If you've been keeping up with the news, you'll know things have been heating up between 'Murica and North Korean dictator/lesbian haircut aficionado, Kim Jong Un. Little Kim and the North Koreans are on the verge of becoming a nuclear power, and they've made no qualms about their intention to flatten the U-S-of-A.
President Trump made a statement on North Korea this afternoon that warned of "fire and fury" if they continue to escalate the nuclear threat.
Clear. Direct. Strong. Say what you will about some of Trump's flaws and blunders, but he nailed it on this one.
Now, I'm not eager to dive headfirst into a nuclear standoff. But, standing by idly while psychopathic midget dictators make threats and arm themselves is not a viable strategy. Nobody wants the bombs to start falling, but we can't let that douchenozzle with the body proportions of a beach ball run all over us. Like Trump masterfully demonstrated here, sometimes you have to flex a little muscle starting with some words.
As sure as Michael Moore's arteries are clogged with fragments of cheesecake, leftists are furious over Trump's remarks. They'll want us to take a more "diplomatic" stance. But, the countdown timer is headed toward zero if the tiny fat man is close to having the power to flatten cities with the push of a button. To hell with playing nice.
Leftists fail to understand these are not reasonable people we're up against. Kim Jong Un is a maniacal turdknocker who bans sarcasm, executes his own family members, and returns American prisoners to us braindead. This loon going nuclear is not a threat to take lightly.
We can laugh and poke fun at this situation, but in the end it's very serious. Feminists and other social justice warriors may be a delightful annoyance, but this is one of those few times where the threat is real. Hopefully, we can come up with a strategy to solve this mess without resorting to fisticuffs. But, one thing's for sure. Rolling over and playing dead is not going to solve anything.


There are quite a few different types of pleats, The Mortmain dress pattern has box pleats which can easily be reversed for a different look. Box pleats are formed when two equal folds of fabric are folded towards each other on the reverse of the fabric. They are brought together to meet in the middle, forming a box pleat on the front of the fabric. The key to forming nice neat pleats is being really precise when it comes to marking notches and pressing carefully as you go. The instructions below should help you make the pleats on your Mortmain dress lovely and satisfyingly crisp! I've transferred all the notches to my fabric. If you're a beginner sewer then you might want to add in the arrows as well so you know exactly which pleat goes where and which direction you're folding towards.
Working on the reverse side, begin by carefully folding one side over, bringing the side notch to meet the centre notch.
I always like to press as I go and then pin in place. Bring the other side over to meet it, aligning the notches.
The box pleats on the Mortmain dress are designed to only be pressed at the top of the fabric and left to fall softly. How far down the skirt you press them is entirely up to you but I would suggest around 2-3 inches down from the top of the skirt.
Once you've pressed and pinned all the pleats into place, you can baste it either by hand or with your sewing machine set to the longest stitch.
When you're finished you should have nice neat box pleats on the front of your fabric!
When you've basted along the whole width of the skirt you can attach it to your waistband as usual and remove the basting stitches when you're finished. (This step is completely optional, however I find it much easier to get clean, even pleats when they've been basted first). Reverse pleats couldn't be simpler simply do exactly as you would for box pleats but on the front of the fabric!
Try out your box pleat skills on The Mortmain!


text:
Inspiring Balance
With the American Beverage Association
For nearly a decade, GMMB has provided support to America's leading beverage companies, led by the American Beverage Association (ABA), as they worked together on solutions to help fight childhood obesity. Together, they removed full-calorie beverages from schools nationwide, placed clear calorie information on all their products, and introduced more beverage choices in a range of calories and portion sizes. When it was time to take these efforts to the next level, ABA once again called on us to develop and implement a direct-to-consumer education campaign on the importance of balance and moderation.
2006 - to present
Advertising / Digital / Public Relations / Creative Content / Movement Building
GMMB coordinated an extensive, iterative research approach to developing this next effort. Research conducted by Public Opinion Research showed moms wanted support from the beverage industry with their teens, who were beginning to make food and beverage choices on their own for the first time. Moms knew the marketing strength of the leading beverage companies—Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper, and Pepsi—and wanted to see that power used to make balance "cool" for their teens. The research uncovered two key guardrails with moms: do not encourage my teen to count calories, and don't try to sell them products. Working with Ypulse, a leading youth market research firm, GMMB set out to understand the teen mindset when it comes to balance and moderation. Research showed that while balance isn't top of mind for teens, they inherently understand a basic three-part formula: balance what you eat and drink with what you do. Despite understanding balance, there were no campaigns in this space offering teens the support and motivation to help them achieve it.
GMMB served as the communications partner to launch Mixify™ in September 2014. The national consumer awareness program leverages social media, digital and TV advertising, and a website hub, MyMixify.com, with online tips and tools to reach teens on their own terms and in ways that fit easily into the mix of their day-to-day lives. The effort also talks to moms, so they know the message the industry is delivering to their teens. GMMB uses the latest community management tools to source, create, publish, and manage our real-time marketing presence on social media. As part of our paid media strategy, we partner with a variety of niche teen media influencers to increase awareness of the Mixify message among teens. We track, monitor, and analyze performance, making real-time adjustments and capitalizing on key moments in teen lives.
In the summer of 2015, GMMB developed, launched, and managed the Mixify Tour, a cross-country truck tour to bring the balance message directly to teens across America. Teens balanced their summers through a variety of activities to educate and engage them on the topic, including registered dietitians, fitness experts, and tips and tools to inspire. GMMB managed crowd building for each stop through a combination of outreach to community organizations, online advertising, social media promotion, and influencer marketing.
In less than a year, TV and digital advertising alone has exceeded our audience awareness goals, reaching more than 25 million teens and 22 million moms of teens, 80 percent and 85 percent of these audiences, respectively. Favorability of the program is high among both audiences, but especially among moms who want their teens to participate. More than one million users have visited the campaign website, MyMixify.com; and over three thousand questions have been submitted via the Ask the Experts tool. Teens are now talking about balance—the campaign has generated more than 35,000 mentions on social media and more than 111,000 followers across social media. Through ten stops, the Mixify Tour events were attended by more than 1,400 teens, and more than 75 local organizations serving teens participated. Across social media channels, the Mixify Tour generated more than 44 million impressions; more than 8,200 pieces of branded and user-generated content; and more than 20,000 mentions of #MixifyTour. Moreover, #MixifyTour was the top trending hashtag in Portland, OR the day the Tour stopped there.
Protecting Lives and Livelihoods

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Sampling of saliva for diagnosing Plasmodium falciparum infections is a safe, non-invasive alternative to sampling of blood. However, the use of saliva presents a challenge because lower concentrations of parasite DNA are present in saliva compared to peripheral blood. Therefore, a sensitive method is needed for detection of parasite DNA in saliva. This study utilized two recently reported "ultra-sensitive" PCR assays based on detection of the P. falciparum mitochondrial cox3 gene and the multi-copy nuclear varATS gene. The ultra-sensitive assays have an advantage over standard 18S rRNA gene-based PCR assay as they target genes with higher copy numbers per parasite genome. Stored saliva DNA samples from 60 Cameroonian individuals with infections previously confirmed by 18S rRNA gene PCR in peripheral blood were tested with assays targeting the cox3 and varATS genes.
Overall, the standard 18S rRNA gene-based PCR assay detected P. falciparum DNA in 62% of the stored saliva DNA samples, whereas 77 and 68% of the samples were positive with assays that target the cox3 and varATS genes, respectively. Interestingly, the ultra-sensitive assays detected more P. falciparum infections in stored saliva samples than were originally detected by thick-film microscopy (41/60 = 68%). When stratified by number of parasites in the blood, the cox3 assay successfully detected more than 90% of infections using saliva when individuals had > 1000 parasites/μl of peripheral blood, but sensitivity was reduced at submicroscopic parasitemia levels. Bands on electrophoresis gels were distinct for the cox3 assay, whereas faint or non-specific bands were sometimes observed for varATS and 18S rRNA that made interpretation of results difficult. Assays could be completed in 3.5 and 3 h for the cox3 and varATS assays, respectively, whereas the 18S rRNA gene assays required at least 7 h.
This study demonstrates that a PCR assay targeting the cox3 gene detected P. falciparum DNA in more saliva samples than primers for the 18S rRNA gene. Non-invasive collection of saliva in combination with the proposed cox3 primer-based PCR assay could potentially enhance routine testing of P. falciparum during disease surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation of interventions for malaria elimination.
Early and accurate diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) infections is crucial for treatment and monitoring of malaria transmission. Thick-film microscopy (TFM) has traditionally been the gold standard for the identification of Pf from peripheral blood. A trained microscopist can typically detect 50–100 parasites/μl of blood in Giemsa's solution-stained blood smear , but individuals with fewer parasites may be erroneously diagnosed as parasite-free. Although people with submicroscopic infections are usually not ill, they are capable of transmitting sexual-stage parasites to mosquitoes . Submicroscopic infections can be detected by highly sensitive molecular assays, such as nested PCR (nPCR) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) . With the use of nPCR and LAMP, the limit of detection is estimated to be 0.1–10 parasites/μl of blood and can be lower still with qRT-PCR . Current diagnostic and molecular methods have an inherent problem; they require collection of peripheral blood. Routine blood collection methods are invasive procedures that are painful to patients, require trained phlebotomists, and involve the use of needles or lancets. Improper handling of sharps exposes healthcare workers and the patient to blood-borne pathogens, while disposal of used sharps is hazardous for waste management in malaria-endemic countries . Repetitive sampling of blood from the same person, e.g., in mass studies monitoring malaria elimination, often results in low compliance.
Non-blood samples, e.g., saliva and urine, can serve as non-invasive and safe alternatives to blood samples. Plasmodium DNA has been detected in saliva and urine , however, at 600 and 2500 times lower levels, respectively , than those present in peripheral blood. Despite the reduced amount of parasite DNA in saliva, quantitative studies show a positive correlation between parasite numbers detected in peripheral blood by microscopy and parasite DNA in saliva [7, 8], which supports the use of saliva as an alternative for blood.
The traditional molecular assay used for Pf detection targets a specific region in the 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) gene  that has 4–8 copies per Pf genome. Recently, primers to multi-copy gene targets have been reported to have improved sensitivity. One is the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase III (cox3) gene, with 20 to 150 copies per Pf genome. Because cox3 is a mitochondrial gene, it is less likely to undergo immune pressure and genetic variation. The other gene is the var gene acidic terminal sequence (varATS), ~ 59 copies/Pf genome [4, 10, 11]. Cunha et al. reported detection of submicroscopic infections in the blood by qPCR using varATS primers that were missed by 18S rRNA gene primers. Since conventional instrumentation of qPCR can be difficult to maintain in resource poor countries where malaria is transmitted, a conventional PCR method might be more useful.
A recent study was conducted in Cameroon using 18S rRNA gene PCR to detect Pf DNA in the saliva of 222 fever patients. The study was able to detect Pf DNA in saliva in 95% [95% CI 85–99] of 53 subjects who were peripheral blood smear positive by microscopy and 82% [95% CI 72–90] of 78 blood samples positive by PCR . The current study hypothesized that the use of these "ultra-sensitive" primers to detect malaria DNA in saliva would increase the number of Pf cases detected compared to the use of the traditional 18S rRNA gene PCR.
Paired blood and saliva samples were collected in 2015 from febrile patients in Cameroon as previously described . Saliva were collected using the OMNIgene®ORAL (OM-501) kits (Genotek, Ottawa, Canada). In the original study, DNA was isolated from whole blood and saliva using a DNA purification kit (Macherey Nagel, Duren, Germany) and stored at − 20 °C until used. In the current study, 60 stored archival saliva DNA samples were available from subjects who originally tested peripheral blood positive by PCR using 18S rRNA gene PCR. As a positive control, DNA isolated from laboratory-cultured Pf of the 3D7 strain was serially diluted five-folds from 3.74 to 4 × 10−7 ng/μl of parasite DNA. Negative controls were saliva samples collected from three U.S. individuals who were malaria naïve, and a non-template control with nuclease-free PCR-grade water was substituted for the DNA template.
In the original study, the following protocol was used. One PCR reaction consisted of 12.5 μl of 2x Go Taq Green (Promega, Madison, USA), 1 μl each of 10 μM forward and reverse primers (IDT, IA, USA), 5.5 μl of nuclease-free water, and 5 μl of DNA template, with a total of 25 μl. The standard protocols for the cycling conditions were followed . For the initial amplification targeting the 18S rRNA gene, forward and reverse primers, rPLU5 (5′-CCTGTTGTTGCCTTAAACTTC-3′) and rPLU6 (5′-TTAAAATTGTTGCAGTTAAAACG-3′) were used. Five microliters of the amplified product was used for the second round of amplification with forward and reverse primers, rFAL-1 (5′-TTAAACTGGTTTGGGAAAACCAAATATATT-3′) and rFAL-2 (5′-ACACAATGAACTCAATCATGACTACCCGTC) . The expected product size was 205 base pairs (bp). In the current study, the above protocol was employed, except 5 μl of DNA was used (instead of 2 μl) to allow for direct comparison among the primers.
For the initial amplification targeting cox3, forward and reverse primers, MtU.F (5′-CTCGCCATTTGATAGCGGTTAACC-3′) and MtU.R (5′-CCTGTTATCCCCGGCGAACCTTC-3′) were used with standard protocols for the cycling conditions . Five microliters of the amplified product, diluted at 1:50, was used for the second amplification with forward and reverse primers MtNst_falF (5′-GAACACAATTGTCTATTCGTACAATTATTC-3′) and MtNst_falR (5′-CTTCTACCGAATGGTTTATAAATTCTTTC-3′). The expected product size was 201 bp.
For the amplification targeting varATS, forward varATS primer (5′-CCCATACACAACCAAYTGGA-3′) and reverse varATS primer (5′-TTCGCACATATCTCTATGTCTATCT-3′) were used with standard protocols for the cycling conditions . The expected product size was 65 bp.
Ten microliters of the PCR products were run on a 1.5% agarose gel (Sigma, Fisher, USA) stained with ethidium bromide (Sigma-Aldrich, USA) for 45 min at 100 V. Products were visualized under a UV lamp. A 100-bp ladder (exACTGene Ladder, Fisher) was used as a reference. The presence of a band at the expected size for each primer set was determined positive.
Data analyses were conducted using Microsoft Excel and Prism version 7.04 (Graph Pad Software Inc.). The 95% confidence interval was calculated using the modified Wald method.
DNA isolated from P. falciparum cultured in vitro that contained from 3.74 to 4 × 10−7 ng/μl of parasite DNA was serially diluted fivefold and used as the positive control in the assays. The lower limit of detection (i.e., presence of a band following gel electrophoresis) using the 18S rRNA primers reached 1 × 10−5 ng/μl; cox3 primer was 4 × 10−7 ng/μl; and varATS primer was 2 × 10−6 ng/μl. It is important to point out that both the 18S rRNA and cox3 assays are nested PCRs, where 5 μl of the nest 1 produce is used in nest 2 of the 18S rRNA assay, but 5 μl of a 1:50 dilution of the nest 1 was used in nest 2 of the cox3 assay. The varATS assay was a single-step PCR assay. Thus, the cox3 assay was the most sensitive assay, with the varATS having a lower limit of detection similar to that of the nest-PCR 18S rRNA method.
Overall, the PCR assay using standard 18S rRNA primers detected Pf DNA in 62% [95% CI 49–73] of the stored saliva DNA samples, whereas 77% [95% CI 64–86] and 68% [95% CI 56–79] of the samples were positive with assays using cox3 and varATS primers, respectively (Table 1). Although the differences were not significant based on 95% CI, the cox3 primers detected more submicroscopic infections compared to the 18S rRNA and varATS (47% vs. 21 and 26%, respectively) and had the highest efficiency for malaria detection (Table 2). Interestingly, the ultra-sensitive primers detected Pf in more stored saliva DNA samples than were originally detected by TFM (41/60 = 68%) and thus were more efficient (Table 2). When stratified by number of parasites in the blood, the cox3 assay detected over 90% of infections using saliva DNA when individuals had > 1000 parasites/μl in their peripheral blood (Table 1). For individuals with > 10,000 parasites/μl in peripheral blood, both cox3 and varATS assays successfully detected 100% of the infections, but the sensitivity was reduced at submicroscopic parasitemia levels. US control samples were negative for all primer sets (Additional file 1: Table S1).
Cox3 PCR consistently showed the brightest and sharpest bands on the gel, whereas the 18S rRNA PCR often produced smeared and non-specific bands with a different size from the expected size (Fig. 1). Interpretation of the gel was also difficult for varATS PCR, as bands were constantly faint and resulted in over 10% of "unclear" samples (Additional file 1: Table S1). The ultra-sensitive primers-based PCR had another advantage over traditional PCR with much shorter turnaround times than 18S rRNA, ~ 3.5 and ~ 3 h for cox3 and varATS, respectively, compared to ~ 7 h for 18S rRNA (Table 3).
Non-invasive and sensitive tests for malaria have many applications. This study compared the use of three PCR-based assays to detect Pf DNA in saliva. Saliva samples have multiple advantages over blood samples, e.g., no pain for patients, minimal training required for healthcare workers, reduced transmission of blood-borne pathogens, and contaminated sharp wastes. The WHO reported that 37.6% of hepatitis B, 39% of hepatitis C, and 4.4% of HIV/AIDS prevalence in health workers worldwide are due to needle-stick injury . Saliva tests have been shown to be convenient and safe for cancer, HIV, HCV, HPV, and recently in the field of malaria by detecting HRP-2, lactate dehydrogenase, and Pf DNA [6, 13–18].
In the current study, two sets of primers were evaluated, namely primers to the P. falciparum genes for cox3 and varATS, which were first described in 2015. Following its initial report, the cox3 PCR has been used in epidemiological studies [19, 20]. Since the assay is a nested PCR, cox3 PCR has the benefit of identifying the presence or absence of Plasmodium species in the blood after a single round of PCR amplification. The mitochondrial genome is highly conserved in Plasmodium species . Plasmodium detection using another mitochondrial gene, cytochrome b gene (cytb), in saliva and urine has been reported in symptomatic patients . However, a more recent study demonstrated that cytb-based PCR has lower sensitivity than cox3-based assays .
In a resource- and personnel-limited setting, clear and easy interpretation of results is extremely important and the presence of a single distinct band in gel electrophoresis-based assays help assure accurate diagnosis. The traditional 18S rRNA gene-based PCR frequently amplified non-specific bands (Fig. 1), a phenomenon also been reported by others [10, 22]. The extra bands could possibly be due to cross reactivity between human and parasite small subunit rRNA . In contrast, cox3 primers target a gene specific to Plasmodium, thereby eliminating the risk of non-specific amplification of human DNA. VarATS PCR uses a single amplification and produces a small-sized product, making it difficult for researchers to be confident in distinguishing between the true product and non-specific bands on the gel. On the other hand, varATS primers have the advantage of being used in a single-step PCR, thereby significantly reducing the turnaround time and workload required for nPCR.
The process of how parasite DNA enters the human salivary glands and circulates in the saliva remains unclear. Further investigation is also required to determine whether Pf DNA in the saliva is present only during an active Pf infection or if it persists after parasites are cleared from the blood. An inherent problem with rapid diagnostic test based on detection of parasite histidine-rich protein-two (HRP-2) is the persistence of the antigen in the peripheral blood after parasite clearance [23–25].
The project has several limitations. The DNA samples were collected in 2015 and DNA was isolated and stored at − 20 °C until re-evaluated in 2017. The saliva samples were collected in 2015 and DNA degradation was likely to have occurred, as the detection of positive saliva samples was higher in the original study than that when archival saliva DNA was used in 2017 with the 18S rRNA primers. DNA degradation in stored samples is not unexpected, as power outages frequently occur in Cameroon. Whether DNA degradation took place is not clear, but it is likely that ultra-sensitive primers would perform even better using fresh saliva samples.
In future studies, a larger number of fresh saliva and blood should be collected and tested with 18S rRNA, cox3, and varATS primers to establish the true sensitivity of each PCR-based approach. In addition, future studies are needed to determine if other species of malaria (e.g., P. vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale) can also be diagnosed using saliva and if the amount of Plasmodial DNA in saliva reflects the level of parasitemia in the peripheral blood.
The present study found the PCR assay based on detection of the mitochondrial cox3 gene to be better than the traditional 18s rRNA assay for detecting Pf DNA in stored DNA samples extracted. In addition, PCR using cox3 primers provided bright and distinct band following gel electrophoresis and the assay could be completed in ~ 3.5 h. The proposed combination of saliva and PCR using cox3 primers may provide a new tool for use in diagnosis, epidemiological studies, and monitoring interventions for malaria control.
We thank the researchers and the laboratory staff at the Biotechnology Centre, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, for collecting, processing, and archiving the samples. Our sincere appreciation is sent to all the participants in the study, as this study could not have been carried out without their participation. The OMNIgene®ORAL (OM-501) kits were kindly donated by DNA Genotek, Ottawa, Canada.
This research was supported by grants T37MD008636 (Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Program, NIMHD), D43TW009074 (Global Infectious Diseases, FIC), P30GM114737 (Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence, NIGMS, NIH), and 5R21AI 105286-02 (NIAID, NIH).
Comparative data for the three PCR assays are provided in Additional file 1: Table S1.
LEF and YML conceived the project and designed the experiments. RC provided ideas on the cox3 primers. STY and KM designed and carried out the original project in 2015 and collected samples with BO and LEF. JA, BT, BO, CN, LEF, and YML carried out the experiments. JA, YML, and DWT analyzed the data. RFGL supervised the collection of the samples. YML, JA, RC, VRN, and DWT wrote the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the manuscript.
Blood and saliva samples used were deidentified, archival samples collected in 2015. The current study was exempt from human subject research by the Committee on Human Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa (Protocol Number: 2017-00395).


Japan's big cities are intoxicating. Fast paced and modern, destinations like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka are unlike anywhere else on earth, so it's little surprise that they're becoming more and more popular with travellers from Britain and beyond.
But these cities, heady and irresistible as they are, don't offer visitors the full picture of a country that is as complex as it is mysterious. The real Japan lies outside the main metropolises, in the small towns, the seaside villages, the cities as yet untouched by tourism and globalisation.
So where can visitors go to get a taste of the traditional, a sample of the flavours, customs and people of Japan?
I was invited recently to discover one of Japan's best-kept secrets, a city that's not yet on the tourist map, that's just an hour from one of the country's best-known centres, and which offers a glimpse into a truly unique side of Japan.
The destination is , found a short train journey south of Osaka, promising an incredibly doable side-trip you'll never forget.
My fabulous travel buddies for exploring Wakayama were and – we flew into Osaka Kansai airport and caught the train from there. With just one quick change, it took less than an hour to get to Wakayama City, but it wasn't time to explore the centre of the city just yet.
The beauty of Wakayama is that it offers more than just an urban experience. It's located by the coast, which means seaside towns and beaches are just a stone's throw away from the main hustle and bustle. Our first night was to be spent at a traditional Japanese hotel, called a Ryokan, nestled on the coastline a half hour drive from Wakayama's central station.
We were welcomed at the with ultra-polite Japanese hospitality, and were shown to our room: a large, but traditionally simple affair of tatami mats, futon beds and a low table with matching low chairs. Outside on the balcony, a private onsen overlooked the bay below, where a cluster of white houses that looked like a Greek village clung to the cliffs, with small islands dotted beyond.
Nevertheless, it was delicious – all eight courses of it! The menu was heavy on fish, which had been caught locally and was so fresh it melted in our mouths. I wish I could tell you everything else we ate, but for the most part, I genuinely have no idea. You'll just have to trust me when I tell you it was incredible.
I can tell you what we had to drink, though: sake! Man, I love that stuff.
After a long flight it was tempting to hit the futon, but the night was still and clear, and the onsen was calling. Not our private bath on the balcony, but the public one overlooking the glistening bay beneath the Ryokan.
An onsen experience is unlike almost anything else on earth. Steeped in ritual, it's essentially just bathing, but it's also so much more – take a look at this post for full details of how to navigate a traditional Japanese onsen, but suffice to say, we stripped naked in the cold night air and scrubbed ourselves almost raw.
I know it doesn't sound all that appealing, but trust me when I say it's as invigorating as it is liberating. And partaking in a Japanese onsen is like peeking through a window into the true, traditional Japan. The Japan you don't often see in the big cities.
Prickling with the heat of the onsen, we slept off our flight and our dinner, waking early for breakfast, another quick onsen, and a day of exploring Wakayama City. The Ryokan offered a free shuttle bus service, which dropped us at the city's main train station.
We took a slow stroll back to the station area, stopping to do a bit of shopping on the way (for essentials, you know, like sake cups). As we walked along in the sunshine, chatting about what we'd seen and planning what to do next, we were stopped by a local man.
"Where are you from?" he asked, and we told him we were from England. "Welcome to Japan!" he said with a huge smile on his face, leaving us beaming from ear to ear.
The kindness and hospitality of Japanese people is unlike anything I've ever experienced anywhere in the world. It's humbling to see how much the locals care about whether you're having a good experience in their city.
This need to ensure our enjoyment, however, did run us into a little bit of trouble at dinnertime. We looked on Google Maps for some nearby restaurants, and found a few in the same area with good reviews. But when we turned up, and the hosts realised we didn't speak Japanese (and they didn't speak English) they panicked and turned us away. It wasn't out of spite, it was simply that they were worried they wouldn't be able to offer the kind of service they wanted to give!
After a few failed attempts, and a rather disastrous Google Translate fuelled bar snack (with sake, of course!), we consulted the English city guide book we'd been given on arrival. We figured that if it was in the guide, it would cater to English tourists, and we were right! We walked into a nearby restaurant called Mihanami, and were greeted with smiles and an English menu, from which we ordered delicious wagyu beef and sashimi.
And then it was time for bed, as it was to be an early start the next day to catch our flight home.
It was a whirlwind trip, but you don't have to do it like that – if you're visiting any of Japan's big cities, plan a couple of days to come down to Wakayama and explore this region. I can't recommend the Ryokan we stayed in highly enough – that onsen is something everyone needs to try once – and the ramen and castle are great reasons to pop into Wakayama City for the day.
Check out the hashtags #mysecret and #wakayama on Instagram and Twitter to see all the photos we took during our time in Wakayama.


text:
RAKOCEVIC, IGOR
Pamesa Valencia 8 Guard
Height: 1.91 Born: 29 March, 1978 Nationality: Serbia
ULEB Cup 2004-05 STATISTICS
Totals 16 14 465:15 297 63/101 25/65 96/112 7 22 29 31 20 35 1 8 32 86 295
Averages 16 14 29:04 18.6 62.4% 38.5% 85.7% 0.4 1.4 1.8 1.9 1.3 2.2 0.1 0.5 2 5.4 18.4
Eighthfinals
15 * vs Lietuvos Rytas 34:45 32 5/9 4/7 10/11 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 9 36
16 * at Lietuvos Rytas 30:00 17 2/4 2/5 7/10 1 1 2 2 1 4 8 16
2 Totals 64:45 49 7/13 6/12 17/21 1 2 3 5 2 1 0 2 5 17 52
Average 32:22 24.5 53.8% 50% 81% 0.5 1 1.5 2.5 1 0.5 0 1 2.5 8.5 26
13 * at Spirou Charleroi 30:30 21 5/8 1/4 8/9 1 1 5 3 1 2 6 20
14 * vs Spirou Charleroi 30:45 13 5/7 1/2 1 1 2 1 1 1 12
2 Totals 61:15 34 10/15 2/6 8/9 1 1 2 7 0 4 0 1 3 7 32
Average 30:37 17 66.7% 33.3% 88.9% 0.5 0.5 1 3.5 0 2 0 0.5 1.5 3.5 16
11 * at DKV Joventut 38:00 30 8/14 1/2 11/13 1 1 2 2 5 1 2 9 26
12 * vs DKV Joventut 32:15 27 5/8 2/7 11/11 1 1 2 1 2 2 10 28
2 Totals 70:15 57 13/22 3/9 22/24 2 2 4 0 3 7 0 1 4 19 54
Average 35:07 28.5 59.1% 33.3% 91.7% 1 1 2 0 1.5 3.5 0 0.5 2 9.5 27
1 vs Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem 16:15 7 1/2 1/2 2/2 3 1 1 8
2 * at Ovarense Aerosoles 30:00 9 3/4 0/3 3/4 1 2 3 1 1 6 2 5 6
3 vs Corimec Varese 22:30 18 2/4 3/5 5/9 3 3 3 2 4 18
4 * at Elan Chalon 36:00 20 3/4 2/6 8/8 1 1 1 4 2 2 7 24
5 * vs Queluz Sintra 21:00 12 4/4 1/4 1/1 3 3 3 2 2 1 3 17
6 * at Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem 28:00 11 3/5 0/2 5/6 4 2 1 2 3 8
7 * vs Ovarense Aerosoles 18:45 20 3/3 3/3 5/5 1 1 1 2 3 3 20
8 * at Corimec Varese 36:00 28 7/13 3/5 5/7 3 3 2 1 1 2 2 6 25
9 * vs Elan Chalon 37:00 18 4/7 1/7 7/8 2 2 4 1 4 4 1 2 5 17
10 * at Queluz Sintra 23:30 14 3/5 0/1 8/8 2 2 3 4 1 3 6 14
10 Totals 269:00 157 33/51 14/38 49/58 3 17 20 19 15 23 1 4 20 43 157
Average 26:54 15.7 64.7% 36.8% 84.5% 0.3 1.7 2 1.9 1.5 2.29 0.1 0.4 2 4.3 15.7
ULEB Cup 2004-05 individual rankings
Index rating 36 Valencia Basket vs. Rytas Vilnius 3/22/2005
Points 32 ratiopharm Ulm vs. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 1/9/2013
Offensive rebounds 2 Valencia Basket vs. Elan Chalon 1/11/2005
Defensive rebounds 4 Baloncesto Sevilla vs. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 11/14/2012
Total rebounds 6 BCM Gravelines Dunkerque vs. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 11/18/2003
Assists 7 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade vs. Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari 11/21/2012
Steals 5 BCM Gravelines Dunkerque vs. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 11/18/2003
Blocks 1 Valencia Basket vs. Elan Chalon 1/11/2005
Minutes 40 Alicante vs. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 1/13/2004
Grew up with Crvena Zvezda Belgrade (Serbia) youth teams.
Made his debut with Crvena Zvezda during the 1995-96 season.
Played there till the 1999-00 championship.
Signed by BC Buducnost Podgorica for the 2000-01 season.
Played there also the 2001-02 championship.
Back to Serbia & Montenegro for the 2003-04 season, signed by Crvena Zvezda Belgrade.
Moved to Spain for the 2004-05 season, signed by Valencia CB.
Signed for the 2005-06 season by Real Madrid CF.
Signed for the 2006-07 season by Baskonia Vitoria.
Moved to Turkey for the 2009-10 season, signed by Efes Pilsen Istanbul.
Moved to Italy for the 2011-12 season, signed by Mens Sana Basket Siena.
Moved to Serbia for the 2012-13 season, signed by Crvena Zvezda Belgrade.
He's still playing there.
2006-07, 2008-09 and 2010-11 Euroleague Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy Winner.
Named to the 2008-09 All-Euroleague First Team.
Named to the 2006-07 All-Euroleague Second Team.
Named the 2008-09 Euroleague January MVP.
Named the 2005-06 Euroleague Week-16 and 19 MVP.
Named the 2008-09 Euroleague Week-3 MVP.
Led the 2006-07 Euroleague in scoring (16.2 ppg.).
Named the 2004-05 ULEB Cup Week-15 MVP.
Member of the Yugoslav National Team.
Won the gold medal at the 2001 European Championship.
Won the gold medal at the 2002 World Championship.
Played at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.
Won the 1997-98 Yugoslav National Championship with Crvena Zvezda Belgrade.
Won the 2000-01 Yugoslav National Championship with BC Buducnost Podgorica.
Won the 2007-08 Spanish National Championship with Baskonia Vitoria.
Won the 2011-12 Italian National Championship with Mens Sana Basket Siena.
Won the 2001 Yugoslav National Cup with BC Buducnost Podgorica.
Won the 2004 Serbia & Montenegro National Cup with Crvena Zvezda Belgrade.
Won the 2009 Spanish National Cup (King's Cup) with Baskonia Vitoria.
Won the 2013 Serbian National Cup with Crvena Zvezda Belgrade.
Won the 2006 and 2008 Spanish Super Cup with Baskonia Vitoria.
Won the 2009 President Cup with Efes Pilsen Istanbul.
Named the 2013 Serbian Cup Final MVP.
Played the 2010 and 2011 Turkish All Star Game.
Led the 2003-04 Adriatic League in scoring (23.2 ppg.), assists (4.4 apg.) and steals (2,0 spg.).
Has been member of the Yugoslav U-18 and U-22 National Team.
Won the bronze medal at the 1996 European U-18 Championship.
Won the gold medal at the 1998 European U-22 Championship, being also named the MVP.
Won the bronze medal at the World U-22 Championship.
Member of the Serbia & Montenegro National Team.
Played at the 2005 European Championship.
Member of the Serbian National Team.
Played at the 2006 World Championship.
2000-01 Buducnost 11 142 12.9 40/75 53.3 10/45 22.2 32/49 65.3 30 15 20 0
2001-02 Buducnost 14 248 17.7 67/124 54 19/55 34.5 57/87 65.5 23 18 29 0
2005-06 Real Madrid 20 296 14.8 50/103 48.5 43/107 40.2 67/75 89.3 58 16 61 0
2006-07 Tau Ceramica 22 357 16.2 50/97 51.5 66/139 47.5 59/70 84.3 53 31 37 2
2007-08 Tau Ceramica 22 328 14.9 65/124 52.4 42/106 39.6 72/86 83.7 51 15 38 1
2008-09 Tau Ceramica 21 377 18 73/144 50.7 43/108 39.8 102/114 89.5 48 16 42 0
2009-10 Efes Pilsen 16 160 10 26/63 41.3 16/56 28.6 60/72 83.3 27 7 37 0
2010-11 Efes Pilsen Istanbul 14 241 17.2 48/102 47.1 27/62 43.5 64/73 87.7 32 10 24 0
2011-12 Montepaschi Siena 19 179 9.4 50/110 45.5 11/43 25.6 46/59 78 37 6 31 2
Totals 159 2328 14.6 469/942 49.8 277/721 38.4 559/685 81.6 359 134 319 5
Averages 159 2328 14.6 469/942 49.8 277/721 38.4 559/685 81.6 2.3 0.8 2 0
2003-04 Crvena Zvezda Belgrade 10 193 19.3 44/83 53 19/56 33.9 48/62 77.4 33 17 38 1
2004-05 Pamesa Valencia 16 297 18.6 63/101 62.4 25/65 38.5 96/112 85.7 29 20 31 1
2012-13 Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 11 215 19.5 55/96 57.3 21/40 52.5 42/52 80.8 30 6 31 0
Totals 37 705 19.1 162/280 57.9 65/161 40.4 186/226 82.3 92 43 100 2
Averages 37 705 19.1 162/280 57.9 65/161 40.4 186/226 82.3 2.5 1.2 2.7 0.1
1996/97 Crvena Zvezda 12 51 4.3 10/24 41.7 5/20 25 16/21 76.2 2 5 8 0
1997/98 Crvena Zvezda 26 336 12.9 88/155 56.8 35/77 45.5 55/73 75.3 35 49 33 1
1998/99 Crvena Zvezda 16 303 18.9 70/132 53 27/73 37 82/99 82.8 30 20 35 …
2000/01 Buducnost 20 324 16.2 94/145 64.8 27/71 38 55/80 68.8 45 22 50 0
2001/02 Buducnost 32 665 20.8 155/241 64.3 50/133 37.6 205/284 72.2 85 38 8 0
2002/03 Minnesota 42 78 1.9 17/46 37 5/12 41.7 29/36 80.6 17 4 33 0
2003/04 Red Star 14 316 22.6 59/100 59 30/68 44.1 108/127 85 25 24 81 0
2004/05 Valencia 32 672 21 137/243 56.4 69/148 46.6 191/220 86.8 75 31 106 3
2005/06 Real Madrid 27 399 14.8 69/144 47.9 55/142 38.7 96/125 76.8 64 26 87 0
2006/07 TAU 40 631 15.8 108/192 56.3 96/230 41.7 127/154 82.5 69 74 34 1
2008/09 TAU 41 795 19.4 163/282 57.8 93/241 38.6 190/220 86.4 109 34 100 1
2009/10 Efes Pilsen 32 456 14.3 92/154 59.7 57/150 38 101/125 80.8 62 25 91 2
2010/11 Efes Pilsen
32 405 12.7 96/166 57.8 47/128 36.7 72/80 90 75 22 60 0
2011/12 MS Siena 39 401 10.3 98/208 47.1 34/104 32.7 103/132 78.0 78 23 63 2
2012/13 Crvena Zvezda-KLS 18 291 16.2 68/123 55.3 26/67 38.8 77/97 79.4 37 11 51 2
Crvena Zvezda-ABA 27 423 15.7 104/202 51.5 34/96 35.4 113/132 85.6 65 32 84 0


All other children should arrive from 8.45am and before 9am, when teachers will be on duty on the playground.
Morning Nursery sessions are between 9am and 11.45am, though we hope that many parents will also opt for our chargeable wrap-around Playgroup, 'Tiny Treasures', in the afternoon. Nursery pupils attending Tiny Treasures can stay in school all day and will need to have a cooked school meal, or bring a packed lunch. Other Nursery children should be collected at 11.45 please.
A variety of extra-curricular clubs will be offered by members of staff during the course of the year. These will be publicised in the first weeks of the autumn term.


text:
Personalized Medicine for Addiction – The Future of Health Part I
The Human Genome Project was completed almost 20 years ago by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Department of Energy, and mapped the 3 billion units of DNA that makeup the human genome.
Such an enormous undertaking took scientists more than a decade. As a result of their dedication, researchers are now in the process of developing an entirely new approach to treating chronic illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases and addiction called Personalized Medicine.
Personalized or Precision Medicine is exactly what it sounds like; the treatment of a chronic disease tailored to an individual's unique genetic code.
More technically, as U.S. News and World Report writes, "It involves identifying genetic, genomic, and clinical information that allows accurate predictions to be made about a person's susceptibility of developing a disease, the course of the disease, and it's response to treatment."
Armed with this genetic knowledge, scientists are able to test various treatment approaches for the same condition in people who have different genetic and chemical natures.
What Are the Benefits of Precision or Personalized Medicine?
Medical decisions based on better and more specific information
Targeted therapies resulting in an increased likelihood of positive outcomes
Greater ability to predict and prevent disease rather than react to it
Decrease in negative drug effects due to genetic metabolic testing
An overall reduction in healthcare related costs
Cancer patients have benefitted the most from personalized medicine so far. By undergoing a genetic test, physicians are able to pinpoint what medications will work best for their patients. This eliminates much of the time wasted experimenting with ineffective drugs and, in many cases spares the patient from debilitating side effects.
Though this practice is still in its infancy, most experts agree this is the future of medicine. So much so, the Obama Administration set aside a proposed $215 million of the 2016 budget for what The White House calls the Precision Medicine Initiative. The president's plan is largely supported on both sides of the aisle.
What is the Four-Step Process of the Precision Medicine Initiative?
$130 million to the National Institutes of Health for organizing and overseeing a million volunteers who will analyze genetic data
$70 million to the National Cancer Institute for continued research in fighting the disease through the use of personalized medicine
$10 million to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for creating and maintaining nationwide databases to support the program's research efforts
And an additional $5 million to the FDA for developing a secure patient data-sharing system
The disease of addiction has not been for forgotten as it concerns personalized medicine. Medication assisted therapies, such as acamprosate and disulfiram for alcoholism or naltrexone and buprenorphine for heroin, are not new in the treatment of addiction.
These drugs, however, are not successful for everyone. Genetic metabolism testing and personalized medicine allows research into why the medications work for some and not for others and, in turn, what adjustments are needed to remedy the discrepancy.
The reach of personalized medicine continues to expand. Part II of this series will examine genetic metabolic testing for mental health conditions.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that an estimated 7.9 million adults in the U.S. suffer from both a substance abuse problem and a mental health condition. This is yet another trail that personalized medicine for addiction is blazing. The future really is now.
What if You Knew Depression as Both a Doctor and as a Patient?
Medication Assisted Treatment – An eBook by the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
The Anatomy Of Addiction Book
Ten of the Biggest Addiction Myths
White House Addresses Prescription Painkiller and Heroin Abuse Epidemic
Evidence Based Treatment for Addiction: The Emerging Truth
What Are Off-Label Prescription Drugs and Why Should I Care?
Medicare Refuses to Share Substance Abuse Data With Researchers
Personalized or Precision Medicine is the treatment of a chronic disease tailored to an individual's unique genetic code. How does it work?
← Historic Commutations For Nonviolent Drug Offenders Genetic Metabolism Testing for Mental Health – The Future of Health Part II →


The project is funded by the E+ Programme under KA2 - Strategic Partnership for Higher Education and is coordinated by Szczecin University (PL). it started in October 2018 and will last two years.
As part of its ongoing commitment to the digitalization of the economy, the EU states that "data-driven business models are the engine of Europe's growth, industrial transformation and job creation." The benefits are clear: existing and new businesses responding to smart data can improve products and services, thus generating economic growth while contributing to social progress.
However, the EU's work to date has concentrated on large industries and the regulatory environment. Micro and SMEs, which make up 99% of businesses, still lag behind in digital technologies.
If the economy is to flourish, our future entrepreneurs must develop data skills or risk being uncompetitive. But there is an obstacle: today's entrepreneurship teachers and lecturers also face a data skills deficit. The majority entered the workforce before big data existed and there is currently no reliable source of training to help them acquire the knowledge and skills they need to teach smart data to today's generation of students and future entrepreneurs.
To remedy this situation, Generation Data aims to improve the ability of HEI education providers to understand and teach smart data skills, thus providing Students, early stage entrepreneurs and businesses with more relevant, effective training.
Here is a link to the project website.


text:
Ant Gyi ( 17 June 1923 – 23 June 2017) was a prominent Burmese singer and musician, best known for singing classic Burmese songs including "Man Taung Yeik Kho" (), "Lu Gyun Lu Kaung" (), "Yin Ta Ko Me" (), "Babu Thuza" (), "Turiya Lulin" , "Yangon Thu" (), "Turiya Lon May" (), "Aung Pinle" , and "Shwe Mingan" ().

Personal life

Ant Gyi was born on 17 June 1923 in Maymyo (now Pyin Oo Lwin), to K.K. Bhattacharjee, Superintendent of the Forest Department (Chindwin Circle), and Daw Win. He studied at American Baptist Mission School and Government Anglo-Vernacular High School.

In 1949, he formed an amateur musical troup, called the B.T. Bros in Rangoon (now Yangon), and broadcast songs in Burmese, Japanese, and Indonesian languages from the Burma Broadcasting Station, Radio Republik Indonesia, Radio Japan and All India Radio, and televised personal shows from NHK television network (1953) and from NTV (1961). He also performed for various foreign delegations including, Indonesia in 1950 and China in September 1960. Ant Gyi was a member of the Young Men's Buddhist Association, Burma Journalist Association, and the Union of Burma Musical Arts and Research Society.

Married to Daw May Nyunt, Ant Gyi had two sons and one daughter.  He died on 23 June 2017 at the Parami General Hospital in Yangon, Myanmar, and cremated at Yayway Cemetery on 25 June. His grand-nephew, Htun Htun, is an actor.

References

20th-century Burmese male singers
People from Mandalay Region
1923 births
2017 deaths
Burmese people of Indian descent

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Hereditary non polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is characterized by the presence of early onset colorectal cancer and other epithelial malignancies. The genetic basis of HNPCC is a deficiency in DNA mismatch repair, which manifests itself as DNA microsatellite instability in tumours. There are four genes involved in DNA mismatch repair that have been linked to HNPCC; these include hMSH2, hMLH1, hMSH6 and hPMS2. Of these four genes hMLH1 and hMSH2 account for the majority of families diagnosed with the disease. Notwithstanding, up to 40 percent of families do not appear to harbour a change in either hMSH2 or hMLH1 that can be detected using standard screening procedures such as direct DNA sequencing or a variety of methods all based on a heteroduplex analysis.
In this report we have screened a series of 118 probands that all have the clinical diagnosis of HNPCC for medium to large deletions by the Multiplex Ligation-Dependent Probe Amplification assay (MLPA) to determine the frequency of this type of mutation. The results indicate that a significant proportion of Australian HNPCC patients harbour deletion or duplication mutations primarily in hMSH2 but also in hMLH1.
Hereditary non polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC; MIM 120435 and 120436) is an autosomal dominantly inherited disorder that predisposes males to an approximate colorectal cancer risk of 80% by 70 years of age and females to a 40% risk of bowel cancer and a 40% risk of endometrial cancer by the same age . The genetic basis of HNPCC has been linked to errors in DNA mismatch repair [2–5], which leaves a characteristic tumour signature of DNA microsatellite instability (MSI) that can be used as a surrogate marker for this syndrome [6, 7].
At least four genes have been associated with DNA mismatch repair and HNPCC and are hMSH2, hMLH1, hMSH6 and hPMS2; for review see Papadopoulos and Lindblom . Both hMSH2 and hMLH1 account for somewhere between 50% and 60% of all families that adhere to the Amsterdam Criteria (3 relatives with colorectal cancer (CRC); one must be a first degree relative of the other two; cross at least two generations; CRC must be diagnosed in one relative under the age of 50 years and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) must be excluded). Somewhere between 2% and 20% of HNPCC families defined by the Bethesda Criteria (excluding the Amsterdam Criteria families) are associated with mutations in these two genes [9–12]. The contribution of hPMS2 and hMSH6 remains undefined, however, on current evidence both hPMS2 and hMSH6 appear to account for approximately 5% of all HNPCC families [13, 14].
The remaining 30-40% of Amsterdam Criteria families that do not evidently harbour germline mutations in the genes described either contain exonic or whole gene deletions, cryptic alterations within their coding regions, harbour changes in promoter/enhancer regions or are due to other genes that await identification . The diagnosis of HNPCC families remains problematic for a variety of reasons despite knowledge about the genetic basis of the disease.
The majority of mutations identified to date are determined by genetic amplification strategies using the polymerase chain reaction and thereafter, subsequent analyses of the amplified product. This strategy has been extremely valuable in identifying a large number of mutations that can be clearly associated with disease development. This approach, however, does not identify inframe deletions that potentially remove whole exons or the entire gene nor does it recognise duplications that are capable of either introducing premature stop codons or inserting transcribable coding sequence that culminates in the insertion of nonsense peptide which alters the functional properties of the protein.
Using a new approach, known as multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA), deletion changes can now readily be identified . In this report we have screened 118 probands who either came from families that adhered to the Amsterdam or Bethesda criteria for whole gene or exon deletions in hMLH1 and hMSH2. Our results indicate that hMSH2 deletions are much more frequent in the Australian population compared to hMLH1 deletions and that MLPA is a useful aid in identifying smaller deletions that occur in the proximity of the splice donor and acceptor sites within hMSH2 and hMLH1.
All patients enrolled in this study have signed an informed consent document for genetic testing. The patients were from the State of New South Wales or Western Australia, which has a total population of approximately 9 million inhabitants. The centre where the genetic testing was undertaken is a statewide service, which also includes the Australian Capitol Territory.
Patients selected for MLPA testing had been previously diagnosed with cancer and had tested negative for point mutations in hMLH1 or hMSH2 by DGGE or DHPLC analysis. The majority of patients had obtained a positive result for immunohistochemistry staining (i.e. displayed absence of staining for either hMSH2 or hMLH1) and were considered to be prime candidates to harbour deletions within the respective gene. All families fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of HNPCC by adhering to either the Amsterdam 1 or 2 Criteria.
All experiments were performed on genomic DNA extracted from blood lymphocytes. DNA was isolated from whole blood using the method described by Miller et al  (1988) without modification.
A Multiplex Ligation-Dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) kit was obtained from MRC-Holland, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The MLPA method was developed by Schouten et al  and uses a probe mixture containing16 probe pairs for hMSH2 and 19 probe pairs for hMLH1 plus 7 control probe pairs. Initially 250 ng of genomic DNA in 5 μl of TE was heated to 95°C for 5 minutes and allowed to cool to 25°C before addition of the hMLH1 and hMSH2 probe mixture and buffer. The solution was reheated to 95°C for 5 minutes followed by overnight hybridisation of the probe at 60°C. The mixture was cooled to 54°C before DNA ligase and buffer were added, followed by ligation at 54°C for 15 minutes and inactivation of the ligase at 98°C for 5 minutes. The ligation products were then amplified with one unlabelled and one FAM-labelled primer using the thermal cycling conditions advised by the manufacturer. Following amplification, 0.75 μl of the PCR reaction, 0.75 μl of deionised water, 0.5 μl of an internal standard (TAMRA-500) and 12 μl of deionised formamide were mixed and incubated at 94°C for 2 minutes. The samples were then analysed on an Applied Biosystems 310 capillary sequencer with a 47-cm capillary and POP4 Genescan polymer. Data for the peak area were exported to an Excel spreadsheet. All peak areas were normalised by dividing each peak area by the combined peak areas of all peaks in that lane. The normalised peak area was then divided by the average normalised peak area of that probe amplification product of all samples. Deletion of an exon for an allele is indicated by the reduction in a relative peak area for that probe amplification product of 30%, while duplication is indicated by an increase in the peak area by 30%.
All single exon deletions were subject to DNA sequencing to determine whether mutations occurred within the MLPA probe binding regions, thereby presenting as an apparent exon deletion. DNA sequencing was performed on a semi-automated sequencing unit (model 310, Perkin-Elmer Applied Biosystems Division, Foster City, CA) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
The majority of patients enrolled in this study had had their tumours assessed for the presence or absence of hMLH1 or hMSH2 and this information was used as a guide to examine in detail which gene was most likely to harbour a deletion or duplication. In those instances where no knowledge was available about the offending DNA mismatch repair gene then both genes were interrogated with equal emphasis.
From a total number of patients 18 index cases were identified as having either a deletion or duplication in hMSH2 or hMLH1. By far the greatest proportion of confirmed exonic deletions (11) were identified in hMSH2 (~61%) with only 2 exonic deletions being identified in hMLH1 (~11%). Two duplications were observed, one in hMSH2 and the other in hMLH1.
Two apparent exonic deletions were also identified by MLPA, which were due to a 2 base pair deletion (1706-1707delAA) in hMSH2 and a 5 base pair deletion (728-732delATGGT) in hMLH1, respectively. These two changes occurred within the annealing sites of the respective probes used for the assay. A third potential deletion was observed in exon 16 of hMSH2 which could not be readily confirmed by virtue of there being no easily identifiable method of determining the 3' end of the deletion. Similar to the other two apparent deletions a mutation was identified at position 2635, which was a substitution (C>G) that was within the annealing site of exon 16 MPLA probe.
Two duplications were identified, one in hMSH2 encompassing exons 9-11 and one in hMLH1 involving exons 4-6. Both of these changes were presumed to disrupt the coding sequence by the introduction of extraneous DNA.
The changes identified in hMSH2 include one whole gene deletion, two probands with exon 8 deleted, eight probands who harboured unique deletions (see Table 1) and one patient that according to MLPA had an exon 15 deletion. This deletion could not be easily confirmed by an alternative method since it occurs in the most 3' exon of MSH2 and the presumed breakpoint was not readily identifiable.
ex 9 to 11 dupl.
The two remaining exonic deletions in hMLH1 included a deletion of exons 1 and 2 in one patient and a deletion of exons 7 to 11 in a second unrelated patient.
The disease characteristics of the patients harbouring deletion mutations are shown in Table 1. The majority of patients (83%) were diagnosed with colorectal cancer under the age of 50 years and there were three patients diagnosed with extra-colonic disease (two endometrial cancers and one ampulla of Vater carcinoma). The family histories of disease were similar to that expected from HNPCC and the average age of confirmed colorectal cancer was 44.8 years, which was not significantly different to patients diagnosed with other types of mutation in either hMSH2 or hMLH1 . There were 101 cases of cancer reported in the families of which 93 could be accurately identified. From the 93 reported cancer cases there were 65 cases of colorectal cancer, 11 cancers of the reproductive tract (both endometrial and ovarian cancers), 6 breast cancer cases, of which four occurred at an unusually early age and an assortment of unusual cancers that have been found to be over-represented in HNPCC families, including cancers of the central nervous system, bile duct, stomach and kidney.
The identification of deletion mutations has traditionally been difficult as it entailed the use of Southern Blotting. Since the introduction of the multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification assay the identification of deletion and duplication mutations has become considerably easier. Accurate estimates of the frequency of whole exon deletions or duplications in HNPCC can now be addressed and in our experience we believe that these types of mutation may account for up to 15% of all mutations identified in the Australian HNPCC population. In the population used in this report exonic deletions or duplications of hMSH2 occurred with a significantly greater frequency compared to hMLH1 which is in agreement with the findings of Gille et al , Taylor et al , Charbonnier et al  and Bunyan et al 2004  who identified primarily hMSH2 deletion/duplication mutations.
The MLPA assay appears to be an extremely valuable screening tool prior to a more extensive mutation analysis as it not only identifies exonic deletions/duplications but is also capable of identifying point mutations that lie in the region of probe binding or ligation. When point mutations occur within these regions the resulting dosage appears as an apparent loss of the respective exon. In our experience, if the MLPA assay reveals a single exon deletion it should be confirmed by sequencing the entire segment of DNA including both primer-binding sites. By undertaking this strategy we were able to identify small deletions in three patients, which were all deemed to be causative as they were predicted to interfere with exon splicing.
When examining the family profiles of patients harbouring deletion or duplication mutations against families that harboured causative missense or nonsense mutations little difference between the disease characteristics could be observed. In total there were 104 cancers identified in 18 families and the average age of colorectal cancer diagnosis was 44.8 years compared to that observed in our previous study (45.77 years for hMSH2 mutation carriers and 47.16 for hMLH1 mutation carriers). All patients had a family history of disease indicating that these changes were not de novo. In addition to colorectal cancer, there was an over-representation of endometrial cancer (13 cases), followed by CNS tumours (3 cases), renal tract cancers (3) and a variety of other cancers present in 2 or less patients. Interestingly, breast cancer was also represented in this set of families with an average age of diagnosis being 50 years. Within this group, however, there were two elderly patients; one case was most likely to be a phenocopy (and could not be tested) as she was 82 years of age and the other one who was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 70 after having been diagnosed with colorectal cancer at the age of 63 years. All the other cases of breast cancer were diagnosed under the age of 50 years.
There were two duplications identified in this study, one in hMSH2 and the other in hMLH1. There did not appear to be any difference between those families found to harbour duplications in either hMSH2 or hMLH1 compared to families that harboured deletions in either of these genes. The numbers of patients precluded any statistical analysis.
In summary, there does not appear to be any overall difference in the disease profiles observed in families that harbour exonic deletions compared to those that have been shown to be associated with nonsense or causative missense changes. MLPA appears to be an extremely useful screening method that can identify up to 15% of the mutations that occur in HNPCC families.


Associated Students Senate unanimously passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and hate speech on Wednesday. The resolution, which L&S Senator Brooke Kopel and Off Campus Senator Anthony Pimentel authored, affirms that Senate "will strive to be allies of the Jewish community," and members of other identities including religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, citizenship status, and class.
In addition to the senators' support, the resolution is also sponsored by Santa Barbara Hillel, Isla Vista Chabad, Gauchos United for Israel, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, and Students Supporting Israel.
The resolution cites several instances of "anti-Semitism and hate" within the University of California, such as flyers that were found on UCSB's campus in October of 2014. These flyers stated that "9/11 was Mossad," Israel's intelligence agency. There was also a cartoon that was perceived as anti-Semitic; it was published in the Daily Californian in October of 2017.
Another instance of perceived anti-Semitism occurred on Feb. 25, when the word "Jew" was found spray painted on a dumpster on Del Playa. Photos of the vandalism circulated, and several members of the Jewish community voiced their concerns at Senate on Feb. 28.
"It makes Jewish people feel like they're being compared to trash," said Michelle May, a fourth year biology major and student sponsor of the resolution, during public forum on Feb. 28.
Shahryar Mooraj, a fourth year physics and mathematical sciences double major, called passing the resolution a "dangerous precedent" for students' ability to critique nations, asking students to challenge the state department's definition of anti-Semitism.
Ray Alonso, a first year political science and history of public policy double major, addressed the potential backlash of Palestinian minority groups. He believes the resolution was not trying to marginalize any individuals and that it had positive intentions.


Communication between a nurse and a patient carries assumptions and beliefs on both sides.
When that nurse is a student and the "patient" is the leader of a racial or ethnic minority group, the barriers to effective communication can be high.
If nurses want a larger role in health care policy, they need to increase their numbers on boards and commissions.
As a young oncology nurse, Andra Davis treated patients who were approaching death. She didn't shrink from that service, but came away feeling "rewarded and enriched" by being present at that stage of her patients' lives.
What an exciting time this is for the College of Nursing! As we begin our 50th anniversary celebrations, I would like to take a minute for reflection.
Oregon is one of the top destinations for Micronesian Islanders who move to the U.S. mainland. They're drawn by a vibrant community of earlier arrivals from the hundreds of small Pacific islands that are part of the Federated States of Micronesia and the republics of the Marshall Islands, Tonga, and Palau.
Connie Nguyen-Truong, an assistant professor at the Washington State University College of Nursing in Vancouver, and community partners Chiao-Yun Hsiao and Victoria Demchak, will be awarded the R. Davilene Carter Presidential Prize for best manuscript from the American Association for Cancer Education at the group's annual meeting next month.


FTP only account mysteriously has shell access?!
I created a new user on my account. I carefully selected ftp-only access, yet when I log in with my ftp client, I see the root directory of my account and can add/move/delete all files.
I have successfully created ftp-only account in the past. Logging in to them brings me in to that users directory.
I quit CuteFTP pro, relaunched and attempted to log in.
Now I can't log in, which makes sense because it has probably not been an hour since I created the user.
But, hey there, Mr. CuteFTP, WTF?!
Couldn't this be explained this way: Perhaps the DH Panel first creates the user, and then limits the access based on what you've chosen. If you accessed FTP before the second stage was complete, then your user would have unlimited access – until the limits kicked in, and that's why you can't log in to root now.


Whatever momentum Brockport Mayor Maria "Connie" Castañeda got from her recent legal success wasn't enough to carry her to victory in yesterday's village elections.
Add Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to the growing list of Congress members who support marriage equality.
While many of the city school district's problems are linked to severe child poverty, some are caused by plain old bad management and a culture of apathy.
Maybe someone can sell me on the reasoning for keeping the city's mounted patrol, because I just don't see it.
THEATER REVIEW: "A Chorus Line"
THEATER REVIEW: "Dream Lover: A Salute to the Music of Bobby Darin"
FILMS | "Decoding Annie Parker"/"Comfort Zone"
THEATER | "9 to 5: The Musical"


text:
DETESK
DECORATIVE AND TECHNICAL GLASS
Skip to navigation (menu)
Home page » Company » History
Ivan Kalousek, the founder of the company, got a concession to start a business. Until the middle of the year 1992 he worked by himself , in the workroom in his family house where he produced decorative items made of borosilicate glass. Many of his designs from this period influenced other glass producers not only from Zelezny Brod and these are still produced to this day.
a growing demand for the glass items in connection with the ideas about business focus of the young company required bigger production area in Zelezny Brod. At the beginning a few properties were rented and later bought from the owners.
a first worker was employed.
an unrestrained advancement of the company called for changes. In order to implement new intensions an industrial property was bought in Prikra Street Zelezny Brod.
there was a big reconstruction and additional building in the newly acquired property. As soon as this was finished the production was moved there from the previous premises
After the reconstruction and additional building were finished there was a last phase – building of the administrative part.
Company Detesk s.r.o.was founded. The company was bought from the present owners. According to the sales contract Detesk s.r.o. is an exclusive representative of the original company
the last part of the employees moved to the brand – new offices
Company Detesk s.r.o. bought a property in Zelezny Brod square
after a partial reconstruction Detesk s.r.o. - glass shop was opened
Jully 2010 Our company is establishing a new retail shop in shopping centre Plaza in Liberec.
Absinth ritual
Decantation
Destillation - functional model
The bottles filled with alcoholic beverages
Virtual museum
Copyright © DETESK, s. r. o. 2019. All rights reserved!
Created by DYNWEB | Powered by CMS Trilobit


text:
Q: Iterating in python gives different op I have multiple datasets in Phylip format (specified below) that I would like to convert to Fasta(specified below) using this python code:
for j in range(1, 10):
    inFile = open('/path/to/input_sequence/seqfile_00' +str(j) + '.txt', 'r')
    outFile = open('/path/to/output_sequence/Fasta/seqfile_00' + str(j) +'.txt', 'w')
    inLines = inFile.readlines()
    inFile.close()
    outLines = inLines[1:17]
    for line in outLines:
        if line.startswith('\n'):
            line = line.replace('\n','')
        outFile.write(line.replace('  ',' \n').replace('sequence', '>sequence'))
outFile.close()

This is what my Phylip (input_sequences) look like:
8 1500\n
\n
sequence1  CTGTCCTTG...\n
\n
sequence2  CTGTCGTTG...\n
\n
sequence3  CTGCGTATG...\n
\n
sequence4  CTATGCCTG...\n
\n
sequence5  AGGTGTAAG...\n
\n
sequence6  AGGTGTAAG...\n
\n
sequence7  AAATTCAAA...\n
\n
sequence8  AAGTCCAAA...\n
\n

And this is what I would like my output_sequences (in Fasta format) to look like:
>sequence1 \n
CTGTCCTTGG...\n
>sequence2 \n
CTGTCGTTGG...\n
>sequence3 \n
CTGCGTATGG...\n
>sequence4 \n
CTATGCCTGG...\n
>sequence5 \n
AGGTGTAAGG...\n
>sequence6 \n
AGGTGTAAGA...\n
>sequence7 \n
AAATTCAAAG...\n
>sequence8 \n
AAGTCCAAAA...\n

When I run the above code, I get the correct output for j = 1 but the following j's (2:9) I get this output
\n
>sequence1 *red inverted question mark*CTGTCCTTGG...\n
>sequence2 *red inverted question mark*CTGTCGTTGG...\n
>sequence3 *red inverted question mark*CTGCGTATGG...\n
>sequence4 *red inverted question mark*CTATGCCTGG...\n
>sequence5 *red inverted question mark*AGGTGTAAGG...\n
>sequence6 *red inverted question mark*AGGTGTAAGA...\n
>sequence7 *red inverted question mark*AAATTCAAAG...\n
>sequence8 *red inverted question mark*AAGTCCAAAA...\n

(... is the continued sequence and red inverted question mark is what I see when I show invisibles in text wrangler).
I guess the general question, and why I am confused, is why/how the code can work fine for j =1 but not the rest of the numbers? And how to solve this issue?
Thanks in advance!

A: Use strip() and bool filter:
with open('filename') as f:
    lines = filter(bool, map(lambda x: x.strip(), f.readlines()))

new_list = []

for values in lines:
    for value in values.split(' '):
        if value[0].isupper():
            new_list.append(value + '\n')
        else:
            new_list.append('>' + value + '\n')

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Many of our potential customers often ask about the many varieties of plumbing pipes which are available to them when considering a repipe. There are actually differences between two top options with advantages and disadvantages of each variation. The majority of new water pipes installed today in order to replace old, corroded galvanized pipes can be Copper pipes or PEX pipes. A wide range of household owners are unsure what Copper or PEX piping consists of, exactly what each looks like, the value of each, the attributes of each type and the downsides. Until someone is facing a problem where you have to repipe your bathrooms or full plumbing system through the entire household, it is difficult to be expected to know about what a repipe is and what it involves. It is important to learn enough information about Copper and PEX piping to take full advantage of your choices from Repipe Specialists. Not many cities offer both repipe options.
In addition to being adaptive and adjustable, PEX pipes are also very durable, there is less probability of potential leaks, they are silent, resistant against intense low and high temperatures, efficient, supply rapid flowing water, can aid in reducing your water bills, are environment-friendly, and keep going for a lifetime! Repiping using PEX is lower priced than plumbing with copper because the material is much less costly and it demands a lot less effort to install a brand new plumbing system using PEX water pipes.
Nearby neighbors in Barstow have had a leaking slab.
You will find noticable differences between PEX pipes and Copper Pipes. Copper pipes are long-lasting (lasting over a hundred years), weather resistant (can be used outside of the house in addition to the interior), is corrosion resistant and would not burn in case of a house fire. Copper pipes cost more than PEX pipes merely because the copper material itself is more expensive. Setting up a new Copper Plumbing System can be higher in price as it is more difficult and demands experience and expertise to guarantee a strong long lasting result. Repiping with Copper Pipes is costlier up-front, however with a full manufacturer guarantee, your brand-new system will last a life-time.
PEX Plumbing Pipes or Copper Repipe? What do people in Barstow, CA go for?
– If your home is in an area where Copper theft is a possibility, PEX should most likely be your determination.
– If you wish to use a water system outside the house, Copper Piping should be the option.
What makes Repipe Specialists the top repiping company in Barstow, CA?
– Total Specialists Fully licensed, insured and supplied for all of your repipe demands. You could even opt to add more various options like new faucets and a tankless water heater.
– Professional: With well over 20 years of experience, Repipe Specialists has a high ranking among the finest in customer satisfaction.
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– Guaranteed for life: We believe strongly in the materials included in our repipe solutions. We back this with our special lifetime guarantee.
– Total 24/7 Customer support: Our repipe solutions center is readily available whenever you wish, day or night. We're always open.
A repipe can offer years and years of highest possible functionality with your home domestic plumbing system. Contact Repipe Specialists to arrange a cost-free in-home estimation. Repiping can be performed in as soon as one day and can cost less than 50% of what an area plumber may cost.


text:
Q: Pasting data in variable locations in VBA-Excel  I am trying to copy data from one Excel sheet to another, but the pasting destination needs to be a variable.
Essentially, what I want to do is open two excel sheets. On the first sheet, there will be some string, whose coordinates I save like this:
sCurrentAddress = Selection.Address(True, True, xlA1, True)
Based on the data already populating Sheet 2, an algorithm neatly finds the desired pasting location and saves these coordinates as follows:
sDestinationAddress = Selection.Address(True, True, xlA1, True)
Then what I'd like to do is paste the information from the first sheet into the second as follows:
Selection.Copy (sDestinationAddress)
but I receive error 1004: Runtime Error: Select method of range class failed.
Now, the first value I'm working on happens to be A4, and when I hover my mouse over "sDestinationAddress", it shows me that the value saved in sDestinationAddress is
'[exampleFile.xlsx]Sheet 1'!$A$4
The macro fails unless I plug in the actual value like this:
'Selection.Copy (Worksheets(1).Range("A4"))
What do I need to do to use my sDestinationAddress as the argument for Selection.Copy?

(I'm sorry this lengthy and still inarticulate, yesterday was literally my first time looking at visual basic.)
About the algorithm:
I have 144 different headers to label the information in the 6 rows below. For example, I'm moving the data from a column headed: Inventory_S1_1 to a new spreadsheet. 'S1_1' on this one sheet implies for the other sheet: S=Diamond, 1 = Black, _1 = Player 1.   So my algorithm finds a header it hasn't dealt with yet (suppose here Inventory_S1_1 is the first header it hasn't dealt with), copies the column underneath the header, finds the location on the new spreadsheet corresponding to Player 1's Black Diamond, then pastes. The pasting algorithm works fine since the template was made by hand, but the searching algorithm gets lost looking for the headers, since it searches potentially jumbled data.
The problem is returning back to the sheet with the raw data on it.
Hovering my mouse over where I call set sCurrentAddress = Selection shows that sCurrentAddress= Inventory_S1_2 once I've moved on to the second header, and then after I've pasted the sDestinationAddress = 0
And I'm fairly sure this is the exactly the problematic line:
Set rCurrentRange = .Find(What:=sCurrentAddress, LookIn:=xlValues, LookAt:=xlWhole, SearchOrder:=xlByRows, SearchDirection:=xlNext)
which I follow with
Application.Goto rCurrentRange, True
ActiveCell.Select
Selection.Offset(-1, 1).Select
Set sCurrentAddress = Selection
It's with this line that I'm looking for the next header. When I was trying to use exact coordinates, this .Find seemed to work, but now it .Finds the first instance of 0 (sDestinationAddress), which was the first value in the copied material. Since it's always copying 0, then looking for the first 0, it never Finds the next header.
I realize that the Range Object has an .Address property, but I don't know if it would be helpful in this case.

A: You can just use the ranges directly instead of using the Address
Dim rngSrc as Range, rngDest as range

Set rngSrc = Selection
'do your destination-finding thing
Set rngDest = Selection

rngSrc.Copy rngDest 'no need for parentheses here

EDIT
You rarely need to select ranges to work with them, and storing the actual range object in a variable is nearly always better than trying to work with range adresses.
If you need to keep the coordinates of a particular cell or range, then storing it in a range variable is the easiest approach.
One thing to keep in mind is that the default property of a range object is "Value"  - this would explain why you see a range's value when hovering your cursor over a range variable when stepping through code - it's the Value which is displayed.
If you're just copying cell values from one place to another then you don't even need to use .Copy if the two ranges are of the same dimensions:
rngDestination.Value = rngSource.Value


text:
Q: How do you interact with this json in angular using rxjs? Here is the Below json data I am looking to parse. I am not sure how to best use this data. For example what is the best way to get Information of Meta Data?
{
    "Meta Data": {
        "1. Information": "Intraday (1min) open, high, low, close prices and volume",
        "2. Symbol": "AAPL",
        "3. Last Refreshed": "2019-09-17 16:00:00",
        "4. Interval": "1min",
        "5. Output Size": "Compact",
        "6. Time Zone": "US/Eastern"
    },
    "Time Series (1min)": {
        "2019-09-17 16:00:00": {
            "1. open": "220.7700",
            "2. high": "220.8300",
            "3. low": "220.6100",
            "4. close": "220.6500",
            "5. volume": "366142"
        },
        "2019-09-17 15:59:00": {
            "1. open": "220.6500",
            "2. high": "220.7900",
            "3. low": "220.6500",
            "4. close": "220.7650",
            "5. volume": "118750"
        },
        "2019-09-17 15:58:00": {
            "1. open": "220.6200",
            "2. high": "220.6850",
            "3. low": "220.6000",
            "4. close": "220.6500",
            "5. volume": "70167"
        },

A: If your JavaScript object is saved to some variable names data, then you can get the information of "Meta Data" using the following syntax:
data["Meta Data"]

Hope this helps :)


After a successful it's a knockout event, St Mary's Hospice booked Gable Events once again. This time it was to run charity sporting events in Birmingham based on our school sports activity day. The charity fundraising event was held at our annual fete in Selly Park, Birmingham, where eight teams were recruited from local companies and organisations in Birmingham to take part.
Companies who took part paid the entry fees and individuals within each team were encouraged to raise additional sponsorship money for the hospice. Gable Events provided six members of staff to ensure that the corporate charity schools sporting event ran without a hitch.
To create the perfect school sports day theme, our event manager was dressed in mortar board and cape, conducting as headteacher and compere for the day. He encouraged friendly banter between the teams, sending anyone that misbehaved to write lines at the naughty desk! The additional staff refereed and supervised the twelve fully themed games which included traditional favourites like skipping, egg and spoon race, ball and bucket, bean bag balance, sack race and tug of war. Together, our staff ensured that everyone had a fun, safe and enjoyable charity school sports day.
All the feedback received from the hospice and the teams was excellent and the event was such a fundraising success that Birmingham St Mary's Hospice booked Gable Events for a further It's a Knockout later in the year!
"A big thank you to the Gable Events team – you sparkled as ever! Feedback has been excellent. I also have a huge apology to make – when I addressed the teams at the end I completely forgot to thank Gable Events for doing such a great job. I'll make up for it at the It's a Knockout in September!"


Last week's trip down the red carpet with the likes of Charlize Theron and Sissy Spacek was great, but last night's hobnobbing with the Bloggeratti was infinitely more satisfying.
Captain Ed was in town (up from the snowy wilds of Minnesota with Mrs. Ed) as the key speaker at Bloggers Rising: Shamans or Shams at the University of Toronto, hosted by the Canadian Journalism Foundation. For my American readers, let me just give a quick explanation of why Captain Ed is a hero to us Northerners: When the Liberal Government was trying to silence dissent over the Gomery inquiry by placing a publication ban on the airing of their dirty laundry, it took this American and a source he had inside the courtroom to blow the whole thing wide open. I wanted to shake the hand of the man who gave us our freedom back, and who spiked my traffic from 500 hits to 3000 hits a day. This was Mrs. Ed's first trip up to Canada, and the pair are off to Niagara Falls today. Have a great time!
Also speaking last night was local boy Andrew Coyne who then joined us for drinks at a nearby watering hole. "Us" refers to myself, Wonder Woman of North American Patriot (she has pictures up), Greg Staples of Political Staples , Brent Colbert of Colbert's Comments, and Stephen Taylor, macdaddy of the Blogging Tories.
It is a strange new ettiquette we all have to learn in this era of the blog. As I shook hands with people, I introduced myself as Wendy. After all, that's my name, and for thousands of years of social situations, people have been introduced by name. I was met with blank stares. "RightGirl," I said. Suddenly faces lit up with recognition, and the handshakes became more enthusiastic. I suppose RightGirl is how I'm going to have to introduce myself at these events from now on. After all, who is Wendy anymore, anyway? A few people, including North American Patriot, recognized me by my photo with Stephen Harper (the one where we were both looking very fat). She is new to the blogosphere, with only a few months under her belt, but I do believe she will be with us for the duration. If you haven't read her yet, please rectify that immediately.
All in all, last night was well worth staying up past my bedtime for.
» I hate working nights ... from Being American in T.O.
Did Andrew give an explanation for the near abandonment of the blog?
Do you know if the webcast is archived anywhere?
If not, can you summarize the ideas that were expressed?
Andrew will return to blogging soon. Like everyone else, he feels entitled to a summer vacation! But we gave him hell for it, and he said he would come back.
Until I arrived there last night, I didn't know there was to be a webcast. I will have to do some digging for you.
Is there a directory of Toronto area conservative bloggers?
I'm an Albertan exile in Toronto for the winter months.
Unfortunately I came across the Captain Ed in TO notice too late.
Well, winter is definitely a good time to be out of Alberta, from what I remember. Welcome. Keep your eye on Let It Bleed for notices of conservative blogging events in Toronto.


text:
Man jailed after spitting at NHS workers in unprovoked attack during coronavirus pandemic
The man also got jail time for attacking an emergency worker last November
Hope Woolston
A man has been jailed after he spat at two NHS workers.
At around 11am on Monday (March 30), the two staff members were standing outside a walk-in centre in Chapel Street, Luton when Marcin Chojna, of no fixed address, spat at them.
Chojna, 35, also shouted expletives at them before walking off.
The victims reported the incident to the police and he was arrested later that same day.
East Anglia Children's Hospices shops hit hard during the coronavirus pandemic - how you can help
Chojna appeared at Luton Magistrates' Court on Wednesday (April 1) and was jailed for nine weeks.
He was also ordered to pay compensation to the victims.
He was also jailed for previous offences, when in November 2019, Chojna assaulted an emergency services worker.
He received 10 weeks jail time for that crime.
He was also given an additional seven days for failing to surrender to custody, meaning he will serve a total of 20 weeks behind bars.
Cambridge man's army of volunteers to supply 400 masks to key workers every day
Detective Inspector Tom Hamm from Bedfordshire Police's Crime Investigation Team, said: "This was a disgusting and unprovoked attack on two people who were standing outside their place of work, where they play a critical role.
"This incident has understandably left them both shaken and has been a stressful and upsetting situation in a time when people are already worried and anxious.
"I am pleased that Chojna received a custodial sentence for his repulsive actions and that he will now be able to reflect on the severity of what he did.
"Targeting emergency and frontline workers, especially during this difficult time, is completely unacceptable and I want this to be a warning to other like-minded individuals that we won't tolerate this type of behaviour."
David Carter, Chief Executive of Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "It seems inconceivable that our staff would be abused in this way at this time and we would like to thank Bedfordshire Police for following up the incident in the way they have."


text:
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The AP Interview: Pope Francis: Homosexuality not a crime
Pope Francis has criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as "unjust," saying God loves all his children just as they are
By NICOLE WINFIELD - Associated Press
Pope Francis speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and he himself referred to homosexuality in terms of "sin." But he attributed attitudes to culture backgrounds, and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.
Andrew Medichini - staff, AP
Domenico Stinellis - staff, AP
FILE - Italian Arcigay gay rights association activists hold banners and flags during a demonstration in front of The Vatican, in this Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009 file photo. In an interview with The Associated Press at The Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, Pope Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and he himself referred to homosexuality in terms of "sin." But he attributed attitudes to cultural backgrounds and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.
Sandro Pace - stringer, AP
FILE -- Models wear wedding dresses during "The rainbow wedding fashion show", with same-sex couples in Rome, in this Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 file photo. In an interview with The Associated Press at The Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, Pope Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and he himself referred to homosexuality in terms of "sin." But he attributed attitudes to cultural backgrounds and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.
FILE - In this May 21, 2015 file photo, Mauro Cioffari, left, puts a wedding ring on his partner Davide Conti's finger as their civil union is being registered by a municipality officer during a ceremony in Rome's Campidoglio Capitol Hill. In an interview with The Associated Press at The Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, Pope Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and he himself referred to homosexuality in terms of "sin." But he attributed attitudes to cultural backgrounds and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.
Gregorio Borgia - staff, AP
FILE - Vicar Wolfgang Rothe, left, blesses the couple Christine Walter, center, and Almut Muenster, right, during a Catholic service with the blessing of same-sex couples in St Benedict's Church in Munich, in this Sunday, May 9, 2021 file photo. In an interview with The Associated Press at The Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, Pope Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and he himself referred to homosexuality in terms of "sin." But he attributed attitudes to cultural backgrounds and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.
Felix Hoerhager - foreign subscriber, DPA
FILE - Rolando Jimenez, leader of a Chilean gay rights organization, holds a flaming Vatican flag during a protest by gay activists against the Roman Catholic Church's rejection of same-sex marriages, in front of a cathedral in Santiago, Chile, in this Friday, Aug. 15, 2003 file photo. In an interview with The Associated Press at The Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, Pope Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and he himself referred to homosexuality in terms of "sin." But he attributed attitudes to cultural backgrounds and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.
Santiago Llanquin - staff, AP
FILE - A rainbow shines over St.Peter's Square at the Vatican, on Jan. 31, 2021. In an interview with The Associated Press at The Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, Pope Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and he himself referred to homosexuality in terms of "sin." But he attributed attitudes to cultural backgrounds and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.
Alessandra Tarantino - staff, AP
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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as "unjust," saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church.
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"These bishops have to have a process of conversion," he said, adding that they should apply "tenderness, please, as God has for each one of us."
Francis quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church in saying gay people must be welcomed and respected, and should not be marginalized or discriminated against.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | Omny Studio
"Being homosexual is not a crime," he said. "It's not a crime. Yes, but it's a sin. Fine, but first let's distinguish between a sin and a crime."
"It's also a sin to lack charity with one another," he added.
Catholic teaching holds that while gay people must be treated with respect, homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered." Francis has not changed that teaching, but he has made reaching out to the LGBTQ community a hallmark of his papacy.
The Vatican in 2008 declined to sign onto a U.N. declaration that called for the decriminalization of homosexuality, complaining the text went beyond the original scope and also included language about "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" it found problematic. In a statement at the time, the Vatican urged countries to avoid "unjust discrimination" against gay people and end penalties against them.
The Ap Interview-pope Francis-lgbtq
Pope Francis says homosexuality is not a crime in wide-ranging AP interview. Here are some key takeaways.
Video 2: Memphis authorities release video showing five police officers beating Tyre Nichols. Pole camera video contains no audio
FDA set to end decades long ban of gay and bisexual men donating blood
State Department says don't use Uber in areas around Cancun
Video 4: Memphis authorities release video showing five police officers beating Tyre Nichols. Police-issued body worn camera video at a second location, a residential neighborhood. There is no audio
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Aerodynamic shell design constructed of advanced poly-alloy plastic for lightweight strength.
Clear-coat finish to protect paint and graphics.
Hypoallergenic, antimicrobial nylon liner and cheek pads are removable and washable.
Hard-coated face shield is optically correct, compound-curved and UV- and scratch-resistant; inner flip-down smoke shield and visor.
Advanced ventilation system with chin, side, rear and forehead vents.
Cam buckle-style quick-release retention system.