text:
The shell disability management program: A five-year evaluation of the impact on absenteeism and return-on-investment
Judy K. Wendt, Shan P. Tsai, Faiyaz A. Bhojani, Derrick L. Cameron
Objective: To evaluate the impact of the Shell Disability Management Program (DMP) on U.S. manufacturing employee absenteeism. Methods: We estimated absence episodes and days lost per employee from 2004 to 2008 compared to pre-program values in 2002, and productivity gains from transitional duty (TD). Results: Between 2002 and 2008, absence episodes/100 employees decreased from 37.4 to 25.7 among hourly workers but increased from 9.7 to 13.1 among staff employees. Days lost per employee decreased from 7.4 to 5.2 for hourly employees and were virtually unchanged for staff employees. TD resulted in 6042 days saved in 2006 and 11,438 days in 2008, with direct cost savings of more than $4.1 million from 2006 to 2008. Conclusions: The Shell DMP emphasizes absence tracking, timely return-to-work, and facilitation of TD. Absenteeism decreased significantly after DMP implementation, particularly among hourly employees, with an estimated 2.4:1 return-on-investment. Copyright 2010
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181dbc8c2
10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181dbc8c2
Dive into the research topics of 'The shell disability management program: A five-year evaluation of the impact on absenteeism and return-on-investment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Absenteeism Medicine & Life Sciences 100%
absenteeism Social Sciences 92%
Occupational Groups Medicine & Life Sciences 55%
employee Social Sciences 55%
disability Social Sciences 53%
staff Social Sciences 11%
Wendt, J. K., Tsai, S. P., Bhojani, F. A., & Cameron, D. L. (2010). The shell disability management program: A five-year evaluation of the impact on absenteeism and return-on-investment. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 52(5), 544-550. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181dbc8c2
The shell disability management program : A five-year evaluation of the impact on absenteeism and return-on-investment. / Wendt, Judy K.; Tsai, Shan P.; Bhojani, Faiyaz A. et al.
In: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 52, No. 5, 05.2010, p. 544-550.
Wendt, JK, Tsai, SP, Bhojani, FA & Cameron, DL 2010, 'The shell disability management program: A five-year evaluation of the impact on absenteeism and return-on-investment', Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol. 52, no. 5, pp. 544-550. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181dbc8c2
Wendt JK, Tsai SP, Bhojani FA, Cameron DL. The shell disability management program: A five-year evaluation of the impact on absenteeism and return-on-investment. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2010 May;52(5):544-550. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181dbc8c2
Wendt, Judy K. ; Tsai, Shan P. ; Bhojani, Faiyaz A. et al. / The shell disability management program : A five-year evaluation of the impact on absenteeism and return-on-investment. In: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2010 ; Vol. 52, No. 5. pp. 544-550.
@article{35690c7e87a943ce89df14d81bd4f8cd,
title = "The shell disability management program: A five-year evaluation of the impact on absenteeism and return-on-investment",
abstract = "Objective: To evaluate the impact of the Shell Disability Management Program (DMP) on U.S. manufacturing employee absenteeism. Methods: We estimated absence episodes and days lost per employee from 2004 to 2008 compared to pre-program values in 2002, and productivity gains from transitional duty (TD). Results: Between 2002 and 2008, absence episodes/100 employees decreased from 37.4 to 25.7 among hourly workers but increased from 9.7 to 13.1 among staff employees. Days lost per employee decreased from 7.4 to 5.2 for hourly employees and were virtually unchanged for staff employees. TD resulted in 6042 days saved in 2006 and 11,438 days in 2008, with direct cost savings of more than $4.1 million from 2006 to 2008. Conclusions: The Shell DMP emphasizes absence tracking, timely return-to-work, and facilitation of TD. Absenteeism decreased significantly after DMP implementation, particularly among hourly employees, with an estimated 2.4:1 return-on-investment. Copyright 2010",
author = "Wendt, {Judy K.} and Tsai, {Shan P.} and Bhojani, {Faiyaz A.} and Cameron, {Derrick L.}",
doi = "10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181dbc8c2",
journal = "Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine",
T1 - The shell disability management program
T2 - A five-year evaluation of the impact on absenteeism and return-on-investment
AU - Wendt, Judy K.
AU - Tsai, Shan P.
AU - Bhojani, Faiyaz A.
AU - Cameron, Derrick L.
N2 - Objective: To evaluate the impact of the Shell Disability Management Program (DMP) on U.S. manufacturing employee absenteeism. Methods: We estimated absence episodes and days lost per employee from 2004 to 2008 compared to pre-program values in 2002, and productivity gains from transitional duty (TD). Results: Between 2002 and 2008, absence episodes/100 employees decreased from 37.4 to 25.7 among hourly workers but increased from 9.7 to 13.1 among staff employees. Days lost per employee decreased from 7.4 to 5.2 for hourly employees and were virtually unchanged for staff employees. TD resulted in 6042 days saved in 2006 and 11,438 days in 2008, with direct cost savings of more than $4.1 million from 2006 to 2008. Conclusions: The Shell DMP emphasizes absence tracking, timely return-to-work, and facilitation of TD. Absenteeism decreased significantly after DMP implementation, particularly among hourly employees, with an estimated 2.4:1 return-on-investment. Copyright 2010
AB - Objective: To evaluate the impact of the Shell Disability Management Program (DMP) on U.S. manufacturing employee absenteeism. Methods: We estimated absence episodes and days lost per employee from 2004 to 2008 compared to pre-program values in 2002, and productivity gains from transitional duty (TD). Results: Between 2002 and 2008, absence episodes/100 employees decreased from 37.4 to 25.7 among hourly workers but increased from 9.7 to 13.1 among staff employees. Days lost per employee decreased from 7.4 to 5.2 for hourly employees and were virtually unchanged for staff employees. TD resulted in 6042 days saved in 2006 and 11,438 days in 2008, with direct cost savings of more than $4.1 million from 2006 to 2008. Conclusions: The Shell DMP emphasizes absence tracking, timely return-to-work, and facilitation of TD. Absenteeism decreased significantly after DMP implementation, particularly among hourly employees, with an estimated 2.4:1 return-on-investment. Copyright 2010
U2 - 10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181dbc8c2
DO - 10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181dbc8c2
JO - Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JF - Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine


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#### According to
Index Fungorum

#### Published in
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#### Original name
Omphalia minutissima Henn.

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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Soybean seeds are non-sterile and their bacterial population interferes with the enumeration of beneficial bacteria, making it difficult to assess survival under different conditions. Within this context, the principal aims of this work were: (1) to improve a selective media for the enumeration of B. japonicum recovered from inoculated soybean seeds; (2) to establish the most representative mathematical function for B. japonicum mortality on soybean seeds after inoculation; (3) to evaluate if environmental or physiological conditions modify B. japonicum mortality on soybean seeds; and (4) to create a new protocol for quality control of soybean inoculants. We successfully evaluated the combination of pentachloronitrobenzene and vancomycin added to the yeast-mannitol medium to inhibit most fungi and Gram-positive soybean microbiota, thus producing reliable counts of B. japonicum from inoculated soybean seeds. Percentages of recovery and survival factors were obtained and used to construct a two-phase exponential decay non-linear regression function. High temperature and desiccation decreased these parameters, while the optimization of temperature and the use of osmoprotective compounds with inoculants increased them. The use of this protocol minimized heterogeneity between experiments and may be considered more reliable than the simple expression of direct colony count of bacteria recovered from seeds.
Soybeans [Glycine max L. (Merr.)] are one of the major crops in grain-producing countries worldwide. Particularly in Argentina, production for 2010 has been estimated in about 50.0 million tons, which represents 7 percent less than the record of 54.0 million tons covering a production area of 18.0 million hectares (USDA, 2010). Improved crop productivity has been associated with different practices, such as the incorporation of agronomical, physical, chemical or biological technologies. The use of mineral fertilizers has been subordinated to biological fertilization, principally due to its economical and environmental advantages (Adesemoye and Kloepper, 2009). Inoculation with symbiotic nitrogen-fixing Bradyrhizobiaceae bacteria has become a simple and effective way to significantly improve soybean yield and productivity. Within the genus Bradyrhizobium, B. japonicum is the best example of successful symbiotic fixation under very large scale field conditions. Therefore, B. japonicum has been successfully incorporated as the active principle of soybean inoculants in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, USA, Canada and other producing countries worldwide in the last 30 years.
Inoculant improvement has been associated to more effective methods to evaluate the quality of bacterial formulations (inoculants) (Tong and Sadowsky, 1994), as well as those related with the isolation, identification and enumeration of bacteria in carriers, seeds, soil and plants. Thus, the enumeration of B. japonicum could be considered the most essential method used for defining the soybean inoculants quality, even before the evaluation of activity under experimental field conditions.
Currently B. japonicum enumeration in liquid formulation currently includes several methods; however, the most probable-number plant infection method (MPN) proposed by Vincent (1970), and the direct colony-forming unit (CFU) counting on agar plates proposed by Somasegaran and Hoben (1994) are still the most frequently used methods in several laboratories worldwide.
Several discrepancies between viable counts and the field efficacy of the inoculants have been reviewed by Catroux et al. (2001). Results as cfu.ml-1 counting only represent the theoretical maximum provided by the inoculants under field conditions. Some sub-lethally damaged bacteria may survive under optimal growth conditions (e.g. culture medium), but not on seed or soil. On the other hand, the agronomical behavior of soybean inoculants under field conditions show a solid tendency in different reports that lead to assume that "when the number of viable rhizobia by seed increases, nodulation and yield are improved", as proposed by Brockwell et al. (1988). According to Weaver and Frederick (1972) more than 105 B. japonicum cells provided per seed are required to obtain the maximum number of nodules on the tap root. Similarly, Obaton and Rollier (1970) reported an increase in soybean yield in field conditions when the inoculation rate increased to 106 bacteria inoculated per seed. In other experiments, Hume and Blair (1992) reported that the effect on soybean yield could vary by the dilution of the same inoculant or the inoculation with different number of B. japonicum cells.
Therefore, both the cell number and the bacterial physiological state could be responsible for improving inoculant functionality and soybean productivity in agronomic conditions. Despite this fact there are no published reports that correlate a mathematical function with B. japonicum death from inoculated soybean seeds. For that reason, it is mandatory to find a more trustworthy reproducible method, than direct cell counting and simpler than the MPN plant assay, which would allow a more consistent way to evaluate bradyrhizobia cell numbers after inoculation. In this direction, the number of viable bradyrhizobia provided per seed counted on selective media agar plates could be considered the best method. However, its use may be impaired because soybean seeds under actual field growing conditions are obviously non-sterile and the bacterial or fungal seed microbiota normally interferes with the counting, which implies that bradyrhizobia cell enumeration is normally more difficult starting from non-sterile seeds than from inoculants during quality control procedures (Hiltbold et al., 1980).
Our hypothesis proposes that Bradyrhizobium cells applied on soybean seeds during inoculation, die according to a mathematical function, and this phenomenon plus the selection of specific culture conditions could be useful to establish a trustworthy counting method for bradyrhizobia from seeds, and to design a new protocol for inoculant quality control. The aims of this work were: (1) to improve a selective media for the enumeration of B. japonicum obtained from inoculated soybean seeds; (2) to establish the most representative mathematical function for B. japonicum mortality on soybean seeds after inoculation; (3) to evaluate if some environmental or physiological conditions may modify B. japonicum mortality or survival capacity on soybean seeds; and (4) to propose a reliable method for quality control evaluation of soybean inoculants.
Table 1 enumerates the 16 strains used in this work that belong to different species with a well-documented history of use as rhizobial inoculants in the Americas. They were obtained either from R. Stewart Smith from Merck Crop Bioscience, Winsconsin, USA (currently deposited in CCM-A WDCM29, Colección de Cultivos Microbianos, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquimica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina) or provided by IMYZA-WDCM31, Instituto de Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola, Castelar, Argentina.
Bacterial nomenclature, origin and vancomycin minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) corresponding to 16 Rhizobiales strains selected for this work. The MIC methodology was performed according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommendations.
The standard selective medium Yeast Extract-Mannitol (YEM) proposed by Vincent et al. (1970) and modified by the simultaneous addition of pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB) and vancomicyn was herein evaluated. The YEM base medium contained (g.l-1): mannitol (10.0); K2HPO4 (0.5); yeast extract (0.5); MgSO4.7H2O, (0.2); NaCl (0.007) and Congo Red (0.04). All strains were initially evaluated by their ability to grow on YEM agar media modified by the addition of PCNB, named P-YEM. This compound was initially solubilized in 98% ethanol, sterilized using 0.2 μm filters, added to 45°C YEM medium, and homogenized to obtain a final concentration of 0,2 g.l-1 of PCNB into the P-YEM medium. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of vancomycin were determined using the general protocol recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI, 2008). Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is defined as the lowest concentration of an antimicrobial that will inhibit the visible growth of a microorganism after overnight incubation in a defined culture medium, which in this case was modified to fit nutritional and growth characteristics of rhizobia. For that purpose, vancomycin (Laboratorios Richet S.A, Argentina) was added to the YEM medium to obtain 16, 8, 4, 2, 1, 0.5, 0.25 and 0.125 mg.l-1 of antibiotic in the V-YEM medium. B. japonicum was inoculated at 104 cfu.tube-1 by means of a Steers multinoculator (Dynatech Laboratories, Inc. Alexandria) and incubated at 30°C during 7 days. Finally, the P-YEM medium was modified by the addition of 1 mg.l-1 of vancomycin to obtain the final medium, named PV-YEM.
One thousand grams of soybean seed (cv. Don Mario 4870) samples previously equilibrated at 30°C were individually inoculated with 3.0 ml of stationary YEM culture medium of B. japonicum strain 61A273 and maintained at the same temperature during 5, 15 and 30 min; 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 18 and 24 hours until evaluation. At each selected time, bacterial counts were performed using a sub-sample of 100 seeds rinsed and soaked in 250 ml Erlenmeyer flasks containing 100 ml sterile saline solution and using a Variomag Poly magnetic stirrer 15 (Thermo Fischer Scientific, Kansas) at 450-500 rpm during 15 minutes. After that, decimal dilutions were performed in 20 ml tubes containing 9 ml of saline solution until 10-4. Finally, 0.1 ml of each dilution was inoculated in triplicate on YEM agar plates containing 0.2.g.l-1 PCNB and 1.0 mg.l-1 vancomycin (PV-YEM), according to previous results of this work. Plates were incubated in an inverted position at 30°C during 7 days. Control treatments were made to discard the possible count of non-inoculated rhizobial population contaminating the seeds. Results were expressed as the recovery factor percentage (RFP) as defined in Equation 1 of the statistical analysis section. The RFP was defined as the value resulting from the number of bacteria recovered from the seeds in relation to the theoretical number of bacteria supplied by the inoculant dose used during the seed treatment (i.e. an inoculant dose of 3 ml.kg-1 soybean seeds). Bacterial cfu.ml-1 from inoculants was obtained individually each time.
Soybean seed samples representing the most widely used cultivars in Argentina during 2008-2009 (Table 2) were collected from five agronomical regions of the country with the purpose of evaluating the B. japonicum 61A273 mortality model on soybean seeds. To that end, three 1000 g samples of each cultivar were used and processed as previously described. In all cases, untreated controls were performed to discard the counting of native rhizobial population on seeds.
To evaluate the effect of variable seed storage conditions on B. japonicum mortality, soybean seeds of a single commercial cultivar (cv. Don Mario 4870) were inoculated with similar doses (3 ml.kg-1) and physiological conditions to those of the B. japonicum strain 61A273 culture in stationary growth phase, and maintained at three decreasing temperatures: 30°C, 20°C and 10°C during 5, 15 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h,3 h, 4 h, 6 h, 18 h and 24 h until evaluation. All results were informed as recovery factor percentages (RFP).
We evaluated B. japonicum mortality according to the variation of three agronomic parameters: (1) seed cultivars; (2) bacterial culture (inoculant) and (3) use of additive compounds during the inoculation process. For that purpose, B. japonicum strains 61A273 obtained from different production lots were inoculated in similar doses (3.0 ml.kg-1) into two commercial cultivars of soybean seeds Don Mario 4870 and 3810-pb with or without addition of 0.3 ml.kg-1of 80% sucrose solution as bacterial protector. All treatments are described in Table 3. Results were informed as recovery factor percentages (RFP) and direct bacterial count of B. japonicum.
R4: cfu.seed-1 4 hours after inoculation; R0: cfu.seed-1 theoretically provided by inoculant; RFP: Recovery Factor (%).
(***) bacterial counting in inoculant used for cv. 4870: sample 1 (3.04 109 cfu.ml-1); sample 2 (2.32.109 cfu.ml-1); sample 3 (2.03.109 cfu.ml-1).bacterial counting in inoculant used for cv. 3810-pb: sample 1 (5.3 109 cfu.ml-1); 3810-prebásica sample 2 (5.0 109 cfu.ml-1).
For evaluation of B. japonicum mortality on inoculated and commercial soybean seed experiments, three independent determinations were performed in triplicate for each treatment. For evaluation of rhizobial survival under different seed storage conditions and influence of each individual component of the inoculation process, all treatments were run in triplicate in a single experiment.
The recovery factor percentages (RFPs) were calculated using Equation 1. For the mathematical function analysis, RFPs were adjusted to a two-phase exponential decay non-linear regression function (p < 0.05) with the use of Prism 4.0 software as described by Equation 2.
Plateau: Y value at infinite times, expressed in the same units as Y; KFast and KSlow are the two rate constants, expressed in reciprocal of the X axis time units (If X is in minutes, then K is expressed in inverse minutes); SpanFast and SpanSlow are the two time constants expressed in the same units as the X axis (They are calculated as the reciprocals of the rate constants).
Based on the vancomycin minimal inhibitory concentrations obtained for all evaluated strains summarized in Table 1, it was decided to add 1 mg.l-1 of vancomycin to the P-YEM medium. Considering the whole population of samples analyzed during the experiments, which were mostly obtained from different soybean cultivars and regions of Argentina, it was found that the PV-YEM medium showed ability to prevent the growth of Gram-positive microbiota and fungi when compared with the YEM base media, and this fact improved the efficiency of bradyrhizobial count on soybean seeds. There were no significant differences in relation to B. japonicum's ability to grow on PV-YEM agar plates, (5.4; 5.1 and 5.2 109 cfu.ml-1) compared with the YEM base media (5.3 109 cfu.ml-1). To illustrate this fact, Figure 1 shows the presence of B. japonicum cells recovered from soybean seeds by using the PV-YEM medium, as well as the inhibition of soybean seed microbiota when using the YEM base formulation.
Direct plate countof B. japonicum. Direct plate count of B. japonicum strain 61A273 recovered from non-sterilized and inoculated (dose: 3 ml.kg-1) soybean seeds. Photography illustrates the colony types of bradyrhizobia cells (1) and several non-bradyrhizobia cells (2) recovered from the 10-4 dilution and inoculated into the YEM and PV-YEM media as described in material and methods.
Recovery factors (RFP) obtained by the inoculation of B. japonicum strain 61A273 into commercial soybean seeds (Table 2) are described in Figure 2. The number of recovered bradyrhizobia measured as RFPs decayed abruptly from an average of 29% to 10%, until the start of a plateau 4 hours after inoculation (Figure 2). The RFP values obtained before the plateau were very variable and absolutely dependent on each sample processing time, with high variations in a short period of time. After 4-6 hours and until 24 hours, the percentage of recovered cells was stable and only presented minor variations. In our experiments, RFP was around 10%.
Mortality of B. japonicum. Exponential decay function generated with recovery factor percentage (RFP) at increasing incubation time after inoculation with B. japonicum strain 61A273 on commercial soybean seeds (Table 2), previously equilibrated at 30°C. Values shown are mean ± SD.
In our experiments, as a result of the temperature range from 10°C to 30°C (that may represent extreme inoculation conditions, ranging from the low temperatures at which seeds are exposed in Canada to late planting time in more template regions) at planting time, the number of recovered bradyrhizobia as RFP at 4-6 hours after inoculation decayed abruptly at 30°C rather than at 20°C or 10°C, respectively (Figure 3). The high incubation temperature stabilized at 9.2% at 4 hours and finally reached the minimal of 5.2% at 18 hours. At 20°C, it stabilized at 13.4% and reached the minimal at 10.2%. Finally, at 10°C, stabilization was reached at 26% and the minimal value at 23.6%.
Temperature effect on B. japonicum mortality. Exponential decay function of recovery factor percentage (RFP) at increasing incubation times and at incubation temperatures of 10°C, 20°C and 30°C, after inoculation with B. japonicum strain 61A273 on soybean seeds cv. Don Mario 4870. Values shown are mean ± SD.
Table 3 shows the versatility of the proposed protocol under several experimental conditions. During evaluation of the same inoculant and seed samples, exemplified by cv. 4870, no significant differences were obtained at RFPs. On the other hand, compared with cv. 4870, the influence of different seed cultivars, exemplified by cv. 3810-pb, but treated with the same inoculant, significantly modified the RFPs. Comparisons could be made by the addition of an 80% sucrose (w/v) solution together with the seed inoculant. In this case, the addition of the sucrose solution reverted, at least partially, the mortality of B. japonicum on seeds, measured as RFPs during the first 4 hours after inoculation.
The inoculation of plants with beneficial bacteria can be traced back for centuries (Bashan, 1998). By the end of the 19th century, the practice of mixing "naturally inoculated" soil with seeds became a recommended method of legume inoculation in the USA (Smith, 1992). A decade later, the first patent for plant inoculation with Rhizobium sp was registered. (Nobbe and Hiltner, 1896). The practice of soybean inoculation with Bradyrhizobium sp. became common and economically recommended in many producer countries. In Argentina and many South American countries, soybeans [Glycine max (Merr.) L.] are commonly not fertilized but only inoculated with nitrogen. In 2010, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay produced more than 20 million hectares of soybeans, almost 16 million of which (more than 80%) were inoculated with products generated by more than 100 companies with common market.
Bacterial counts on non-selective media are a routine quality control procedure for defining a basic threshold in inoculant quality control. Those inoculants that do not fulfill the requested bacterial numbers are discarded in compliance with different regulations (country dependent). These counts are easily performed, even by small, non-specialized microbiology laboratories when inoculants only contain the desired rhizobial population, that is, when inoculants are formulated in a sterile carrier. However, most inoculants are finally applied on non-sterile material like seeds or even directly on the soil. Once there, rhizobial enumeration is a non-reproducible task, due to the presence of Gram-positive bacteria and fungi in variable numbers that may interfere with their direct growth, as in the case of fast growers, or by the synthesis and secretion of toxic compounds, which make comparisons among different formulations for on-seed survival very difficult to achieve, thus delaying better formulation developments.
Some selective agents have been previously used for selective enumeration of Rhizobium and Bradyrhizobium sp. from soils and non-sterile inoculants. Selective agents included antibiotics, heavy metals, dyes and metabolic inhibitors (Danso et al, 1973; Graham, 1969; Thompson, 1967; Van Schreven, 1970). Pattison and Skinner (1974) reported a formulation that contained pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB), brilliant green (BG), sodium azide, crystal violet, and penicillin. Gómez et al. (1995) proposed two selective media for the enumeration of B. japonicum from soybean inoculants (at that time mostly using non-sterile peat as carrier) containing tetracycline, rifampicin and chloramphenicol to control bacteria and cycloheximide and pimafucin to control fungal contaminants. In our study, most fungal contamination could be prevented by using previously reported PCNB concentrations on the YEM base medium (P-YEM). However, the presence of large mucoid colonies of some gram-positive bacilli after one week incubation prevented in most cases the differentiation and enumeration of typical rhizobium colonies. Our use of the combined PV-YEM medium allowed a significant improvement in the efficiency of on-seed rhizobial enumeration as it effectively prevented the growth of Gram-positive bacteria and fungi (Figure 1).
As already stated, one of the major problems following soybean inoculation is fast bacterial death (Salema et al., 1982; Streeter, 2003). The seed storage temperature after inoculation is empirically considered the most important parameter related to rhizobial survival after seed treatment (Vriezen et al., 2005, 2006; Kremer and Peterson 1983). Moreover, temperature also directly affects the inoculated population desiccation rate generating a second stress condition (Streeter 2003 and 2007). Salinity and seed coat toxicity stress (Deaker et al., 2004) have a strong influence on bacterial survival; however, temperature and the consequent desiccation rate have been the major predicted cause of bacteria injury on seeds. Nevertheless, only few studies have involved the actual analysis of seed survival, perhaps due to contamination problems (Vincent et al., 1962; Bushby and Marshall, 1977; Jansen van Rensburg and Strijdom, 1980; Mary et al., 1986; Cliquet and Catroux, 2001, Kosanke et al., 1992; Vriezen et al., 2006). According to our results, seed storage after inoculation should be recommended at a temperature below 30°C and preferably below 20°C. We propose a survival factor percentage (SFP) defined as a single time parameter resulting from the number of bacteria recovered from seeds after the mortality function reached the plateau for decay, which in some way means when the survival bacterial population stabilized on seeds after inoculation. In our experiments, SFPs were defined 4 hours after inoculation. However, for research and development purposes, we suggest standardizing SFPs at 30°C, as these may reduce the time required for product (or product variation) analysis.
Any plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB), including rhizobial survival on the seed surface, is usually lower than on solid carriers such as peat, vermiculite or alginate (Bashan et al., 2002) due to the lack of protection against desiccation, and/or toxic compounds present on the seed coat (Burton 1972, 1968). Even if an increase of provided B. japonicum cells improves the nodulation process, plant nitrogen assimilation and grain yield in laboratory conditions (Papakosta, 1992), bacterial physiological state and its resistance to environmental stress may also be critical for its survival on seed and field conditions (Streeter 2007). Roughley et al. (1993) reported a high mortality of Bradyrhizobium sp. after the inoculation of lupine seeds, decreasing by a factor of 10 after one hour, of one hundred after four hours and more than one thousand after one day on the seeds. Similar results were presented by Catroux et al. (1996) in B. japonicum inoculated soybean seeds. The microorganism population recovery from inoculated soybean seeds (as a whole) may be extremely heterogeneous when expressed as cfu.seed-1, depending on the two components, inoculants and seeds. In the case of inoculants, the major variation sources are the formulation, the presence of some osmoprotectant (e.g. sucrose or carboximethylcellulose), the number of viable microorganisms per volume unit and the recommended doses. In the case of seeds, normally the genotype, the size and the total surface of each grain, storage conditions, aw, integrity of teguments and mechanical damage can be easily mentioned. Due to all these complex variables, comparison of inoculation treatments (that is, a stated seed A with a stated inoculant A vs another seed B with an inoculant B combination) is frequently misleading.
Our use of relative values like RFPs or SFPs helps dissect the simplest questions, keeping others under the control state, and may even help compare experiments separated in time (Table 3, Figure 2).
The primary benefit of bacterial biological nitrogen (N2) fixation in grain and forage legumes is the enhancement of yield potentials decreasing the use of exogenous fertilizers. This ability had resulted in commercial legume inoculant production facilities worldwide (Brockwell and Bottomley, 1995). Unfortunately, the widespread availability of legume and other related inoculants had not resulted efficiently equal at level of development of quality control standards protocols. Many countries, including Australia, the Netherlands, Rwanda, Thailand and Russia (Smith, 1992; Marufu et al., 1995) have legislated requirements for minimum populations of target organisms and contaminants per weight unit of inoculants. Canada and France have legislated on product quality by defining the number of viable Rhizobium/Bradyrhizobium required (provided) per seed, or a rate of application, for a full range of crops. The United States and United Kingdom leave the issue on product quality and rates of application at the manufacturer's discretion (Smith, 1992). In Argentina, Brazil and other South American countries actual regulations are insufficient to put pressure on local companies to improve the quality of their products. The lack of internationally accepted regulations for legume inoculant quality and usage parameters has led, on many occasions to inadequate inoculant performance and to the subsequent abandonment of their use. To reverse this trend, a complementary method for soybean inoculant quality control was herein proposed. We improved a selective media for the enumeration of B. japonicum from inoculated soybean seeds, established the most representative mathematical function for B. japonicum mortality on soybean seeds after inoculation and generated Recovery and Survival Factor Percentages as novel tools for inoculant quality control.
Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT), Secretaría de Ciencia y Técnica de la Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto (SECyT-UNRC) and Merck Crop Bioscience Argentina SA for their support in this research. Dr. Gabriel Gutkind and Fabricio Cassán are members of carrera del Investigador Científico del Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET).


text:
White House Custom Colour (WHCC) Agrees To Acquire New Canon DreamLabo 5000 Production Inkjet Printer To Expand Its Photographic Offerings
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. - February 21, 2012 - Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today announced that White House Custom Colour (WHCC), a Minneapolis/St.Paul-based professional-photography lab, has entered into a letter of intent to purchase the first DreamLabo 5000 production inkjet printer sold in the U.S.. WHCC will use the DreamLabo 5000 to support high-end applications for the needs of its core customers: professional photographers throughout the United States.
Since opening in the late 1970s, WHCC has strived to offer its clients innovative solutions for meeting their photo-printing needs. It was one of the first photo labs in the country to completely transition from analog to digital technology, and is renowned for the production of premium photo books and albums, photo prints and wall display products.
"The WHCC name and reputation is prestigious in the photo production industry with professional photographers," said Sam Yoshida, vice president and general manager, Marketing, Business Imaging Solutions Group, Canon U.S.A. "WHCC is well known for delivering extremely high-end, professional-quality output differentiating them by being early adopter of new innovations in their field."
"We are looking forward to the expanded applications which the DreamLabo 5000 will allow WHCC to offer to our clients." said Chris Hanline, Co-Owner & CTO of WHCC. "We are excited about the ability to produce high quality images through this innovative and productive inkjet printer."
The Canon DreamLabo 5000 production inkjet printer will offer the retail photo printing and high-end print-on-demand (POD) markets optimal performance and productivity. Its integration of FINE (Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) print-head technology is designed to offer exceptional photo and text quality. The printer also offers an alternative to traditional silver halide processing technology, coupling its strengths with the advantages of inkjet printing. The DreamLabo 5000 Printer features automatic double-sided printing, which is especially convenient when printing photo albums and on-demand two-sided documents. It requires only 72 seconds1 to print a 20- page A4 size photo album. The DreamLabo 5000 is expected to be available for delivery in mid 2012. For more information on the DreamLabo 5000 production inkjet printer, please visit:
http://usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/list/production-printing/production-photo-inkjet/production-photo-inkjet
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. With $45.6 billion in 2011 global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), ranks third overall in patent holdings in the U.S. in 2011†, and is one of Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies in 2011. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.
About White House Custom Colour
Based in Eagan, Minnesota, White House Custom Colour (WHCC) is a full service, professional photographic and press printer, offering complete lines of photographic prints on professional papers, finishing services and press printed greeting cards, products, books & albums. Founded in 1977, WHCC has grown to become a one-stop digital printing solutions provider for professional portrait and wedding photographers worldwide. WHCC operates satellite photographic and press printing facilities in Dallas, Texas and Fresno, California. For more information, visit www.whcc.com.
1 Calculated speed rating does not include processing time and is based on double-sided printing of ten full-bleed A4 (8.27" x 11.69") sheets. A complete Photo Album or POD production requires a separate bookbinding process, not included in this time.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


After garnering an average of 1.47 during her first trimester at the Treston International College, Alexa Ilacad proudly shared her certificate of recognition awarded earlier this month for her academic efforts. She wrote, "Sharing this proud moment of mine because it may not happen again! 🏻 Your girl's a dean lister!! Hard work (and continuous prayer) really does pay off. 🥰 Nice one, self!" Alexa is currently a freshman at Treston's School of Business and Technology. She graduated high school from the same college last year.


Proxxon milling cutters made from tungsten vanadium steel. Ideal for precision freehand work, carving, shaping etc. Various shapes. Will cut hard and soft woods, non-ferrous metals, plastics and plaster of paris.


text:
UPDATE -- Component Changes Made to Dow Jones Brazil Titans 20 ADR and Dow Jones Emerging Markets Consumer Services Titans 30 Indexes
Oct. 13, 2010, 9:16 PM UTC / Source: GlobeNewswire
NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Please note the following correction to a press release issued on Tuesday, October 12, 2010: In the Dow Jones Brazil Titans 20 ADR Index, Companhia Paranaense de Energia-COPEL ADS (Brazil, Utilities, ELP) will replace Net Servicos de Comunicacao S/A (Brazil, Media, NETC) not Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo S/A ADS (Brazil, Telecommunications, TSP) as previously stated. The updated release follows:
Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced component changes in the Dow Jones Brazil Titans 20 ADR and Dow Jones Emerging Markets Consumer Services Titans 30indexes.
In the Dow Jones Brazil Titans 20 ADR Index, Net Servicos de Comunicacao S/A (Brazil, Media, NETC) will be replaced by Companhia Paranaense de Energia-COPEL ADS (Brazil, Utilities, ELP).
In the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Consumer Services Titans 30 Index,Net Servicos de Comunicacao S/A (Brazil, Media, NETC4.BR) will be replaced by Turk Hava Yollari A.O. (Turkey, Travel & Leisure, THYAO.IS).
Net Servicos de Comunicacao S/A (Brazil, Media, NETC; NETC4.BR) is being removed due to its acquisition by Embratel Participacoes S/A (Brazil, EBTP4.BR). All changes will be effective before the open of trading on Friday, October 15, 2010.
Further information on the Dow Jones Brazil Titans 20 ADR and Dow Jones Emerging Markets Consumer ServicesTitans 30 indexes can be found at .
Company additions to and deletions from the Dow Jones Brazil Titans 20 ADR and Dow Jones Emerging Markets Consumer ServicesTitans 30 indexes do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the company.
Journalists may e-mail questions regarding this press release to PR-Indexes@dowjones.com or call one of the Dow Jones Indexes press offices.
Note to Editors:
About Dow Jones Indexes
Dow Jones Indexes ( www.djindexes.com ) is a leading full-service index provider that develops, maintains and licenses indexes for use as benchmarks and as the basis of investment products. Best-known for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones Indexes offers more than 130,000 equity indexes as well as fixed-income and alternative indexes, including measures of hedge funds, commodities and real estate. Dow Jones Indexes employs clear, unbiased and systematic methodologies that are fully integrated within index families. Dow Jones Indexes is the marketing name for CME Group Index Services LLC, a joint venture company which is owned 90 percent by CME Group Inc. ( www.cmegroup.com ) and 10 percent by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. ( www.dowjones.com ), a News Corporation company (Nasdaq:NWS) (Nasdaq:NWSA); (ASX:NWS) (ASX:NWSLV); ().
The Dow Jones Indexes logo is available at
"Dow Jones®", "Dow Jones Indexes", "Dow Jones Titans Indexes" and all other index names listed above are service marks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC ("Dow Jones"), and have been licensed for use by CME Group Index Services LLC ("CME Indexes"). Investment products based on the Dow Jones Brazil Titans 20 ADRand Dow Jones Emerging Markets Consumer Services Titans 30 Indexes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Dow Jones, CME Indexes or their respective affiliates and none of Dow Jones, CME Indexes and their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. Inclusion of a company in any of the Dow Jones Brazil Titans 20 ADR and Dow Jones Emerging Markets Consumer Services Titans 30 Indexes does not in any way reflect an opinion of Dow Jones, CME Indexes or any of their respective affiliates on the investment merits of such company. None of Dow Jones, CME Indexes or any of their respective affiliates is providing investment advice in connection with these indexes.
CONTACT: Dow Jones Indexes New York: +1-212-597-5720 London: +44-20-7796-7247 Frankfurt: +49-69-29725-290 Hong Kong: +852-800-969-336 Singapore: +65-6-4154-299


Welcome to our photo gallery where you will find samples of our craftsmanship. Click an image to enlarge into a new tab or window. All of the images found on this page are of real projects we have completed. We do not display stock photography or concept art in our gallery. These pictures come from a wide range of projects but do not represent all of our previous work. We invite satisfied customers to submit any images they wish to share of their completed projects to appear in this gallery.
All images are the property of their respected owners and/or Corbin's Custom Design and are applicable to standing copyrights. All of the images that appear on this page are of projects completed by Corbin's Custom Design, LLC. If you find any image on this page is in violation of copyright law or appears without proper consent, please contact us and we will remove the offending image.


M: So, babe...give me the basics! Name, age, who the heck are ya?
R: Like, my full name? Really? Ryan Matthew Holguin, I'm 21. About to be 22 on March 19th, so be thinking of a gift.
M: Always with the jokes. What is your favorite thing to do in the whole entire world? Like favorite thing ever ever?
R: Hangout with my wife. On rainy Saturdays.
M: What a charmer ;) Where do you see yourself and our family in ten years?
R: Ooo. I see us definitely in Portland. Me being a cop and you staying at home taking care of...hopefully Porter is still alive...possibly a new dog...and our...in ten years? I think we'll have at least four kids. Taking care of our four kids. Livin' the dream.
M: What's your favorite color?
M: If you could change ONE thing about your wife, what would it be?
R: If I could change anything about my wife? I would change...her radio station in her car. To anything but country.
R: Pizza and nachos. Not together, though.
M: Explain your family: names, ages, etc.
R: I honestly don't know all their ages. My dad, Sammy, he's 45, I think. My mom's name is Adela, I think she's 42. My oldest brother, Sammy Jr. is 27, I think. And his wife Stephanie, 28. They have 5 kids: Alize, Alyssa, Ethan, Alexis, Noah. Marcus, another older brother, he's 23. Then there's me, and my younger sister Alyssa, 17. Then there's Thomas, who is 11.
M: What is your dream vacation?
R: My dream vacation would be my dream staycation in Portland, Oregon.
M: What is your favorite thing about your wife?
R: My favorite thing about my wife? That she's married to me.
M: In your own words, why do I have Hello Sweet Cheer? What does it mean to me?
R: The reason you have Hello Sweet Cheer? I remember us talking about it at Starbucks a long time ago, when you didn't want the name I gave you. And you picked it if I can remember correctly, because the blog is describing who you are, hence the 'hello'. You're very sweet and life is sweet and Jesus is sweet, hence the 'sweet'. The blog is not always happy but because Jesus is sweet, he gives you 'cheer', and joy and peace. I think it means to you kind of what music means to me, where you're able to...it's not escaping life but [being able] to express life in a way where people are able to hear what you're saying without any interruption. It's a way for you to relax which is something you need after a long day of work, or week of work depending on when you choose to write.
picture on instagram which you can access HERE.
Well, there you have it, friends! A little about my hubby and a little about me through the lens of my hubby! Have a wonderful weekend.
eeps! so cute. :) love that he supports your blog and that he takes time to do this! many husbands/boyfriends I know stay off the blog. They either have initials or small cameos. so kudos. you guys are adorable! can't wait for 10 years later. that seems like a great life. hopefully you'll still be blogging then. AND come to houston so you can teach me how to chalkboard art. kthanks!


text:
Q: Best way to test creating new project in project manager app In my app I am testing creating a new project. Currently I do it with integration test using rspec. Here's my code:
  3 describe "Projects" do
  4   describe "create project" do
  5     it "should create a new project" do
  6       lambda do
  7         visit root_path
  8         click_link 'new project'
  9         fill_in :name, :with => 'Project name'
 10         fill_in :description, :with => 'This is a description'
 11         click_button 'Create'
 12       end.should change(Project, :count).by(1)
 13     end
 14   end
 15 end

I would also like to add after line 11 something like :
response.should render_template 'new'

...but I keep getting this error
@request must be an ActionDispatch::Request

Am I doing this right? What is the best practice?

A: current_path.should == new_project_path
page.should have_selector('div#error_explanation')

According to this https://stackoverflow.com/a/9105371/724036

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


At Fido in Alberta you can buy the Galaxy S10e for a price of $0 with any ot these plans.
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Hi. I have enabled that only when order is complete, it is available to sellers for withdraw.
The option Withdraw Threshold, it will count X days after the order is complete or after the order is posted?
The topic 'Withdraw Threshold' is closed to new replies.


Archives|BRYAN WALKS IN ON A MEETING HERE; Unexpectedly Addresses the Child Welfare Conference at the Biltmore. CITY'S CONTRIBUTION TOLD New York Spent $4,760,000 for Widows' Allowances in 1924, Says Father Courtney.
BRYAN WALKS IN ON A MEETING HERE; Unexpectedly Addresses the Child Welfare Conference at the Biltmore. CITY'S CONTRIBUTION TOLD New York Spent $4,760,000 for Widows' Allowances in 1924, Says Father Courtney.


cleaning or putting groceries away. The equipment should be established so they continue to be easily accessible without being in your way. You should choose the best place for your fridge, your cooker, your sink and the other features you will need in your kitchen.
More Eye Catching » Being able to easily undertake your kitchen will greatly reduce the potential risks of injuries and make using your kitchen nicer. Design the storage areas and that means you can find pots, pans and other food preparation utensils and never have to go definately not the stove. Use hooks or drawer separators to make organizing your kitchen easier.
More Eye Catching » It's also advisable to spend time on the light in your kitchen. Proper lamps can really bring life to the room. Counter top equipment and lighting are popular in current kitchen designs. You can complete the remodeling of your kitchen insurance firms new floor coverings installed. Choose flooring that will reduce the risks of slipping in the event you spill water on to the floor.


text:
Future of work isn't just elite chatter
The anti-elite, pocketbook campaigns of Doug Ford and others are doing a great disservice to citizens. We need to talk about how jobs are changing.
Jennifer Ditchburn
In the political honeymoon days for the Liberals following the 2015 election, CBC's The National did a pretty cool TV experiment where they let individual Canadians interview Justin Trudeau. One of those interviews was done by a struggling worker from the London, ON area named Neil Piercey. Piercey told Trudeau that he had lost his good manufacturing job years earlier when the company pulled up stakes and left for Mexico. He had used up his RRSP savings to pay his mortgage and was working at a low-paying job.
"Certain jobs you just can't apply for," Piercey told the PM. "I can't go and intern. I can't go and apply for certain jobs…It's not easy. If there are no more manufacturing jobs, and that's mostly my experience all my life, where am I supposed to go?"
Of course, Trudeau didn't offer any great answers. He said a few things about talking to big international companies about setting up shop in Canada, and about improving the Canada Pension Plan.
According to my new premier Doug Ford's campaign trail promises, the solutions to the province's problems lie in keeping money in taxpayers' pocketbooks, including making gas cheaper and giving minimum-wage-earners like Piercey a break on paying taxes. It's a well-worn 1980s-era cassette that gets hauled out every four years by one politician or another.
Ford, and many politicians before him, campaigned against "out-of-touch" elites and picked up on peoples' sense that the overall government system was rigged to ignore people like Neil Piercey. Stephen Harper liked to campaign against the media, academics and bureaucrats, and the message resonated. I don't have to review what happened in the United States.
But the anti-elite themes and the pocketbook promises that inevitably go with them are doing a great disservice to Ontarians in 2018, even if the approach seems to work quite well for the politicians come election time.
A buck a beer, "No carbon taxes!" and cheaper gas all sound lovely, but what do you really do about people who trained for jobs that no longer exist? How will you ensure that high school kids in Timmins and Kenora and Perth are learning the skills that match with the labour market, which is constantly going through convulsions and revolutions? Offer them a cheap Coors Light?
The future of work, education and skills training are neither elite nor liberal issues.
A 2017 study of the impact of robots on German jobs shows that while workers managed to shift to the new types of employment (note that German firms and unions work together on reskilling, unlike ours), robots ultimately had a negative impact on wages. The authors also find that it was harder for new workers to get jobs, and this is another factor contributing to the threat of rising inequality due to technological change being discussed around the world.
The international consulting firm BDO earlier this year predicted that robots would replace 50 percent of mining jobs by 2020, a trend directly relevant to many Ontario workers. A recent report by the McKinsey Global Institute on the impact of automation estimated that up to one-third of the workforce in advanced economies will need to reskill and find new work.
Cutting business taxes, slowing down the minimum wage hike, and slashing red tape, which Ford promised, also sound logical, because helping entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses will create more jobs.
But what about some of the more complex challenges facing business in Ontario and Canada, such as the shortage of venture capital for scaling up innovative new ideas, the need to protect Canadian intellectual property overseas, the shortages of skilled workers for cutting-edge jobs, the decline in business research and development? How do you encourage companies to innovate, to go digital, so they can compete globally? What happens to people living in outlying and rural areas when the good new jobs cluster in the big centres?
As the Munk School's David Wolfe recently wrote of the world's new "platform economy," "What we sell in the future. . .may be fewer hard goods, and more intelligent software with a myriad of applications in business and consumer markets."
Ontarians aren't stupid — they see what is unfolding. At the grocery store, there are fewer workers; every day more of the checkout lanes are run by machines. Ditto for the warehouses.
Ontarians aren't stupid — they see what is unfolding. At the grocery store, there are fewer workers; every day more of the checkout lanes are run by machines. Ditto for the warehouses. The taxis have been replaced with Uber and Lyft drivers. Many workers (roughly half of them in the Greater Toronto Area) are in precarious work situations and don't have the benefits workers used to have. There is more and more talk about trucking jobs going extinct. Nobody's quite sure what to take at college or university.
And here's the thing about anti-elite campaigns: the elites are going to make out just fine. The cover story in June's Atlantic magazine explores the "new American aristocracy," the 9.9 percent of citizens who hold most of the wealth in the country, and how it's getting increasingly difficult for the rest of the population to climb up the socio-economic ladder. Things are better in Canada, where there is more income redistribution, but intergenerational income mobility also depends on where you live in this country, as Canadian economist Miles Corak has documented.
While Ford talked about giving Ontarians beer for a buck, the elites were at their conferences. They were discussing automation, artificial intelligence, the gig economy, and how to better educate children and train workers for a labour market and marketplace that is unclear, but that will most definitely be radically different from what we know today.
Ford will find many Conservatives in Ontario's corporate sector who have first-hand knowledge of the changing job market and the rising platform economy, and he should draw from their expertise. The future of work and the changing marketplace is a conversation everyone in Ontario should join.
Photo: Ontario Premier-elect Doug Ford speaks to supporters in Toronto on June 7, 2018, after winning a majority government in the provincial election 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS, by Mark Blinch.
Jennifer Ditchburn is the editor-in-chief of Policy Options, the online magazine of the Institute for Research on Public Policy. Ditchburn spent more than two decades as a national reporter, working for The Canadian Press and for CBC National Television. She is the co-editor with Graham Fox of The Harper Factor: Assessing a Prime Minister's Policy Legacy (McGill-Queen's).


Stovall Engineering is the world's largest distributor of new surplus valves. We have over 450,000 valves in our 400,000 square foot Memphis, TN warehouse. Our $50 million inventory is in stock and ready to ship.
Stovall Engineering is also the North American Master Distributor for Davis Valve. We have $15 million in Davis valves on the floor. We ship same day over 90% of the time with no annoying expediting fees. We believe our customers expect and deserve timely shipment of their orders.


Saturday 23 July marked the 100th anniversary of former Redwood Park local John Leak being awarded the Victoria Cross.
Private John Leak. There is a framed photograph of Private Leak in the Tea Tree Gully Civic Reception.
Private Leak received the highest award for gallantry for his action during the battle of Pozières in France.
He was born in Portsmouth, England in 1892 and came to Australia as a young boy. In January 1915, Leak enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and served on Gallipoli.
He next accompanied his unit to France, in time to be thrown into bloody fighting at an intense battle at Pozières. Leak's solo attack with bombs and a bayonet on a German post stood out.
No. 2053 Pte. John Leak, Aus. Infy.
'For most conspicuous bravery. He was one of a party which finally captured an enemy strong point. At one assault, when the enemy's bombs were outranging ours, Private Leak jumped out of the trench, ran forward under heavy machine-gun fire at close range, and threw three bombs into the enemy's bombing post. He then jumped into the post and bayonetted three unwounded enemy bombers.
Later, when the enemy in overwhelming numbers was driving his party back, he was always the last to withdraw at each stage, and kept on throwing bombs.
Later in the war, after his heroic efforts at Pozières Private Leak was severly gassed, but managed to survive and returned to Australia.
After a few jobs, Leak became a garage proprietor in Western Australia, before retiring to Redwood Park South Australia, where he lived and later died.
Leak suffered greatly from his experiences during the war and tried to sell his Victoria Cross medal several times in his life.
This entry was posted in community history, France, South Australia, WWI and tagged Gallipoli, Redwood Park, Victoria Cross, World War I by Penny Cowell. Bookmark the permalink.


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Is to participate in the various activities in the parish, particularly formation programs aimed at enhancing his growth in the ministry.
The Lectors and Commentators are to participate in the various activities in the parish, particularly those formation programs aimed at enhancing their growth in their ministry.
It is fitting that there be a cantor or a choir director to lead and sustain the people's singing. When in fact there is no choir, it is up to the cantor to lead the different chants, with the people taking part (#104 GIRM).
To participate in the various activities in the parish, particularly those formation programs aimed at enhancing their growth in their ministry.
Collectors, Usherettes or Greeters are to participate in the various activities in the parish, particularly those formation programs aimed at enhancing their growth in their ministry.
The Sacristan is to participate in the various activities in the parish, particularly those formation programs aimed at enhancing his growth in the ministry.


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1. Must follow me on GFC and Bloglovin.
4. Comment with your registered email and the link of the item you want from the above list.
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I like the Brown Elk Pattern PU-Trim Cape Coat.
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Followed on: instagram, facebook, twitter.
Nice to see this night dress .


Catch up on the latest San Diego tech news and read all about local businesses doing great things for the tech ecosystem.
Spring is definitely here and San Diego's "sunshine tax" is finally starting to pay off this year. Along with the crazy butterfly migration , we also have some new companies coming to San Diego including Comma.ai , a venture-backed startup moving from SF, Kyriba is moving back from NY to San Diego, and Apple is increasing the size of its new office to at least 1,200. Welcome home!
We are also excited for investor Silvia Mah to join as President of startup resource CONNECT to help early stage companies with their validation and traction. Congratulations are also in order to Aquacycl for winning the $200,000 grand prize of the San Diego Angel Investor Conference.
It's only March and it has already been an incredibly productive year here in San Diego!
Rachel helps us stay on track with our goals by serving as our team's project manager. She lived in Illinois and Michigan before finally making her way down to sunny San Diego. Rachel enjoys the cider flights at North Park's Bivouac Cider and beach days at Ocean Beach.
Neal is our founder and has been involved in the San Diego startup scene for several years. The former UCSD Triton enjoys trail running and sippin' on coffee or beer at Viewpoint Brewery in Del Mar.
San Diego's Top Tech Awards are fast approaching. Join in on the fun on May 16 to honor outstanding local tech leaders.
Join Neal Bloom as he chats with Craig Cecilio, founder & CEO of DiversyFund, a fintech platform created to build wealth for anybody, regardless of their net worth and socioeconomic background.
Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.
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Leveraging Leadership - From Military Service to MBA Student
Nearly 9 years ago, Adam McKinney was sitting at his kitchen table surrounded by family waiting for his recruiter to arrive. All he knew was that he would be heading to basic training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He had no idea what was to come.
"I'll never forget that day. It was gorgeous and sunny outside. I remember trying to figure out how I was going to say goodbye to my parents, especially my mother. That day she had me call her phone and leave a voicemail so she would be able to hear my voice whenever she wanted. Unfortunately, we went through this process two more times when I left on subsequent deployments to Afghanistan."
Fast forward to 2018, post-deployment, and McKinney is now part of the Purdue University Krannert School of Management family as an MBA candidate.
Boiler since birth, McKinney was born and raised in Lafayette Indiana, growing up with the ever-present Purdue prestige. While his two older brothers (also Boilers) took the engineering path, he completed his undergraduate degree in Aviation Technology at Purdue in 2009, where he eventually left to serve 8 years as a Blackhawk pilot and later as an instructor pilot in the military. With that said, McKinney dedicates his many successes to his parents, who sponsored his education and put him on his current career path.
"Neither of my parents are college educated but they placed a major importance on education growing up. They worked unbelievably hard to finance a college education for three Boilermakers."
From a young age, McKinney knew he wanted to give back to his country, but describes the defining moment as watching the horrific events unfold on 9/11 paired with a subsequent history assignment, in which a special quote resonated with him. The quote was spoken by Sir Edmund Burke and reads:
In terms of memorable moments throughout his service, McKinney explains how he will never forget his last deployment, in which he was on medevac duty with 24/7 standby. There was severe weather moving through, and so his unit decided to be efficient with time and began cleaning equipment. As a precaution, they also placed covers on the aircraft and tied down the rotor blades to prevent damage. When the weather passed, he received an urgent call for a casualty in need.
"In 12 minutes, we not only had to get the aircraft started and off the ground but also assemble two fully taken-apart machine guns and untie and remove covers off the aircraft. But, everyone came together and we somehow were able to accomplish it."
"Similar to the military, an international business school environment is one that nurtures different ethnicities, cultures, upbringings, values, etc. to accomplish a common goal." – Adam McKinney
With that said, the kind of perseverance and hard work that McKinney displayed during his time in the service is also visible in his actions as a student and leader at Krannert.
"It's actually considerably easier working in a business school environment. In the military, I had to make decisions in a highly time-constrained environment. There was no time to waste because the stakes were life and death. I keep a similar mindset in business school, tackling any situations head on. Similar to the military, an international business school environment is one that nurtures different ethnicities, cultures, upbringings, values, etc. to accomplish a common goal."
When asked why he decided to pursue an MBA at Purdue Krannert, McKinney explains that the decision was a no-brainer. With an MBA being such a versatile degree, McKinney wanted options in terms of applying to different industries and companies. Additionally, having been a Purdue undergraduate, McKinney already knew the value of a Purdue degree, and how helpful it had been to him thus far.
"Growing up in Lafayette, Purdue was always here and never really seemed that special. But after graduating and moving away from Lafayette, I realized the weight that the Purdue name possessed, as a school that has produced various astronauts and top executives. Every Army school I attended I finished at the top of my class, and I attribute that to the education and experience I received as an undergraduate Boilermaker."
In terms of his undergraduate time at Purdue, McKinney explains that while most of his friends were sitting in class, he was in the sky. His favorite memory was dialing a friend, telling her to look up outside. He then did a couple circles so she knew it was him.
"I guess guys will do whatever it takes to impress a girl."
Recently elected as the upcoming President of the Krannert Wine Business Guild, McKinney also spends his time volunteering locally with the Read to Succeed Program helping elementary school children with their reading as well as Junior Achievement, which is a program for teaching business and professional fundamentals to local schools of various grade levels. His hobbies include fitness and nutrition, cooking, reading, aviation and being outdoors.
In terms of his future aspirations, McKinney is exploring the possibilities of a career in finance and accounting, law enforcement and piloting, just to name a few.


"Dad, I Know Where I Am"
Three weeks before she died, eleven-year-old Ann Kumm told her younger sister exactly what she wanted for her funeral. And she had told others she wasn't afraid to die. She knew where she was going.
Late in the evening of July 5, 2008, her parents said goodbye to their daughter after a horse riding accident abruptly ended her young life.
As her mom, LaNell, held Ann's lifeless body in the hospital room, Mike suddenly had a brief vision of his daughter standing before the gate to Heaven. An hour later, when they began their final goodbyes, Mike saw Ann once again, standing at Heaven's gate and looking at him until she turned to go.
Although God has used that last sight of their daughter to comfort them as parents, Mike also believes it was meant to encourage them to testify about the existence of God and Heaven. So it was no coincidence that the day of Ann's funeral, LaNell was given a Heaven booklet by Randy Alcorn.
This hope of Heaven has inspired a fruitful ministry for Ann's family as they reach out to others who are experiencing loss. LaNell felt a special compassion for others who are grieving, and began reading obituaries so she could send a note and a Heaven booklet to those who have lost a child, or Heaven for Kids to children in families who have lost a sibling or a parent. LaNell and Mike also planned and hosted a dinner for bereaved parents, with the goal of offering them a message of hope.
Randy Alcorn's books on Heaven have been a key part of sharing that message. LaNell, her sister Laurie, and her mother LaDonna have together passed out over 500 Heaven booklets and dozens of Randy's other Heaven-related books, such as TouchPoints: Heaven, 50 Days of Heaven, and Heaven for Kids. Talking about Ann—the girl who loved horses, reading, and Jesus—is a way for her family to share with others who need the hope of Christ.
"I just pray God puts the people in our path He wants us to give the books to," Laurie wrote.
It seems God is continuing to honor that prayer. One morning Laurie was at the DMV and thought she was out of Heaven booklets. But when she opened her purse, she found one and gave it to a man she had met and been talking with. Ten minutes later, she had the chance to share about her niece yet again and wished she had a booklet to give. Surprisingly, when she sat down, she found another booklet stashed inside her purse.


EZH2 is associated with photoreceptor degeneration and potentially targets miRNAs controlling cell cycle and apoptosis.
Yvan Arsenijevic, Andrea Prunotto, Carlo Rivolta, Martial Kamdem Mbefo; EZH2 is associated with photoreceptor degeneration and potentially targets miRNAs controlling cell cycle and apoptosis.. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2018;59(9):3491.
Purpose : Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is a class of hereditary retinal dystrophy associated with photoreceptor loss and blindness. Among several actors mediating cell death, we observed an abnormal cell cycle re-entry in photoreceptors undergoing degeneration in Rd1 mice and identified the Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PrC1) core component BMI1 as a critical molecular factor orchestrating the cell death mechanism. The Bmi1 deletion leads to a marked photoreceptor protection in the Rd1 retina, but independently of the conventional Ink4a/Arf pathways (Zencak et al., 2013), suggesting that BMI1 acts on other targets. We thus studied during the degenerative process the potential role of components of the PCR2 interacting with BMI1, such as EZH2, which methylates Histone-3 to repress gene expression.
Methods : We used cross sections from FVB Rd1 and FVB WT mouse retinas at different postnatal ages to screen by immunohistochemistry for the changes of histones marks H3K27me3, which is methylated by EZH2. Photoreceptors were isolated by FACS for WB analyses. We next performed miRNA array analysis from WT and Rd1 retina samples to potentially identify miRNA targeted by EZH2 during photoreceptor degeneration. A new method of Ontology analysis was developed to identify the most promising gene targets of the identified miRNAs.
Results : We observed by WB an upregulation of EZH2 in isolated Rd1 photoreceptors and by immunohistochemistry, a hypertrimethylation of histone 3 (H3K27me3) in photoreceptors before cell death attesting the EZH2 activity. miRNA arrays revealed a very limited number of miRNA candidates which are differently expressed in the Rd1 retina. Interestingly, two miRNAs showing the major expression changes control cell cycle activation as well as apoptosis are known targets of EZH2. These candidates are currently tested in retinal cell cultures.
Conclusions : These results are consistent with our previous findings on photoreceptor death mechanism characterization. Altogether, these data suggest that miRNAs may play a major role during retinal degeneration by controlling apoptosis and cell cycle reentry.


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"The question before us is how we choose to define ourselves. The rules of conduct on the chessboard, the tennis court or the courtroom are a means to focus our attention. The game is always played by the living... Arguments either for or against a "dead hand," those of Libertarians or reactionary Catholics, miss the point."
Note taking, from my comments on Can Living Constitutionalism be Defended?
Has language ever been static?
Has there ever been a doctrine or document the meaning of which has remained unchanged over time?
Has the Bible ever been static? Has the Catholic Church ever been static. Can we hear and understand Mozart as he was in his lifetime? Bach? Shakespeare? The list goes on, and on, and on. The answer to all such examples is no. Run down every attempt in history to stop time, see what you end up with.
"Can Living Constitutionalism be Defended?"
Better, can the fact of it be denied?
It doesn't matter one way or the other what you want. First ask what is.
Can the meaning of a document become so twisted by rationalization that it becomes a parody of itself? Yes. Can debate become shallow? Yes. But the imposition of absolute meanings does not defend against intellectual sloppiness, it institutionalizes it.
This debate is stupid.
"That's the fundamental dishonesty that lies behind living constitutionalism."
Living constitutionalism is the law of the land in Canada. But you're still talking about law, and I'm talking about language and one is a subcategory of the other. I'm tired of listening to people argue about the idea of law who have no understanding of nor interest in the facts of language.
If you want to argue that the constitution has been broken rather than stretched, go right ahead, but the general logic undergirding your argument as it stands is founded on a falsehood. Theology may have a long history of brilliant arguments based on mistranslations but the mistranslations are still there.
I'll put it another way with another text. Mozart wrote symphonies as notation and editorial comment on paper. Rules: "B flat" "A minor." Comments: "quietly" "slowly" "quickly" "quickly but not frenetically" "fast!" Even seeing notes mathematically people still argue over how to interpret what he wrote. Mathematicians may prize Bach but the same questions apply.
When does a performance of Mozart become something we no longer recognize as Mozart? That's something we fight over and always will. There is no Mozart without argument. There is no Platonic form of his music that we will ever know, just as there is no Platonic form of the constitution. Every argument on such issues is an argument over logic and sensibility, over rules and values. Values are politics, and the debate is a game, argued like two men playing chess or tennis. Chess and tennis have rules too, but rules of conduct, specifically ethical rather than moral ones [no rules pertaining to "truth": no one would argue over the Platonic nature of the rules for chess or basketball.]
The question before us is how we choose to define ourselves. The rules of conduct on the chessboard, the tennis court or the courtroom are a means to focus our attention. The game is always played by the living, in the present. Arguments either for or against a "dead hand," those of Libertarians or reactionary Catholics, miss the point.
The logic of rules and rule following is the same for athletic or intellectual competition: the foundations are man-made. The Constitution is not there [and was not made] as a rule for us to follow but as a means to test ourselves, to be engaged with one another and to define ourselves in the present. Passivity before the constitution is immoral.
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The Diocese of Rochester In America 1868-1993
Pennsylvania bishop pledges transparency in dealing with abuse reports
Catholic Courier | 03.04.2016
Section: World and Nation
By Catholic News Service
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (CNS) — Bishop Mark L. Bartchak of Altoona-Johnstown committed the Pennsylvania diocese to be transparent in its efforts related to the sexual abuse of minors by clergy and to make public the names of all priests found to have a credible allegation of abuse against them and the status of each man within the diocese.
The pledge came during an afternoon news conference March 3 at diocesan offices in Hollidaysburg, two days after a state grand jury issued a report saying that at least 50 priests or religious leaders were involved in the sexual abuse of hundreds of children over several decades and that diocesan leaders systematically concealed the abuse to protect the church's image.
The list of priests accused of abuse will be published on the diocesan website, www.ajdiocese.org, Bishop Bartchak said.
The diocese made a copy of the statement Bishop Bartchak read to the media available online.
The bishop apologized to abuse victims, their families, people of the diocese and priests.
Bishop Bartchak also said that the diocese will continue sending to law enforcement authorities written reports of allegations it receives of "any type of sexual misconduct involving a minor" by a living or deceased clergyman or religious, "whether or not the victim is now a minor and whether or not the victim or another person already has made the report."
A review of diocesan procedures and policies related to child protection also will begin, he said. Bishop Bartchak pledged to "make all changes that should be made."
He also urged people with information about suspected abuse to call the hotline announced as the report was released, (888) 538-8541. People also may call Jean Johnstone, the diocese's victim assistance coordinator for additional support at (814) 944-9388.
The grand jury report details dozens of incidents of abuse — sometimes in graphic language — by 34 priests against hundreds of victims, some of whom were as young as 8 years old. It said other complaints had been made against a teacher who was studying to become a deacon, a choirmaster, a coach and members of religious orders.
Grand jurors outlined actions by Bishop James J. Hogan, who led the diocese form 1966 until 1986 when he retired — he died in 2005 — and his successor Bishop Joseph V. Adamec, who retired in 2011, for failing to report abuse allegations to police.
Bishop Adamec denied any wrongdoing hours after the report was released in a filing with the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in Pittsburgh. Filed by Pittsburgh attorney David J. Berardinelli, the response charged that the grand jury "was not provided with a full and balanced set of facts based on all the materials and information that were available." It said the report "contains criticism that is unfounded.
The filing outlined several steps that Bishop Adamec took to suspend priests from ministry and that his actions followed the procedures in effect in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese prior to the adoption of the charter for the protection of children in 2002 and afterward under protocols adopted by the USCCB in the charter.
The grand jury report commended Bishop Bartchak for cooperating with the state's investigation and offered recommendations for the diocese to consider in its handling of abuse allegations, including keeping the needs of abuse victims foremost.
"I acknowledge there are a number of recommendations made in this report involving how we respond to allegations of abuse," the bishop said. "I take them seriously."
Bishop Bartchak thanked the grand jury for recognizing the progress the diocese has made in handling abuse cases in the five years he has led the diocese.
"I am committed to doing even more to protect children," he said, adding that he has met with victim/survivors. "Their words and their pain have deeply affected me. I pledge to them and to all families to do all that I can to ensure children are safe."
The bishop's statement concluded by saying that the people of the diocese can find comfort and healing "from these wounds" through prayer for all who have been harmed and all who have been affected. Plans are underway for prayer services for mercy in the near future, he added.
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Alibi Alley
Robert M. Adams
March 16, 1989 issue
Fiction in the Archives: Pardon Tales and Their Tellers in Sixteenth-Century France
by Natalie Zemon Davis
Stanford University Press, 217 pp., $22.50
Mini-storia, mini-noia, say the sardonic, or perhaps just jealous, Italians: micro-history, a bit of a bore. It's a sneer effectually put to rest by Natalie Zemon Davis, who some years ago gave us a filmable, and indeed gripping, version of The Return of Martin Guerre, and who now presents, under the title of Fiction in the Archives, a rich selection from the pardon tales of sixteenth-century France. This is the raw stuff of popular culture, drawn from village and alley life itself; and the first thing to be said is that it makes rowdy, joyous reading. If Rabelais is fun (despite a good deal of earnest, erudite commentary in the opposite direction), if the Decameron is still read for pleasure, then Ms. Davis's stories are fun too.
These pardon tales or "lettres de remission" were a distinctive feature of the French legal system in the early modern era. They were invoked mostly in connection with cases of murder, and only after the regular courts had passed, or failed to pass, on the crime. The letters were requests for pardon, and they commonly took the form of a straight narration by the killer of how the homicide came about. Speaking as nearly as possible in his own words, the felon would describe to a royal notary his version of just what took place; he would then offer his explanation/excuse, express regret, and implore mercy. Certain formulaic pleas were early recognized as better than others. One who murdered in self-defense, in uncontrollable rage, or unintentionally (when drunk) had a pretty good chance of pardon or a diminished sentence. If one could claim to have lived a virtuous life in the past, and to be of good reputation, that might help too. On the other hand, anything that smacked of habitual evil-doing, of premeditated malice, or that violated deep taboos like those against parricide, was pretty well doomed to begin with.
Letters of remission were prepared by notaries for rich and poor, for members of the lower nobility, for plowboys and scholars. Not as many were prepared for women as for men; Ms. Davis speculates interestingly on some reasons for the difference. The part of the notary in tailoring the story-as-given to the purpose it was meant to serve was by no means negligible. It was, for example, a good idea to get into the story a suggestion that the victim died not only of his wounds but of bad medical treatment, or preferably of his own carelessness. Certain other phrases like "My friend, I'm not asking you for anything," used just before the outbreak of violence 35 (or alleged to have been used), could serve as evidence of peaceful intent; they were talismanic, and a smart notary worked them in where they seemed likely to benefit his client. It was storytelling under pressure. Between petitioner and notary the task was to compound a snappy, appealing story to attract the interest, and with it the compassion, of the authorities.
Sometimes the conniving storytellers leave rather evident marks of their art. When Toussaint Savary was beating his wife Bonne Goberde, he chose an inopportune moment when she was slaughtering chickens for his supper. Having hit her several times, he approached her again while she still held the knife in her hand—and as he came in, he encountered the said knife ("rencontra ledit cousteau"), which pierced his chest just below the left breast, i.e., near the heart. And that was that for Toussaint; a sympathetic reader will want to know that the lady got her pardon, while crediting the shrewd notary with an assist.
But sometimes the stories present Ms. Davis and her readers with more problems than there is evidence to resolve—take, for instance, the tale of Guillaume Caranda, a twenty-year-old barber from Senlis. On the evening of the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, he and some of his neighbors put on a kind of tableau of the Resurrection, in which he took the part of Jesus. But when the show was over, a certain roughneck named Claude Caure accosted him and said, "I see the god on earth. Did you keep your prick stiff in playing God?" This insult to both the barber and the holy image was repeated a few minutes later (hence deliberately); it led first to fisticuffs, and then to the drawing of a little knife, with the usual unhappy consequences for the bully Caure—who, of course, neglected to take proper care of his wound, so his death was partly his own fault.
But why that particular insult in the first place? Ms. Davis takes us off on a scholarly trail, of great interest in itself, involving literary analogies and Leo Steinberg's recent study of medieval representations of Christ erect, which can be thought of as a symbol of the Resurrection. But this doesn't make much of an insult out of it; and a reader trained on detective stories will look for a more personal motive. Perhaps those neighbors grieving at the foot of the cross included among the holy women some particular wench in whom Claude Caure took a particular interest. The motive of the fatal fight would then be straight jealousy. It's the sort of detail that, because it suggests longstanding hostility with even an overtone of premeditation, Caranda the murderer would want to keep quiet. How small precisely, one wonders, was that "little knife" he carried to his choral endeavors, and how many stabs did it inflict under the vague formula, as the notary put it, "he doesn't know exactly where"? The barber got off all right, as a good percentage of the petitioners did, but a modern jury would want to know more.
How much of what these stories tell us about French society in the sixteenth century is new or beyond the reach of easy conjecture? Not an immense lot, we can surmise. It was a rough society down there in the muddy lanes and dark streets of little towns. Men and women did a lot of cursing and elbowing (Rabelais appears by comparison no more than a tame transcriber of the everyday billings-gate of the streets), and now and then the violence got out of hand. Some years ago, while living for a while in Firenze, I started a collection of stories about the petty crimes of the Italian gutter, culled from the columns of La Nazione. They included a hilarious mixture of mischiefs, misdeeds, and escapades by the malviventi, ludicrously miscalculated criminal enterprises, and inspired comic incoherence. By the terms of the comparison, there was much more murder in sixteenth-century France, more pimping in twentieth-century Italy (the eloquent Italian word is "sfruttazione"). But, by and large, life in the murky depths of a tough, dirt-poor society doesn't seem to have changed all that much.
Can any significant relation be defined between the semijudicial storytelling of the letters and other forms of early narrative art from fabliaux to veillées, from moral exempla to dirty jokes? Medieval narrative is such a rich and various field that it would be very surprising if random parallels were not to be found here and there. But to make the argument for influence more specific is very hard. In the sweeping form that pardon narratives show the wide popular diffusion of storytelling talents through the medieval population, the argument is hardly to be questioned. Nobody ever doubted it. But closer ties? Ms. Davis points to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and two tales of the Heptaméron (numbers thirty-six and thirty-seven) as offering parallels with certain common types of pardon tale. But the connections are not altogether persuasive. Shakespeare in England had little access to a distinctive feature of the French legal system, and the Montague–Capulet feud is just the sort of background against which the pardon letter was not intended to provide an excuse. As for the two Heptaméron stories, one does not involve a murder at all, just a domestic misunderstanding, and in the other the murderer is never brought to trial or even suspected of his crime—he goes scot-free.
Perhaps Ben Jonson, who had had personal experience of a remotely similar procedure, might have been attracted by the plot device of a plea for last minute pardon. (He had made good use of the neck-verse, a text of Latin scripture that, when recited opportunely, entitled one to trial before a more lenient ecclesiastical court.) But though the elements of such a plea are available in Volpone, they are not made very effectual, and the pleasure of The Alchemist's ending lies in the escape of the rogues from any punishment at all. Conceivably in romances of roguery and knavery enough evidence for the influence of pardon letters can be found to make the case worth arguing at length. Until then, the most that can be said is that Ms. Davis's suggestions are intriguing and worthy of further pursuit. But the rough stuff of the letters is a pleasure in its own right; it is meticulously presented, fully documented, and authenticated by transcriptions of seven letters in their vernacular originals. Nine picturesque illustrations complete the impression of a stylishly conceived and carefully designed book.
More by Robert M. Adams
A Self-Made Man
October 5, 1995 issue
Wonderful Town?
Bloom's All-Time Greatest Hits
Robert M. Adams (1915-1996) was a founding editor of the Norton Anthology of English Literature. He taught at the University of Wisconsin, Rutgers, Cornell and U.C.L.A. His scholarly interested ranged from Milton to Joyce, and his translations of many classic works of French literature continue to be read to this day.
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