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Second Amendment Foundation Defends Woman�s Right Of Self-Defense At United Nations
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft
Website: http://www.TheTruthAboutGuns.com
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"The Second Amendment Foundation today reminded the United Nations that 'if women have the right to be protected against violence, then they have the right to protect themselves against violence.'"
"So spoke SAF�s Director of Operations Julianne Versnel, whose remarks to the U.N. Programme of Action conference were unlike anything many delegates had ever heard before. The conference is seen as the first step toward rekindling discussions about an on-going process to continue development of a small arms and light weapons treaty, which earlier this summer collapsed when several nations opposed it." ...
Attorney�s analysis of Project Gunrunner report shows admission of gunwalking
"While Justice Department and ATF officials (reportedly including key players from the Phoenix Field Division at the time Operation Fast and Furious was being implemented) pore over the Office of Inspector General draft report during the required review and comment period, Arizona attorney, author, civil rights activist and blogger David T. Hardy, reminded his readers yesterday of an earlier report that, in his words, 'spells out 'gunwalking.'" ...
Note to Gun Control Advocates: Safety is Not a Right
"As a gun blogger I�ve got a pretty good idea of what arguments gun control advocates are using to further their disarmament agenda. Here�s one zooming to the top of the hit parade: 'The nation has turned into the Wild West,' northjersey.com's editorial board editorializes, inaccurately. 'It must stop,' they insist, unrealistically. 'Holding up the shield of the Second Amendment does not cut it. Yes, Americans have the right to keep and bear arms. And children have the right to attend school without worrying they�ll get killed. Pedestrians have the right to walk down a street without fearing for their lives. Moviegoers have the right to sit with strangers for two hours without thinking they�ll be mowed down.' Close but no cigar . . ." ...
NSSF: The Truth About Uncle Sam�s Ammo Purchases
"Here�s the inside dope on recent rumors suggesting that the U.S. government is stocking-up on ammo to prepare for civil insurrection, via Larry Keane, Senior Vice President of the National Shooting Sports Foundation:"
"'Rumors about the federal government purchasing large quantities of ammunition, possibly for use against the American populace in case of civil unrest, have made their inevitable journey from postings and blogs on various Internet sites two weeks ago to phone calls to conservative talk radio programs more recently. Because rumors are usually based on a kernel of truth that is misconstrued, exaggerated and then propagated, let�s be very clear: There is nothing out of the ordinary going on . . ." ...
GLOCK Comments on Maxsell Trade Dress Lawsuit
"A week or so back, we told you about the legal wrangle surrounding the maker of the Zoraki M197 blank firing pistol. Mr. Confino�s being sued by GLOCK for allegedly infringing on their world famous handgun design, and Maxsell Corporation�s subsequent plea to the internet. I just received an official comment from GLOCK HQ on the situation. It looks like this may be an issue of a defendant playing to the crowd for sympathy . . ." ...
Reflections on the NYPD Shooting
"When a loser snapped and used a .45 to kill a former employer he�d been accused of stalking, and then died in a shootout with NYPD officers in front of the Empire State Building, the media soon piled the BS almost as high as the iconic building before which the incident took place. When it looked as if one man had shot nine or ten people, the mainstream media was ready with another anti-gun blitz � and with their embarrassment almost visible, backed off when it discovered the killer had shot a single victim, and the other victims had all sustained non-life-threatening wounds from fragments of police bullets." ...
Another country heard from (again). The Government Monopoly of Violence advocates of CSGV (Collectivists Supporting Government Violence) call us traitors and urge their followers to "smoke out the insurrectionists."
"We are indebted to Robert Farago for the pointing out this tweet from the 'Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.'"
"'Smoke out the insurrectionists who dominate the pro-gun movement. And call them what they are: Traitors who r preparing 4 war w/ our gov't.'"
"Of course, I figure prominently in the CSGV list of 'insurrectionists' and 'traitors.'"
"They really do believe, and have enunciated their beliefs many times, that the federal government should retain a monopoly of violence , thus contradicting the Founders' original intent of the Second Amendment." ...
H/t to David Codrea who asks: Why would you have to smoke out people who aren't hiding?
Mayor Bloomberg and �Gun Violence�
"When a reporter asked New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg whether the police had acted appropriately by shooting an armed murder suspect, he angrily replied, 'Let me ask you this Miss, if somebody pointed a gun at you and you had a gun in your pocket, what would you do? I think that answers the question.' Bloomberg makes (indirectly) an important point. The phrase 'gun violence' gets tossed around quite a bit, but there�s a problem�the expression blurs the distinction between the use of a gun for self-defense and the use of a gun to commit a crime, such as theft, rape, and murder." ...
Lethal Combination: Winchester, Women & Guns
"When there�s gunpowder in the air because hundreds of rounds have rocketed downrange, and when the sun is beating down on you and your black gun and your instructor is commanding you to push those shots faster and faster, it gets intense. Some people might cringe. Some might be driven to compete more against others on the line. Some might quit because now the instructor is yelling. Eight of us stood our ground, wiped the sweat off our brows and crouched again to deliver center of mass shots to our paper targets. It was us against them � the imaginary bad guys, miscreants, in front of us and made of paper and wood."
"... We were the first group of women to be invited to Winchester Ammunition�s 'Ladies Only' Personal Defense Media Event." ...
Gun control reignited
"In writing this column, it is not my intention to resolve the debate of whether firearms help to reduce or increase the amount of violent crime ... Instead, it is a humble attempt to refocus the debate of Civilian Gun Ownership (CGO) back into perspective."
"An argument persists that the Second Amendment allows for the possession of firearms � not by the private citizen, but by the states in order to maintain a state militia. However, historical documents do not support this position. It is incontestable that the Bill of Rights was demanded by state delegates during the ratification of the Constitution in order to preserve individual rights. ..." ...
New from Blackhawk: GripBrake (Time to Ditch the SERPA?)
"Apparently TTAG wasn�t cool enough to get an invite to Blackhawk�s opening ceremonies for their new factory in Montana. Oh well � we were too busy being awesome doing what we�re doing anyway. But at that event, Blackhawk apparently demo�d a new holster � their GripBrake line � they�re planning on releasing in the coming months that doesn�t use the traditional SERPA trigger finger retention system. Shooting Illustrated has the scoop . . ." ...
Self-Defense Tip: Practice Everything
"Gun gurus tell their students to dry fire practice at home. They reckon it�s more important than range time. True! Once you�ve learned how to hit a target from a static position, presentation, mobility and strategy become vastly more important than grip, stance or trigger control (assuming you�ve got those wired). But dry fire practice isn�t about marksmanship or accuracy per se. Done right it�s a logical extension of the old adage 'train as you mean to fight.' In other words, dry fire means practicing what you�d do in a defensive gun use (DGU). And one of the things you MUST do is call the police . . ." ...
Gun Review: Smith & Wesson 37 Airweight
"I have always been a Smith & Wesson fan, especially for their handguns � from the tiniest J-frame pistols to Dirty Harry�s Model 29, Smith & Wesson delivers, and delivers well."
"The pistol in question for today�s review is the Airweight .38, Model 37. If you are familiar with this particular firearm, then you know how many other models are similar, if not almost identical, to the Model 37. I happened to get my hands on one of these cool little revolvers." ...
Advanced Concealed Carry Tactics Course
"A few years ago we took the Conceal Carry for Self Defense class presented by John Murphy of FPF Training. That two day class focused on basic pistol handling skills and the self defense mindset. This past weekend we attended the follow up to the CCSD class, Advanced Concealed Carry Tactics. This two day course is designed to reinforce the defensive mindset and to develop more advanced pistol handling skills." ...
8 Ways To Spot Someone Carrying A Concealed Gun
"It�s not particularly hard to spot someone carrying a concealed carry gun � even if you can�t see it directly. While out and about on my daily life routine, I like to see if I can spot people who are carrying concealed. ..."
"The concealed carrier spotting exercise does help to keep me on my toes and alleviate some of the boredom while daughter is checking out the latest Lily Pulitzer flip flops at the mall. It�s also a helpful exercise to keep your powers of observation tuned up � and to learn from others mistakes. If you spot someone carrying, you can adapt your strategies to avoid that problem with your own personal routine. Or you can walk up to them and say 'nice gun!' Actually, on second thought, don�t do that either." ...
Gun Review: Rossi Circuit Judge Tactical (video available)
"Finally. A gun just for me."
"Taurus�s southern cousin, Rossi, has built a radical new design. They�ve taken the immensely popular .410/.45 Judge platform and built it out. With an 18.5-inch barrel, and a short, tactical, pistol-grip stock, the revolver turns into a tactical powerhouse." ...
Should You Carry Your Gun with a Round in the Chamber? (videos available)
"It�s hard to get two gun owners to see eye-to-eye about firearms. People can�t even agree on the same model, let alone open carry versus concealed carry. Add handgun conditions into the mix, and you have a debate that will rage on until the cows come home."
"For those of you who aren�t familiar with handgun conditions, these are five possible options. The conditions were popularized by gun guru Jeff Cooper, who also to be the guy who brought the world the Modern Technique for pistols." ...
The Last Stop On The Right�s Crazy Train
... "The right's incoherent hatred of its caricature of government mixes uneasily with its worship of weapons that have virtually nothing to do with hunting or helping protect families from intruders. Their unfounded attacks on America's foundations are as offensive as their stockpile of weapons appears to be offensive. We used to call such efforts sedition � but now they are simply an audition for some GOP and Tea Party candidates."
"For example, a Lubbock County Judge, Tom Head, appeared on a local television show to offer a violent conspiracy theory that involved potentially assassinating President Barack Obama if he is re-elected." ...
Would a gun on the planes have made a difference on 9/11?
Submitted by: rick schwartz
Website: http://hub.me/aWCf
"With the upcoming anniversary of these horrific acts it might be a good idea to reconsider what we gun owners often say about how it otherwise would have happened if a gun owner was on the planes."
"I don't think that armed citizens aboard the planes would have had any positive effect on the events of 9/11, with the exception of Flight 91. And even there they would not have made a great difference." ...
Beware the Old Fast White Guy. That Is All. (video story)
MT: Montana rancher shoots black bear that broke into home
"A Montana rancher shot and killed a black bear that scaled a tall fence and broke into his house to rummage for food this week along the Rocky Mountain Front."
"Lane Yeager discovered damage when he returned to his home near Choteau on Monday evening. The young male bear had broken through a screen and entered an open window, wrecked a lazy Susan and tore off a door to get to food in the trash and in the pantry."
"'It was dark out. I was headed for the light switch when it ran across ahead of me,' Yeager told the Great Falls Tribune. 'That's when I knew I had an issue.'" ...
"Yeager dispatched it with a rifle."
"'I killed it so someone else wouldn't have to,' Yeager said. ..." ...
H/t to Guns Save Life.
TX: Texas Smoke Shop Owner Shoots At, Fights Off, Two Armed Robbers While His Wife Watches (video available)
"The owner of a smoke shop in Harris County, Texas was facing two armed robbers last night. Fortunately the shop owner was also armed. The owner drew his own gun and began firing at the pair. The owner was shot once in the leg by one of the would be robbers."
"Two customers and the owner�s wife were in the store during the incident. They were uninjured." ...
TX: DGUotD II: Concealed Carry Texan Stops Stabbing at San Antonio School
... "So there�s the situation. A man is stabbing his wife to death in the parking lot of a school. MANY bystanders are watching, but too scared to intervene because of the knife � a weapon like that in close quarters is deadly. No one wants to get close enough to do anything for fear of being stabbed themselves. But thankfully, someone had a weapon with a little more range and was able to put an immediate stop to the situation."
"Police say a bystander who happened to be a concealed handgun license holder pulled his weapon and ordered Barron to drop the knife. Barron surrendered and was taken into custody by the bystander and a school district officer." ...
CA: Armed mother saves 2 year-old from kidnapper
Submitted by: John Pierce
Website: http://www.monachuslex.com
"Yesterday morning a Fresno California woman came face-to-face with every mother�s worst nightmare. Just after 8:30 in the morning, a man wearing a ski-mask invaded her home ... But the horror doesn�t end there. The man was there with a goal. He wanted her 2 year-old daughter."
"This story is eerily similar to a 2003 kidnapping in San Jose California which I wrote about at the time. In both cases, the mothers fought fiercely but were ultimately beaten by the kidnapper. In both cases, the kidnapper grabbed the child despite the mother�s best efforts. But that is where the similarities end." ...
"Yesterday in Fresno however, the mother had a gun handy, and that gun made all the difference in the world for that family. ..." ...
CA: Brianne Rodriquez, Lioness with a Shotgun (video available)
"It only takes seconds to lose everything you love. Justified lethal force is serious business, and the decision to point a gun at another human is one you can�t take back. I don�t think I�m alone here in preaching that if that line is to be crossed, it must be done with all the violence, force, and terror you can muster. This isn�t a game and no one�s going to cry uncle, especially when they come to steal your child. Brianne Rodriguez of Fresno County, California had little warning, just a guy at the door. Moments later, she was fighting for her child�s life . . ." ...
ATF Can Take Your Stuff
"forfeiturereform.com reports that 'Attorney General Eric Holder has granted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) authority, for a one-year trial period, to seize and administratively forfeit property allegedly involved in controlled substance offenses.' Oh great. The federal Agency that instigated and condoned the illegal sale of firearms to Mexican drug thugs�at least one of which was used by a 'rip crew' to murder U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry�can now confiscate property from citizens allegedly involved in drug offenses. Hey isn�t that a DEA gig? Glad you asked . . ." ...
Republican platform 'strongest ever' on Second Amendment
"When delegates to the Republican National Convention adopted their party platform for 2012 yesterday, it included what Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Bellevue-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, called the 'strongest pro-gun-rights platform I�ve ever seen.'"
"Examiner dug up the 2008 GOP plank on Second Amendment issues and compared it with the new version, and the improvements are striking. Here is the 2008 version:" ...
NRA goes after Democrats in contested Senate races
Submitted by: GunPoliticsNY
Website: http://www.gunpoliticsny.com
"Until recently, the National Rifle Association�s primary involvement in the 2012 election has been limited to renting booths at state fairs and circulating flyers and bumper stickers, plus the occasional low-budget TV or radio buy."
"But thanks to the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, the powerful gun rights group has stepped up its game. A $420,000 ad buy last week followed by a $358,000 buy reported Tuesday shows the NRA is ready to invest in more than just convincing fair- and rodeo-goers to vote against President Barack Obama." ...
NY: Coalition forms in support of stronger gun laws
"Senator Michael Gianaris, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence were recently joined by law enforcement officials and labor advocacy groups as well as members of the State Legislature to announce the support of a growing coalition for a package of sensible gun legislation. As momentum builds, the coalition is pushing for these measures to be adopted. Their passage would make New York State the nation�s toughest on guns and would set an example for states across the country to establish stronger, more responsible gun measures." ...
Romney Secret Service Agent Leaves Gun in Airplane Toilet
"'A gun belonging to a member of Mitt Romney�s U.S. Secret Service detail was found unattended in the bathroom of the candidate�s charter plane Wednesday afternoon,' CBS reports. 'The weapon, presumably left behind in the bathroom by accident, was discovered by a CBS News/National Journal reporter, who alerted a flight attendant about the gun. A member of the Secret Service on board the plane was informed and retrieved the gun.' ..."
AL: Montgomery police officer accused of stealing confiscated cash
"A Montgomery police officer is accused of stealing funds confiscated in a narcotics arrest, according to the release from the Police Department."
"A statement from the Montgomery Police Department says they launched an investigation after realizing cash seized in a narcotics case last year had not been returned as ordered by a judge." ...
CO: Former Boulder County deputy guilty of Internet sexual exploitation of a child
"A former Boulder County deputy pleaded guilty to felony Internet sexual exploitation of a child Tuesday morning, sparing himself a scheduled December trial on multiple felonies."
"Under the deal with prosecutors, Rick Jon Ferguson will be sentenced to probation on the exploitation count and will only risk prison time if he later violates the terms of that probation or if a judge decides that prison is appropriate ..."
"He pleaded guilty to felony sexual exploitation of a child, felony obscenity, and official misconduct ... Seven other counts were dismissed."
"Ferguson was accused of using his Boulder County Sheriff's Office-issued computer to carry on sexually explicit online chats with girls as young as 11." ...
PA: Former Hatboro cop pleads guilty to theft charges
"A former Hatboro detective has pleaded guilty to charges he convinced informants to buy him drugs under the guise of an 'undercover drug investigation.'"
"John Becker, 43, of Saw Buck Circle, Horsham, a former detective sergeant in Hatboro, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court Tuesday to charges of theft by unlawful taking or disposition, possession of a controlled substance and official oppression in connection with incidents that occurred between December 2009 and January 2011."
"Judge Garrett D. Page deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigative report about Becker. The judge will use that report to assist him in sentencing Becker later this year." ...
MI: Twice-fired Rockwood police officer faces charges of criminal sexual conduct with prisoner
"What allegedly happened, the Wayne County Prosecutor is not yet revealing."
"One thing is known: Rockwood Police Officer Christian Zieminski, 33, of Rockwood has been charged with sex crimes against a prisoner."
"'It is alleged that Zieminski engaged in inappropriate sexual contact using force or coercion with a female prisoner who was in his custody at the time,' Wayne County Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Maria Miller said in a release issued Tuesday. ..."
"This is the second time that sexual improprieties while employed as a police officer have led to Zieminski's firing." ...
CA: LAPD officers slam cuffed woman to ground (video available)
"Two Los Angeles Police Department officers are under investigation stemming from a use of force incident caught on tape showing a woman being slammed to the ground twice, once while in handcuffs."
"Michelle Jordan, 34, of Sunland was pulled over last Tuesday ... for a cellphone violation. She drove into a Del Taco restaurant parking lot, where the incident was recorded on surveillance video."
"The married mother, who works as a registered nurse, got out of her car. Moments later, the video shows her being slammed to the pavement and handcuffed. The officers picked her up, put her against the patrol car and patted her down. Nearly two minutes later, the two officers pushed her down to the ground a second time. ..." ...
CA: Fresno police officer arrested on rape charge
"A Fresno police officer was arrested Tuesday afternoon on suspicion of rape, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office said."
"William Wyatt, 34, was arrested after a months-long investigation into allegations that he raped a former Reedley police officer when she was incapacitated." ...
OH: Cincinnati police chief advises staff of legality regarding open carry of a firearm in Ohio
"In the July 3, 2012 Cincinnati Police Department Staff Notes, CPD Chief James E. Craig took the opportunity to inform his department on the law regarding open carry of a firearm in Ohio." ...
PA: Trooper based at Hamburg station waives hearing in DUI case
Submitted by: jac
"A Hamburg-based state trooper has waived his preliminary hearing on charges he was driving drunk while on patrol July 12 in Tilden Township."
"Trooper Kevin D. Wackley, 47, of Tamaqua remained free to await further court action following his appearance Friday before District Judge Kim Bagenstose in Hamburg."
"Wackley, a 19-year-veteran, has been suspended without pay pending outcome of the criminal case, officials said Wednesday." ...
MI: Ex-cop fired for sex with student now accused in inmate sex assault
Submitted by: Anonymous
"A former Rockwood police officer was arraigned Tuesday on sexual assault charges involving a prisoner."
"Christian Zieminski, 33, of Rockwood faces counts of second- and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and misconduct in office. The incident with the prisoner occurred June 12, but the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office would not release any other details." ...
Anti-Gun Wacko of The Week: Grand Island NE School Board
"When I wrote last week�s Anti-Gun Wacko of the Week column about University of Colorado Professor Jerry Peterson, I chose the name of the column on a bit of a whim. I didn�t really expect that I would find that level of outrageousness on a weekly basis."
"But by now, you would think I would know better than to underestimate the ability of bureaucrats to make blindly stupid decisions."
"And that brings us to today�s story about 3-year-old Hunter Spanjer. Hunter is, by all reports, a happy and well-loved child who attends preschool in Grand Island Nebraska. Hunter is just like all the other boys and girls except for one thing � the school board wants to take away his name." ...
Louisiana Governor Jindal, Legislators & Advocates Gather to Rally for Second Amendment
"More than 1,200 people gathered over the weekend for the third annual Second Amendment Rally, hosted by the Iowa Firearms Coalition and the National Rifle Association (NRA)."
"The event, sponsored by Brownells, brings together supporters of the rights of firearm owners. Speakers included Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Brownells CEO Pete Brownell, WHO radio commentator Jan Mickelson and Iowa state and federal Legislators and candidates."
"'The Second Amendment is an individual right guaranteeing a vital balance between the powers of government and our power as citizens,' said Brownell. 'This is not a right or left, conservative or liberal issue. It�s a foundational freedom that defines America.'" ...
IL: Another opinion: McLean state's attorney overreaches
"Interim McLean County State�s Attorney Ron Dozier has certainly stimulated a discussion in deciding not to prosecute certain violations of Illinois� gun laws, specifically regarding concealed carry."
"'We will no longer use the power and authority of our office to criminalize and punish decent, otherwise law-abiding citizens who chose to exercise their rights granted under them by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves and their families,' he said in a statement. In short, if you carry a gun in public in the Bloomington-Normal area but are otherwise behaving legally, the current state�s attorney isn�t going to do anything about it." ...
QUOTES TO REMEMBER
It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error. � Justice Robert H. Jackson
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The Beatson Cancer Charity are set to receive a cash boost, thanks to a member of the Specsavers Oban team.
Karen MacDonald, 26, assistant manager at the store, embarked on the charity challenge of a lifetime as she dropped 3,000ft for the cause, in a skydive over Fife.
The charity skydive was on Sunday 20 July, when the brave Port Appin resident travelled through the air at approximately 120 miles per hour for 30 seconds between jumping from the aircraft and opening the parachute.
Friends, family and colleagues at Specsavers Oban sponsored Karen.
She says: 'This is a cause very close to my heart. Most people have been affected by cancer in some way so it means a lot to me to be able to help in the fight against it.
The Beatson is committed to the fight against cancer in a variety of ways - from patient wellbeing to the funding of treatment, care and research.


Oundle are just 80 minutes away from keeping their amazing run of promotions going.
Just three years ago they left Midlands Four East (South) having been runners-up to Long Buckby.
A couple of seasons in Midlands Three ended last term when they went up as champions and this campaign has seen them continue that tremendous run to take second spot in Midlands Two East (South).
On Saturday they meet Coalville in a play-off to see who joins the ranks in Midlands One.
It has been a remarkably rapid climb, but one coach Peter Croot feels prepares them well for the test of moving to within one level of the national leagues.
"I think we have the firepower to beat them," he said. "I'm confident in our ability to win.
"We need to stick to what's done us well and play to our strengths.
"I'm not taking anything for granted, though, because Coalville will come here to beat us.
"I think the question is the mindset on the day.
"We've had a few of these games in the last few years so we're probably better prepared now.
"When we played West Leeds (in the National Senior Vase semi-final) last year we were perhaps a little inexperienced.
Another thing that could be to the Eagles' advantage is playing at home.
Victory over Oakham last weekend sealed that and Croot is expecting a good backing.
"We're a small town so word gets around quickly," he said.


Simplex 7100 Series provides fully mechanical primary or auxiliary pushbutton access control by exterior combination, while allowing free egress at all times by interior thumbturn.
The Simplex 7106 model has a rim locking latch which relocks automatically when door closes and also has latch holdback to enable passage mode. Available in black with black inside trim or satin chrome with black inside trim only.


SMARTHINKING is PVCC's online tutoring service, and it is available for tutoring in most subjects. With SMARTHINKING you can chat with a tutor in real time, or submit an essay or a question for feedback in 24 hours.
Submit your papers and receive feedback from a tutor (generally within 24 hours). Many students receive the most benefit from "Essay Center," which covers overall essay structure, grammar, thesis, and so on.
Pick from a list of courses (like math, science, or writing) to receive live tutoring. Use a "Whiteboard" feature to type questions to the tutor and receive answers.
Schedule an online session 48-hours in advance with a SMARTHINKING tutor.
Choose from the courses available and submit a question. A tutor will respond,usually within 24 hours.
Subject-specific study guides in accounting, math, general writing, and writing for ESL learners.Access these guides by scrolling to the top of the homepage and clicking "AcademicResources."
How do I log into SMARTHINKING?
Log into Blackboard and access SMARTHINKING through any of your courses, under the "Tutoring & Learning" button in your course's left menu. You do not need any additional user name or password to log into SMARTHINKING.
If you have trouble accessing SMARTHINKING, contact Blackboard Help at 434-961-5316 or email bbsupport@pvcc.edu.
How do I get help in SMARTHINKING?
If you scroll down to the bottom of the homepage, you will see Customer Service & Frequently Asked Questions. Additionally, you can click "What's This?" at the top of most pages for detailed directions on each section.


Having a little time, a couple of days ago, I went to a walk through my town. As usual, I spent a lot of this time in bookshops. First, I checked the stand of personal development and growth books to see what's new. So I saw a book of Deepak Chopra about sleep.
In his book, he develops the following idea: the overstimulation of senses lead to insomnia. Even if the book covers a larger area of ideas and problems, this idea catches my attention.
I think that in our century the overstimulation (through our media devices, cars, gadgets, etc.) of our hearing has become a problem. Have you ever had a pain of ears because of earplugs? However, it isn't the big problem. There is one sense that I think we overstimulate – the sight sense.
The sight overstimulation, like hearing sense, has as the background our civilization and culture. Our sight is overstimulate through our technology products, such as screen-based media devices. In our century, the IMAGE has become the king and our SIGHT is the slave of it. This process of slavery has begun with Television and now continues with Computers and Internet. They are not bad in themselves, because they are sources of information and democracy, but our overuse or wrong use make us their slaves.
There is a big difference between eyeing very concentrated a PC screen and watching for a long time a natural landscape. First lead to exhaustion, the second to relaxation of our sight and mind.
If we are able of great concentration when we read, surf the internet, or do something that interest us but don't take breaks during these periods of concentration, then this will lead us to exhaustion.


I had it in Brussels recently where I had my photo taken in the main square. There were obviously loads of people behind me and that was fine, it was a busy place so I'd never edit them all out, but there was one lady in a fluorescent yellow jacket and she stood out like a sore thumb – she was so distracting! It was Nienke Krook from who actually showed me this app and she quickly removed the lady in yellow. I was amazed. It took her less than 10 seconds and I couldn't tell the yellow lady had ever been there.
I use the app . It costs £1.99 but it's worth every penny.


Ain't nobody ever got the Go code yet. And old Ripper wouldn't be giving us plan R unless them Russkies had already clobbered Washington and a lot of other towns with a sneak attack.
Well, shoot. We ain't come this far just to dump this thing in the drink. What's the nearest target o' opportunity?
[as he rides on top of the bomb as it falls on the target]Aaaaaa hoooo! Waaaaa hooooo!


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We'd love your help. Let us know what's wrong with this preview of Soldiers' Songs and Slang of the Great War by Martin Pegler.
Have you ever "gotten dirty at the crossroads" in a "knocking shop"? Or been in a "bun-fight"? Can you sing "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now?", "Bicycle Built for Two" or "Danny Boy"? Soldiers' Songs and Slang of the Great War explains the meaning and origins of the language and songs of WW1.
A bawdy and satiric celebration of cheerful determination in the face of appalling Have you ever "gotten dirty at the crossroads" in a "knocking shop"? Or been in a "bun-fight"? Can you sing "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now?", "Bicycle Built for Two" or "Danny Boy"? Soldiers' Songs and Slang of the Great War explains the meaning and origins of the language and songs of WW1.
To ask other readers questions about Soldiers' Songs and Slang of the Great War, please sign up.
A very informative and interesting read. An easy yet detailed comprehensive read that gives one tidbits and random facts about the Great War as well as the mood and view of the war, especially from the view of the fighting man in the trenches. The songs are also nice to read through to see how humor and the strain between officers and enlisted men was portrayed back then.
Martin Pegler embraces their earlier work, which, due to censorship, had to omit much of the slang verses of songs, which had been considered at that time too crude for inclusion even a revised 1965 version was heavily edited. This doesn't mean that Martin Pegler's up-dated version is crude, it isn't, it's a fascinating journey that gives an honest, true-to-life collection of songs, fabulous illustrations and, of course, a dictionary of slang used by the soldiers who endured trench life.
The alphabetical list of Military Slang, Terminology and Popular Phrases encompasses an enthralling lexicon from AAA – Ack, Ack, Ack – 'Stop' on a Morse buzzer, to a Zig-Zag – a drunk - from the wobbly walk of a man full of alcohol. There are almost two hundred pages of discovery here.
As a writer and researcher of this era, I have found Soldiers' Songs and Slang of the Great War to be a treasure chest of enlightenment and would like to thank Martin Pegler for sharing his knowledge in this superb book.
The first half of the book (with the slang) was very interesting. I also enjoyed many of the cartoons. I didn't much care for the songs, but they just didn't interest me without a tune to go along with them. Not my thing. Perhaps others would find that as interesting as I found the slang.
The one thing that really stuck out to me was how often the WWI slang made words longer rather than shorter, which is the normal trend. They also tended to rhyme with the last word There were many examples of th The first half of the book (with the slang) was very interesting. I also enjoyed many of the cartoons. I didn't much care for the songs, but they just didn't interest me without a tune to go along with them. Not my thing. Perhaps others would find that as interesting as I found the slang.
I really liked the book, but I would have liked a bit more background information. I think it would have been far more interesting to find out a bit more on each song or bit of slang. That being said, I did learn a few interesting things and now "Over There" and "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" are running through my head!


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Now you've left me dying to hear the stories they all told, and there's no way I'll ever see the play. If you find yourself with a free minute, can you share them? Not here, because people reading here won't want them spoiled, but at forrestfm at gmail dot com? If you don't get a chance, that's fine. I love how you've told this; you really convey the intimacy and the way the stories are a thread of magic/supernatural woven into their lives.
You can choose to believe or not believe in his fairies, ghosts, and devils--they don't have to be factual to be metaphors, and they'll still be metaphors if they're factual. He has a dandy way with the poetry of common speech, how people naturally go in and out of formality, dialect, or profanity, depending on their audience and their relationship with them.
The first part, about metaphors, oh yes! And the second part: what a treat.


Roche 454 pyrosequencing has become a method of choice for generating transcriptome data from non-model organisms. Once the tens to hundreds of thousands of short (250-450 base) reads have been produced, it is important to correctly assemble these to estimate the sequence of all the transcripts. Most transcriptome assembly projects use only one program for assembling 454 pyrosequencing reads, but there is no evidence that the programs used to date are optimal. We have carried out a systematic comparison of five assemblers (CAP3, MIRA, Newbler, SeqMan and CLC) to establish best practices for transcriptome assemblies, using a new dataset from the parasitic nematode Litomosoides sigmodontis.
Although no single assembler performed best on all our criteria, Newbler 2.5 gave longer contigs, better alignments to some reference sequences, and was fast and easy to use. SeqMan assemblies performed best on the criterion of recapitulating known transcripts, and had more novel sequence than the other assemblers, but generated an excess of small, redundant contigs. The remaining assemblers all performed almost as well, with the exception of Newbler 2.3 (the version currently used by most assembly projects), which generated assemblies that had significantly lower total length. As different assemblers use different underlying algorithms to generate contigs, we also explored merging of assemblies and found that the merged datasets not only aligned better to reference sequences than individual assemblies, but were also more consistent in the number and size of contigs.
Transcriptome assemblies are smaller than genome assemblies and thus should be more computationally tractable, but are often harder because individual contigs can have highly variable read coverage. Comparing single assemblers, Newbler 2.5 performed best on our trial data set, but other assemblers were closely comparable. Combining differently optimal assemblies from different programs however gave a more credible final product, and this strategy is recommended.
Transcriptome sequencing projects for non-model organisms are popular because they cost less and are more computationally tractable than full genome sequencing projects, but still yield sufficient information to meet the requirements of many research programs. Traditionally, transcriptome projects have been based on Sanger dideoxy-sequenced expressed sequence tags (ESTs), but, because second-generation sequencing technologies provide much higher throughput than Sanger sequencing at a lower cost per base, these new technologies are increasingly used. For model organisms where a wealth of genomic information is available, the massively parallel, short-read (35-100 base) sequencing technologies (Illumina SOLEXA and ABI SOLiD) are most frequently used, as transcriptome reads can be mapped to the reference genome or transcriptome. However, most published non-model organism projects have used the Roche 454 pyrosequencing platform [1–36], because the longer reads generated (currently about 400 bases) are more amenable to de novo assembly and annotation.
A transcriptome project progresses through phases of data acquisition, assembly of the sequence reads to define putative transcripts, and then annotation and exploitation of the assembled data. The transcriptome assembly problem is not simple. Individual reads can have errors and polymorphisms that complicate recognition of overlaps, and individual transcripts (in non-normalised data) can have several orders of magnitude variation in abundance, and thus in effective coverage. Previous analyses of transcriptome data generated by Roche 454 pyrosequencing have almost always used just one software program for assembly (Table 1). Only two studies report the results of more than assembler. The first  briefly compared the length of assembled consensuses from Newbler , CAP3 , and stackPACK  on an Arabidopsis thaliana transcriptome dataset, whereas the second  demonstrated the comprehensive est2assembly pipeline on a phylogenetically diverse sample of insects, but only compared results for Newbler and MIRA . Neither study provides a systematic comparison of assemblers, and so here we present such a comparison to assist the growing number of transcriptome projects using Roche 454 pyrosequencing data.
Here we compare the performance of five assemblers: Newbler, CAP3, MIRA, SeqMan , and CLC's Assembly Cell  (Table 2). These assemblers differ in the algorithms used (most use variations of the Overlap-Layout-Consensus (OLC) strategy, while CLC uses de Bruijn graph path finding) and how they treat individual reads (whether a read is indivisible, or can be split and ultimately be placed in different contigs). We tested two versions of Newbler because we found the frequently-used, public release version (Newbler Version 2.3, hereafter referred to as Newbler 2.3) to have several undesirable features (see below) and thus contacted the developers to discuss these. They provided a pre-release version (Newbler Version 2.5 p1, hereafter referred to as Newbler 2.5) that addresses some of the issues identified. We did not include TGICL  or stackPACK  because both are essentially wrappers for the CAP3 assembler. Although Velvet  and ABySS  are popular assemblers for second-generation sequence data and can use Roche 454 pyrosequencing reads, they are primarily assemblers for genome sequence data from short-read platforms that rely on the high and even coverage depths afforded by these massively parallel technologies. In preliminary experiments on our data we were only able to generate very short contigs using short-read assemblers and so we have not compared Velvet, Oases (the transcriptome-specific version of Velvet, ), and ABySS.
Our target organism, Litomosoides sigmodontis, is a model filarial nematode, closely related to the causative agents of human filariases (Brugia malayi, Wuchereria bancrofti and Onchocerca volvulus). It originally derives from cotton rat hosts, but can be maintained in laboratory rodents (mice and gerbils) and is thus a tractable experimental system in which to investigate the dynamics of immune response induction and modulation, and test vaccine and drug candidates . We expect L. sigmodontis to have a transcriptome similar to that of the filarial nematode B. malayi and the more distantly related rhabditid nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, with ~18,000 to 21,000 protein-coding genes generating ~30,000 different transcripts with mean length ~1.2 kb. The transcriptome project is part of a larger investigation into L. sigmodontis genomics, and detailed analyses of the content and biology of the transcriptome data will be published elsewhere.
We used a Roche 454 FLX instrument to generate 'standard chemistry' (mean read length ~220 bases) and 'Titanium chemistry' (mean read length ~350 bases) reads from cDNA libraries from three different lifecycle stages of L. sigmodontis: microfilaria (equivalent to the first stage larva of C. elegans and other nematodes), adult males, and adult females (Table 3, see Methods for more details on library preparation, read pre-processing, and assembly parameters). Reads were trimmed for adapters leaving a total of 741,387 reads with 205,065,666 bases used in all assembly experiments (trimmed read length histograms in Additional file 1, Figure S1).
For each assembler, we used the default parameters recommended for transcriptome assembly (details are given in Methods). After assembly, contigs less than 100 bases in length and singletons were discarded for subsequent analyses. We compared the assemblies using the following standard metrics: total number of reads used in the assembly, number of contigs > 100 bases generated, N50 length of contigs (the smallest contig size in which half the assembly is represented), maximum contig length, summed contig length, and approximate time taken to perform analysis (Table 4). We include the N50 as a measure even though it is not strictly appropriate for transcriptome assemblies (where we expect the median contig length to be in the region of 1.2 kb). We also assessed assembly integrity and completeness by comparison to four reference datasets.
The optimal assembler will use all the reads given, and will deliver assemblies with unambiguous mappings of reads to contigs, and thus putative transcripts. Each assembler has a different way of reporting the number of reads utilised. For example, MIRA reported only 2,170 singletons but classified 115,688 unassembled reads as 'debris'. Similarly, Newbler 2.3 and Newbler 2.5 generate separate lists of singletons, repetitive reads, and 'outliers' (problematic reads such as chimaeras). CAP3 and SeqMan only report assembled and unassembled reads. CLC does not track reads at all and maps reads back to the assembly to estimate where they might belong. Therefore, to compare the assemblies, we mapped all the reads back to each assembly using SSAHA2  and the CLC reference aligner (which is part of the Assembly Cell suite ), as recommended in a study comparing short-read aligners . SSAHA2's default settings for Roche 454 reads are clearly tuned for sensitivity, because the number of reads with multiple matches is very high compared to the CLC aligner. For both aligners, the highest numbers of reads were mapped back to the SeqMan assembly, while fewest were mapped to the Newbler 2.3 assembly. CAP3, CLC, and MIRA were comparable in terms of the number of reads used. CLC had the fewest reads with multiple matches by far, indicating that it was the least redundant of the six assemblies.
The optimal assembler will produce the longest summed length of contigs, while avoiding over-assembly of reads into in silico chimaeras, and avoiding the production of near-identical, largely overlapping contigs from allelic copies or error-rich data. It will also produce a transcriptome estimate with a mean and variance in contig length similar to that expected from the whole transcriptome. Newbler 2.3 generated an assembly with the largest N50 and the longest mean contig length (Table 4), but it also produced the smallest assembly span of the six programmes tested. Inspection of contig assemblies using the next-generation sequence assembly visualisation software Tablet  showed that Newbler 2.3 was discarding read overlap information in deriving the assembled contig sequence. The overall assembly sizes of CAP3, CLC and Newbler 2.3 are comparable to each other (between 14.4 and 16.7 Mb), as are the assembly sizes of MIRA, Newbler 2.5 and SeqMan (between 20.0 and 21.3 Mb). Newbler 2.5 has an assembly that is 39% larger than the Newbler 2.3 assembly, and seems to have solved the previous version's problem of discarding sequence data. Of all the six assemblers, Newbler 2.5 produced the highest number of contigs longer than 1 kb, and the most bases in contigs longer than 1 kb (these larger overall contig sizes are represented in Figure 1 as the assembly with the steepest initial slope). MIRA and SeqMan both generated comparable assembly spans, but with at least 8,000 more contigs than Newbler 2.5, indicating that they have shorter contigs overall.
Cumulative contig lengths generated by different assembly programs. For each of six assemblies, contigs longer than 100 bases were ordered by length, and the cumulative length of all contigs shorter than or equal to a given contig was plotted. The total length of the assembly and the number of contigs present in the assembly define the end point of each curve, while the initial slope of each curve reflects the proportion of longer contigs.
The optimal assembler will complete analyses in a short period of time, and the time taken will scale well with increasing data volumes. While speed itself is not an overriding optimality criterion, rapid analyses will permit robust and extensive exploration of parameter space. In addition, some algorithms can make efficient use of multi-threaded processors or cluster computing, effectively reducing their wall-clock run time. The speed metric is not linked to assembly quality. CLC was astonishingly fast (taking only a few minutes to assemble 741,387 reads) compared to MIRA (which took 3 days in 'accurate' mode on the same hardware). This speed comes at a significant cost however, as CLC does not track read placement in the assembly. Tracking of read placement in an assembly is a very valuable feature, as it allows inspection of the data underpinning suspect assemblies, and thus CLC sacrifices speed for verifiability.
In comparison to other assemblies, the optimal assembly will include the largest proportion of the unique bases present in the sum of all assemblies. Thus an assembler that produced a large assembly that included many contigs that were redundant could be worse that an assembly that was shorter but only included unique bases. To determine if the differing assembly sizes were due to novel sequences in each assembly, or just due to repetitive and redundant assemblies, we used BLAT  with default parameters to pairwise align all six assemblies (Figure 2).
Novel sequence in pair-wise comparisons between assemblies produced by different assemblers. For each assembly, we calculated the number of bases in the other assemblies that were not present in the focal assembly.
These pairwise comparisons show that the SeqMan assembly had the most novel bases when compared to the others, and the others five assemblies had the fewest novel bases when compared to SeqMan. At the other end of the spectrum, the Newbler 2.3 assembly had the fewest novel bases and almost all its bases were seen in the other assemblies. For example, the SeqMan assembly had over 5 Mb of novel sequence compared to the assembly from Newbler 2.3, and the latter had only 23,366 novel bases in the reciprocal comparison. CAP3, CLC, MIRA, and Newbler 2.5 were all very similar in that they generated assemblies that had about 1-2 Mb of novel sequence compared to each other.
SeqMan, MIRA and Newbler 2.5 all generated assemblies in excess of 20 Mb, 25-50% larger than the 14-16 Mb assemblies produced by CAP3, CLC, and Newbler 2.3. However, these additional contigs and bases did not represent an excess of novel sequence, except in the case of SeqMan, suggesting that MIRA and Newbler 2.5 produce some redundant contigs (identical except for real polymorphisms or sequencing error). CLC generated the least redundant assembly, a direct consequence of using a de Bruijn graph algorithm with small fragments (21-mers) that collapses most repeats.
(iii) gene families conserved across the phylum Nematoda derived from MCL-TRIBE  analysis of 62 species assembled in NEMBASE4 database (Mark Blaxter and Ben Elsworth, unpublished; see http://www.nematodes.org/nembase4/tribe_tree.php). We selected 3,681 tribes, containing 120,926 EST clusters, that had representatives in species spanning the inferred base of the phylum. They represent an estimate of the conserved core of genes that may be present in all nematode proteomes, and again proportional coverage should reflect assembly quality.
(iv) a set of 9,782 C. elegans proteins, grouped into 3,731 euKaryotic Ortholog Groups (KOGs), that are known to have orthologs in the proteomes of six other eukaryotic genomes . We expect mRNAs for these conserved proteins to be present in the L. sigmodontis data, and thus proportional coverage should reflect assembly quality.
These datasets are not independent, but each offers a different assessment of assembly quality. Tables 5, 6, 7 and 8 show the results of aligning the contigs from each assembly to each of these four datasets. In all four cases, the best assembler was either Newbler 2.5 or SeqMan. Newbler 2.3 had the lowest number of significant matches to known reference and related sequences. However, to identify which assembler had the largest number of well-assembled long contigs, we did a second assessment of each dataset where only those hits that covered at least 80% of a target sequence were considered. With this restriction, CLC had the fewest hits in all cases except hits to conserved nematode proteins (Table 7), suggesting that the longer contigs from the CLC assembly were not as accurate.
* indicates a value significantly lower than the others, using a Huber M-estimator.
* indicates a value significantly lower than the others (p < 0.01), using a Huber M-estimator.
As each assembler uses a different algorithm to derive final contigs, and each of these algorithms may model different portions of the true transcriptome with different accuracies, we reasoned that combining assemblies might identify the subset of the assemblies that had high credibility, as it was found by both (or multiple) approaches. We checked if pairs of assemblies performed better than individual assemblies under the various optimality criteria proposed above, particularly in their recapitulation of the reference data. We combined two assemblies at a time by treating their (first-order) contigs as pseudo-reads and assembled these using a traditional OLC assembler (CAP3 with default settings). Only second-order contigs that contained first-order contigs from both constituent assemblies were considered for further analysis because two independent assemblers had agreed on the consensus sequence in that contig: we term these "robust contigs".
Whereas previously the six assemblies had generated from 12,000 to 36,000 contigs and spanned 14.5 Mb to 21.4 Mb (Table 4), we found that merging assemblies resulted in a much narrower range of contig numbers and total span (Table 9). The N50 and mean contig sizes also increased, approaching that predicted for a complete transcriptome.
These robust contigs also performed better in the tests assessing representation of reference datasets (Table 10 and Table 11). This was especially true for matches filtered to include only those covering at least 80% of the reference sequence. The co-assemblies of [CLC and MIRA] and [MIRA and Newbler 2.5] matched the most EST clusters. The [CLC and Newbler 2.5] combined assembly matched the most B. malayi peptides.
Although there was no consistent pattern indicating a clear superiority of any pair of assemblies (other than the exclusion of the Newbler 2.3 assembly), these merged assemblies show that it is possible to get more long, robust contigs that align better to reference sequences by combining the outputs of two different assemblies. Co-assembling three primary assemblies at a time and considering only the contigs that had 'reads' from all three assemblies gave smaller total contig numbers than pairwise co-assemblies. The number of stringent matches to reference sequences went up by less than 1% in all cases (see Additional File 2, Tables S2-S7), suggesting that the additional effort involved in generating and combining these assemblies may not be worthwhile.
We compared six assemblers by aligning their assembly contigs to four reference sequence sets. The Newbler 2.3 assembly scored worst in each comparison, probably because it had the smallest span of all the assemblies. Under stricter comparison parameters, the CLC assembly was poorer, suggesting that this assembly is more fragmented than the others. Although no single assembler was optimal in every case, Newbler 2.5 and SeqMan had the best alignments to related reference sequences overall. However, SeqMan generated over 8000 contigs extra for approximately the same total number of assembled bases (21.4 Mb versus 20.1 Mb).
We were able to improve the assembly by merging two assemblies at a time using a traditional OLC assembler (CAP3). This approach generated more high quality alignments to our reference sets.
We compared six programmes (Table 2) for the task of de novo assembly of transcriptome data from an organism with little or no previous genomic resources. We tested each using default or minimally adjusted parameters, as has been the common practice in previous 454 pyrosequencing transcriptome studies (Table 1). It may be that it is possible to generate better assemblies for particular datasets by exploring the parameter space for each assembler. However, as sequencing becomes cheaper and more accessible, the vast majority of 454 transcriptome assemblies will probably be done by researchers who are new to assembly and just want something that works with a few sensible default parameters. Of the six de novo transcriptome assemblers tested, Newbler 2.5 had the best contig length metrics for our data, and, along with SeqMan, had the best alignments to related reference sequences.
Each assembler has certain advantages and disadvantages that are presented in more detail in the Supplementary Materials (Additional file 1). Versions 2.3 and 2.5 of Newbler were the only assemblers that explicitly attempted to reconstruct and group alternative transcripts and isoforms. If only one assembler had to be used because of time or resource constraints, we would currently recommend Newbler 2.5 overall. However, none of the other assemblers are deprecated apart from Newbler 2.3. We strongly recommend redoing transcriptome assemblies that were performed with Newbler 2.3 or earlier versions, if the goal is to get as complete an assembly as possible.
It is possible that different raw data sets may be better assembled by different programs (e.g. MIRA may be better for normalized transcriptome sequence data, and CAP3 for paired transcriptome data), and thus researchers should perhaps cross-compare the best available ones on their data using the optimality criteria used here.
Merging assemblies performed with different programs is a frequently used approach in genome assembly projects, especially those that employ multiple sequencing technologies. Application of this strategy to the problem of de novo transcriptome assembly appears particularly useful. While a merged assembly may simply sum the errors made by both programs, filtering the resultant second stage contigs on the basis of their containing first stage contigs from both of the starting sets generates a transcriptome assembly that is on average longer and that better represents known or assumed reference sequences than do either of the starting contig sets. A preferred assembly strategy is thus to perform initial assemblies with multiple high-quality assemblers and then to merge these using a traditional OLC assembler such as CAP3. Second-order contigs that have support from multiple first-order assemblies are much more likely to be accurate.
All the de novo assemblers in this study, with the exception of CLC, use the OLC assembly strategy. CLC uses de Bruijn graphs. As read lengths and throughput increase and sequencing costs come down, an average transcriptome assembly project for a non-model organism may comprise several million 800 base reads. Under the OLC paradigm, the computational time for assembling more reads rises exponentially with data complexity because the number of pairwise comparisons to detect overlaps will increase, and the layout graphs will be harder to resolve into a consensus sequence. The CLC de novo assembler is clearly a step in the right direction because its de Bruijn graph algorithm achieves reasonable results in very little time on large datasets. Other de Bruijn graph assemblers such as Oases  and ABySS  are promising but are currently not suitable for most non-normalised 454 pyrosequencing de novo transcriptome assembly projects because many transcripts have very low coverage that cannot be assembled reliably. Perhaps the way forward is to use the de Bruijn graph method for transcripts with high coverage and the OLC method for transcripts with low coverage. We have shown that an assembly-merging strategy delivers robust contigs from intermediate assemblies produced by current programs, and this strategy is likely to be of utility in deriving the best assemblies from future programs as well.
The L. sigmodontis samples were prepared by Stella Konstantinou, Eleana Theophilou and Simon Babayan, and sequenced by the GenePool, Edinburgh. Briefly, total RNA from three L. sigmodontis samples (adult male, adult female, microfilaria) was converted to double stranded cDNA using Evrogen's MINT cDNA synthesis kit. First strand cDNA was synthesised using reverse transcriptase (RT) from a 3'-primer with oligo(dT) sequence that annealed to the poly-A stretch of RNA and synthesised cDNA until the 5' end of the mRNA. Finally, double stranded cDNA synthesis was performed using PCR amplification, and the final product contained the same MINT adapter sequence at both 3' and 5' ends. The cDNA was fragmented, size-selected, library-prepped, and sequenced according to standard Roche-454 FLX and Titanium protocols. Sequence files have been deposited into the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) with accession number ERA011678 http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/data/view/ERA011678.
We chose to remove MINT adapters from the sequences ourselves rather than use the built-in adapter removal tools in MIRA, Newbler, SeqMan, and CLC, because each assembler pre-processes reads slightly differently and CAP3 does not remove adapters at all. The Roche 454 instrument outputs sequences in Standard Flowgram Format (SFF) files that come with quality and clipping information. To ensure that each assembler got exactly the same input, we changed the trim points directly in the SFF file to exclude adapter sequence rather than first convert the SFF files to fasta and quality files. The 29 base MINT adapter sequence was identified using BLASTN  from NCBI's new blast+ suite (Version 2.2.23) and by masking all matches with a bit-score greater than an empirically determined threshold of 25. The longest unmasked portion of the sequence was used to set new trim points in the SFF file.
Most EST pipelines remove poly(A/T) regions from reads because aligners would not be able to find good matches back to genomes that do not have the poly(A/T) sequence, and assemblers might try to align on these sequences. The former reason was not a factor for us as this was an unsequenced organism, but we did a trial run both with and without the poly(A/T) sequence and found no misassemblies on these regions by any of the assemblers. Newbler and MIRA account for such sequences when run in the -cdna and EST modes respectively. SeqMan and CAP3 remove low quality ends (homopolymer runs of poly(A/T) sequence have lower qualities in 454 sequencing), and CLC uses a de Bruijn graph which would not allow misassemblies because it would not be able to resolve the branching structure in a poly(A/T) region. Poly(A/T) sequence might also be indistinguishable from genomic sequences in some cases and therefore should not be removed. We found that the total amount of assembled sequence was about 10% lower for assemblies without poly(A/T) sequence. Therefore, we did not trim the poly(A/T) regions in the sequences. An additional advantage of leaving the poly(A/T) sequence in is that assembled contigs with a poly-A at the end (or poly-T at the start) indicate that the assembly end point is almost certainly correct. In our sequences, a poly(A/T) sequence typically had an N about half-way through because a degenerate oligo-dT primer was used to extract the poly-A tails from the cDNA. Any sequences with more than one N were discarded.
For each assembler, the version and parameters used are described in this section. CLC, Newbler, and SeqMan used the trimmed SFF files directly. CAP3 and MIRA used fasta and quality files extracted from the SFF files using Roche 454's sffinfo utility. All the assemblers returned a fasta file with contigs, and, except CLC, they all returned an ACE file with read placement information for each contig. All assemblers were run on an 8-core 3.0 GHz Linux workstation with 32 GB of memory, with the exception of SeqMan NGen, which currently runs only on Mac and Windows operating systems. SeqMan NGen was run on a dual core 2.53 GHz Mac mini server with 4 GB of memory.
The CAP3 binary for 64-bit Intel Linux systems was downloaded on June 20, 2010 from http://seq.cs.iastate.edu/cap3.html. The version was not specified in this download, and we did not change any of the default settings.
The CLC Assembly Cell command line application (version 3.02) has only one assembly-specific parameter, the minimum contig length reported, which we set to 100. It converts Roche 454 .sff files to fasta format, strips out all read identifiers, performs the assembly, and returns only a fasta file with contigs. As it does not keep track of reads, we had to use the CLC aligner, also known as the Reference Assembly application, to perform the additional step of mapping all the input reads back to the assembly contigs using default settings.
MIRA version 3.0.0 (production version) was used with the recommended quick switches for a Roche 454 EST assembly: -job = denovo,est,accurate,454. We used the -notraceinfo option because the traceinfo file provides clipping information, whereas we had already used the clipping information to create trimmed fasta and quality files. We also used -GE:not = 8 which is a general option for specifying the number of threads that should be used for steps that can use multiple cores. MIRA's final contig output file includes singletons but we looked for and removed all contigs with the "_s" prefix ("_c" indicates contigs with more than one read).
The latest releases of Roche 454's Newbler (version 2.3, 091027_1459, and version 2.5, newbler v2.5p1-internal-10Jun23-1) provide a "-cdna" option to assemble transcriptomes. In transcriptome assembly, the assembler frequently fails without the -cdna option because it expects approximately even coverage in genome assembly mode. The only other parameters we used were "-ace" (to generate an ACE file at the end) and "-cpu 8" to use all available cores. Like most other OLC assemblers, Newbler stops extending contigs when it cannot resolve branches in the overlap layout graph. Unlike other assemblers, Newbler then tries to create isotigs out of contigs that are consistently connected by a subset of reads. Each isotig corresponds to an alternative transcript, and any contigs or isotigs that share any read overlaps are put into the same isogroup. We noticed that several contig fragments in the Newbler 2.3 ACE file were not reported in the final assembly fasta file (454Isotigs.fna). Initially, the Newbler developers said that these contigs are not parts of actual transcripts and are therefore not reported, but we traced a few of these fragments and found that they were made up of well aligned, overlapping reads that had been split into contigs and then discarded. The developers have since modified Newbler and allowed us to try the pre-release version on our data that addresses this issue, using the -urt flag that allows contigs to be bridged across regions with only single-depth coverage.
DNAStar's SeqMan Ngen version 2 for Mac has a GUI that calls an underlying script. We chose the de novo transcriptome assembly option for 454 unpaired reads. When we tried a run with default settings and no quality or vector trimming, the assembly completed without any error messages but reported only 891 contigs. Subsequently we tried an assembly with quality trimming enabled which completed in 6 hours and reported a 21 Mb assembly.
To get assembly stats on the number of reads used, we used SSAHA2  and CLC's aligner to map all the input reads back to each assembly's contigs (as recommended in a comparison of next-generation aligners ). SSAHA2 was used with the -454 option, and the clc_ref_assemble_long binary from CLC's Assembly Cell distribution version 3.00.44070-beta2 was used with default settings.
Sujai Kumar and Mark L Blaxter contributed equally to this work.
We thank Stella Constantinou and Eleana Theophilou, both Masters students in the Blaxter lab, for generation of the cDNA in collaboration with Simon Babayan, and Judith Allen for access to the L. sigmodontis lifecycle. Roche 454 sequencing was carried out by Anna Montazam and Denis Cleven of the GenePool http://genepool.bio.ed.ac.uk. The GenePool bioinformatics staff (especially Stephen Bridgett) assisted with sample quality checking, and with advice and tips on using Newbler. We also thank the Newbler development team for early access to Newbler 2.5, Alexie Papanicolau for advice on comparing assemblies, Ben Elsworth for NEMBASE4 Tribes, and Graham Thomas for helping install and test assemblers. SK holds a University of Edinburgh School of Biological Sciences graduate scholarship. The sequencing data were generated by funding from the EU project SCOOT, PI Judith Allen.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Although we have used commercial software in this study supplied by the manufacturers, they had no influence on the experiments performed nor on the results reported here.
SK and MB conceived and designed the project. Analyses were carried out by SK and reviewed by MB. SK and MB wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


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Classics Revisited: OG Nike Air Force 1 Low (1983)
June 3, 2010 by bam
4.33 / 5 3 VOTES
As avid supporters and participants in the culture, it's hard to deny Nike's presence when retrospecting our love for sneakers. Air Maxes, Air Jordans, Trainers- the catalog is endless. But one of the most highly praised models, even comparing shoes from other brands, has undoubtedly become the Nike Air Force 1. At almost 30 years old, the first Nike basketball shoe to feature an Air unit took some time to gain popularity, but since has transcended courts to the closets and feet of people across the world to become a global icon in footwear.
The Air Force 1 was first created in 1982 by Bruce Kilgore, with inspiration taken from the US President's airplane, Air Force One. Though it was a pioneer for basketball footwear, being the first of its kind to integrate Nike Air technology, it was in fact discontinued the following year of its debut. It was until 1986 when the AF1 was endorsed by The Original 6 that gave the shoe creditability and true basketball roots.
Though there are three variations of the AF1- low, mid and high cut- the low has becoming the prevalent image synonymous to the AF1 name. Though the very first version featured canvas medial panels, this 1983 production, believed to have been a scrapped sample right before the discontinuation, gives the closest insight to the birth of the infamous AF1. Notice the sheen leather that is certainly no longer seen on recent releases. But more importantly is the difference in the Nike branding on the heel tab. Notice the letters are non italicized and is missing the Swoosh. Furthermore, the popular lace lock wasn't present until the last decade. Remember that even the finishing is different from today's releases, as each panel's edges are now rolled for a more streamline look.
The color blocking reminds us of how classic a simple colorway can be; a notion that has only been revived in the last two years or so from a bombardment of multi-uxuberant colorways. However the Air Force 1 has seen its share of designs, as its received over 1,700 color combinations since its debut. A foundation for many of the most exclusive and coveted pairs of sneakers the culture has seen, we reckon the AF1 will continue to hold its ground as one of the top sneakers of all time for another 25 years.
Nike Air Force 1s Vintage

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


As part of Circulate's collaboration with the Disruptive Innovation Festival, we're featuring insight from some of this year's Open Mic contributors in advance of their performance at the DIF. Find out more at thinkdif.co, and don't forget to tune into this session on materials innovation, live at 12:00 GMT on November 16th.
These familiar words have trailed behind designers for several years now, tagging their work, as they sought a suitable response to the rising mountains of waste and our shrinking resources.
Today, though, these words are no longer a mantra for designers; nor do they capture the quiet but powerful movement taking over many realms of physical design.
Artists, architects, product, and textile designers–makers of all kinds, really–have moved far beyond the acts of 'recycle' and 'reuse.' The most innovative work in the many fields of design is coming from makers who are entirely breaking down society's waste and the scraps of industrial production, and transforming them into their material components.
What follows is an almost scientific extraction of all viable elements, and their conversion into entirely new and aesthetically promising raw material for design.
This isn't the easy path, especially when shiny swarms of catalogued and shelved materials are more easily available, often at a lower price.
Still, the 'reconstitution' of what the world is regularly discarding, and its 'rematerialisation' into innovative, new materials and exhilarating products is drawing in more and more designers today. From pristinely white, webbed stools made from Nylon powder (and SLS 3D printing waste); to velvety, handmade bricks made from a cocktail of construction and demolition waste; to beautiful organic-looking art, crafted from thousands of reformed Starbucks coffee cup lids– the list of examples is endless.
Increasingly donning the hats of researcher and scientist, alongside that of the designer, today's makers are releasing new products from lab-like studios and testing grounds. These finessed products have evolved well past the gruff, homegrown quality we had come to associate with recycled goods; and most can rival any industrially produced products in their cohort.
So what is this movement really?
For starters, it is the creation of a new material (and product) vocabulary, born from the complete transformation of waste. No longer content with just regurgitating what is within reach, designers have taken innovation into their own hands, and it all begins with the materials that they work with.
And from our perspective, this material innovation seems to be contemporary design's best stepping stone to the circular economy.
Here are our top picks for products, processes, and their makers, that are leading the way in this movement of material innovation.
Netherlands-based design and manufacturing company StoneCycling crunches and blends construction, demolition, and building manufacturing waste into beautiful hand-made bricks. The bricks all sport natural-looking hues, textures and are appropriately named–Aubergine, Nougat, Truffle, and Caramel, among others.
The sustainable and versatile bricks are making their way to prominent building facades and interiors in the Netherlands, while their base material (made of reconstituted waste) has been transformed into a new collection of furniture as well.
Partnering with 3D printing companies, whose largest and rapidly growing waste product is Nylon powder, London-based designer duo Studio Ilio have created a series of webbed stools, lights, and miscellaneous products. Their only ingredients–waste Nylon powder, sand, and electrically charged Nichrome wire. 'Hot Wire Extensions' represents the studio's signature investigation into conventional manufacturing processes, and their intent to challenge material-uses. Also, key to this innovative practice and the project, are the cross-disciplinary partnerships between designers and diverse manufacturers.
California artist Mariana Nelson has developed specialised techniques to metamorphose discarded yarn and plastics (including Type-6 plastics, which cannot be recycled) into exquisite art. By braiding, melting, warping, and heat-pressing multiple layers of plastics, Nelson consumes nearly 100 percent of the massive amount of discarded material she sources.
A recent commission for the 'Festival of the Arts' in Laguna Beach involved the creation of a large, growing, organic 'fungus' on a tree, engineered by Nelson from warped and treated Starbucks coffee-lids.
Evolved from seven years of R&D in the Philippines, UK and Spain, Piñatex™, developed by sustainable materials manufacturer Ananas Anam, is a natural and sustainable non-woven textile, produced from the fibres of pineapple leaves. The pineapple leaves are a by-product of the pineapple harvest.
Designers all over the world are beginning to tap into Piñatex for their products and fashion accessories. While some designers have been quick to term Piñatex as a leather substitute, many others keen to explore Piñatex in a long-term way and unlock its material potential far beyond this.
Operating within the realm of biodesign is UK-based designer and researcher Natsai Audrey Chieza's practice Faber Futures. Among Faber Futures' key projects is 'Fold'–an experiment in assigning colour and pattern to textiles by placing them inside a small petri dish full of living, pigment-producing bacteria. Unlike other research and production entities, the goal here is not to harvest pigment from bacteria and to dye fabrics in conventional ways. Instead, the intent is to co-cultivate with bacteria–to intervene actively in its processes and arrive at new possibilities of desired pigments, and then direct the bacteria to attach themselves to fabric, producing results naturally and intuitively.
The results are extremely attractive, sustainable, and en route to becoming scalable for larger industry production.
With her 'Joining Bottles' project and toolkit, London-based designer Micaella Pedros turns discarded plastic bottles into joinery, and wood scraps into eclectic compositions. Using heat, and a technique of indentation into wood scraps, extremely sturdy, usable and harmonious results have been created from Micaella's practice, which developed during her work and volunteering experiences in Uganda and Guatemala.
Australian architect Tobias Horrocks has created an architectural and furniture design practice that relies exclusively on the strength, ease of assembly, disassembly and eventual return to composting, of materials such as cardboard and Xanita-x-board, which are made from post-consumer recycled waste.
The architect achieves structural strength and nuanced forms using digital design and fabrication, all with this bio-degradable material (cardboard), and pairs the material with temporal uses, with the end of life in mind. His only aspiration? Waterproof cardboard.
Biomaterials company Ecovative has gone one step further than 'DIY,' with its range of Mushroom Materials. With agricultural waste, Mushroom mycelium and well, time, as its only ingredients, designers can grow their own sustainable material, using Ecovative's toolkit, and orient it to flexible uses. Designers and artists such as Danielle Trofe and Erin Smith are using the GIY material to create lighting, homeware products, sculpture and more.
Purva Chawla is a Dallas-based architect and designer who founded Materialdriven.com in early 2016. During her education at the University of Pennsylvania, and years practicing across the US, Purva felt detached from the tangible materiality of her projects. She began to seek out and study examples from across the world, where innovative design begins with materials. In parallel, she pursued and excelled at design competitions where materials were key to the design brief. In founding MaterialDriven.com, Purva's goal became showcasing and bringing such innovators and their clients together.


If I don't take Introductory Statistics for Data Analytics, can I still obtain the certification?
Yes. If you believe that you have the necessary preparation in Statistics, you are not required to take the Introductory Statistics for Data Analytics course. Students who successfully complete three other courses can still obtain the certification. But the faculty in the other courses are not responsible to teach students Statistics, so please make sure you are prepared. If it has been a long time since you had a course in Statistics, we strongly recommend that you take Introductory Statistics for Data Analytics to refresh yourself. Students must also know how to use R Software in this program, so if you have no experience, it's recommened that you complete our Introductory Statistics for Data Analytics course.
Do I receive a certificate after each course?
Yes. Students receive a certificate after completing each course. And a final certificate stating completion of the certification.
Do you receive a final grade for each course?
No. Final course grades are Pass/Fail based on an 80% or better score.
Is there a sequence students should follow when taking the courses?
Yes. It is required that students take Introductory Statistics for Data Analytics first, followed by Data Mining, and then Practical Application to Advanced Analytics or Machine Learning. Visual Analytics can be taken any time.
Is Linear Algebra & Calculus for Machine Learning required for the certification?
No, you must complete four courses to earn the certificate: 3 of which must be Introductory Statistics for Data Analytics, Data Mining, and Visual Analytics. You have the option to take Machine Learning or Practical Application to Advanced Analytics as your fourth course for certification. Linear Algebra & Calculus is an optional course that prepares you with the match concepts required for Machine Learning if you need them. Take the quiz found on the Machine Learning course page to see if you need to take the course.
Do I have to complete an application when registering for each course?
No there is no application process. The registration includes typical required information only such as name, address, phone, etc.
Can I receive an Ohio State transcript that will include these courses?
No. This certification is non-credit, therefore the courses will not appear on an official Ohio State University transcript.
Can these courses be transferred in to an Ohio State degree program?
No. This certifcation is non-credit so it's not possible.
What is the time commitment for each course?
If I fail a class, must I pay again to retake the course?
If I cannot complete a course, must I pay again to retake the course?
Yes. The only exception is for medical related emergencies and documentation must be provided to the program. An administrative fee will still be imposed to retake the course.
Can tuition benefits or financial aid be used to pay for the courses?
No. Unfortunately, because the courses are non-credit, you must pay for the coursework or your employer/department may offer to pay for the coursework but we can't accept tuition benefits from OSU or financial aid.
How long do I have to complete the certification?
Students can select their own pace and take up to a maximum of 3 years to complete the certification.
Do I have to pay for the entire program up front?
No. Students pay for one course at a time.
Can I take more than one course at at time?
Yes, but it is not recommended due to the time commitment required for completing each course. Each course is equivalent to a one semester credit hour class. Therefore each class consists of approximately 40 hours of class time that includes 12-13 hours of recorded faculty lectures and 23-24 hours of additional course work. Each course is seven weeks in length, so each week there is 5.7 hours of combined class time (40 hrs / 7 weeks). The average student should allow a 2:1 study-to-class-time ratio to complete the course. This means you should plan to study two hours for each one hour of class time. This equates to 11-12 hours each week to complete all course work. (5.7 hrs X 2 = 11-12 hrs). Based on a person's own personal strengths and experience, you should increase or decrease the ratio.


Fact: Disagreements about money are the leading cause of divorce. Couples who argued about money early in their relationship, regardless of their actual incomes or net worth, were much more likely to end up in divorce court.
On the other hand, couples who talk to each other honestly about how much money they have and are likely to make in the years ahead, and how they choose to spend their money, are more likely to stay together.
Money Talk: It's Not Easy, But It's Important!
At this point in your relationship it could seem pointless. After all, couples marry for love, not money, so who needs to work out the financial details and property division of a break-up that the couple hopes will never happen? According to U.S. News, even married couples may want to consider revisiting what would happen in the event of a divorce.
Having conversations about finances can be tough. How we view money, just like how we view politics, religion, or child-rearing, shapes the way we see the world and experience family life. It also taps into our deepest emotions and childhood memories.
Because of that, many people don't talk about money before the wedding. And they too often learn the hard way that this was a costly and heart-breaking mistake.
A prenuptial agreement can prevent this heartache and expense. It's primarily about money—what assets you and your future spouse have prior to the marriage, and what you would take from the marriage due to death of your spouse, or divorce.
You have more assets and more money than your future spouse, or your future spouse has more than you. A prenuptial agreement protects the interests of both parties.
You earn more much money than your partner, or are likely to earn much more in the future—or you are likely to earn much less money in the future (by quitting your job to raise children, for example). A prenuptial agreement helps ensure that the couple's financial burdens are shared fairly.
You or your partner brings a great deal of debt into the marriage. A prenuptial agreement makes it clear that the partner bringing the debt is held responsible for it if the marriage ends.
You or your future spouse is the part owner of a business. A prenuptial agreement protects the interests of the other business owners in the event of your divorce or death, and also prevents the remaining spouse from incurring any liability associated with the business.
This is not your first marriage. A prenuptial agreement makes clear who will pay any expenses related to children or other financial obligations from previous marriages, and also stipulates how your assets will be divided in the event of divorce or death.
Some people think getting a prenuptial agreement implies that the marriage is not likely to last, or that the financial bottom line is more important than love and romance, that is not necessarily the case. While no prenuptial agreement is perfect, having one in place before you get married could bring you much more peace of mind during another time of stress and high emotion—divorce or the death of your spouse.
If you want to discuss a prenuptial agreement, our attorneys are glad to answer your questions and provide legal guidance.
C.E. Borman & Associates is a law firm that helps people with estate planning, probate, family law, divorce and other related issues.