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(dup) LIVE Global Virtual Summit 2018
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GLOBAL VIRTUAL SUMMIT AGENDA
See the 2018 STORYTELLERS List
Purchase the ALL-ACCESS PASS
STORYTELLER TRACK 1
Watch the interview videos in any order you want:
1. Select a Story then move to the next one
2. You'll have 2 hours to watch this Track.
Jane Sayaxang | Brisbane, Australia
JANE SAYAXANG
Jane Sayaxang shares her emotional vision for world peace, and her journey through bullying, brokenness, domestic violence and feeling unworthy. Then she had a near death experience that woke her up. She found God and became a Muslim. Through the beautiful stories and teachings, she is becoming a better person.
Interviewer: Elizabeth Yang, Massachusetts, USA
Mai Der Vang | Yunnan Province, China
MAI DER YANG
YUNNAN PROVINCE, CHINA
Mai Der Vang shares her journey of being a single mother after divorce at 32 years old. She became an entrepreneur who began her sewing business to provide her daughter and 2 other girls in her village a chance to pursue a degree in higher education. She lives in Yunnan Province, China.
Interviewer: Chong Lo, Washington, USA
Niam Tshuav | Ma Thai, Vietnam
NIAM TSHUAV
MAI THAI, VIETNAM
Niam Tshuav talks about life in Vietnam. She shares her story and views on Hmong women in Vietnam. What everyday life is compared to what we may understand or see from social media. How the stereotypes also affect her and how change is needed.
Interviewer: Mai Moua, Massachusetts, USA
Angel Lee | Onalaska, Wisconsin, USA
ONALASKA, WISCONSIN, USA
Angel Lee is a social worker in a domestic abuse and sexual assault advocacy program in Gunderson Health in La Crosse, WI. She provides services, support, and educational training in the areas of domestic violence and sexual assault cases. Additionally, she received a calling to be a traditional Hmong shaman which she shares about and how that calling is tied to her professional career as a social worker. Angel offers a unique perspective of being a Hmong woman who is practicing shamanism in balance with being a wife, mother, and career oriented woman.
Interviewer: Xue Lee-Vang, Arkansas, USA
Christina Xiong | Fresno, California, USA
CHRISTINA XIONG
FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, USA
Christina Xiong shares with us her story on perseverance against cyberbullying while pursing her passion in music and dance. She believes that you should never give up on your dreams, always stay positive, and build a support system through family and friends. Experiencing cyberbullying for the first time, her advice for everyone is learn to be kind to one another and do not let someone else's judgement dictate your dreams.
Interviewer: Nischa Xiong, Massachusetts, USA
2. You'll have 2 hours to watch this Track.
3. Stay tune for for the Live Check-In!
Beauty & Skincare Expert Panel
Our Beauty & Skincare expert panel share their expertise on skin care routines, skin types, and their best advice for make-up and beauty. Self-love means being beautiful on the inside and outside.
Bao Lee (Weston, Wisconsin, USA)
Michelle Nguyen (Sydney, Australia)
Miranda Xiong (New Brighton, Minnesota, USA)
Gia Vang (Fresno, California, USA) – Moderator
Claudia Delahaye | La Rochelle, France
CLAUDIA DELAHAYE
LA ROCHELLE, FRANCE
Even though Claudia Delahaye had a rocky beginning for being born out of wedlock, she has since then rose up to become a very vocal advocate for Hmong women in France. An animation graphic designer for 13 years and with a strong sense of justice, she uses her talent to create stories that inspire other Hmong women to have their own voices and hopes to bring more political awareness and social changes in the Hmong community in France.
Interviewer: Cynthia Yongvang, Washington, USA
Lori Lee | Wisconsin, USA
LORI LEE
WISCONSIN, USA
Lori Lee is a traditionally published author of Young Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy books. She shares her childhood dreams of becoming an author at a very young age writing her first book in elementary. Even as a wife and mother she never gave up on her passion.Growing up many of the books she read had main characters that were white males. Given the lack of female leading characters, she was inspired to write a book starring an Asian female leading character, which, happens to be her first traditionally published book.
3. Stay tune for for the Live Welcome Australia!
Health & Wellness Expert Panel
Our Health & Wellness expert panel discuss the challenges of mental health facing many in the community today. They share what they've seen happening in the community and their expertise on addressing mental health and how fitness (physical health) and nutrition contribute to improving your overall health and wellness. At the heart of this discussion is how critical self-love and self-care is to your own self.
Ia Xiong (Minnesota, USA) – Licensed Therapist & Psychologist
Talee Vang (Minnesota, USA) – Licensed Therapist & Doctor of Psychology
Trish Yang (California, USA) – Fitness
Padee Yang (Minnesota, USA) – Moderator
Chelsee Heu | Fresno, California
CHELSEE HEU
Chelsee Heu shares her amazing story as a surrogate mother (carrying someone else's child), and the start of her business, Kindred Surrogacy, an agency that helps families with an alternative option. She talks about the common misconceptions about surrogacy, the judgements made within the Hmong community and why she's now openly raising awareness to this topic.
Chenue Her | Norfolk, Virginia
CHENUE HER
Chenue Her tells his journey into following a non-traditional career in journalism. He shares about his parent's doubts of his career goal, the Hmong women mentors that helped him break into the industry, and why he's openly taking a stand on supporting Hmong women.
Mykou Thao | St.Paul, Minnesota, USA
MYKOU THAO
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, USA
Mykou Thao is a wife, mother, musician, entrepreneur, speaker, and author. She shares her journey of how she got into entrepreneurship and how her many "failures" led her to start the successful HmongBaby.com in order to help parents teach their children the Hmong language. She shares how she taught herself business and balances that with motherhood and marriage.
Victorious (Anonymous Hmong Sister) | Minnesota, USA
VICTORIOUS (ANONYMOUS HMONG SISTER)
It was just another night out with her friends until someone got killed, and her life changed forever. Victorious (not her real name) shares her journey through depression, how she rebuilt herself back up, and her life through education after this traumatic event. Victorious did not know until years later that she had PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and did not get the help and support she needed to get through her college years. Now she shares her story to advocate for mental health and raise awareness to help others.
3. Stay tune for for the Live Welcome Asia!
Bekki Yang | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
BEKKI YANG
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, USA
Bekki Yang is Vice President of Sales and leads innovation at iHeartMedia-Milwaukee. She shares her journey about the climb up the corporate ladder, the challenges she faced, how she reinvented herself, the tough decision makings, mentorship, and the sacrifices she made as a mother to get to where she is today.
Dolly Vang | Melbourne, Australia
Dolly Vang shares her LGBTQ journey with her long-time partner. She shares about how she eventually told her parents through a letter she wrote in Hmong. She talks about her challenges, internal conflicts, and how she needed to help her Italian partner better understand the Hmong culture. She shares her best life lessons and how she eventually realized that she needed to be true to herself in order to be happy.
Paku Her | Stockton, California, USA
PAKU HER
STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA, USA
From a family of doctors, Paku has always felt she was supposed to lead a life in the medical field. Though she has always aspired to work in fashion, she continued life in what she felt would make her family proud and what she felt was comfortable. With a degree in Kinesiology and career in a medical office, she knew she needed more color in her life. She has finally decided to let go of her medical career and follow her pursuit in life and fashion, where 'The Paku Her' blog was born. She shares her own experience on why following your dreams is so crucial to self-confidence and happiness.
Interviewer: Lee Moua Simpson, Florida, USA
Txaj Vaj | Dien Bien Fum, Vietnam
TXAJ VAJ
DIEN BIEN FUM, VIETNAM
Txaj reminds us how important the little things are and not to take for granted what we have and what we can achieve. Txaj shares the struggle of growing up extremely poor and how she promised herself she would not fall into the same situation. She supports her children by sewing and farming while her husband is away preaching God's word.
Gia Vang | Fresno, California, USA
GIA VANG
Gia Vang shares how she got started in media and the challenges she faced when starting out. In pursuit of a career in media, she moved all over the nation. She shares her biggest life lessons and best advice for being "the Hmong girl" that moved away from home.
Mai Pha | Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, USA
MAI PHA
BROOKLYN PARK, MINNESOTA, USA
Mai Pha has many roles as a wife, volunteer and community leader, but the role that she is most proud of is being a mom of 4 kids and a fierce advocate for her gay son. She shares her beautiful story of love, faith and acceptance for a gay son who fought against all odds to stay alive as a premature baby and hopes that her heartfelt story will inspire and empower other Hmong mothers and parents to love their gay children too, no matter what their sexual identity is.
Mai Yer Xiong | Vientiane, Laos
MAIYER XIONG
VIENTIANE, LAOS
Maiyer Xiong shares her powerful journey of how she refused to let the stigma as a divorced Hmong woman define her. She experienced shame and self-doubt until she found clarity in her life and defied others' expectations of who she ought to be. Maiyer worked hard to better herself and her community in Laos.
Xyee Koo | Lao Cai, Vietnam
XYEE KOO
LAO CAI, VIETNAM
Xyee a recent graduate talks about education and the importance of having supportive parents. She shares that slowly but surely the Hmong community is changing but that there is always room for improvEment. She shares what young professionals do and what the social life is like in Vietnam.
Julia Heu | Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
JULIA HEU
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, USA
Julia Heu shares a powerful message about asking for help so you can better know who you are. She shares her journey about ADHD (Attention Deficit Hypertension Disorder) and how that impacted her career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). She managed to get through high school, but it was when she got into college that she began to really struggle. She turned to drinking and thought that was "normal." Diagnosed just two years ago, Julia shares the relief that she finally felt. She shares how ADHD is also a strength in her STEM career.
Dr. Mai Lee | Sacramento, California, USA
DR MAI LEE
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA
Dr. Mai Lee Yang shares why financial education is important to women. She learned this the hard way after her first marriage led to divorce. After trusting her ex-husband with their finances, she realized that he did not save much for them. A former teacher, she now wants to help educate women so that they can learn from her mistakes and help themselves and those they care for be in a better financial situation for their future.
Anonymous Hmong Sister | Cairns, Australia
ANONYMOUS HMONG SISTER
A Hmong sister from Australia shares her story of balancing life as a wife, a mother, and a student. Her story focuses on never stop believing in yourself to pursue higher education no matter what age, no matter what other people have to say, or marital status you may have. Anything is possible if you put your heart and mind into it.
Nancy DuQuette | Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany
NANCY DUQUETTE
RAMSTEIN-MIESENBACH, GERMANY
Nancy DuQuette talks about life as a Hmong expatriate in Germany. Living the expatriate life can be as exciting as it is challenging. You must be willing to take a chance to immerse yourself in an unfamiliar culture, going outside your comfort zone, and discovering your resiliency to overcome many challenges you'll face in a new country.
Song Yang | Portland, Oregon, USA
SONG YANG
Song Yang shares her motherhood journey with her son with Autism. Others said, "he's just an active boy." But she felt something was different. She shares how she blamed herself and felt so alone. She talks about about the stress this caused her marriage and how her husband and her struggled, nearly costing her her marriage. She walks us through a journey from the judgement from friends and families to why she's now advocating for Austim to raise awareness.
Mai Moua | Brisbane, Australia
MAI MOUA
Mai Moua is now known for self-love at the core of her health and fitness expertise. But how she got here was not overnight, Mai shares how domestic violence can happen to anyone, including her. She saw the early signs and talks about how she eventually got out of an abusive relationship to re-discover who she is and realized that she is deserving of self-love and so much.
Kaosong Yang | St Paul, Minnesota, USA
KAOSONG YANG
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA, USA
Kaosong Yang is married with two children for 15 years. Kaosong graduated from University of Wisconsin Madison with both a Bachelor and Masters degrees in Industrial Management. She currently works in the healthcare industry as a Management Engineer/Management Consultant for almost 20 years now. Kaosong shares her story about how she decided to pursue a career in the STEM field and working in Industrial Engineer as one of very few Hmong women in that field. Kaosong hopes to inspire and strongly encourage for Hmong girls to consider pursuing career opportunities in the STEM field.
See Cha | Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
SEE CHA
See Cha works in the STEM field in the Information Technology (IT) industry. She graduated from University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and obtained her MBA in Minnesota. See shares her personal story about how she got her start in IT and with the influence of her family who are entrepreneurs, she had a desire to develop her business acumen. See shares her compelling story about being a Hmong woman who is single with no kids, living in a large Hmong community and how she navigates through as a single Hmong woman.
Bao Kue | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
BAO KUE
Bao Kue has been an educator for nine years and has utilized art as a means to educate the public of her own Hmong identity, performance poetry. She advocates the use of art to build a community to challenge poverty, lack of education, and socioeconomic statuses. She incorporates the traditional Hmong Txiv Xaiv as an opening act before transitioning to English.
Interviewer: Lee Moua, Florida, USA
Mee Vang-Her | Rochester, Minnesota (recently from Vietnam)
MEE VANG-HER
ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA, USA (RECENTLY FROM VIETNAM)
Mee shares her journey of coming to the USA from Vietnam. Her dreams of working in the medical field and the stereotypes that Hmong Americans may have of Hmong Vietnamese. Mee believes just because she is a woman does not mean she is unable to voice her opinions, she speaks from the heart so we can better understand a little more of what's really happening in Vietnam.
Doua Kha | St Paul, Minnesota, USA
DOUA KHA
Doua Kha is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and queer activist. In her story, she shares her experience being a queer Hmong womyn, discussing its complexities. She hopes this can be a small step towards larger queer visibility in the Hmong community.
PaNyia Vang | Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
PANYIA VANG
PaNyia Vang is a supermom to six beautiful children. As a mother to a child with disability, she shares her experience of the many challenges and struggles she faced as a new mother to her miracle child. She emphasizes the importance of raising awareness and having a strong support system in order to provide the best life for your child and yourself. Overcoming the many challenges she faced, she was inspired to create a support group to advocate and help other Hmong families in similar situations. She hopes that her story will help other families to know that they are not alone and there is a support group available for them to seek guidance.
Crystal Lee | Sacramento, California, USA
CRYSTAL LEE
Crystal Lee is a full time real estate investor and entrepreneur. She shares her experiences about taking the road less traveled and learning how to excel when she stands in her truth. She aims to inspire sisters all around the world to strive for their dreams when no one wants to bet on them.
Kazia Moua | Winder, Georgia, USA
KAZIA MOUA
WINDER, GEORGIA, USA
Kazia Moua shares her journey as a creative writer, aspiring filmmaker, and her bisexuality. As a senior at Winder Barrow High School, she shares how she works her way up to graduation, her family's involvement in performing arts started her own journey around 7th grade. From singing to filmmaking and writing, Kazia loves the Arts. She loves telling stories and wants to capture every moment of the story. She thanks her Aunt Lee and family for inspiration and support.
STORYTELLER TRACK 10
3. Thank You & Farewell - but don't forget the Bonus Track!
Hmong Sister | Illinois, USA
Hmong sister from Illinois' story is of one in conquering much adversities as having been a Hmong woman who became a widow in her 20's to achieving her Master's degree in Business Management. She tells of how she fulfilled her late husband's final wishes with the support of her mom and current husband. Anonymous wants to inspire and empower Hmong women to pursue their dreams regardless of their circumstances.
Xue Lee-Vang | Gentry, Arkansas, USA
XUE LEE-VANG
GENTRY, ARKANSAS, USA
Xue Lee-Vang lives in northwest Arkansas, currently working as a Career Coach for the University of Arkansas Walton College of Business' Career Services. Her professional background consists of working in Higher Education for the past 8 years and prior to that in corporate business and the legal fields. Xue Lee-Vang shares about her personal journey as having been a single mother for 12 years while pursuing her postsecondary education and professional goals despite the odds against her before she decided to re-marry. She tells her story as her personal testimony about how she grew her spiritual faith in God and converted to Christianity.
Interviewer: Mai Dawb Pha, Minnesota, USA
Ia Xiong | Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA
IA XIONG
TWIN CITIES, MINNESOTA, USA
Ia Xiong is a licensed psychologist and certified life coach that specializes in holistic health and wellness. She emphasizes the importance of embracing our physical, spiritual, and mental health as a whole. These three components intertwine to affect our wellness. In addition, understanding the context of an individual's cultural/historical background is key, which, is why she hopes to get more involved with Hmong community.
BONUS: TRACK
These are video interviews that you can watch at anytime. Enjoy.
Anonymous Hmong Sister | California, USA
Anonymous Hmong sister from California, USA shares her journey about how an innocent ride after school with a boyfriend led to being forced to get married young because of her parents' belief in Hmong traditions. Eventually, that marriage ended in divorce and she was faced with judgement within the Hmong community. It was when she wasn't looking for love, that she met the man of her dreams, a wonderful Caucasian man. A cautionary tale, she talks about how things still haven't changed today even though her journey was from 20+ years ago.
Bao Lee | Weston, Wisconsin, USA
BAO LEE
WESTON, WISCONSIN, USA
In the interview with Bao Lee, I discovered that she is all about skin care and beauty. Bao shared her inspiration of her life experiences growing up, maturing, and how having a skin care routine is vital to youthfulness. As a matter of fact, she truly believes that having great skin and applying products can definitely give you an overall appearance to working as a professional in your day to day life or job. Overall, I learned that having a great routine to your skin care prepares you well for your natural beauty and with makeup on you can be a transparency in all aspect of life.
Interviewer: Lori Xiong, Alaska, USA
Kimberly Lee | Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, USA
KIMBERLY LEE
BROOKLYN CENTER, MINNESOTA, USA
Kim Lee learned a hard lesson about friendship and the lack of awareness with LGBTQ in high school. When she confided in a friend that she was bisexual and her "coming out" soon led to rumors and bullying. Now in college, Kim is an advocate raising awareness on LGBTQ. She shares her journey and the lessons she's learned about herself and advice to how others can show more compassionin supporting a LGBTQ friend.
Interviewer: Elizabeth Yang, Minnesota, USA
Mai Thor | St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
MAI THOR
Mai Thor is from St. Paul, MN. She serves in the capacity of Civic Engagement Coordinator for the State of Minnesota Department of Human Rights Office. Mai tells of her story as a Hmong woman with a disability. She is an active advocate for people with disabilities. Mai began her career in a non-profit law firm after college. She gives insight to challenges with Hmong people specifically Hmong women living with their disabilities.
Michelle Nguyen | Sydney, Australia
MICHELLE NGUYEN
Michelle Nguyen who lives in Australia rises up from being a divorced young teen with two boys and believes it's important that Hmong women pursue their dream so they can take care of themselves and feel confident about their own destiny. Today she is a strong Hmong woman entrepreneur, a wonderful mom and a wife in an interracial marriage and shares her journey about being a make up artist with the mission to empower women to look beautiful and feel confident about themselves.
Miranda Xiong | New Brighton, Minnesota, USA
MIRANDA XIONG
NEW BRIGHTON, MINNESOTA, USA
Miranda Xiong shares her journey about discovering her passion with makeup. As she honed in on her make up craft, she overcame her own insecurities and fears. She talks about how she loves what she does because she gets to help her clients focus on True Beauty. Each client has their own story, but she believes her job is to help them uncover their True Beauty from the inside out. Her desire is to show them that they are already gorgeous and makeup is just there to remind them of what they already have.
Nkauj Vang | Oakdale, Minnesota, USA
NKAUJ VANG
OAKDALE, MINNESOTA, USA
Nkauj Vang shares her journey about how she got into beauty and skincare. She believes that beauty allows women to feel good about themselves. She shares her career path and how she works with clients to better embrace beauty/skincare/wellness in order to help boost confidence in women of all ages.
Star Bright Lee | Sacramento, California, USA
STAR BRIGHT LEE
Star is unapologetic about political and social activism.
Trish Yang | Fresno, California, USA
TRISH YANG
Trish shares a journey not only about weight loss but challenging how we view food within the Hmong Community. She shares her experience as someone who struggled with asthma and how she didn't allow that to disrupt her lifestyle. She is passionate about educating the Hmong community on how eating heathy is very important now that we're in America. She also enjoys cooking and being creative in the kitchen.
Tru Yang | Stevens, Pennsylvania, USA
TRU YANG
STEVENS, PENNSYLVANIA, USA
Tru Yang shares her personal journey in obtaining her postsecondary education to obtaining three undergraduate degrees in Accounting, Business Management, and Human Resources Management as a non-traditional student, all while she is married and a mother. Tru is currently a tax analyst in the Finance field for Chartwells. Prior to that role, she worked in non-profit.
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Help us bring people together with food and feel great!
Volunteers are an invaluable and integral part of our award winning project. They help to set up and run lunch clubs and dining circles, help older people with their food shopping and to grow food, as well as assisting with our healthy eating for older people course.
Our volunteers provide a friendly atmosphere for older people taking part in the Come Eat Together project so that they can meet together and enjoy a variety of healthy eating related activities and each others company.
Come Eat Together has plenty of ways for people to get involved and feel great!
Meet and Greeters provide a welcoming and friendly atmosphere for older people to meet together to enjoy a meal and experience a variety of activities in good company. Responsibilities include marking registers, completing paperwork, taking payment, and helping to run the after lunch activity.
Shopping Buddies help older people who have difficulty with transport, mobility or choice to do their shopping and carry heavy shopping bags. Responsibilities also include marking up registers and taking donations.
Volunteer Minibus Drivers pick up people from their homes and take them to local supermarkets to do their food shopping.
Shopping On-line Tutors deliver a range of IT sessions to enable people aged 50+ to overcome their fear of computers and develop the skills and knowledge to shop on-line. Sessions take place in community settings and individuals homes when requested.
Grow to Eat volunteers give talks on growing food to eat, lead planting sessions, look after raised beds and give help and advice to older people so that they can successfully grow their own food. They encourage the growing of fruit, vegetables and herbs in small ways or on a larger scale, depending on the needs and interests of the project members.
Nutrition Course Assistants provide a welcoming and friendly atmosphere for older people taking part in our 'Healthy Eating for Older People' accredited course. Responsibilities include preparing the classroom, taking the register, providing refreshments, assisting in preparing food and involving participants in food tasting.
Special Events volunteers assist at larger events helping to set up rooms, meet and greet, register participants and serve refreshments.
Information Champions help us to promote the project by giving out information about us in their local community.
This could be staffing a stand in a library or other event, leaflet drops or giving talks to groups. There are many ways Information Champions help us to get the word out to people who benefit from the project.
Administration volunteers are based at Age UK House in Durham and help with general administration tasks for the project.


When we sat down to write out the John Gray feature film, I had some thoughts on what I wanted to happen, but I knew I wouldn't be the one to write it. For that, I called upon long-time collaborator Jessica Adducci (née Powers). We bounced some ideas around, and I encouraged her to take the story and make it her own. Soon we had our first finished treatment.
Unfortunately, it was fraught with many many glaring problems. It was clear that if Jess was going to write a screenplay based on my story and characters, I'd have to really (and I mean REALLY) understand the characters and their relationships. Not being a strong writer myself, this proved to be a daunting and difficult task.
One of the biggest helps I had came from Allen Palmer's A New Character-Driven Hero's Journey. In his post, he breaks down the mythical Heroes Journey (as put forty by Joseph Campbell) in a way that us mere mortals can comprehend.
I spent close to two weeks locked in my room grinding through characters, motivations, conflicts, and surprising resolutions. While a lot of that orignal work has been trimmed in favor of newer material, it paved the way forward and created what we hoped would be an exciting high concept steampunk story that focused on the characters and their internal conflicts.
Once I got the nut cracked a teeny bit, Jess took over and smashed it wide open. The first time the team read the finished second revision, we were speechless. For once we had in our hands something that very well could be a legit, for real, feature film.
A short time later, Jess called and asked if we could submit the screenplay to the BlueCat Screenplay Competition. It's a national thing that awards lots of money to people who have been writing far longer than we have. I didn't put much stock in it initially, but Jess eventually won me over; John Gray was her first feature-length screenplay and BlueCat was the perfect way to celebrate the milestone.
I'm not expecting much; I doubt we'll win anything, but it turns out BlueCat is known for one other thing: really really great feedback. Within weeks of our submission I had two sets of in-depth screenplay analysis…and it was POSITIVE! Very positive!
This script works extraordinarily well, considering that it focuses on character rather than its high concept. The setting is wonderfully realized, with steampunk flourishes but still being rooted in historically accurate period.
And here lies the unknown; where to go with it next? I puzzled over a troubling Act II climax, but Jess, being the enigmatic writer that she is, decided to scrap the whole thing and start over.
As nervous as that makes me, I remember what I told her when we started: that I wanted her to make this her story too, and I think she's finally tapped into something special that has allowed her to do just that. I won't get to read what is now the third revision till after new years, so like all of you, I wait with bated breath.
I don't know if we'll pursue traditional production and distribution partners, or if we'll try to tackle it ourselves. Either way, I've never been this excited and anxious about a film. Directing John Gray will be a culmination of years of hard work, waiting and preparation.


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Faculty, Staff, and Administration
Cory Fitzpatrick '13
Faculty and Administration
Adjunct/Affiliated Professor
Privacy Officer, Children's Minnesota
B.S., University of South Dakota
M.B.A., University of South Dakota
J.D., William Mitchell College of Law
Professor Fitzpatrick is the Privacy Officer for Children's Minnesota. Children's Minnesota is one of the largest freestanding pediatric health system in the United States—with two hospitals, 12 primary care clinics, and six rehabilitation and nine specialty care sites. Cory is responsible for managing the compliance program around Children's privacy practices. He advises Children's business leaders on privacy and information security requirements, drafts policies and procedures, educates workforce members, audits Children's processes, negotiates contracts, and develops reports for senior leadership and the board. Prior to joining Children's, Cory held various compliance and privacy positions at Medica Health Plans and Avera Health Plans.
Cory Fitzpatrick

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Are you looking for photography classes in Fort Benton MT? No matter if you are a professional, beginner, or hobbyist, the best approach to improving your photography technique is through hands-on classes with skilled instructors.
Montana features numerous recognized and accredited photography schools. Techniques taught in photography classes include portrait capture, exposure and composition, lighting, posing and unposing, and other photography fundamentals. Maturing into a skilled photographer can pave the road to a prosperous professional career or lifelong hobby.


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Home » Bollywood News » Looking Forward to Don 2 & Rockstar
Looking Forward to Don 2 & Rockstar
Come Eid and the box-office will witness a string of big pictures all set to get people back to the theatres after a month of fasting. Koimoi.com conducted a poll to find out which film the industry was looking forward to, the results surprised us!
Don 2 and Rockstar are the films for which the industry is looking forward to with bated breath. Shah Rukh Khan's return as the charismatic hero-villain and Ranbir Kapoor's act as the guitar-toting rockstar has people hooked.
In a strange twist, even with all the hype surrounding it – be it 3D or the special effects – SRK's RA.One came in third. This was followed by Saif Ali Khan's Agent Vinod, the Akshay Kumar–John Abraham starrer Desi Boyz, Katrina Kaif and Imran Khan's fun Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. Others in the list were the Bipasha Basu–Abhishek Bachchan–Sonam Kapoor starrer Players, Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor's first film together, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu and Ajay Devgan–Sanjay Dutt's Rascals.
Desi Boyz
Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu
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Please be invited for the vBeers Noord – Zwolle edition, this time the vBeers will be held at a new location: Stadscafe en Restaurant Het Refter.
If you like to join, please register at : https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vbeers-noord-zwolle-edition-tickets-56401257680 so we know how many people will come!
Join us for the vBeers Zwolle – Second Edition, Thursday, 8 February 2018!
It's a nice place for a good beer & conversation about lots of cool things!
Hope to see you in Zwolle on February the 8th! Please share and feel free to invite you're co-workers and virtualization friends!
Please register, so we know how much people we can expect.
That is so good for me to join the site like that. i must admit that is will be good for me.
Join us for a vBeers in Zwolle! Great place to be and share thoughts!
The vBeers Zwolle event will be PYOD (Pay Your Own Drinks).
Meet us there for some nice cold beer in a relaxed environment!
Hope to see you in Zwolle on February 28th! Share and feel free to invite your co-workers and virtualization friends. Please register, so we know how much people we can expect.


text:
By Filipe Freitas	| February 7, 2019
The work of some distinguished directors loses the charm and often the focus when they operate in a different cultural milieu. This syndrome seems to have caught Iranian master Asghar Farhadi, who gave us gems like About Elly (2009), A Separation (2011), and The Salesman (2016). Sad to say he stains his filmography with Everybody Knows, a fictional thriller set in Spain that unfolds monotonously and only sporadically piques our interest. Orienting a luxurious cast that includes Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, and Ricardo Darin, Farhadi failed to provide startles and thrills, relying solely on the dramatic side of things to impress. But even that factor was disastrous as he tiresomely attempts to suggest connections between the past and the present.
The film starts by capturing some newspaper clippings that reveal the disappearance of a little girl named Carmen. When Laura (Cruz) arrives at her small, picturesque hometown with their three children to attend her sister's wedding, she couldn't imagine she had been already chosen as an indirect target for something similar. In recent years, she has been living in Buenos Aires, where her architect husband, Alejandro (Darin), remained due to work commitments.
"The wedding's festivities suddenly turn into a river of tears…"
The wedding's festivities suddenly turn into a river of tears when Laura's teen daughter, Irene (Carla Campra), disappears mysteriously. She had been kidnapped while resting in her room and the ransom is 30 thousand euros. Obviously, there was a mole at the party and the kidnappers can be either family or friends. Jorge (José Ángel Egido ), a retired policeman who acts as he knows all the answers, studies possible motives and tries to find a logic for the puzzle.
Wasted potential. Liz, an agoraphobic and suicidal young woman, discovers an online community that promises death to anyone who can't do it themselves....
Kubrick by Candlelight
A charming inside joke. In 1975, Stanley Kubrick came to Ireland to shoot a historical epic. Against the backdrop of the shooting of Barry Lyndon, a young...
Barry Jay's Ashes is yet another entry into the evil spirit haunts a family genre. However, it finds surprising depths and inventive ways to keep its...


Hi – I have a PPF a/c in SBI but do not have a saving bank a/c in same bank or branch.
– How can I deposit money online in my PPF account in this case?
– Can I perform a online third part transfer from my HDFC savings bank a/c to my SBI PPF a/c?
– How will I get the receipt of amount deposited in my PPF a/c?
i have PPF account with SBI. My savings account is with HDFC. In HDFC's Third PartyTransfer, what do I select under "beneficiary account type"? PPF does not appear there.
It will not appear like that. You need to put SBI PPF number as a beneficiary account number .
Can you tell how did you get your receipt?
I'm having savings account and PPF account both are in the same SBI branch. But I don't have the net banking facility for the savings account because the savings account type is Prime minister Janthan Yojana account, so the bank officials told that this kind of account is not eligible to provide Net banking facility.
My question is — How I can know the exact balance in my PPF account ?
I have added my PPF A/c as a third party recipient to my HDFC Bank A/c. Will I get a receipt after transferring subscription money to my PPF A/c or just the Passbook entry?
I think you will just get the Passbook entry !
Dear Ram,just like you add a 3rd party account in HDFC netbanking, please add your SBI PPF account there. IFSC details can be availed from internet or from your SBI branch directly.
How does it matter what the SBI Manager says?
Dear customer , You CAN NOT Transfer from any bank to SBI.
Kindly confirm whether Online NEFT is possible and succesful or not??
please note that this online transfer is possible only if the PPF account is at SBI , if it is opened at Post Office , then it would not be possible, because only SBI is authorised to get online payments for PPF. Many people have their PPF , spouse PPF and children PPF account, they can add any number of PPF accounts for online payment.
The first step is to add your PPF account to your Bank account as third-party so that you can do a money transfer to them. I am using ICICI account screenshots, but all the steps must be same for other banks also.
Next step is to choose the exact location of the BANK where the account was open . Note that if you opened a PPF account at a SBI branch where netbanking is not available , it will not be listed.
The best thing about have the bank account and PPF account linked is that you can also view the PPF details and balance at a single place .
The last step is to add your PPF account as the Payee Account number and then click on the confirmation link . In ICICI you will first get an activation code which you will have to put to activate the account for first time .
Dear Anurag, You may use HDFC to deposit the money in PPF account as described in the article (link given to you already).
Another option is to open a SB account with SBI & use SBI's own netbanking facility to invest in PPG online.
You can take a print out of the SBI Statement for tax purposes. You can also walk into ANY SBI Branch to update the passbook.


A proposed Wright-Holder Park would highlight the history of the land, show off Wright's Run and educate visitors on native American mounds, according to a master park plan submitted to Dublin City Council last week.
The proposal outlines plans for 47 acres between Interstate 270, Riverside Drive and Bright Road, although not all land will be devoted to the park nor is it all owned by Dublin yet.
According to parks and open space director Fred Hahn, the city currently owns about 21 acres on the east side of the property that backs up to homes on Grandee Cliffs Drive.
"The city currently owns 21.4 acres. Our study area was much larger than that," he said. "The rationale behind that is we were reflecting what had been shown in the 2007 community plan."
Plans are to use the southern portion of the property, which will eventually back up to the eighth and final phase of the Emerald Parkway extension, for 70,000 feet of office development.
"When the city first purchased the property we knew it would have areas along Emerald Parkway phase eight," Hahn said. "When it does exist, the frontage along Emerald Parkway could be developed into commercial."
Wright's Run, which runs east to west on the 47 acres, would act as the dividing line, with office development to the south and the park to the north.
The farm has long been an item of interest for Dublin as it holds "prehistoric mounds" that consist of "three geometric earthworks and five burial mounds and are considered to belong to the Middle Woodland period dating to 200 B.C.- A.D. 400," the park proposal states.
Excavations at the site performed in 1922 and 1961 revealed chipped stone flakes, a fireplace and human bones.
"Due to disturbance by farming activities, several of the mounds are difficult to see with the untrained eye. However, because of their excellent condition below plow depth and significance as one of the few remaining prehistoric community centers in the state, this site has great interpretive and archaeological opportunities," the park plan said.
Plans are to emphasize the history of the site and its connection to native and early Americans.
Recommendations are to renovate a house on the land that was originally built in 1820 for use as a visitor's center.
While the mounds have been mostly leveled for farming, the plans are to use different grasses to show where the mounds were.
A demonstration earthwork is also anticipated to "illustrate to visitors what a typical Hopewell earthwork may have looked like in its original condition," the plan states. The earthwork will include a fire pit and a cut-away in the mound to show how the mound was constructed and what is inside.
A demonstration garden will be used to give park visitors insight on native- and early-American agriculture.
Other park features proposed include a walkway over Wright's Run, trails, picnic areas and restored Ferris Cemetery.
Funding for the plan was included in the 2012 budget and this year's five-year Capital Improvement Plan has $510,000 in funding for construction programmed in 2013. The entire park is expected to cost about $2 million.
Council members vote on the CIP each year, so funding for the park could change.
Hahn said the city plans to work on park features on the city-owned land, which includes the Holder house.
"If in the foreseeable time we only have the 21 acres, its still a legitimate park," he said. "Park development is not dependent on land acquisition."
It could be contingent on the final phase of the Emerald Parkway extension, though.
"One of the really big ifs in all this is when Emerald Parkway will be constructed. The front door to the park is Emerald Parkway-to-be," Hahn said. "We'll do improvements to the park, but may not be able to open it right away. It's unusual for us to have a park development contingent upon road development. Roads always come first."
Hahn expects to do a park-plan presentation for council members sometime in April.
"We'll present the master plan and open it to council for input," he said.


text:
Journal of Ophthalmology
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Volume 2019, Article ID 5642126, 10 pages
Novel PITX2 Mutations including a Mutation Causing an Unusual Ophthalmic Phenotype of Axenfeld-Rieger Syndrome
Liqin Huang,1 Yong Meng,2 and Xiangming Guo3
1Department of Ophthalmology, Changzhou No. 2 People's Hospital, Changzhou 213000, Jiangsu Province, China
3State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China
Correspondence should be addressed to Xiangming Guo; moc.nuyila@mxougcoz
Received 30 November 2018; Revised 23 February 2019; Accepted 6 March 2019; Published 1 July 2019
Academic Editor: Shivalingappa K. Swamynathan
Copyright © 2019 Liqin Huang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Purpose. The aims of this study were to examine novel mutations in PITX2 and FOXC1 in Chinese patients with anterior segment dysgenesis (ASD) and to compare the clinical presentations of these mutations with previously reported associated phenotypes. Methods. Twenty-six unrelated patients with different forms of ASD were enrolled from our paediatric and genetic eye clinic. The ocular manifestations of both eyes of each patient were recorded. Genomic DNA was prepared from venous leukocytes. All coding exons of PITX2 and FOXC1 were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from genomic DNA and subjected to direct DNA sequencing. Analysis of mutations in control subjects was performed by heteroduplex single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. Results. Sequence analysis of the PITX2 gene revealed four mutations, including c.475_476delCT (P.L159VfsX39), c.64C > T (P.Q22X), c.296delG (P.R99PfsX56), and c.206G > A (P.R69H). The first three mutations were found to be novel. The c.475_476delCT (P.L159VfsX39) mutation, located at the 3′ end of the PITX2-coding region, was identified in a Chinese Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome (ARS) patient who presented with an unusual severe phenotype of bilateral aniridia. The clinical characteristics, including the severity and manifestations of the patient's phenotype, were compared with reported PITX2-associated aniridia phenotypes of ARS in the literature. Conclusions. These results expand the mutation spectrum of the PITX2 gene in patients with ARS. The PITX2 gene may be responsible for a significant portion of ARS with additional systemic defects in the Chinese population. This is the first reported case of a mutation at the 3′ end of the PITX2-coding region extending the phenotypic consequences to bilateral aniridia. The traits of ARS could display tremendous variability in severity and manifestations due to the dominant-negative effect of PITX2. Our results further emphasize the importance of careful clinical and genetic analysis in determining mutation-disease associations and may lead to a better understanding of the role of PITX2 in ocular development.
Anterior segment dysgenesis (ASD) encompasses a wide variety of developmental conditions in which multiple tissues, such as the cornea, iris, and lens, are affected [1]. ASD is classified into the following subtypes: Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome (ARS), aniridia, Peters anomaly (PA), and iridogoniodysgenesis. ARS is a rare multisystem autosomal-dominant disorder with a prevalence of approximately 1 in 200,000 [2] and is characterized by complete penetrance but variable expressivity. Ocular phenotypes are mainly characterized by ASD of the eye, such as iris hypoplasia (IH), a prominent Schwalbe line, adhesion of the iris and cornea, corectopia, polycoria, and corneal opacity. The various systemic features observed in ARS patients include facial dysmorphisms, dental anomalies, and redundant periumbilical skin.
ARS can be caused by mutations in the pituitary homeobox 2 (PITX2; OMIM601542) and forkhead box C1 (FOXC1; OMIM601090) genes. Mutations in these two genes are estimated to explain ∼40% of ARS [3]. The PITX2 gene produces three major protein-coding isoforms (PITX2a, PITX2b, and PITX2c), with each containing an identical homeodomain (HD) and C-terminal domain, differing only at the N-terminal region. The common C-terminal domain contains a highly conserved 14-amino acid otp, aristaless, and rax (OAR) domain that mediates PITX2 protein interactions. The human PITX2 mutations identified to date cluster in the HD and C-terminal regions and mainly result in complete or partial loss of function. Dominant-negative and gain-of-function mutations have also been reported but represent an apparent minority [4–6]. Mutations in the PITX2 gene appear more likely to be associated with ocular, dental, and umbilical anomalies, whereas mutations in FOXC1 appear to be associated with isolated ocular or ocular, heart, and/or hearing defects. FOXC1 mutations primarily result in complete or partial loss of function, and duplications of FOXC1 have also been reported.
Aniridia is a rare congenital disorder of either partial or complete hypoplasia of the iris and can be associated with other eye defects, such as corneal opacification, cataract, glaucoma, lens dislocation, ciliary body hypoplasia, foveal hypoplasia, strabismus, and nystagmus [7]. At least 90% of aniridia cases are caused by heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in PAX6 [8]. Rarely, isolated aniridia is caused by mutations in FOXC1 or PITX2.
Mutations in the PAX6, PITX2, and FOXC1 genes have been associated with ARS and aniridia in an autosomal-dominant manner [9–12]. The traits of ARS display wide ranges of variability in severity and manifestations. The severity of ARS phenotypes and the levels of normal PITX2 protein are also correlated [6, 13, 14]. ARS may be misdiagnosed as aniridia or iridocorneal endothelial syndrome (ICE syndrome) based on certain similarities of clinical characteristics. Furthermore, genetic studies and clinical descriptions of Chinese patients with ARS are nearly absent [15–17]. In this manuscript, PITX2 and FOXC1 mutation analysis and detailed clinical evaluations were performed to identify novel mutations and to characterize an unusual ophthalmic phenotype of severe ARS in a Chinese patient.
2.1. Patients
Twenty-six unrelated patients with different forms of ASD, with or without nonocular defects, were recruited into our study. Anterior segment phenotypes included 5 patients with ARS, 1 patient with a phenocopy of aniridia, and 20 patients with other ASDs (primarily PA); 5 patients had an affected family member (2 with ARS and 3 with other ASDs). Classical aniridia patients with foveal hypoplasia and nystagmus were excluded. Furthermore, 100 normal controls, mainly from Southern China, participated in our study. All participants were enrolled from the Paediatric and Genetic Clinic, Eye Hospital, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Guangzhou, China. Medical and ophthalmic histories were obtained. Ophthalmological examinations were performed by Drs. Guo and Zhang. The anterior and posterior segments of the eyes were documented by slit-lamp examination, specular microscopy, gonioscopy, applanation tonometry, A/B ultrasound scanning, and fundoscopy. Informed consent conforming to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki was obtained from each participant prior to the study.
2.2. Genetic Analysis
Genomic DNA was extracted from venous blood from each participating individual. Prior to this study, the DNA of these patients had been screened for mutations in PAX6, but none of the tests were positive [18]. All coding regions of PITX2 and FOXC1 were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers. The primer sequences are listed in Table 1. The primers for exon 4 of PITX2a were adapted from those described by Cella and coworkers [19]. The PCR products were sequenced with an ABI BigDye Terminator cycle sequencing kit version 3.1 (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) according to the manufacturer's recommendations using an ABI sequencer 3100 that was confirmed by our laboratory. For clarity, we studied the PITX2a isoform for mutations in affected patients. Sequencing results from the patients as well as consensus sequences from the NCBI human genome database (PITX2a; NM_153427.1 and FOXC1; NM_001453.2) were imported into the SeqManII program of the Lasergene package (DNASTAR Inc., Madison, Wisconsin) and were aligned to identify variations. Each variation was confirmed by bidirectional sequencing. Mutations were named according to the nomenclature recommended by the Human Genomic Variation Society (HGVS).
Table 1: Primers for amplifying and sequencing PITX2 and FOXC1.
2.3. Heteroduplex Single-Strand Conformation Polymorphism Analysis
The variations detected in PITX2 and FOXC1 were further evaluated in 100 normal controls by heteroduplex single-strand conformation polymorphism (HA-SSCP) analysis, as previously described [20], using additional pairs of primers (Table 1). Briefly, the PCR product was mixed with an equal volume of gel-loading buffer (95% formamide, 20 mM EDTA, 0.05% bromophenol blue, and 0.05% xylene cyanol), denatured at 95°C for 5 min and immediately placed on ice for 5 min. The DNA samples were loaded directly onto 8% polyacrylamide gels and run for 8 h at 40 W in a solution of 0.5 × TBE at room temperature.
PITX2 mutations were found in four of twenty-six independent patients with ARS (Figure 1). Of the four cases, three were novel. Each variation was confirmed by bidirectional sequencing. None of the novel variations were observed in other relatives or normal controls by HA-SSCP analysis (Figure 2). Examples of the anterior segment findings are shown in Figure 3. The clinical features and mutations in patients with our PITX2 mutations are summarized in Table 2. Systemic anomalies of patients are shown in Figure 4. The four patients had a wide variety of nonocular manifestations, including mild craniofacial dysmorphism, dental anomalies, and redundant periumblical skin, typical for ARS. A total of twenty-six affected individuals were molecularly assessed, and no FOXC1 mutations were detected.
Figure 1: Sequencing analysis of four PITX2-affected patients with ARS. The mutant PITX2 sequence (a) and corresponding normal sequence (b) are shown for patients 1–4. The exact mutation is labelled by an arrow.
Figure 2: Detection of novel PITX2 mutations by heteroduplex-SSCP analysis. The plus sign (+) indicates samples with heterozygous variation, and the minus sign (−) indicates normal controls.
Figure 3: Ocular characteristics of the patients with ARS. (a) Patient 1, in whom both eyes showed megalocornea and complete and partial aniridia and the cornea was centrally opaque, perhaps due to oedema associated with elevated IOP. (b) Patient 2, whose ocular manifestations included microcornea, iris atrophy, and core metamorphosis, iris adherent to cornea, and trabecular meshwork with peripheral corneal opacity in both eyes. (c) Patient 3, who exhibited microcornea, corectopia, core metamorphosis, peripheral corneal opacity in both eyes, and slit pore formation for bilateral iris atrophy. (d) Patient 4, who exhibited microcornea and iris hypoplasia. The pupil was stretched, and corneal oedema was observed in the left eye.
Table 2: Summary of clinical findings and mutations in patients with PITX2 mutations.
Figure 4: Systemic anomalies of patients with ARS. (a, b) The nonocular manifestations of Patient 1, including midface abnormalities with flattening of the midface, prominent lower lips, and missing and misshapen teeth. (c, d) The systemic features of Patient 2, including flat face, missing and misshapen teeth, and protruding lower lip. (e, f, g) The nonocular manifestations of Patient 3, including hypodontia, flat nasal bridge, telecanthus, and redundant periumbilical skin.
It is of interest that significant differences were noted in the phenotypes of the two eyes of Patient 1. All patients had typical ocular characteristics of Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome in both eyes, except for Patient 1, who presented with complete simulating aniridia in the right eye but partial aniridia in the left eye. Details of the clinical characteristics and evaluation of this patient are reported as follows.
Patient 1 (c.475_476delCT; P.L159VfsX39): the patient was a thirteen-year-old female with a high myopia of −6.50D in both eyes who presented at three years of age with hazy megalocornea, bilateral posterior polar cataracts, and early-onset severe glaucoma and was diagnosed with aniridia by a local ophthalmologist (Figure 3(a)). The patient's best-corrected visual acuity was counting fingers in both eyes. The cornea was opaque, which was associated with an elevated normal intraocular pressure (IOP) resistant to medication. Endothelial cell counts were 1386 and 1518 in the right and left eyes, respectively. She had posterior embryotoxon in both eyes with broad iris adhesions. Significant findings were noted as the ocular examination displayed different degrees of aniridia in both eyes. The IOPs were 47 mmHg in the right eye and 39 mmHg in the left eye. The anterior chamber appeared extremely shallow with a depth of 1.76 mm in the right eye and 1.91 mm in the left eye. A-scanning demonstrated posterior staphyloma with axial lengths of 25.56 mm in the right eye and 26.06 mm in the left eye. Funduscopy and type-B ultrasound were performed for this patient, and vitreous opacity and foveal hypoplasia were observed. Optic disc examination revealed a cup/disc ratio of 0.90 and showed glaucomatous atrophy of the optic nerve in both eyes (Figures 5(a) and 5(b)). She had hearing defects, missing and misshapen teeth, and midface abnormalities (Figure 4), and foveal hypoplasia was observed, but she did not have nystagmus and, therefore, did not have the classic manifestation features of true aniridia. Because of these findings, she was diagnosed as Axenfeld-Rieger Syndrome. The patient's visual acuity was poor, although trabeculotomies were performed in both eyes. The patient had no recorded family history of ocular disease.
Figure 5: Fundoscopy examination and type-B ultrasonic imaging of Patient 1. The results revealed vitreous opacity and foveal hypoplasia.
Of the four mutations described, two were frame-shift mutations. The frame-shift mutation c.475_476delCT was predicted to produce a premature stop codon at position 197. A truncated protein with 196 amino acids, including an aberrant 38-amino acid residue, was putatively generated; this protein is 75 amino acids shorter than the wild-type PITX2a protein, which possesses 271 amino acids. Thus, this mutation led to partial loss of the C-terminal domain of PITX2. The c.296delG (P.R99PfsX56) mutation identified in the present study is a novel deletion mutation in exon 6, which causes a frame shift after Arg98 of PITX2a, resulting in a premature stop codon at codon 154, leading to complete loss of the C-terminal domain of PITX2. The nonsense mutation c.64C > T (P.Q22X) resulted in a substitution of glutamine for the stop codon at amino acid position 22, which is located in the N-terminal domain and results in premature termination with complete loss of the HD and C-terminal domain. Hence, the Q22X mutation affects the structure and function of PITX2 and is expected to produce a functionally null allele. The c.206G > A (P.69R > H) mutation, resulting in the replacement of an arginine residue with a histidine at the 69th amino acid position, has been identified in different original patients; this study is the fifth report [21–24]. This mutation appears in different ethnic groups, indicating that c.206G > A may be a hot-spot mutation.
ARS is an autosomal-dominant disorder that can be caused by mutations in the FOXC1 and PITX2 genes. Compared with FOXC1 mutations, PITX2 mutations are more commonly associated with the extraocular systemic abnormalities of ARS. In our case, all PITX2-affected patients had extraocular abnormalities, including redundant periumbilical skin, midface abnormalities, and abnormal dental development. The frequency of FOXC1 gene mutations in patients with ARS ranges from 20% to 30%. No sequence alterations were detected in the FOXC1 gene in any ASD patients. Our results suggest that the PITX2 gene accounts for a significant portion of the Chinese ARS population with additional systemic defects. Such a result is consistent with previous studies in which mutations in the PITX2 gene appeared to be more strongly associated with ARS and extraocular findings.
ARS traits display tremendous variability in severity and manifestation. In this study, of particular note is the frame-shift mutation, c.475_476delCT (P.L159VfsX39), located at the 3′ end of the coding region; this mutation was identified in a Chinese ARS patient. The patient exhibited a phenocopy of bilateral aniridia, in addition to the classic ARS ocular features. This case is the first report of a mutation at the 3′ end of the PITX2-coding region that extends the phenotypic consequences of PITX2 mutations to bilateral aniridia. Glaucoma was diagnosed in patients with our PITX2 mutations; however, the severities were different. Patient 1 was diagnosed with early-onset severe glaucoma when she was three years old. Severe, early-onset glaucoma is typically difficult to control, leading to almost complete optic nerve head damage and more devastating visual loss in both eyes. A correlation between the severity of ARS phenotypes and normal PITX2 protein levels was also noted. In the literature, only three cases of ARS with features of bilateral or unilateral aniridia with PITX2 mutations have been found. One case was affected by a splicing mutation that introduced a premature termination, and two other cases were affected by nonsense mutations. In 2000, Rahat Perveen first described a phenocopy of bilateral aniridia carrying a G-C 3′ splice site of intron 2; the patient had best-corrected visual acuities of 6/9 and 6/12 [25]. Véronique Vieira and coworkers identified an E55X nonsense mutation in an ARS patient who presented with complete aniridia associated with goniostrands in the right eye and major corectopia associated with partial aniridia in the left eye [26]. In 2012, Law et al. reported an asymmetric phenotype of the anterior segment with features of Axenfeld-Rieger anomaly in one eye, but aniridia in the other eye. A nonsense mutation, p.Q21X for PITX2a or p.Q67X for PITX2b, was found in patient M.A, who had best-corrected visual acuities of 20/80 in the right eye and 20/40 in the left eye [27]. PITX2a is a 33 kDa homeodomain protein. The HD is responsible for recognizing specific DNA sequences to bring transcription factors to the appropriate target genes. The integrity of PITX2 is essential for binding DNA and is critical for PITX2 to act as a transcription factor [28]. All of the above-reported mutations were predicted to abolish the DNA-binding functions of the affected allele and to lead to a premature termination codon (PTC) and are subject to nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). The mechanism for the PITX2-related severity of the ocular phenotype in these patients may be the consequence of PITX2 haploinsufficiency. These mutations lead to severe aniridia-emulating phenotypes but result in a relatively good visual acuity. In this study, the P.L159VfsX39 mutation is a novel deletion mutation at the 3′ end of the PITX2-coding region, encoding a normal HD but partially truncating the PITX2 C-terminus, which causes a frame shift after Pro158 of PITX2a and introduces a PTC in exon 6. As this PTC is located in the final exon of the gene, it is predicted to escape NMD. Many researchers have noted that aniridia phenotypes are caused by mutations that introduce a PTC; however, they have also suggested that 3′ mutations, which introduce a PTC into the PAX6 open reading frame, do in fact yield dominant-negative alleles that may cause more severe phenotypes [29, 30]. Until now, there have been only 2 reports of PITX2 dominant-negative mutations that have been characterized at the cellular level [5, 14, 31]. Saadi et al. have noted that lysine at residue 50 in the PITX2 HD plays important roles in both DNA-binding and dimerization activities. The authors also suggested that dimerization appears to involve both the C-terminal region and the HD, as exemplified by the dominant-negative PITX2 K88E protein [4]. Unlike previously reported PITX2-associated aniridia mutations, this P.L159VfsX39 frame-shift mutation retained the position 50 residue of this HD. Therefore, we predicted that the truncating mutation at the 3′ end of PITX2, P.L159VfsX39, escapes NMD and generates dominant-negative proteins that cause much more severe phenotypes than the abovementioned PITX2 mutations. The PITX2 C-terminus has both inhibitory and stimulatory activities [4]. Irfan Saadi and colleagues reported that the PITX2 mutations at the 3′ part of the coding region, W133Stop and D122FS, may result in gain-of-function phenotypes in ARS patients at the cellular level [4, 32]. One caveat of this interpretation is that the mutants may not be expressed in patients because of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay or protein degradation. These results indicate the complexity and potential ramifications of mutations in the PITX2 C-terminal tail in ARS patients. Hopefully, additional research in this area may eventually clarify the exact mechanism of these mutations.
The iris manifestations in ASDs are important in making a diagnosis. Clinically, ARS may be confused with ICE syndrome or aniridia on the basis of clinical similarities. In our case, for instance, Patient 1 was originally diagnosed with aniridia, and foveal hypoplasia was observed, but she did not have nystagmus and, therefore, did not have the classic manifestations of true aniridia. Patient 4 was misdiagnosed with ICE syndrome; specular microscopy showed reduced endothelial densities but normal morphology, which is inconsistent with ICE syndrome (Figure 6). For patients presenting with IH and glaucoma, careful evaluations of endothelial morphology, iris, fundus, foveal development, and extraocular manifestations are critical.
Figure 6: Specular microscopy of Patient 4. (a) Reduced endothelial densities but normal morphology in size and shape in the right eye. (b) The corneal stroma were centrally opaque and associated with the permeability of the endothelial barrier in the left eye.
In summary, we expanded the mutation spectrum of the PITX2 gene in individuals with ARS. Our results suggest that the PITX2 gene accounts for a significant portion of the Chinese ARS population with systemic abnormalities. This study is the first reported case of a mutation at the 3′ end of the PITX2-coding region that extends the phenotypic consequences of PITX2 mutations to bilateral aniridia. Therefore, we speculated that ARS traits can display tremendous variability in severity and manifestation for the PITX2 dominant-negative effect. These results further emphasize the importance of careful clinical and genetic analysis and lead to a better understanding of the role of PITX2 in the normal development of the eye.
The data used to support the findings of this study are restricted in order to protect patient privacy. The data supporting the conclusions of the study are available from Liqin Huang on request.
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.
We thank the patients and family members for their participation. This study was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 81170847).
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Matthew Lowes is a writer of weird fiction and games. His stories have appeared in a variety of print and online magazines, including Dark Recesses and Anotherealm. His book, Elements of Chess, is a concise guide for beginning to intermediate players. He is currently working on a trilogy of fantasy novels, a collection of horror stories, and two roleplaying games.
Lowes has a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and an M.A. in Teaching from Pacific University. His academic interests have ranged from Literary Theory to Gothic Architecture, and from World Religions to Quantum Physics. He grew up with a deep love for fantasy and science fiction and has since made writing his life's work.
Born in Washington state, Lowes has lived in many places throughout the US and in Europe. He has traveled the world, from the deserts of Australia and West Africa, to the jungles and mountains of South America and Indonesia. Over the years he has been at times a pilot, a scuba diver, a rock climber, and a long time student of martial arts. He is a certified Systema instructor and has a black belt in Aikido.
Lowes lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest where every day he pursues the dreams and ideas that are the inspiration for his fiction.


text:
Redskins' Norman runs with bulls in Pamplona
Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman fulfilled a dream by taking part in the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, this week.
Video shows Norman leaping over a bull inside a bullring during the event.
Afterward, Norman posted videos on his Instagram stories, saying a number of times that the experience was "crazy."
"I had to face the bull straight on," he said. "It was fun. It was worth it. It was really worth it."
Norman also tweeted a photo from the bullring.
In 2016, Norman, then with the Carolina Panthers, told WCCB in Charlotte, North Carolina, that running with the bulls was on his list of possible offseason activities.
Five people have been gored during this year's bull runs, which began Sunday. The nine-day San Fermin fiesta attracts party-goers and bull aficionados from around the world.
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European Molecular Biology Laboratory Home
Guest author(s)
Lab Matters
Opinion: A journey from bench to clinical trials
Andrés Palencia on the work done at EMBL to guide the design of compounds that may help to fight drug-resistant TB and other diseases
Andrés Palencia. PHOTO: EMBL/Adam Gristwood
By Andrés Palencia
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) represents one of the most formidable threats to human health. The bacterium has a hardy outer membrane that protects it from disinfectants and allows it to survive on dry surfaces over long periods. It is also highly infectious: a sneeze from someone infected with TB can release thousands of aerosol droplets containing bacteria, while inhalation of fewer than 10 bacteria is sufficient to cause infection. The high infectivity of TB has been well known for many years and in the past large hospitals were dedicated solely to isolating TB-infected patients. With the discovery of antibiotics for TB the situation improved and many infections could be treated, but the curve of improvement seems to be reversing. Why?
Drug resistance in the post-antibiotic era
In TB, we find not only multi-drug resistance (MDR), but also super-resistance: strains that are extensively drug-resistant (XDR) are not susceptible to first-line of defense drugs (Rifampin and Linezolid) and to at least one of the second-line drugs; strains with totally drug-resistant (TDR) are even more difficult, if not impossible, to treat. With cases of XDR reported in over 100 countries, new drugs are urgently needed.
Motivated by this need, an interdisciplinary project was established, involving scientists from EMBL in Grenoble (Stephen Cusack and myself), Anacor Pharmaceuticals (Palo Alto, USA) and others. Anacor and EMBL had previously worked together on a novel antifungal, now approved by the FDA for the treatment of toe infection (onychomycosis), and on the discovery of Gram-negative antibiotics for the treatment of complicated infections in humans, now in clinical studies. These previous compounds, called benzoxaboroles, shared an original mechanism: the inhibition of leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LeuRS), a protein responsible for charging leucine onto transferRNALeu, as required for protein synthesis.
Based on the known antibacterial activity of some benzoxaboroles, new derivatives were synthesized that showed medium potency against TB. High resolution structural analysis of the TB LeuRS bound to one of these compounds gave us clues, at an atomic level, to design new compounds that showed improved activity. These improved compounds had excellent in vivo results in mice: they cured TB infections with comparable efficacy to Rifampin and Linezolid. As one would expect for a drug with a new mechanism of action, our compound worked equally well against TB clinical isolates resistant to existing drugs.
Benzoxaboroles: one family, many applications
Given the novelty of this inhibition mechanism, we wondered whether the same mechanism could be used to fight other human pathogens, such as Plasmodium, Toxoplasma and Cryptosporidium, for which new medicines also urgently need to be found. Indeed, we went on to show LeuRS inhibitors that are active against these parasites. While the potency of these compounds is not as good as for TB, these results open the way for studies to improve the activity, and hopefully could lead to new anti-parasitic drugs.
Discovering a novel antibiotic for Gram-negative bacteria was an extremely difficult challenge, but to show that these compounds also have therapeutic potential for the treatment of TB, toxoplasmosis or even malaria, proves just how polyvalent they are. Just consider the different properties of the membranes that a compound has to penetrate before acting on the LeuRS target: it is not an easy task!
So, how is it possible that these compounds work so well against such different pathogens? First, their common target is universal: LeuRS provides an essential function for protein synthesis in all living cells. During the last years, Cusack's group and others have determined the crystal structures of LeuRS from several pathogens, and of the editing domain of the human protein. These revealed structural differences that can be exploited to develop inhibitors specific to a pathogen and that do not act on human protein, thus avoiding dangerous side-effects. Secondly, benzoxaboroles are small in size and easy to modify with different chemical substitutions; they also have good drug-like properties, an overall good oral bioavailability and low toxicity. Together, these properties make them very attractive for drug discovery.
This project has been extremely motivating for me: working with scientists from very different but complementary disciplines has favoured an exchange of ideas that was quite inspiring. Antimicrobial development is a long and very difficult path and tackling the problem from different angles was probably the key to our success. Working in such a big consortium also made possible getting promising compounds from bench to clinical trials relatively short.
It makes me so happy to see our structures guiding the development of new compounds, some of which I hope can become medicines for the treatment of several infectious diseases.
Andrés Palencia now continues this research on anti-parasitic drugs at the Institute for Advanced Biosciences in Grenoble, France.
New drug candidate unleashed for TB
Opinion: 2006, a year of champagne
Grenoble Institute for Advanced Biosciences
Anacor Pharmaceuticals
Tags: Alumni, Crystallography, Cusack, Grenoble, opinion, Structural Biology
Welcome: Timo Zimmermann
By Ivy Kupec
Welcome: Olivier Duss
EMBL becomes newest Instruct Centre
By Mathias Jäger
Homage to a vital tool
Structural biologists want to study proteins at the atomic level. The device shown in this Picture of the Week is essential for this.
EMBLetc.
Read the latest Issues of our magazine - EMBLetc.
Issue 96, Winter 2020/21
– The impact of COVID-19 on women in science
– Tackling tropical diseases
– EMBL's future directions
– EMBL's contribution to fighting coronavirus
– The Darwin Tree of Life project
– Meet EMBL's new Environmental Officer
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Insights on How to Deliver an Effective Presentation
By Olatorera Oladeji
Easy Smartphone Hacks for Nigerians: Students, Entrepreneurs & Teenagers
By Figure Lawrence
8 Soft Skills You Need for Successful Freelancing
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By Samuel Olasubomi
If you're searching for a cool and nice place to spend the holiday alone or with friends and family, this...
25 Beautiful and Wonderful Places to Visit in Nigeria
Ibeno Beach Tourist Center in Nigeria
Experience Tourism in Nigeria
8 Must-Have Mobile Apps for University Students in Nigeria
By Tobiloba Funsized Adeola
By Olunlade Toluwalase Joshua
By Esther Adeniji
In this digital era, there's almost nothing you can't do with an app. Whatever your profession or stage in life, there's an app that can get you closer to your goals. Here, you'll be learning about the apps for university...
6 Simple Tips to Make the Most of University in Nigeria
As an undergraduate, life is as enjoyable as it is boring. It all depends on how you make the most...
A Guide to Study Abroad: How To Prepare for International Opportunities As A Nigerian Student
As a Nigerian student preparing for international opportunities isn't something you must take with levity hands. Opportunities could come your...
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September 7, 2021	20
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How to Convert your Hobbies into Money in Nigeria
A presentation has various meanings. For this article, it means a speech or talk in which you show and explain…
In recent times, many Nigerians have searched for ways to make money from the comfort of their homes. You continuously…
Soft skills for freelancers are a necessity! Whichever way you slice it, the need for soft skills in the freelancing…
In this digital era, there's almost nothing you can't do with an app. Whatever your profession or stage in life,…
Dictionaries and different people may agree on different definitions of success. What matters is determining what success looks like to…
Online shopping is now a trend, not just in Nigeria, but in other parts of the world. With the worldwide…
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Have you ever wondered why POS business in Nigeria is so common in every nook and cranny of the streets…


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Easily customize based on check boxes and text boxes.
There are lots of custom actions and filters.
You will speed up to your site creation. Debug on current post, Debug on current using theme, Debug on server info, …etc more helpful info.
Show debug screen on bottom of page.
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Not easy to use, can not undo hiding an item from the sidebar for specific role, and adding item is buggy.
According to the developer, this plugin should replace the "WP Admin UI Customize" plugin, for which support has stopped, leaving over 50.000 users in the dark. This plugin drops 2 important features from its predecessor: 1) Easy customisation of the login page (for which we need another plugin now). 2) Role based settings (for which we suddenly need to pay now). Imho, suddenly dropping important features or starting to charge for them, is not a serious way of contributing to the WP community. There's nothing wrong with trying to make money from WP plugins, if you are clear about this from the beginning. But not if you start charging after you have over 50.000 users, who are referred to a "new" plugin. That being said, I can recommend this plugin for those who are single users of their own WordPress install, but not for agencies or developers who manage WordPress installs for others.
It proposes a lot of way for customizing the administration. Very easy to use and powerful!
With this plugin you can configure lots of thing, still it is easy to use. I develop websites for my clients. So I am looking for plugin that can configure backend per user role. Unfortunately, this plugin does not has this feature.
This plugin is easy to use and has great support!!
Works perfectly! There are a lot of new and nice settings to customize the backend and frontend – I found it a bit easier to work as the former plug-In. I even managed to get the extention running to have a role based customization working. Great! Thank you very much for this free plug-in! Even if the settings are easy to handel and almost everything is self explaning, the documentation of the plug-in is very poor. That's why only 4-star rating.
"My WP Customize Admin/Frontend" is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
"My WP Customize Admin/Frontend" has been translated into 1 locale. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.
Translate "My WP Customize Admin/Frontend" into your language.
Updated: Some network admin debug.
Added: Manager Ajax and Network Manager Ajax actions.
Added: Remove transients timing to Sidebar and Toolbar.
Added: Automatic output of column body for Posts.
Added: Added some features for Frontend.
Fixed: Toolbar custom URL to attributes.
Fixed: Global $post on Media Libraries.
Fixed: abstract setting module function name.
Updated: Remove setting with registered list columns.
Updated: To improve the convenience of plugin.
Added: Change the editor for post edit(block/classic).
Added: Hide the meta boxes on post edit screen for Block Editor(WP ver5).
Fixed: Empty check for function to value(for PHP5.4).
Updated: Check to image file URL.
Updated: Blog ID/Site ID can use to shortcodes.
Fixed: Reorder menu items on Sidebar/Toolbar customize.
Added: User first name/last name/display name on shortcode.
Enhancement: Some filters added to Model, Controller, Setting.
Enhancement: Cache to Sidebar&Toolbar customize.
Added: Support taxonomy to Sidebar&Toolbar customize.
Added: Dynamic menu items on Toolbar with multisite.
Added: Roughly get max allowed packet size(mysql).
Added: Some debug lists on Site of Developer.
Added: parse_url() on request of Developer.
Added: Example debug panel of Developer.
Added: Network admin url to Shortcode.
Changed: Early get Toolbar items hook.
Changed: Restlict customize sub items to Sidebar&Toolbar.
Changed: Some properties on Thirdparty.
Fixed: Show defines to individual site when multisite.
Enhancement: Show the current queries on Debug tool.
Fixed: Customized sidebar collapse menu.
Updated: Custom menu UI on sidebar customize.
Fixed: Debug value options, site_options.
Fixed: Only main_query on Archive disable.
Fixed: Debug object to options, site_options, find option.
Fixed: Echo array on find option.
Fixed: Code miss on Developer.
Fixed: Do shortcode on admin footer text.
Added: Debug for options, site_options, blogs, find option.
Fixed: Do shortcode for custom html of admin bar customize.
Fixed: Apply some filters for custom footer text of admin general.
Fixed: Show icon for using custom icon of sidebar customize.
Added: Debug to user meta on User Edit.
Enhancement: Network menu on admin toolbar customize.
Fixed: Initialized data fields of controller.
Added: Syntax Highlight setting on User Profile.
Fixed: Get meta serialize of post type.
Added: Customize the users page.
Added: Disable the user dashboard.
Changed: Priority change the main and network on mywp_setting_menus.
Enhancement: Show Terms and Taxonomies on single page of Developer.
Removed: Function "deep_esc_html" on Helper.
Added: Change the capability for create_posts.
Fixed: Setting screen for Network.
Added: Update messages posts and edit post.
Enhancement: All transients, All Translations, All Crons of debug.
Updated: Require WordPress version to 4.7.
Enhancement: Edit Post / Add Post.
Fixed: Block not use admin for ajax.
Fixed: Hide add new of post edit.
Updated: Some feature of Developer.
Fixed: Show the structure template on developer.
Updated: Show the structure template on developer.
Fixed: Debug time to timestart().
Fixed: Debug information on Frontend.
Fixed: User edit advanced settings.
Added: Debug time to timestart().
Added: Customize UI of admin sidebar.
Added: Using cache controllers/setting menus.
Added: Not use admin panel on Admin General.
Fixed: Miss name to default from initial on Admin Posts.
Fixed: sidebar of admin customize.
Added: sidebar of admin customize.
Added: custom third party activate filter.
Added: include js file of admin general.


text:
Key Forum Threads
How To Grow Tobacco
Types of Tobacco (Growers forum)
Everthing else
Tobacco Varieties Before Columbus
Thread starter deluxestogie
attenuata bigelovii bolivia chile columbus domesticated hidatsa indian mandan mexico orinoco panama pre-columbian quadrivalvis rustica tabacum venezuela wild
deluxestogie
near Blacksburg, VA
Burge,
The Wikipedia article is lengthy and detailed. A lot of info there. I would be cautious about anything that sounds truly definitive on the topic of cigars. As you know, opinions vary widely on most aspects of cigars--witness this forum. And anyone can edit a Wikipedia article, inserting his or her own favorite interpretation. (e.g. Stating that cigar binders are made from ligero leaf is clearly an odd stance.)
But it's a good read.
burge
I did some reading that suggested that Spain had a influence on North American tobacco development and may had some help via the coffee trade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tobacco. If you read on the history of coffee the aribica beans were developed by the ottoman Empire. Turkish tobacco would be a interesting read.
hooyoo
PA, USA
Been doing some research on indigenous N. tabacum landraces. Ancient landraces cultivated by Native peoples in the center of origin for a particular crop tend to have huge genetic diversity and unique qualities not found anywhere else (see: founder effect). Tobacco seems to be tricky since it's been moved around and replaced everywhere, but if there was a place where you'd find some original genetics, it would be here. I'd love to know if anyone here has grown out and tested any of these USDA accessions:
PI 116568 from Costa Rice: "Chircagre, an Indian village at the foot of the Irazú volcano. Interesting for its resistance to adverse conditions and its ease of cultivation."
PI 106576 from Guyana: "This pink flowered tobacco, from 2-5ft high, is cultivated by the Indians and gives a better crop than American varieties.
Name ("Yure") given by the local Arawak people whom grew this variety."
Note: considering that the Taino inhabitants of Cuba, the DR, and Puerto Rico were an Arawakan people, this might be an ancient Arawak landrace of tobacco similar to what may have been grown in pre-Columbian times.
PI 106958 from Guyana "A native strain collected at Rupununi by Carib indians."
Note: as with the above variety, I wonder if this might be similar to the tobacco cultivated throughout the Caribbean before European colonization.
PI 112776 from Chiapas, Mexico: "Seed sifted from contraband tobacco sold by Indians in the market. Said to be grown in small patches about Chiapa."
PI 112682, 'Tobaco Montés' from Oaxaca, Mexico: "Collected off of the surface of a leaf for sale. Cultivated in highlands about town by Zapotec Indians."
PI 112594, 'Macuchi'(?) from Mexico: "Seed from store whose supply is brought from San Juan del Rio (Durango)."
Note: Macuchi is the word for tobacco in a handful of Native languages in Mexico, particularly in the Durango region. Huichol people have an ancient tradition of using macuchi tobacco in religious rituals.
Reactions: burge, Knucklehead, Charly and 1 other person
Also for what it's worth, Cuban 'Criollo' is essentially an 'improved' Taino tobacco variety as well. I wrote up this article on it earlier this year, based largely on all of the really fascinating things that I've learned from everyone here at FTT.
www.shelterwoodforestfarm.com
Reactions: LIBERTYCHICKEN, Knucklehead and Charly
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Post Pals is a charity that sends uplifting cards to seriously ill children and their siblings in the UK – sit down, be creative, and help brighten a child's day!
It couldn't be easier to get involved and only takes 10 minutes of your time.
There is a box of materials located at the Student Hub and in the Drill Hall Library Headspace area. We also run this activity regularly so please sign up to our mailing list if you want to know when we are organising a session.


Posted on February 14, 2018 · We learn about the stories, accomplishments, and challenges of African Americans in the Olympics from nine-time gold medalist Carl Lewis and Dr. Billy Hawkins from the University of Houston's Department of Health and Human Performance.
How Much Of An Emotional Boost Are The Astros Giving Houston After Harvey?
Posted on October 25, 2017 · In addition to occasionally connecting strangers, how else could sports -- including the Astros' current World Series run -- benefit Houston socially?