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The Battle Over BLOOD
A handful of big city hospitals and the Red Cross are deadlocked over the supplying of human blood. Their disagreement jeopardizes a national program to boost production of the new weapon against polio — gamma globulin
FERGUS CRONIN December 1 1953
The Battle Over BLOOD FERGUS CRONIN December 1 1953
FERGUS CRONIN
THIS YEAR, as every year, poliomyelitis played a grim game of tick-tack-toe on the map of Canada. The disease struck more than six thousand, mostly young people; it killed about' two hundred and fifty and crippled considerably more than that number; it terrified the population of every city, town and crossroads from May, when an epidemic attacked Whitehorse, Yukon, until September, when Winnipeg's worst outbreak began to taper off.
There were actually more cases of polio in Canada during 1953 than in any other year on record, but it might have been worse if the spread of the disease had not been retarded for the first time by a new and hard-won medical weapon known as gamma globulin. This is not a cure and it is not a vaccine, but an injection of gamma globulin can give a child or adult virtual immunity from the crippling effects of polio for several weeks.
The source of this long-sought agent is human blood. It is the best known of several "blood fractions," microscopic protein particles in the liquid portion of the blood which have diseasekilling qualities. This year there was only a limited quantity of gamma globulin, not a twentieth of what could have been used to good advantage had it been available for the epidemics in Whitehorse and Winnipeg, and in other cities like Toronto which were less seriously affected.
The goal of providing enough globulin for use in epidemic areas in 1954 is now being attacked from several directions. However, because the Red Cross and thirty-two big city hospitals in Toronto and Montreal can't get together on the collection and distribution of blood, the gamma globulin program may fail to supply minimum requirements and children may needlessly die of polio in Canada next year.
Up to now their disagreement has been no more serious than an honest difference of opinion between two factions equally devoted to the nation's health. Next year it may have a direct influence on the fight against disease.
This is what is being done:
A new laboratory for the production of gamma globulin is being built by the University of Toronto with the help of the federal and provincial governments.
The federal government has enlisted the Red Cross to supply
the required blood through its nationally-organized Blood Transfusion Service, organized in 1947 to provide blood and blood products from coast to coast for hospitals, the armed forces and civil defense. The federal government granted the Red Cross one hundred and fifty-seven thousand dollars to help collect blood for gamma globulin.
The Red Cross, which last year collected from Canadians 321,930 bottles of blood, will attempt to increase that total by one hundred and fifty thousand donations. On that attempt rests the degree of success the gamma globulin program will attain.
The production of gamma globulin is, however, only the newest and most spectacular front in the battle for blood. The Red Cross in the past six years has become Canada's major supplier of transfusion blood for the sick and injured, and the stalemate with the Toronto hospitals is the only large obstacle to the society becoming a national blood service, the collector and distributor in peace and war of what has become one of medicine's most important weapons.
"If we go to war again," declares Dr. J. E. Pritchard, former head of the blood service of Montreal General Hospital, now a member of the Red Cross blood pool, "we will need an agency to collect blood in large quantities. The same type of agency would be necessary in case of civilian disaster. No other group has the experience of the Red Cross in handling and transporting blood."
When the Red Cross blood service was initiated in 1947 to provide blood and blood products from coast to coast for hospitals, the armed forces and civil defense, some hospitals refused to join in, on the grounds that the terms laid down by the Red Cross would mean that the hospital would lose full direct control over one of its most vital functions. It would also mean that blood transfusions would have to be given free, instead of at the usual rate of up to twenty-five dollars a pint, or a return of two pints donated by friends or relatives for every pint used on the patient. For the Red Cross agreement with the hospitals provided that in return for free blood and blood-transfusion equipment no charge was to be made to the patients.
Some hospitals accepted immediately; others have come in since. But today all hospitals in Toronto Continued on page 40
Continued on page 40
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22
and two in Montreal still refuse to participate, and collect and distribute blood on their own. Whoever—if, indeed, anyone—is at fault, the silent battle for blood between the thirty-two eastern hospitals and the Red Cross threatens serious harm to the nation's blood program and to next year's blueprint for fighting polio with gamma globulin.
Particularly in regard to the Toronto area, where the hospitals' attitude controls the over-all blood-collection program, the Red Cross puts forward two serious contentions:
Donated blood is only a trickle of what it might be.
What blood is collected is inefficiently used.
Dr. W. Stuart Stanbury, forty-eightyear-old National Commissioner of the Red Cross and the most militant figure in the battle for blood, points out that the Society set up a fully-equipped blood-donor depot in Toronto in 1949, but because of the refusal of the hospitals to participate, blood has been solicited only for military and veterans' hospitals and the armed forces. Last year in Toronto the Red Cross collected seventeen bottles of blood per thousand population, compared with sixty-five bottles in Hamilton, fifty-four in Winnipeg and thirty-nine in Vancouver.
Of course this is not a true comparison of the amounts of blood actually given. Many Torontonians give blood to individual hospitals; how much isn't known. But this blood and its byproducts are not available to the Red Cross' national pool.
"We don't expect to get a great amount of blood for gamma globulin in Toronto," says Dr. Stanbury. "We haven't been able to collect a large amount there since we started the service because the people know they wouldn't get blood free themselves. And where we cannot provide free blood service, we have found our appeals for blood donations have met with poor response."
The Red Cross argues that individual donors give proportionately less blood than they would to the national pool. Most hospitals which handle their own blood procurement have arrangements with industries and societies to supply blood transfusions to employees, and members or their families as long as these groups maintain a blood credit in the hospitals' banks. When a group's credit gets low it is asked for blood donations. People in such groups are reluctant to answer Red Cross appeals for blood because they don't know when they might be called on to contribute to their own hospital bank. In practice such people may give blood once a year or even less often.
There is a further loss of potential blood collections, according to Dr. Stanbury, in the fact that "replacement donors are one-shot donors." Most who give blood to private blood banks to replace blood used by a friend or relative never give blood again. The same people, embraced by the Red Cross system, might join those who give regularly three or four times a year.
Moreover, the Society claims that because it can't set up an all-purpose service in Toronto, it can't afford to extend service to a hundred-andtwenty-five-mile strip from Oakville to Belleville and up to North Bay, covering about twenty thousand square miles and containing about half a million people outside of the Toronto area. The comparatively small volume of blood
that would be handled, coupled with the long distances it would have to be transported, would make unit operating costs too high.
So half a million people in that area are without the free Red Cross blood service —and Canada is without the full potential blood contribution of those half million people for the making of gamma globulin. According to the Red Cross, that is not the end of the influence of the Toronto hospitals on the blood picture.
Toronto has influenced other large Ontario centres, says Dr. Stanbury, and is responsible for the fact that cities like London and Ottawa have not been provided with blood service before many less-populated parts of Canada. Last year the London contribution to the Red Cross was six bottles of blood per thousand population, Ottawa's eleven bottles, both considerably lower even than Toronto.
Although Hamilton and the Niagara area it serves have an outstanding blood-donation record, most of the rest of Ontario is without a Red Cross blood service. The other major areas of Canada which lack this service are Newfoundland and the province of Quebec east of Three Rivers. The
Red Cross is equally outspoken in the charge that non-participating hospitals handle blood inefficiently. Toronto hospitals make no gamma globulin from their blood; in general the blood in their banks is used solely for transfusions, either fresh or in the form of plasma. The hospitals keep fresh blood up to three weeks and if it is not needed for transfusions it is processed into plasma. And if a hospital builds up a surplus of plasma its stock of fresh blood may be thrown away as it reaches its age limit. An official of Toronto Western Hospital stated that last year the hospital discarded one hundred and fifty bottles of blood.
The Red Cross on the other hand contends that no blood donated to it is wasted. The Red Cross makes these uses of blood:
Fresh blood for transfusions.
Gamma globulin.
Storage of residue for later byproduct use.
At present the substance left after gamma globulin is extracted from blood cannot be processed in Canada, but three highly useful products will be made from it by the new Connaught Laboratory equipment. And there is a backlog of the raw material, according to Dr. Stanbury, since all the residue from gamma globulin production this year has been saved in cold storage.
These byproducts of gamma globulin are fibrin foam, fibrin film and serum albumin. Fibrin foam is a whitish, sponge-like material used to stop bleeding from surgical or accidental wounds. It can be sewn up inside the body and eventually is absorbed and disappears. Fibrin film is a cellophane-like sheet which can be used to repair tissues in brain and nerve surgery. Serum albumin is superior to blood plasma for transfusion in case of shock or in emergencies until whole blood is available.
The Toronto hospitals' blood policy,
the Red Cross maintains, ignores two important factors: that gamma globulin to be most efficacious should be made from blood gathered in the widest possible area; and that Toronto is falling down in its contribution to the nation's supply of the precious stuff.
To be most useful in fighting the spread of a polio outbreak anywhere in Canada, gamma globulin should con! tain the antibodies—substances created ¡ in the blood to combat infection—of all three types of polio virus. One of these three types of antibodies exists in the blood of three adults out of every four, most of whom have had polio in so mild a form that they never knew it. But one part of the country mighthave been free of one of the three types of polio for years, and the blood of most people living there would not contain the antibodies which act on that type.
The Red Cross says this fact lends a double danger to the stalemate over blood in Toronto and the partial stalemate in Montreal. As a result of the stalemate it's not getting enough gamma globulin and what it is getting may not contain the best possible mixture of antibodies.
Nevertheless, gamma globulin will be used in Canada next year wherever polio strikes in force. People in all parts of the country are being asked to give blood for its production, although it might not come back to them or even to their own province. It is a form of insurance, with a sharing of the total cost and sacrifice. But the present rate of Red Cross donations in Toronto, for example, means that city is not contributing its share. Should a polio epidemic strike its own citizens, Toronto's use of quantities of gamma globulin would in effect be taking advantage of the good will of the rest of the country.
Hospitals Want to Charge
What is behind the refusal of some hospitals to join the Red Cross service?
In 1949 the opposition of Toronto hospitals to the service was summarized in the publication Canadian Hospital: "Hospitals now providing
their patients, rich and poor, with an adequate blood service, simply cannot understand the, to-put-it-mildly, arbitrary and undiplomatic methods adopted by the Red Cross ... It is absurd for Dr. Stanbury to say that hospitals can still maintain their blood banks when they cannot themselves accept blood from patients' relatives or any other source.
"It is the possibility that the Red Cross may not be able to meet the anticipated large demand for free blood . . . that makes a number of the eastern hospitals reluctant to discontinue well-organized blood banks which it has taken years to bring to their present perfection . . .
"The Red Cross could keep faith with its donors and could avoid alienating a host of very fine people in the hospital field (which it is now doing) if it would issue a statement that the blood will be free, as promised, but that, because of various items of expense, the hospital will make a small service charge."
There has been no apparent change of heart on the part of Toronto hospitals in the past four years. A member of the Toronto Hospital Council executive said the matter has not even been brought up at meetings since 1949. Arthur Swanson, superintendent of the Toronto Western Hospital, who was president of the Canadian Hospital Council in 1949 and has been referred to as "leader of the opposition," refused to be quoted.
The Red Cross, in rebuttal, says member hospitals may keep their own banks, but the Red Cross must be the sole source of blood supply for legal reasons. If there are mixed sources, in the event of reaction to a transfusion and a resulting lawsuit it might be difficult to prove whether or not the blood came from the Red Cross, which is insured against such accidents. The Society makes an exception in cases of emergency, when the hospital may obtain blood from any source, so long as it informs the Red Cross of what it has done.
Red Cross officials claim one reason these hospitals have not joined the service is because it would mean giving up what has become a source of revenue. They point out that Dr. Lome Gilday, secretary of the Montreal Hospital Council, said in 1949, "We have accepted the free transfusion service although we regret the considerable income we will lose by this service." It was estimated at the time that the income from a private blood bank ranges from about nine thousand dollars for a small hospital to thirty thousand for a large one.
Dr. Pritchard, of the Montreal General, says his bank, before he closed it, broke about even but he had asked replacement only on a onefor-one basis. "It can be a revenue producer," he states.
"They can't help but make a profit," says Dr. Stanbury, "and it will not necessarily show on their balance sheet, because they can charge a proportion of every hospital service against the blood bank." Ingram and Bell Ltd., when trying to sell transfusion equipment to hospitals, use the sales argument that blood banks make money. "Anybody knows it's a source of revenue," says the company's president, C. C. White.
The hospitals concerned deny that they make any appreciable profit. Dr. Paul Weil, head of the bank at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital, says the annual revenue from his bank is about forty-two thousand dollars, and the annual cost about forty-one thousand, including the cost of blood research.
The Royal Victoria, Montreal's largest hospital, had accepted the service with the rest of the hospitals that belong to the Montreal Hospital Council but, according to Stanbury, withdrew after the Red Cross turned down its proposal that the society rent space in the hospital for the blood depot. The hospital, Stanbury says, asked that the society pay about a hundred thousand dollars for alterations to the building necessary to accommodate the depot, plus about fifteen thousand dollars yearly rental. Dr. Weil denies that the disagreement over space rental had anything to do with the hospital's decision not to join the plan. His version is that the Royal Victoria approved the Red Cross program "in principle" along with other members of the Montreal Hospital Council, but since it had a good blood bank of its own it decided to "wait and see"—and is still doing so.
As to the ability of the Red Cross blood service to maintain supplies to hospitals, which opponents of the plan doubted, Dr. Cecil Harris, of Montreal, provincial director of the service, makes this statement: "A large central source of supply is able better to absorb the day-to-day fluctuations in demand, both over-all and in the various groups and types, than if each hospital relied on its own limited facilities. That is not to say that a Red Cross depot is never relatively short of blood and unable immediately to meet every demand made upon it. Such relative shortages are inevitable no matter what
system is used. Our experience is that the Red Cross units are much less frequently compelled to ration out the available supplies than are the independent banks."
The Red Cross entered the blood supply field at a time when transfusions were in the midst of a tremendous increase. Fifteen years ago blood transfusions were given purely as an emergency measure; in the last decade alone the volume of transfusions has increased sevenfold. Today transfusions cut down deaths from several causes and enable surgeons to perform heart
brain and lung operations which were impossible or highly hazardous in the 1930s. In any major surgery blood is used almost as a matter of course. One large Toronto hospital which in 1944 gave fifteen hundred transfusions has this year given more than eight thousand.
The pay-or-replace policy of the hospitals—still adhered to by all Toronto hospitals and two Montreal hospitals—often resulted in staggering hardship to those people who were not poor enough to rate free treatment as indigents and not well enough off
to buy blood from their savings. Blood-bank files record the case of a Toronto woman who hemorrhaged after childbirth and required seventeen bottles of blood within a few hours; of another in Montreal who needed one hundred and ten bottles of blood in ten days; of Iginio Robesco, a Montreal carpenter who needed thirty-two bottles during one operation.
On the other hand there were large areas in Canada where blood couldn't be had at any price; there were great metropolitan hospitals not getting nearly as much blood as they
needed. These conditions were discovered by Dr. Stanbury when he returned to Canada from his wartime job of running Britain's largest Blood Transfusion Service. In Canada he was assigned to the organizing of an equally ambitious service for Canada. His first survey showed, in addition to the facts noted above, that many general hospitals lacked up-to-date transfusion facilities; that in Saskatchewan there was not a single blood bank, but that due to new uses and new techniques developed during the war the need for blood had increased many times.
Immediately the Red Cross blood service was set up. Tn 1947 all hospitals in British Columbia and Alberta joined the service. Nova Scotia and P. E. I. joined in 1948. A large section of Quebec, centred in Montreal, was embraced in 1949, and the same year a depot was established in Hamilton which services the whole of the Niagara Peninsula. Manitoba and New Brunswick joined in 1950 and Saskatchewan in 1952. Yellowknife, N.W.T., and Whitehorse, Yukon, are supplied by plane from Edmonton.
The Red Cross blood service now supplies about sixty-six percent of all hospital beds in Canada. These beds are within reach of half the country's fourteen million people. The hospitals which run their own blood banks serve an additional two million. The other five million, living in small towns and rural areas, have no blood bank facilities to call upon.
Meanwhile the Society has invested heavily, in the success of its Blood Transfusion Service and on the appeal of the service to the public pocket. In 1952 the service was the largest single item on its budget, $1,754,263, representing nearly twenty-five percent of total expenditures. With the expanded gamma globulin program that percentage will increase.
The emotional appeal of one person being able to save the life of another by a free donation of blood has always been great, and the possibility of preventing polio has supplied a new element which has increased that appeal.
Not that gamma globulin is a surefire preventive for polio. Its recent widespread use is based on a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last April. The report described the work of a group of four doctors led by Dr. William McD. Hammon of Pittsburgh, who in the polio seasons of 1951 and 1952 conducted field tests with polio in Utah, Texas, Iowa and Nebraska. Fifty-five thousand children were inoculated, half of them with gamma globulin and half with a harmless gelatine.
A total of one hundred and four children became paralyzed, seventythree of them in the untreated group, the remainder having had gamma globulin. But between the second and fifth weeks only seven who had had globulin were stricken, compared to thirty-nine in the untreated group.
It was the best news yet in what seemed to the public, and perhaps even to researchers, a long and even hopeless fight against a disease which is far from being the most common but is one of the most dreaded.
Since 1948 the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, a branch of the University of Toronto, have been working under the sponsorship of the United States National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis on the effect of gamma globulin upon polio. The Connaught researchers exchanged all information with three United States institutions, Johns Hopkins University of Baltimore, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Children's Medical Centre of Boston.
Directed by Dr. Andrew Rhodes, an international authority on polio and now Director of Research at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, Connaught's particular contribution was to discover that the effectiveness of a gamma globulin dose was temporary. This was done by injecting fifty Toronto children with the pale amber fluid and sampling their blood periodically over a period of eight weeks. The antibodies could be detected, but they disappeared after about five weeks.
Canada's first move toward producing gamma globulin came in the fall of 1952 soon after the results of the U. S. field tests were known. The Connaught Labs still had several thousand bottles of dried blood serum, collected during the war, which had been found not entirely suitable for transfusion purposes. The serum had been set aside, according to Dr. R. D. Defries, the director, "because we wanted to find a use for it." There was no inkling at the time that, it might play a part in the war against polio.
Old Blood Was Potent
Tests were conducted to see if the wartime serum, eight to ten years old, still contained the antipolio antibodies which ran in the veins of the donors. It did. Dr. Defries broke the news and the federal health department called a meeting of the country's top health and research men to discuss its possibilities. As a result, Connaught Labs were granted seventy-five thousand dollars by the federal government to set up equipment immediately for production of gamma globulin. The group also recommended that, a committee be appointed to advise the national health department on distribution of the material, and that the Red Cross be enlisted as the collection
agency for the all-important blood which would be needed as soon as the wartime serum ran out.
Connaught Labs were soon—but none loo soon—turning out about fifteen hundred doses of gamma globulin a week.
The gamma globulin committee, with Dr. B. D. Layton as secretary, held its first meeting on April 25 and decided how the precious fluid would be distributed. Obviously there would not be enough for all needs. So it was decided it would be better to try to use the limited supplies for a field trial in epidemic areas.
It was believed there was lots of time before the polio season began in July —then in May, as one committee member put it, "Whitehorse blew up."
It was one of those things which completely rule out any attempt to predict what polio will do. It usually comes with the heat of summer—and ill came in the middle of spring in the Yukon town of Whitehorse. Gamma globulin was rushed to Whitehorse. Supplying the serum by air was a combined army and civilian operation, first supplies going on June 5. By the end of June, when the scourge had run its course, there had been a hundred and thirty-eight cases of polio, including five deaths and thirty-three cases of paralysis. By mid-September there bid been only three more cases, one of them a health department nurse.
As the Yukon epidemic waned, the cirefully kept graphs in Dr. Layton's office in Ottawa began to show a dangerous trend: In both Manitoba
and Ontario polio cases were on the increase. Gamma globulin—what pitifully little there was of it-—was made available to both provinces.
But by mid-July the Ontario curve began to drop off before reaching epidemic proportions while the disease
rate in the west continued to mount. More globulin was released for the Winnipeg area, by now suffering its worst polio outbreak. At the King George Isolation Hospital in Winnipeg at one time in September there were seventy-six polio patients in iron lungs. Quantities of gamma globulin were distributed also in Newfoundland, Alberta and British Columbia, where there were minor epidemics, and in scattered localities in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan. By the end of the polio season Connaught had produced about twenty-five thousand vials of globulin, "A splendid production job," according to Dr. Layton. With a new laboratory it is expected production by the end of next year's polio season will be one hundred thousand, requiring about two hundred thousand blood donations.
The anticipated production still will be insufficient to immunize all children who might be exposed to polio next year—an estimated one hundred and fifty thousand of the country's three and a half million children under the age of fifteen. But it is felt that the amount produced will minimize the effect of polio. In Winnipeg it was found that the number of household contacts for each case of polio averaged out to about four. Should there be a big outbreak of polio in, say, Ontario, the most populated province, even one as big as Ontario's 1937 epidemic when there were a record 2,546 cases, it would take about ten thousand doses to inject all household contacts. Next year's planned production, then, would be sufficient to handle several such epidemics—provided only household contacts were immunized.
Gamma globulin, according to Dr. Rhodes, gives a person what is called "passive immunity." It does not induce the body to produce any immunity of its own, as diphtheria toxoid does, and the immunity is gone when the injected antibodies are excreted in a few weeks. It is sometimes necessary to give a second injection. The antipolio effort in the research laboratories now is toward the discovery of a permanent preventive.
"The situation is developing very quickly," says Dr. Rhodes. "But gamma globulin, as far as polio is concerned, will be in the picture for three or four years, and it may always play a part in the prevention and lessening of disease."
The Department of National Health and Welfare is working now on reports gathered in each area to which gamma globulin was sent. Health officers are convinced that what little globulin they were able to distribute helped limit the disease. A member of the gamma globulin committee says, "The general feeling is that it was reasonably effective." But Dr. Layton said that until results have been completely analyzed it is impossible to make a positive assessment of the effectiveness of gamma globulin in Canada.
Certainly the need for a means of fighting polio is increasing. The incidence of the disease fluctuates from year to year, but the increase in the past three years, compared with the previous three, has been very great. In 1948, 1949 and 1950 there were an average of fifteen hundred polio cases in Canada; in 1951, 1952 and 1953 the average jumped to over four thousand —with this year's estimated sixty-one hundred cases the highest on record.
If gamma globulin can reduce deaths and crippling from polio—and most medical authorities agree it is the most hopeful method to turn up yet—the disagreement over ways and means of obtaining sufficient raw material will become of increasing importance to us all. Vk
A MACLEAN'S NOVEL AWARD
the alien CHAPTER SIX She could have been mine
December 1953 By W. O. MITCHELL
Are You Sure There Are No Ghosts?
December 1953 By R. S. LAMBERT
DEATH IN THE TOY PARADE
December 1953 By VERA JOHNSON
The Most Heartbreaking Job in Canada
December 1953 By JUNE CALLWOOD
WHO'LL BLOW THE GREY CUP THIS YEAR?
December 1953 By TRENT FRAYNE
Will Diefenbaker Lead the Tories?
December 1953 By BLAIR FRASER
FOOTBALL WEEKEND
December 1960 By PETER GZOWSKI
How to improve your ploy
December 1960 By Leslie F. Hannon
The weirdest secret weapon of the war
December 1960 By Terence Robertson
A MACLEAN'S FLASHBACK
WHEN VOTING WAS A HIGH ADVENTURE
May 1957 By FERGUS CRONIN
They're Waiting for JOSEPH ANATOLE DESFOSSES
Adam Beck's Fight bFor Public Hydro
June 1954 By FERGUS CRONIN
Backstage WITH HELICOPTERS
October 1958 By FERGUS CRONIN


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Home Monica New Music: Monica Feat Missy Elliott – Code Red
New Music: Monica Feat Missy Elliott – Code Red
On December 18th Monica will drop her long awaited new album "Code Red," while on tour to support her latest project the ATL born singer dropped the title track which features Missy Elliott and her daughter Laiyah. Along with her Lil Wayne assisted single "Just Right For Me" Monica's new album will also include appearances from Timbaland and Akon. Check out the new song below.
1. "Code Red" feat. Missy Elliott & Laiyah
2. "Just Right for Me" feat. Lil Wayne
3. "Love Just Ain't Enough" feat. Timbaland
4. "Call My Name"
5. "I Know"
6. "All Men Lie" feat. Timbaland
7. "Deep"
8. "Hustler's Ambition" feat. Akon
9. "Alone in Your Heart"
10. "Suga"
11. "Ocean of Tears"
12. "Saints & Sinners"
13. "I Miss Music"
14. "Anchor"
Alus Releases Her Viral Video For Liquor
Rotimi Releases His Official Video For "Situation"
http://ymmwt.com/new-music/new-music-monica-feat-missy-elliot-code-red

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The 12 Apps of Christmas presents an opportunity for students, educators, and educational support staff to learn about mobile apps that can be used to support teaching and learning in the classroom or online. On each day of the event, one app is presented along with a short activity to get participants using the app for an educational purpose.
Not previously featured in the BC 12 Apps of Christmas (or must be presented in a way substantially different from the previous entry).
An educational activity for the app can be completed in around an hour.
Enter information about your App suggestion, please include the complete title of the App, the URL where we can find the App, and any additional details you'd like to share.


Our answer to that is….call your electrician!! We did a lot of the electrical work in our house but we are offering zero advice on electrical issues on the blog. You will need an electrical outlet installed in the wall where you would like your television hung.
They also make a cover for cords. This cover will "hide" the cords from your floor electrical outlet to the television. You could paint it to blend into the wall. Not a perfect solution but much better than a bunch of exposed cords.
There you have it. Our television "secret". Any further questions. What are your favorite television shows?


The complaint alleges that Ohio State continues to neglect its duty to keep students safe from sexual misconduct.
Columbus, OH – October 26, 2018 — Fighting back against Ohio State's efforts to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of sexual abuse victims, attorneys representing victims of Dr. Richard Strauss filed an amended lawsuit late Friday night claiming the University has a long and continuing history of being indifferent to sexual misconduct.
The amended complaint was filed electronically with the U.S. District Court's Columbus Division and provides evidence that Ohio State officials were aware of the ongoing abuse.
The amended lawsuit also addresses the fact that OSU continues to resist taking action on the complaints.
In August 2018, the lawsuit states that the Office for Civil Rights announced it would be launching an investigation into OSU's compliance with Title IX, and to inquire whether the University responds promptly and equitably to reports and complaints of sexual misconduct by former students.
Strauss victim Kent Kilgore, who swam for Ohio State in 1981-82, welcomed the news that the lawsuit is proceeding.
Kilgore joined the lawsuit after learning that Ohio State enabled Strauss's behavior for 20 years.
Kilgore is a physical education teacher and swim coach in Florida, where he tries to keep his swimmers safe.
"I have had team meetings that included parents and we discussed physicals and, in my way, I always influenced the parents to be present, no matter the age of their swimmer," Kilgore said.
The amended lawsuit was filed after Ohio State moved to dismiss the original lawsuit and makes the University's motion to dismiss moot.
Victims' attorney Rex Sharp called on Ohio State to follow the example set by Michigan State, Penn State and USC, and make Strauss's victims whole.
"These institutions have atoned by compensating their victims and making dramatic and long-lasting changes. But OSU continues to refuse, hoping to do a self-exam and declare itself healthy. OSU must be brought to justice," Sharp said.
One victim who can no longer afford to see his therapist is angry that the University refuses to recognize the impacts Strauss had on athletes in his care.
The University hired Seattle-based Perkins Coie to interview former athletes about Strauss's abuse.
Ohio State's attempt to dismiss the victims' original lawsuit when the Perkins Coie investigation is far from complete is seen by many victims as a message that officials are not interested in helping the former athletes heal.
A former Ohio State wrestler is going public with his story to encourage the Ohio legislature to change the statute of limitations, so he and other former athletes can proceed with their class action lawsuit. "Everybody knew and they didn't do anything," said the survivor.
Over the years, Thomas told his story to family and friends, which helped him bury his emotions. But his feelings bubbled to the surface when he was interviewed by investigators hired to look into the Strauss allegations and reminding him of just how much these incidents scarred him.
Brian is one of hundreds of brave survivors who have come forward to demand accountability from OSU. As a result of the sexual abuse perpetrated by Dr. Richard Strauss, Brian continues to live with the ramifications of Ohio State's failure to protect students.


implements the Themes according to its institutional priorities, and the interests of its staff and students. At the same time each Theme engages Scottish institutions to work collaboratively and collectively. Through quality enhancement, substantial experience has been gained in working creatively with the sector and its diverse institutions.
- consider the benefits of this type of approach to quality enhancement: at individual, institutional and national levels.


Established fully staffed CLIA Toxicology laboratory seeking buyer. This lab is an up and running laboratory utilizing two AB Sciex 4500 instruments in excellent shape and purchased in 2016 and 2017. All equipment and instrumentation is owned outright with zero debt. Lab is out of network commercially but is in-network federally with medicare, tri-care, and a list of medicaids/MCO's. The lab can handle capacity of up to 6000 tox specimens and typically runs the toxicology screens using the LC/MS instrumentation. The sale of the lab does not include the current AR or existing volume as the lab intends to move the business volume to another lab that they are connected with (lab would consider an offer for this as well). This is a perfect opportunity for a group seeking to move quickly into the laboratory space with an up and running lab or a group seeking to build out an additional lab in the Oklahoma area.


BPCL is an Indian oil and gas company located in Mumbai, Maharashtra. At Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), The Company knows consumers demand and difficulties operate towards achieving them, operating consciously towards contributing combined value in fuel and non- fuel operations.
The Corporation has established contributions in the Indian Petroleum retailing area that have joined need ways of its clients, Support is one such effort to promote and pay relations.
They understand the customer challenges and leveraging the IT solutions to reach the best results for potential clients. Bharat Petroleum has, in case, transformed the fuel retailing industry with the nation's first-ever Smart Card services in the Oil & Gas division. The company support plan has recently been given the valid loyalty program in the Oil & Gas business in the country.
BPCL understands that Mobile apps are growing, expanding greatness in today's market world with interests to consumer commitment and loyalty. Consistent clearness to regulars. So the client came up with the idea to develop a mobile application for his business to help and support his potential customer.
They have a plan for the design of a direct marketing channel, implementing value to consumers, Developing Brand and identification, increasing customer appointment, being out from the competition, Improvement of customer loyalty is some of the emergency with the idea to mobile application development. They get to know the mobile application for their business plays a major role and understood the increased mobile apps in all industries, so they want to implement in BPCL to join in the race of competition and in transferring out to its petrol pumps and available for the different services proposed by the company.
We developed Fleetgenie to help his customers getting loads for vehicles in simple actions in the app.
It allows the users to show nearby BPCL outlets.


text:
There's a Domestic Duck Dilemma on Staten Island
By Bree Driscoll Staten Island
PUBLISHED 8:32 AM ET Oct. 30, 2020 PUBLISHED October 30, 2020 @8:32 AM
NEW YORK - We all know that birds of a feather flock together, except when it comes to two domestic ducks. One tan and one black, who have joined a flock of wild mallards at Clove Lakes Park on Staten Island.
Urban Park Ranger Nicole Sammon knows a thing or two about birds. She first spotted the domestic ducks in the spring.
"A lot of people will get ducklings for Easter gifts for their kids. A lot of schools will actually hatch ducks as a program for the students to learn about animals and how they develop. But unfortunately these ducks grow up. They get big. They get messy and people don't really know what to do with them so they end up releasing them here thinking they will fit in with our wild ducks," said Sammon.
Two domestic ducks have joined a flock of wild Mallards at Cloves Lake Park on Staten Island
These domestic ducks can't fly, rely on humans to be fed, and their unique appearance makes them standout to predators
Releasing animals into New York City parks is illegal
This year, Urban Park Rangers rescued 104 animals including cats, dogs, duck, chicken, rabbits, geese, and guinea pigs
For the most part, these two ducks have gotten along with their wild counterparts. But It is not just their size and appearance that makes them stand out.
"They come right up to us," said Sammon.
They rely on being fed to stay alive. They eat right out of your hand. They will also pose for pictures and sometimes they get a little too close. But it isn't all fun. The sad reality is they are not meant to live in the wild.
"They have no camouflage because they are bred all these different colors. So they can't hide from predators. They can't fly from predators. They can't find their own food," said Sammon.
And this winter when the pond freezes over and the other birds fly away, these two cannot.
"They are going to be left here alone to survive on their own," said Sammon.
Or not survive. Sadly, these two ducks are not only ones in the city facing an uncertain future.
The Parks Department says it found 56 domestic birds last year.
Rangers rescued 104 animals including cats, dogs, chickens and guinea pigs so far this year. Of those, 57 were domestic birds. To save these ducks Urban Rangers have to capture them which is not always easy or even possible.
"It is hard to catch healthy ducks. Even though they can't fly, they are pretty quick and they can swim of course, a lot faster than us," said Sammon.
The hope is that they will be brought to a sanctuary where they can safely live out the rest of their lives.


Pratt Industries has recently been featured as a Public Storage sustainability partner in their "In Your Space" blog. In the article, "Public Storage Cardboard Boxes are Green Not Brown," Pratt is credited with supplying Public Storage 100% recycled corrugated boxes that are not only great for the environment but also of the highest quality. As a result of this program, Public Storage has saved over 68,000 trees in a single year. Learn more about the partnership between Public Storage and Pratt Industries and view pictures of the box making process here.
Public Storage built its first self-storage facility in 1972. Today it operates over 2,200 unique and diverse company-owned locations in the United States and Europe. Given its long and successful history, its presence in major markets, its customer focus and its leadership position in the self-storage industry, Public Storage is a respected and trusted operator of self-storage facilities.
Pratt Industries is America's 5th Largest Corrugated Packaging Company and the world's largest, privately-held 100% recycled paper and packaging company, with more than 4000 highly-skilled, green-collar employees dedicated to the environment and sustainability. Pratt was founded in the USA some 25 years ago and, since then, has shown dramatic growth with sophisticated manufacturing facilities in more than 20 states.


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De Zware Jongens zijn een fictieve boevenbende uit de Duckstad-wereld. Ze zijn er hoofdzakelijk op uit om Dagobert Ducks geld te stelen.

Naam

De Zware Jongens werden bedacht door tekenaar Carl Barks en kregen van hem de naam 'Beagle Boys' mee. Barks baseerde hun uiterlijk namelijk op dat van het hondenras beagle, hoewel de gelijkenis niet groot is. Ze maakten hun debuut als stripfiguren in november 1951, in het verhaal Terror of the Beagle Boys (WDC#134). Hier zijn ze alleen op het laatste plaatje te zien en hebben ze nog geen eigen tekstballonnen. In de jaren daarna kregen ze belangrijke rollen in enkele langere verhalen, zoals Only a Poor Old Man (1952) en The Mysterious Stone Ray (1954).

Nederlandse naam
Toen het Nederlandstalige tijdschrift Donald Duck uitkwam, moest er een goede naam voor de boeven worden bedacht. In eerste instantie werd dit 'Brandkastenkrakers'. Later is de naam veranderd in de 'Zware Jongens'. Hoe de Zware Jongens (eigenlijk hun ouders) ooit aan hun naam zijn gekomen wordt onthuld in Koning van de Mississippi, een verhaal uit 1992 van Keno Don Rosa.

De Zware Jongens hebben in de stripverhalen geen eigen namen. Ze noemen elkaar altijd bij hun gevangenisnummer, dat ze duidelijk zichtbaar op hun kleding dragen.

Rol in de verhalen
De Zware Jongens zijn meestal niet bijster intelligent. In enkele verhalen is 176-167 de plannenmaker, maar vaak hebben ze hulp van anderen nodig om een goed plan te bedenken. Ook wordt soms gebruikgemaakt van vermommingen of gestolen uitvindingen van Willie Wortel. Dit zijn bijvoorbeeld apparaten waarmee zaken gekopieerd kunnen worden of uitvindingen waarmee ze gemakkelijk Dagobert Ducks geldpakhuis kunnen binnendringen. In andere verhalen slagen ze erin om gesprekken tussen Donald Duck en Oom Dagobert af te luisteren om zo bruikbare informatie te verzamelen voor hun plannen. Hiervoor installeren ze soms speciale apparatuur, waarbij ze zich bijvoorbeeld voordoen als medewerkers van een elektriciteitsbedrijf of als loodgieters. Ook maken ze hiervoor weleens gebruik van een hoorn die ze richten op de af te luisteren gesprekken en met het andere uiteinde tegen hun oor houden, bv. hangend aan een luchtballon of vanuit een helikopter. Hun plannen mislukken uiteindelijk vrijwel altijd.

In sommige verhalen komen meer Zware Jongens voor. Zo is er een met de naam IQ-176 (nummerbord I-176). Deze Zware Jongen is in tegenstelling tot de rest zeer intelligent, en wordt door de anderen dan ook ingezet om bijvoorbeeld dingen uit te vinden of goede doordachte plannen te bedenken. Deze lukken over het algemeen bijna, maar mislukken uiteindelijk alsnog door domme pech waarna de Zware Jongens weer in de gevangenis belanden. Er bestaat nog een andere slimme Zware Jongen, Justus Zware. Hoewel er in sommige verhalen tot wel acht Zware Jongens zijn, gaan de meeste verhalen alleen over 176-167, 176-671 en 176-761. In enkele verhalen die onder meer in Donald Duck Extra zijn verschenen, spelen deze drie Zware Jongens steeds de hoofdrol. Ze raken verwikkeld in allerlei avonturen waarbij ze steevast in de gevangenis eindigen. Een belangrijk verschil met de verhalen van Barks en Don Rosa is dat Dagobert Duck en zijn geld doorgaans geen rol spelen in deze verhalen.

De eigenlijke gezichten van de Zware Jongens zijn in de verhalen van Barks en Don Rosa nooit te zien. Soms slaagt iemand (zoals Dagobert) erin om een masker van het gezicht van een Zware Jongen af te trekken, maar dan nog blijft het gezicht in de volgende plaatjes buiten beeld. In verhalen van andere tekenaars is er af en toe wel een Zware Jongen zonder masker te zien, zoals in Willie Wortel- In de val (H96226, De Zware Jongens- vakantieboek 2016).

Familie
In sommige verhalen komt ook hun opa voor, Zwarthart Zware, die meer ervaring heeft en van wiens raad zij graag gebruikmaken. Op het gevangenisbordje op zijn borst staat het nummer 186-802. Door de Zware Jongens zelf wordt hij meestal simpelweg 'Opaatje' genoemd. Vaak moeten zij wachten totdat hun opa weer eens uit de gevangenis wordt ontslagen, om zijn hulp te kunnen gebruiken. Soms duiken in deze verhalen nog meer familieleden van de Zware Jongens op.

De Zware Jongens hebben ook drie kleine neefjes: de Zware Schoffies. Deze zijn gecreëerd door Tony Strobl en verschenen voor het eerst That Motherly Feeling, een verhaal uit 1965.

Woonplaats
De Zware Jongens blijken verspreid over de hele wereld te wonen. Een deel van hen woont in Schotland. Allemaal maken ze deel uit van een wereldwijde criminele organisatie, waarbij de Zware Jongens uit de Donald Duck-verhalen deel uitmaken van het Duckstadse deel.

Overige eigenschappen
 Een van de Zware Jongens is verzot op pruimen. Deze voorliefde heeft de Zware Jongens dikwijls mislukkingen bezorgd.
 Ze worden door het boevengilde niet hoog aangeslagen, tenzij ze ergens 'goede zaken' hebben gedaan.
 Soms willen de Zware Jongens terwijl ze vrij rondlopen eigenlijk het liefst terug naar de gevangenis, omdat ze het eten daar lekkerder vonden.

In DuckTales
In de tekenfilmserie DuckTales komen de Zware Jongens ook voor, maar voor deze serie zijn ze enigszins aangepast. Terwijl ze in de strips allemaal precies op elkaar lijken, hebben ze in de televisiereeks elk hun eigen typische en daardoor duidelijk te onderscheiden uiterlijk. Ook hebben ze in de serie individuele namen in plaats van alleen nummers:

 Baas Boef - De kleinste, vervult de leidersrol
 Beuk Boef - Groot en sterk
 Bolle Boef - Een dikke veelvraat
 Babyface Boef - Klein, heeft een jeugdig uiterlijk
 Bengel Boef - Een constant grijnzende slungel
 Bebop Boef - Muziekliefhebber
 Bankroof Boef - De sterkste, heeft een zogenaamde 'kinnebak'
 Ma Boef - Hun moeder

Daarnaast komen er in DuckTales enkele Zware Jongens voor die slechts een of enkele malen meespelen, bijvoorbeeld Bom Boef en Brandkast Boef.

Varia
Er bestaat een  Zware Jongens Vakantieboek, dat in de zomer (in juni) verschijnt.

In andere talen
 Deens: Bjørne-Banden
 Duits: Panzerknacker
 Engels: Beagle Boys
 Fins: Karhukopla
 Frans: Les Rapetou
 Indonesisch: Gerombolan Siberat
 Italiaans: Banda Bassotti
 Noors: B-gjengen
 Pools: Bracia Be
 Portugees: Irmãos Metralha
 Spaans: Golfos Apandadores
 Zweeds: Björnligan

Stemmen

Amerikaanse stemmen
 Ma Boef - June Foray (DuckTales), Margo Martindale (DuckTales uit 2017)
 Baas Boef - Frank Welker (DuckTales), Eric Bauza (DuckTales uit 2017)
 Beuk Boef - Chuck McCann (DuckTales), Eric Bauza (DuckTales uit 2017)
 Bolle Boef - Chuck McCann (DuckTales), Eric Bauza (DuckTales uit 2017)
 Bengel Boef - Frank Welker (DuckTales)
 Bebob Boef - Brian Cummings (DuckTales)
 Bank Boef - Peter Cullen (DuckTales)
 Babyface Boef - Terry McGovern (DuckTales)
 Pestkop Boef - Pat Musick (DuckTales)
 Zware Jongens in Mickey, Donald en Goofy: The Three Musketeers en Kingdom Hearts - Jeff Bennett en Maurice LaMarche
 Zware Jongens in Sport Goofy in Soccermmania - Jack Angel, Will Ryan en Phil Proctor
 Barend Beagle in Mickey and the Roadster Racers - Jay Leno

Nederlandse stemmen
 Ma Boef - Olaf Wijants (DuckTales), Frédérique Sluyterman van Loo (DuckTales uit 2017)
 Baas Boef - Evert de Vries (DuckTales), Thijs Steenkamp (DuckTales uit 2017)
 Beuk Boef - Hero Muller (DuckTales), Has Drijver en Erik van der Horst (DuckTales uit 2017)
 Bolle Boef - Hans Otjes en Jaap Stobbe (DuckTales), Seb van den Berg (DuckTales uit 2017)
 Bengel Boef - Arnold Gelderman (DuckTales)
 Bank Boef - Con Meijer (DuckTales)
 Babyface Boef - Arnold Gelderman (DuckTales)
 Zware Jongens in Mickey, Donald en Goofy: The Three Musketeers  - Fred Meijer, Just Meijer en Reinder van der Naalt
 Barend Beagle in Mickey and the Roadster Racers - Thijs van Aken

Zie ook
 Lijst van fictieve misdadigers

Externe links
 Duckipedia
 COA Inducks-database

Personage uit Donald Duck
Personage uit Ducktales
Werk van Carl Barks

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


It´s the 2016-2017 League Generación X Carranza (this is the name of the sponsoring gameshop that is hosting).
It´s a presence play game league in 13 rounds, aprox two weeks per round, and including 14 players. This is a long term championship that will end in a 4 players play-off featuring the best of us. We are mid-season now, and blood fills the ground in the arena. I myself am new to this community but I think they have been playing these kind of leagues for three years now, though never so crowded!
Until now my experience has been fantastic in all the matches, with great people and great games where I had to do my best (and often it was not enough), and always found kindness and sportsmanship on my rivals. I´d like to thank the organizers if they are reading this, for their efforts. Great job men!
1.- Zarovich: 6 wins, 1 time win.
2.- Zweken: 6 wins (1 less match).
3.- JmRocha: 6 wins, 1 loss.
4.- Vitonator: 4 wins, 1 time loss, 2 losses.
5.- Angelperez: 4 wins, 3 losses.
6.- Pritoos: 4 wins, 3 losses.
7.- Stgermain: 2 wins, 1 time win, 1 time loss, 3 losses.
8.- Beeckamm: 2 wins, 1 time win, 3 losses (1 less match).
9.- Petiso: 2 wins, 1 time loss, 3 losses (1 less match).
10.- Geri18: 2 wins, 4 losses (1 less match).
11.- Mvelazquezm: 2 wins, 4 losses (1 less match).
12.- Littlemove: 1 win, 1 time loss (2 less matches).
13.- Oskarin: 1 time win, 5 losses (1 less match).
14.- Rubenlop: 7 losses (he had to concede so far).
Now that the game has been distributed in native tongue in our country, we expect the community to grow, and probably will keep organizing more competitions and events. Any Madrid players interested, contact me pero ya!!!
Yea super excited to see the growth of the game in other countries. Just saw a Spanish review of the game that came out a couple of weeks ago. Glad arcane wonders are making an effort to increase the amount of languages for mage wars.
Great initiative! Looking forward to know more!
Please consider sharing here the winning or most original spellbooks in your league. I suppose you are playing with the core set (only) for the moment, but it will be interesting to learn more about the meta in Madrid.
When it comes to winning, the top here seems to be the Arraxian Crown Warlock (6 wins for the good old reliable aggro), followed by her sister, the Adramelech Warlock, and the Necro (5 wins each).
Finally, we can also see the wining%. This is slightly different, but answering that old question from a young training jedi: Yes. The dark side seems to be more powerful. I am counting only mages with at least 3 games recorded.
PD1: Arxiducs, as you can see, we are using the complete pool. We have been playing english cards so far these years!!
PD2: Tomorrow starts round 8. Here we go!!!
Thanks for the post. Very interesting stats!
It seems like the dark side is a successful one in your league!
Wish your group of play a long and healthy life!
If you end up doing that you will deserve the nickname "the roving mage warrior" !


You pick strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, apples, pumpkins. Nestled in the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, Schweizer Orchards has produced and packed high quality River Bend Apples for over four generations. A family owned business, Schweizer Orchards continues this tradition with their retail market in St. Joseph, Missouri.


text:
Reports indicate Twitter is looking to monetize popular usernames
January 12, 2023 January 12, 2023 Vee-bot 0 Comments elon musk, Twitter
Elon Musk-owned social media network Twitter could possibly be looking to monetize popular usernames via auction.
Advertisers have been leaving Twitter in droves ever since Musk took over last October. In an effort to staunch the loss of revenue and finally have the site start making money, it looks like the company is considering monetizing the names users use on the platform.
According to a report from the New York Times, people working at Twitter held talks about selling usernames. According to the report, which was based on unnamed sources who were close to those conversations, this isn't a sure thing, and it's unclear how far the talks progressed, especially with the approach of the new year.
The talks do raise questions about "username squatting." Currently, Twitter has rules against the practice, restricting people from creating profile-less accounts for the express purpose of selling the username. The move would see Twitter effectively engaging in the practice and having a monopoly on it. Meanwhile, Musk himself previously mentioned "freeing" the usernames of 1.5 billion deleted Twitter accounts that have remained unused for years. (Read: Mastodon is not Twitter, and it has enough differences that we should pay attention)
If Twitter were to push through with the move to monetize popular usernames, it wouldn't be the first social media network to do so. Last October, Telegram started putting popular usernames up for auction—only making an exception for usernames being sold for crypto. The move was not without some hitches, including some users claiming that their Telegram usernames were repossessed by the service's anti-squatting system without warning.
Telegram responded to these issues stating that "no system can perfectly distinguish between a channel being used to squat a username and one of these static placeholder or redirect channels."
Overall, the move was seen as a success for the instant messaging app and Telegram soon started selling fake phone numbers which could be used to log in to its service as well.
If the move for Twitter to start putting popular usernames up for auction pushes through, it will be just another one of the changes that Musk has pushed on the network since his takeover. The most notable—and maligned—of these is the change to Twitter Blue, which let users buy verification. This move resulted in multiple impostor accounts forcing the company to implement another tier of verification with gold checkmarks.
Other new features include the ability for users to check stock and crypto prices in-app—via a collaboration with stock-trading app Robinhood. In addition, the company has also replaced the "Latest" tab in the app with a "For You" timeline. This change now makes users have to manually set their timeline to "Latest" to display a chronological view of tweets every time they load the app.
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AI, robot, needs tacos or it will explode.


Parashat Sh'mini: The Holy Power of Hands | Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph.D.
← Do Jews Believe In A Soul?
This entry was posted in Bible, spirituality, Torah In Our Lives, torah interpretation and tagged biblical interpretation, God, language and belief, religion, ritual, spirituality, synagogues. Bookmark the permalink.


Respect! Hereby I declare here that your actions for freedom has been a very significant and important step toward for art freedom around the world. And these influential images that has come from your pens are always catalists and guides to artists like me against such a extended injustice. Hereby I thank all the efforts you have made by participating in this highly influential and of course historical campaign,I declare that when I was in jail, your action has been a source of strengh and hope for me and all other jailed artists. I appreciate and thank you so much for your attention and I hope what happened to me never ever happens for any artist anywhere in the world.
Eternalness of Freedom admires your pens!
Previous post à Masih Alinejad et à toutes les iraniennes qui se battent pour leur liberté.


On Nov. 28, the U.K. government released an action plan that aims to enable the development of the nation's first carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) project. Biomass U.K., an affiliate of the U.K. Renewable Energy Association, has spoken out in support of the action plan, noting the biomass power sector is already leading the way in carbon capture and storage development.
According to the U.K. Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, the country's first commercial-scale CCUS project could be up and running by the mid-2020s under the action plan released this week. The plan includes a commitment from the government to set out, within the next year, how to enable the U.K.'s first CCUS facility. Under the plan, the government will invest £20 million ($25.65 million) to support the construction of CCUS technologies as part of a £45 million commitment to innovation. The government will also invest up to £315 million in decarbonizing industry, including the potential to use CCUS, and will begin working with certain entities to identify existing oil and gas infrastructure that could be transformed for CCUS projects.
As part of the announcement, the BEIS also said the government will invest £175,000 in Project Acorn in St. Fergus, Scotland, to develop ways of transporting carbon emissions from where they are captured to storage. The funding will be matched by the Scottish government, with the European Union Commission also contributing funding.
The BEIS announcement references CCUS projects that are currently under development in the U.K., including those being pursued by OGCI Climate Investments and Drax. OGCI has announced its intention to open a commercial end-to-end CCUS project in Teesside. The project will use natural gas to generate power, with CO2 captured and transported by pipeline for storage under the seabed. Drax Power Station, located in North Yorkshire, is also developing a carbon capture and storage project. Earlier this week, the company announced work will soon start on the commissioning of its bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pilot project, which is using technology developed by Leeds University spin-out company C-Capture. If the pilot is successful, the BEIS said Drax could become the world's first negative emissions power station. Information released by the BEIS also indicates Drax's 6-month pilot will look at a number of ways in which captured CO2 could be used within other processes, such as for carbonating drinks or creating synthetic fuels.
A full copy of the action plan can be downloaded from the U.K. government website.


The Eating Disorders Service at the Brownhill Centre, Cheltenham is recruiting a full time Band 5 Clinician to join their Home Treatment Service.
This service offers intensive home treatment to young people across Gloucestershire, with eating disorders who are deteriorating to a significant degree; in order to prevent their hospitalisation; or alternatively to provide step down care to promote early discharge.
The team work alongside young people and their families, with the aim of empowering parents to optimise the re- feeding of their child, and to re- establish regular eating; in order to keep them/or get them home as soon as possible, and engaged back into family life.
The person required will need to be warm, supportive, enthusiastic, and empathic; whilst demonstrating the ability to hold clear and consistent boundaries, in an environment of potential high expressed emotion and distress.


text:
New Arrests In Kazakhstan As Planned Protests Near
May 20, 2016 11:37 GMT
By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service
Kazakh police have arrested dozens of activists an in apparent attempt to preempt protests about land reforms.
ALMATY -- Amnesty International has called on authorities in Kazakhstan to immediately and unconditionally release about three dozen activists who have been jailed in a wave of arrests ahead of protests planned during the weekend.
The human rights group noted on May 20 that many have been arrested for merely stating that they planned to attend protests planned for May 21 or for posting information about the upcoming demonstrations on the internet.
Meanwhile, police in Almaty arrested at least five more people on May 20 -- saying that some had objects that could be used for violence or to start fires.
A police statement said authorities found "several firearms, ammunition, four grenades, and 5 million tenges ($15,000) in cash" in two apartments.
He statement said metal bars, dozens of gasoline canisters, and materials used to make Molotov cocktails were also found.
Two other activists were also sentenced on May 20 to 15 days in jail on charges of making "preparations for an unsanctioned public event."
Activists and opposition politicians in Kazakhstan are trying to organize mass protests across the country to challenge a law allowing the sale of state-owned farmland and permitting agricultural land to be leased to foreigners for up to 25 years.
State-controlled media have tried to present the protests as "illegal" and organized by "third forces from abroad."
RFE/RL's Kazakh Service
RFE/RL's Kazakh Service offers informed and accurate reporting in the Kazakh and Russian languages about issues that matter in Kazakhstan, while providing a dynamic platform for audience engagement and the free exchange of news and ideas.
webteam@rferl.org
Kazakhstan's Pro-Government TV Channel With A Slight Russian Accent
HRW Calls On Kazakhstan To Allow Peaceful Protests, Cease Harassment
Kazakhstan Cracks Down Ahead Of Land Protests
Kazakh Activists Pressured Ahead Of Rally
Top Trending Central Asia
Rebranding McDonald's In Kazakhstan Is A Minefield Of National Identity, Geopolitics
Afghanistan's Ethnic Kyrgyz Want To Escape The Taliban, But It's No Easy Task
Russian Cash Transfers To Caucasus, Central Asia Surged In 2022 Amid Ukraine Invasion
As China Juggles Russia Ties, EU Skeptical Of Beijing's Charm Offensive
China In Eurasia Briefing: Beijing, Moscow, And The New Europe
Kazakh Teenage Girl Beats Russia's Noted Chess Grandmaster Karyakin
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev In Kyrgyzstan, To Sign Deal On Border
Kyrgyz, Uzbek Presidents Sign Raft Of Documents, Including Border Delimitation
Media Groups Urge Kyrgyzstan To Withdraw Request To Halt RFE/RL's Operations
Uzbek President Cuts Staff Of Ministries, State Entities By Almost One-Quarter


Costs, promotions, styles, and availability may range. Nearly all insurers restrict the variety of days you possibly can depart your own home unoccupied for while still protecting you – normally 30 days. Buildings insurance coverage offers cover for the structural components of your home, such because the windows or roof, and covers the cost of repairs or rebuilding work. Chai Patel, the legal policy director at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said the Dwelling Office was prepared to destroy the futures of kids who've grown up British for revenue".
Expensive purchases resembling laptops and jewellery (including engagement rings) is probably not covered in the event that they had been purchased after your coverage was taken out. Insurers ask what type of lock you've gotten, so you danger invalidating your cover should you put down the incorrect kind. So new-for-previous is one of the simplest ways to go. Once you calculate the cost of your contents, factor in the value of your items as if they're new.
A lot of this, after all, has to do with regional markets, and comes as provincial measures in Ontario and British Columbia, meant to tame dwelling costs, and federal financial institution rules continue to work their method by the system. Some groups, reminiscent of those in areas liable to flooding, subsidence or whose home is left unoccupied for long intervals, can discover it tough to find low cost insurance coverage cover as they're thought-about too high a threat.
Combined buildings and contents cover is simply appropriate for people who own their homes. This left the URA's total personal residential value index at just three.6 per cent beneath its final peak of Q3 2013 and 9.1 per cent above the last trough of Q2 2017; the worth index for non-landed non-public homes in the second quarter this 12 months is 1.7 per cent below the Q3 2013 peak primarily based on the flash estimate. I obtained house and contents insurance for £50 with £50 cashback from Authorized & Normal!
Regardless of a recovering financial system and stronger jobs market, the survey finds that 29 per cent of respondents, which Aviva says is consultant of over a million adults across Ireland, are still struggling. Joe Moore have held forums to indicate residents learn how to attraction their assessments — a course of that The Tax Divide" discovered makes the system even more regressive, partly because people living in pricier properties are more likely to file appeals.


I won a medical device design competition in my Problem Based Learning graduate class. The challenge was to design and build a wearable device to minimize essential tremor. Essential tremor is a neurological disease that causes uncontrollable shaking of the head and hands. Anyway, after a lot of late nights of drilling and sawing, I finished my prototype last week and gave the presentation yesterday. The judges liked my design the best. I got this snazzy certificate and $150. You can see me wearing the gizmo in this picture. It uses viscous dampers to suppress the tremor. Check out my "projects page" for a better explanation and the PDF of the presentation.
One Response to Design Competition Winner!


text:
← Flying to New York, new Airport, and Air India
Raleigh and Gandhi →
Troubling Tuesday on Amtrak
Posted on September 23, 2010	by indra
At JFK Airport with Rajesh, Shephali and Svanik
At Little Neck residence of Rajesh
As Anand stated, I was the first from extended Sharma family who was taking a train to travel a major distance in US. I don't know why but then I decided to take an Amtrak train for getting to Cary in North Carolina from New York.
At Penn Railway Station, New York
After three nights with Rajesh and spending quality loving time with Svanik, on Tuesday September 21, 2010 we got up very early at around 3AM to catch the train that was scheduled for 6.15AM from New York, Penn station. Rajesh didn't have a dry run to find the traffic that is usually awesome around Manhattan. Rajesh was to return in time to take care of Svanik who would have been alone. Shephali goes early morning to hospital where she is doing her Masters. On previous evening, we had discussed to take a taxi but finally Rajesh decided to do it himself
Traffic was thin at that lean hour, but in a new place I was a scary GPS wonderfully helps reaching the destination. And then after parking on the street itself in a safe place in front of Penn station that appeared to me as an office high rise building we carried the three suitcases and other and went in the basement that houses the station.
Rajesh had to wait for getting the baggage checked in , but when the counter opened, at 5..15 AM, the person manning it said in the train that we were taking we couldn't check in the baggage. For anxious moment I was cursing myself to having taken the decision. But in the meantime Rajesh talked with the porter on a counter who asked us to rest in waiting room and he would manage to get us in the train with baggage naturally at a cost. Rajesh advised me to pay him well and left.
I was worried as usual. But very soon the man took all the baggage and got us in the train that was in time on the track. There were hardly far passenger on the platform. We got in to the business class
In a new place it was natural to get scary in such a situation. But the train ride was very comfortable. The seats were wide. As one of the suitcases was bigger and heavier, we had to keep the same in front of our seats. For travelling in US, one must keep the weight in each suitcase less than 23 kgs.
But the journey was worth taking it. I could see US from a train I like the train journey even in India. The child in me keeps on seeing all around without a blink. US is certainly pretty industrialized and having a lot of forestry all around. But around Richmond, we found the train taking a different trek. It got delayed by almost an hour
I was in constant touch with Rajesh and then Anand took over. Finally we reached Cary late but pretty well in evening. Anand with Shannon and kids were on the platform to receive us. All worries got off the mind and the happy moments around
Even with companies as GE and other that have done great work in technology related to Railway engine, US is hardly having a developed railway system While china runs the fastest train in the world covering a 700-mile journey in five hours, by comparison America's Amtrak takes eighteen hours to cover similar distance.
At Mount Rocky Station Platform of Amtrak
I was surprised that the concept of platforms nonexistent in US. The train coach had a small staircase that comes out at the platform that looks like a street. The conductor laid a small stool to help passengers to get down from the train.
I am sure US must go for better and faster railways just as China is going. It will save energy wasted in planes and cars that are the most popular mode of travel in the country. Recently I read about how the governor of California had travelled South Korea, Japan and china to explore possibility of getting a fast train system laid for travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles. I don't know if Americans will like to switch over to train as and when it comes up.
PS: While Amtrak crossed places such as New Jersey, Baltimore and Richmond, Yamuna kept on talking about some sweet memories of her 1993 visit to Anil Singh in New Jersey and Onkar Singh in Baltimore with Rakesh. Anil Singh is back in India, but Onkar is perhaps still in Baltimore as he is doctor by profession and had a very good practice. Many more acquaintances must be in places en route Amtrak from New York to Cary. Rajesh had been to New Jersey where Radha Khaitan had organized an HM Reunion. However, with time we keep on losing the contact and closeness and even basic courtesy to visit the known ones or be once in a while their host.
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text:
package com.rjew.ArenaScheduler;

import java.io.Serializable;

public class Course implements Serializable, Comparable<Course> {
    private Integer subjectID;
    private String courseID;
    private String courseTitle;
    private Integer classID;
    private Integer seats;
    private Character code;
    private Integer block;
    private String room;
    private String teacher;

    public Course() {
        this.subjectID = 0;
        this.courseID = "";
        this.courseTitle = "";
        this.classID = 0;
        this.seats = 0;
        this.code = 'Z';
        this.block = 0;
        this.room = "";
        this.teacher = "";
    }

    public Course(Integer subjectID, String courseID, String courseTitle,
                  Integer classID, Integer seats, Character code,
                  Integer block, String room, String teacher) {
        this.subjectID = subjectID;
        this.courseID = courseID;
        this.courseTitle = courseTitle;
        this.classID = classID;
        this.seats = seats;
        this.code = code;
        this.block = block;
        this.room = room;
        this.teacher = teacher;
    }

    public Course(Course course) {
        this.subjectID = course.subjectID;
        this.courseID = course.courseID;
        this.courseTitle = course.courseTitle;
        this.classID = course.classID;
        this.seats = course.seats;
        this.code = course.code;
        this.block = course.block;
        this.room = course.room;
        this.teacher = course.teacher;
    }

    //Default compare Courses by block
    @Override
    public int compareTo(Course course) {
        if (this.block < course.block) {
            return -1;
        } else if (this.block > course.block) {
            return 1;
        } else {
            return 0;
        }
    }

    public Integer getSubjectID() {
        return subjectID;
    }

    public String getCourseID() {
        return courseID;
    }

    public String getCourseTitle() {
        return courseTitle;
    }

    public Integer getClassID() {
        return classID;
    }

    public Integer getSeats() {
        return seats;
    }

    public Character getCode() {
        return code;
    }

    public Integer getBlock() {
        return block;
    }

    public String getRoom() {
        return room;
    }

    public String getTeacher() {
        return teacher;
    }

    public void setSubjectID(Integer subjectID) {
        this.subjectID = subjectID;
    }

    public void setCourseID(String courseID) {
        this.courseID = courseID;
    }

    public void setCourseTitle(String courseTitle) {
        this.courseTitle = courseTitle;
    }

    public void setClassID(Integer classID) {
        this.classID = classID;
    }

    public void setSeats(Integer seats) {
        this.seats = seats;
    }

    public void setCode(Character code) {
        this.code = code;
    }

    public void setBlock(Integer block) {
        this.block = block;
    }

    public void setRoom(String room) {
        this.room = room;
    }

    public void setTeacher(String teacher) {
        this.teacher = teacher;
    }

    /**
     * The classID is unique for each Course. So this should compare Course by classID only.
     */
    @Override
    public boolean equals(Object other) {
        return (other instanceof Course) && (classID != null)
                ? classID.equals(((Course) other).getClassID())
                : (other == this);
    }

    /**
     * The classID is unique for each Course. So a Course with same classID should return same hashcode.
     */
    @Override
    public int hashCode() {
        return (classID != null)
                ? (this.getClass().hashCode() + classID.hashCode())
                : super.hashCode();
    }

    /**
     * Returns the String representation of this Course.
     */
    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return String.format("Course[subjectID=%d,courseID=%s,courseTitle=%s,classID=%d,seats=%d," +
                        "code=%c,block=%d,room=%s,teacher=%s]",
                subjectID, courseID, courseTitle, classID, seats, code, block, room, teacher);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Buchta smerti (ryska: Бухта смерти) är en sovjetisk stumfilm från 1926, regisserad av Abram Romm.

Handling
Vita gardet ockuperade en södra hamn. Partisanerna befäste sig vid fyren. Bland dem finns Nikolaj Razdolnyj, vars åsikter skiljer sig från hans fars. De vita vakterna arresterar besättningen på Lebedskeppet och beordrar Nikolaj far att ta över hans tidigare uppgifter.

Rollista
 V. Jaroslavtsev – Ivan Razdolnyj
 A. Matsevitj – Nikolaj Razdolnyj
 Vasilij Ljudvinskij – Pavlik Razdolnyj
 A. Ravitj – Razdolnyj
 Nikolaj Saltykov – Surkov

Referenser

Externa länkar

Filmer 1926
Sovjetiska stumfilmer


Flamory helps you capture and store screenshots from Fast Duplicate File Finder by pressing a single hotkey. It will be saved to a history, so you can continue doing your tasks without interruptions. Later, you can edit the screenshot: crop, resize, add labels and highlights. After that, you can paste the screenshot into any other document or e-mail message.
Here is how Fast Duplicate File Finder snapshot can look like. Get Flamory and try this on your computer.
It uses fast binary comparison algorithm and has internal preview supporting a lot of image, video, music and text file formats. You can also preview the files in binary mode. When the scan process is finished the program shows you all duplicate files in groups and can automatically mark the older files for deletion.
Integration level may vary depending on the application version and other factors. Make sure that user are using recent version of Fast Duplicate File Finder. Please contact us if you have different integration experience.


Virginia Tech will be perfecting a parallel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle powered by E85. The team has laid out technical goals which will guide them throughout all four years of the competition. These goals also help the team measure their successes and identify areas to improve.


text:
Meet the newest member of the R100m club
May 2, 2017 | Media coverage, Press Room
IoT.nxt has had a blistering year, with overseas expansion and a big dose of investment.
Matthew Burbidge 2 May 2017
Anyone who is still wondering whether or not South African startups can hit the same levels of exponential growth and funding as their Silicon Valley peers need only take a look at Centurion-based company IoT.nxt. It's just over a year since the company formed, and it recently announced that it has opened an international office, in London, and secured a massive R100-million investment to expand its research and development work.
Since the beginning of 2016, says CEO Nico Steyn, the firm has increased its headcount fivefold. Even so, he says, the demand for IoT.nxt's Raptor platform has been so overwhelming that the company has found its R&D team is often pulled into active customer support. The main purpose of the funding will be to allow the team to work on new products and solutions in a more focussed way.
The backing comes via Talent 10 Holdings, a Midrand-based asset management company that has been critical to IoT.nxt's success, says Steyn.
IoT.nxt's core product is Raptor, a data-clearing platform that taps into the multibillion-dollar market for Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. It's specifically designed to connect multi-vendor systems into a unified dashboard environment, allowing companies to visualise and analyse complex data in real-time. Steyn says Raptor grew out of challenges that the company faced when trying to implement conventional IoT solutions.
What we found was that no one had the ability to take data from legacy systems and industrial equipment and put it into a platform that is independent from the technology.Nico Steyn
Rip and replace
"We set out to create a platform for connecting subsystems for analytics," Steyn says, adding that early customers included companies in the mining sector. "What we found was that no one had the ability to take data from legacy systems and industrial equipment and put it into a platform that is independent from the technology."
Steyn says that many IoT solutions are sold on the basis of rip and replace, and there was a gap in the market for a platform that leveraged existing systems. Some of these, he says, have been in use for 20 to 50 years, but can still be digitised using Raptor.
Over the last 12 months, IoT.nxt has worked with customers in industries as varied as mining, automotive, manufacturing and telecoms, where it has developed remote site management solutions for monitoring. It's also developed a close relationship with Deloitte – a partnership Steyn says has boosted growth. Together, the firms have worked on Transnet's IntelliPort concept for automatic port terminals.
Steyn is bullish on future growth, and while he admits that part of the interest in IoT.nxt's work is down to being in the 'right place at the right time', he says that there are plenty of opportunities for local tech firms to succeed.
"I believe that from a South African perspective, we often sell ourselves short and don't give ourselves the credit we deserve," Steyn says. "We have unbelievable people at IoT.nxt, and that's what makes our business – it's the calibre of people we have. I'm a firm believer in investing in people and following our own way of thinking."
The current business climate creates big opportunities for IT firms, he continues.
"Even the local market is looking good because it's under pressure," he says, "And this type of technology helps people drive efficiencies in the business in ways they weren't able to before. Look at the mining firms that have upgraded their credit rating, despite concerns around commodity prices and the economy, because they've become more productive. They've cut the fat, and digitisation is what makes that possible, and at the forefront of that is IoT."
https://www.brainstormmag.co.za/technology/iot/


text:
Q: Backport railtie console change from Rails 4 to Rails 3.2.11? I'm getting some annoying test-related warnings and deprecation notices when running rails c or rails s; I tracked it down to this file.
However, it looks like this issue is already fixed in Rails 4.x:

*

*https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/686f94e

*https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/4c8fba1
But my company is not ready to upgrade to Rails 4.x quite yet.
How can I cleanly get these changes in 3.2.11?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Il faro di Ambrose, o torre Ambrose, è stato un faro situato alla convergenza di diverse rotte marine in arrivo nella Lower New York Bay, un punto di passaggio obbligato per navi in uscita o in entrata ai porti di New York.
Venendo meno la sua utilità, nel 2008 è stato demolito.

Il faro di Ambrose rappresentava la linea di traguardo della competizione relativa al Nastro Azzurro, il riconoscimento che veniva attribuito alla nave passeggeri che deteneva il record di velocità media di attraversamento dell'Atlantico, in regolare servizio e senza scali di rifornimento. L'unica nave italiana a fregiarsi di questo prestigioso riconoscimento fu il piroscafo transatlantico Rex, che salpò da Genova il 10 agosto 1933, toccò Gibilterra (punto di partenza della traversata ritenuta valida per il premio) l'11 agosto e transitò al traverso del faro di Ambrose il 16 agosto, dopo aver mantenuto una velocità media di 29,92 nodi (53,59 Km/h).

L'ultima validità di record fu assegnata nel 1952 alla nave americana United States e da allora, non avendo più istituito questo riconoscimento, il faro di Ambrose perse anche quella funzione.

Bibliografia
 Lighthouse Depot  - Reference article
 USCG light list - Ambrose Light is listed as number 720
 U.S. Coast Guard - Historic Light Station Information
 U.S. Coast Guard - Information on lightships
 National Data Buoy Center - Station ALSN6 - Ambrose Light
 Approaches to New York Harbor, NOAA Chart 12326 online.

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni
 Lighthouse Depot - Story about destruction of original structure
 Night Beacon - About lightships, including Ambrose Lightship
 New Jersey Scuba Diver - Information, charts, and history of Ambrose light station

Fari non attivi


Applications must be submitted online on or before this date to be accepted. Instructions are provided under "Application and Directions".
Applicants are notified in the first week of March if they have been selected as regional finalists. If selected they will be notified of the time and location for regional interviews. The regional finalist list is also posted on the website and is announced by the White House Press Office. Panel interviews are conducted during March and April. Regional finalists must keep a flexible schedule until panel assignments are announced. It is not likely that the assignment can be changed. Regional finalists must submit extensive security background investigation forms upon notification of their selection.
National finalists selected from the regional interviews are notified at the beginning of May. The national finalist list also is posted on the website and announced by the White House Press Office. All national finalists undergo background investigations before proceeding with the selection process.
National finalists are interviewed over a 2 1/2 day period by the members of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. Expenses are paid by the Commission.
The White House Press Office announces the President's official selection of the incoming class of White House Fellows.
Fellows interview with principals in government agencies for their work assignments for their fellowship year during Placement Week which generally occurs mid-month. The Director determines the placement of each Fellow in a work assignment. Expenses are paid by the Commission.


Newton's explanations of natural laws shattered the way mankind perceived the universe, and hence were not immediately embraced. How can anyone warm to a force that could not be seen or touched? But for two women, separated by time and space but joined in their passion for Newtonian physics,that force drove them to great achievements. Brilliant, determined, and almost entirely self-taught, they dedicated their lives to explaining and disseminating Newton's discoveries.Robyn Arianrhod's Seduced by Logic tells the dual biography of Emilie du Chatelet and Mary Somerville, who, despite living a century apart, were connected by their love for mathematics and their places at the heart of the most advanced scientific society of their age. When Newton published hisrevolutionary theory of gravity in 1687, most of his Continental peers rejected it for its reliance on physical observation and mathematical insight and its lack of religious or metaphysical hypotheses. But the brilliant French aristocrat and intellectual Emilie du Chatelet and some of her earlyeighteenth-century Enlightenment colleagues - including her lover, Voltaire - realized the Principia Mathematica had changed everything, marking the beginning of theoretical science as a predictive, quantitative, and secular discipline. Emilie devoted herself to furthering Newton's ideas in France,and her translation of the Principia became the accepted French version of his work. Almost a century later, in Scotland, Mary Somerville taught herself mathematics and rose from genteel poverty to become a world authority on Newtonian physics. Living in France, she became acquainted with the workof one of Newton's proteges, Pierre Simon Laplace, and translated his six-volume Celestial Mechanics into English. It remained the standard astronomy text for the next century, and was considered the most influential work since Principia. Combining biography and history of science, Seduced by Logic not only reveals the fascinating story of two incredibly talented women, but also brings to life a period of dramatic political and scientific change. With lucidity and skill, Arianrhod reveals the intimate links between the unfoldingNewtonian revolution and the origins of intellectual and political liberty.


text:
Update on 2010 EULAR RA Guidelines Now in Print
Lois Wingerson
Updated EULAR guidelines on treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, now published in the society's journal, advocate combination treatment, state reservations about tofacitinib, and declare a new preference for glucocorticoids in all combinations while withdrawing a preference for TNF inhibitors as second-line therapy.
Heralded with an announcement last July and posted online last October, the latest revision of the 2010 EULAR guidelines on treatment of rheumatoid arthritis are now published in print in the EULAR journal, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
In comparison with the 2010 recommendations, this update
• deemed combination therapy of conventional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to be as acceptable as methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy for first-line treatment, advising combination treatment;
• did not advocate biologicals as monotherapy or part of first-line treatment;
• stated a preference for glucocorticoids as an element of all combinations;
• withdrew its preference for TNF inhibitors as second-line strategy for patients with adverse prognosis, advocating a combination of biological and conventional DMARDs instead;
• acknowledged that currently approved biosimilars appear to be as effective and safe as the original drugs they copy;
• approved the option of tapering biologicals for a patient off glucocorticoids and in persistent remission, "especially if" a conventional DMARD is continued (based on more evidence than was available in 2010); and
• strongly supported use of biologicals rather than tofacitinib, which it described as not a biological but a synthetic molecule targeting a specific pathway. Its reservations about tofacitinib related to its high cost, uncertainties about long-term adverse events, and the known efficacy of existing biologicals as alternatives. The revision says that tofacitinib "may be considered" after biologicals have failed.
(The update was completed last year before the European Medicines Agency had considered tofactitinib and elected not to approve it for rheumatoid arthritis.)
See also: Treating Early Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Guideline Comparison