text:
29th International Book Fair opens in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is playing host to the 29th edition of Abu Dhabi International Book Fair that kicked off on Wednesday with more than 500,000 titles on display.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the UAE Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan inaugurated the event, according to the state-run WAM news agency.
He emphasized the importance of the fair in supporting the UAE's status in the publishing industry, being one of the most important book fairs in the region that attracts Arab and international publishers.
Organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi, the fair features more than 1,000 exhibitors from 50 countries.
Running until April 30, the fair also includes several daily events for visitors such as seminars, workshops, author signings and entertainment activities.
With India as the event's guest of honour, at least 30 Indian publishing companies are taking part.
This year's book fair also sees the introduction of three new interactive zones: the E-Zone, Comic Corner and the Entertainment Zone.
Each of the three zones features unique experiences for learning, innovation and entertainment.
Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: Abu, Abu Dhabi, according, Agency, Al, and, April, Arab, author, author signings, book, Breaking Travel News, center, companies, corner, countries, Cultural Travel News, culture, Culture and Tourism, daily, department, deputy, deputy prime minister, Dhabi, display, edition, Emirates, entertainment, event, Events, exhibition, exhibitors, experiences, fair, fairs, Features,, free, Hospitality News, host, hosts, importance, important, in, inaugurated, includes, India, Indian, Industry, innovation, interactive, interior, International, International Travel News, introduction, learning, MICE Industry News, minister, most, national, New, News, News articles, Prime, Prime Minister, publishing, region, running, s, seminars, State, status, supporting, taking, The Region, to, tourism, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, UAE, UAE travel news, unique, unique experiences, United, United Arab Emirates, visitors, workshops, World News, year
Swiss-Belhotel brings special offers to Arabian Travel Market
Swiss-Belhotel International has created exciting packages for wholesalers and tour operators that will be launched at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) taking place in Dubai from April 28 to May 1, 2019. Targeted at Middle East travelers, the group has put together a fabulous range of offers that will be available across its spectacular properties in New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
Laurent A. Voivenel, Senior Vice President, Operations and Development for the Middle East, Africa and India, Swiss-Belhotel International, said: "We are delighted to announce the launch of these exclusive packages that have been designed to provide unique experiences along with greater benefits and value to our Middle East partners as well as customers. We have superb properties located in some of the most sought-after destinations that attract large number of travelers from our region. With the summer holiday season around the corner, ATM presents us the ideal opportunity to launch these. Moreover, this year we are very excited about the ATM Holiday Shopper that we believe is a great addition to the show."
The Special Packages offer a diverse choice of experiences at unbeatable rates: These include the following:
Special Golf Packages in Indonesia at various destinations – Jakarta, Batam, Bandung, Bali, Tarakan, Belitung, Surabaya, Jayapura, and in Vietnam in Da Lat.
Discounted wholesale rates for hotels in New Zealand and for hotels in Australia.
Early Bird discounts in the busiest destination in Australia, the hotel in Sydney offers 15% discounts for booking within April with stays valid till August and 10% for bookings until August with stays valid all throughout the year.
In Philippines, book at Makati and get a free room upgrade; and when you book at Manila get to enjoy the amazing introductory offer including breakfast for two.
Visitors to ATM can find Swiss-Belhotel International on stand HC0825 located in Sheikh Saeed Arena in Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
eTN is a media partner for ATM.
Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: addition, Africa, amazing, and, announce, April, Arabian, Arabian Travel Market, ATM, attract, August, Australia, Bali, Bandung, Batam, belitung, benefits, bird, book, Booking, bookings, Breaking Travel News, busiest, Centre, choice, convention, convention and exhibition centre, corner, created, customers, Da, designed, Destination, Destinations, development, discounts, Dubai, early, early bird, East, eTN, exclusive, exhibition, experiences, find, following, free, golf, greater, Group, holiday, holiday season, Hospitality News, hotel, Hotel Travel News, Hotels, in, including, India, Indonesia, International, Jakarta, launch, launched, located, Makati, Manila, Market, May, media, media partner, MICE Industry News, Middle, Middle East, most, New, New Zealand, News articles, number, offer, offers, operations, operators, opportunity, packages, partner, partners, Philippines, Place, president, properties, range, rates, region, room, Saeed, said, season, senior, Senior Vice President, Sheikh, show, Special, special offers, spectacular, stays, summer, summer holiday, summer holiday season, Surabaya, SWISS, Sydney, taking, the Philippines, to, tour, Tour Operators, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, Travel Destination News, travel market, travelers, Travelwire News, UAE travel news, unique, unique experiences, upgrade, US, value, vice, vice president, Vietnam, visitors, We, year, Zealand
SITA: Tracking airline passenger bags drives 66% improvement in baggage delivery
Airlines that are adding tracking at more points of the baggage journey are enjoying a huge improvement in bag delivery globally. The SITA 2019 Baggage IT Insights – officially launched at an event in Abu Dhabi International Airport today – shows that where tracking is done at check-in and loading onto the aircraft, the rate of improvement is as high as 66%.
These results come as the record drop in the baggage mishandling rate achieved globally over the past decade plateaus, with the rate steady at around 5.7 bags per thousand passengers over the past three years. In 2018, the rate was 5.69 per thousand passengers.
Over the past year, an increasing number of airlines and airports have started to introduce tracking at key points in the journey – check-in, loading onto the aircraft, transfers and arrival – to improve baggage management and further reduce the chances of a bag being mishandled. SITA's research provides the first glimpse of the success of this tracking. It reveals that where bags were being tracked when loaded onto the aircraft, the rate of improvement ranged between 38% and 66% depending on the level of tracking introduced.
Peter Drummond, Director of Baggage at SITA, said: "While the mishandling rate has started to plateau over the past few years, this comes against a continued growth in passenger numbers and their bags. In 2018, 4.36 billion travelers checked in more than 4.27 billion bags. More bags makes things more challenging. Everyone across the industry needs to look beyond the process and technology improvements made in the past decade and adopt the latest technology such as tracking to make the next big cut in the rate of mishandled bags."
Ahmed Juma Al Shamsi, Acting Chief Operations Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, said: "For our passengers the timely delivery of baggage is key to ensuring a seamless passenger experience and therefore an area in which we continue to make further improvements. Looking forward, baggage tracking is fundamental to driving more accurate bag delivery not only at Abu Dhabi International Airport but across the entire passenger journey. We have led the way with the introduction of tracking on arrival and we have already seen significant improvements."
Transferring baggage from one aircraft, or airline, to another remains a pinch point in the journey and in 2018 it was again the main reason for bags being mishandled. Transfer bags accounted for 46% of all mishandled bags.
Drummond added: "Transfer is by far the most difficult stage to track a bag as there are multiple airlines and airports involved. However, data from this year's report shows that tracking at key points in the journey, such as transfers, will go a long way to eliminating mishandling and will allow airlines and their passengers to keep tabs on where their bags are at every step of the way."
Over the past decade, total number of mishandled bags per annum has plummeted 47% from 46.9 million in 2007 to 24.8 million in 2018, while the annual bill footed by the industry has shrunk 43% to $2.4 billion, down from $4.22 billion in 2007.
Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: #aircraft, Abu, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Airports, Abu Dhabi International Airport, added, airline, airlines, Airport, airports, Al, and, annual, area, arrival, Aviation News, aviation-website, bag, baggage, bags, big, bill, billion, Breaking Travel News, chances, check, check-in, chief, come, continue, continued, continued growth, Corporate News, cut, Data, decade, delivery, Dhabi, Dhabi Airports, director, down, driving, drop, Drummond, ensuring, event, experience, far, first, Forward, free, globally, GO!, Growth, high, improve, improvement, improvements, in, increasing, Industry, Insights, International, International Airport, International Travel News, introduce, introduced, introduction, IT, journey, keep, key, LATEST, launched, LED, looking, Main, Make, management, MICE Industry News, million, most, needs, News articles, number, numbers, officer, officially, on arrival, only, operations, over, passenger, passenger numbers, passengers, past, pinch, Plateau, points, provides, rate, reason, record, reduce, remains, report, research, results, s, said, seamless, shows, significant, significant improvements, SITA, started, steady, success, Technology, things, thousand, to, today, total, tourism, tracking, transfer, transfers, Transportation News, Travel Technology News, travelers, Travelwire News, UAE travel news, way, We, were, World News, year, years
Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi prepares to host World Travel Awards
Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, the latest addition to Yas Island's series of world-class attractions, is stepping up to host the World Travel Awards (WTA) Middle East Gala Ceremony 2019 on Thursday 25 April.
The gala ceremony will be the premier gathering of the Arabian hospitality industry, with the key players and VIPs from across the region attending.
Opened last summer, Warner Bros. World is the world's first-ever Warner Bros. branded indoor theme park, and represents another milestone in Abu Dhabi's remarkable journey to establish itself as one of the world's leading tourist destinations.
Located on Yas Island, the 1.65 million sq. ft. indoor theme park features six immersive lands with 29 state-of-the-art rides, interactive family-friendly attractions and unique live entertainment shows, as well as a variety of themed dining and retail outlets.
The park is the latest addition to Yas Island's award-winning theme parks, joining Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Yas Waterworld.
The red-carpet evening will form the second leg of the WTA Grand Tour 2019 – a global search for the finest travel and tourism brands in the world.
Graham Cooke, Founder, WTA, said: "We are deeply honoured to host our Middle East Gala Ceremony at Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, an enthralling new addition to Abu Dhabi's incredible roster of tourist offerings.
He added: "WTA has maintained its position as the industry leader for the past 26 years, consistently proving its value as the global benchmark for acknowledging excellence in travel and tourism. I greatly look forward to welcoming the most senior decision-makers of the Arabian travel industry for what promises to be a most memorable evening at this phenomenal new attraction."
Don Strickler, General Manager, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, said: "We are delighted and honored to welcome the prestigious World Travel Awards Middle East Gala Ceremony at Warner Bros. World for the first time this year. The choice of our Park as host for this coveted industry event is a testament to the growing appeal of theme parks within the leisure and entertainment sector in the region. We look forward to bringing together some of the world's leading travel industry professionals and organizations for an evening full of many successes and celebrations."
As part of the Grand Tour 2019, WTA is also hosting ceremonies in Montego Bay (Jamaica), Mauritius, Madeira, La Paz (Bolivia) and Phu Quoc (Vietnam), with the winners progressing to the Grand Final in Muscat (Oman).
Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: Abu, Abu Dhabi, added, addition, and, appeal, April, Arabian, art, attraction, attractions, award, award-winning, Awards, Bay, Benchmark, Bolivia, brands, Breaking Travel News, bringing, carpet, celebrations, ceremonies, ceremony, choice, class, Corporate News, decision, Destinations, Dhabi, dining, East, entertainment, establish, event, excellence, Family, family-friendly, Features,, ferrari, Ferrari World, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, first, form, Forward, founder, free, friendly, ft, full, gala, gala ceremony, gathering, general, general manager, Global, Grand, grand final, Grand Tour, Growing, honored, honoured, hospitality, hospitality industry, Hospitality News, host, hosting, in, indoor, Industry, industry event, interactive, International Travel News, island, Jamaica, joining, journey, key, LA, La Paz, lands, last, LATEST, leader, leading, Leisure, live, located, Madeira, manager, Mauritius, meetings.travel, MICE Industry News, Middle, Middle East, Middle East Gala Ceremony, milestone, million, Montego, Montego Bay, most, Muscat, New, new addition, new attraction, News articles, offerings, Oman, opened, organizations, Outlets, park, parks, past, People in Travel, Phu, Phu Quoc, players, position, premier, prestigious, professionals, promises, Red, region, represents, Resort News, retail, s, said, search, second, sector, senior, series, shows, State, summer, The Region, The World, theme, theme park, theme parks, themed, time, to, TO BE, tour, tourism, tourist, tourist destinations, Travel, Travel & Tourism Organizations News, travel and tourism, Travel Award News, travel awards, Travel Destination News, Travel Industry, Travelwire News, UAE travel news, unique, up, value, variety, Vietnam, VIPs, Warner, Warner Bros, Waterworld, We, welcome, welcoming, winners, World, World News, world travel, World Travel Awards, World Travel Awards Middle East Gala Ceremony, world-class, WTA, Yas Island, Yas Waterworld, year, years
How Emirates is supporting and preserving biodiversity
Taking its environmental responsibilities seriously and championing wildlife conservation across different corners of the planet, the Emirates Group is playing its part to support and preserve biodiversity.
The Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve and Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley in Australia both illustrate the Group's long-standing focus on protecting fragile ecosystems and support for sustainable tourism in very different parts of the world. Both conservation reserves protect valuable ecosystems and at the same time provide unique and sustainable experiences for visitors from around the world.
The Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve
The Emirates Group funds the operations of the 225 square kilometre Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR), an inland desert habitat that has been protected by government mandate since 2003. This is the largest piece of land that Dubai has dedicated to a single project and aims to preserve Dubai's unique desert environment for future generations. The DDCR plays an important role in ecological research, actively collaborating with both local and international universities. The findings and results of the research studies help to enhance knowledge of the desert ecosystem, gather scientific data around rare and endangered desert species, monitor its balance and preserve its natural environment.
The reserve is also a focal point for conservation programmes aimed at restoring populations of some of the UAE's wildlife, such as the Arabian gazelle, sand gazelle and Arabian oryx. Since their reintroduction into the DDCR, the antelope species have thrived, and their populations have significantly increased, triggering the process of looking into relocating some oryx and gazelle species to other protected areas within the region. Over 250 endangered Macqueen's bustard (houbara) were also released this year with 25 of them fitted with tracking devices to monitor their movement and breeding progress.
In 2018, the DDCR was visited by more than 285,000 tourists, through Arabian Adventures, various Emirates partner tour operators, and the Al Maha Desert Resort. The DDCR offers low-impact desert experiences in addition to desert clean-up activities in coordination with Arabian Adventures. During 2018 the DDCR was accepted as a candidate for the IUCN Green List for Protected and Conserved Areas, a global standard for the world's most effectively managed Protected Areas.
Emirates has been supporting the protection of Australia's extraordinary wildlife and plant life for over 10 years, through the conservation-based Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley in New South Wales. The property was the first luxury resort in the world to receive an internationally-recognised carbon neutral certification from New Zealand based CarboNZero, undergoing a comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions assessment. Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley also conducts regular research to identify opportunities and challenges for endangered species conservation. Efforts have also been underway to help restore vital vegetation and tree planting activities, which have helped to re-establish habitats for vital bird populations, essential for their long term survival.
Emirates and Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley jointly funded the development of the WomSAT app and website in collaboration the University of Western Sydney to help researchers identify opportunities for wombat conservation. Wombats are threatened by sarcoptic mange, an unpleasant and often fatal skin disease that afflicts Australia's largest burrow builder. The tool is used to record wombat sightings and track population health to help treat wombats afflicted by sarcoptic mange. Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley is also spearheading a number of other conservation projects, such as the Wolgan River Restoration Project, an ongoing weed management programme, and supporting research projects with Western Sydney University.
United for Wildlife and The Buenos Aires Declaration
Since 2015, Emirates has continued its strong support for actions to stem the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products, which is having devastating consequences for endangered animals and the environment in many parts of the world. In 2018, the Emirates Group also signed the Buenos Aires Declaration on Travel and Tourism and Illegal Wildlife Trade, an effort led by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) to reach a billion travellers with messages to fight the illegal wildlife trade and work with communities to develop sustainable tourism that provides livelihoods and protects wildlife. The WTTC and World Wildlife Fund are developing guidelines to eliminate illegal wildlife trafficking from the travel and tourism supply chains.
The Emirates Group has also adopted a zero-tolerance policy to wildlife trafficking and has set up training for its employees to identify and look out for warning signs of smuggled wildlife products during cargo transportation and screening. Emirates will not carry banned species, hunting trophies or any products associated with illegal wildlife activities.
Using its brand power to raise awareness around the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife, Emirates emblazoned four of its A380s with special wildlife decals. Since then the aircraft have flown millions of kilometres across 48 cities in 29 countries on close to 6,000 flights taking this important message around the world and spurring conversation around wildlife preservation.
dnata Wildlife Conservation and Nature
dnata recently signed an MOU with the University of Pretoria in South Africa to support their research and rehabilitation projects. Under dnata4good, the partnership aims to safeguard wildlife and the environment by strengthening and enhancing research, veterinary training and awareness, increasing involvement through volunteer opportunities and ensuring needed measures are taken to care for injured animals and rehabilitate them to go back into the wild. The initiative will be partially driven by employee participation to protect fragile biodiversity in South Africa and to maintain balanced ecosystems.
Give a Ghaf
Emirates Group employees living in Meydan Heights (UAE) will be taking part in a Ghaf Tree planting event on 27 April in partnership with Goumbook. The event aims to raise awareness about the importance of conserving the living desert, with a specific focus on the Ghaf tree. The Ghaf is a drought tolerant, evergreen tree which can withstand harsh desert environments, and can be used for greening purposes whilst saving water.
Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: #aircraft, addition, adventures, Africa, Al, amp, and, animals, App, April, Arabian, areas, around the world, assessment, Australia, Aviation News, aviation-website, Awareness, balance, banned, based, billion, biodiversity, bird, brand, breeding, Buenos Aires, carbon, carbon-neutral, cargo, certification, chains, challenges, cities, clean up, close, collaboration, communities, conservation, conservation projects, continued, conversation, Corporate News, council, countries, Data, declaration, desert, development, devices, different, disease, Dnata, drought, Dubai, ecological, ecosystem, ecosystems, effort, efforts, Emirates, Emirates Group, emissions, employee, employees, endangered, endangered species, enhancing, ensuring, environment, environmental, essential, establish, event, experiences, Extraordinary, fatal, fight, findings, first, flights, flown, fund, funds, future, Gas, gas emissions, gather, generations, Global, GO!, government, Government Affairs, green, greenhouse, greenhouse gas emissions, greening, Group, guidelines, habitats, harsh, HEALTH, help, hunting, illegal, illegal trade, impact, importance, important, in, increased, increasing, initiative, injured, International, internationally, IUCN, knowledge, Land, largest, LED, life, list, Living, local, looking, low, Luxury, luxury resort, maintain, management, measures, messages, millions, monitor, most, MOU, movement, natural, natural environment, nature, needed, neutral, New, New South Wales, New Zealand, News articles, number, offers, ongoing, only, operations, operators, opportunities, out, over, participation, partner, partnership, planet, plant, policy, population, power, preservation, preserve, Pretoria, products, Programme, progress, project, projects, property, protect, protected, protected areas, protecting, protection, protects, provides, raise, receive, record, region, regular, rehabilitation, released, research, researchers, reserve, reserves, resort, restoration, restore, results, river, role, s, sand, screening, Set, signed, significantly, significantly increased, signs, single, South, South Africa, Special, species, Square, standard, standing, STEM, strong, studies, supply, support, supporting, survival, sustainable, sustainable tourism, Sydney, taking, term, The Region, The World, threatened, through, time, to, tolerance, tool, tour, Tour Operators, tourism, tourism council, tourists, tracking, Trade, trafficking, training, Transportation, Travel, travel and tourism, travellers, Travelwire News, treat, tree, tree planting, UAE, UAE travel news, underway, unique, United, university, up, used, using, valley, visited, visitors, Vital, volunteer, Wales, warning, water, website, were, Western, wild, wildlife, wildlife conservation, wildlife trafficking, Wolgan Valley, work, World, world travel, World Wildlife Fund, WTTC, year, years, Zealand, ZERO


text:
require 'rails/generators'
require 'rails/generators/base'

class RailsEventsGenerator < Rails::Generators::Base
  desc "This generator creates files at app/assets/javascripts/#{Rails.application.class.parent_name.underscore}.js.coffee and
app/assets/javascripts/views/_#{Rails.application.class.parent_name.underscore}_view.js.coffee"

  def create_project_file
    project_name_camel = Rails.application.class.parent_name.camelize
    project_name_snake = Rails.application.class.parent_name.underscore
    create_file "app/assets/javascripts/#{project_name_snake}.js", <<-FILE
window.#{project_name_camel} = {
	Views: {},
	Ui: {
		Close: function() {
			_.each(#{project_name_camel}.Ui, function(element) {
        if(element.close)
					element.close();
			})
		}
	},
	setView: function() {
		if(!!#{project_name_camel}.view && #{project_name_camel}.view.close)
			#{project_name_camel}.view.close();
    viewName = $('body').data('view-render');
    if(!_.isFunction(#{project_name_camel}.Views[viewName]))
			return;
    #{project_name_camel}.view = new #{project_name_camel}.Views[viewName]();
	}
}

// reinitialize app due to turbolinks
$(document).on('pageload', function() {
	#{project_name_camel}.setView()
})

// initial Document Load
$(document).ready(function() {
	#{project_name_camel}.setView()
})
FILE
  end

  def create_project_view_file
    project_name_camel = Rails.application.class.parent_name.camelize
    project_name_snake = Rails.application.class.parent_name.underscore
    create_file "app/assets/javascripts/views/_#{project_name_snake}_view.js", <<-FILE
// To bind events you need to create an events object
// KEY = event and selector : VALUE = method
// events :
//   {
//     'eventName selector' : 'method',
//     'eventName selector' : 'method',
//   }

#{project_name_camel}.View = (function() {
    var delegateEventSplitter;

    function View(options) {
        this.close = _.bind(this.close, this);
        options || (options = {});
        this.viewName = this.__proto__.constructor.name;
        if (this.render)
            this.render(options);
        this.delegateEvents();
    }

    delegateEventSplitter = /^(\S+)\s*(.*)$/;

    View.prototype.delegateEvents = function(events) {
        // Copied/modified from Backbone.View.delegateEvents
        // http://backbonejs.org/docs/backbone.html#section-138
        var delegateEventSplitter = /^(\\S+)\\s*(.*)$/
        events || (events = _.result(this, 'events'));
        if (!events)
          return this;
        for (var key in events) {
          var method = events[key];
          if (!_.isFunction(method))
            method = this[method];
          if (!method)
            continue;
          var match = key.match(delegateEventSplitter);
          $('body').on(match[1], match[2], _.bind(method, this));
        }
        return this;
      };

    View.prototype.close = function() {
        $('body').off('.' + this.viewName);
        $(window).off('.' + this.viewName);
        $(document).off('.' + this.viewName);
        $('body').off('.#{project_name_camel}Events');
        $(window).off('.#{project_name_camel}Events');
        $(document).off('.#{project_name_camel}Events');
        if (this.postClose)
            return this.postClose();
    };

    View.extend = function(protoProps, staticProps) {
        // Copied from Backbone Helpers
        // http://backbonejs.org/docs/backbone.html#section-245
        var parent = this;
        var child;

        // The constructor function for the new subclass is either defined by you
        // (the "constructor" property in your `extend` definition), or defaulted
        // by us to simply call the parent constructor.
        if (protoProps && _.has(protoProps, 'constructor')) {
            child = protoProps.constructor;
        } else {
            child = function(){ return parent.apply(this, arguments); };
        }

        // Add static properties to the constructor function, if supplied.
        _.extend(child, parent, staticProps);

        // Set the prototype chain to inherit from `parent`, without calling
        // `parent`'s constructor function and add the prototype properties.
        child.prototype = _.create(parent.prototype, protoProps);
        child.prototype.constructor = child;

        // Set a convenience property in case the parent's prototype is needed
        // later.
        child.__super__ = parent.prototype;

        return child;
    };

    return View;

})();
FILE
  end

  def add_underscore_to_tree
    inject_into_file "app/assets/javascripts/application.js", after: "//= require jquery_ujs\n" do
      "//= require underscore\n"
    end
  end

  def add_project_to_tree
    project_name = Rails.application.class.parent_name.underscore
    inject_into_file "app/assets/javascripts/application.js", before: "\n//= require_tree ." do
      "\n//= require #{project_name}"
    end
  end

  def add_views_folder_to_tree
    project_name = Rails.application.class.parent_name.underscore
    inject_into_file "app/assets/javascripts/application.js", after: "//= require #{project_name}\n" do
      "//= require_tree ./views\n"
    end
  end

  def link_javascript_files_to_views
    inject_into_file "app/views/layouts/application.html.erb", after: "<body" do
      " data-view-render= <%= \"\#{@js_view.present? ? @js_view : controller_name.camelize+action_name.camelize}\" %>"
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


As winter approaches and the leaves fall to the ground, comes the season to give thanks, and the opportunity to celebrate with those we hold most dear. People traveling from the furthest of reaches, overcoming an array of obstacles in a generous attempt to be there. It's also a time to "cook up a storm" and share meals with loved ones. Being a family-oriented person, Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. On this day, we express an extra measure of gratitude, giving extra time to those we love. Yet, this is also the time to remember that there are, and will always be, those who are less fortunate than ourselves.
I feel deeply for people who have had a falling out with their families, still seeking harmony in their lives. Healthy relationships are something that many of us take for granted. While posting about my epic dinner party with my family, I came across a Snapchat of a friend who was feeling extra lonely on this special day. She asked "what do you do when you don't have a family?" That post really shook me up and immediately brought forth a more elevated feeling of thankfulness and gratefulness. I can't imagine my life without my family. I felt a tremendous amount of admiration for many who took time out of their own busy schedules to cook and serve those who aren't so lucky during this time of year. A simple but gracious act of love.
This is precisely the reason why Natalie Franke's Instagram post about an initiative that the Riding Tide Society took to serve at a homeless shelter resonated so deeply within me. It filled my mind with various thoughts while at the same time, reminding me that there is always something for which to be grateful and mindful. Not only was I thankful for the food in front of me, but even more so, for the family beside me. Never take anyone for granted. It is a luxury that we simply cannot afford.
We hosted two different parties but the decor mostly remained the same with a few small changes revamping the look. Although I opted out of owning a dining table in our apartment to maximize space and maintain an open concept, this event was a little special for a few reasons and brought out an unshakable desire to host a seated dinner party; therefore, gathering up a folding table with a few folding chairs was the quick answer.
Always be ready to improvise! No matter the size of your space, if there is a creative will, there is a feasible way.
For one of the two gatherings, my brothers-in-law shared my enthusiasm for a nice seated party and offered to be the chief chef of the night while my husband played the role of a sous chef! One more reason for me to be thankful. Since our plans to eat nothing but Turkey for the next two days were already set in stone, we decided on having a Turkey-free menu to kick off the Thanksgiving celebrations. Even though the Turkey was a no show, the evening was packed with festive decor, savory foods, and entertainment. So I am going to share with you how it all came together.
With all the beautiful and inspiring Christmas decorations already out in the market, it was hard not to deviate from a Thanksgiving inspired theme. I walked around various stores and even produce aisles in search of inspiration but was experiencing sensory overload!
You can always use social media, window shopping, and other blogs to find inspiration and get those creative juices flowing but refocusing your thoughts to design something original, something authentic means shutting out all the noises out there and focusing only on things that immediately speak to you.
Fruits and vegetables are not only inexpensive, they are beautiful, fresh, edible, and can be recycled to create a meal afterwards! ♻ Back to the produce aisle it is!
To set my table apart, I chose colors that complemented or contrasted each other. There was no doubt from the start that the table will have persimmons, which is one of my favorite fruits!
Persimmons offer a vibrant color and guests can eat it as an appetizer before their meal or set it aside on the table for it to accentuate the decor. You can use any fruit of your choice!
The blue napkins with shades of purple and orange embroidery tied in the orange on the Persimmons and the purple in the vases. While trying to refrain from using flowers and yet desiring something that signified that floral appeal, Artichokes, believe it or not, was a choice beyond perfect! Fresh Kale added the extra leafy texture while purple cabbage in the vases offered more color. As fun confetti, I used nuts in earthy tones and various shapes while placing the mint leaves for a delightful aroma. Candles (same ones from my Halloween decor. If you missed that post, here is the link!) brought out the feeling of warmth to the table. The water hyacinth fiber placemats, with its ring of delicate petal weaving, connoted blossoms surrounding the dinner plates.
The dinnerware was a wedding gift from my beloved Aunty, so the set is special to me, and the night was significant enough to finally put my fancy dinnerware to use. Although fancy was on the table, the need for something less formal was apparent in bringing out the earthy tones of fresh produce. To downplay the fancy effect, I mixed in plain white dinnerware with the formal ones. Silver flatware was appropriate for this party and worked in contrast to the gold plated finish on the plates.
Never hesitate to mix match and play with different colors, textures, and styles especially when you are hosting a party at home using products that are already in stock. It is all about bringing together every detail and utilizing your color palette wisely into a cohesive finish.
If you are renting and going all out, there are all sorts of amazing place setting options offered by party rental companies.
The Gilded Royale champagne flute from Pier1 flaunted a shimmering golden rim and complemented the Gold plated finish of the tableware - all of which produced the spirit of the holidays! A handwritten menu for our home-made dinner seemed more appropriate and added a more personal touch.
With much conversation around food, family, politics, and life, the night was one to remember and for which I am thankful. I hope you have enjoyed a hearty holiday doing what you love doing with people you care about! Thank you so much for visiting and Happy Thanksgiving!
The pictures below are few photos from our cell phones from one of the dinner nights.
Alternate Look: For a fancier setup and to compliment the gold plated finish, substitute silver flatware with golden ones, plain white plates with gold trimmed white plates, Crackle Purple Champagne Flutes to match purple in the cabbage, Gold Luster Rim Charger Plate boosting the gold around the table.


George Henn has never promoted himself as an artist, despite having created many fine tapestries proving that he is one.
Weaving has been a major creative outlet for him for some thirty years, and many of George's tapestries hang in the home he shares with wife Marjorie just outside Beaverlodge. While weaving always demands concise process, when designing a tapestry he enjoys applying a natural, simplistic Grandma Moses style, George says.
George's earliest exposure to weaving was in the American southwest where he saw Navajo people weaving. After a course he took in 1979 in Beaverlodge, he knew weaving was his line, and his interest in learning and mastering varied techniques in what he calls a demanding discipline only grew.
While his studio work space was under construction for most of 2011 with a move to a new house, the last thing George has been working on is a life motif, broken into scenes of seven to 10 year periods in his life.
Early on, most of his weaving was flat weaving, creating patterned tableware, towels, runners, and blankets. While weaving always demands concise process, designing a tapestry is where he enjoys applying a natural, simplistic Grandma Moses style, George said.
One of few tapestries he ever entered in a juried show, a transparency he created after taking a workshop on the technique, is a work he likes for the subtle interaction within it.
The tapestry, called A Prairie Moment, is an impression of a buffalo and coyote on a prairie plain.
"They were looking at each other with dubious intent. That is just the way it is on the prairies; that quite often, all you have is some rather not very defined statements," said George.
A tapestry George titled Where Hope Meets Help was a major piece, taking some 200 hours to complete, and the only work he has done for commission.
Done for the County of Grande Prairie, Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) centennial, it incorporates scenes of family and community life, woven through a Peace Country landscape.
"The emphasis I was putting on was the strong ties and support, in the early days between neighbours, friends, and families," said George.
A strong connection to Alberta's landscape has been the focus of most of his creative work, and a major influence in his art education was Euphemia McNaught.
The fine perception he developed is well applied in a work called Rock Lake completed around 2003 using various techniques of shading to recreate the light as the sun goes down.
The piece hangs in their home, but has been on display and garnered some recognition at an exhibit at the Beaverlodge Cultural Centre.
George's reluctance to promote his work hasn't stopped him from needing and enjoying the creative outlet it has provided for him over the years.
"When I am weaving, and get totally immersed in what I am doing; and you lose yourself in technique and the job at hand; that is criteria you apply more to artistry," said George. Marjorie, who has drawn since childhood, knows exactly what George means.
From joyful summers at her family's Halcourt area farm doing pen and ink, through a successful career as a commercial and fine artist, and later a teacher, Marjorie's need to do art has always been there.
"Art to me, if everything else fell away in my life, as long as I had a table to work on and something to draw with, I could survive. That's kind of the bottom line," Marjorie said.
Early drawings earned top awards in County Fair contests, and Marjorie knew in her teen years she wanted to make a living doing art. After high school she attended the Alberta School of Art in Calgary, completing a General Art Diploma in 1962 and a Commercial Art Major in 1963.
Staying at the top of her class for three years to maintain a scholarship, Marjorie became involved in the student union as social committee chair, and started down another path that has both diverted and supported her career since.
Her contribution as the social committee chair won her an award in her last year of college, and early in her marriage, while raising a child and freelance illustrating in Parksville, B.C., she spearheaded a wildly successful series of Theatre by the Sea performances that kept her very busy.
"I do see a common thread when I look back in life," Marjorie admits.
The business and organizational skills she developed, along with her tenacity to initiate and guide a project to success did help her make a living with her art though. When given advice to just 'go knock on doors until someone gives you a chance,' that's exactly what she did. From the first 30 calls she made, she got 17 jobs.
The work through those years gave her a strong background in perspective drawing and draftsmanship.
"There wasn't a thing that I didn't figure out how to illustrate in just pen and ink," Marjorie said.
It was also during those years that pushed by a friend, she entered her first juried show, the 1982 Juried Regional Show, in Port Alberni. B.C.. Marjorie wasn't expecting much, and hadn't even gone to the opening, but got an excited call from her friend when her entry, a brown ink drawing of a house she shared with roommates in Vancouver, was selected as a Most Popular Work.
A commissioned piece, a pen and ink drawing of a historical marine building in Vancouver, was an opportunity that helped her branch further into fine art. The piece was published on the cover of Heritage West Magazine, in Victoria, B.C., and has been recognized in juried shows, exhibited and sold in limited edition prints.
Returning to Beaverlodge in 1993, Marjorie turned a residence into a studio/gallery, delved heavily into watercolour work, and began teaching at the Centre for Creative Arts and Grande Prairie Regional College.
Teaching was new, but she quickly discovered she loved it, and like her other passions, immersed herself in study and practice to offer the best courses she could.
"It just enlarged my scope," said Marjorie who taught all levels of drawing and watercolour from 1994 to 2005.
Her return to the Peace Country also drew her back to landscapes and horizons that hold a special power for her.
"Landscape is the thing that draws me the most. We'd be out on a camping trip and I'd say – oh George you have to stop here. I would see something and it would just light a fire and I would have to stop and sketch it," Marjorie said.
While she never painted a tree, bay or island while living on the coast, driving through the mountains in Alberta before she moved back, she couldn't wait to paint that landscape.
"Who could ignore the blues; who could ignore the shifts of pink," Marjorie said.
"It has a wonderful effect, a daintiness, a fineness," Marjorie said.
Glazing took a long time to master, Marjorie said, but she has enjoyed the results.
"I do washes and washes, it builds up in layers. I think I perfected it here," Marjorie says, showing a piece called Saskatoon Mountain, a watercolour she did in 2003, and one of three signatures piece she submitted to become a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists.
Pressed for something unique to offer for a cultural centre fundraiser, a sudden idea to draw saskatoons took her watercolour work to a new level too.
"It was a piece that broke from my expected level of watercolour then. There has to be a highlight on every berry, a round reflective light – it makes them come alive," she said.
"I did them in all kinds of sizes and formats and sold every saskatoon I ever did." Encouraged by George, she expanded further into a set of cards of Saskatoon's, crab apples, crocuses and blue bells, and still sees more to explore.
"I did realistic drawings with the berries, but I saw them as an abstract design too. I nearly started off on that path…, but I didn't have time to do the experiment," Marjorie said.
People have often encouraged her to hold more art shows, Marjorie says, but as always, finding the time to complete a body of work for a solo show has been daunting.
The first time she held a show at Picture Perfect in Grande Prairie, she finished a painting for it just hours before the show opened.
After taking a sabbatical from teaching in 2005, art was to be her primary focus again, but community ties pulled her into a busy role establishing a historic society to restore the McNaught Homestead.
Marjorie has turned those responsibilities over to new volunteers, and with a new house she and George started building in 2010 finished, she is looking forward to more focus on her painting again, hopefully without any deadlines for a year or two.
"My dream is still to get in that studio, lose myself for hours on end and spend more time painting what I have been curious about but haven't taken time to go into more detail: to take one subject or composition and just explore it further," Marjorie said.


text:
AoM: Video Games
A branch of my blog series for video games.
Shenzhen I/O (PC) (2016)
Overview: You're an electronics engineer working for Shenzhen Longteng Electronics in Shenzhen, China. Your job is to create products using the company's circuits and programming language.
20190106 AM Hours:
I was thinking about playing some games for which I had not yet blogged, but had already tried. Instead, I decided to play a fresh new game: Shenzhen I/O.
In general, levels consist of producing the correct output from the input.
The game is more difficult than most other programming games* I've played thus far, but it's still fun. Part of the difficulty was having to refer to the manual; to be fair, the game suggests printing out a hard copy. In any case, I enjoy the challenge. Like the other programming games, I derive a lot of fun and entertainment from attempting to optimize the solutions.
With respect to optimizing solutions, I have three Steam friends who have also played the game, and their best scores show up in the game. These values are much more helpful than just looking at histograms, which won't always indicate the best possible score value. I like these individual benchmarks.**
Steam Game Time: 3.0 hours (total game time) | Game idled during two trips to the restroom.
*Roughly from hardest to easiest: TIS-100 (3.1 hours), Shenzhen I/O, SpaceChem (8.7 hours), Human Resource Machine (25.8 hours). Both TIS-100 and SpaceChem share the same developer, Zachtronics, as Shenzhen I/O.
**[20190108: Today I was browsing the discussion threads and found one where various players were sharing "Add Me on Steam" for this purpose. I added some of their profiles and posted my own (Jan 8).]
[20190108 Edit]
20190106 PM Hours/20190107 AM Hours:
Setup: Before playing today, I printed out the manual. To save some paper, I printed consecutive pages in a given section double-sided (loses efficiency when a section has an odd number of pages). Then, instead of dividers, I used sticky notes to separate the stack.
Receive e-mails from other members in the company.
Setup Tip: For the ultimate experience, play one level a day and coordinate with a friend to put the appropriate Supplemental Data sheet on your desk. In this case, you'll want to print out the Supplemental Data section single-sided.
Gameplay Log:
One subtlety I learned is that if an XBUS value is written, it must be read. [The reverse is true as well.]
After several hours into the game, I finish by winning some solitaire games (10, for a total of 11 wins).
Steam Game Time: 14.4 hours (total game time) / 11.4 hours (session game time)
20190107:
Today I hit a point of difficult coinciding with feeling overwhelmed and tired of the game. It's a challenging puzzler. I might be done with it for the time being.
I've read the game has about 30 puzzles in the main game. By the end of today, I had unlocked 18 puzzles and completed 13 of them.
I was using complicated code in this one level and I noticed I was repeatedly using a series of commands. I kept repeating these three sets of lines: `mov 100 R | slp 1 | mov 0 R` (where R is a register). Eventually, I realized I can make use of a recently introduced instruction (in-universe, it was surprisingly not in the manual: gen). With it, the aforementioned three lines becomes one line: `gen R 1 0` (which technically stands for `mov 100 R | slp 1 | mov 0 R | slp 0`.
A mini-game that unlocks after a couple of levels. A solitaire game inspired by FreeCell and Mahjong.
Steam Game Time: 18.2 hours (total game time) / 3.8 hours (session game time)
20190108 Part 1:
I'm back for a little more. Some of these levels are truly difficult and I cannot even complete some of them inefficiently.
In any case, one of the tasks is to create and upload a level. I decided to put some effort into this task and actually create a legitimate level (as opposed to just using the example level or creating a trivial level). In the end, I almost spent four hours creating one! Although I absolutely had fun making it (and I learned a little about a programming language called Lua, it was my first time being exposed to it). Here's the finished level: CHRISTMAS LIGHTS (Steam Workshop).
On a related note, I encountered a compile error while creating the level and I went to the Steam Discussions to look for answers. While there I noticed a thread where people were adding each other on Steam to compare scores. I thought it was a great idea and added a handful of people. I mostly added players that were, one, still active on Steam and, two, said they played other Zachtronics games or represented competence in programming (e.g., engineer, programmer).
Adding other players (see 20190108 Part 1) rejuvenated my desire to play some more!
20190109/20190110 AM Hours:
The first level.
I tried to play around with the PGA33X6, but I didn't quite understand it.
The PGA33X6 is in the manual, but in Chinese. I ran it through Google Translate, but only partially understood it's purpose.
I tried to play around with the PGA33X6 some more, but I didn't make much more progress.
In the end, I went to a Reddit post, read a Wikipedia article about Programmable logic arrays, and watched a YouTube video (possible spoilers starting at 9:30, Simple explanation of PGA33X6).
20190111 PM/20190112 AM Hours:
Today I spent almost 10 hours playing the game. However, I also spent some time with two of the puzzles offline. I randomly picked two of the specifications which I hadn't done yet and theory crafted their solutions.
I made it my goal to reach the near end of the game. That is, to avoid optimization.
Unfortunately, even my best attempt to avoid optimization required that I make the obvious optimizations (and sometimes while looking for obvious optimizations I essentially began optimizing and thus failed to avoid it. With that being said, the amount of time I spent optimizing was small compared to the amount of time I spent determining a solution.
In hindsight, this was a complicated solution. But oftentimes, it's easier to find a single solution and optimize it than to start off finding an optimal solution.
In any case, it's getting late and given the increasing puzzle difficulty, I decided to stop playing for the night (there are four levels left in the main campaign).
First, I was able to finally solve "Traffic Signal," the level I spent most of my time on yesterday.
"Meat-Based Printer" wasn't nearly as bad.
"Electronic Door Lock" was tricky because of reading and writing. At least initially. Once I got a solution, it was easy to simplify (over four iterations). The fourth iteration was half the cost (10 Yuan) of the second iteration (20 Yuan)!
"Deep Sea Sensor Grid" was similar in difficult to "Electronic Door Lock."
One thing that's interesting about this game is that each puzzle is so different and what makes a particular level difficult is also different. I think about the difficulty in solving the puzzle, but creating the puzzle must have also been difficult.
With that being said, I have to temporarily set this game aside.
Spoiler Blocking Headphones has been on my mind lately and so I try to give it another go. The main problem I'm having is trying to use too many components. What am I missing?
Someone commented on my custom level and I went into the game to try and answer their feedback. The user's comment made me realize my solution was not even close to optimal. I was eventually able to match his/her score.
Steam Game Time: 58.1 hours (total game time) / 2.5 hours (session game time)*
*Most of the time spent was idle. Now that I'm a father, this will inevitably happen more frequently.
Thoughts:
+ Having a manual to refer to is fun. Makes the game more real. (but see also cons)
+ Compare scores globally (histograms) and with friends (leaderboard) across three separate categories; optimizing can be addicting (Tip: don't get bogged down in optimizing early on, because parts and commands available latter in the game can often make optimization easier or even trivial)
+ Challenging for the niche player (I also list "Challenging" as a con. But if you find yourself unchallenged by the average puzzle game, then check out Shenzhen I/O and feel humbled).
+ Good learning curve for someone familiar with programming
~ Includes a minigame which is like a mix of solitaire and FreeCell. It's simple, but fun. Can be addicting, but I am not. The developer eventually made it available on it's own: SHENZHEN SOLITAIRE (Steam Store).
~ Niche audience.
After completing a level, you can see how your solution compares globally (all Steam players) and locally (Steam friends)
- Slow paced
- Challenging (for the average player)
- Steep learning curve (for someone who's unfamiliar with programming and puzzle games; medium for someone who is good with logical thinking, puzzles & instructions; perfect for someone with programming skills)
- A lot of reading (I'm not a reader; I dislike having to read so much just to play a level).
[20190107][20190110]
Comparison of Difficulty:
I felt as if this game was difficult, but how does it compare? I chose three puzzle games to compare to Shenzhen I/O: Eets Munchies, Human Resource Machine, and Hexcells. I used SteamDb and HowLongToBeat.com to gather some statistics.
SteamDB Rating (+/- Reviews)
Median Time Played (Steam)
Median Time to Complete Main (# Polled) | Completionist (# Polled)
%age of Players to Complete...
Shenzhen I/O 91.65% (1633/57) 3.2 hrs 28.6 hrs (2) | 78.0 hrs (1) 2.4% Solve Main / 0.5% Solved Bonus
Human Resource Machine 89.26% (2131/148) 2.0 hrs 4.4 hrs (32) | 7.0 hrs (33) 7.0% Completed All Levels
Eets Munchies 75.56% (474/119) 1.4 hrs 1.0 hrs (24) | 3.0 hrs (41) 3.0% Completed All Puzzles
Hexcells 92.43% (3419/128) 2.1 hrs 2.0 hrs (49) | 2.5 hrs (198) 46.6% Completed All Levels
Program the lights of a billboard.
So what can we say?
1) Three of the games are closely rated. Among them, Hexcells is clearly an easy game: short completion time and most players completing all the levels.
2) Human Resource Machine (HRM) has nearly three times the completion rate (of the main campaign) of Shenzhen I/O and the completion time is approximately four times faster (7 hours to complete all the levels in HRM compared to a rough 28 hour figure for Shenzhen I/O).
3) Inferring from the median hours played, the player dropoff for Shenzhen I/O is higher. At the 50th percentile, players have only put 3.2 hours into the game (which again is estimated to be 33 hours long game). Compared to HRM for which players at the 50th percentile put in 2 hours (out of an estimated 7 hour long game).
4) The Steam Achievements also reflect observation #3: 60.6% of all players have reached the third milestone in HRM (between a third to half of the game's levels).
5) Despite being a short game, Eets Munchies only has a 3.0% completion rate. This is probably due to the fact that players don't have as much playing it (lower rating).
Overall, Shenzhen I/O is objectively harder than the three other games I chose. However, that's neither good nor bad. It simply means a certain type of player will enjoy the game more. I'm almost certain that although the median time spent with Shenzhen I/O is comparable to the other games, a fanatic will find hours upon hours of fun with the game. Speaking from my own experience, I'm not actually interested in completing the game, but with getting the best scores on each level (and mostly through self-discovery).
Do you know of any fun, difficult games? Share them in the comments!
The design of this game is meant to give the player the feeling he/she is actually an electronics engineer who has been hired at a company in Shenzhen, China. There are emails, an emulated desktop, and even a reference manual (which I printed as recommended and adds to the theme of the game).
Your (simulated) desktop.
Unfortunately, work is hard, and most people don't like working. As such, the game immediately narrows its audience: players who either like working or playing games that feel like work. However, not everyone in that subset will enjoy learning the game's assembly language. However, it makes the game difficult to complete (see the above section on difficulty).
In the end, if you're drawn to the idea of the game, I would highly recommend it. But be warned, it can be a challenge, and the challenge can be addicting!
Shenzhen I/O (PC) (202016)
SHENZHEN I/O Webpage (Zachtronics Website)
Shenzhen I/O (Wikipedia.org)
Shenzhen I/O (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Shenzhen I/O (Steam Store Page)
Date/Time Sunday, January 6, 2019 @ 01:00
Labels difficult , indie , programming , puzzle , simulation
Shenzhen I/O (PC) (2016) Reviewed by Timothy Cao Tran on 01:00 Rating: 5
action ( 124 ) platformer ( 96 ) adventure ( 88 ) puzzle ( 80 ) casual ( 51 ) co-op ( 47 ) shooter ( 43 ) multiplayer ( 40 ) strategy ( 29 ) simulation ( 27 ) point and click ( 26 ) rpg ( 26 ) female protagonist ( 17 ) comedy ( 14 )
[verticalposts][Batman]
[verticalposts][romance]
[verticalposts][ninjas]
[verticalposts][action]
randomposts1
Remember Me (PC) (2013)
Deadlight (PC) (2012)
Counter-Strike: Source (2004)
X-Blades (PC) (2009)
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (PC) (2006)
Plants vs. Zombies (PC) (2009)
VVVVVV (PC) (2010)
Geometry Dash (PC) (2014)
Epistory - Typing Chronicles (PC) (2016)
Shock Troopers (PC) (2016)
Timothy Cao Tran
Obtained a PhD in mathematics from Johns Hopkins University, 2014.
Copyright © AoM: Video Games

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Mayor (2017) on Hulu | Trailer Nite - Find something to watch tonight.
Young rapper Courtney Rose needs his big break. For years he's toiled away in a small inner-city apartment, making music in his junk-filled bedroom closet.


text:
Hedda Gabler: Act 1
Hedda Gabler: Character Profiles
Hedda Gabler: Metaphor Analysis
Hedda Gabler: Theme Analysis
Hedda Gabler: Top Ten Quotes
Hedda Gabler: Biography: Henrik Ibsen
Hedda Gabler: Essay Q&A
Frequently hailed as "the father of modern drama," Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) could claim blood connections to several important Norwegian families; yet, at age 15, he left a troubled home to study pharmacy and to begin writing plays. He learned the craft of the theater, not just play-writing, at the Norwegian Theater in Bergen; and, after several years' employment there, he became the manager of the National Theater in Christiana (today, Oslo). Living with a wife and child in impoverished circumstances, Ibsen entered a self-imposed exile of over a quarter-century in Rome in 1864 (he would later settle in Munich). Thus, this most celebrated Norwegian playwright actually composed his most famous and enduring dramas outside of his native land. Although he also wrote poetry during his career (including a collection of verse published in 1871), it is his dramatic output for which he is justly remembered.
Ibsen's works, though varying in quality and audience reception, are recognized as theatrical landmarks, and are frequently performed, both as written by Ibsen and in adaptations to meet later historical contexts (for example, American playwright Arthur Miller's adaptation of An Enemy of the People [Ibsen, 1882; Miller, 1950], the playwright's powerful indictment of the idea that the majority always knows best—Miller's adaptation, understandably, resonates with the same theme of faith in the individual conscience that animated his own classic, The Crucible). Ibsen's best-known works include Peer Gynt (1867, equally renowned for the incidental music composed by Edvard Grieg); the iconoclastic critique of Victorian marital mores, A Doll's House (1879); Ghosts (1881), controversial at the time for its frank mention of veneral disease; The Wild Duck (1884); the present work, Hedda Gabler (1890); and The Master Builder (1892).
Ibsen returned to Norway in 1891, and died back in Christiana in 1906. It is said that after one of his nurses told a visitor that the playwright was feeling a little better, Ibsen said, "On the contrary," and passed away. "In the entire history of literature," argues critic Martha Fletcher Bellinger, "there are few figures like Ibsen. Practically his whole life and energies were devoted to the theater; and his offerings, medicinal and bitter, have changed the history of the stage" (http:www.theatredatabase.com/19th_century/henrik_ibsen_001.html).
Book traversal links for Hedda Gabler: Biography: Henrik Ibsen
‹ Hedda Gabler: Top Ten Quotes
Hedda Gabler: Essay Q&A ›


text:
Q: Just upgraded to Ubuntu 18.04 and can't use compiz grid window resize commands? I got used to splitting my application windows on monitor into 4 sides top-left, top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right with key combinations like Ctrl+Alt+Key3 and so on.
It no longer works with Ubuntu 18.04. Is there any alternative for that with Ubuntu 18.04?

A: Ubuntu 18.04 dropped support for the Unity desktop compositor in favour of GNOME Shell. GNOME Shell is incompatible with Compiz. You need to look for a method to replicate this behaviour using GNOME Shell and its extensions or install and use an unofficial, community-supported version of Unity.
P.S.: There's a follow-up question with a suggestion for a replacement GNOME Shell extension.

A: Here you can find the appropriate GNOME extension: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/39/put-windows/

A: Install gnome-session-flashback, or Mate DE, and then install compiz and all is as it should be.

A: Here's the instructions on how to install the Gnome Extension "Put Windows", which will give you the keyboard shortcuts you are looking for to replicate the window arrangements you want. You can snap windows to the top-right, top-left, bottom-right, bottom-left, top, bottom, left, right, or center. Repeated presses of the shrotcuts even can toggle different size arrangements of many of those.
Follow the instructions here:
How can I snap a window in a corner with 18.04?
UNFORTUNATELY, it seems this extension does not enable the drag-to-corner feature to make it snap to the corner. Rather, you are left only with Gnome's default drag window to the left to snap left, and drag window to the right to snap right. Dragging to the corners will NOT make them snap to the corner. You must use the keyboard shortcut for that. IF ANYONE FINDS A WORK-AROUND TO MAKE DRAG-AND-SNAP-TO-CORNER ACTIONS POSSIBLE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
Here's a screenshot of the Put Windows shortcut configuration page, copied from my answer I wrote at the link above.

A: Try GNOME flashback or unity desktop.
To install unity type on the terminal
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-unity-desktop

and press Enter.
If you want GNOME flashback, type on the terminal
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnome-session-flashback

and press Enter.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text: Everything related to mathlab


Many thanks to all those members who came along to our AGM last month.
26 attendees equalled the record of a few years back, and with a further 13 apologies most of our 135 members' families and friends were in some way represented. Ross our outgoing Chairman gave a very positive report on what we've achieved over the last year, where the club has concentrated on trying to bring the members closer together. All major spending projects have been completed and now was the time to concentrate on the people in the club, and planning how we can move forward into the next 20 years of the club's life.
The figures show that we are certainly not stagnating. Following another successful Playday (this years is on 20th June…) we continued to attract new players and our membership is near an all time high. Ross thanked all who helped organise the event and particularly Jon Moon who has been an excellent membership secretary. In addition Ross expressed a huge vote of thanks to Jon for producing an excellent web-site. Thanks were also expressed to Peter Hale who gives more than anyone to making sure that the club runs smoothly and gets things done without anybody even having to ask. Judy Venn has decided to retire from the committee and Ross reminded everyone that if was not for her and Lesley Lang who started the club, we would not be sitting here tonight.
Ross concluded by saying he had had three wonderful years as Chairman and thanked everyone for putting up with him, at which point there was chorus of 'Resign'!! He knew that Bernadette Hillman would be a great person to follow on and he wished her and the new committee every success. Finally, Ross chaired the vote on this year's Subscription charges, and the credit-crunching good news is that the rates remain unchanged, so please tell your friends how they and their families can still play tennis for as little as 63 pence each per week (example of family and two children; have more children and save even more!) or just 48 pence per week for a junior member!
The 2008 Club tournament cups were then awarded to Michael Tatham for the Men's Singles, Glenn Wigley and Nick Boys in the Men's Doubles, Jane Cross and Judy Venn for the Ladies Doubles, and to Jane Wigley and Darren Kerins in the Mixed Doubles. Further trophies were presented to Rosie Booth for Most Improved Player of the Year, Laura Bayliss for Most Improved Junior of the Year; John Jones won the White Horse Trophy for the Most Sporting Member of the Year, some fluky chap called Andy Cross won the Club Member of the Year (I think the 48 BBQ menu choices swung it), and Team of the Year went to the Mixed A team for finishing the season as runner's up out of eight teams in their league division 2.
Bernadette thanked Ross for leaving the club in such good shape, having during his tenure, seen the resurfacing of the courts, and ensuring that there were no major fund raising issues for the coming year. The theme of 2009 would be to "have fun". Bernadette would like to see more members getting involved and playing social tennis such as the ladders and Round Robins, which I can vouch for as being particularly entertaining – see opposite. Finally, Bernadette announced the appointment of Men's Doubles Champion Glenn Wigley as Club President for 2009.
Full details of the new committee can be found later in the newsletter. If anyone would like an electronic copy of the minutes from the AGM (a paper copy is available in the clubhouse) then please e-mail me on andy.cross@med.ge.com.
Put Saturday 11th July in your diaries for the most anticipated event of the Year. Unfortunately we can't tell you where it will be, as the new Chairman is moving house but doesn't know exactly where to yet. All sounds a bit dodgy to me. So make a note of the date, don't go on holiday then, and full details will follow asap!
Saturday 11th April Round Robin at the courts, call Bernadette to book in. Keep an eye on the newsletter for further dates.
Saturday 20th June: EBLTC Play Day. All welcome, member or not. BBQ etc. See Focus magazine soon for an expensive advert.
Saturday 11th July: Chairman's BBQ at a venue yet to be clarified, depends on the size of the solicitor's bung. Early booking required to avoid disappointment! All members welcome (juniors too of course if with an adult). Full details asap. Once we know where to find the Chairman.
More dates to come soon, including our Club Final's Day in September, more Round Robins, and another potential Quiz Night in October.
Don't forget our annual Play Tennis Day which we're holding as part of the National Lawn Tennis Association's 'Play Tennis' days. It's on Saturday 20th June at the courts from 12.00am to 3pm.
This is a free tennis taster session for both adults and children, members and non-members, so you can bring along as many friends and family as you can muster; we'll have spectacular offers available for any new members joining on the day!
Following some good feedback, our Tuesday evening social sessions will be extended as of 7th April, to run from 6pm to 9pm so that those who may work late still have the opportunity to come along. We hope more members will take advantage of these sessions as the weather improves. It's all included in your membership! And don't forget we also play on Sunday mornings from 10am….all are welcome.
Membership secretary John Moon has designed our first website! Take a look at www.ebltc.org.uk and you'll find everything you need to know about the club, including some good photos!
A big Thank You to all members and their friends who attended this evening arranged jointly with the Village Hall committee. Our share of the profits is over £700, which is a great start to our new year.
Yes it's soon time to renew your membership for the next 12 months, so remember that this year there's no rise in subscriptions. Just doing our bit to help with the credit crunch. So look out for the membership forms which will be delivered to your inbox very soon (or through your front door if you don't have e-mail, but then you wouldn't be reading this, so…oh well you know what I mean). We'd love to see everyone again for another year. More to the point we don't want to have to send the chairman round to help you decide, not after what happened last year. I think that particular non-renewer did remove his racquet eventually.
These are extremely satisfying results for a small village club in a league which includes big names such as Dunstable, Linslade and Luton & Vauxhall. It was great fun to play such competitive tennis during 2008 against some high quality but very friendly opposition – we always enjoyed a few sarnies with a nice cup of tea and some cake afterwards, no matter who won! Congratulations to everyone involved in the teams. Our focus this year will be to bring our younger players up to the same standards, and the coaching team will be working hard at this over the coming months.
Many thanks to everyone who's been participating with easyfundraising – we now have over a dozen participants who between them have raised over £100 for the club, simply by shopping online and at no cost to them. Think how much we could raise for the club if everyone joins in! So if you're someone who shops online but hasn't registered yet, then please do so by visiting: http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/eatonbraytennisclub. Then, when you're buying, remember to enter the shop via a link from the easyfundraising website (or bookmark that link in your favourites).
Please note that the club has been allocated 8 pairs of Wimbledon tickets. Under the rules of theBritish Tennis Membership Club (BTMC) only those members of EBLTC who are members of the BTMC are entitled to apply for Wimbledon tickets. Those members will shortly receive an e-mail from the club with a reminder to express their interest in these tickets on the membership form when it is circulated.


Count on a Dietitian for facts not fads!
What does a dietitian do? Why would you, or your child, need to see a dietitian? What happens during a consultation with a dietitian? Who can you truly rely upon for accurate, responsible and personalised dietary advice in modern times, when nutrition information and experts abound on every corner?
Relax! Keep calm, and trust a dietitian!
Dietitians are university trained health care professionals who are experts in specialised diets used to treat a range of nutrition related conditions. Dietitians are trained to translate complex scientific information about human physiology, biochemistry and nutrition into practical, realistic and relevant dietary advice for their clients. Dietitians are registered with a governing body (the Dietitian's Association of Australia) and are required to meet strict criteria for registration and professional development. They are the only nutrition related healthcare profession recognised as providers for Medicare and the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
What types of conditions do dietitians provide advice for?
In infancy, childhood and adolescence, dietitians commonly provide support and advice for conditions such as faltering growth, fussy and selective eating patterns, micronutrient deficiencies, constipation, food allergies, Type 1 Diabetes and weight management. During adulthood, dietitians commonly provide support and advice for conditions such as food intolerances, weight management, Type 2 Diabetes, cardiovascular health (including salt reduced and cholesterol lowering diets) and inflammatory bowel diseases (for example Crohn's disease).
Why choose to see a dietitian for nutrition advice?
These days, there are so many options to choose from when it comes to seeking out food and nutrition advice. One click on the internet will yield numerous results on everything from the latest fad diet for weight loss to the latest evidence on fat and carbohydrate intakes for optimal glycaemic control. It can be overwhelming, and knowing who to trust, and what advice to follow can be difficult. This is where a dietitian can help. Dietitians are uniquely placed within the healthcare and food and nutrition industries to sift through the information for you and sort out the facts from the fads. When taking nutrition advice, look for the 'Accredited Practising Dietitian' logo – this will ensure you are taking advice from a professional who has tertiary qualifications in food and nutrition, and whose practice is governed, accredited and reviewed by a professional body.
What does an appointment with a dietitian involve?
An initial consultation with a dietitian typically lasts for 45-60 minutes. The appointment generally begins with the dietitian taking a history regarding your reason for presentation. This may involve medical, diet and exercise history, as well as social patterns such as eating, shopping, work and leisure habits. A dietitian will then discuss your personal goals, and negotiate a plan to help you achieve your specific outcomes. This can be varied and wide ranging, but common examples may include tailoring your dietary intake to reduce salt and fat intake, or reduce energy intake to promote weight loss. The emphasis is always on developing a plan that is realistic and achievable for you. Dietary modifications are identified based on what has been scientifically proven to work – no fad diets here! This type of approach is more likely to be sustainable in the longer term, and to achieve results. Other things to expect during a consultation including having measurements taken, such as weight, height, waist circumference and body fat percentage. Upon conclusion of your appointment, the dietitian will usually provide you with written instructions to follow, and make a plan for a follow up appointment, commonly within 2-6 weeks.
Most dietitians accept referrals from clients directly. Simply contact the clinic to make an appointment. General practitioners, medical specialists and other health professionals (nurses, physios, Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Psychologists) may also refer or recommend a client to a dietitian. Again, it is generally the responsibility of the client to contact the clinic to make the appointment.
Do Medicare and private health fund rebates apply?
Yes. Please discuss private health fund rebates specifically with your provider as rebates vary depending on your level of cover.
To receive a rebate through Medicare, you MUST have a Chronic Disease Management Plan from your GP. This applies when you, or your child, has an ongoing nutrition related condition – common examples include faltering growth, diabetes, weight management, Coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease. A Chronic Disease Management Plan can be developed in conjunction with your GP and may allow you up to five visits to a Dietitian over a 12 month period. Medicare will refund the standard amount for a dietitian consultation (around $55), while you fund the gap. Check your dietitian's schedule of fees beforehand so that you are aware of out of pocket expenses.


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How INTERPOL supports Sweden to tackle international crime.
Fighting organized crime in Sweden
Sweden is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe, which shares borders with Norway, Finland and a strait water border with Denmark. This geographical location is attractive to international organized crime groups wishing to smuggle illicit produce into Europe or across Scandinavia.
An increasing part of serious and organized crime in Sweden relates to information technology. When it comes to smuggling offences, Sweden is mainly a destination and transit country. This applies to drugs, firearms, and the trafficking and smuggling of human beings.
The international characteristics of these crime areas and their links with crime networks around the world make the role of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) in Sweden fundamental to maintaining national and regional security.
INTERPOL in Sweden
NCB Stockholm is the leading police cooperation platform for Swedish law enforcement to identify, investigate and prevent global crime affecting Sweden. It works with NCBs in all continents to monitor the global crime situation and enable preventive action in Sweden when required.
Housed at the national police headquarters in Stockholm, the Swedish NCB is part of the International Section of the Division of International Affairs at the Department of National Operations.
Operational 24 hours a day, the International Section is staffed by 55 men and women. They help police officers across Sweden to detect and investigate the flow of illicit goods along trafficking routes in and around the country, by sharing globally-sourced intelligence about regional organized crime.
Law enforcement in Sweden
Law enforcement services in Sweden are provided by one single police organization, the Swedish Police Authority, which is part of the Ministry of Justice.
Sweden's Department of National Operations (NOA) is headed by a Commissioner who reports directly to the National Police Commissioner.
The NOA leads and coordinates Sweden's fight against organized crime both at national and international level. It is also responsible for coordinating police efforts during crisis situations and events of national concern.
Swedish Police Authority
Actualités associées
Illicit trade in reptiles: hundreds of seizures and arrests in global operation
Vente en ligne de produits pharmaceutiques illicites : 500 tonnes saisies lors d'une opération d'envergure mondiale
Wildlife crime: experts recommend an integrated global response
INTERPOL joins hunt for stolen Swedish royal regalia


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Dominica estuvo representado en los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio 2020 por dos deportistas, un hombres y una mujer, que compitieron en atletismo.

Referencias

Enlaces externos
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Dominica
V 2020
Años 2020 en Dominica

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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The Ring-and-Sling complex – Does it "Ring" true?
Manjusha Ray1, Pragati Sathe1, Pradeep Vaideeswar1, Supreet P Marathe2
1 Department of Pathology, Seth GS Medical College, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
2 Department of Cardiac Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Date of Decision 25-May-2020
Date of Acceptance 30-May-2020
Date of Web Publication 20-Oct-2021
Background: The "Ring-and-Sling" complex (RSC) comprises congenital tracheal stenosis and an abnormal origin/course of the left pulmonary artery. Based on clinical and imaging studies, the luminal narrowing is assumed to be as a result of rings cartilage (forming an "O"). Aims: This is a postmortem based study of tracheal histology in infants after an autopsy encounter of a case of RSC. Subject and Methods: RSC was identified in an infant at autopsy. The tracheal histomorphology revealed the presence of cartilaginous plates (instead of rings) and fibro-elastotic proliferation at the site of trachealis muscle. These changes prompted a study on variations in the histology of the trachea (with no known anomaly) in 35 autopsied neonates and infants. The transverse sections of the trachea were taken at one or more levels (Level 1 – at the level of the thyroid, Level 2 – midway between the thyroid and the carina, and Level 3 – just above the carina. Statistical Analysis: Epi-info software (v1.4.3, CD, US). Results: On histology, 83 sections showed the trachealis muscle on the posterior aspect. A single semicircular cartilage was identified in only 17 of the 83 sections studied (20.5%, 6 in level 1, 9 in level 2 and 2 in level 3). In the remaining 66 sections (79.5%), the cartilage was disposed as multiple plates, ranging in number from 2 to 10. No significant association was found between semicircular cartilage rings and age, sex, gestational age, and level of section (P < 0.05). However, 14 cases with sectioning at all three levels were taken into account; all levels showed more cartilaginous plates compared to single rings, which were more common at level 1 (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The "ring" in RSC and normal infantile tracheas show cartilage plates with intermittent semicircular cartilage rings. These findings may have surgical implications for tracheal anomalies and bode favorable surgical outcomes.
Keywords: Congenital anomalies, Histology, Ring-and-Sling complex,Trachea
Ray M, Sathe P, Vaideeswar P, Marathe SP. The Ring-and-Sling complex – Does it "Ring" true?. Indian J Pathol Microbiol 2021;64:683-6
Ray M, Sathe P, Vaideeswar P, Marathe SP. The Ring-and-Sling complex – Does it "Ring" true?. Indian J Pathol Microbiol [serial online] 2021 [cited 2023 Jan 31];64:683-6. Available from: https://www.ijpmonline.org/text.asp?2021/64/4/683/328556
The large airways of the respiratory tract are made up of the larynx, the trachea, and the two main bronchi, and congenital anomalies of these parts can be fatal to the newborn. When tracheo-esophageal fistulous connections are excluded, the prevalence of other congenital tracheal malformations ranges from 0.2 and 1 in 10,000 live births.[1] Often, these anomalies tend to involve the cartilaginous plates and are also associated with other thoracic and nonthoracic congenital abnormalities. The "Ring-and-Sling" complex (RSC) is one such association comprising congenital tracheal stenosis (CTS) and an abnormal origin/course of the left pulmonary artery.[2] The luminal narrowing is assumed to be as a result of complete continuous ring of cartilage (forming an "O") as the cases reported in literature are based on clinical and/or imaging studies. However, on histological analysis of a case of the RSC and a subsequent study conducted on normal tracheal segments, we found that the tracheal cartilages are usually not oriented as either an intact "O" or a "C."
Subject and Methods
A 2-month-old female infant was admitted in our tertiary-care center with a 4-day history of fever, productive cough, and increased respiratory activity. There had also been suck-rest-suck cycle and forehead sweating. Similar symptoms had been present during the neonatal period. On examination, the baby had tachycardia (heart rate of 164 beats/minute), tachypnea (66 breaths/minute), a systolic murmur and bilateral crepitations. The clinical impression was pneumonia with septicemia. Her total leukocyte count was 16,300/cmm with an elevated absolute neutrophil count of 10,600/cumm. Blood cultures detected no growth. She was diagnosed as ventricular septal defect (VSD) with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) on echocardiography. In view of impending respiratory failure (hypercapnia on arterial blood gas analysis), endotracheal intubation was attempted. Following its failure, tracheal narrowing was suspected. A tracheostomy was performed, and the child was mechanically ventilated with inotropic support. However, she developed worsening sepsis over the next 4 weeks and eventually succumbed.
A complete postmortem was performed. The heart and lungs [Figure 1]a and [Figure 1]b were preserved as a block and dissected. Apart from the subaortic perimembranous VSD and PDA, a left-sided superior vena cava and persistent foramen ovale were also identified. The aorta and pulmonary trunk (PT) had a normal relationship; the PT was larger than the aorta. In addition, left pulmonary artery (LPA) arose from the right pulmonary artery (RPA) at the right tracheal border and then turned leftwards to enter the left pulmonary hilum, coursing between the trachea and the esophagus – the sling (LPAS). The entire trachea was small in caliber and rigid, and the transverse section on gross examination revealed an "O" arrangement of the cartilage – the ring. However, on histopathology, samples from various levels of the trachea revealed a bronchial-like arrangement of the cartilaginous plates [Figure 2]a and [Figure 2]b with extensive fibroelastosis and increased submucosal glands, particularly in the region of the absent trachealis [Figure 2]c. No complete/intact rings were identified. The cause of death was related to bronchopneumonic consolidation.
Figure 1: (a) The trachea T is seen as a slender rigid tube; (b) The trachea T (reflected backwards) to show a retrotracheal course of the left pulmonary artery LPA. Left bronchus LB appears larger than the trachea (AA, ascending aorta; DTA, descending thoracic aorta; LAA, left atrial appendage; LCCA, left common carotid artery; LSA, left subclavian artery; LSVC, left superior vena cava; LV, left ventricle; PDA, patent ductus arteriosus; PT, Pulmonary trunk; RAA, right atrial appendage; RBCA, right brachiocephalic artery; RV, right ventricle)
Figure 2: Section from the left posterolateral region of the trachea showing (a) H and E x 250 and (b) Elastic van Gieson x 250 – small cartilaginous islands with exceedingly thick peri-chondrial connective tissue; (c) The posterior tracheal wall (region of trachealis muscle) is occupied by very prominent fibro-elastotic tissue with increase in submucosal mucous glands (Elastic van Gieson x 250)
These histopathological findings and paucity of literature on tracheal cartilages in normal as well as pathological states prompted us to conduct a study on variations in the histology of the trachea (with no known anomaly) in 35 consecutive autopsied neonates and infants. The heart-lung blocks were fixed in 10% buffered formal saline for a minimum of 24 h duration. Then, transverse sections of the trachea were taken at one or more levels (Level 1 – at the level of the thyroid, Level 2 – midway between the thyroid and the carina, and Level 3 – just above the carina. The tissues were processed and embedded in paraffin wax. Sections were cut at a thickness of 3–5 μm on a rotary microtome, stained with Harris' haematoxylin and eosin (H and E) stain and subjected to light microscopic examination for histological analysis. An excel sheet was prepared for the data collected. Statistical analysis was done on epi-info software (v1.4.3, CD, US). Descriptive analysis was done by calculating mean 2 percentages. Associations were tested using Chi-square test.
A total of 83 sections of the trachea (15 from level 1 and 34 each from levels 2 and 3) were evaluated from 35 deceased children (18 neonates, 17 infants with a male-to-female ratio of 1.06:1). Tracheal samples for histology were taken from all the 3 levels in 14 patients, from levels 2/3 in 19 patients, level 1/3 in one case, and level 2 in one other case.
On histology, all of the sections showed the trachealis muscle on the posterior aspect. A single semicircular cartilage was identified in only 17 of the 83 sections studied (20.5%, 6 in level 1, 9 in level 2, and 2 in level 3). In the remaining 66 sections (79.5%), the cartilage was disposed as multiple plates [Figure 3]a, ranging in number from 2 to 10 and was separated by mesenchymal tissue with or without mucinous glands. The maximum number was present at level 3. The plates were located on the anterior and lateral aspects, but some smaller cartilaginous islands were also observed behind the trachealis muscle [Figure 3]b in few sections. At various levels, there was some overlap between the plates (possibly their position at rest and during expiration), while few showed cartilaginous differentiation of intervening mesenchyme [Figure 3]c in-between the plates. No significant association was found between semicircular cartilage rings and age, sex, gestational age, and level of section (P < 0.05). However, when 14 cases with sectioning at all three levels were taken into account; all levels showed more cartilaginous plates compared to single rings, which were more common at level 1 (P > 0.05).
Figure 3: Normal tracheal sections showing (a) Multiple and (b) Overlapping, cartilaginous plates; (c) Cellular mesenchymal tissue (arrows) identified between cartilage (H and E x 250)
The trachea is normally made up of up to 16 to 22 rings of cartilage that are connected to each other by the annular ligaments and attached dorsally to the trachealis muscle. The trachea develops from the laryngo-tracheal tube around the fourth week of life (embryo size 0.4 cm). The mesenchymal rudiments of the tracheal cartilages are seen by the eighth week (embryo size of 2.8–3.0 cm) with cranio-caudal extension over the next 2 weeks. Simultaneously, the mesenchyme between the cartilages give rise to fibroelastic tissue of the tracheal wall, and posteriorly, the trachealis muscle develops between the ends of the embryonic rings. All of the major microscopic features of the trachea are visible by the end of week 20.[3] In majority of the cases, abnormalities in this development give rise to either tracheomalacia or CTS.[1]
Ours is a case of RSC, identified at autopsy, in an infant with recurrent lower respiratory tract infections. The ring component refers to CTS produced by replacement of the usual horseshoe-shaped cartilage and the posterior membranous portion of the trachea by complete circular cartilaginous rings. This is a rare anomaly with an estimated incidence of 1 in 64500 births;[4] the actual incidence may not be known as in some instances, there might be early fatality. Dysregulation of smooth muscle orientation and degree of chondromatous differentiation are the pathogenetic mechanisms proposed to explain the stenosis.[5],[6] Since there are multitude of variations in the morphology and hence their consequent prognosis, the Great Ormond Street Hospital classification[7] is often used. It is based on the pattern of tracheobronchial arborisation, involvement of the trachea and/or bronchi, length of stenosis, and presence of lung agenesis. In the reported case, the branching of the trachea-bronchial tree and the caliber of the main bronchi were normal, but the entire trachea was uniformly narrowed – long segment stenosis.
On histology, the stenotic segment predictably showed absence of the trachealis muscle, but the cartilaginous plates were multiple, arranged in an "O"-shaped manner. Similarly, in the tracheal segments studied in 35 neonates and infants, we again found multiple plates arranged in a "C"-shaped fashion in 79.7% of the 83 tracheal sections studied. A thorough literature search revealed that there is a dearth of studies conducted on human tracheas in normal or diseased states. A quantitative study of the trachea conducted in 452 children described the age-related changes in the shape and length but had not focused on the cartilaginous disposition.[8] Though resections are often performed for congenital stenosis,[9] histopathogical aspects are hardly mentioned. In two case reports with CTS, Özer et al.[10] and Jabari et al.[11] have reported complete cartilaginous ring and multiple plates forming an almost complete ring (like our case) in a neonate and a child, respectively. The evidence of plates, normal semicircular rings, and abnormal circular rings at different levels of the trachea indicates that chondrogenesis and chondromatous maturation, modelling and remodelling occurs post birth, into infancy and may be well into adulthood. Hence, it is possible that complete rings may be present in adolescents or adults,[12] who have a late presentation or delayed diagnosis.
It is to be noted that the CTS is associated with cardiovascular and extra-cardiac malformations to the extent of 69% of the patients.[1] Among them, LPAS (the second component of the index case) is the most common association (48–57%), where the LPA originates from the posterior aspect of the RPA, passes between the trachea and esophagus before its entry into the left lung, thereby forming a sling around the airway. Another noteworthy fact is that the sling can occur independent of the ring with a prevalence of 59 per 1000000 children.[13] Characteristically, 70% of the patients with LPAS have a long segment tracheal narrowing, explained by synchronous airway and vascular maldevelopment.[14] Additionally, LPAS may also have other cardiac defects in 30% of the patients.[15] In our case, the entire trachea was narrowed and the heart showed the presence of intracardiac and extra-cardiac left-to-right shunts.
The clinical presentation of the RSC depends on the severity of stenosis. The symptoms can begin by the first year of life with features of airway obstruction such as noisy breathing and dyspnea, and later with recurrent respiratory tract infections and difficult intubations.[3] It is essential that the combination is identified early by appropriate preoperative imaging techniques because the tracheal stenosis and the anomalous artery are repaired simultaneously.[16]
The "ring" in RSC is composed of a variable number of cartilage plates arranged in an "O" configuration, rather than a complete ring. Likewise, normal infantile tracheas also show cartilage plates with intermittent semicircular cartilage rings. These finding provide a clearer understanding of the true microscopic arrangement of tracheal cartilages and could possibly provide better surgical options for tracheal anomalies that bode favorable outcomes. A detailed study of the human adult tracheal histology is also warranted.
The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent forms. In the form the patient(s) has/have given his/her/their consent for his/her/their images and other clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patients understand that their names and initials will not be published and due efforts will be made to conceal their identity, but anonymity cannot be guaranteed.
Varela P, Torre M, Schweiger C, Nakamura H. Congenital tracheal malformations. Pediatr Surg Int 2018;34:701-13.
Berdon WE, Baker DH, Wung JT, Chrispin A, Kozlowski K, de Silva M, et al. Complete cartilage ring-ring tracheal stenosis associated with anomalous left pulmonary artery: The ring-sling complex. Radiology 1984;152:57-64.
Pansky B. Development of the lower respiratory system: Larynx and trachea. In: Pansky B, editor. Review of Medical Embryology. 1st ed. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co. Inc; 1982. p. 58.
Landry AM, Rutter MJ. Airway anomalies. Clin Perinatol 2018;45:597-607.
Kumra H, Dinesh NEH, Reinhardt DP. Lessons from tracheal tube development for understanding congenital tracheal malformations. Eur Respir J 2019;53:1900127.
Sinner DI, Carey B, Zgherea D, Kaufman KM, Leesman L, Wood RE, et al. Complete tracheal ring deformity: A translational genomics approach to pathogenesis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2019;200;1267-81.
Speggiorin S, Torre M, Roebuck DJ, McLaren CA, Elliott MJ. A new morphologic classification of congenital tracheobronchial stenosis. Ann Thorac Surg 2012;93:958-61.
Wailoo MP, Emery JL. Normal growth and development of the trachea. Thorax 1982;37:584-7.
Backer CL, Holinger LD. A history of pediatric tracheal surgery. World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg 2010;1:344-63.
Özer EA, Cumurcu S, Bayol Ü, Özdemir SA, Ilhan Ö, Sütçüoğlu S. Congenital complete tracheal ring in a neonate: A case report. Turk Patoloji Derg 2017;33:259-61.
Jabari S, Hartmann A, Cesnjevar R. Congenital tracheal stenosis associated with left pulmonary artery sling accompanied by tracheal diverticula: A case report. J Pediatr Surg Case Rep 2016;16;28-31.
Sahoo DH, Karnal D, Gildea TR, Mehta AC. Complete tracheal ring. Respiration 2009;77:96.
Yu JM, Liao CP, Ge S, Weng ZC, Hsiung MC, Chang JK, et al. The prevalence and clinical impact of pulmonary artery sling on school-aged children: A large scale screening study. Pediatr Pulmonol 2008;43:656-61.
Fukushima N, Shimojima N, Ishitate M, Miyakawa T, Hirobe S, Miura M. Clinical and structural aspects of tracheal stenosis and a novel embryological hypothesis of left pulmonary artery sling. Pediatr Pulmonol 2020;55:747-53.
Hirsig LE, Sharma PG, Verma N, Rajderkar DA. Congenital pulmonary artery anomalies: A review and approach to classification. J Clin Imaging Sci 2018;8:29.
Vinh VH, Khanh HQ, Quang NVD. Surgical reconstruction for congenital tracheal malformation and pulmonary artery sling. J Cardiothorac Surg 2019;14:49.
Pradeep Vaideeswar
Department of Pathology (Cardiovascular and Thoracic Division), Seth GS Medical College, Parel, Mumbai - 400 012, Maharashtra
DOI: 10.4103/IJPM.IJPM_363_20
Ray M
Sathe P
Vaideeswar P
Marathe SP
Ring-and-Sling complex
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