Epidemiological evidence points to a strong correlation between diet and certain diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Will the 1990s be remembered as "the decade when we measurably turned the tide against cancer"? The US study, [Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1973-1998] reports an annual decline of 1% per annum. Many find this conclusion misleading. Taking several factors into account, it is not clear that there has been any decrease at all. First, lung cancer, which is in no way due to medical advances, accounts for the lion's share of the cancer rate decline. Take lung cancer out of the equation, and the reported decline in cancer is cut by a third. Second, it overlooks the fact that overall cancer rates rose by more than a factor of ten during the 20th century and increasing over 20% just from 1973 to 1992. The incidences of ten other cancers have increased from 1992 to 1998. These include cancer of the liver, thyroid, oesophagus, small intestine and heart, plus non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, melanoma and breast cancer. Thirdly, certain cancer types are not counted, notably [in situ] carcinomas, which are an early stage of cancer in which the tumour is confined to the organ where it first developed. For example, breast cancer rates have increased 40% from 1975 to 1998. Not included in the statistics are incidences of two types of [in situ] breast cancer, one that develops in the milk passages (ductal carcinoma [in situ] (DCIS)) and another than develops in the milk-producing glands (lobula carcinoma [in situ] (LCIS). Because these tumours have not invaded neighbouring tissue, the standard treatment of surgery (lumpectomy or full mastectomy), radiation and chemotherapy is usually effective in stopping its spread. The incidence of [in situ] breast cancers has surged and continues to increase: The American Cancer Society estimates that 46,400 American women will have been diagnosed with DCIS or LCIS in 2001. Adding these in situ cancers to invasive breast cancers would increase the incidence rate by 24%.
Neither does the survey count [in situ] melanoma skin cancers, with which the American Cancer Society estimates 31,400 Americans will be diagnosed in 2001. Adding these cases would increase the rate for skin cancer by 56%.
Changes in diagnostic procedures also affect incidence rates. In explaining fluctuations in the incidence of prostate cancer, for example, the National Institutes of Health noted that with the advent of Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) screening in the late 1980s, there was a spike in the incidence of prostate cancer, not because more men were suddenly getting the disease above the normal increase, but because previously undetected cancers were suddenly being diagnosed. Now that the prevalent cancers have been detected, what looks like a decline in incidence in the 1990s, they say, is not due to fewer men getting prostate cancer, but is a decline relative only to the abnormally high number of tests and diagnoses made just previous to that period.
1. Appropriations for cancer prevention are currently minuscule and could be raised to achieve parity with diagnosis, treatment and basic research. The cancer establishment should conduct detailed studies of the wide range of avoidable and involuntary carcinogenic exposures and legislators act to remove them from the environment.
2. It should be a crime for any corporation or corporate executive to knowingly introduce a new carcinogen into the environment.
3. With a comprehensive programme of prevention, rather than damage control, we could drive cancer rates back down to the relatively low rates of the 1950s. For example, the budget for occupational cancer in most cancer institutions is under 1 percent of the total budget. Yet occupational cancers comprise at least 10 percent of all cancers and are among the most preventable of all cancers.
1. The war against cancer is an out and out failure. Despite decades of basic scientific and clinical research, and numerous trials of 'promising new medical therapies', cancer remains a major cause of sickness and death in the western world. While there have been some success in treating some forms of cancer, especially those of children and young adults, it is not stopping people getting cancer, and the effects of these benefits on overall mortality due to cancer have been more than disappointing. In 1994, death rates from all cancers were actually 6% higher than in 1970.
2. Over the 20 year 1995-2005, in spite of billions of dollars spent on research, cancer has moved from the number 8 killer of people in the USA to the number 2 killer. Since 2003, cancer has been the leading cause of death in people under age 30 in the USA.


text:
Mediation: Arguing professionally
Quarreling can ruin a company. Brigitte Santo experienced the problem of conflict escalation herself. Ten years ago, the industrial engineer and her sister took over her father's business: a mechanical engineering company with almost 200 employees. The succession situation was difficult. "We did not manage to develop a common basis for communication, understanding and the future of the company," says Santo. The company suffered as a result and had to go into partial bankruptcy.
Santo has left the operational management of the company, has completed training as a coach and mediator and now works as a freelance mediator and coach in a law firm in Munich. Today she says: "With the help of a mediator, we would probably have been able to settle our disputes." Mediators are specialists in conflict resolution.
15 percent of the working time for arguments
There are conflicts in abundance, because wherever people come together, social tensions arise. According to information from the institute for the training of works councils, quarrels in the workplace bind around 15 percent of daily working hours in Germany. That's a good hour on an 8-hour day that is unnecessarily wasted. Managers even spend between a third and half of their working time on arguments and their consequences.
Disputes make people sick and are expensive: In companies with up to 100 employees, annual conflict costs of 100,000 to 500,000 euros arise. In larger companies it can be much more. Companies and their employees should therefore ensure that conflicts arise as few as possible and that these are resolved correctly. Mediation is the professional approach to this.
Read Also The lack of chips continues to slow the German market for new cars
Mediators recommend companies to use their services much earlier. "Usually HR departments or the responsible executives only commission us when it feels like all internal attempts to resolve the conflict have failed," says Alexandra Bielecke, psychologist, mediator and 1st chairwoman of the Federal Association MEDIATION.
The iceberg model
The number of well-trained mediators is rising steadily because conflicts increase and the awareness of how to resolve them increases. The corona virus is not an immediate cause of conflict, but its consequences. For example, the question of which employees have to come to the office and who can continue to work in the home office can cause feelings of injustice. Such feelings can be the breeding ground for arguments.
Other triggers for this are unclear roles, overlapping responsibilities and controlled information flows. The dynamics of conflicts can be explained with the iceberg model: "The needs of the people take place under the surface of the water. These are invisible to the other person, often also to oneself, but the trigger for the conflict that is visible above the water," says Santo . Conflicts build up in the subconscious and send out their harbingers with decreasing willingness to perform and increasing error rate.
What is a Glass Making Oven called: All You Need to Know About Them
Betting on the cloud in 2023? "Technology will be key next year and beyond"
The trickle of layoffs in technology is settled with more than 9,000 this month

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


UEB-Compliant Building on Patterns: First Grade Now Complete!
The American Printing House for the Blind is pleased to announce Dr. Craig Meador as its next President. A former teacher and educational leader for blind and visually impaired children, Dr. Meador has served as APH's Vice President of Educational Services and Product Development since May 2015. Dr. Meador will begin as President on January 1, 2016, succeeding Dr. Tuck Tinsley III, who will be retiring after 27 years of dedicated and innovative leadership at APH.
Since joining APH, Dr. Meador has led a team of 90 professionals in the areas of field services, resource services, communications, customer service, accessible tests and textbooks, and research and product development. He has worked closely with the production and finance departments to improve APH's product development process.
"APH's mission is to promote the independence of blind and visually impaired persons by providing specialized materials and products needed for education and life. Craig has the vision, energy, and skills to address APH's noble mission through partnerships with new technology companies, educational institutions, and leaders from government," said Barrett Nichols, Chairman of the APH Board of Trustees and Chief Executive Officer of BSG Financial Group. "We look forward to working with Craig and building on the strong platform and legacy that Tuck Tinsley has so successfully put in place."
Dr. Meador came to Louisville and APH from the state of Washington where he was employed as the Director of Outreach Services/State Vision Consultant. In that position, he served as the state department's APH Ex Officio Trustee and a member of the APH Educational Products Advisory Committee (EPAC). Prior to that, he was Principal of the Washington State School for the Blind and he had served the state school for 24 years, beginning as a teacher. Dr. Meador earned an undergraduate degree from Western Oregon State University, a master's degree in Special Education from Portland State University and, in 2015, an educational doctorate degree from Washington State University.
We welcome Craig to the helm of APH!
Jane Thompson, APH's Director of Accessible Tests and Textbook Department, recently received the prestigious Holbrook-Humphries Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of Literacy. Thompson has worked in the field of vision for 25 years. She coordinates the delivery of braille, large print, and digital textbooks to students in the United States and leads a team of test editors who make state and national tests and assessments accessible in all formats for blind students.
Thompson was a pioneer in the "textbooks on demand" movement, resulting in a network of outsourced transcribers trained to produce textbooks for APH. She led the development of the APH Braille Textbooks Specifications used by braille transcribers across the country that provide consistent, high-quality textbooks. She has also partnered with the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) to create the Promising Practices for Transcribing Early Literacy Textbooks and Materials (K-3) and is on the APH UEB Transition Team. Jane was instrumental in conducting research with students with low vision that led to the development of a new large print book process at APH and resulted in a redesigned textbook that is easier for students to read.
Jane serves as a team leader in APH's REAL Plan, an initiative to increase student access to instructional materials, is actively involved in the national Prison Braille Network, and is a highly sought-after trainer and presenter at workshops and conferences. She serves as co-chair for the Kentucky Regional Braille Challenge, and is a past co-chair of the Getting in Touch With Literacy Conference.
Jane Thompson, APH, poses with Dr. Kay Ferrell.
Dr. Kay Ferrell, frequent APH collaborator and a previous APH Executive in Residence, has received the Alan J. Koenig Research in Literacy Award.
Dr. Ferrell, internationally known for her work in the development and education of individuals with visual disabilities—particularly infants and preschoolers—was the recipient of the 2015 Alan J. Koenig Research in Literacy Award. Dr. Ferrell has served as a member of the University of Northern Colorado faculty for over 20 years. In addition to teaching and mentoring students at UNC, Dr. Ferrell also has served as assistant dean of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences and as director of the School of Special Education, and she's coordinated graduate programs in visual impairment and early childhood special education, and the doctoral program in special education.
In 2001, Dr. Ferrell co-founded UNC's National Center on Low-Incidence Disabilities, which served as an international clearinghouse of resources for teachers and parents of children with visual disabilities. She was principal investigator of the ground-breaking Project Prism, the first study of child development to focus on children with visual impairments and the ways in which their development is similar to or different from that of typically sighted children. Her current research involves adapting the Boehm-3 Test of Basic Concepts for preschool and primary age children with visual impairments in collaboration with APH.
Carl Augusto (left), President of AFB, receives APH's highest honor from APH President Tuck Tinsley III.
The 2015 Annual Meeting of Ex Officio Trustees and Special Guests entitled, "Setting the Stage," was a "hit show" in Louisville in October! To relive the memories or to get excited for Annual Meeting 2016, here is the full photo Memory Album!
Were you unable to attend the 2015 Annual Meeting or do you want a refresher on a session you attended? On this page, you will find the audio and video for many Annual Meeting 2015 sessions by our expert APH and guest presenters!
The Printing House has a rare opportunity to share one of the truly unique gems of blindness history, and we need your help.
In 1821, a blind boy met a soldier, Charles Barbier, who had a clever idea—a code based on raised dots that could be read in the dark. The boy, Louis Braille, took the idea, organized and simplified it, and published his system in 1829 for the first time. Today, the Braille System is used all over the world by people who are blind and visually impaired to read and write.
This fall, one of the few remaining copies of Braille's pioneering book, Procédé pour écrire les paroles, la musique et le plain-chant au moyen de point, or Method for Writing Words, Music, and Plainsong in Dots, became available from a New York bookseller. One of only six known copies left anywhere in the world, our museum has 10 weeks to raise the $95,000 purchase price.
The book is in incredible condition. The beautiful blue marbled paper cover is bright. The 37 embossed pages are clean and intact. The pages are fascinating, illustrating the experimental nature of early embossing for blind readers, the printing blocks used to set up the page clearly outlined where they were pressed onto wet paper.
But the true wonder of the book is found in the elegance of the code, Louis Braille's original alphabet, the same code still found wherever the Roman alphabet is used. The same alphabet used to emboss millions of pages at the Printing House every year and create countless millions more on refreshable braille displays.
Being an Executive in Residence was an amazing experience! I've known APH for years, first as a consumer of its goods as a TVI, then more in depth as an Ex Officio Trustee for two different schools for the blind. I've always been impressed by APH and the products and services they offer to the field, but being an Executive in Residence has allowed me a look inside the company. I am now even more impressed with APH and have a deeper, richer appreciation for all the work that goes into developing and producing some truly excellent products for students and professionals to use.
My time at APH was spent working with some very wonderful project leaders. This is a truly dedicated group of people, and each one is so knowledgeable in his or her respective area. I was able to spend time with several of them in two areas I have a passion for: Braille and Assistive Technology. The ability of APH to take suggestions from the field and then work with a group of consultants from around the country to develop a product to meet a need from the field is unparalleled. I was fortunate to be involved with the second edition of BOP and was a part of numerous technology meetings around some incredible assistive technology products coming out soon from APH.
In addition to working with others on their area of expertise, I was also able to work on an area that is especially near and dear to me—transition. While at APH, I was able to delve into the data and research that has been collected around this area. As we all are aware, there is a large body of literature around this topic area. I refined my investigation into looking at just those students who were going to college and then looking at skills they could learn while still in high school to help address the challenges they may face in attending a postsecondary institution with the thought of developing ideas for products to be developed by APH. Two possible product ideas based on the literature review indicate there is a need for students to understand the workings of a 504 plan versus an IEP and to know how to operate in an asynchronous online learning environment. There are obviously many additional product development possibilities, but these two seem to encompass many of the areas where challenges arise.
Being an Executive in Residence was a great experience, and I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to take part in the experience.
Approval of Braille Music Code Revision: The Board unanimously approved a major revision of the music braille code, which had undergone the scrutiny of technical and Board reviews. After finalization of the electronic files, the new version of the music code will be available on the BANA website. The BANA Board commends the members of the music braille technical committee—all of whom are musicians as well as experts in music braille transcription and reading—for their tireless and concentrated work on this significant revision of the music code. You can see the actual vote to approve the revised music code on Facebook.
Darleen Bogart Honored with Braille Excellence Award: The BANA Board congratulated CNIB's Darleen Bogart, the 2015 recipient of BANA's Braille Excellence Award, which she received in November at the Getting in Touch with Literacy Conference. BANA presented the award in grateful recognition of Darleen's enormous contribution, not only to BANA and to North America, but to braille in a wider, global sense over several decades. Her extraordinary service and quiet leadership have helped braille remain viable and reliable while she has also been a leader in moving it forward and expanding its availability worldwide. More information about this recognition is available on the BANA website.
From November 4–6, APH Director of Field Services, Janie Blome, and Field Services Representative Kerry Isham attended and exhibited at the AER Conference on Vision Loss in Older Adults and Veterans in Norfolk, VA. This conference drew approximately 175 attendees. Participants enjoyed seeing APH products "in person," and were especially interested in the Bright Line Reading Guide, the DRAFTSMAN, The Impressor, the Push Button Padlock, and the VisioBook. This was an excellent event for consumers and professionals, and a great forum in which to find out more about products, services, and research in this area.
On November 13 and 14, APH's tables attracted inquisitive conference-goers at the 2015 Kentucky Council of the Blind Annual Weekend in Louisville. APH staff members Artina Paris-Jones, Michele Dutcher, and Kerry Isham exhibited a number of products for approximately 75 attendees. Among the products that garnered attention were the Book Port Plus, The Impressor, the Wilson Digital Voice Recorder, the InSights Art Calendar, and the Miniguide US. APH is a regular exhibitor at these weekend conferences, and we were pleased to continue the tradition!
Kerry Isham, APH Field Services Representative, exhibited APH products at the 2015 Family Retreat and Conference in Louisville, KY. This event was sponsored by the Kentucky School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Preschool Services, and was held November 13-14. About 50 families participated. Many attendees stopped by the APH booth to get hands-on experience with such materials as the Rib-It Ball, the DRAFTSMAN, the Mini-Lite Box and Pegs and Pegboard, Picture Maker, Sound-Adapted Tangle Balls, and the Spangle Tangle. APH was honored to share our products with all the families in attendance!
The Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind welcomes thousands of people in its galleries every year. But we also serve as an important international center for research on the history of education for people who are blind or visually impaired. Items from the permanent collection are currently on loan in two different museum exhibits that are open now.
The Museum loaned an IBM Model D Braille Electric Typewriter to the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, where it will be on display as part of the Society's exhibit "Silicon City: Computer History Made in New York." The exhibit opened November 13 and runs through April 3, 2016.
The Museum also loaned a beautiful red cast iron Kleidograph—a New York Point typewriter—and other writing equipment to the University of Manitoba for an exhibit of early tactile books. "Books Without Ink" will run from September 21, 2015, to April 30, 2016, in Winnipeg, Canada.
APH is looking for TVIs with students who can field test a draft Teacher's Manual that details ways to adapt current health education curricula for students with visual impairments. The prototype includes 25 short videos (for teachers only) and a 125-page manual (including references and resource materials). TVIs are expected to view all videos, read the manual in its entirety, and complete an online evaluation form after implementing the suggested adaptations and activities with their students.
APH is also looking for professionals in the field of vision impairment to serve as expert reviewers. We ask that you complete an online evaluation after reading the manual in its entirety and viewing all the videos.
APH is seeking field evaluators for Tactile Algebra Tiles. Algebra tiles is a well-known mathematical tool that provides students with concrete models for abstract algebraic concepts and procedures. The tiles can represent both variables and constants and can be used by students in elementary through high school for adding, subtracting, and multiplying integers, simplifying expressions, solving linear and quadratic equations, and for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and factoring polynomials. The tiles provide the student with an alternative to abstract manipulation by giving them a graphical way to solve algebraic problems. In this way, the tool helps meet the students' diverse needs in algebra study. The Tactile Algebra Tiles is an accessible version of algebra tiles, specifically designed for students with blindness and low vision.
Field evaluators will be asked to use Tactile Algebra Tiles with multiple math students with blindness or low vision. Evaluators will then complete and return a product evaluation form at the end of the testing period. Field test sites will be selected based upon geographic location, number of available students, and type of instructional setting. The field test will begin in January and be completed by the end of April 2016.
your complete contact information (phone number, mailing address, and e-mail address).
You will need access to the W-J IV kit from HMH in order to have the materials (all manuals, easels, test record, audio CD) needed to administer the assessment. The large print materials from APH includes only the student test books for all three batteries and the student response booklets which have been bound separately for student use.
From the Migel Library: Richardson, R. A. Increasing the Strength of the Eyes and the Eye Muscles without the Aid of Glasses. Kansas City, MO: Eyesight and Health Association, 1925.
From the Barr Library: Macht, Joel. Shaping Glass-Wearing Behavior: Employing Light As a Reinforcing Stimulus for an Aphakic Retarded Child. N.d. TS. Collection of the APH Barr Library, Louisville.
Produced sometime between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Joel Macht's unpublished report describes the application of behavioral modification techniques employed with a child who has an intellectual disability. The research was instigated when the experimental subject's ophthalmologist suggested that failure to wear her prescription lenses would leave the child would without distance visual acuity. However, without constant monitoring, the seven-year-old female with Down's Syndrome repeatedly removed the lenses from her face. A five-phase shaping procedure was established to reinforce her glasses-wearing behavior. Although the desired behavior was achieved in the context of a dark room, through the use of light as a reinforcement, the child reverted to taking the glasses off outside of the test environment. Of his multiple hypotheses developed to explain the behavioral discrepancy, the author deemed it most likely that the prosthetic lenses were inaccurate, thus the incentive to wear them was diminished.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Quick Tip!
It's beginning to look a lot like Quick Tips! Indeed, it's the season for festive lights, packages with beautiful bows, the excited smiles and twinkling eyes of children, and the aromas of peppermint, mincemeat pie, and evergreen. It's a time of merriment, good cheer and anticipation. It's also a time of brevity, useful information and APH-centricity! Yes, my friends, it's that Quick Tip time of year!
And, amid the hustle and bustle of seasonal happenings, you can make your 2015 winter holidays brighter and happier than ever before by keeping current on APH Quick Tips! You might even discover a great gift idea. Watch these latest Quick Tips now!
Math Common Core State Standards (CCSS) – Did you know that APH has a website that explains all about Math Common Core State Standards (CCSS)? Watch this week's Quick Tip to get the scoop!
VIPS@Home Parent Empowerment Program – Discover the VIPS@Home Parent Empowerment Program, which provides relevant coursework for parents of children with blindness and visual impairments.
Tactile Tangrams Kit – Have you seen these fun and educational puzzles from APH? Great for children ages 7 and up, the Tactile Tangrams Kit encourages the development of skills such as spatial reasoning, shape recognition, and problem-solving.
Picture Maker – If you're looking for a great holiday gift for a creative child in your life, look no further than the Picture Make Wheatley Tactile Diagramming Kit!
Happy Quick Tips to all, and to all a good night!
Did you know APH posts Quick Tips, Hall of Fame, and other videos on our YouTube channel? Watch now!
Load up a world of savings on selected APH products with APH's Fall Harvest Sale 2015, October 1—December 31. As always, first come, first served.
The pen serves as a personal "tour guide" that gives the reader information about each location visited on the map via multiple layers of audio recordings. The reader is allowed to "drill down" layer by layer via consecutive pen taps to learn about each state.
Livescribe™ is a trademark of Livescribe Inc. The Talking Tactile Pen is a modified version of the Livescribe Echo™ smartpen. All components of the Interactive U.S. Map with Talking Tactile Pen are copyrighted by the American Printing House for the Blind, Inc. and Touch Graphics, Inc.
With the launch of the First Grade: Posttest Consumables, BOP: First Grade UEB has now been fully released!
We are excited to announce that with publication of the BOP Posttest Consumables, our release of Building on Patterns: First Grade – UEB is complete! Building on Patterns: Second Grade – UEB will follow over the next few months.
Unlike the Unit Check-ups, included in the child's textbooks, the posttest is an important, separate item that assesses the concepts and skills covered throughout the First Grade Level of BOP. A set of consumable forms is provided in braille for the student and in print and braille for the teacher. The teacher's manuals, available in both print and braille editions (sold separately), give complete instructions for administering and scoring the tests and analyzing the results. Results can be recorded tactually on an accompanying line graph showing target scores for each subtest. This sheet makes it easy to see areas where the child is excelling as well as areas where remediation may be needed.
Note: Each First Grade student kit listed below includes Lesson Monitoring Sheets, Assessment Check-up Forms, Student Textbooks, and Worksheets Pack.
APH is offers UEB-compliant Building on Patterns (BOP) so teachers can continue to use the current Building on Patterns program while teaching Unified English Braille (UEB)! The student materials have been re-transcribed in UEB as needed and teacher supplements have been created inform the teacher about UEB changes.
First Grade Student Kits include: Student Textbook, Worksheets Pack – UEB, Lesson Monitoring Sheets in print and braille, an Assessment Check-Up in print and braille.
Note: Building on Patterns: Second Grade UEB will be released over several months in early 2016.
Objectives for each of the above key concepts have been aligned with standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). These lessons correlate to basal and standards-based tests.
The APH Teacher Guides and Student Books are available in several accessible formats, so that the entire class can work on language arts together in a multi-media approach. The large print and braille editions include a CD-ROM with an .html file and a Digital Talking Book (DTB) file with built-in player.
Note: Test Ready: Language Arts Books 7–8 will be available soon.
An imagining of the life and ministry of Jesus from the perspective of his elderly mother Mary. After her son's crucifixion, his followers continue to visit her in Ephesus to learn more about him. Some adult content.
Memoir by Chinese-American restaurateur Huang. Relates growing up first in the Washington, D. C., area and later in Florida as the son of immigrants. Describes challenges he faced due to his heritage and ways he adapted to American culture. Inspiration for 2015 television show. Some adult content.
Biography of American swimmer Gertrude Ederle (1906-2003), who in 1926 became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Discusses her childhood bout with measles that led to permanent hearing loss and describes subsequent achievements, including Olympic medals, world records, and the landmark swim from France to England.


Solar energy is one of the frontrunners in the sustainable energy field, and Black Hawk College is incorporating this technology into the classroom and on campus.
This picture shows the installation of a new solar panel at the BHC entrance and exit near Moline's John Deere Expressway.
The BHC solar energy panels are Photovoltaic (PV) or "solar cells" and are used to capture the sun's rays and turn it into electricity. An example of photovoltaic conversion is demonstrated in something you may see nearly every day, like road construction signs equipped with solar panels for lighting at night. Students in BHC's Engineering Technology classes and programs (especially the Sustainable Energy program) will benefit from hands-on training in solar technology.
Another prime example of solar technology can be seen in solar power plants, becoming increasingly prevalent in the Southwest. Here, hundreds of solar panels use the sun's thermal energy to heat a fluid, which then produces steam to power a generator. Most of the solar power plants in the US are located in California.
Knowledge of the principles of science, engineering, and math to help solve problems; ability to read electronic schematics and mechanical drawings or interpret written/verbal instructions on your own, with little outside help; basic knowledge of typical computer software.
Whom to call: Contact Advising at the Black Hawk College Quad Cities campus: (309) 796-5100, or ADVQC@bhc.edu.


text:
where you lead
Stars Hollow Came to Life at the Gilmore Girls Fan Festival
Laura Bradley and Hilary Weaver
Gil*More*
Gilmore Girls: So, Luke Was Originally Supposed to Be a Woman Named Daisy
The Decades-Long Gilmore Girls Friendship You Didn't Know About
Liz Torres and Sally Struthers are just like Babette and Miss Patty—and they have been for 40 years and counting.
Hilary Weaver
Lede/tout: (The recent still): Credit: Courtesy of Netflix.
"I didn't have a career. Meryl Streep has a career. I had jobs," actress Liz Torres said as we sat around a table decorated with a very Stars Hollow-esque, autumnal theme in the town hall of Washington Depot, Connecticut. (Which was only appropriate: the town was hosting the Gilmore Girls fan festival, after all.) Then Torres launched into a summary of those "jobs": she ran the Continental Baths with a then-unknown Bette Midler. She opened for Liza Minnelli, the year Minnelli won her Oscar for Cabaret. A Puerto Rican-American who worked as both a dancer and a stand-up comic in her early days, Torres frequently rubbed shoulders with the biggest names in the business. She's almost certainly best known, though, as zany, dramatic, nostalgic Miss Patty on Gilmore Girls. And the mention of one other cast member had Torres leaning back in her chair, giggling like a mischievous girl in a beginner's ballet class: Sally Struthers.
Struthers, who played Babette on the show—next-door neighbor to Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, and possibly the only one who could match the fast-paced cadence of their dialogue—and Torres were an inseparable twosome onscreen. They could often be seen gossiping away in Luke's diner, at the magazine stand or the dance studio; "We were like Abbot and Costello," Torres said. As it turns out, though, Torres and Struthers were Babette and Miss Patty long before Lorelai Gilmore first begged for Luke's coffee.
These Stars Hollow fan favorites actually first met on the set of the classic Norman Lear sitcom All in the Family, which starred Struthers as liberal feminist Gloria Stivic. Torres appeared on the show as the family's boarder, Theresa, for one season.
"She's one of my favorite human beings to ever walk the planet," Struthers said in a phone call some weeks after the festival. Though the Emmy winner had not attended the fest, her name came up more than once as her cast mates recalled her larger-than-life presence on set with Torres.
"We were like the recalcitrant children in first grade where the teacher split us up, and sent one to the front and one to the back of the room because we can't communicate anymore," said Struthers. "We couldn't stop interrupting."
Torres, too, remembers crew members growing increasingly irritated with them: when they'd shout "Silence on the set!" Torres and Struthers would ignore their calls in order to continue their daily gossip: "And then he said to me. . ."
Struthers remembered it pretty much the same way: "We'd talk about people we like, people we couldn't stand, gossip, show business news, memory lane from her career and mine. We'd sing together. She knows how to automatically harmonize. I always have to sing the melody, and she can just do harmony all around me."
Both women refer to their first meeting on the set of Gilmore as though it were a sorority reunion. Neither one knew, initially, that the other was going to be cast—but Torres remembers screaming gleefully when she saw Struthers, running into her embrace. That's because for more than 40 years, Torres has been Struther's "zone of safety": from working long hours together to helping each other with tricky marriages, Struthers says the two have long been bosom buddies.
"We say things to one another and share things with one another we would never say to anyone else because we know that if it's not P.C. that we're forgiven," she says of her friend, whom she describes as "articulate," "wild," and "daffy"—with a "stream of consciousness" not unlike that of a Gilmore girl.
But it is Torres's inner strength that Struthers said she admires best. To illustrate that, she shares a story from the early days of their friendship—one she says Torres will surely kill her for telling—about something Torres once did to show her then-husband that she was mad at him.
Struthers recalls this story through fits of laughter: Torres was apparently so angry that she stomped into his office, lifted her skirt, and peed on the floor. "And I said, 'You are a goddess!'" Struthers remembered, battling a full giggle fit.
She's kept that example of her friend's moxie in mind—and even tried to follow suit. "I kind of doubled it, but not as nervy. When I was mad at my husband, I went to where I knew his car was parked, and I took a sledgehammer, and I beat the crap out of the car. Isn't that fabulous?"
Charming New Gilmore Girls Posters Take You Through All Four Seasons
Courtesy of Netflix
Marisa Tomei Was "Freaked Out," Then Thrilled, to Revive Edith Bunker in All in the Family
"You Don't Own My Body": What Bachelorette Hannah's Argument with Luke P. Really Means


text:
va ser una mèdium francesa creadora de textos, dibuixos i brodats realitzats sota una influència espiritista. Hom la considera part del moviment de l'Art Brut.

Biografia
Jeanne Tripier va néixer el 1869 a París. Filla d'un comerciant de vins, va passar la seva infantesa al camp amb la seva àvia. Ja de gran va viure al districte de Montmartre, a Paris, treballant com a venedora en uns grans magatzems. Als 58 anys va desenvolupar una passió per les creences espiritistes i per l'endevinació. Aquestes activitats van esdevenir centrals a la seva vida, fins al punt d'empènyer-la a deixar la feina. El 1934 va ser ingressada en un hospital psiquiàtric de París.

Obra
Cap als cinquanta anys, Jeanne Tripier va començar a produir obra mesclant imatges i text. Les seves creacions sorgien durant els estats de trànsit i emprava materials com ara sucre o tint de cabell. També produïa obres elaborades amb brodats figuratius. Atribuïa la responsabilitat de la producció dels textos, dibuixos i brodats a éssers espirituals.

Col·leccions i exposicions
L'obra de Jeanne Tripier es conserva principalment a la Col·lecció de l'Art Brut de Lausana, Suïssa. Les seves obres han estat cedides a altres institucions per a diferents mostres, inclosa, el 2015, l'exposició Art Brut in America: The Incursion of Jean Dubuffet a l'American Folk Art Museum.

Reconeixements
Jean Dubuffet va adquirir l'obra de Tripier per a la seva Col·lecció d'Art Brut.

Referències

Enllaços externs
 TRIPIER jeanne

Dibuixants parisencs
Pàgines amb traduccions sense revisar
Artistes d'art brut

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Investigation of the relationship between matrix metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 with SARS CoV-2 infections
2023 Volume6 Issue1, Original Article
May K. Ismael, Lubna M. Rasuol, Yasir Basim Qaddoori
J Adv Biotechnol Exp Ther. 2022; 6(1): 35-43.
SARS-CoV-2 stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Matrix metalloproteinases- 9 (MMP-9) performs a crucial physiological role. In addition to its role in the molecular basis of lung fibrosis, this enzyme may also play a part in the "cytokine storm," which may represent one of the potential scenarios during coronavirus infection. Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMPs) are well-known for their ability to regulate MMP activity during remodeling of the extracellular matrix. As cytokines, they are also thought of as signaling molecules that impact on a wide range of biological processes. This study aimed to investigate the link between each of MMP-9 and TIMP-1, and COVID19 disease. A total of 58 COVID-19 patients and 30 apparently healthy adults enrolled in this study. The ORF1ab, E and N genes of SARS-CoV-2 were detected using multiplex real-time PCR, while the ELISA technique was used to estimate the level of serum MMP-9, TIMP-1, and C-reactive protein (CRP). The study results demonstrated higher concentrations of MMP-9 in COVID-19 patients (2810 ± 1160 pg/ml) compared to controls (2110 ± 850 pg/ml), with non-significant differences (p=0.002). Unlike, TIMP-1, showed considerably higher levels in the patient's group (541.53 ± 201.42 pg/ml) than in controls (276.33 ± 67.26 pg/ml) with high significant differences (p ≤ 0.001). Considering this study, TIMP-1 in COVID patients most likely play an important role in inflammatory response. Its clinical utility as a biomarker may be insufficient, but it provides a useful data in the diagnosis of COVID‐19.
COVID-19; Diagnosis; ELISA; MMP-9; SARS-CoV-2; TIMP-1.
An infectious disease emerged in March 2020 as a pandemic, triggers acute respiratory tract diseases in humans, later identified as SARS disease corona virus-2 and is abbreviated by SARS-CoV-2 [1]. This virus, along with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), can lead to aggressive respiratory consequences [2]. The viral nucleic acid test is the most used diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2. The structural proteins of SARS are spike (S), envelope (E), nucleocapsid (N) proteins, and membrane glycoprotein (M). The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein attaches to the receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), allowing the virus to enter the host cell [3]. Mutations may alter this adhesion ability that the (M) protein and (S) protein undergo, as evidence suggests that some proteinases (especially MMPs) control those processes [4]. MMP-9 is a member of MMPs, a large family of 23 calcium-dependent, zinc-containing endoproteinases. These endoproteinases also degrade and remodel the extracellular matrix [5] and participate in several physiological functions, including wound healing, embryogenesis, reproduction, and tissue remodeling [6]. This enzyme may play a role in the "cytokine storm" that is one of the coronavirus infections features and in lung fibrosis-associated molecular mechanisms [7]. MMP9 is not expressed in healthy lung tissue but is released in case of inflammation like infections and neoplastic diseases; neutrophils, lymphocytes, macrophages, and mast cells are the common producing cells [8]. Since overexpression may be part of the pathology, which can lead to tissue damage and a set of pulmonary diseases, it is crucial to keep the balance between MMPs and TIMPs. TIMPs can down-regulate MMPs activities by covalently binding to the pre-or active forms of MMPs at molar equivalence [9]. They have both MMP-dependent and independent biological functions [10]. TIMPs can be indirectly regulate MMP-mediated processes such as cytokines processing, degradation of growth factor binding proteins, as well as the liberation of ECM-bound growth factors [11]. This regulation plays a vital role in balancing MMPs and TIMPs. Several pathologies may occur in case of any disturbance in their ratio [12]. TIMP-1 is one of the four investigated mammalian TIMPs, considered a soluble protein that can be secreted and vastly expressed upon inflammatory stimuli [13]. Through studying TIMP-1's cytokine-like function, several studies have recognized complex regulatory networks that include a specific surface receptor and successive signaling pathways which eventually control the cell's fate and behavior [14]. Recently, minimal data was provided about the diagnostic/therapeutic role of MMPs/ TIMPs in COVID-19 [15]. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the association between MMP-9, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP-1), and COVID-19, as well as the diagnostic potential of these markers.
METHODS AND MATERIALS
Study subjects
SARS CoV-2 infected patients participated in this study. Blood samples were collected from patients admitted to several hospitals in Baghdad city. The Bioethics Committee approved the study (University of Baghdad- College of science- dept. of Biology Ref. no. CSEC/0222/0007). Fifty-eight COVID-19 patients who had a positive nasopharyngeal swab were selected. The control group included 30 healthy people whose nasopharyngeal was negative and matched in age and gender. Exclusion criteria included any healthy person who had a history of autoimmune disease, allergic reactions or was a pregnant woman.
Specimen collection and processing
The oropharyngeal swabs were taken and placed in a disposable viral sample tube with virus preservation solution. Specimens can be frozen and thawed up to five times for 24 hours at 2°C-8°C or three months at -70°C.
For virus inactivation, the water bath was preheated to 56°C, and the sealed package containing the specimen was sprayed with 75% ethanol in a biosafety cabinet for 30 minutes prior to placing it in the water bath. The specimen was gently mixed for 10 minutes to keep the collecting tube from floating.
An assay is carried out in the following manner. The qRT-PCR mix was made according to the instructions in Table 1. Two liters of internal control per test were transported to the negative control, positive control, and specimen for nucleic acid extraction.
Table 1. qRT-PCR mix preparation. N = n + 2 denotes the number of tests, with n denoting the number of samples to be tested and 2 denoting the negative and positive controls.
SARS-CoV-2 detection using multiplex PCR
SARS-CoV-2 is detected using a multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method that targets the virus's ORF1ab, E, and N genes using particular primers and fluorescent probes. Fluorescence intensity is used to detect virus nucleic acid in real-time. Internal controls are implemented to ensure no PCR inhibitors are present in the samples, preventing false-negative results (Chengdu, China-based Maccura Biotechnology Co., Ltd.).
PCR analysis of the specimens
In a PCR reaction tube containing qRT-PCR mix, 40 L of RNA templates (nucleic acid isolated from the negative control, positive control, and specimen) were added. The plate's lid was promptly fastened to avoid contamination.
Amplification through PCR (polymerase chain reaction): The negative control, positive control, and test specimen were all placed in the correct order, and the PCR reaction tube was inserted into the machine.
Deciding on a fluorescence route: The detection channels are FAM (Reporter: FAM, Quencher, None) and ROX (Reporter: ROX, Quencher, None); the internal control channels are HEX or VIC (Reporter, HEX\VIC, Quencher: None).
The reaction volume is 40 μl. Table 2 shows the cycling protocol. Once the first run was completed, the findings were kept. Set the baseline threshold level, start value, and end value for each channel manually: Set the start and end values to 3-15 and 5-20, respectively. The negative control (NG) should be higher than the fluorescence background. The NC's NG, FAM, ROX, and CY5 amplification curves should be horizontal or lower than the threshold level, depending on the fluorescence background. The "analyze" button was pressed, and the results were displayed on the report screen (Maccura Biotechnology Co., Ltd.).
Table 2. PCR amplification protocol
Detection of MMP-3, TIMP-2, and CRP using ELISA
Serum levels of MMP-9 (Catalogue No. SL 1157Hu), TIMP-1 (Catalogue No. SL 1711Hu), and CRP (Catalogue No. SL0535Hu) were determined using the Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), this ELISA kit uses Sandwich-ELISA as the method (SunLong Biotech Co., LTD).
Hematological and biochemical analysis
Fresh whole blood samples were used for WBC count. Hemoglobin concentration and platelets counting was performed using the D-Cell 60 DIGON Ltd (Europe/Hungary) as a fully automated haematology analyzing device.
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR): 1.5 mL of blood preserved in an EDTA vial was added to 0.5 mL of sodium citrate solution, and the diluted blood was mixed well and then carefully drawn into a Westergren tube, and then the tube was placed in a Westergren rack in a vertical position for 1 h. Afterward, the distance in millimeters from the bottom of the surface meniscus to the top of the sedimented red blood cells was read. The result was read in millimeters per h.
Serum specimens were used for glucose levels measurement using Glucose – Cobas c501/ Roche/Hitachi Cobas c systems as a fully automated device. It is an UV test using enzymatic reference method with hexokinase. Hexokinase catalyzes the phosphorylation of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate by ATP. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase oxidizes glucose-6-phosphate in the presence of NADP to gluconate-6-phosphate. No other carbohydrate is oxidized. The rate of NADPH formation during the reaction is directly proportional to the glucose concentration and is measured photometrically.
Body mass index (BMI) is a calculation of the relationship between weight and height, measuring the weight in kilograms divided by the height square in meters (kg/m). BMI is an indicator of body fatness. Studies show a link among body fat, BMI, and the health risk features; thus it is important detecting in BMI for evaluating the health risks and obesity [16].
SPSS version 24.0 software was used for the statistical analysis. Normality tests were conducted for data measurement where normal data was represented as mean and standard deviation [16], while a t-test was used for comparison between two groups to compare the differences in serum MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels between the two groups. Correlations between MMP-9 and TIMP-1 were estimated by Pearson correlation analysis. A two-sided p < 0.05 are considered statistically significant.
Level of MMP-9 in SARS-CoV-2 infection
The MMP-9 serum levels in the patients and control group are shown in Figure 1. The mean level of MMP-9 was 2810±1160 pg/ml in the patient group and 2110 ± 850 pg/ml in the control group, with non-significant differences between the two groups (p=0.002).
Figure 1. The mean level of MMP-9 (pg\ml) in COVID-19 patients (2810±1160 pg/ml) and the control group (2110±850 pg/ml) with non-significant differences between the two groups (p=0.002).
Level of TIMP-1 in SARS-CoV-2 infection
The mean level of TIMP-1 was 541.53 ± 201.42 pg/ml and 276.33 ± 67.26 pg/ml in the patients and controls, respectively. The variation was highly significant between these two groups (p ≤ 0.001), as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. The mean level of TIMP-1 (pg\ml) in COVID-19 patients (541.53±201.42 pg/ml) and control group (276.33±67.26 pg/ml) with highly significant variations between the two groups (p≤0.001).
Correlation of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in SARS-CoV-2 infection
Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated that serum levels of MMP-9 were significantly (p = 0.001) and positively correlated with serum TIMP-1(Figure 3).
Figure 3. Pearson correlation analysis of serum MMP-9 versus serum TIMP-1 (r = 0.424, p = 0.001).
Hematological and biochemical parameters in SARS-CoV-2 infection
Regarding CRP, the results showed a notable elevation in patients than the controls, with highly significant differences between the two groups (p < 0.001) (45.12 ± 10.11 pg/ ml and 2.5 ± 0.59 pg/ ml, respectively) as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4. The mean level of CRP (pg/ml) in COVID-19 patients (45.12 ± 10.11 pg/ml) and control group (2.5 ± 0.59 pg/ml) with highly significant variations between the two groups (p≤0.001).
Table 3 illustrates the hematological biochemical parameters examined in the laboratory. COVID-19 patients had a higher WBC count (12.11 ± 5.14) than the control group (5.75±1.67). The random blood sugar (RBS) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) values of patients were significantly higher than the controls. In contrast, no significant differences in hemoglobin (Hb), platelet number, or body mass index (BMI) were detected between the two groups.
Table 3. Hematological and biochemical parameters of COVID-19 patients and healthy groups. ** Highly significant=less than 0.01, NS: Non-significant.
The present study investigated MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels in serum during SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our study enrolled 58 adult hospitalized patients. Although the MMP-9 level was higher in patients, it did not change remarkably compared to the control group (p = 0.002). The concentration of MMP-9 in normal lung tissue is at the minimum level and starts to increase with various lung illnesses such as fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and asthma. Yet, the role of MMP-9 during lung inflammation is not well understood [17]. In addition, the MMP-9 gene is up-regulated, and the protein contributes to cytokine recruitment in lung tissue of COVID-19 patients [18]. Moreover, it is induced by WBCs like neutrophils and monocytes, which may be parallel to our findings of a notable increase in total patient's WBC count. MMP-9 production may be disease-stage related, as a recent study found that the release of MMP-9 during COVID-19 is not an early event in 18 patients of the WHO 3 subgroup compared to controls. All WHO subgroups had higher MMP-9 serum levels after a week of hospitalization compared to admission. Moreover, increased levels of MMP-9 were recorded after one month of admission in most of the patients [19]. MMP-9 levels may affect the progression of recovery from a disease. This study has some limitations. All the studied parameters were tested without making follow-up after patient admission, so no correlation between serum levels of studied biomarkers and the disease stage was assessed. Similarly, in 39 COVID-19 patients, an early increase of plasma MMP-9 was recorded, which also did not evaluate the correlation with the disease [20]. Another study on 175 patients reported a gradual increase of serum MMP-9 with the severity of COVID-19 [21]. These controversial levels of MMP-9s might depend on the sample type, whether serum or plasma. Therefore, higher levels of MMP-9 have been noted in sera samples as it is released during blood coagulation. Further studies with larger sample sizes and categorizing according to disease severity are required.
So far, the recognized four TIMP molecules (TIMP-1, -2, -3, and -4) were found to inhibit all known MMPs. TIMPs bind reversibly in a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio to the catalytic subunit of MMPs, consequently inhibiting their function. A member of the same β-coronavirus genus as SARS-CoV-2, murine hepatitis virus (MHV; m-β-CoV) was used in a recent study. It was demonstrated that during acute infection following MHV infection, TIMP-1 induction could serve as an antiviral host response to modulate MMP activities [22]. While TIMP-1 mRNA expression has been linked to viral virulence and load in earlier investigations [23]. In accordance with our study results, TIMP-1 is significantly increased in COVID-19 patients; this may add further information in understanding the role of TIMP-1 as its elevation could be part of a fundamental host defense mechanism against virus-induced metalloproteases [24]. MMPs substrate has expanded over time to include growth factors, chemokines, and hormones [25]. MMPs work on cytokines or chemokines that have been immobilized on ECM or cell surface. It was found that MMPs can release soluble effector molecules for successful inflammatory signaling like tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukine-1 (IL-1). In pulmonary infection, MMPs induce the various cytokine and chemokine signals by host immune cells [26-29].
Changes in other blood parameters were noticed as COVID-19 individuals showed an increased level of CRP, which is considered a critical measure that turns obviously during infection [30]. Moreover, an elevated count of white blood cells was recorded [31], which was consistent with the current findings. A recent study found patients with increased WBC levels have a higher risk of death [32]. Furthermore, the SARS coronavirus infiltrates pancreatic islets and kills them, resulting in acute hyperglycemia [33].
The elevation tendency of TIMP-1 in COVID‐19 patients may refer to its importance as an advantage in disease identification. Consequently, this may pave the way for adopting TIMP-1 as a useful biological marker in diagnosing COVID‐19.
Conceptualization: MKI; Investigation: MKI and LMR; Resources: YBQ; Writing Original Draft Preparation: MKI, LMR and YBQ; Data analysis: YBQ. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
[1] Ben Moftah M, Eswayah A. Intricate relationship between SARS-CoV-2–induced shedding and cytokine storm generation: A signaling inflammatory pathway augmenting COVID-19. Health Sciences Review. 2022; 100011.
[2] Ismael MK. Article Review: Toll-like Receptors and COVID-19. Inter J Res Appl Sci Biotech. 2022; 9(2):78-95.
[3] Wrapp D, Wang N, Corbett KS, Goldsmith JA, Hsieh CL, Abiona O, et al. Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation. Science. 2020; 367: 1260–1263.
[4] Hardy E, Patron CF. Targeting MMP-regulation of inflammation to increase metabolic tolerance to COVID-19 pathologies. A Hypothesis Biomol. 2021; 11:390.
[5] Patron CF, Kassiri Z, Leung D. Modulation of systemic metabolism by MMP-2: From MMP-2 deficiency in mice to MMP-2 deficiency in patients. Compr. Physiol. 2016; 6: 1935–1949.
[6] Hao W, Li M, Zhang Y, Zhang C, Xue Y. Expressions of MMP-12, TIMP-4, and neutrophil elastase in PBMCs and exhaled breath condensate in patients with COPD and their relationships with disease Severity and acute exacerbations. J Immunol Res. 2019; 2019: 1-10.
[7] Charzewski L, Krzyśko KA, Lesyng B. Structural characterization of inhibitory and non‑inhibitory MMP‑9–TIMP‑1 complexes and implications for regulatory mechanisms of MMP‑9. Scientific Reports. 2021;11:13376.
[8] Bradley LM, Douglass MF, Chatterjee D, Akira S, Baaten BJG. Matrix metalloprotease 9 mediates neutrophil migration into the airways in response to influenza virus-induced toll-like receptor signaling. PLOS Pathogens. 2012; 8(4): e1002641.
[9] Esa, SA, Rawy AM, El-Behissy MM, El-Bastawisy M. Study the level of sputum matrix metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitor metaloprotienase-1 in patients with interstitial lung diseases. Egypt J Chest Dis Tuberc. 2016; 65: 303–309.
[10] Allen JR, Ge1 L, Huang Y, Brauer R, Parimon T, Cassel S, et al. TIMP-1 promotes the immune response in influenza induced acute lung injury. Lung. 2018;196(6): 737–743.
[11] Rossano R, Larocca M, Macellaro M, Bilancia D, Riccio, P. Unveiling a hidden biomarker of inflammation and tumor progression: The 65 kDa isoform of MMP-9 new horizons for therapy. Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2022; 44: 105–116.
[12] Silva AM, Silva CI, Clemente M, Figueiredo JP, Pereira T, Gabriel A, et al. Evaluation of MMP-10 and TIMP-1 levels associated with Resveratrol supplementation. European Journal of Public Health. 2020; 30: 2.
[13] Savarin C, Bergmann CC, Hinton DR, Stohlman SA. MMP independent role of TIMP-1 at the blood brain barrier during viral encephalomyelitis. ASN Neuro. 2013; 5:5.
[14] Ries C. Cytokine functions of TIMP-1. Cell and Mol Life Sci. 2014; 71: 659–672.
[15] Solun B, Shoenfeld Y. Inhibition of metalloproteinases in therapy for severe lung injury due to COVID-19. Med Drug Discov. 2020; 7:100052.
[16] WHO 2021. Obesity and overweight. Accessed on July 28, 2022. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight.
[17] Atkinson JJ, Senior RM. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 in lung remodeling. Am. J. Respir. Cell. Mol. Biol. 2003; 28: 12–24.
[18] Hazra S, Chaudhuri AG, Tiwary BK, Chakrabarti N. Matrix metallopeptidase 9 as a host protein target of chloroquine and melatonin for immunoregulation in COVID-19: A network-based meta-analysis. Life Sci. 2020; 257: 118096.
[19] Gelzo M, Cacciapuoti S, Pinchera B, Rosa AD, Cernera G, Scialò F, et al. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) 3 and 9 as biomarkers of severity in COVID‑19 patients. Scientific Reports. 2022; 12:1212.
[20] Ueland T. Distinct and early increase in circulating MMP-9 in COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure. J. Infect 2020; 81:e41–e43.
[21] Abers MS, Delmonte OM, Ricotta EE, Fintzi J, Fink DL, Almeida de Jesus AA,et al. An immune-based biomarker signature is associated with mortality in COVID-19 patients. JCI Insight. 2021; 6: e144455.
[22] Sengupta S, Addya S, Biswas D, Banerjee P, Sarma JD. Matrix metalloproteinases and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases in murine β-coronavirus-induced neuroinflammation. Virology. 2022; 566: 122–135.
[23] Zhou J, Stohlman SA, Atkinson R, Hinton DR, Marten NW. Matrix metalloproteinase expression correlates with virulence following neurotropic mouse hepatitis virus infection. Virol. 2002; 76 (15): 7374–7384.
[24] Cui N, Hu M, Khalil, RA. Biochemical and biological attributes of matrix metalloproteinases. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2017; 147:1-73.
[25] Young D, Das N, Anowai A, Dufour A. Matrix metalloproteases as influencers of the cells' social media. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019; 16: 20. 6720954.
[26] Hussein SA, Ismael MK, Abdulmajeed NG. Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies in patients with tuberculosis. Iraqi J Sci. 2014; 55:360-366.
[27] Nasser HA, Ismael MK, Al. Halbosiy MF. The relationship between Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and TNF-α in cardiovascular disease patients. Iraqi J Sci. 2018; 59: 1836-1842.
[28] Al. Halbosiy MF, Ismael MK, Nasser HA. Correlation between Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and lipid profile in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Iraqi J Sci. 2019; 60(10): 2129-2135.
[29] Hafid ES, Ismael MK. Detection of serum levels of IL-17 and CCL-5 in a sample of Iraqi pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Iraqi J Sci. 2021; 62(9): 2887-2893.
[30] Ali N. Elevated level of C‐reactive protein may be an early marker to predict risk for severity of COVID‐19. letter to the editor. J Med Virol. 2020; 1–3.
[31] Husain-Syed F, Wilhelm J, Kassoumeh S, Birk HW, Herold S, Vada´sz I, et al. Acute kidney injury and urinary biomarkers in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease-2019. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2020; 35: 1271–1274.
[32] Zhu B, Feng X, Jiang C, Mi S, Yang L, Zhao Z, et al. Correlation between white blood cell count at admission and mortality in COVID-19 patients: a retrospective study. BMC Infect Dis. 2021; 21(574):1-5.
[33] Thomas S. the structure of the membrane protein of SARS-CoV-2 resembles the sugar transporter semi SWEET. Pathog Immun. 2020; 5(1): 342-363.


Josephine Bush-congratulations!!! She did it!!! Josephine Bush, is the first British Woman to complete the Amundsen Expedition in Norways Hardangervidda, known as the hardest ski race in the world! 100 km in only 50 hours and 55 mins pulling a 40kg pulk. We are so proud of you! This is what she had to say, "It's … Continue reading Josephine Bush-SHE DID IT!!!!


Winning in hockey takes more than just talent. It often means doing whatever it takes to win, whether that's playing when you're hurt or showing more hustle than the other team. This t-shirt is perfect for any hockey player and/or fan, as it features "Whatever It Takes" with a goalie mask.


text:
TaRhea Ray releases smooth debut single 'Goodbye'
Artist TaRhea Ray is ready to make her debut with a smooth new tune titled, 'Goodbye'. The neo-soul track embodies powerful vocals that are smooth but hit you hard in the soul that you feel every emotion. The harmonies ride the groovy beat effortlessly as it takes you off into a late night drive or a summer day drive. As the song fades in the end, you are now officially hooked so you play it again.
"It is about ending a relationship between two people where one person is not willing to put in the work to make it last and the other is fed up with trying to salvage a relationship that is plagued with trust issues and has a lack of compassion." She continues, "We added the honesty of country music blended with soulful vocals, heavy bass and a funky guitar." Her debut is produced by Luca F. Brown.
Feel good music at it's finest. Aside from being a solo artist, she is also a songwriter, and vocal arranger from South Central Los Angeles, CA.
"My goal in music is to reflect to connect, to inspire and empower men and women who felt like they were boxed and selved." She says.
Connect: https://linktr.ee/Tarhearaymusic
Post written by: Denise Sherod
Denise is a music reviewer for Reignland Magazine. In her sparetime she loves to do art, read books and watch animation movies.
MusicDaron. has released the smooth sounds of a track called "Around"
MusicAERBE has released a heartfelt song called "To Find My Heart"


text:
Ex-Im Bank Helps Small Businesses Think Big
Fritz-Pak Corp. – Mesquite, Texas
Since 1998, the Fritz-Pak Corporation has been locally manufacturing concrete admixtures and chemicals in Mesquite, Texas. As a sub-supplier of the construction industry, Fritz-Pak's line of over forty specialty products makes creating, handling, and placing high performance concrete easy and efficient.
As President and founder of the Fritz-Pak Corporation, Gabriel Ojeda worked hard to increase sales from less than $1 million to over $3 million by 2007. International sales were at a mere fifteen percent as domestic business boomed. However, the 2008 financial crisis and recession hit the construction industry hard, and as a company that relied heavily on new construction orders, Fritz-Pak's sales fell over thirty percent, forcing a round of layoffs the next year. After pouring years of his life into its success, Mr. Ojeda even considered selling the company.
In a last-ditch effort to save his business, Mr. Ojeda decided to explore exporting and promoting Fritz-Pak's products overseas to increase revenues. "Expanding internationally had always appealed to us," but figuring out how to do so "during the worst recession in our lifetime seemed like a pipe dream," says Mr. Ojeda.
After consulting with bankers at Comerica, Mr. Ojeda was put in touch with Ex-Im Bank. Using the Bank's short-term export credit insurance program, Fritz-Pak was able to insure their international receivables at minimal cost, affording them a valuable safety net when exporting abroad. In fact, over the past five years, Fritz-Pak has increased its international sales to over 35% of its business, with major trading partners in over 30 different countries including Brazil, India, Russia, and Taiwan. Its products were even used in construction of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
With Ex-Im Bank's help, Fritz-Pak Corporation remains an American manufacturer of the best concrete admixtures in the world, selling its goods as far north as Yellowknife, Canada and as far south as Wellington, New Zealand. "In an age where everything seems to be made some place else, we're thriving here in the USA," says Mr. Ojeda. "It is in no small part due to the services provided by Ex-Im Bank. "


I have discovered that everyone who has a dog refuses to let their dog go on their on property so they decide to walk them on late or they allow their dogs to roam freely around the neighborhood and to go freely on other's property to do what they have possible to do. Just becbecause they are under twenty pounds does not me when they go it does not ruin your lawn. Signs are needed all on the West bound side of Pinebrook ave.
Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter and Control will respond to complaints concerning residents that refuse to clean up after their animals and walking dogs without a leash. Please feel free to call the department directly at 516-785-5220.
In order to request signage be installed or removed a letter must be sent to The Office of the Town Attorney.
Nothing about this situation. The corner of Pinebrook ave and Parkside rd look like the area for everyone to take their dogs, it's really DISGUSTING.


text:
Click here to choose your tickets and get the best seats!
"Just your
run of the mill,
post-structuralist
cowgirl Americana…"
Crooked Creek presents Winona Wilde!
Thursday, May 17 at 7:00PM
Photo by Brandon Albert, Flare Magazine
"Over simple, well-worn chords, Wilde's voice sounds weary and wise, and yet still full of life…Her storytelling binds together personal experience and political ideas in relatable ways, the way only the best songwriting can."
– Peter Ellman, Exclaim
Crooked Creek Concert Association presents 2017 Kerrville NewFolk Songwriting Award winner Winona Wilde, who will perform at the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks, Harrison, Arkansas's historic Lyric Theater, on May 17 at 7:00PM, with special guest opener Fayetteville's Elizabeth Scott. Tickets are available in advance for $10; at the door, they will be $15.
Karl Magi recently profiled Winona Wilde for Spinditty, so we're going to borrow some quotes from his excellent article there. He shows her love for the Roots Music fans and culture: "If I had known all of these people and festivals existed when I started law school, I probably would have quit instead of suffering through it. The sense of community I have felt from the folkies is unlike anything on this earth. It has made me a better person."
It's not having gone to law school that makes people wonder most at her rise to prominence in the Americana scene—nor even her being Canadian, since that's "North Americana," at least—but the fact that she is a Canadian of Iraqi descent
Photo by Sim Al-Surraj
who has so embraced—and been embraced by—Western "Roots Music"/Americana and its fans.
Wilde (whose non-stage name is Noosa Al-Sarraj) says that music was a part of her life from her earliest days. "I do not come from a musical family, but opportunities for making music always came into my life at the right time. As a little tiny baby, I used to sing my mother's lullabies back to her, and as a toddler, I was really good at clapping back rhythms and freakishly repeating back entire verses from the Koran, so my mother suspected there was something at play there."
Her musical influences are wide-ranging. "I grew up on classical music. My faves were the moody, dense composers like Beethoven and Schumann. I spent hours every day alone with the piano, deciphering the language. To this day, I can still recognize a composer from just a few bars of music. Nobody generally cares when it happens, but it always feels like a little bit of a fist-pump moment."
"When I hit my teens I got all the way into older blues artists like Ray Charles and Nat King Cole and then started to experiment with the edgier stuff like Tool and Nine Inch Nails. I loved the melodic metal my younger brother Sim listened to, he got me into Opeth, Dream Theatre and stuff like that. The heaviness of my lyrical content might have something to do with that."
Magi writes: "Her transformation into a country/folk artist is something for which Noosa has an interesting explanation. She says, 'My parents both worked a ton so we had a nanny whom we affectionately called Nana. She may have had country music radio on all day, so my young brain had the country music of the 80's hammered into it without my even noticing. When I eventually heard John Prine and Loretta Lynn as an adult, all of this country music came pouring out of me.'"
Photo by Mary Matheson, BC Musician Magazine
Eleni Armenakis makes it clear in her review of the Wilnona Wilde album "Wasted Time" that as much as her music can reach the heights and depths of introspection and social commentary, her music is not one dimensional: "'Buy a Round' marks a change in the album, as Al-Sarraj laughs into a pure country number that fittingly rolls in and around itself. There's more of a folk sound to 'Black Forest Black Forest' before 'To The Corner' finds a balance between the two to quietly see out the album." Armenakis concludes, "Al-Sarraj knows what she wants to say and how she wants to say it. Despite the title, she's clearly not wasting any time."
"The best introduction to troubadour songwriter Winona Wilde's wry sensibilities is through her delivered-with-a-wink song, 'Chick Singer'…She sings with both exasperation and good humour, because, as we all know, sometimes the truth is so bleak, it's hilarious. The same autobiographical song also references the blank stares she gets from people surprised to see an Iraqi-Canadian woman singing country songs. Wilde, whose real name is Noosa Al-Sarraj, fell in love with country music thanks to a nanny she had as a kid. Her kickass songwriting abilities led to win an award at the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk competition this year—one of few Canadians to do so, and certainly the first of Iraqi descent."
– Sarah Boesveld, Flare Magazine, 2017-10-18
Winona Wilde will perform at the Roots Music Palace of the Ozarks, Harrison, Arkansas's historic Lyric Theater, on May 17 at 7:00PM,with special guest opener Fayetteville's Elizabeth Scott. Tickets are available in advance for $10; at the door, they will be $15.
Can you recall the first song you ever wrote?
From age 11-17, my subjects were mainly animals — for example, "Everything tastes like chicken when you're not around," a musical adaptation of Dr. Seuss's One Fish, Two Fish, and a mini-opera about a donkey who eats spaghetti. Although one early song I remember went something like "darkness into darkness" and had some complex chord changes and a heavy subject. I gave it to my teacher and I never got it back, so I am really curious about what was going on in that song. Perhaps she passed it along to a psychiatrist.
– Interview in BC Musician Magazine, 2015-11-07
Posted on April 26, 2018 May 28, 2018 Author WebmasterCategories Americana, Americana, Blues, Concert, FolkTags americana, archive, blues, country, crooked creek, current, folk, folk music, kerrville, music, shows
Previous Previous post: Sail On: The Beach Boys Tribute — Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 2pm — #LiveAtTheLyric!
Next Next post: 2nd Annual Summer Lip Sync Showdown! — Benefit for Ozark Rape Crisis Center — Saturday, June 1 at 7pm, but Come at 6:00! — #LiveAtTheLyric!
All Rights Reserved. Ozark Arts Council, 115 W. Rush Ave., Harrison, Arkansas 72601 – (870) 391-3504


On July 23, 2018, Ukrainian artist, activist, and FEMEN co-founder Oksana Shachko died in Paris. According to a brief obituary in The New York Times, the 31 year-old's death is being treated by French police as a suicide, pending further investigation. In a statement on their official website, Shachko's FEMEN compatriots wrote: "RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us." We salute Shacko for that fearlessness and that vulnerability, two powerful weapons of resistance in the face of injustice, and two qualities by which we will continue to be inspired. Rest in peace and in brilliance, Oksana Shachko.
Jacket and trousers Kenzo, shoes stylist's own.
The following interview, titled "Oksana Shachko: Counter-Religious Iconography," first appeared on 032c.com in October, 2016.
In 2013, feminist activist and artist Oksana Shachko fled her Ukrainian home, settling in Paris as political refugee. At that point, FEMEN, the group she helped found in 2008, was in an unusual predicament. Their praise in the style press and often bemused coverage by in the mainstream press suggested that the wider world treated FEMEN's protests flippantly. Yet their actions were taken very seriously in their native Kiev, where the group was hounded viciously by police, and elsewhere, their interventions in Minsk and at the Vatican having been forcefully suppressed by authorities. Shachko was accused of planning an attack on Putin and the head of the Russian Orthodox church – despite being part of a movement based on symbolic civil disobedience and a reclamation of the female body, not on terror. In the middle of the night, she packed her bags and moved to Paris, where she joined the French branch of the movement.
But Shachko's involvement in FEMEN did not last much longer, and in May 2014, she announced that she had left the group. Since then, she has thrown herself into painting, drawing on her childhood training in the art of religious icon-making. Shachko appears in this exclusive film and photoshoot, where she discusses her path so far.
Dress Marni, shoes Dries Van Noten.
OKSANA SHACHKO: I was born in the Soviet Union, in a town called Khmelnitskiy. Throughout my childhood, I loved to dance, sing and draw. From the age of eight, my parents sent me to study [religious] iconography. So from that age, I started to make these paintings professionally.
I was already painting churches at 10, and at 13, I was so religious that I was ready to leave this worldly life and go live in a monastery. But my parents stopped me, and this made me reflect on what faith is, and what religion is, for a human. I found my answer: atheism.
How did you come to create FEMEN?
We created FEMEN in 2008. After our protest against the elections in Russia, I was detained for two weeks. In the police department, I was blamed for everything and deported. From then on, I was denied entry to Russia, for life. We were arrested after every action in Ukraine but never were deported of course, because we were the citizens of the country. Yet our activism became physically impossible. In the end, we were accused of preparing a terrorist attack against Putin and the Patriarch Cyrill. They planted weapons, bombs, and also the portraits of these two beauties. Within one day, thanks to God – "thanks, God!" [laughs] – we managed to escape from Ukraine.
In 2013, you escaped to France.
I stopped my work with FEMEN when I came to France. Because FEMEN was not any more this small, revolutionary, aggressive, and courageous protest movement, as it was in Ukraine. Here in Paris it became empty and … It is hard for me to talk about it.
Now I am living in Paris. The first two years were hard for me: I was in a state of depression because I was doing nothing. Now, I have started to draw again, like I was eight years old again, but this time, with a new idea. Now my icons are no longer images of worship. They are a kind of protest. Now, they are counter-religious icons.
Does Paris feel like home?
Many people ask if I feel at home in Paris. I say it is only possible to feel at home at your mother's home, so for me, it is more important to feel myself free. In Paris I feel pretty good.
Jacket Loewe, tissue stylists own.
Я родилась в Советском Союзе в городе Хмельницкий.
Всё детство мне нравилось танцевать, петь и рисовать как и всем другим детям, но мои родители отправили меня в студию иконописи. Так, с восьми лет я начала заниматься иконографией профессионально.
В десять лет я уже расписывала церкви и монастыри, в тринадцать я стала настолько религиозным ребенком, что была готова пойти в монастырь и оставить эту мирскую жизнь. Но мои родители остановили меня и это дало почву для размышлений, что же такое вера и религия для человечества. В конце концов я пришла к ответу. И это был атеизм.
Мы создали FEMEN в 2008 году. После наших протестов против результатов выборов в России я была задержана на две недели. В полицейском участке меня обвинили и депортировали. С этого момента мне был запрещен въезд на территорию России навсегда. Нас аристовывали после каждой акции в Украине, но никогда не депортировали конечно же, ведь мы жители этой страны. Именно поэтому наш активизм стал физически невозможен. В конце концов мы были обвинены в террористической атаке против Путина и патриарха Кирилла. Они подложили нам оружие, бомбы и так же портреты этих двух красавцев. Через один день, слава Богу…ха-ха-ха слава Богу… нам удалось сбежать из Украины.
Я прекратила свое действие в FEMEN когда приехала во Францию и обнаружила его здесь. Потому что FEMEN больше не были тем самым протестным, революционным, маленьким, агрессивным, смелым движением каким оно было в Украине. Здесь, во Франции, оно стало пустым и… Ох, мне сложно об этом говорить… Сейчас я живу в Париже. Первые два года были для меня сложными, потому что я покинула FEMEN, поняв, что с ним произошло. Я была в депрессии потому что ни чем не занималась, но сейчас я снова стала рисовать, как в 8 лет, но уже с новой идеей. Теперь мои иконы не просто образы поклонения, они стали отображать идею протеста, сейчас они контр религиозные иконы.
Ты чувствуешь себя как дома в Париже?
Многие спрашивают меня чувствую ли я себя как дома в Париже. Могу сказать, что как дома ты можешь чувствовать себя только дома со своей мамой. Для меня намного важнее чувствовать себя свободной, так что в Париже все достаточно неплохо.
Jacket Ronald van der Kemp, trousers Carven, shoes Loewe.