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RUBIN ON TAX
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Late Filing Penalties Apply When Accountant Erroneously Fails to Hit "Send"
Taxpayers who file a return late are subject to penalty under Code §6651 "unless it is shown that such failure is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect." In United States v. Boyle, 469 U.S. 241 (1985), the U.S. Supreme Court adopted a bright line rule that if a taxpayer relies on a third party professional to prepare and file the return and the professional does not timely do so, that is not reasonable cause and the taxpayer can be penalized.
Boyle was adopted well before the era of electronic filing of tax returns. Indeed, Rev. Proc. 2011-25 provides that specified tax return preparers, including any paid professional planning to prepare more than 10 returns a year, MUST file returns through e-file software. Thus, more and more taxpayers are relying on professionals to file their returns electronically, instead of receiving a paper version and filing it themselves. Further, verifying that a professional return has been electronically filed is not a simple process, and not one typically undertaken by client taxpayers.
This change in circumstances resulted in taxpayers in a recent case arguing that Boyle should no longer apply. In the case, the taxpayer's return preparer set up an extension request on April 15 on its software, but failed to hit the "send" button and thus the extension request was not sent to the IRS. When the taxpayers later filed their return in reliance on the extension but without realizing the extension had not been filed, the IRS imposed a $120,607.27 late filing penalty.
The U.S. District Court ruled that the taxpayers could be penalized, and that Boyle is still good law. The key fact that persuaded the Court that the increased use of agents to file did not necessitate a change in the law is that in both Boyle and current law, a taxpayer is not REQUIRED to file electronically. Indeed, even a return prepared by a "specified tax return preparer" can still be paper-filed by the taxpayer – it is only if the preparer files the return that it must be submitted electronically. The Court noted that if the IRS ever requires taxpayers to submit the forms electronically, then a different result might occur.
However, even then, the Court indicated that if Boyle ceased to be good law, a taxpayer still has the obligation of "reasonable reliance" on the tax preparer to file in fulfilling its duty of "ordinary business care and prudence." This duty of "ordinary business care and prudence" is imposed under Treas. Regs. §301.6651(c)(1). It noted that:
"Irrespective of Boyle's applicability, it would never be reasonable to blindly take someone's word that he will timely file your taxes."
That is, even without Boyle, some efforts by the taxpayer to verify filing would likely be needed to demonstrate ordinary business care and prudence before the reasonable cause exception would apply.
Of course, this case is not just of interest to taxpayers, but to tax preparers and the professional liability insurance carriers since one would expect injured taxpayers to look to them for reimbursement of any tax penalties arising from the professional's failure to timely file.
Intress and Steffen v. U.S. (USDC MId. Distr. of Tenn. August 2, 2019)
Posted by Charles (Chuck) Rubin at 8:48 AM No comments:
Proposed Regulations on Cross-Border Cloud Transactions and other Digital Content Transactions
Determining the source and character of transactions involving the Internet or digital items for U.S. income tax purposes is not always easy, given the paucity of IRS guidance on the subject. Treas. Regs. §1.861-18 is the exception, which addresses how to characterize transactions involving "computer programs," but that is as far as it goes.
In an effort to bring clarity and guidance to this exploding area of commerce, the IRS has issued proposed regulations under Treas. Regs. §1.861-18 and introduced a new proposed Treas. Regs. §1.861-19.
The proposals under Treas. Regs. §1.861-18 expand the characterization guidance applicable to computer programs to all transfers of "digital content" including digital books, movies and music. The proposals there also undertake to provide a sourcing rule for title passage for digital content. Generally, the income from such transactions will be sourced to where the downloaded items are installed on the end-user's device that is used to access the content. Thus, it appears the location of the provider's servers and storage devices or base of operations is not relevant.
Proposed Treas. Regs. §1.801-19 takes on a different subject and provides rules for classifying a "cloud transaction" as either the provision of services or a lease of property, for income tax purposes. A cloud transaction is one through which a person obtains non-de minimis on-demand network access to computer hardware, digital content, or other similar resources. It includes what are commonly known as Saas, PaaS, and LaaS models, and other transactions relating to on-demand network access of technological resources, including access to streaming digital content and information in databases. It does not include a mere download or other electronic transfer of digital content for storage and use on the devices of the acquirer. The regulation provides a list of factors to be used in making the characterization.
Both of the proposed regulations provide useful examples.
While taxpayer's may quibble with the details, and perhaps question the source rule for downloaded digital content as the location where the content is installed on the acquirer's device, the Service's seeking to provide guidance by regulation in this area is to be applauded.
REG-130700-14
Posted by Charles (Chuck) Rubin at 2:58 PM No comments:
District Court Strikes Regulation Defining Educational Organization Under Code §170(b)(1)(A)(ii)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota ruled in favor of the Mayo Clinic and held that in determining whether an organization meets the definition of an educational organization under Code §170(b)(1)(A)(ii), the primary function test imposed by regulation is invalid.
FACTS: The Mayo Clinic sought to exclude debt-financed passive income from unrelated business income by qualifying as an organization described in Code §170(b)(1)(A)(ii). That provision describes an organization that is:
an educational organization which normally maintains a regular faculty and curriculum and normally has a regularly enrolled body of pupils or students in attendance at the place where its educational activities are regularly carried on.
The Government acknowledged that the Mayo Clinic "normally maintains a regular faculty and curriculum and normally has a regularly enrolled body of pupils or students in attendance at the place where its educational activities are regularly carried on." However, the Government argued that the Mayo Clinic was not an "educational organization" within the meaning of the statute since the Clinic did not meet the primary function and incidental activities requirements of Treas. Regs. §1.170A-9(c)(1). This regulation provides:
An educational organization is described in section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) if its primary function is the presentation of formal instruction and it normally maintains a regular faculty and curriculum and normally has a regularly enrolled body of pupils or students in attendance at the place where its educational activities are regularly carried on. The term includes institutions such as primary, secondary, preparatory, or high schools, and colleges and universities. It includes Federal, State, and other public-supported schools which otherwise come within the definition. It does not include organizations engaged in both educational and noneducational activities unless the latter are merely incidental to the educational activities. A recognized university which incidentally operates a museum or sponsors concerts is an educational organization within the meaning of section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii). However, the operation of a school by a museum does not necessarily qualify the museum as an educational organization within the meaning of this subparagraph. (emphasis added)
The District Court ruled that the primary function and incidental activities requirements imposed by the regulation were not a valid exercise of regulatory authority and were thus not valid requirements in determining what organizations are described in Code § 170(b)(1)(A)(ii).
Before overriding the regulation, the District Court first had to determine that it had authority to do so under the Chevron deference doctrine arising under Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984). The Court noted that the framing of the Chevron deference issue is critical to the result, and framed the issue as whether Code §170(b)(1)(A)(ii) is silent or ambiguous with respect to the primary-function and merely incidental requirements in the regulation. With that framing, the Court determined that the Government's regulation was not entitled to Chevron deference, and thus opened the door to an exaination whether the primary function and merely incidental requirements were a proper interpretation of the statute without giving substantial deference and advantage to the Government's purported interpetation.
The Court determined the Government's interpretation under the regulation as improper for various reasons. Principal among them is that Congress knew how to impose a primary function test if it wanted, as evidenced by Code § 170(b)(1)(A)(iii) which expressly imposed a principal purpose test for certain medical organizations seeking to be described therein. The Court noted that "principal" and "primary" were essentially the same for these requirements. By not writing such a requirement into the statute, the Court determined that Congress intended that no such requirement applied.
The "why" of the rejection of the primary function and merely incidental requirements is less important than the rejection itself. This rejection of the regulatory requirement will assist many organizations in meeting the requirements of Code §170(b)(1)(A)(ii). This will have relevance in determining the deductibility of contributions to such organizations, exclusion of debt-financed income from UBI, and the application of numerous other provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that involve organizations described in Code §170(b)(1)(A)(ii) (such as the exclusion of tuition payments to such educational organizations from taxable gifts under Code §2503).
Of course, the determination is that only of a District Court, and not a Circuit Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court. Thus, its precedential authority is limited, and may be overturned on appeal (or sustained, of course). Nonetheless, it may presently support reporting positions and litigation positions of taxpayers that are limited by the regulatory requirements invalidated by the Court.
Tax practitioners often deal with regulations which in their opinion exceed statutory authority or are unreasonable. In determining whether to challenge a regulation, Chevron deference is a major obstacle, and typically kills the challenge in its cradle. Any case that acknowledges Chevron deference as something that in the real world can be overcome under the right circumstances is always welcome in my book.
Mayo Clinic v. U.S., 124 AFTR 2d 2019-XXXX (DC MN) (8/6/2019)
IRS Sending Out Cryptocurrency Warning Letters
According to the IRS, cryptocurrency like Bitcoin is treated as property, not money. Notice 2014-21. Therefore, taxpayers who use it buy things or convert it to dollars are treated as having sold it, and have to recognize gain or loss based on what they receive when the dispose of it compared to what they paid for it.
In 2016, only 802 individual income tax returns reported cryptocurrency transactions out of the 132 million filed electronically. The IRS is clearly concerned about a lack of knowledge and/or intentional lack of compliance in this area. Late last month, it announced it is sending 10,000 warning letters to taxpayers it suspects of having owned cryptocurrency and not reporting.
The letters are of three variations, Letter 6173, 6174, and 6174-A. The 6173 will require a response from the taxpayer - either the filing of returns (delinquent or amended) reporting cryptocurrency transactions, or providing a statement to the IRS that he or she has fully complied with such reporting. Taxpayers are warned that if they ignore the letter, they may be subject to examination activity. The other two forms do not require a specific response, but warn about potential enforcement activity in the future. Taxpayers who receive the letter will likely have more difficulty in asserting an "ignorance" defense if future penalties for cryptocurrency transactions are ever imposed on them.
IR-2019-132, July 26, 2019
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Q: Player:GetAccountId() is passed a table argument I've been trying to use
local function TestFunction(event, player, command)
    local accountId = Player:GetAccountId()
end

whichs 2nd line was copied straight from the ElunaLua wiki.
On execcution I received the error
calling 'GetAccountName' on bad self (bad argument : Player expected, got table)

I suspected the "Player" to be a global argument, wondering how it can be a table and how to use said table?

A: "Player" is actually a global table that holds the functions you can use on a Player type variable.
So that player has all functions in "Player" table.
This is why doing Player:GetAccountId() caused a bit of a different error than something like Player variable not existing.
To make it work, i used "player:GetAccountId()" instead of a capital P. This passes the method the variable named "player".

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
ADAPTIVE SAMPLING FOR REAL-TIME CONTROL BASED ON SAMPLING URGENCY
P.C.Y. Chen,∗ L. Qian,∗ and A.N. Poo∗
[1] N.C. Audsley, A. Burns, R.I. Davis, K.W. Tindell, & A.J.Wellings, Fixed priority pre-emptive scheduling: An historicalperspective, Real-Time Systems, 8 (2/3), 1995, 173–198.
[2] P.C.Y. Chen & W.M. Wonham, Real-time supervisory controlof a processor for non-preemptive execution of periodic tasks,Real-Time Systems, 23 (3), 2002, 183–208.
[3] G.N. Frederickson, Scheduling unit-time tasks with integerrelease times and deadlines, Information Processing Letters,6(4), 1983, 171–173.
[4] M.R. Garey, D.S. Johnson, B.B. Simons, & R.E. Tarjan,Scheduling unit-time tasks with arbitrary release times anddeadlines, SIAM Journal of Computing, 10(2), 1981, 256–259.
[5] K. Jeffay, D.F. Stanat, & C.U. Martel, On non-preemptivescheduling of periodic and sporadic tasks, Proc. 1991 IEEEReal-Time Systems Symposium, San Antonio, Texas, December1991, 129–139.
[6] C.L. Liu & J.W. Layland, Scheduling algorithms for multi-programming in a hard-real-time environment, Journal of theACM, 20(1), 1973, 46–61.
[7] X. Yuan, M.C. Saksena, & A.K. Agrawala, A decompositionapproach to non-preemptive real-time scheduling, Real-TimeSystems, 6(1), 1994, 7–35.
[8] M. Ryu, S. Hong, & M. Saksena, Streamlining realtime con-troller design: From performance specifications to end-to-endtiming constraints, Proc. Real-Time Applications and Tech-nology Symposium, Montreal, Canada, June 1997.
[9] R. Rajkumar, C. Lee, J. Lehoczky, & D. Siewiorek, A resourceallocation model for QoS management, Proc. IEEE Real-Time Systems Symposium, San Francisco, California, December1997, 3–5.
[10] P. Ramanathan, Graceful degradation in real-time controlapplications using (m,k)-firm guarante, Proc. IEEE Fault-Tolerant Computing Symposium, Seattle, USA, 1997.
[11] T.F. Abdelzaher, E.M. Atkins, & K.G. Shin, QoS negotiation inreal-time systems and its application to automatic flight control,Proc. Real-Time Applications and Technology Symposium,Montreal, Canada, 1997.
[12] G. Buttazzo, G. Lipari, & L. Abeni, Elastic task model foradaptive rate control, Proc. 19th IEEE Real-Time SystemsSymposium, Madrid, Spain, 2–4 December 1998.
[13] A. Cervin & J. Eker, Feedback scheduling of control tasks,Proc. 39th IEEE Conf. on Decision and Control, Sydney, 2000.
[14] D. Seto, J.P. Lehoczky, L. Sha, & K.G. Shin, Trade-off analysisof real-time control performance and schedulability, Real-TimeSystems, 21, 2001, 199–217.
[15] K. Shin & C. Meissner, Adaptation and graceful degradationof control system performance by task reallocation and periodadjustment, Proc. 11th Euromicro Conf. on Real-Time System,York, England, 1999.
[16] K.J. ˚Astr¨om & B. Wittenmark, Computer controlled systems(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1985).
[17] D. Henriksson & A. Cervin, TrueTime 1.13 – Referencemanual. Technical report ISRN LUTFD2/TFRT–7605–SE,Department of Automatic Control, Lund Institute of Tech-nology, Lund, Sweden, October 2003, available on-line at:http://www.control.lth.se/∼dan/truetime/.
[18] D. Henriksson, A. Cervin, & K. ˚Arz´en, TrueTime: Real-timecontrol system simulation with MATLAB/SIMULINK, Proc.Nordic MATLAB Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, October2003.
[19] L. Qian, P.C.Y. Chen, & A.N. Poo, Dynamical scheduling ofdigital control systems, Proc. 2003 IEEE International Conf.on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Hyatt Regency Hotel,Washington, D.C., USA, October 2003, 5–8.
[20] L. Qian, Dynamic scheduling of real-time control systems, Mas-ter's Degree Thesis, Department of Mechanical Engineering,National University of Singapore, Singapore, 2004.
DOI: 10.2316/Journal.201.2009.2.201-1806
From Journal (201) Mechatronic Systems and Control (formerly Control and Intelligent Systems) - 2009

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Jose Luis Fernandez, 20, was arrested Oct. 20 for an Oct. 8 residential burglary on Hamilton Avenue. Photo courtesy of the Palo Alto Police Department.
Jose Luis Fernandez, a suspect in an Oct. 8 residential burglary in the 1100 block of Hamilton Avenue, was arrested Wednesday (Oct. 20), according to a press release from the Palo Alto Police Department.
Fernandez, 20, a Stanford University employee, was arrested without incident with assistance from the Stanford Department of Public Safety and the Santa Clara County board of probation, police Lt. Sandra Brown stated in a press release. Fernandez is currently on probation for a previous burglary.
The Oct. 8 burglary took place at 6 a.m. while the home's occupants slept. The suspect entered via a window and stole several items as well as the family vehicle, which was later recovered in Menlo Park.
Fernandez was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose on counts of burglary, vehicle theft and probation hold.


For centuries, the use of hemp has been witnessed, and only positive and excellent results have been given out. Mostly the use of hemp was for textile and paper manufacturing companies as well as in building materials company. But as time flew and more research was done on the cannabis plant, its use and application not only shifted from the traditional one to the most beneficial in the health sector. There are a lot of hemp-derived good products in the markets today and which can be accessed by individuals in the shortest and convenient times. The benefits of organic hemp are not only for health purposes but also nutritional. The products that come from hemp range from hand creams, muscle balms, and hemp supplements. All these are meant to give your body the care it deserves. The importance of hemp in our lives today cannot be underrated. But what are the nutritional values of hemp as a supplement? This is one of the significant questions that are being asked by most individuals who are seeking to use supplements as a product of hemp.
The nutritional value of the hemp plant is actually from its seeds. This can be news to many people, but it is the truth. The hemp supplement can be made from any part of the plant, but the seeds have the most nutritional value. The seeds can either be eaten in their natural state after seasoning or can be grounded and manufactured as organic cbd supplements. As much as it is a product of cannabis sativa plant, taking hemp as a nutritional supplement will never get you high. This is because the compounds responsible and which gets you high are actually in the leaves but not in the seeds. The cannabinoids that are contained in the hemp plant provides a variety of health benefits that include the reduction of inflammations as well as calming effects.
When the hemp supplements are eaten, they give more nourishment for a healthy endocannabinoid system in our bodies and hence helps regulate homeostasis. The hemp supplements also contain fats and amino acids that are crucial in proper signaling and improve the receptors that help in memory, immune function, anxiety, and weight balance and pain control. The supplements made from hemp seeds are much higher in protein, fiber, healthy fatty acids and other lots of vitamins and minerals that are essential for the proper functioning of our bodies. For the vegans and who are in need of the right amount of protein for their bodies, there is good news when you start using the hemp supplements. The help supplements contain all that essential amino acids and which makes it very ideal component to add to your diet. To learn more click this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin.


A dying Pulitzer Prize nominated, pseudo-famous, alcoholic novelist, Jonathan "Jack" McVoy, collaborates with his nurse, Jane Powers, from his bedside to complete his last book. Spoon Girl tells the troubles of a struggling writer who uses his new novel of the same name to work through his issues of lost love.
This was a unique book with complex likeable characters. Not a quick I know the ending writing but one you have to finish and can't wait to fit all the pieces together. A enjoyable read and one I will add to my library.
It's the kind of book that will stay with you for days as you wonder about what it says about human nature, society, and the future of society. A quiet, sorrowful, deeply moving exploration of the powers of empathy and the obligations of love. Not only do the characters develop but the author also develops as descriptions, sceneries and environments become more descriptive and exact. Definitely worth reading and re-reading.
EJ Eisman has been writing since his teens and draws heavily from his own experiences and the storytelling qualities handed down from his family. In his spare time, Eisman is also a musician, artist, playwright, actor and filmmaker.
He lives in the green rolling hills of Reading, Pa., with his gray long hair cat named Audrey (Hepburn).


Recent professional studies haveæ demonstrated that individual facial bones shift, reduce, or enlarge with age.
Other procedures may be performed with chin surgery depending on the patient needs. For example: liposuction, nose reshaping, facelift. For further information consult our professionals.
In order to reshape or reduce the bone, creating a harmonic appearance, the surgeon works in the area with appropriate electrical instruments, carefully chosen. The incision is sutured and stitched, and thenæ a tape is applied in the chin area.
Is possible experience considerable swelling or discoloration in the treated area, which diminish in several weeks. The stitches are typically removed seven days after the procedure.
It is recommendable to follow post-operative instruction list to help reduce the risk of complications. There may be some pain, which can be managed with oral medications. The surgeon may have recommendations to reduce swelling, such as elevating your head.
Normal activities can be resumed typically within seven days.
What can be expected from a chin implants surgery?
The chin and the nose are the two most important factors in the face profile. They both gives the balance and the symmetry. Due to this, usually a Rinoplasty and a chin implant procedure are performed at the same time. Result of them is combined is the harmonization of the face giving it a more balanced look.
What can not be expected from a mentoplasty?
To solve problems of lower mandible retracted, or the fact of being too small (retrognathism or micrognathia).


Karen is no stranger to winning a National Championship. She has won in CX and MTB before and medaled on the road as well. Karen had a perfect race, stuck to the plan and rode her own race. Karen also had a great build up & preparation for this race throughout the whole. Definitely one of her main goals this CX season and she was ready to execute. We arrived early to Louisville and we had plenty of time to get comfortable with the course layout and equipment prep, so you can say she had the course dialed. On race day conditions were challenging, but with smooth bike changes and 100% focus Karen dominated the race from start to finish.
Our FinKraft Team is super proud of Karen taking home the Stars & Stripes.
February 6, 2019 in Photos.


text:
Clinical advice you can trust
Imaging and Diagnostic Instruments
Ocular Disease
Ophthalmic Product Development
Surgical Education
Therapeutics/External Disease
Review Of Ophthalmology Online
Retina Online
By Christopher Kent, Senior Editor
Treating Uveitis, 2021: The State of the Art
Our understanding of this disease and tools for managing it continue to evolve. Clinicians offer an update.
Like many ophthalmic problems, uveitis can be a challenge for clinicians. It has numerous possible etiologies that require different treatment approaches, and every patient is unique; there's currently no way to be sure how the patient seated in front of you will react to a given treatment. The practical result is that addressing uveitis requires a lot of trial and error, ruling out possible causes to avoid inappropriate treatment, and then working your way through a series of options to find the right treatment—or combination of treatments—that will bring your patient relief and preserve vision.
Here, surgeons with extensive experience managing these patients offer their advice.
Ruling Out Infection
Surgeons agree that the first step in addressing uveitis is determining the cause of the problem. "One reason that managing uveitis is challenging is that up to half of the cases are idiopathic," notes Priya Janardhana, MD, director of the uveitis service and an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. "However, we know that uveitis can be caused by autoimmune disease or infectious disease, so it's important to test patients for these. It's especially important to rule out infectious causes, because if there's an infection, we need to treat that before putting a patient on immunosuppressive medications.
"In particular, we have to order tests to rule out sarcoidosis, tuberculosis and syphilis—the 'masqueraders of the eye'—in every patient," she says. "I order syphilis testing, both treponemal and nontreponemal testing; quantiferon—PPD is OK—to rule out TB; sarcoidosis labs, both ACE and lysozyme; and a chest X-ray. Then, I order a number of panels to look for autoimmune inflammatory markers. Which specific ones I order will depend on whether the uveitis is anterior, posterior or panuveitis." Dr. Janardhana adds that it's OK to start the patient on topical steroid drops while waiting for the lab results to come in.
Left: A 43-year-old female diagnosed with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, pretreatment. Right: After tapering a course of oral prednisone as a bridge to treatment with monthly Remicade infusions and weekly methotrexate. Image courtesy of Christopher R. Henry, MD.
Pauline T. Merrill, MD, a partner at Illinois Retina Associates and an associate professor of ophthalmology at Rush University in Chicago, agrees that the most important thing a clinician should do after discovering uveitis is make 100-percent certain that the uveitis is noninfectious. "This requires a lab workup," she says. "There's no way anyone can be certain whether or not the uveitis is infectious just by looking. As a rule of thumb, you should assume it could be syphilis or TB until proven otherwise."
Dr. Merrill notes that, in some cases, you may be able to identify viral uveitis via a thorough exam. "Always do a complete eye exam before you start thinking about treatment, and be sure to consider viral uveitis," she says. "A mild iritis in a patient with a history of herpetic infection might respond to topical treatment; but only by dilating and doing a full exam can you make sure that you're not missing retinitis that could blind the patient if not treated promptly. Clinical signs can be fairly characteristic for some viral presentations such as acute retinal necrosis, but I still often confirm that with PCR testing—in addition to testing for syphilis, of course."
Dr. Merrill adds that another masquerader you need to consider is intraocular lymphoma, particularly in older patients. "Intraocular lymphoma is rare, but it's important to rule it out as a cause of vitritis in patients over 50," she explains.
"The point," she says, "is that although most uveitis won't turn out to be infectious or intraocular lymphoma, the few patients that do have these conditions are the patients who may go blind or worse without proper treatment. That's why you should always consider the worst possible scenario before deciding how to proceed."
Treating with Topical Steroids
"Once you're sure you're dealing with a noninfectious process, your treatment paradigm depends on three things," says Christopher R. Henry, MD, a fellowship-trained vitreoretinal surgeon and uveitis specialist who practices at Retina Consultants of Texas, and a clinical assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Houston Methodist Institute for Academic Medicine. "First is chronicity: Has this been a chronic process or an acute process? Second is severity. Is this vision-threatening, or not too severe? Third is bilaterality: Is this a one-eye or two-eye process? If it's mild, isolated acute uveitis, you can often manage that with topical or local therapy. If it's chronic, severe, bilateral uveitis you'll often have to resort to systemic therapy."
"I typically start with topical steroids while I'm waiting for the lab results," says Dr. Merrill. "This does a couple of things. First, it may help treat whatever anterior component of the uveitis is present. Durezol (difluprednate ophthalmic emulsion) can also penetrate posteriorly. Second, how the patient's IOP reacts may give you an idea of whether the patient is a steroid responder. If the pressure goes through the roof on prednisolone four times a day for a few weeks, you'll think twice before giving that patient a steroid injection."
Managing infectious Forms of uveitis
Christopher R. Henry, MD, a fellowship-trained vitreoretinal surgeon and uveitis specialist who practices at Retina Consultants of Texas, says the mainstays of treatment for infectious uveitis haven't changed. "We direct the treatment based on the infectious organism," he says. "If it's syphilis, the patient gets IV penicillin; if it's herpes or shingles, they get valacyclovir; and so on. You verify the infection with either systemic lab serology or—sometimes—direct ocular cultures. Then you tailor your treatment to the organism."
"If the uveitis is infectious, whether viral, bacterial or fungal, we treat with the appropriate antiviral, antibacterial or antifungal medication," says Priya Janardhana, MD, director of the uveitis service and an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. "However, even after treating with the appropriate medication you'll often still have inflammation that needs to be addressed. If there's still a lot of inflammation after 48 hours, I start the patient on oral prednisone—as long as there's good coverage with an antibiotic or antiviral. This is a balancing act; we don't want to encourage the infection by suppressing the immune system, but the body's immune system is creating all of this inflammation with its immune cells trying to fight the infection, and that's what's actually causing the damage. So we use prednisone to control that aspect of the process while the antibiotic or antiviral is controlling the infection."
"Some of the more interesting things on the horizon for infectious uveitis are in the area of diagnostics," notes Dr. Henry. "Right now it's pretty easy to run multiplex PCR to detect viruses like herpes, shingles and cytomegalovirus. But bacterial and fungal cultures traditionally have been done using standard culture plates. It's currently possible to get bacterial and fungal PCR sequencing through labs such as the University of Washington, but it can be a difficult test to order, and there can be a several-week timeframe to obtain results. In the not-too-distant future, we hope to have more easily accessible PCR tests that can do pan-bacterial and pan-fungal testing, in addition to pan-viral testing."
Once infection has been ruled out, Dr. Janardhana also starts the patient on steroids. She explains that her protocol—particularly choosing oral steroids vs. topical drops—is based on numerous factors. "If I only find anterior involvement, or anterior and intermediate involvement, I typically start the patient on just a topical steroid drop such as prednisolone, plus a cycloplegic drop," she says. "Durezol is a really good medication for anterior and intermediate uveitis. It has very good penetration to the posterior part of the eye. So, for patients who have contraindications to systemic steroids, such as a brittle diabetic patient, this would be a good option. However, it's important to monitor intraocular pressure carefully and warn patients of the risk of cataract formation with long-term use."
Steroids Into the Eye
If topical drops are insufficient, most surgeons move on to either systemic steroid treatment or steroid injections into the eye. The latter can be done directly, or via an implant that will deliver a steroid slowly over an extended period.
Dr. Merrill says that what she does after steroid drops depends on the situation. "If the patient just has mild anterior uveitis, drops might be all the patient needs," she explains. "In that case, you treat intensively at first and then taper slowly. However, a lot of patients don't improve significantly with topical steroids in a short period of time, or they have more posterior involvement. Those patients will benefit from either local injections or systemic treatment."
Dr. Janardhana explains that there are several situations in which she might offer steroid injections into the eye. "I may offer the option of a short- or long-acting periocular or intravitreal steroid injection to a patient with unilateral noninfectious uveitis who hasn't been on oral steroids," she says. "However, I wouldn't inject Ozurdex or Triesence into the eye without knowing first whether the patient is a steroid responder, so before I do an injection I always start the patient on topical steroid drops, like prednisolone or Durezol. I've seen patients receive an Ozurdex injection without having used topical drops first, and then develop steroid-induced ocular hypertension, and in extreme cases need glaucoma surgery.
"Also," she adds, "if a patient is taking oral steroids, depending on the type of inflammation and uveitis the patient has, I watch to see if the inflammation comes back as I'm tapering. If it does, I tell the patient that we have to think about systemic therapy, or potentially a steroid injection into the eye."
Dr. Merrill offers an overview of the steroid-eluting implants. "Starting in 2005 we had the Retisert fluocinolone surgical implant," she says. "Today we have the Yutiq fluocinolone injectable implant and the Ozurdex dexamethasone implant. Retisert is still useful in some cases, but the patient has about a 30-percent chance of needing glaucoma surgery after a Retisert implant. The Yutiq implant releases fluocinolone at a significantly lower rate, which translates to less risk for the patient; the risk of needing glaucoma surgery at three years is around 5 percent with Yutiq. Of course, the flip side is that it's not as strong, so patients may continue to need other treatments as well, but hopefully with fewer severe flare-ups of the inflammation."
Chronic birdshot chorioretinitis. Left: Optos color photo showing birdshot spots and vascular sheathing. Right: Fluorescein angiogram showing CME and vasculitis. Shadows of Retisert struts are faintly visible superonasally and inferotemporally. Image courtesy of Pauline T. Merrill, MD.
Of the implant options, Dr. Janardhana says she's used Ozurdex the most. "Ozurdex is great for patients who, for various reasons, might not want to start immunosuppressive therapy, or might have contraindications to doing so," she explains. "In my experience, the benefits of Ozurdex typically last three to six months, depending on the patient. I use it in patients with noninfectious uveitis who otherwise can't tolerate systemic therapy. I also use it as a bridge medication to help a patient with chronic uveitis who's starting systemic immunosuppressive therapy, because the systemic immunosuppressive therapy can take months to kick in. The injection helps get them through that initial period."
Dr. Henry says he also tends to use Ozurdex more often than the other options. "Sub-Tenon's Kenalog injections usually last a bit longer—six to 12 months," he notes. "I use this approach if it's worked for the patient in the past, or if I want a longer duration of action than I get with Ozurdex. Yutiq can last up to two and a half years; I typically reserve it for patients who've responded well to several Ozurdex injections. Yutiq may not be as potent as Ozurdex, but it can evoke a longer response without the need for so many injections. Retisert, the surgical implant, can last up to five years. Some doctors also use intravitreal Triesence."
Retisert, appears to have become less popular with the advent of the newer, nonsurgical options. "For the right patient, Retisert can still be an excellent choice, although I don't do very many of them," Dr. Henry notes. "The issues with Retisert are, first, that it can be difficult to get insurance to approve it because it's so expensive; and second, the patient is virtually guaranteed to end up with a cataract—assuming they haven't already had cataract surgery—and very likely to develop glaucoma. That means the patient has to be prepared for possibly needing both cataract and glaucoma surgery in the future. So if you go with Retisert, you're going with what I call the 'bionic eye' approach [treatment options that may cause changes inside the eye]."
Clinical Trial Findings
Clinical trial data has shed some light on the comparative risks and benefits of the options. "The POINT study from the MUST clinical trial group compared three current options for treating macular edema due to uveitis," says Dr. Merrill. "It was a six-month study comparing sub-Tenon's triamcinolone (Kenalog), intravitreal triamcinolone (Triesence), and an intravitreal dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex). The data suggests that both intravitreal treatments controlled the macular edema faster, but the sub-Tenon's injection started to catch up by six months.
"The POINT trial found that Ozurdex may have some advantages over periocular or sub-Tenon's injections in terms of treating uveitic macular edema," Dr. Henry notes. "I think this data has pushed some uveitis specialists more toward using Ozurdex and perhaps slightly away from peri-ocular steroid injections."
Dr. Merrill adds that another key finding was that there was less IOP elevation in the sub-Tenon's group than in the two intravitreal groups. "So, if you're not worried about your patient's IOP and you want a fast response, Triesence or Ozurdex are great approaches," she says. "If you're more concerned about a pressure increase and have more time, the sub-Tenon's injection may still be a reasonable option."
Dr. Merrill says she doesn't believe implants will ever totally replace simple injections. "There are some situations where you don't want to do an implant, such as in a patient who is aphakic or has a capsular tear," she explains. "The implant could end up in the anterior chamber and cause corneal edema. In that case a triamcinolone injection may be preferable. It may be a shorter-term treatment, but you have to weigh the risks and benefits of each option."
Systemic Steroids
Oral steroids—sometimes with the eventual addition of an immunomodulating drug—are another approach many patients require. Dr. Merrill says that if a patient has a bilateral panuveitis, she'll usually think about systemic options. "We want something that will treat both eyes," she explains. "Also, if it's pretty severe, the treatment will probably be longer-term, making systemic treatment helpful. The initial treatment would be oral steroids, usually 60 mg per day until the eye is quiet, but for no more than a month. After that, I taper down slowly over the following months to 7.5 mg per day or less.
"Meanwhile, as soon as I start the patient on oral steroids, I talk to them about starting a steroid-sparing immunosuppressant such as methotrexate, mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept), or adalimumab (Humira). The idea is to achieve quick control with steroids while starting something that will be better tolerated over the long term."
In terms of contraindications for oral steroids, Dr. Merrill says you want to carefully consider the systemic side effects. "For instance, if the patient is diabetic, we work closely with the patient's primary physician to monitor the patient's blood sugar," she says. "And, we talk with the patient about all of the systemic side effects that can occur, from short-term mood changes, sleeplessness and weight gain, to longer-term effects ranging from changes in blood pressure to osteoporosis. Fortunately, most people can tolerate steroids in the short term, which is all you should use them for in any case."
"If the patient has intermediate uveitis, panuveitis or posterior uveitis with retinal involvement—especially if it's bilateral—I start the patient on oral prednisone," says Dr. Janardhana. "I typically start with 1 mg per kg, which for most patients ends up being 60 mg. Then I do a taper of about 10 mg per week. If the patient has a relative contraindication to oral prednisone, such as being diabetic or having severe cardiomyopathy, I always correspond with the endocrinologist, cardiologist or primary care doctor prior to starting the patient on oral prednisone to make sure it's safe."
Dr. Henry notes that sometimes systemic and local therapy need to be combined. "It depends, among other things, on the anatomic location of the uveitis," he explains. "If the patient has isolated anterior uveitis, we can typically quiet that down with topical drops and dilation drops. But if someone has a serious intermediate uveitis, posterior uveitis or panuveitis, that patient will probably need systemic therapy—corticosteroids, with or without a bridge to longer-term immune suppression—although a few of them can be managed with local steroid injections. Many of those patients will need topical drops, too."
"Every patient with uveitis is unique," he adds. "You have to tailor your treatment to their disease and their personal preferences for management. When a patient has chronic, noninfectious severe uveitis, I frequently discuss whether they want to do the systemic therapy approach, or what I call the 'bionic eye' approach. In most cases, if someone has autoimmune, bilateral severe disease, I'll direct them toward systemic therapy. However, some patients are just not interested in systemic therapy; they may choose to undergo chronic steroid injection or local therapy. It's my job to make sure those patients are aware that they're at risk for cataract and glaucoma. They may end up with an IOL and a tube shunt, and they have to understand that."
Antimetabolites
Patients can't remain on high-dose systemic steroids indefinitely, so if tapering leads to a resumption of the inflammation, surgeons frequently add an antimetabolite or biologic.
"Most patients with chronic, vision-threatening intermediate uveitis, posterior uveitis or panuveitis will do best if you get them over to steroid-sparing therapy," notes Dr. Henry. "In cases where someone has had an ongoing uveitis and the process appears to be a long-term threat to their vision, I'll typically start with a course of oral steroids first. If it's severe disease, I'll prescribe oral prednisone, as high as 60 mg/day, for two weeks. After two weeks I'll taper by 5 mg per week over an eight-to-10-week period. If it's chronic disease, I'll transition to longer-term immune suppression during that time."
Dr. Janardhana explains that she considers moving to other options when a patient is being weaned off of oral steroid therapy and the disease begins to reactivate. "Typically we can keep a patient on prednisone up to 10 mg/day after tapering," she notes. "But if the patient needs more than that to keep the eye quiet, we have to try something else. That might mean a series of short-term peri-ocular or intravitreal steroid injections, or a longer-lasting injection such as Ozurdex or Yutiq, or systemic immunosuppressive therapy. The choice of therapy often depends on chronicity, bilaterality, duration, contraindications to medications, and whether there's an associated systemic disease. I prefer systemic immunosuppressive therapy for patients who have chronic noninfectious uveitis—
especially if it's bilateral, and of course for those who have an associated systemic disease.
"I typically start the patient on an antimetabolite, either methotrexate (dose ranges from 7.5 to 25 mg, oral, intramuscular or subcutaneously, weekly) or mycophenolate mofetil, a.k.a. CellCept (dose range 750 to 1,500 mg by mouth twice a day)," Dr. Janardhana continues. Common side effects of methotrexate are nausea, vomiting and fatigue; more severe side effects include liver toxicity, cytopenia and even kidney dysfunction in high doses. Hence, methotrexate isn't a good choice for patients who drink alcohol, because liver toxicity can occur. Methotrexate might be OK for patients who only drink alcohol once in a while, but if they drink alcohol more than a few times a month I give them mycophenolate mofetil. CellCept can cause similar side effects, but it's less likely to cause liver toxicity, so it's OK to use in patients who drink alcohol. Also, it's important to give folate with methotrexate to minimize any gastrointestinal side effects. And, it's important to let patients know that with time, side effects such as nausea, vomiting and fatigue should decrease.
Coming Soon? A Suprachoroidal Steroid injection
Another approach to getting a steroid into the eye is injecting it into the suprachoroidal space. Surgeons note that this has some potential advantages over the other options.
"The basic science data suggests that the steroid concentrates in the suprachoroidal space and the adjacent retina and choroid, with very little getting into the anterior chamber or angle," explains Christopher R. Henry, MD, a fellowship-trained vitreoretinal surgeon and uveitis specialist who practices at Retina Consultants of Texas. That's a theoretical advantage over intravitreal or periocular steroids, because we may be able to get a robust therapeutic response with a lower risk of cataract and glaucoma. The jury is still out, but the clinical trial data has been very promising, in terms of improving vision, reducing macular edema and limiting ocular side effects."
Dr. Henry says his practice participated in the PEACHTREE, MAGNOLIA and AZALEA clinical trials. "The new technique for performing suprachoroidal injections is fun," he notes. "These injections are not as difficult to perform as they may sound. The technique is quite intuitive, and the patients I had in the open-label AZALEA trial did extremely well."
Pauline T. Merrill, MD, a partner at Illinois Retina Associates and an associate professor of ophthalmology at Rush University in Chicago, says she hopes that suprachoroidal injection of a steroid will be approved soon. "The studies of that approach found rapid control of macular edema with possibly fewer IOP concerns than we have with intravitreal injections," she notes.
"Both of these medications take three to six months to work," she adds. "For that reason, I either have the patient on topical steroid drops, give a steroid injection or prescribe oral prednisone to serve as a bridge until the antimetabolite takes full therapeutic effect."
Dr. Merrill points out that one of the holy grails for treating uveitis would be a nonsteroidal injectable medication. "The hope is that we could control inflammation without so much concern about steroid-response glaucoma," she notes. "We currently sometimes use intravitreal methotrexate off-label; that's being looked at in the MERIT study of the MUST trial group, which is comparing Ozurdex, methotrexate and Lucentis for uveitic macular edema in otherwise quiet eyes."
"Some patients with severe noninfectious uveitis won't respond sufficiently to antimetabolites," Dr. Janardhana points out. "If patients are failing despite the optimal dosage of antimetabolites, then I go to the next step: TNF inhibitors—biologics. The biologics include adalimumab (Humira) and infliximab (Remicade), which is an infusion. Adalimumab is a 40-mg subcutaneous injection given every other week, and patients can self-inject it at home, which is very convenient. It typically works well for my patients, so if the patient is failing antimetabolites, starting a medication like Humira would be my next step."
"Antimetabolites such as methotrexate and mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept) are still very much in use," notes Dr. Merrill. "They tend to be the less-expensive systemic medications—especially methotrexate. The T-cell inhibitors, cyclosporine and tacrolimus, are still around, as are the alkylating agents. [See below.] However, I use the cytotoxics much less now that we have options like the biologics, especially Humira. Humira is FDA-approved for uveitis, so that's been a huge advance."
Dr. Henry says he starts the majority of patients needing immune suppression on an antimetabolite or a biologic. "Whether I opt for an antimetabolite or a biologic depends in part on the severity of the disease and how aggressive it is, and partly on the specific diagnosis," he notes. "For a less-aggressive, chronic, but still vision-threatening uveitis I'll sometimes lean towards methotrexate or mycophenolate first. Some patients do very well on this regimen. But if inflammation persists despite a sufficient course of one of these, then I'll add a biologic such as adalimumab."
Dr. Janardhana notes that some uveitis patients may end up on both antimetabolites and biologics. "If the patient is already on an antimetabolite like methotrexate or CellCept, I usually keep them on a low dose of the antimetabolite and add the adalimumab to that," she explains. "The justification for this has been to prevent antibodies against the adalimumab from forming. However, it's becoming less clear how much the immune system really does form antibodies in this situation, so if patients do well on adalimumab, I may taper them off the antimetabolite."
She adds that even adalimumab may not be sufficient to improve the uveitis in some patients. "Some patients don't respond sufficiently to it, while others are stable on it for years and then it stops working," she notes. "If that happens, my next step is to switch within this class of drugs to infliximab (Remicade), which is an infusion."
Dr. Henry agrees that patients with the most aggressive and vision-threatening processes may need biologic infusions. "Biologic infusions would include infliximab or golimumab (Simponi Aria), which can work well for certain patients," he says. "These are typically given in a rheumatologist's office. If a patient has extremely severe disease such as lupus-associated occlusive retinal vasculitis or ANCA-related disease, I usually favor aggressive treatment with rituximab."
Fluorescein angiograms of a 56-year-old female diagnosed with birdshot retinochoroiditis. Left: Before treatment. She was treated with adalimumab and mycophenolate mofetil, with Ozurdex implant supplementation as needed. Right: After two years of treatment. Image courtesy of Christopher R. Henry, MD.
"Of note, socioeconomic factors also sometimes play a role in picking an appropriate treatment plan," Dr. Janardhana says. "It's important for patients to remain compliant with appointments and for us to monitor labs and symptoms frequently while on these medications. I typically monitor patients' labs every three months—in particular white cell count and liver and kidney function tests. Also, before starting any of these immunosuppressive labs, it's important to check patients' white cell count and kidney and liver function tests, as well as ruling out infections such as tuberculosis, syphilis and hepatitis. In particular, it's important to rule out tuberculosis prior to starting TNF inhibitors."
Of course, some patients may fail even on those options. "In that case there are other medications we can try, including CD-20+ B cell monoclonal antibody inhibitors, like rituximab," says Dr. Janardhana. "This is used in severe refractory noninfectious uveitis and scleritis."
Other options include:
• IL-6 antibodies. "Tocilizumab (Actemra) is relatively new," says Dr. Henry. "It's FDA-approved for treating giant cell arteritis. In those patients it's helped to minimize the long-term side effects of oral steroids, but it also works very well for patients with uveitis. I've had good luck using it in patients with refractory scleritis, and I've switched some more aggressive uveitis patients who were on antimetabolites or a biologic such as adalimumab to tocilizumab. They've done well. For example, I have one patient with aggressive Blau-syndrome-related uveitis who's done very well since switching to tocilizumab. So I'm a big fan. I think it has a lot of promise."
"Many initial studies are looking at tocilizumab for treating non-infectious uveitis and the data looks promising," agrees Dr. Janardhana. "I've seen patients respond very well to it. In fact, my patients who are on this medication usually also have systemic disease, and it's worked well to control both.
"I think the lack of extensive data is the reason tocilizumab is still not a 'go to' medication," she adds. "The other medications, like the antimetabolites and biologics, have been well-studied for both uveitis and rheumatology, so we lean more towards those when choosing our treatments. But if the data continues to be promising, I think more doctors will start using drugs like tocilizumab to treat uveitis."
Dr. Merrill says other studies looking at intravitreal sirolimus and an intravitreal IL-6 inhibitor are currently under way. "One arm of the DOVETAIL study is looking at an IL-6 inhibitor for uveitic macular edema," she says. "Then there's the ongoing LUMINA study of intravitreal sirolimus from Santen. The previous studies of intravitreal sirolimus were promising; hopefully LUMINA will provide the data needed for FDA approval. And, in the not-too-distant future, we may have even more sustainable treatment options. A number of companies are investigating new methods of drug delivery, as well as approaches using gene therapy."
• T-cell inhibitors. Dr. Henry says he almost never recommends a T-cell inhibitor like cyclosporine or tacrolimus anymore. "I have a few patients with birdshot chorioretinopathy who are on cyclosporine, and some patients who've had organ transplants who are taking tacrolimus," he says. "But I almost never recommend them, because they require careful monitoring of factors such as blood pressure, and there are issues concerning tolerability. On the other hand, biologics work very well and are well-tolerated. So I typically go to a biologic before considering a T-cell inhibitor."
Dr. Janardhana agrees. "I tend to shy away from T-cell inhibitors/calcineurin inhibitors such as cyclosporine and tacrolimus, and alkylating agents such as cyclophosphamide and chlorambucil," she says, "given the severe side effect profile of these medications."
• Alkylating agents. Dr. Henry also says he very rarely uses alkylating agents. "They're very toxic," he points out. "For the majority of patients, biologics can do the job. For me to consider using an alkylating agent, a patient would have to have extremely aggressive, refractory disease."
Dr. Janardhana notes that studies of other options are ongoing. "Studies are being conducted for the treatment of noninfectious uveitis using other biologics such as golimumab and secukinumab (Cosentyx, an IL-17 inhibitor)," she says, "as well as T-cell inhibitors such as abatacept (Orencia). Ophthalmologists might see these medications being used for other systemic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease or rheumatological disorders.
"We're still awaiting studies to see how efficacious these medications are against noninfectious uveitis," she says, "but if patients are already on these medications for systemic disease and have a history of uveitis, I don't immediately change medications, unless the patient has a recurrent uveitis flare or persistent chronic uveitis."
Managing Patient Expectations
Of course, no matter how effective your treatment may be, patient expectations are a huge factor in how the patient will perceive your efforts over the long run.
Dr. Janardhana says that she tells her new uveitis patients that uveitis is a complex disease with no quick remedy. "I explain that uveitis is kind of a blanket term," she says. "It can be caused by autoimmune diseases or an infection, and we can't identify the cause in half of the uveitis cases we see. In addition, uveitis—especially noninfectious uveitis—is often a chronic disease, and every patient is different. Some medications work for one patient but not the next, and we don't know why.
"The progress of uveitis is also somewhat unpredictable," she continues. "We don't always know why one person's disease is more aggressive than another's. Sometimes chronic uveitis will be quiet for years, and suddenly it becomes active, for reasons we can't determine. We do believe that factors like stress, illness and even traveling can act as triggers to reactivate the disease and cause a flare-up, but there's no way to predict exactly what's going to happen, or when.
"Most of all, patients need to understand that treating uveitis is a long process," she concludes. "We have to try different medications in a stepwise approach, and it can take several months just to find the right medication to get their disease to quiet down. So, this is a marathon, not a sprint. But no matter what it takes, I make sure they know that I'm there to work with them and help them get better."
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text:
@interface HLSErrorTestCase ()

@property (nonatomic, retain) HLSError *error1;
@property (nonatomic, retain) HLSError *error2;
@property (nonatomic, retain) HLSError *error3;
@property (nonatomic, retain) HLSError *error4;
@property (nonatomic, retain) HLSError *error5;

@end

@implementation HLSErrorTestCase

#pragma mark Object creation and destruction

- (void)dealloc
{
    self.error1 = nil;
    self.error2 = nil;
    self.error3 = nil;
    self.error4 = nil;
    self.error5 = nil;

    [super dealloc];
}

#pragma mark Accessors and mutators

@synthesize error1 = m_error1;

@synthesize error2 = m_error2;

@synthesize error3 = m_error3;

@synthesize error4 = m_error4;

@synthesize error5 = m_error5;

#pragma mark Test setup and tear down

- (void)setUpClass
{
    [super setUpClass];

    // Error 1
    self.error1 = [HLSError errorWithDomain:@"ch.hortis.CoconutKit-test"
                                       code:1012];

    // Error 2
    self.error2 = [HLSError errorWithDomain:@"ch.hortis.CoconutKit-test"
                                       code:1013
                       localizedDescription:@"Localized description"];
    [self.error2 setLocalizedFailureReason:@"Localized failure reason"];
    [self.error2 setLocalizedRecoverySuggestion:@"Localized recovery suggestion"];
    [self.error2 setLocalizedRecoveryOptions:[NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"LocalizedRecoveryOption1",
                                        @"LocalizedRecoveryOption2",
                                        @"LocalizedRecoveryOption3",
                                        nil]];
    [self.error2 setHelpAnchor:@"Help anchor"];
    [self.error2 setUnderlyingError:self.error1];
    [self.error2 setObject:@"Additional information 1" forKey:@"AdditionalInfo1"];
    [self.error2 setObject:@"Additional information 2" forKey:@"AdditionalInfo2"];
    [self.error2 setObject:@"Additional information 3" forKey:@"AdditionalInfo3"];

    // Error 3
    self.error3 = [HLSError errorWithDomain:@"ch.hortis.CoconutKit-test"
                                       code:1013];

    // Error 4
    self.error4 = [HLSError errorWithDomain:@"com.domain.other" code:1013];

    // Error 5
    self.error5 = [HLSError errorWithDomain:@"ch.hortis.CoconutKit-test" code:7];
}

#pragma mark Tests

- (void)testInformation
{
    GHAssertEqualStrings([self.error1 domain], @"ch.hortis.CoconutKit-test", @"Incorrect domain");
    GHAssertEquals([self.error1 code], 1012, @"Incorrect code");

    GHAssertEqualStrings([self.error2 localizedDescription], @"Localized description", @"Incorrect description");
    GHAssertEqualStrings([self.error2 localizedFailureReason], @"Localized failure reason", @"Incorrect failure reason");
    GHAssertEqualStrings([self.error2 localizedRecoverySuggestion], @"Localized recovery suggestion", @"Incorrect recovery suggestion");

    GHAssertEqualStrings([self.error2 helpAnchor], @"Help anchor", @"Incorrect help anchor");
    GHAssertEquals([self.error2 underlyingError], self.error1, @"Incorrect underlying error");
    GHAssertEqualStrings([self.error2 objectForKey:@"AdditionalInfo2"], @"Additional information 2", @"Incorrect additional information");
    GHAssertEquals([[self.error2 customUserInfo] count], 3U, @"Incorrect custom user information");
}

- (void)testCopy
{
    NSError *error2Copy = [self.error2 copy];

    // The userInfo was deep-copied. Must check some of its information to assert the copy went well
    GHAssertEqualStrings([error2Copy localizedDescription], [self.error2 localizedDescription], @"Incorrect description");
    GHAssertEqualStrings([error2Copy localizedFailureReason], @"Localized failure reason", @"Incorrect failure reason");
}

@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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text:
Tessa R. Grasswitz, New Mexico State University, Agricultural Science Center, Los Lunas, NM
David R. Dreesen, Natural Resources Conservation Service Plant Materials Center, Los Lunas, NM
(Print friendly PDF)
There is a wide variety of naturally occurring beneficial insects that can help keep pest insects under control if they are given a chance. Sadly, however, these insects are often misidentified and in some cases are mistaken for pests, leading to unnecessary and counter-productive insecticide applications. This publication, funded by the Western IPM Center, is intended to prevent such mistakes by highlighting some of the beneficial insects commonly found in New Mexico farms and gardens. Tips and suggestions on how to attract and retain such insects are also included.
Attracting and retaining beneficial insects
Spined soldier bug nymph attacking squash bug nymph.
Like all insects, beneficial species have three basic needs – food, water, and shelter. As far as food is concerned, although these species are predatory or parasitic for at least part of their life cycle, many of them need floral resources (nectar and/or pollen) at various times. Such resources can sustain these insects when prey is scarce, help them live longer, or lay more eggs. One way of attracting these insects to your garden or farm is therefore to plant a mixture of so-called 'insectary plants,' which can provide nectar and pollen all season long if properly cared for. Since beneficial insects differ in the size and structure of their mouthparts, not all flowers are equally accessible to all insects. Hence, to benefit the maximum number of beneficial insects, the flower mixture should contain a diversity of species with different bloom periods, flower sizes, structures, and colors. A basic core mixture of insectary plants for New Mexico has been developed at New Mexico State University's Los Lunas Agricultural Science Center and the suggested species are illustrated below.
Suggested insectary plants for New Mexico
The species above form a suggested 'core mix' of quick-maturing annual plants that are readily available and easy to grow from seed. With the exception of the early-flowering California bluebell, they should bloom for the entire summer—particularly if dead flowers are removed from time to time before they set seed. Additional species can be added, but try to avoid double-flowered varieties, which can be hard for insects to access.
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)
California bluebell (Phacelia campanularia)
Dill (Anethum graveolens)
Plains coreposis (Coreopsis tinctoria)
Garden cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)
Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
Row of insectary plants in full bloom.
Other ways to conserve beneficial insects
In addition to providing floral resources, a number of other measures can improve conditions for beneficial insects. Remember that even organically-approved insecticides can be toxic to such species, so minimize their impact by practicing integrated pest management (IPM). Some systemic insecticides (e.g., imidacloprid) can move within the plant and reach damaging concentrations in nectar, so try to avoid such products.
Provide a source of clean water, for example by filling a shallow plant saucer with pebbles and adding water until they are partly submerged. The exposed parts of the pebbles provide landing sites for predatory wasps and other useful insects. To avoid encouraging mosquitoes, empty the container every few days and allow it to dry out for several hours before refilling.
Water dish with pebbles.
Many beneficial insects overwinter in the adult stage in the top layers of soil, in plant litter, or under the rough bark of trees. The value of providing a permanent (or semi-permanent) area of such overwintering habitat has not been extensively researched, but is something to consider. A strip of clump-forming perennial clover (e.g., Trifolium pratense), perhaps in combination with a native bunch grass such as sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula), could be used to form such a refuge. Beneficial invertebrates found overwintering in this type of habitat include spiders, adult ladybird beetles, ground beetles, rove beetles, brown lacewings, parasitic wasps, nabid bugs, and big-eyed bugs.
Clump-forming red clover (Trifolium pratense) can provide overwintering habitat for beneficial insects.
Common beneficial insects of New Mexico
1. Beetles (Order: Coleoptera)
(i) Ladybeetles/Ladybird beetles (Family: Coccinellidae)
Most people are familiar with the adults of these beetles, particularly the common red and black convergent ladybeetle. However, the egg, larval, and pupal stages are less well known, and the larval stages in particular are often mistaken for pests. In fact, it is the larva that is the most voracious stage of the life cycle. Keep in mind, too, that there are many different species of these beetles in New Mexico, with various colors and patterns. Most species will eat aphids and other small, soft-bodied pests, and some species are specialist predators of spider mites.
Adult ladybird beetles
Hippodamia convergens
Hippodamia parenthesis
Olla v-nigrum
Ladybird egg mass
Larval stage
Flower head of dill with ladybird larvae and pupae
(ii) Ground beetles (Family: Carabidae)
These beetles are fast-moving, relatively large predators that attack a wide range of insect prey; a few species eat seeds and play a role in reducing the weed seed bank in the soil. They are typically black in color, often with a metallic sheen. Since they are nocturnal, they often pass undetected in the farm and garden, even though they may be present in high numbers. At first glance they may be mistaken for the large, black 'darkling' beetles (Family: Tenebrionidae) that are active during the day (particularly in desert areas), but differ in having a much flatter abdomen. The larval stages develop in the soil (for up to 2 years, depending on species) and prey on other soil-dwelling organisms, including some pests.
Adult ground beetle. Note large mandibles.
(iii) Rove beetles (Family: Staphylinidae)
These insects are unique among the beetles in having very short wing cases (elytra) that leave most of the abdominal segments exposed. This allows them to flex the abdomen upwards and towards the head in a defensive posture that resembles a scorpion. They cannot sting, however, and instead capture their prey with their mandibles. They vary in size from a few millimeters to 1-2 cm and consume a range of prey, including insect eggs, aphids, and small moth larvae. The larval stages live in the soil and feed on other invertebrates.
Typical rove beetles. Note short wing cases and exposed abdominal segments. (Photos by Mick E. Talbot)
(iv) Soft-winged flower beetles (Family: Melyridae)
As their name suggests, these beetles are often found on flowers, although they are common and widespread in other habitats, including alfalfa fields. They are often brightly colored, sometimes with a metallic sheen. Some species have enlarged basal antennal segments. Both adults and larvae are predatory, with the latter usually being found in the soil, in leaf litter, or under bark.
Two species of soft-winged flower beetle.
2. True bugs (Order: Hemiptera)
(i) Big-eyed bugs (Geocoris species)
Small, inconspicuous insects (approximately 5 mm long) that are very common in both garden and agricultural settings. Both adults and immatures ('nymphs') are readily identified by their broad head with large eyes projecting from the sides; nymphs are similar in shape to adults but are smaller and lack fully functional wings. Adults are usually brown or reddish in color and the nymphs a paler brown/grey. As true bugs, all stages have piercing mouthparts and feed by sucking the liquid contents from their prey (insect eggs, aphids, small moth larvae, etc.).
Adult big-eyed bug
(ii) Minute pirate bugs (Family: Anthocoridae)
At approximately 2-3 mm long, these are among the smallest of our common predators. In spite of their small size, however, the adults are easily recognized by their black and white 'checkerboard' appearance. The immature stages are brown and orange. Both adults and nymphs will tackle a variety of prey, including whiteflies, mites, insect eggs and newly hatched larvae, aphids, and thrips. These insects can sustain themselves on pollen when prey is scarce and hence are often found in flowers.
Adult pirate bug feeding on thrips.
(iii) Damsel or nabid bugs (Family: Nabidae)
The nabids or damsel bugs are a uniform dull brown color (both as adults and nymphs) and are longer and more slender than big-eyed bugs (approximately 9-10 mm long). They are common in both farm and garden habitats, and are good 'generalist' predators, tackling a variety of prey. They overwinter in the adult stage in cracks and crevices in the soil or in leaf litter.
Adult nabid bug. The immature stages look very similar, but lack fully developed wings.
(iv) Spined soldier bug (Podisus maculiventris)
Although many stink bugs are plant-feeding pests, the spined soldier bug is an excellent predator found in a variety of crop habitats, including orchards, vegetables, and row crops. The adult (approximately 14 mm long) is a drab brown color, with characteristic pointed 'shoulders' that give the species its common name. Newly hatched nymphs are red and black, superficially resembling an adult ladybird beetle, but with much longer antennae. As the nymphs develop, they lose their red color and become much paler. This species will attack a broad range of prey – sometimes taking on insects much larger than themselves.
Spined soldier bug adults. Note sharply pointed 'shoulders.'
Spined soldier bug immatures:
1st instar
Older nymph
(v) Assassin bugs (Family: Reduviidae)
This is one of the largest families of true bugs, and includes the blood-sucking 'kissing bugs' (Triatoma species) as well as useful insect predators. Kissing bugs are not normally found in crop or garden situations, but even the assassin bugs that prey exclusively on other insects can inflict a painful bite if handled roughly. The beneficial members of this family are quite diverse in size, color, and structure; some have enlarged forelegs that help with prey capture, while the so-called 'ambush bugs' hide in flowers (usually yellow ones, where they are well-camouflaged) and capture other flower visitors.
Assassin bug with prey
Ambush bug. Note front legs adapted for prey capture. (Photo by Alicia Lynn)
3. Lacewings (Order: Neuroptera)
There are two families of lacewings: green lacewings (Family Chrysopidae) and brown lacewings (Family Hemerobiidae). In summer, adult green lacewings will come to porch lights, but brown lacewings are much more reclusive and are rarely seen. Both groups lay their eggs on leaves, close to potential prey. Those of green lacewings are 'stalked' and are usually found on the undersides of leaves, either singly or in groups, depending on species. In both families, it is the larvae that are the main predatory stage; they have large, sickle-shaped mandibles that are inserted into soft-bodied prey (e.g. aphids, small caterpillars, etc), which are then sucked dry.
Adult green lacewings
Adult brown lacewings
Green lacewing eggs. (Photo by Whitney Cranshaw, CSU,Bugwood.org)
Green lacewing larva. (Photo by Bradley Higbee, Para-mount Farming, Bugwood.org)
4. Beneficial flies (Order: Diptera)
(i) Hoverflies (Family: Syrphidae)
Adult hoverflies can look superficially like wasps, but have only 1 pair of wings and very short antennae. The adults feed on nectar and pollen, and so are often seen on flowers (or hovering over them prior to landing). The females lay their eggs close to aphid colonies, on which the larvae feed. The pupal stage is immobile, somewhat pear-shaped, and normally found on the same plant on which the larva developed.
Adult hoverflies. Note short antennae compared to wasps
Hoverfly egg on snapdragon bud
Larval stage with aphids
(ii) Tachinid flies (Family: Tachinidae)
The flies in this family are parasitoids, i.e., the females lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other insects, and when the fly larvae hatch, they gradually consume the host until it dies and the fly larvae pupate. Many tachinids attack larval moths and butterflies, although some species parasitize other insect groups (e.g., cucumber beetles). The adults often resemble large houseflies, but have a more bristly abdomen. They sustain themselves on nectar and pollen, and so are often found on flowers during the summer.
Adult tachinid flies. Note bristly abdomen.
Mature tachinid larva emerging from dead host (cucumber beetle) prior to pupating.
5. Wasps (Order: Hymenoptera)
(i) Parasitic wasps (various families)
Like tachinid flies, parasitic wasps behave as parasitoids, i.e., the adults are free-living, feeding mainly on nectar, while the egg and larva (and often the pupal stage) develop inside other insects, eventually killing them. Since parasitic wasps have to overcome their hosts' internal immune defenses, they are much more restricted in the range of insects that they can successfully attack than are predators. However, they are extremely efficient at finding their hosts, and can be very effective biological control agents. Parasitic wasps range in size from just a few millimeters (e.g., species that parasitize the eggs of other insects) to several centimeters in length. The females of species that attack concealed hosts (e.g., those living deep within plant tissues) often have a long 'ovipositor' (egg-laying tube) extending from the tip of the abdomen; although this is sometimes mistaken for a 'stinger,' these species are harmless to humans.
Two larger species in which the long egg-laying tube (ovipositor) is visible.
Hornworm larva that has been attacked by a parasitic wasp.
The white structures are the pupal cocoons of the parasitoid. Pupal cocoons of a parasitic wasp and the dead remains of the cabbage white butterfly larva in which they developed.
A minute parasitic wasp that attacks the eggs of squash bugs.
(i) Predatory wasps (various families)
New Mexico has a large and diverse array of predatory wasp species, some of which form colonies while others are 'solitary' – i.e., each female constructs her own individual nest, often in the soil, but also in other habitats such as plant stems or pre-existing holes in dead wood. Species in one sub-family construct mud 'pots' that they provision with prey items for their larvae. Although wasps are viewed as pests by many people, they will not normally sting unless provoked and are valuable predators; different species attack moth caterpillars, scarab beetle larvae ('white grubs'), grasshoppers, stink bugs, and various other pests. Adult wasps will feed on nectar and hence are often seen on flowers.
Paper wasp colony, entrance holes to nests of solitary grass-carrying wasps
Potter wasp larval cell.
Examples of predatory wasps found in New Mexico.
H-168: Selection and Use of Insecticides for Organic Production:
http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H-168/welcome.html
H-169: Using Insectary Plants to Attract and Sustain Beneficial Insects for Biological Pest Control:
http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H169/welcome.html
CR-655: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for Home Gardeners:
http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/cr-655/welcome.html
Flint, M. L. and Dreistadt, S. H. 1998. Natural enemies handbook: the illustrated guide to biological pest control. University of California. 154 pp.
Helyer, N., Brown, K and Cattlin, N. D. 2012. Biological control in plant protection: a colour handbook. Manson Publishing Ltd. 160 pp.
To find more resources for your business, home, or family, visit the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences on the World Wide Web at aces.nmsu.edu
To find more resources from the Natural Resources Conservation Service Plant Materials Center: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/plantmaterials/pmc
Contents of publications may be freely reproduced for educational purposes. All other rights reserved. For permission to use publications for other purposes, contact pubs@nmsu.edu or the authors listed on the publication.


Eight of the largest companies in tech have joined forces to battle the NSA's spying, demanding sweeping reforms of the US Government's surveillance policies.
AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo have written and signed a letter to President Obama and Congress, which you can read online. According to The Hill , it will run in national print ads on Monday.
Referring to itself as the Global Government Surveillance Reform, the campaign is the biggest, broadest and most populist attempt so far by the companies—some of which are often at loggerheads with each other—to sway government policy.
The letter outlines five guiding privacy principles the coalition wants to see implemented: limiting governments' authority to collect users' information, oversight and accountability, transparency about government demands, respecting the free flow of information, and avoiding conflicts among governments.
"The security of users' data is critical, which is why we've invested so much in encryption and fight for transparency around government requests for information. This is undermined by the apparent wholesale collection of data, in secret and without independent oversight, by many governments around the world. It's time for reform and we urge the US government to lead the way."
"Reports about government surveillance have shown there is a real need for greater disclosure and new limits on how governments collect information. The US government should take this opportunity to lead this reform effort and make things right."


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Harris: Upholding Hobbs Act Extortion Conviction of Former Prison Guard
In United States v. Harris, No. 18-12418 (Feb. 19, 2018) (William Pryor, Rosenbaum, Conway), the Court affirmed the defendant's conviction for Hobbs Act extortion.
First, the Court concluded that the evidence was sufficient to support the extortion conviction of the defendant, a former prison guard who discovered and then appropriated for himself a phone scam in which inmates were posing as government agents and tricking victims into paying fake fines in the form of prepaid debit-card numbers. The defendant argued that the government failed to prove that he obtained the debit card numbers with the "consent" of the inmates, a required element of extortion, because the inmates had no choice but to turn over the numbers. After an historical overview of the crime of extortion, the Court explained that "consent" in that context did not require such a degree of voluntariness; rather, a victim consents so long as he retains some degree of choice, even if it is a Hobson's choice. Here, sufficient evidence showed that the inmates consented to the defendant taking their numbers without reporting him so as to avoid implicating themselves in the scam or possessing contraband. The Court also found sufficient evidence that the defendant wrongfully used fear, one of the alternative means of extortion.
Second, the Court found that the district court did not violate the defendant's right to present a complete defense by limiting his closing argument. Specifically, the court preventing him from arguing that, although he might have committed theft, he did not commit extortion. The court, however, did permit him to argue that, while he may have been guilty of some crime, he was not guilty of extortion. The court did not abuse its discretion by precluding the defendant from arguing that the government should have charged him with theft, as that risk confusing the jury. And if the jury did not believe he committed extortion, it would have acquitted him.
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Tag Line : They're back, they're hungry...and they're NOT vegetarian.
A hugely funny, tongue-in-cheek, action packed zombie pic from director Dan O'Bannon. In this, several army barrels, being housed in the basement of a medical supply depot, accidentally crack open and emit a foul smelling green gas. After mixing with a shower of polluted rain, strange things begin to stir in the nearby cemetery.
This spells trouble for the people working late at the supply depot and even more so for the gang of punk rockers partying nearby in the graveyard, as the dead awake and go on the rampage looking to feed on human brains.
After being chased around the graveyard several times to the tune of "Party Time" by 45 Grave, the 2 different groups end up sheltering at the cemetery's mortuary building, where the pistol-packing attendant helps them to fend off the army of zombies, as they're laid under siege.
Some of the more memorable scenes include a couple of paramedic units getting attacked and eaten, along with the police riot squad as they move in to try and pacify the area (no such luck!) and two of the besieged group breaking out and riding round in an acquired police car, mowing down zombies as they try to reach help.
The film is basically an unofficial rip-off of Night of the Living Dead (often mistaken as being a sequel, which it isn't) and is without doubt one of THE BEST pictures to successfully combine horror and comedy in just the right proportions, at times you won't know whether to laugh or scream. There's gore galore and plenty of black humour, which is all delivered in the WORST possible taste, combined with nail-biting action that all horror fans will love.
There's also an excellent punk rock soundtrack and, as an added bonus, horror scream queen Linnea Quigley appears throughout virtually the whole film wearing nothing but a G-string and a pair of leg warmers. It's no wonder that this film is one of my personal favourites.
Overall marks 8/10.
Alternate tag line "Back from the grave and ready to party.
Director Dan O'Bannon also wrote and did the screenplays for sci-fi shockers Alien and Total Recall.
There is an excellent soundtrack album of the film available, featuring The Damned, The Cramps and many other punk bands. I have yet to track down a copy, but the music in the film rocks!
The movie was originally going to be filmed in 3D.
Friday the 13th fans may recognise Thom Mathews, who played "Tommy Jarvis" in part 6 and Miguel Nunez, who played the trailer punk "Demon" in part 5.
The original version of the script was written by John Russo, who produced the original "Night of the Living Dead". However, owing to legal action by George Romero, Russo was not allowed to market the script as being a sequel to his "Living Dead" films. When producer Tom Fox bought Russo's script, he asked director Dan O'Bannon to rewrite it, which introduced the punk rockers and added more comedy.
Tobe Hooper was originally going to direct the film, but had to back out as he was busy with the film "Lifeforce".
Linnea Quigley has a long running history as a "scream queen". Some of the more notable movies she has been involved with are "Night of the Demons", "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers" and "Pumpkinhead 2". She also had a cameo role, lampooning herself, in the film "Mutronics the Movie" (aka The Guyver).
Buy the US DVD/BD (combo pack).
Contemporary Classics.


Is there anyone in the Portland area that can teach a totally newbie?
Marianne from Portland Ukulele Association (http://home.teleport.com/~pua/index.html) gives an introductory lesson every first Saturday at Artichoke music (next one's next weekend). She also has information about more ukulele resources in the area.
I've been flirting with the idea of teaching ukulele, myself. I've taught and tutored mathematics, so teaching's not new. Lately, I've put some thought into approaches to teaching ukulele. If you're interested, PM me.


Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Recordings made on Tuesday, March 8, 1949," accessed April 18, 2019, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/date/browse?date=1949-03-08.
Recordings made on Tuesday, March 8, 1949. (2019). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 18, 2019, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/date/browse?date=1949-03-08.
Recordings made on Tuesday, March 8, 1949." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2019. Web. 18 April 2019.


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ORGANIZE YOUR TRAVEL
Imperia Tempo di lettura: circa 4 minuti
Imperia ( listen ) is a coastal city and comune in the region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the Intemelia district of Liguria. Mussolini created the city of Imperia on 21 October 1923 by combining Porto Maurizio and Oneglia and the surrounding village communes of Piani, Caramagna Ligure, Castelvecchio di Santa Maria Maggiore, Borgo Sant'Agata, Costa d'Oneglia, Poggi, Torrazza, Moltedo and Montegrazie. Imperia is well known for the cultivation of flowers and olives, and is a popular summer destination for visitors. The local Piscina Felice Cascione indoor pool has hosted numerous national and international aquatics events. History The name of Oneglia may have its roots in the pre-Roman settlement of Pagus Unelia, on the hill of Castelvecchio, which was probably one of the sex oppida of the Liguri. This spawned Ripa Uneliae, a village down on the coast probably on the site of the modern-day Borgo Peri. Modern Oneglia became established on its modern site around 935AD, possibly after it was destroyed by the Saracens; in 1100 it became a fief of the Diocese of Albenga. In 1298 Oneglia became part of the fiefdom of the Doria family of Genoa; the famous admiral Andrea Doria (1466–1560) was born in the town. The Dorias sold the town to Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy in 1576, and Oneglia essentially remained a Savoyard enclave in the Republic of Genoa until Italian unification. Nonetheless, it was on the front line in the wars of the House of Savoy; it was seized in 1614 and 1649 by the Spaniards and in 1623 and 1672 by the Genoese. In 1692 it had to repulse an attack by a French squadron; in 1744–45 it was again occupied by the Spaniards, and in 1792 bombarded and burned by the French. Porto Maurizio was a Roman settlement, Portus Maurici, which, though named in the brief maritime itinerary appended to the Antonine Itinerary, must be an interpolation in manuscripts of that third century document, since it is named after Saint Maurice, leader of the Theban Legion who were not martyred until 286 and could not have been memorialized until the Christianized Empire of the fourth century. It became a Byzantine port after the Gothic Wars of the 6th century, then passed to the Order of Saint Benedict. It was subject to the counts of Turin in the 11th century, and then to the marchesi of Clavesana. Boniface of Clavesana sold the town to the Republic of Genoa in 1288 in return for a yearly payment, as part of Genoa's expansion into western Liguria. In 1354 it became the seat of the Genoese vicar of the western Riviera. The town prospered even though control of Genoa passed between the French, the Duchy of Milan, and the Spanish. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, it was awarded to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, before finally joining a united Italy in 1861. Mussolini created the city of Imperia on 21 October 1923 by the union of Porto Maurizio and Oneglia and the surrounding village communes of Piani, Caramagna Ligure, Castelvecchio di Santa Maria Maggiore, Borgo Sant'Agata, Costa d'Oneglia, Poggi, Torrazza, Moltedo and Montegrazie. Economy The economy of Imperia is based on tourism, food industry (olive oil and pasta), a specialized agriculture (olive groves and flowers in greenhouses) and on trading and harbour activities. The seaside tourism represents an important aspect of the economy of Imperia. Geography Imperia consists of the two historical districts of Porto Maurizio and Oneglia, which lie on either side of the River Impero that gives its name to the city. Porto Maurizio is situated on a peninsula to the west of the river, stretching along the coastline. It is the more colourful and wealthy district of the city, threaded by narrow lanes known as carrugi, and its economy centres around the tourist industry. It was a possession of Genoa from the 13th century. Oneglia (Inéja in Ligurian) lies on an alluvial plain to the east of the Impero, and with its working port is the more modern and industrial of the two districts. At its centre lies Dante Square, from which radiate some of the principal roads of the city. Climate Imperia experiences a warm Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). Notable sights Porto Maurizio The classical Cathedral of San Maurizio, built between 1781 and 1832 by Gaetano Cantoni, is the largest church in Liguria. (www.parrocchiasanmaurizio.it) Old Town, called Parasio. Convent of Santa Chiara. First established in 1365, the existing structure dates from 1741. There is a small Naval Museum in the town. Oneglia Museo dell' Olivo (The Museum of the Olive). Villa Grock Church of San Giovanni Battista, built in 1739–62. Montegrazie Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Shrine of Nostra Signora delle Grazie Transport Imperia is served by the Autostrada A10 motorway, also known as L'Autostrada dei Fiori which runs along the Lugurian coast between Milan and Ventimiglia on the French border. The road crosses the city via a series of high viaducts and mountain tunnels over the valley. Two junctions serve the city, one in the west close to Porto Maurizio, and another in the east above Oneglia. The A10 also forms part of European route E80. Bus services across the Province of Imperia are operated by the public transport body Riviera Trasporti (RT). The coastal Genoa–Ventimiglia railway line runs through Imperia. There are two railway stations serving the two centres of Imperia, Imperia Porto Maurizio and Imperia Oneglia railway stations. The railway line was originally constructed in 1872, and because its narrow coastal route was confined by the sea and long tunnels under the rocky coastline, it was built as a single-track railway. In recent years, work has been underway to convert sections of the line to double-track operation. A new section of track is under construction between Andora and San Lorenzo al Mare, diverting the line inland via a series of new tunnels and viaducts. When opened, it will replace the old coastal route and the two stations in Imperia will close, to be replaced by a central Imperia railway station, situated to the north of the current Oneglia station. The new double-track route was scheduled for completion at the end of 2009, but currently remains unfinished. Famous residents Natives of Imperia: Pellegrino Amoretti, assistant secretary to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Saint Leonard of Port Maurice Andrea Doria(1466–1560), the famous admiral Carlo Amoretti (1741–1816) Maria Amoretti (1756–1787) Giovan Pietro Viesseux (1779–1863), writer and publisher, was born in Oneglia it:Giovan Pietro Vieusseux Edmondo de Amicis (1846–1908), novelist Giulio Natta (1903–1979), Nobel Prize winner in 1963 Francesco Moraldo, Creppo di Triora (1906–2001), Righteous Among the Nations in 1999 Renato Dulbecco (1914), Nobel Prize winner Alessandro Natta (1918–2001) Luciano Berio (1925–2003) Luca Fiuzzi (1984), footballer Others: Grock (1880-1959), entertainer International relations Twin towns – Sister cities Imperia is twinned with: Friedrichshafen, Germany Rosario, Argentina Newport, Rhode Island, USA Notes This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. References External links City of Imperia website (Italian) Province of Imperia website (Italian) Imperia Mare Association website (Italian) (English) (French) Museo dell' Olivo website (Italian) (English) (German) (French) Language school website (Italian) (English) (German) (French)
Punto di Interesse
Villa Grock
Museo dell'olivo
Edificio di culto
Santuario di Santa Croce del Monte Calvario
Visualizza tutti (3)
Imperia and surroundings
Museo etnografico permanente del Ponente ligure "Franco Ferrero"
Museo civico di Diano Marina
Museo di scienze naturali "Don Bosco"
Museo navale romano
Castello Borelli
Basilica di San Nicolò
Uffizio di porto
Area archeologica di Costa Balenae
Museo etnografico "Torre dei Panei"
Santuario della Madonna Miracolosa - Basilica dei Santi Giacomo e Filippo
Street boulder, tutti a Castel del Monte
ViaggiArt is a project of