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This gate is specially designed to be operated with one-hand, because we know parents often have their hands full. Easily open the gate by rotating the release lever and lift to swing out of the way. The sturdy hinges allow the gate to be set to swing open in one direction only for top of stairs use, or in both directions which is perfect for between rooms. This ability to choose provides you with added convenience and protection. The adjustable gate stop ensures that the gate can swing only one way for safer top of stairs use. Additionally, the one button release on the hinges makes it easy for you to remove the gate during periods of non-use.
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Adjustable width from 27" to 42"


(AP) David Ortiz, left, slides into home plate to score in the fifth, but it wasn't enough to lift the Sox past the Rangers.
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Red Sox, despite their recent woes, are not so deflated that they can't still crack a joke here and there. But the jokes recently have turned to sarcasm, with a hint of desperation.
That won't happen, of course. But the Sox also can see the reality of their position. With their 4-3 loss in front of 27,155 at Rangers Ballpark, the team has gone 12-17 since the All-Star break. Even with the Rays' recent five-game losing streak, Tampa Bay is just three games behind the Sox.
"We haven't played up to our capability, that's for sure,'' Mike Lowell said. "If today was the last game of the season, I think we'd all be crying right now. But we still have a month and a half of baseball left and a chance to turn it around. I think we've got to look at it as that. But we can't keep playing the way we are. We have to improve in more than just one area.
That won't be easy against Toronto (especially with Ricky Romero and Roy Halladay starting tomorrow and Wednesday), nor was it easy against the new-and-improved Rangers staff. A team that long has been known for a great offense and disappointing pitching, the Rangers have put it all together this season, something Bay credited to their pitching coach, Mike Maddux. The Rangers won seven of the nine games between the clubs this season, their best winning percentage (.778) ever against the Sox in a season in which they played at least seven times.
But the Sox have to focus on getting themselves together, regardless of what Texas is doing.
"There's still a lot of baseball left,'' Bay said. "Granted, you would have liked to take the series, but I don't think anything changes. Not on our end, anyway. We still have a ton of divisional games coming up. Kind of make or break there a little bit, but I think it's a little too early to start altering your approach.
Junichi Tazawa made his second start for the Sox, and the Rangers took advantage of some pitches that were too high, and of a fastball that wasn't quite spot on. He allowed four runs on 10 hits in five innings plus, and in recent years the Sox might have pasted the Rangers' pitchers with their own spurt of offense. But Dustin Nippert used his changeup more effectively as the game went on, and this just isn't the same Sox lineup as in recent years.
The Sox left nine men on base. They had men on in every inning except the ninth, and multiple runners in five innings. But they scored just three runs, two on homers by David Ortiz in the second and Dustin Pedroia in the seventh.
In the eighth, they had runners on first and second with just one out. Brian Anderson, though, struck out looking on a pitch that appeared low. Alex Gonzalez followed with another caught looking.
After an Anderson sacrifice fly produced a run in the fourth, the Sox had runners at second and third with two down and Jacoby Ellsbury at the plate, but he grounded to second.
Pedroia had a few words with plate umpire Lance Barksdale after striking out looking in the ninth.
The Rangers got a run in the second on an Ian Kinsler homer, his second in as many days. They got two more in the third on a Josh Hamilton RBI double and a Kinsler RBI single. Their last run came on a mammoth Taylor Teagarden homer off Tazawa to start the sixth.
Boston is now 28-33 on the road this season.
"We don't want to get into a must-win situation yet,'' Bay said. "One of those games [in Toronto] Halladay is going, so that's going to be tough in and of itself, but I don't think we're in a must-win situation yet. But a team that's probably scuffling a little bit lately, we haven't played very well there, so we need to get the ball rolling at some point.


Note, the following meandering bit uses examples from X2, so if you haven't seen the movie yet (and I'd recommend it to almost anyone who'd be reading this page), do not continue.
Chopping your enemy into pieces and burying them in the strongest material you can find strikes me very strongly as trying to erase them from the story. It suggests a mentality that wants to resist change.
Well, it suggests a mentality that wants to definitively 'win', that's for sure. That is to say, it sounds like a gamer's response.
A common challenge/frustration that I run into when GMing is that players (and by extension, their characters) don't think or act quite like characters in a story (regardless of the medium the story uses) — the characters in a story act dramatically. PCs act efficiently.
The situation: loved ones are being held by the bad guys for a pending, deadly experiment at a hydroelectric plant (which is being used to power the experiment).
Right about when Mystique says "most of the power from the Dam is being rerouted to this room here, so that's where they probably are" the story-as-told diverged radically from what would happen in a game.
x In a game, the character's immediately begin to plan how to destroy the turbines, thus negating the experiment's threat entirely. Once the time constraint is eliminated, they can effect a rescue at their leisure.
Hell, the characters in the movie were RIGHT THERE where they needed to be to do just that, even though it was an ACCIDENT, and they didn't do it.
It's one of the reasons that, for example, the Amber Chronicles (or really any other fiction) only work to a certain point as a basis for an RPG: PC's extropolate from the text and do things that 'should' logically work, based on what's already presented — such extropolation doesn't usually remain balanced, so things suddenly skew out of balance.
Why doesn't it affect a 'real' story? Because, frankly, the characters are being written by an author who keeps them from doing such annoying experiments. They can force everyone to be Polite to the story and setting.
I've gotten great stories from some of my games, and I've got some great players, but in my experience, if you give players a choice between Rescuing the Kids and Blowing up the Turbines… you'd better put more work into working out the stats for the guards around the Turbines.
Many games/gamers follow the idea that "I win if the bad guy is GONE" and "I lose if the bad guy is in any way still operating".
There are many in-character reasons to look for a less than final solution to a problem. Political consequence, reputation, personal ideology, whatever.
Now, it sounds hard to achieve, except I just realized that I'm actually playing in a game where this happened by ACCIDENT. In Cry Havoc, we've got at least a dozen NPCs that we interact with on a regular basis that in every instance at LEAST one of the PC's wanted DEAD DEAD DEAD at some earlier point in the game.
But they were allowed to continue on their merry way and have invariably proved far more interesting as continuing story elements.
You've touched on a point that escapes many folks who debate Amber DRPG.
The most efficient solution is rarely the best or the "immortal" perspective. Efficiency tends to eliminate options when acted upon.
Immortals preserve their options — if they can.
It would also depend highly on what kind of characters are being played.
Take the DnD game for example. It would almost be an even split. Grim, Ran, Shayla and Gebbit would more than likely be after the turbines while Whisper, Karina and maybe Drame would be interested in rescuing the kids.
Most of it depends on the character and how the player runs the character.


After more than 14 years in high- technology sales, 38-year-old Carlos Enriquez has gone low tech, big value.
He is in the ink business and the store is Caboodle Cartridge - the newest franchise store for an inkjet and laser-toner cartridge replacement business that started in Santa Clara, Calif., in 2003 and began franchising in 2004.
New to Portsmouth, Caboodle Cartridge sells ink, but does it in a way that the business claims saves consumers money and is good for the environment.


Rowan Candy, Grazyna Tondel; Human infants' tracking of dynamic accommodative stimuli. Journal of Vision 2004;4(11):46. doi: 10.1167/4.11.46.
Purpose: Human infants are typically born with a hyperopic refractive error. They must accommodate to bring objects at close viewing distances into focus. Previous studies of accommodative performance in infants suggest that they accommodate inaccurately to static targets for a number of months after birth. The goal of this study was to characterise infants' ability to track dynamic accommodative stimuli, with a view to defining retinal image quality as infants experience their habitually dynamic environment.
Methods: Accommodative responses were recorded at 25Hz to targets moving at three velocities (5, 20 & 50 cm/s), between 20 and 50cm viewing distances. Eccentric photorefraction was used to record refraction and gaze position from both eyes simultaneously.
Results: Infants (8 to 18 weeks of age) were able to generate dynamic accommodative responses in the direction of the target motion. The latency of infant responses was often less than one second and they demonstrated the ability to modify the velocity of their response to correlate with the stimulus velocity.
Conclusions: By approximately 3 months, human infants are able to both interpret the velocity of a dynamic accommodative stimulus, and initiate a response within 1s. This implies the capacity to rapidly explore the 3-dimensional nature of their environment, and the potential for a typically well-focussed foveal retinal image.
Help with data collection from Diane Goss, Jingyun Wang & Heather McGill. Equipment developed by Bill Monette. Support from NIH R01 EY014460.


Spike Lee has directed some of out favorite movies like "Malcolm X," "Do The Right Thing" and many more. The filmmaker is gearing up to direct a movie about Frederick Douglass.
The film is an adaptation from the play "Frederick Douglass Now" and fans are very excited about this project. Douglass was a Maryland native and a former slave as well as an anti-slavery advocate that went on to be a speaker and newspaper publisher. There is no word on when the movie will come out, but we look forward to supporting this film.
In other news, the fires in California continue and celebrities are talking all about it on social media. Robin Thicke mentioned that his house burned down, but despite it all he's safe. We will continue praying for the firefighters that continue to risk their lives to help others and everyone that lost their homes.
Lastly, moviegoers made "The Grinch" #1 in the box offices. The movie made $66 million and Erica Campbell mentioned that is was a great movie.
Make sure you check out these 5 movies of faith below!


text:
Water and sewerage infrastructure a key driver of economic prosperity
The Property Council of Australia today reiterated the importance of improved water and sewerage provision in Tasmania.
"The delivery of improved water and sewerage provision in Tasmania is crucial for continuous economic success.
"Unfortunately, the challenges that we face as a state are due to the large number of treatment plants that require urgent attention, a legacy of far too many councils.
"The Property Council has long maintained that a significant investment in water and sewerage infrastructure will be both job creating and job enabling into the future," Executive Director Brian Wightman said.
"The Property Council looks forward to working with TasWater and all levels of government to ensure that any red tape issues which stifle investment and development are quickly sorted," he said.
Media contact: Brian Wightman | E bwightman@propertycouncil.com.au

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Les eleccions andorranes de 1971 es van celebrar el 14 i 21 de desembre de 1971 per renovar la meitat del Consell General i la meitat dels Consells de Comú de les 6 parròquies d'Andorra.

Van ser les primeres eleccions on les dones van tenir dret a vot, després de l'aprovació el 1970. L'edat de vot també va ser baixada de 25 a 21 anys i l'edat per ser candidat de 30 a 25. Tot això es deu a l'aprovació d'un reglament electoral l'any 1971.

Sistema electoral
Tenien dret a vot les persones amb més de 21 anys que disposessin de nacionalitat andorrana, així com els homes que estiguessin casats amb una dona andorrana i tinguessin com a mínim un fill major d'edat. Per poder ser conseller calia tenir més de 25 anys i per ser sínidic o subsíndic, 30.

La legislació andorrana no va legalitzar els partits polítics fins a l'aprovació de la Constitució l'any 1993, així que tots els candidats eren independents de manera oficial. Tot i això estaven permeses les agrupacions polítiques.

A les eleccions al Consell General es renovaven la meitat dels escons (12 de 24). Cada parròquia formava una circumscripció i escollia 2 consellers, tret de la parròquia d'Andorra la Vella, on el quart d'Andorra i el quart de les Escaldes formaven circumscripcions separades, escollint un conseller cadascun. A les eleccions comunals es renovaven la meitat de càrrecs de consellers de cada parròquia, que eren escollits per a un període de 4 anys. El nombre de consellers de cada comú era variable. A Andorra la Vella el quart de Les Escaldes i el quart d'Andorra la Vella escollien els consellers de comú en circumscripcions diferents. També s'escollien els Comissionats del Poble, és a dir, els encarregats de fiscalitzar l'activitat econòmica de cada comú.

En totes dues eleccions s'utilitzava un sistema majoritari plurinominal amb segona volta, on cada votant podia votar a tants candidats com candidats s'haguessin d'escollir. Els candidats s'agrupaven en candidatures. Estava permès que un candidat formés part de més d'una candidatura al mateix temps. En algunes parròquies era permès repartir el vot, votant a candidats de llistes diferents. En d'altres, era requisit votar a candidats de tots els quarts de la parròquia per poder considerar el vot com a vàlid. Els vots nuls i blancs no eren considerats com a vàlids. Per poder ser escollit, calia haver rebut més de la meitat dels vots vàlids. En cas que després de l'elecció quedessin escons vacants, es realitzava una segona volta al cap d'una setmana. Si un cop realitzada la segona volta encara quedessin escons vacants, es procediria a una tercera volta al cap d'una setmana. En cas que en una tercera volta tampoc s'haguessin atribuït tots els escons, l'article 38 del reglament electoral estipulava que l'elecció es resoldria per sorteig amb paperetes entre els candidats de la tercera volta.

En cas que no es presentés cap candidatura, l'article 27 del reglament electoral de 1971 recollia que el mateix dia de l'elecció el consell de comú de la parròquia corresponent seria l'encarregat d'escollir els candidats.

Els consellers elegits van jurar el càrrec el dia 28 de desembre per poder prendre possessió del seu càrrec el dia 1 de gener de l'any següent, per a un període de 4 anys.

Els cònsols majors i menors de cada parròquia eren elegits pels consells de comú per a un període de 2 anys. El síndic general i el subsíndic eren escollits pel Consell General per a un període de 3 anys.

Resultats

Eleccions al Consell General
Sense comptar la parròquia de Canillo, de la qual no es disposen resultats, la participació en la primera volta va ser del 69,50%. La participació més alta es va registrar a Sant Julià de Lòria, amb un 80,3% de votants, mentre que la parròquia amb més abstenció fou la Massana, amb un 14,7% de participació, ja que només es va presentar una sola candidatura.
A la primera volta van ser escollits 9 dels 12 consellers generals. Es va realitzar una segona volta al cap de set dies al quart d'Andorra la Vella i a la parròquia de Canillo. Es desconeix la participació.

Total nacional

Resultat per parròquia

Eleccions comunals

Referències

Eleccions d'Andorra
Andorra

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
A new conversation about water
By Daniel Weintraub • Feb 18, 2013
In the decades-long fight over California's water supply, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is ground zero.
The Delta was formed by the two rivers from which it takes its name, rivers nature created to carry water from the mountain snowmelt into San Francisco Bay. The sparsely populated region is home to 50 species of fish and more than 300 species of birds, mammals and wildlife. Among the best known is the Chinook Salmon, which traverses the Delta on its trip from its Sierra spawning grounds to the sea and back.
But man long ago perverted nature's intent, and the Delta now also serves as a massive pumping station for water flowing to Central Valley farms, the Bay Area and Southern California, which gets much of its drinking water from the north. More than 1,000 miles of levees have rechanneled the Delta's waterways, creating artificial islands with rich soil that is ideal for farming.
Now, in a twist, man's restructuring of the Delta is itself threatened, by man and nature.
The courts and government regulators have slowed the flow of water out of the Delta to protect endangered species and the habitat on which they depend. Water users from north and south fume at this intervention. But it is nothing compared to what might happen some day, what many experts say will happen one day. The next big flood or earthquake could damage those aging levees, and if the levees go, the freshwater now traveling south and west would be contaminated by saltwater, rendering it useless for drinking or irrigation. The Delta islands and their farms would be inundated, perhaps never to return.
And if the long-term prospects for the Delta are somewhere between bleak and catastrophic, the shorter-run issues are vexing as well. Experts have recently concluded that man has changed the Delta so much that there is no going back, no way to "restore" its natural habitat. And agreeing on what we want the Delta to be in the future, if we can't reclaim its past, is nearly impossible given the powerful competing interests with a stake in the issue. This is what is known as a "wicked problem."
Gov. Jerry Brown, of course, loves wicked problems. He has proposed two, 40-mile long tunnels to carry Sacramento River water under the Delta to the pumping stations for delivery to the Bay Area (read: Silicon Valley) and Southern California. That would save the lives of tiny Delta fish that are now sucked up by the pumps, and it could have other environmental benefits, assuming sufficient water still flows into the Delta. The tunnels also would provide a more reliable supply of fresh water for human and industrial users, which is why agencies representing those interests are inclined to pay for the project.
But in this political era, Brown's proposal is something of a Hail Mary pass, far from a sure thing. So in the meantime the wars continue. Water importers (and their suppliers) want more for themselves. Environmental groups want less water pumped out. Farmers in the Delta want to be left alone – and protected at the same time from any future harm.
Amid this political and legal combat comes a new wrinkle: a civil conversation. The Delta Conservancy, a state agency formed to advance environmental protection and economic viability in the estuary, last year sponsored a six-month series of intimate discussions meant to bring the warring parties to the table.
The talks had no set agenda and no concrete goal other than conversation. That sounds dreadful. But it might actually be why they worked so well. People who have spent their lives in battle with one another came out of the encounter with newfound appreciation for each other's interests, even liking each other. How Californian!
Russell van Loben Sels is what city slickers might call a good ol' boy. He's lived all his life, and farmed for most of it, in the Delta. He has also been a leader in the farming community's attempt to preserve its way of life even as everyone else in California fights over the precious resource without which his farm could not exist.
Van Loben Sels was happy to be invited to the dialogue, since, strangely enough, folks in the Delta always seem to be the last to know when the powers that be gather to plan their future. But this particular forum seemed a little odd to him. It featured new-age moderators, a conversation "mapper" who tracked the discussion in real time on a white board, and talking, lots of talking. That was not his style.
"It was difficult," he said. "Farmers tend to identify a problem, design a solution and then implement it." This conversation, he said, seemed to involve a lot of "analysis and information gathering." It was frustrating at first.
Gilbert Cosio, a private engineer and levee expert, felt the same way.
"I'm more of a doer," he said, "than a planner."
But as the meetings dragged on, van Loben Sels , Cosio and the others (19 in all) realized that the lack of a specific finish line was letting them do something that they had never really done before: listen, and learn. The participants, rather than arguing as usual, talked about what they needed and what they perceived the others wanted. They took field trips that forced them out of their own comfort zones and into spaces that they had heard a lot about but never seen.
They saw how commercial fisherman on the shores of San Francisco Bay were the center of a vast network of industry and jobs that all depended on a healthy salmon population. They learned how pear farmers south of Sacramento employed pickers and packers and truck drivers who would lose their jobs if the farms went out of business. They saw how something called a "setback levee" might submerge the Delta's most productive farmland and much of its infrastructure.
Jason Peltier, who represents the Central Valley's Westlands Water District, which many of the other participants view as the Evil Empire, said the non-threatening dialogue allowed everyone to relax and, at times, forget their history of conflict.
"I think we built some trust," he said. He called the process "one tiny small step" in beginning to address not only the Delta's problems but the bitter relationships among the stakeholders. One of the biggest achievements, Peltier said, was simply gaining a better understanding of what everyone else was fighting for. That, he said, might make future fights – and there will be future fights — more productive.
Of course, by design, that's where the process ended – with good will having been built. But the sponsors and the participants were left yearning for more. Many of them are even hoping, against their better instincts, that more meetings might help lead to a fix for what ails the Delta.
"We've developed relationships," van Loben Sels said. "We've developed some common understanding. It would be a shame not to employ that."
Added Cosio, the levee engineer: "We all want the same thing. We want to save the Delta."
by Daniel Weintraub, California Health Report

A new conversation about water

by Daniel Weintraub, California Health Report
February 18, 2013

In the decades-long fight over California's water supply, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is ground zero.

The Delta was formed by the two rivers from which it takes its name, rivers nature created to carry water from the mountain snowmelt into San Francisco Bay. The sparsely populated region is home to 50 species of fish and more than 300 species of birds, mammals and wildlife. Among the best known is the Chinook Salmon, which traverses the Delta on its trip from its Sierra spawning grounds to the sea and back.

But man long ago perverted nature's intent, and the Delta now also serves as a massive pumping station for water flowing to Central Valley farms, the Bay Area and Southern California, which gets much of its drinking water from the north. More than 1,000 miles of levees have rechanneled the Delta's waterways, creating artificial islands with rich soil that is ideal for farming.

Now, in a twist, man's restructuring of the Delta is itself threatened, by man and nature.

The courts and government regulators have slowed the flow of water out of the Delta to protect endangered species and the habitat on which they depend. Water users from north and south fume at this intervention. But it is nothing compared to what might happen some day, what many experts say will happen one day. The next big flood or earthquake could damage those aging levees, and if the levees go, the freshwater now traveling south and west would be contaminated by saltwater, rendering it useless for drinking or irrigation. The Delta islands and their farms would be inundated, perhaps never to return.

And if the long-term prospects for the Delta are somewhere between bleak and catastrophic, the shorter-run issues are vexing as well. Experts have recently concluded that man has changed the Delta so much that there is no going back, no way to "restore" its natural habitat. And agreeing on what we want the Delta to be in the future, if we can't reclaim its past, is nearly impossible given the powerful competing interests with a stake in the issue. This is what is known as a "wicked problem."

Gov. Jerry Brown, of course, loves wicked problems. He has proposed two, 40-mile long tunnels to carry Sacramento River water under the Delta to the pumping stations for delivery to the Bay Area (read: Silicon Valley) and Southern California. That would save the lives of tiny Delta fish that are now sucked up by the pumps, and it could have other environmental benefits, assuming sufficient water still flows into the Delta. The tunnels also would provide a more reliable supply of fresh water for human and industrial users, which is why agencies representing those interests are inclined to pay for the project.

But in this political era, Brown's proposal is something of a Hail Mary pass, far from a sure thing. So in the meantime the wars continue. Water importers (and their suppliers) want more for themselves. Environmental groups want less water pumped out. Farmers in the Delta want to be left alone – and protected at the same time from any future harm.

Amid this political and legal combat comes a new wrinkle: a civil conversation. The Delta Conservancy, a state agency formed to advance environmental protection and economic viability in the estuary, last year sponsored a six-month series of intimate discussions meant to bring the warring parties to the table.

The talks had no set agenda and no concrete goal other than conversation. That sounds dreadful. But it might actually be why they worked so well. People who have spent their lives in battle with one another came out of the encounter with newfound appreciation for each other's interests, even liking each other. How Californian!

Russell van Loben Sels is what city slickers might call a good ol' boy. He's lived all his life, and farmed for most of it, in the Delta. He has also been a leader in the farming community's attempt to preserve its way of life even as everyone else in California fights over the precious resource without which his farm could not exist.

Van Loben Sels was happy to be invited to the dialogue, since, strangely enough, folks in the Delta always seem to be the last to know when the powers that be gather to plan their future. But this particular forum seemed a little odd to him. It featured new-age moderators, a conversation "mapper" who tracked the discussion in real time on a white board, and talking, lots of talking. That was not his style.

"It was difficult," he said. "Farmers tend to identify a problem, design a solution and then implement it." This conversation, he said, seemed to involve a lot of "analysis and information gathering." It was frustrating at first.

Gilbert Cosio, a private engineer and levee expert, felt the same way.

"I'm more of a doer," he said, "than a planner."

But as the meetings dragged on, van Loben Sels , Cosio and the others (19 in all) realized that the lack of a specific finish line was letting them do something that they had never really done before: listen, and learn. The participants, rather than arguing as usual, talked about what they needed and what they perceived the others wanted. They took field trips that forced them out of their own comfort zones and into spaces that they had heard a lot about but never seen.

They saw how commercial fisherman on the shores of San Francisco Bay were the center of a vast network of industry and jobs that all depended on a healthy salmon population. They learned how pear farmers south of Sacramento employed pickers and packers and truck drivers who would lose their jobs if the farms went out of business. They saw how something called a "setback levee" might submerge the Delta's most productive farmland and much of its infrastructure.

Jason Peltier, who represents the Central Valley's Westlands Water District, which many of the other participants view as the Evil Empire, said the non-threatening dialogue allowed everyone to relax and, at times, forget their history of conflict.

"I think we built some trust," he said. He called the process "one tiny small step" in beginning to address not only the Delta's problems but the bitter relationships among the stakeholders. One of the biggest achievements, Peltier said, was simply gaining a better understanding of what everyone else was fighting for. That, he said, might make future fights – and there will be future fights -- more productive.

Of course, by design, that's where the process ended – with good will having been built. But the sponsors and the participants were left yearning for more. Many of them are even hoping, against their better instincts, that more meetings might help lead to a fix for what ails the Delta.

"We've developed relationships," van Loben Sels said. "We've developed some common understanding. It would be a shame not to employ that."

Added Cosio, the levee engineer: "We all want the same thing. We want to save the Delta."

This article first appeared on California Health Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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text:
Comparison of chemical profiles between the root and aerial parts from three Bupleurum species based on a UHPLC-QTOF-MS metabolomics approach
Lin Zhu1,
Zhi-Tao Liang1,
Tao Yi1,
Yue Ma1,
Zhong-Zhen Zhao1,
Bao-Lin Guo2,
Jian-Ye Zhang3 &
Hu-Biao Chen1
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine volume 17, Article number: 305 (2017) Cite this article
Bupleuri Radix (Chaihu) represents one of the most successful and widely used herbal medicines in Asia for the treatment of many diseases such as inflammatory disorders and infectious diseases over the past 2000 years. In the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Chaihu is recorded as the dried roots of Bupleurum chinense DC. and B. scorzonerifolium Willd. (Umbelliferae). However, the widespread demand for the herb has tended to far outstrip the supply. Whether the aerial parts, which account for 70 ~ 85% of the dry weights of Bupleurum species, could be used as an alternative for the root has become an important scientific issue for the sustainable utilization of Bupleurum species. On the other hand, in some areas including the southeast of China as well as in Spain, the aerial parts of Bupleurum species have already been used in the folk medications. Therefore, to clarify whether the root and aerial parts of Bupleurum species are "equivalent" in the types and quantities of chemical constituents which subsequently influence their biological activities and therapeutic effects is of great importance for both the rational and sustainable use of this herb.
In the present study, the chemical profiles between the root and aerial parts of Bupleurum species from different species and collected from various locations were analyzed and compared by the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole/time of flight-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS).
A total of 56 peaks were identified in the root and/or aerial parts from different batches of Bupleurum species, by comparison of references standards or with those reported in the literature. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted for displaying the differentiating clustering between these two parts.
The results disclosed the distinct variations between them, which indicated that the aerial parts could not be used as an alternative of root from a chemodiversity perspective. The differentiating markers resulted from the PCA analysis could also be utilized for the differentiation between them. Further validation of their biological differences is anticipated in the future study.
Bupleuri Radix (Chinese name: Chaihu) represents one of the most popular Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) over the past 2000 years. Its TCM indications include the treatment of influenza or common cold with fever, chills and fever from malaria, distending pain in the chest and menstrual disorders [1]. In the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Chaihu is recorded as the dried roots of Bupleurum chinense DC. and B. scorzonerifolium Willd. (Umbelliferae) [1]. It is often found in clinical prescriptions and proprietary Chinese medicines, such as Xiao-Chaihu-Tang, Xiao-Yao-Wan, Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-Wan and Chai-Ling-Tang. In addition to the authentic species of Chaihu, there are more than 20 other species in the genus Bupleurum also habitually utilized as Chaihu in some local areas. Knowing the high demand for Bupleuri Radix and knowing the diversity of species that can be—both rightly and wrongly—used for this herb, the resources of Chaihu are very scare. Today, Chaihu from the species of B. yinchowense Shan et Y. Li has become mainstream in the market. [2] The species of B. yinchowense is abundantly distributed in the Northwest of China and is widely used in folk medicine for relieving fever, soothing liver and improving the symptoms of emotional instability such as depression, anxiety and phobia [3,4,5]. Additionally, in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia (16th edition), the official botanical origin of Bupleuri Radix (pronounced "saiko" in Japanese) is the roots of B. falcatum L [6]. Actually, B. falcatum is also commonly used in China and Korea [7]. In Japan, B. falcatum L is known for its therapeutic effects in the treatment of chronic hepatitis, auto-immune diseases and diabetes [8,9,10,11]. It is also used as an ingredient in herbal tea and traditional fermented beverages [8].
Previous phytochemical studies on approximately 50 Bupleurum species led to the isolation and identification of almost 250 natural compounds from all major phytochemical classes, including mono- and sesquiterpenes (essential oils), triterpenoid glycosides (saikosaponins), sterols, lignans, flavonoid glycosides, coumarins, and polyacetylenes [12,13,14]. In addition, minor components, including phenylpropanoids, polysaccharides and a few alkaloids, have also been reported [12]. Among them, the saikosaponins (SSs) are acknowledged to be the principal bioactive components, which can be divided into six types on the basis of the aglycones: type I-VI (Fig. 1) [15, 16]. Flavonoids are another class of bioactive secondary metabolites present in all species of the genus Bupleurum [17]. Most flavonoids in the genus are derivatives of the flavonol aglycones kaempferol, isorhamnetin or quercetin [12].
Chemical structures of six types (I-VI) of saikosaponins (SSs) in Bupleurum
Since Chaihu is very rare in nature, the amount of wild samples is not sufficient for commercial exploitation [18]. Although Chaihu have been widely cultivated nowadays, the widespread demand for the herb has still tended to far outstrip the supply [19, 20]. As the aerial part of Bupleurum species accounts for more than half of the whole plant, some areas in the southeast of China use the whole herb for the medication [21]. In Guangdong province of China, the root and aerial parts of Bupleurum species are sold separately for the folk use [22]. Besides, the aerial parts of Bupleurum species are used as a popular topical antiseptic and anti-inflammatory remedy in Spain [23]. Therefore, the short supply and perspective for sustainable utilization of Chaihu has stimulated the interest on comparing the "equivalence" of the root and aerial parts. Whether the root and aerial parts vary in the types and quantities of chemical constituents which subsequently influence their therapeutic effects, would determine whether the aerial parts of Bupleurum species could be used as a suitable substitute for the root. Additionally, whether Chaihu should be prescribed as root, aerial parts or whole plant of Bupleurum species was also needed to be clarified by scientific evidences, so as to prevent or avoid the misuse of this herb. To differentiate the crude materials from which medicinal parts used in proprietary Chinese medicines containing Chaihu is also significant for their quality control. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the chemical profiles is highly needed to be conducted for the two different parts.
The objective of the present study is to analyze and compare the chemical profiles between the root and aerial parts of Bupleurum species utilizing the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole/time of flight-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS). The authentic species of B. chinense as well as B. yinchowense and B. falcatum collected from different locations were investigated. The overall results provided comprehensive chemical comparison for the two different parts of Bupleurum species, which was anticipated to advise the possibilities of alternate use of these two parts.
Eight batches of the whole plant including the root and aerial parts of Bupleurum chinense DC., B. yinchowense and B. falcatum were collected. Details of the sample are shown in Table 1 and Fig. 2. All the herbal samples were authenticated by Prof. Guo Baolin from the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College and deposited in the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Chinese Medicines Centre of Hong Kong Baptist University.
Table 1 Sample information for the analysis
The locations of harvest of Bupleurum plants. (The blank map was obtained from a free Baidu library https://wenku.baidu.com/, and then the locations were marked on the map by the authors)
Chemicals and reagents
Chemical markers of saikosaponins a, c and d were purchased from Chengdu Must Bio-Technology Co., Ltd. (Chengdu, People's Republic of China). The purities of all saikosaponins were determined to be higher than 98% by HPLC-DAD analysis. The solvents, acetonitrile and methanol, were of HPLC grade from E. Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). Formic acid with a purity of 96% was also of HPLC grade (Tedia, U.S.A.). Water was obtained from a Milli-Q water purification system (Millipore, Bedford, MA, U.S.A.).
Preparation of sample solution
The dried roots and aerial parts of eight batches of samples involving Bupleurum chinense, B. yinchowense and B. falcatum from different growing areas were separated and grinded into homogeneous powders using liquid nitrogen. The dried powder (~0.1 g) was weighed accurately into a 15 mL microcentrifuge tube and was then extracted twice with 10 ml of methanol using an ultrasonicator (1875HTAG, CREST, U.S.A.) for 30 min at room temperature each time. After centrifugation at 3000 rpm for 10 min, the supernatant was transferred into a 25 ml volumetric flask and was adjusted to the volume with methanol. Finally, 1.0 mL extraction was transferred to 1.5 microcentrifuge tube and centrifuged again for 10 min at 12,000 rpm. An aliquot of 90 μl of supernatant was transferred to the glass inserts of 1.5 ml brown HPLC vials (Grace, HK) with plastic bottom springs (400 μl, Grace, UK) and stored at 4 °C pending for analysis.
Stock solutions of saikosaponins a, c and d were prepared individually in methanol. Working solutions were prepared by diluting the stock solutions with methanol to give final concentrations of 36, 10 and 36 μg/ml for saikosaponins a, c and d, respectively.
UHPLC-QTOF-MS analysis
UHPLC–QTOF-MS analysis was performed on an Agilent 6540 ultra-high definition accurate mass quadrupole time-of-flight spec-trometer with UHPLC (UHPLC–QTOF-MS, Agilent Technologies, U.S.A.). A UPLC C18 analytical column (2.1 mm × 100 mm, I.D. 1.7 μm, ACQUITY UPLC®BEH, Waters, U.S.A.) was used for separation, coupled with a C18 pre-column (2.1 mm × 5 mm, I.D. 1.7 μm, Van-GuardTM BEH, Waters, U.S.A.) at room temperature of 20 °C. The mobile phase was a mixture of water (A) and acetonitrile (B), both containing 0.1% formic acid, with an optimized linear gradient elution as follows: 0–5 min, 10–35% B; 5–25 min, 35–55% B; 25–28 min, 55–85% B; 28–30 min, 85–100% B. The injection volume was 4 μL. The flow rate was set at 0.35 mL/min. The mass spectra were acquired in negative mode by scanning from 100 to 1700 in mass to charge ratio (m/z). The MS analysis was performed under the following operation parameters: dry gas temperature 300 °C, dry gas (N2) flow rate 5 L/min, nebulizer pressure 30 psi, Vcap 3000, nozzle voltage 500 V, and fragmentor voltage 200 V.
Data analysis was performed on Agilent MassHunter Workstation software-Qualitative Analysis (version B.04.00, Build 4.0.479.5, Service Pack 3, Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2011). The acquired data in MassHunter Qualitative Analysis software were extracted using the molecular feature extraction (MFE) algorithm and imported into Mass Profier Professional (MPP) V.12.5 for principal component analysis (PCA) to display the difference between the root and aerial parts of eight herbal samples.
Chemical profiling
The chemical profiles of the root and aerial parts of Bupleurum species were analyzed by UHPLC-QTOF-MS. The representative total ions current (TIC) chromatograms of the different parts from B. chinense, B. yinchowense and B. falcatum are shown in Fig. 3. The major peaks in the TIC chromatograms were identified, with peaks 20, 28 and 43 unambiguously identified as saikosaponins c, a and d (SSc, SSa and SSd) by comparison of their chromatographic retention times, accurate molecular weights and characteristic mass fragment ions with those of the references standards. Other peaks were tentatively identified by comparison of their accurate mass data with those reported in the literature. Detailed information related to the illustration of all 56 peaks was shown in Table 2.
The representative total ions current (TIC) chromatograms of the root and aerial parts from B. chinense DC. a, B. yinchowense Shan et Y. Li b and B. falcatum L. c
Table 2 Compounds identified from aerial part and root of three Bupleurum species
In the TIC chromatograms, saikosaponins and flavonoids represents majority of the peaks identified, with flavonoids (peaks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 54, 55 and 56) accumulated in the previous 10 min of the eluting time while saikosaponins were eluted at the rest of time. The root and aerial parts of all the three Bupleurum species exhibited varied profiles. It is distinct and consistent for all the roots contain more chromatographic peaks covering both of the saikosaponin and flavonoid part of the TIC chromatograms. The profiles of the roots from the three Bupleurum species were similar especially for the characteristic saikosaponin part (peaks 20–52). In contrast, the aerial parts contain abundantly flavonoids with little or no saikosaponin peaks. The results clearly demonstrated the distinct chemical profiles of the root and aerial parts of Bupleurum species. Yen et al. compared the saikosaponins a, c and d between the root and aerial parts of three Bupleurum species using thin-layer chromatography (TLC) scanning. The results showed that the aerial parts contained low levels of saikosaponins, which were different from that of the root [24]. These were in accordance with those provided in the present study, which thus strengthened the conclusions that the aerial parts could not be used as an alternate of root from a chemodiversity perspective.
The differences between the root and aerial parts of eight herbal samples were further displayed by the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The full time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectral data of each sample were first processed by MassHunter Workstation software. Ions were extracted by molecular feature extraction (MFE) algorithm characterized by retention time (RT), intensity in apex of chromatographic peak, and accurate mass, exported as the Compound Exchange Format (.cef) file. These results were then analyzed by Mass Profiler Professional (MPP) software. Entities that present in more than 50% of samples in at least one condition were filtered by frequency before doing Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Finally 258 features were left for further PCA study. The resulting PCA graph also demonstrated the distinct clustering between the root and aerial parts of the investigated samples, which indicating the chemical difference between these two parts (Fig. 4).
The principal component analysis (PCA) of the root (red) and aerial (blue) parts from eight batches of Bupleurum samples
Potential differentiating markers
In order to find out the potential differentiating markers for distinguishing the different parts of Bupleurum species, significant testing and fold change was investigated to identify statistically differentiative compounds by applying appropriate test and conditions. Nine compounds, out of 258 entities from the above frequency filtration were found to be significantly different among the two parts using one way ANOVA and a level of probability of 0.001 and fold change >2, as listed in Table 3. These differentiating markers with the lowest p-values and highest fold-changes (most significant with greatest abundance differences) posed mostly influential features for the differentiation between the root and aerial parts, which therefore could be used as markers for differentiation.
Table 3 List of compounds (9 entities) that are distinguished between root and aerial parts at p < 0.001 and fold change (FC) > 3
The present study revealed the distinct chemical profiles between the root and aerial parts of Bupleurum species, which indicated that the aerial parts could not be used as an alternative of root from a chemodiversity perspective. Meanwhile, the established UHPLC-QTOF-MS method in the present study as well as the potential differentiating markers could be utilized to profile and distinguish the root and aerial parts of Bupleurum species from different species or locations. Thus, the approach established here will provide a comprehensive analysis of chemical profiles between the root and aerial parts from the commonly used Bupleurum species which will be helpful for testing the crude materials of proprietary Chinese medicines containing Chaihu as well as for establishing guidelines for the appropriate clinical use of Chaihu. Furthermore, this information will be of great significance to the efficient use of botanical resources.
MFE:
Molecular feature extraction
SSa:
Saikosaponin a
Saikosaponin c
SSd:
Saikosaponin d
Saikosaponins
TCM:
TIC:
Total ions current
TLC:
UHPLC-QTOF-MS:
Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole/time of flight-mass spectrometry
The Pharmacopoeia Commission of the PRC. Pharmacopoeia of People's republic of China. Chemical Industry Press, 2010; Beijing. pp, 263–264.
Liu XJ, Hu J, Li ZY, Qin XM, Zhang LZ, Guo XQ. Species classification and quality assessment of Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri) based on high-performance liquid chromatographic fingerprint and combined chemometrics methods. Arch Pharm Res. 2011;34(6):961–9.
Xiao PG. Modern Chinese Medica. Chemical Industry Press, 2002; Beijing.
Liang ZB, Liu L, Chao Z. Investigation of medicinal Bupleurum resources and current situation of Chaihu production. Lishizhen Medicine and Materia Medica Research. 2012;23(8):2011–3.
Sun XP, Shi Z, Li TF, Pan RL, Liu XM, Bu LL, et al. Antidepressant-like effects of total saikosaponins of Bupleurum yinchowense in mice. J Med Plants Res. 2012;6(26):4308–16.
The Society of Japanese Pharmacopoeia. The Japanese Pharmacopoeia, 16th ed., The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 2011; Tokyo, Japan. 1613–4 (English Version).
Jang MJ, Kim YS, Bae EY, Oh TS, Choi HJ, Lee JH, et al. Saikosaponin D isolated from Bupleurum falcatum inhibits selectin-mediated cell adhesion. Molecules. 2014;19(12):20340–9.
Sakurai MH, Matsumoto T, Kiyohara H, Yamada H. B-cell proliferation activity of pectic polysaccharide from a medicinal herb, the roots of Bupleurum falcatum L. and its structural requirement. Immunology. 1999;97(3):540–7.
Auvinen K, Jalkanen S, Salmi M. Expression and function of endothelial selectins during human development. Immunology. 2014;143(3):406–15.
Lin CC, Chiu HF, Yen MH, Wu CC, Chen MF. The pharmacological and pathological studies on Taiwan folk medicine (III): the effects of Bupleurum kaoi and cultivated Bupleurum falcatum. Am J Chin Med. 1990;18(3–4):105–12.
Kim KS, Lee JY, Lee SY. Comparative transcriptomic analysis of themulti-targeted effects of the herbal extracts against Escherichia coli O157:H7. Biochip Journal. 2012;6(4):379–90.
Ashour ML, Wink M. Genus Bupleurum: a review of its phytochemistry, pharmacology and modes of action. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2011;63(3):305–21.
Bermejo Benito P, Abad Martínez MJ, Silván Sen AM, Sanz Gómez A, Fernández Matellano L, Sánchez Contreras S, et al. In vivo and in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of saikosaponins. Life Sci. 1998;63(13):1147–56.
Chiang LC, Ng LT, Liu LT, Shieh DE, Lin CC. Cytotoxicity and anti-hepatitis B virus activities of saikosaponins from Bupleurum species. Planta Med. 2003;69(8):705–9.
Pan SL. Bupleurum Species - Scientific Evaluation and Clinical Application, Taylor and Trancis Group, 2006; Boca Raton FL.
Tan L, Zhao Y, Tu G, Wang B, Cai S, Zhang R. Saikosaponins from roots of Bupleurum scorzonerifolium. Phytochemistry. 1999;50(1):139–42.
Zhang T, Zhou J, Wang Q. Flavonoids from aerial part of Bupleurum chinense DC. Biochem Syst Ecol. 2007;35(11):801–4.
Wang YQ, Niu YB, Qin XM. The investigation and research wild Bupleurum Chinense DC. resources. Journal of Sangxi Agricultural University (Natural Science Edition), 2007; 27(1): 103–7.
Qin XM, Wang YQ, Yue JY. Resources analysis of cultivated Bupleurum Chinense DC. Research & Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine. 2005;7(8):30–2.
Yue JY, Qin XM, Wang YQ. The investigation and research on different types of cultivated Bupleurum chinense DC. Zhong Yao Cai. 2005;28(8):650–1.
Feng BL, Wang Q, Zhao XT, Wang MZ, Zhang ZW. The study on the medical parts of Radix Bupleuri. Guangxi Chinese Medicine. 1980;1:59–62.
Gan HS, Chen SW. The quality comparison of root and aerial parts from Bupleurum Chinense DC. China Journal of Chinese Materia Medical. 1982;7(2):7–10.
Prieto JM, Ogunsina MO, Novak A, Joshi A, Kokai J, Rocha Ida C, et al. Comparative study of the in vitro bioactivities of Bupleurum rigidum and B. fruticescens. Nat Prod Commun. 2012;7(6):757–60.
Yen MH, Lin CC, Chuang CH, Liu SY. Evaluation of root quality of Bupleurum species by TLC scanner and the liver protective effects of "xiao-chai-hu-tang" prepared using three different Bupleurum species. J Ethnopharmacol. 1991;34(2–3):155–65.
The authors sincerely thank Mr. Alan Ho (School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University) for his technical assistance in the LC-MS experiment.
This work was partially supported by the Faculty Research Grant of Hong Kong Baptist University (FRG2/15–16/031), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81603381, 81673691), the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (2016A030313008) and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee (JCYJ20160518094706544).
The data was included in figures and tables of the manuscript. The supporting data and materials can be obtained upon request via email to the corresponding author.
HBC and BLG provided research inspiration and revised manuscript. LZ and ZTL made the design of the study, took part in all the study and drafted manuscript. ZZZ and JYZ revised the text. TY and YM helped for analyzing data. And all authors contributed to revising the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China
Lin Zhu
, Zhi-Tao Liang
, Tao Yi
, Yue Ma
, Zhong-Zhen Zhao
& Hu-Biao Chen
Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100094, China
Bao-Lin Guo
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510182, China
Jian-Ye Zhang
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Zhu, L., Liang, Z., Yi, T. et al. Comparison of chemical profiles between the root and aerial parts from three Bupleurum species based on a UHPLC-QTOF-MS metabolomics approach. BMC Complement Altern Med 17, 305 (2017) doi:10.1186/s12906-017-1816-y
Bupleuri Radix
Chemical profiles
Medicinal parts
Metabolomics approach


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Celebrating 51 years of DeWitt Noon Lions Club Travelogues
Celebrating 51 years of Travelogues. Enjoy two showing one at 3pm and one at 7pm. We have a great line up this year of some very exciting places our presenters have visited. Join us at the DeWitt Opera House, DeWitt IA.
Copy of Japan at Cherry Blossom Time
Enjoy Cherry Blossoms in the springtime with Marcie Siegel
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Japan at Cherry Blossom Time
Copy of The Incredible Amazon River and Rainforest
Cruise the Amazon River with Jim Nelson and Mary Rueter travel into the rain forest and explore the back waters of the longest river in the world on this incredible journey.
The Incredible Amazon River and Rainforest
Copy of Iceland-Glaciers, Waterfalls and Geyers- Oh My!
Tour the Ring Road around the geological wonder that is Iceland, described as "nature on steroids".
Iceland-Glaciers, Waterfalls and Geyers- Oh My!
Copy of The Amazing East-Canada and the US
Travel with Tom Gibbons on two trips from New York to Nova Scotia and points in between. Enjoy natural wonders, historical places and a look at Alexander Graham Bell.
The Amazing East-Canada and the US
Copy of Exploring Italy and Sicily
Join George Kruckenberg for a tour of Italy including Venice, Florence, and Rome as well as the scenic Italian Alps. Enjoy Sicily, famous for Mt Etna it's active volcano and well preserved Greek Temples.
Exploring Italy and Sicily
Copy of Contemporary Cuba
Fresh off a January trip to Cuba, the Nickesons will share their exploration of Cuban culture and tropical beauty.
Contemporary Cuba
Copy of Suez Canal Crossing: Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the West Bank
Discover with Doug and Mary Melvold of Maquoketa the rich cultural, historical and political tapestries of the middle east region, including Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the West Bank.
Suez Canal Crossing: Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the West Bank
The Road Less Traveled: Albania and the Former Yugoslavian Republics
Gary and Cindy Meden spent a month in Albania and five of the former Yugoslavian Republics they discovered wonders as well as better known places like Dubrovnik and Split Crotia.
30 Degree South Latitude: Argentina, Chile and Rapa Nui
Martha and John Bonte of Clinton explore Argentina, Chile, and Rapa Nui. Experiencing winter in August, the southern sky filled with stars and one beautiful scene after another.
One Night in North Korea by Brendan Iglehart
Join Brendan Iglehart of Davenport as he shares his vacation to one of the least visited countries in the world, North Korea. He'll describe what it's like to visit a place few Americans get to explore.
One Night Inside North Korea by Brendan Iglehart
On the Trail of Lewis and Clark
Join Richard Rockrohr of Eldridge as he follows the Lewis and Clark trail from St Louis to the Pacific Ocean. This travelogue kicks off the DeWitt Noon Lions 51st Travelogue Series join us every other Tuesday.
The Great Rivers of Europe
Great Rivers of Europe by Marcella Siegel of Davenport. Venture through history via 66 locks on the Danube, Main and Rhine rivers, where medieval architecture beckons from every riverbank, time-honored wine-making traditions abound at hillside vineyards, and landscapes seem to spring from the canvases of centuries-old masterworks. Take in the sites, sounds and flavors of three distinct European nations — Vienna's renowned coffeehouse culture to Germany's traditional folk music to Amsterdam's charming canals.
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Amazing India
Amazing India by Dick and Shirley Cole of Eldridge. Armchair travelers will marvel at the vast cultural differences in this land of 1.32 billion people, who have an average annual income of about $700 each. India is about one-third the size of the United States, and has one foot in the Stone Age and the other in computers and the medicine of today. This is a program you won't want to miss.
The Wonders of Egypt
he Wonders of Egypt by DeWayne and Linda Hatcher of LeClaire. Travel with the Hatchers as they explore the vast pyramids and magnificent ruins in this country that immersed in ancient history, archaeology and architecture. In addition, cruise down the Nile River, enjoy belly dancers and learn how papyrus paper was made.
Hiking Denali
Hiking Denali by Alan Campbell of Davenport. This newcomer to the DeWitt travelogue series loves a good adventure, and through the years, that spirit has taken him to all 50 states. The last state on that journey came this past September when he ventured off to Denali National Park in Alaska. His trip in-cluded traveling the entire 92.5-mile distance of the park by bus, an 8-mile hike through the heart of the park and a 2.7-mile hike up the side of Mount Healy.
Austria and Switzerland
Austria and Switzerland by George Kruckenberg of West Des Moines. Travel through Austria beginning in Vienna with its grand palaces and museums from the Hapsburg era, beautiful Baroque churches and colorful parks and gardens. Then, a river cruise on the Danube and a visit to Salzburg, the "Sound of Music" city. In Switzerland, begin in Zurich and join a tour traveling on some of the most scenic trains in Europe, including the famous Glacier Express, as you enjoy spectacular panoramas of majestic snow-capped mountains, including the unmistakable Matterhorn, lush green valleys dotted with small villages, farms, and typical Swiss chalet homes, waterfalls, and scenic lakes and streams. Along the way are stops at Lucerne, Interlaken, Monteux, Zermatt and St. Moritz and also a trip via cable car to the top of a 10,000-foot peak in the middle of the Alps.
Spain and France
Spain and France by Gary and Cindy Meden of Davenport. In the spring of 2015, the Medens embarked on an 84-day European adventure. This travelogue will include the first month of the trip and stops in Madrid and northern Spain, southern France and northwestern Italy. If you've ever wanted to travel Western Europe independently, or just want sit back and travel from your theater seat, this travelogue is for you. The travelogue also is designated as Pie Day, when the Lions Cub treats its guests to complimentary pie and coffee or tea prior to each show.
Colorful Costa Rica
Colorful Costa Rica by Teresa Nickeson of Maquoketa. This veteran presenter and her son, Colin Nickeson, spent 10 days last July exploring Costa Rica. Spectacular sights included rain forests, volcanoes, national parks, waterfalls, hot spring pools and beaches. They saw the most beautiful birds and flowers and many colorful and interesting animals, and they went spelunking, hiking, zip lining, and even volunteered at an animal rescue center. The country was easy to navigate, and the people were some of the nicest in the world. Nickeson highly recommends a visit to this country for anyone looking for beautiful nature, adventure, diversity or just a wonderful climate in which to relax.
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Search for the 11th Bishop of Georgia
To Equip the Saints, To Build Up the Body
Search Committee
Transition Committee
Listening Sessions
Why do we need a bishop?
In our Anglican tradition the bishop is the center and focus of how we do church. Our name, Episcopal, means "of bishops." The ancient meaning of the word referred to an overseer, and the bishop offers a ministry of oversight over a group of congregations. The bishop brings us together as a larger community than an individual parish, maintains our connection to the very first Christians (see Philippians 1:1 and 1 Peter 5:2), ensures that we practice the faith as it has been passed down to us, and ensures that those called to ordained leadership are appropriately trained and sacramentally affirmed.
What does a bishop do?
"The ministry of a bishop is to represent Christ and his Church, particularly as apostle, chief priest, and pastor of a diocese; to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the whole Church;, to proclaim the Word of God; to act in Christ's name for the reconciliation of the world and the building up of the Church; and to ordain others to continue Christ's ministry." (Book of Common Prayer, p. 855). In practice, a bishop generally presides and preaches at a different congregation every week, baptizes, confirms, and ordains, oversees the work of diocesan ministries, and acts as pastor for the clergy.
Why do we elect a bishop?
The sharing of lay and clerical authority is a bedrock in the Episcopal Church, as is the affirmation of call by the community one is called to serve. We elect our bishops so that the whole diocese has ownership in the process and can feel confident that the new bishop really is our bishop, chosen by the majority of delegates to the Annual Convention of the diocese.
What is the timeline for finding our next bishop?
There are several steps, each taking a number of weeks. First we listen to the diocese: Listening Sessions begin in February and go through the end of March. Next we create a profile based on that listening, to describe who we are, where we are called to go, and the kind of leadership we believe will take us there. The profile was published on May 8. Applications will be received until June 7, after which the search committee will go through several screening stages to arrive at a slate of 4-5 nominees by the beginning of September. The nominees will visit the diocese in October, and then the election takes place at our Annual Convention on November 15-16 in Statesboro. The bishop will be consecrated after consents have been received from other dioceses, on May 30, 2020.
Who is eligible to be nominated as our bishop?
The canons state that a bishop must be at least 30 years old at consecration and must resign from all jurisdiction at 72 years of age. Any priest or bishop in good standing in any of the churches of the Anglican Communion is eligible; however, a bishop diocesan may not enter an election process until he or she has completed five years in the position to which he or she was elected.
What is the process for nomination?
The Standing Committee establishes the process for nomination. For our election, nominations and applications of qualified individuals will be accepted from across the Episcopal Church. Two forms will be made available when the profile is published: one form for those being nominated by someone else and a second for those nominating themselves.
Can other nominees be added later?
Once the slate has been announced, additional candidates who meet the requirements for election may be added by petition. The Petition process is open for ten days following the release of the slate. Petitions require signatures from one clergy person and one lay person from each of the six convocations of the diocese. Forms for petition candidates will be available on this site when the profile has been published.
Who elects our bishop?
The election will take place at our Annual Convention in November. All clergy resident in the diocese have a vote. The lay delegates elected by each parish for the Convention each will have a vote. Balloting will take place until a single nominee receives a majority of votes from both lay people and clergy on the same ballot. The election must be consented to within 120 days by a majority of bishops with jurisdiction and a majority of Standing Committees across the Episcopal Church.
How many dioceses are there?
There are 111 dioceses in The Episcopal Church, so a majority would be 56 consents.


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Fund our Future: Rally for Research
By Kate Kilgannon | March 19, 2014
Today the Future Party is announcing the "Fund our Future: Rally for Research" campaign to encourage increased funding of Australia's research institutions. The government's drastic cuts to funding will damage Australia's academic research sector. The campaign will include a petition and will culminate in a rally on the 3rd of May in the lead up to the budget announcement.
"The Coalition has threatened to cut $113 million in research funding from the budget of the Australian Research Council. Up to 600 jobs at the CSIRO are also at risk," said James Jansson, leader of the Future Party. The ARC is responsible for assessing projects and awarding grants across a wide range of academic fields.
"By increasing funding for academic research, the government can position Australia to become a nation that fosters innovation and new industries. Science and technology research is instrumental to Australia's future prosperity," said Shanika Kuruppu, coordinator of the Fund our Future: Rally for Research campaign. "Without government support, jobs in research will become even harder to find."
Budget cuts will cause further harm to the already under-resourced research sector. Rather than enriching our academic sector, which will create new industries and new jobs, the Coalition is diverting and cutting funding from Australian research. Furthermore, they are offering little explanation of where these funds are being redirected.
These plans to cut research funding are not an isolated occurrence; they, along with similar actions taken by the Coalition since their election, form a pattern of undermining science and research in Australia.
"The government should immediately appoint a Science and Technology minister," said Mr Jansson. "Without a Science minister, there will be no one in government to advocate funding for scientific research, hurting Australia's international performance and reputation."
As part of their campaign to improve research funding in Australia, the Future Party has organised an online petition to be sent to Treasurer Joe Hockey prior to the release of the federal budget. The Fund our Future: Rally for Research petition is available to sign here:
http://fundourfuture.org.au/
About the Fund our Future: Rally for Research Campaign
The Fund our Future: Rally for Research campaign is supported by the Future Party.
The campaign calls for increased government funding of academic research, and will include a petition and a rally on the 3rd of May in the lead up to the budget announcement.
About the Future Party:
The Future Party is a political party which is dedicated to thinking of long term solutions to advance our society. The Future Party believes quality of life is improved primarily through technological developments, sourced through a scientific approach to knowledge in the context of democracy and peace. We see innovation, education and economic reforms as key to the success of Australia.
Saritha Manickam
media@futureparty.org.au


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Церква Богоявлення Господнього — дерев'яна греко-католицька церква у смт. Дубляни на Самбірщині. Пам'ятка архітектури місцевого значення, охоронний номер: 2061-М. Парафія належить до Дублянського деканату, Самбірсько-Дрогобицької Єпархії УГКЦ.

Історія
Відомо що в Дублянах вже існувала парафіяльна церква у 1507 році. Ця церква згоріла у 1624 році під час татарської навали. У 1660 році була збудована нова дерев'яна церква, яка у 1693 році отримала привілей від польського короля Яна ІІІ Собєського.

У 1860 — 1863 роках замість неї зведено теперішню дерев'яну церкву, за пароха Василя Грабовського. Церкву збудовано при значній допомозі пана Целестина Созанського, нащадка колишнього власника сусіднього села Корналовичі — Адама Созанського, якого австрійський уряд призначив покровителем місцевого храму з тим, щоб цієї функції дотримувалися всі його наступники.

За пароха Михайла Міцкевича, у 1891 році, церкву було реконструйовано — подовжено та накрито бляхою. Наступний ремонт був 1889 року, потім відновлювали у 1970 році. Оновлену церкву освячено на свято Святого пророка Іллі, за участі єпископа Костянтина (Чеховича) у 1900 році.

Під час пожежі у Дублянах 31 травня 1911 року — церква мало не згоріла. Тоді в селі вогнем було спалено 283 будівлі, у тому числі церковну дзвіницю та плебанію священника Юліана Плятека. Дана частина селища і до сьогодні носить у народі назву Погорілиськом. Незаперечним фактом зцілення церкви від пожежі стала церковна процесія під керівництвом священника Юліана Плятека. Миряни настільки щиро молились, що стих вітер та вогонь сам по собі почав стихати.

З 1926 року на парафії правив о. Полянський Микола (1873). Парафія входила тоді до Лучанського деканату Перемишльської єпархї УГКЦ.

У часи Другої світової війни німецькою владою було безповоротно забрано з дзвіниці два дзвони. В 1946 році після закриття місцевої римо-католицької парафії і виїзду польського населення до Польщі, з костелу (тепер не існує) було знято та перенесено до церкви дзвін. Передали до церкви вівтар пречистої Діви Марії (Милосердної).

З того часу у храмі знаходиться два вівтарі присвячені Богородиці.
У 1946 році, після Львівського псевдособору церква перейшла у лоно Московської православної церкви.

1990 року, за священика Тараса Федоровича, парафія повернулася у лоно Української греко-католицької церкви.

Архітектура
Церква дерев'яна, тризрубна, завершена над навою широким восьмериком, накритим великою банею з ліхтарем і маківкою.

До вівтаря з північного боку прибудована ризниця. По периметру будівлю оточує широке піддашшя, об'єднане з покриттям ризниці та головного входу. Після ремонту замінили покриття дахів, стіни восьмерика помалювали або оббили вагонкою.

Джерела

Примітки

Посилання
 Дубляни. Церква Богоявлення Господнього 1860

Церкви Богоявлення
Церкви Самбірсько-Дрогобицької єпархії УГКЦ
Дубляни
Дубляни
Пам'ятки Самбірського району


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Prestwick Country Club
Prestwick Country Club, located in Frankfort, Illinois, is a true gem on the Golf Trail. The Prestwick golf course was first established as a nine-hole course with sand greens and putting green and a tiny clubhouse in 1902. It soon grew into an 18-hole golf course by 1905, adding another nine holes of play to the original nine making it known as one of the best courses to play for both men and women alike. In 1912 Prestwick's first tournament was held that included many famous players such as Jim Barnes, Walter Hagen, Chick Evans, and Alex Smith, who would win this first tournament.
The great depression played out very badly on Prestwick Club, which brought about hard times after struggling to keep up. The clubhouse caught fire in 1934, which destroyed the dining room, kitchen, ladies locker room, and most of the office space. Golfers who played at Prestwick during the depression only paid six dollars for an entire summer's worth of golf, if they could afford it, that is.
The crash of 1929 hit the club hard, leading to its cancellation of tournaments for a year. Still, things were looking up when prohibition was repealed by 1932, allowing them to reopen their doors once again with a new dining room and addition that included an apartment on top which doubled as a guest house.
Prestwick hosted many tournaments over the years, including state open championships, Western Open qualifying rounds in 1914-16, The 1937 Illinois Open Championship, Illinois PGA Championship in 1958 and 1961. The Illinois Women's Amateur Championship was hosted at Prestwick in 1963, 1967, 1968, and 1978.
The present clubhouse, built-in 1967, replaced the original club that burned down back in 1934. This clubhouse is a beautiful two-story structure with a large deck overlooking the golf course.
The course has been updated over the years to keep up with the latest trends but still maintains its natural beauty and charm from 1902. Today, Prestwick Country Club is one of the most popular country clubs in Illinois and continues to be a favorite spot for avid golfers and those just looking for a relaxing day out on the links.
Business Information:
Climate Control Systems
22774 Citation Rd Unit C, Frankfort, IL 60423, United States
Services in Frankfort IL
Frankfort AC Repair | Frankfort AC Installation | Frankfort Commercial HVAC Repair | Frankfort Mini Split Installation | Frankfort Furnace Repair | Frankfort Heat Pump Repair | Frankfort Boiler Repair | Frankfort Sheet Metal Fabrication
Points of Interest in Frankfort IL
KidsWork Children's Museum | Prestwick Country Club | Alsip Home & Nursery | Hickory Creek Middle School | Roma Sports Club
Hours & Payment
We provide Installation, Repair & Maintenance in Frankfort, IL and the surrounding areas.
Climate Control Systems — 22774 Citation Rd Unit C, Frankfort, IL 60423
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