba team of Greg LeMond and Pedro Delgado's PDM team. They decided that the conditions were too bad and refused to restart. They were subsequently kicked out of the race.
The race did eventually get going again, albeit being 50 kilometres shorter than planned. The organisers faced criticism that evening about the original length of the stage. The stage should have been 210 kilometres and some riders and directeur sportifs felt it was too early in the season for a stage of that length.
There were no significant changes to GC as Vandenbroucke held on to the lead. That evening, the directeur sportifs of the two eliminated teams asked the race organisers to be reinstated, but their requests were turned down.
Roche came to the fore the next day on Stage 3a when he finished in third place, 12" behind stage winner Bernard Richard of the Fagor team. That afternoon, the riders faced a 12.8 kilometre time-trial.
The elimination of LeMond and Delgado was no harm to Roche and Kelly's chances and the Dubliner stepped up to the mark in the time-trial beating Vandenbrocke by 5" and Kelly by a further 4". The stage was marred by further controversy though as Marino Lejaretta crashed following an incident with a spectator.
The Spaniard was hospitalised but suffered no serious injuries. The UCI meanwhile announced that there would be sanctions against the PDM and Toshiba teams for the stance they took the previous day. They were to be ruled out from starting Paris-Nice the following month.
The fourth stage took the riders from Torrent to Alcala but before they set off, the riders held a protest to highlight what they felt was a lack of security at the race which had resulted in Lejaretta's crash. The stage was won by Juan-Martin Zapatero Marcos as Vandenbroucke held on to lead.
Mathieu Hermans took his hat-trick of stage wins the following day in Vall de Uxó with Roche finally unseating Vandenbroucke from the top of the standings with just one stage remaining.
That final stage was just 60 kilometres in length and Kelly took the stage in a sprint finish from Frank Hoste and Pello Ruiz Cabestany with Roche winning overall by 23" from Jesus Blanco Villar with Kelly finishing in 5th place, 40″ down.
Roche and Kelly would clash a few weeks later at Paris-Nice with Kelly coming out on top. The decision to prevent PDM and Toshiba from starting the Race to the Sun was overturned. However, LeMond had already decided to start Tirreno-Adriatico instead.
It was at the Italian race where LeMond crashed and fractured his left wrist. He returned to the US to recuperate and it was while he was at home that he was accidentally shot by his brother-in-law and came close to bleeding to death. It would take two years for the American to get back to his best.
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Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
Cellular Neurophysiology
GABA signaling in health and disease View all 18 Articles
Inhibition in Visual Cortical Development and Developmental Plasticity
Intracortical Inhibition and Restoration of Plasticity in the Adult Visual Cortex
Rescuing Developmental Intellectual Disabilities
Front. Cell. Neurosci., 31 March 2010 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2010.00010
GABAergic inhibition in visual cortical plasticity
Alessandro Sale1*, Nicoletta Berardi1,2, Maria Spolidoro3, Laura Baroncelli3 and Lamberto Maffei1,3
Institute of Neuroscience Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Pisa, Italy
Department of Psychology, Florence University, Florence, Italy
Laboratory of Neurobiology, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy
Experience is required for the shaping and refinement of developing neural circuits during well defined periods of early postnatal development called critical periods. Many studies in the visual cortex have shown that intracortical GABAergic circuitry plays a crucial role in defining the time course of the critical period for ocular dominance plasticity. With the end of the critical period, neural plasticity wanes and recovery from the effects of visual defects on visual acuity (amblyopia) or binocularity is much reduced or absent. Recent results pointed out that intracortical inhibition is a fundamental limiting factor for adult cortical plasticity and that its reduction by means of different pharmacological and environmental strategies makes it possible to greatly enhance plasticity in the adult visual cortex, promoting ocular dominance plasticity and recovery from amblyopia. Here we focus on the role of intracortical GABAergic circuitry in controlling both developmental and adult cortical plasticity. We shall also discuss the potential clinical application of these findings to neurological disorders in which synaptic plasticity is compromised because of excessive intracortical inhibition.
What we are, how we behave, how we talk, how we perceive, crucially depends upon how our brain has developed. Maturation of neural circuits is a protracted phase of brain development which, though initially guided by genetically coded cues, requires in most cases to be shaped and refined by the interaction of the individual with the environment. To allow this shaping action, developing neural circuits exhibit a great degree of plasticity so that they can be modified, functionally and morphologically, in response to experience. Neural plasticity is high during well defined periods of early postnatal development called critical periods (CPs). As experience drives the remodeling of neural connections, determining the maturation of neural circuits and of the corresponding functions, both circuits and functions become progressively less modifiable by experience and CPs draw towards their closure. As a result of this decline in plasticity, recovery from the effects of defective neural circuit development is significantly reduced or lost after the end of the CP. Recent studies, however, reveal that it is possible to enhance neural plasticity in the adult cortex. The visual cortex has long been a paradigmatic model to study the influence of experience on the development and plasticity of neural connections and its molecular basis. Studies in the visual cortex have shown that intracortical GABAergic circuitry is at the core both of developmental plasticity and CP control and of adult cortical plasticity limitations.
Intracortical GABAergic inhibition (IGI) plays a crucial role in shaping visual cortical receptive fields and their development. Maturation of visual acuity is well correlated with the decrease of mean receptive field size of neurons in the primary visual cortex (Fagiolini et al., 1994 ) and with the postnatal development of IGI (Huang et al., 1999 ). Both visual acuity maturation and IGI development are dependent from visual experience: dark rearing, which prevents visual acuity development (Fagiolini et al., 1994 ), also affects the developmental increase of IGI (Benevento et al., 1995 ; Gianfranceschi et al., 2003 ). IGI development has been therefore suggested to contribute to visual acuity development and a direct evidence for this comes from BDNF overexpressing mice (Huang et al., 1999 ). In these mice BDNF expression in the visual cortex is higher than in wt mice starting from very early postnatal ages and this correlates with a precocious development of IGI, as shown by the faster developmental increase in inhibitory postsynaptic currents and GABA biosynthetic enzyme GAD65 in the perisomatic region of pyramidal cells. This precocious IGI development is accompanied by an accelerated development of visual acuity.
Recently, the use of the environmental enrichment (EE) paradigm has contributed to strengthen the importance of IGI development for the functional development of the visual cortex. EE is a combination of complex sensory-motor stimulation obtained by rearing large groups of animals in wide stimulating environments where a variety of objects are used to promote exploration, cognitive activity, social interaction and physical exercise (for a review, see Sale et al., 2009 ). EE accelerates (Cancedda et al., 2004 ; Sale et al., 2004 ), and prevents dark rearing deleterious effects on, visual acuity development (Bartoletti et al., 2004 ), promoting the maturation of IGI. In addition, Insuline-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1), a possible mediator of EE effects on visual cortex development, is also likely to act targeting IGI development (Ciucci et al., 2007 ).
The best characterized contribution of IGI to developmental plasticity is that to the opening and closure of the CP for ocular dominance (OD) plasticity (Huang et al., 1999 ; Hensch, 2005 ; Morishita and Hensch, 2008 ). If vision in one eye is defective in man or experimentally impaired by monocular deprivation (MD) during infancy in mammals, visual acuity of that eye does not develop normally (a condition called amblyopia), binocular vision is impaired, visual cortical neurons become strongly dominated by the non deprived eye (OD shift) and the proportion of binocular neurons greatly decreases (Hubel and Wiesel, 1970 ; Fagiolini et al., 1994 ). If the visual deprivation is removed early in development, the ensuing recovery is very good; on the contrary, recovery is very limited if defect removal is delayed to adulthood. Also MD effectiveness in modifying the OD of visual cortical neurons declines with age (Hubel and Wiesel, 1970 ; Hensch, 2005 ). Hensch et al. (1998) have shown that inhibitory neurotransmission is necessary for the manifestation of OD plasticity in response to MD. In transgenic mice lacking the 65-kD isoform of the GABA-synthesizing enzyme GAD (GAD65), OD plasticity in response to MD is deficient. OD plasticity in these animals can be rescued if GABAergic transmission is enhanced in the visual cortex by means of benzodiazepines. This suggests that the development of GABAergic intracortical inhibition is an enabling factor for CP opening. Indeed, Fagiolini and Hensch (2000) have shown that precocious enhancement of IGI by the early administration of diazepam to the visual cortex accelerates the opening of the CP (Figure 1 ).
[View Larger Version of this Image]
Figure 1. Time course of the critical period (CP) for ocular dominance (OD) plasticity in response to monocular deprivation in rodents; OD plasticity is normalized to the CP peak's level. CP onset can be anticipated by increasing intracortical inhibition through benzodiazepine treatment or PSA (see text) removal (green arrow pointing left). Conversely, the end of the CP can be delayed by preventing the maturation of GABAergic inhibition through dark rearing from birth (red arrow pointing right). The effects of dark rearing can be counteracted by concomitant EE (see text). BDNF over-expression promotes a faster maturation of GABAergic interneurons, acting both on the onset and on the closure of the CP, thus shifting leftward the entire developmental plasticity curve.
A specific subset of inhibitory interneurons, the parvalbumin-positive large basket cells, seems to be crucial for the control of CP opening (Fagiolini et al., 2004 ). Moreover, Di Cristo et al. (2007) have shown that premature removal in the visual cortex of polysialic acid (PSA) presented by the neural cell adhesion molecule, results in a precocious maturation of perisomatic innervation by basket interneurons, enhanced inhibitory synaptic transmission, and an earlier onset of OD plasticity (Figure 1 ).
Sugiyama et al. (2008) have demonstrated that another factor might impinge on IGI development to promote CP onset. Otx2 homeoprotein is transported from the retina to the visual cortex in an activity-dependent way and it contributes to the regulation of the onset of visual cortex CP plasticity. Otx2controls maturation of cortical parvalbumin-positive GABAergic interneurons. In addition, it promotes the developmental organization of specific components of the extracellular matrix, the Chondroitin Sulphate Proteoglycans (CSPGs), into tightly woven nets surrounding cortical neurons called perineuronal nets (PNNs). These nets are preferentially found around parvalbumin-positive GABAergic interneurons and might contribute to the development of their functional properties and to the onset of CP, possibly also making Otx-2 available to them.
Development of inhibition seems also to determine the decline of visual cortex plasticity as development proceeds and CPs draw to their end. The results obtained in mice with precocious BDNF expression clearly show that an accelerated development of IGI results in an early closure of the CP for the effects of monocular deprivation (Hanover et al., 1999 ; Huang et al., 1999 ) (Figure 1 ). Similarly, animals exposed to EE exhibit a precocious decline of synaptic plasticity in the visual cortex (Cancedda et al., 2004 ) and EE counteracts the effects of dark rearing on the closure of the CP for OD plasticity, in good correlation with the preserved developmental formation of PNNs around GABAergic interneurons and of GAD65 puncta rings around the cell body of pyramidal cells (Bartoletti et al., 2004 ). This is in accordance with the well known finding that IGI matures in correspondence with CP progression (see Hensch, 2005 ) and that dark rearing, which delays CP closure, delays inhibition development (Figure 1 ). They are also in agreement with the data by Fagiolini and Hensch (2000) who observed that, employing long-term monocular deprivation as a probe for OD plasticity, the CP is prolonged into adulthood in GAD65 knock-out mice.
These findings suggest that IGI levels cross two thresholds during development, the first setting the point after which inhibition levels are enough to allow OD plasticity to be expressed (beginning of CP); as development proceeds, the inhibitory tone further increases and crosses a second threshold, after which inhibition drastically reduces the potential for plasticity (closure of CP) (Feldman, 2000 ).
Recent studies revealed a previously unsuspected plasticity potential for the adult visual cortex, challenging the classic notion that OD plasticity or amblyopia recovery are possible only early in development during the CP. In this new work, the capability to reduce intracortical inhibition levels has emerged as critical for the restoration of plasticity.
The most direct demonstration that GABAergic inhibition actively restricts plasticity in the adult visual cortex derives from the very recent report that a pharmacological reduction of inhibition obtained by intracortical infusion of either mercaptopropionic acid (MPA, an inhibitor of GABA synthesis) or picrotoxin (PTX, a GABAA receptor antagonist), at doses which do not alter visual cortical neuron responsiveness, reactivates OD plasticity in response to MD in adult rats (Harauzov et al., 2010 ) (Figure 2 ). This is accompanied, in visual cortical slices of MD animals with reduced inhibition, by the reinstatement of white matter-induced LTP in the II-III layer, a form of plasticity normally restricted to the CP due to the maturation of IGI. These results indicate that in normal adult animals, where inhibitory processes have completed their development, a brief reduction of GABAergic inhibition is sufficient to reopen a window of plasticity in the visual cortex well after the normal closure of the CP. This supports the hypothesis that the development of inhibition contributes to CP closure. In the visual cortex of MD animals with reduced inhibition there is a decrease in the expression of CSPGs, which follows the reactivation of OD plasticity. The reduction in PNN density observed in MPA or PTX-treated animals after MD could be an indication that the reactivation of OD plasticity caused by reducing the inhibitory tone sets in motion endogenous mechanisms of extracellular matrix remodelling (Mataga et al., 2002 , 2004 ; Oray et al., 2004 ; Hensch, 2005 ). It has to be underlined, however, that the OD shift induced by MD in adult animals with reduced intracortical inhibition (Harauzov et al., 2010 ) is smaller than that induced during the CP. This suggests that other mechanisms which restrain the expression of OD plasticity are still in place. One of these factors could be the density of PNNs, which are known to develop in correlation with CP closure and have been shown to be non permissive for OD plasticity (Pizzorusso et al., 2002 , 2006 ). The reduction in PNN density in MPA or PTX-treated animals is partial, therefore PNN density remains higher than during the peak of the critical period (Pizzorusso et al., 2002 ). In addition, the presence of factors limiting chromatin remodelling (Putignano et al., 2007 ), or signalling from extracellular factors, for example from myelin proteins on Nogo receptors (McGee et al., 2005 ) as well as the characteristics of adhesion molecules (Hensch, 2005 ), might contribute to partially restrain the full expression of long-term OD changes in response to MD in animals with reduced intracortical inhibition.
Figure 2. Developmental increase of brain GABAergic inhibition levels (normalized to the normal adult values; red curve) is paralleled by a progressive reduction of experience-dependent plasticity. Plasticity is high during early development (green block) and very low in the adult brain (yellow block). Anomalous increases in the strength of inhibitory neural circuits may lead to over-inhibition linked to permanent deficits in synaptic plasticity and neural development, like in the Rett syndrome and in the Down's syndrome. Reducing GABAergic inhibition with pharmacological (blockers of GABA synthesis or GABA receptor antagonists, fluoxetine) or environmental (EE, and dark exposure) treatments can increase plasticity in the adult brain, enabling OD plasticity and favoring recovery from amblyopia. The capability of EE to reduce GABAergic inhibition makes this paradigm eligible for therapeutic applications also in the treatment of developmental intellectual disabilities.
In the attempt to manipulate the balance between excitation and inhibition using non invasive strategies eligible to be transferred to humans, we exploited the paradigm of EE. We found that a 3-weeks exposure of adult amblyopic rats to EE promotes a complete recovery of both visual acuity and OD (Figure 2 ). This striking effect was associated with a threefold reduction in the basal levels of GABA detected by in vivo brain microdialysis in the visual cortex contralateral to the previously amblyopic eye (Sale et al., 2007 ). A reduced cortical inhibition was also detectable at the synaptic plasticity level, since the visual cortical slices of EE rats displayed a full reinstatement of white matter-induced LTP. IGI reduction is crucial for the plasticity enhancement induced by EE, because the recovery of visual functions is completely prevented by cortical infusion of diazepam directly into the primary visual cortex during the EE period (Sale et al., 2007 ). Consistent with the results of Harauzov et al. (2010) , we also found a reduction in PNN density in the animals exposed to EE, a result that strengthens the notion of a possible link between the functional state of the extracellular matrix and the intracortical inhibitory tone. Interestingly, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in humans, which increases cortical excitability, transiently improves contrast sensitivity in adult amblyopes, likely acting on the excitation/inhibition balance (Thompson et al., 2008 ).
Recent studies reported that exposing adult rats to complete darkness, a treatment qualitatively very different from EE, can favor plasticity in the adult brain (He et al., 2006 , 2007 ) (Figure 2 ). There is indirect evidence that also in this case the enhanced visual cortical plasticity may be related to a reduced expression of GABAA receptors relative to AMPA receptors. This could cause a shift in the balance between inhibition and excitation towards levels more similar to those found in the immature cortex.
With the ambitious goal to search for possible enviromimetics, molecular factors that might be exploited to reproduce the beneficial effects elicited by EE, we came back to the classic observation that the neurotransmitter systems characterized by diffuse projections throughout the entire brain, i.e. the serotoninergic, noradrenergic and dopaminergic systems, are all set in motion by EE (see van Praag et al., 2000 ). These neuromodulators have a great influence on plasticity processes in the adult brain, with a fundamental role in regulating the arousal state and attentional processes (see Gu, 2002 ), which are important components of the animal response to the enriched experience. Therefore, it should be possible to mimic the EE effects on adult visual cortex plasticity by an artificial modulation of one or more of these transmitters. Widely prescribed drugs for the treatment of depression, the so-called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), act by enhancing extracellular serotonin and noradrenalin levels, even if the relationship between acute increases in these neurotrasmitters and the clinical antidepressant effect has remained unclear. We recently showed that chronic treatment with fluoxetine (Prozac), a SSRI used to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic attacks, induces a reinstatement of OD plasticity in response to MD and a full recovery from amblyopia in adult animals (Maya Vetencourt et al., 2008 ) (Figure 2 ). As found for EE rats, these functional effects are associated with a marked reduction of GABAergic inhibition and are completely prevented by cortical diazepam administration.
The crucial involvement of IGI in limiting adult cortical plasticity could have implications also for other forms of brain repair, emerging as a possible target for behavioural or pharmacological interventions following brain lesions. A change in inhibitory tone has indeed been found in perilesional regions in patients with stroke in the motor cortex; treatment-associated cortical reorganization, which was correlated to the recovery of motor function, was influenced by the distribution of inhibitory properties within the representation area prior to therapy (Liepert et al., 2006 ).
There is increasing consensus on the concept that not only does brain inhibition control the closure of CPs and adult cortical plasticity, but that it may also be linked to the pathogenesis of developmental intellectual disabilities (see Fernandez and Garner, 2007 for a recent review). Anomalous increases in the strength of inhibitory neural circuits during brain maturation may lead to permanent deficits in synaptic plasticity and neural development (Figure 2 ). This over-inhibition may be the consequence of environmental disturbances, such as prenatal protein malnutrition (see Morgane et al., 2002 ) but its etiology is more frequently linked to genetic alterations, with the two paradigmatic examples of Rett syndrome (RS) and Down's syndrome (DS).
RS is an X-linked, severe progressive disorder of CNS development which causes a complex neurological and neurobehavioural phenotype characterized by mild-to-moderate mental retardation and highly disabling dysfunctions in motor coordination skills (Hagberg et al., 1983 ). The main mutations are found in the gene encoding the methyl-CpG-binding protein (MeCP2) (Amir et al., 1999 ), a factor critically involved in the epigenetic regulation of the expression of genes essential for plasticity, such as BDNF (Chen et al., 2003 ; Chang et al., 2006 ). Electrophysiological studies from MeCP2 transgenic mice reported a reduced neuronal activity in cortical and hippocampal neurons, pointing to a shift in the balance between inhibition and excitation as a likely mechanism underlying the motor and cognitive phenotype (Dani et al., 2005 ; Asaka et al., 2006 ; Fernandez and Garner, 2007 ). Given that persons with RS have an increased sensitivity to sedative drugs which act potentiating GABAergic inhibition (Tofil et al., 2006 ), it is tempting to speculate that overinhibition may also be present in the brain of human RS patients. Both BDNF over-expression and EE are successful in rescuing or ameliorating the main deficits detectable at the behavioural and electrophysiological level inMeCP2mutant mice (Chang et al., 2006 ; Kondo et al., 2008 ; Lonetti et al., 2010 ). At least for EE, this may directly result from a decrease in the GABAergic tone prompted by exposure to EE stimulation.
DS is caused by triplication of chromosome 21 (Chr21) as result of a misdivision in the sperm or the egg prior to conception, and it is the most diffused genetic cause of mental retardation. The most intensively studied mouse model of DS is the Ts65Dn line, that carries a triplication of a critical segment of Chr16, syntenic with human Chr21 (Gardiner et al., 2003 ). Ts65dn mice recapitulate all main hallmarks of the DS phenotype (Richtsmeier et al., 2002 ; Hunter et al., 2003 ; Driscoll et al., 2004 ; Wenger et al., 2004 ). There is increasing evidence that the cognitive deficits displayed by Ts65Dn mice can be attributable to excessive hippocampal inhibition. Accordingly, Fernandez et al. (2007) have shown that the spatial learning disabilities and the failure to induce LTP in the hippocampus observed in Ts65Dn mice can be rescued by administration of non-competitive antagonists of GABAA receptors. It remains unclear whether it is possible to induce a reduction of GABAergic inhibition in Ts65Dn mice through a non- pharmacological approach. The capability of EE to reduce GABAergic inhibition makes this paradigm eligible for therapeutic applications in the treatment of DS (e.g., Martinez-Cué et al., 2002 ; Dierssen et al., 2003 ) (Figure 2 ).
In conclusion, intracortical inhibition is a crucial determinant of cortical plasticity, both during development and in the adult. In typical development, it contributes to the maturation of the cortex and of cortex-dependent functions; moreover it might play a role in the intellectual disabilities found in atypical development. In the adult, it limits remodeling of neural connections, tightly controlling neural plasticity and exhibiting spontaneous changes under pathological conditions. Harnessing these changes might favor plasticity and promote functional recovery.
This work was supported by Italian Ministry of the University and Scientific and Technological Research COFIN.
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26 February 2010;
Paper pending published:
10 March 2010;
Yehezkel Ben-Ari, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, France
Rustem Khazipov, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, France
Evelyne Sernagor, Newcastle University, UK
© 2010 Sale, Berardi, Spolidoro, Baroncelli and Maffei. This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and the Frontiers Research Foundation, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
*Correspondence:
Alessandro Sale, Institute of Neuroscience Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Moruzzi 1, Pisa I-56124, Italy. e-mail: sale@in.cnr.it


Ground Coffee. Epic! Throughout the world they traveled, these biblical figures made sure there was enough coffee for all. Be it guests in the middle of the desert or walking through raging waters, these figures ensured the coffee supply remained intact. Included in this package: The Moses Roast Abraham's Morning Roast Solomon's Choice Abraham's Choice is a Moca Java and makes for a great morning blend. Moses is a darker roast while the Solomon is a smooth Central American blend. This combination may help you clear raging rivers, burning furnaces and rebellions. Stay safe.


The thing appeared ready to vaporize an entire neighborhood.
Residents of Las Vegas, New Mexico, might have wondered last evening if something had escaped from Roswell. Looming over the horizon was a cloud with the spitting image of a classic UFO, so massively structured it looked like it could atomize the building-blasting motherships of Independence Day.
The above photos were sent by viewers to Jorge Torres, chief meteorologist at KOB-TV, who identified the thing as a "[l]enticular cloud or even a shelf cloud." The latter are intimidating, horizon-eating rollers often attached to thunderstorms—and indeed, the region is under a winter-storm warning for a snowy front with possible whiteout conditions. The former clouds typically materialize above mountains or other land masses that draw wind upward, though on rare occasions they've developed in flat places like Texas.


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Inclusionary Zoning Vetoed in San Diego
One of the more pro-development mayors in the country won't approve an ordinance that would expand the reach of affordable housing requirements for new development.
September 18, 2019, 8am PDT | James Brasuell | @CasualBrasuell
Sean Pavone
"Mayor Kevin Faulconer said Tuesday he will veto new city regulations focused on requiring housing developers to build more low-income units, siding with the local business community over labor leaders and other supporters of the new policy," reports David Garrick.
The San Diego City Council narrowly approved an inclusionary zoning ordinance this week, by a vote of 5-4. An additional vote is necessary to override a mayoral veto.
Mayor Faulconer based the decision to veto the ordinance while siding with "economists and builders" that oppose the policy on the grounds that "will have the unintended consequence of leading to less affordable housing, not more," as explained in the words of an email from Faulconer spokesman Gustavo Portela, as cited by Garrick.
As for the details of the ordinance approved by the City Council, Garrick explains the ordinance in context of the city's existing policies:
The proposed law would require developers to reserve 10 percent of units in every project for people making 50 percent of the region's median income or less, but the law would provide multiple alternative ways to comply with that requirement.
The city's existing policy requires developers to make 10 percent of the units in a housing project affordable to families making 65 percent of the median income, so the proposal would drop that to 50 percent.
San Diego has been busy in 2019, approving and considering regulations intended to spur development in the city, including parking requirement reform and a new density bonus for affordable housing development. Mayor Faulconer has also called for new building heights in transit-adjacent development.
San Diego mayor vetoing controversial proposal to require developers to build more low-income housing
Published on Tuesday, September 17, 2019 in The San Diego Union-Tribune


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Crashing Walmart's party
Walmart is celebrating another good year, but its workers can't make ends meet. Elizabeth Schulte reports on protests at the company's shareholders' meeting.
WALMART IS throwing a party, and it's sparing no expense, as this high-profit, low-wage employer prepares for its annual shareholders' meeting on June 7.
Too bad Walmart couldn't find a way to share a little with its employees--so now hundreds of Walmart workers from across the country are converging at company headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.
The caravan is part of the OUR Walmart (Organization United for Respect at Walmart) campaign. In November, it helped organize a day of action on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, which inspired walkouts and rallies at hundreds of stores across the country.
This time, some 100 Walmart "associates" went on strike at stores in California, Massachusetts and Miami--initiating the first-ever prolonged strike at the retail behemoth--promising to stay out through at least the shareholder's meeting on June 7.
Workers in more than 30 cities joined the strikers in what they're calling the "Ride for Respect" to Bentonville. The idea for the caravans was sparked by the 1961 Freedom Rides, in which Black and white civil rights activists boarded buses to protest segregation in the South.
Walmart workers demand justice outside the corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas (Mark F. Henning | OUR Walmart)
Barbara Getz is one of those striking workers. The 45-year-old makes just $10 an hour as an overnight stocker at a Walmart in Aurora, Colo.
"This is the first time in my life I'm standing up for something I know is right," Getz told Bloomberg Businessweek. "Walmart is the biggest retailer in the world, and we want them to set a high standard."
Right now, Walmart sets a high standard--in low wages and poor working conditions. The average wage comes to just $8.81, and it's extremely difficult to get enough hours to live on. On top of that, Walmart uses every trick in the book to avoid providing workers with company benefits.
Like other low-wage employers, Walmart keeps workers' wages so low that many of them qualify for government aid. According to a recent report by the Democratic staff of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, "The Low-Wage Drag on Our Economy," which analyzed data released by Wisconsin's Medicaid program, "a single 300-person Walmart Supercenter store in Wisconsin likely costs taxpayers at least $904,542 per year and could cost taxpayers up to $1,744,590 per year--about $5,815 per employee."
WORKERS ARE also taking a stand against a campaign of abuse and intimidation on the part of Walmart management against anyone who dares to speak out against working conditions.
In the lead-up to the Black Friday actions, Walmart filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) aiming to put a stop to the protests by claiming that the protests constituted "illegal picketing" on the part of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), a union that is affiliated with OUR Walmart.
In January, a deal was reached with the NLRB, with the UFCW reasserting that the actions were organized to demand better working conditions, not union representation, and agreeing not to picket for 60 days.
Walmart again escalated its intimidation of workers. And on May 23, OUR Walmart filed 30 new counts of unfair labor practices with the NLRB, including charges that the company unlawfully intimidated and disciplined workers who have spoken out, spied on workers and organizers, and terminated workers involved in protected activity.
Carlton Smith had worked at Walmart for 17 years in Paramount, Calif., when he was terminated on May 8, allegedly because his performance was lacking. But "performance" clearly wasn't Smith's problem from management's point of view, since they recently awarded him "Associate of the Month." Smith's problem was that he spoke out.
Smith went on strike Black Friday. And before that, he joined three other OUR Walmart activists to introduce a resolution at last year's Walmart shareholder meeting calling for restricting executive bonuses.
Vanessa Ferriera worked at Walmart in Ft. Cloud, Fla., for eight years decorating cakes when she was fired in May. When she took part in a Black Friday walkout at her store, management responded by calling in the police to arrest her and her family for trespassing.
But Ferriera isn't letting that be the end of the story--she's part of the caravan to Bentonville.
WALMART'S PUBLIC relations machine went into motion this week, claiming that the protesters were little more than paid agents. "Let me be clear these associates are not part of Walmart," Walmart CEO Gisel Ruiz told a stadium full of workers the company shipped to Arkansas to attend this week's festivities.
"They are part of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and they are paid to be here and disrupt this week's activities and that is just plain wrong," Ruiz said.
Walmart spokesperson Brooke Buchanan called this week's party in Bentonville "a celebration of our 2.2 million associates who work hard every day so people around the world can live better."
But if they really wanted to celebrate their employees, Walmart should start by stopping the intimidation and firing of those who dare to speak out.
Walmart has spent billions of dollars over the years trying create a workplace where workers are either too misinformed--or too afraid--to seek the protection of a union. Past organizing drives have been met with the most vicious opposition on the part of management, and Walmart spends a lot of time "educating" its employees on evils of unions.
When workers in the meat department at a store in Jacksonville, Texas, voted to join the UFCW, becoming the first U.S. workers to vote in a union at Walmart, the company responded by closing down its meat-cutting operations and switching to prepackaged meat.
Clearly, Walmart will not give into workers' demands without a fight.
This time around, Walmart workers are beginning to see that they have allies in this struggle--as low-wage workers in retail, restaurant and fast-food chains are beginning to get organized in campaigns like the Fight for 15 and Fast Food Forward.
And Walmart workers see the importance of taking up other workers' struggles and linking it to their own.
As part of this week of action, more than 300 Walmart workers gathered outside the company's home office to deliver a fire safety agreement, which called for raising fire safety standards at factories overseas. Earlier this year in Bangladesh, more than 1,200 people were killed in a factory that made clothes for Walmart, among other retailers.
This week of actions is a step toward building the solidarity that will be necessary--inside and outside the walls of Walmart--to take on this ruthless corporation.
Roasting a bad offer
More than 200 workers are on strike at Houston's Maximus Coffee Group and holding out against a rotten contract offer.
Darrin Hoop
Wal-Mart workers won't rest
Workers demanding basic rights at Wal-Mart are fighting back at stores, warehouses and suppliers--in the U.S. and around the world.
Zavi Katzvik
A supermarket showdown
Grocery workers at Raley's and Nob Hill stores in California and Nevada are on strike against pay and benefit cuts.
Workers take on Boss Hog
In their fight for a union at Smithfield Foods' Tar Heel, N.C., plant, workers faced an employer who would stop at nothing.
Nikolai Smith
UFCW reaches grocery agreement in Calif.
UFCW members in Southern California ratified a contract with the Big Three grocery chains Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons.
Interview: Jeremy Scahill and Anthony Arnove
Rebranding war and occupation
Antiwar authors Jeremy Scahill and Anthony Arnove analyze the record of the Obama administration on foreign policy after five months in office.
Six socialist takeaways from Election 2018
Socialist Worker looks at the results of the midterms — and what they tell us about reaction and resistance in a polarized country.
Valério Arcary
Is Bolsonaro a neofascist?
A Brazilian Marxist assesses far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro — the favorite to win a runoff election — and the grave threat he represents.
The road to a new cold war with China
Trump's economic nationalism and warmongering are intensifying U.S.-China imperial rivalries — but the roots of the conflict go deeper.
Marlene Martin
The speech that made Debs Convict No. 9653
One hundred years ago, Eugene V. Debs gave one of the most famous speeches in the history of the socialist tradition, opposing war and capitalism.


The Quality Assurance Department of Rana University was established in 2014 under the auspices of the Academic Vice-Chancellor in the academic structure and organization in order to meet the criteria and reach the accreditation stage.
The Quality Assurance Department of Rana University has a two tier structure: A main committee at University level and four sub committees at the Colleges level. The members of the main committee are Academic Vice-Chancellor, Administrative officer, Deputy of Student Affairs, Heads of Colleges, Head of Research Center, and Head of Quality Assurance and Accreditation, who is also secretary of the committee. The sub-committee's members are Faculty Lecturers.
This committee meets monthly and documentizes all academic and administrative activities at university level within the framework of quality assurance criteria and send annual reports to the Ministry of Higher Education.
The quality assurance and accreditation process has three stages. After completing the third stage, the university will be officially accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education Quality Assurance Department. Rana University also has successfully completed two stages of accreditation and is candidate for third accreditation stage. By completing this stage, it will achieve accreditation document.
The procedures for the quality assurance of either the private or the governmental universities of Afghanistan was established in 2009 with the aim to focus on the standardization of the universities that attain the accreditation, in consideration with the 11th criterion for the quality assurance at the Ministry of Higher Education. The standardization procedures of the Higher Education takes place in 3 steps, upon completion of the third step, the university will be fully accredited with the Ministry of Higher Education, such like universities will remain accredited for five years with the Ministry of Higher Education.
In accordance with 11 criterions for the quality assurance of the Ministry of Higher Education, Rana University has begun the mentioned procedure in 2014 and So far has successfully completed the second step and has entered the accreditation process.
Stage 1: Ministry of Higher Education inform institution of timing of accreditation process.
Stage 2: Institution completes self – assessment and writes self - assessment reports.
Stage 3: institution sends self – assessment reports and supporting documents to Ministry of Higher Education.
Stage 4: Ministry of Higher Education checks documents and sends them to the peer reviewer team.
Stage 5: Peer reviewer team reviews self - assessment report and supporting documents.
Stage 6: Peer reviewer team agrees agenda with institution (using standard agenda template).
Stage 7: Peer reviewer team conducts visit and assesses institution against accreditation framework.
Stage 8: Peer reviewer team meet with the sub – committee of Q.A board to discuss their assessment, explore differences with institutional self – assessment, agree recommendations and plan final peer review report.
Stage 9: Peer reviewer team submits peer review report to Ministry of Higher Education.
Stage 10: Institution has opportunity to comments against the factual accuracy of the review report.
Stage 11: Quality Assurance and Accreditation Directorate (QAAD) board either.
Stage 12: Ministry of Higher Education informs institution of the final decision regarding accreditation.
Stage 13: Institution has opportunity to appeal against the final decision.
Stage 14: Institution completes action plan, incorporating the recommendations of the peer review team.
Stage 15: Institution submits completed action plan to Ministry of Higher Education for approval.


Raymarine, race partner of the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, is giving competitors the opportunity to receive free emails and SMS texts containing useful weather and tidal information in the run up to the race.
The race, which takes place this year on 23 June, attracts some 1,600 boats making it the third largest participation sports event in the UK.
Using renowned marine meteorologist Chris Tibbs, Raymarine will be providing daily weather briefings from 20 June, enabling crews to see the developing weather patterns up to the start of the race. Chris will also present a full and detailed weather briefing at the Island Sailing Club at 5pm on 22 June for competitors and the club race officers and safety boat crews. He will use Raymarine's award-winning RayTech RNS 6.0 navigation software to demonstrate the weather forecast for the following day, complete with the progression of tides, currents, wind speed and direction for the Isle of Wight and surrounding waters.