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A Case of Sexual Harassment
by Amy Narishkin, PhD | Sep 29, 2020 | Uncategorized
The Women in Safety & Health (WISH) organization held a panel discussion on "Avoiding, Combatting & Overcoming Gender Disparity at Work." There were four of us on the panel, each with our own area of expertise: Dr. Tiffany Slater, human resources; Samantha Wyant, trauma; Kathi Dobson, physical safety; and me, cultural intelligence. In advance of the discussion, WISH facilitator Patte Ackerman sent us a case study to discuss on our panel. She provided us with an anonymous voice recording of a woman explaining her struggle at work (I'll call her Jennifer). It's an instructive story, so (with permission) I'm sharing it with you here.
Jennifer's predicament
When Jennifer joined the company, she was promised that within two years she'd be able to help increase sales and have her own office and an assistant. She was thrilled with the potential but quickly discovered everyone else on the sales team were men. So she had to actively seek ways to fit in, like attending happy hour events after work. Though awkward, she'd just smile and maybe nod when comments were made about, for example, a female server's looks.
During one of the company gatherings, her boss confided in her about his marital problems. Jennifer didn't want to seem indifferent, so she listened. "After that he must have felt more comfortable talking with me because his actions and words became more intimate," she said. His conversation turned into compliments about her wardrobe, hair and then eventually her body. "I didn't know how to say anything because it was nice to finally have a rapport with my boss. But I felt badly because he was liking me for the wrong reasons and not for my performance."
Jennifer was so uncomfortable that she sought the help of a counselor. The counselor told her she had an obligation to file a sexual-harassment claim against her boss "because she wouldn't want something like this to happen to her daughter." So Jennifer felt obliged and filed the claim.
Jennifer explained, "It's been three-and-a-half years since I took the job. The men have all moved on; I've not gotten a promotion, an office or an assistant. It doesn't appear that there are any opportunities going forward." She feels like she's in a holding pattern and is unsure if her lack of progress is because she's a woman or because of the claim she made.
In a male-dominated society, men typically don't have to think outside the box to get ahead; they can come as they are. A woman, on the other hand, must be creative. She has to think outside the box to get ahead because the traditional pathway often doesn't work for her.
Jennifer was willing to listen to her boss because she needed a pathway for advancement. Kudos to her for thinking creatively. If there had been another way for her to advance she would not have had to deeply listen, which makes anyone more attractive to the person being heard. It's a sad commentary on societies where a woman's words and actions translate into sexual availability.
He couldn't see her motivation for deeply listening was actually to be noticed and advance her career. He hasn't necessarily had to listen to someone deeply, to think outside the box to get ahead, to advance his career or increase his salary. She is thinking creatively and he's misunderstanding the creativity.
Sixty-six percent of people who take the Intercultural Development Inventory® worldwide are right in the middle of the stages of Cultural Intelligence, the stage called "Minimization." The problem is that people in minimization tend to assume all people have the same motivations and experiences that they have. Her boss minimized Jennifer. Instead of seeing her as a human being with her own unique experience (and kind intentions), he saw her as a sexually available woman.
To overcome minimization, it's important for managers of all genders to recognize that those who have less power do not have the same experience and may be communicating something other than what we assume. If we can lean into what could appear as conflict and to listen to minorities in our society, who are typically not in positions of power, we'll learn to see the systems that are hurting, sidelining and silencing people – and create a better system.
When team members on any level of the corporate ladder are sidelined and silenced, their team – and the company – are unlikely to reach their maximum potential. Those who don't enjoy the privileges of a society's dominant culture are frequently marginalized by Minimization and tend not to be allowed their true voice, productivity and growth potential. If we think about it, why would any manager silence even one person who could turn out to be a top contributor, innovator and/or producer. Where is the return on investment (RoI) in that?
What she can do
Jennifer and her boss needed more pathways for expression, for communicating needs. In Western culture we tend to avoid conflict, so much so that we demonize it and put off necessary conversations. A conflict is a mental struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives or wishes. If we respectfully lean into the struggle, we can discover that conflict helps us understand each other better and set up boundaries for where the other person ends and we begin. Conflict and, in smaller doses, contrasting opinions, help us recognize what we don't want so we can get very clear about what we do want.
In this particular case, there are one of two scenarios happening here. This man is either a…
Creep and knowingly taking full advantage of his power; she wants something and he has the power to give it and get something in return, or
"Regular guy" who doesn't know what he doesn't know and is unaware of her need to be creative to advance in her career.
If she assumed the latter and led with the assumption of good intent, it would've been best to have the conversation early. She doesn't need to give him a total pass with the hope that it'll 'get better. If she feels safe, this is the time to raise the question about what's going on and where she stands. Later on it will only get harder to fix.
If it were an earlier stage in this predicament, Jennifer could've set up a meeting in a conference room and used the words, "I feel…, when you…, because…" "I" messages, as opposed to "you" messages enable speakers to be assertive without making accusations, which can make listeners feel defensive. For example, "I feel uncomfortable when you compliment my wardrobe rather than my work because those words don't help me understand how to do my job better."
What's sad in this case, is that the counselor made her feel compelled to report her boss without finding out what Jennifer herself felt she should do. Preferably, a counselor would encourage a woman to explore her options and determine what she feels is best within the context of her own experience. Once you bring the level of conflict up to a formal complaint or legal action, the stakes are higher for everyone involved, and a situation is often more difficult to address with a simple conversation – if the manager is in fact a "regular guy" or someone who just doesn't know what he doesn't know and can get away with that.
But let's be clear here, having a conversation in the early stages of what feels like sexual harassment can be a scary undertaking. For women of a certain age, this behavior from men has been so normalized, which really means minimized, that women have little training or cultural knowledge to recognize sexual harassment, much less name it or make a claim against it. This is especially hard when the behavior actually is sexual harassment, because sexual harassment tends to be a slow creep.
In Jennifer's case, it may be too late for that initial 1-to-1 conversation, but that doesn't mean she's stuck. Dr. Slater suggested that Jennifer may want to explore leaving the organization and finding one that is more in line with her goals and principles. Samantha Wyant made it clear that in no way is this situation Jennifer's fault and reinforced the importance of Jennifer's voice.
If Jennifer does not want to leave or can't, she can still lean into the conflict and have the conversation; however, at this point, she'll want to have an ally to be with her as a witness.
When boundaries are violated but the environment is still safe to discuss them with an ally, people in Jennifer's situation can set up a meeting, saying she'd like to have a conversation and clear up any misunderstanding and explain what happened. Jennifer can still use the words, "I feel…, when you…, because…"
For that meeting, Jennifer could…
Write down the story and her feelings about the events
Proceed with caution and sought out the wisdom and allyship of professionals
Keep an on-going dated record of happenings
Work with good intentions because, ultimately, the goal isn't revenge but to keep ourselves, the people around us (including her boss) and society safe for everybody.
Cultural Intelligence is the ability to appreciate another's perspective and change our words and actions to show genuine respect for another's circumstances. In organizations with Cultural Intelligence, majorities don't assume that another person's experience is just like their own. Rather they assume they don't know, apply curiosity and work to learn the other's story and experience. They also check their impact on colleagues and clients and how corporate practices help and hurt others in their ability to contribute as collaborative, innovative and productive team members. Once these skills are adopted, they help us reach new customers and marketplaces which also requires learning, understanding and respecting perspectives that are different from our own or the current culture of our organization. –Amy S. Narishkin, PhD
Dr. Amy Narishkin, CEO and Cultural Intelligence strategist at Empowering Partners. Drawing on her years of experience teaching Cultural Intelligence and working with leaders and executives to build more diverse and engaging work environments, Dr. Amy provides the context and offers specific tools while engaging participants in thoughtful dialogues to build the skills for Culturally Intelligent conversation with colleagues and clients. You can find out more at www.EmpoweringPartners.com
Amy's Blogs
The Great Attrition or The Great Appreciation?
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Feeling Invisible?
Mutual Respect Makes for Meaningful Conversation
Resistance to Acceptance: How to Affirm Another's Identity
The Five Keys to Unlocking Cultural Intelligence
Cultural Intelligence Takes Head, Heart AND Hands
The Four Essential Skills of Cultural Intelligence
How to Stop Tokenizing People
Workplace with Headspace
How Self-Awareness Leads to Self-Confidence
Reality Isn't Harsh
How to Deal with an Ignorant Remark in Five Steps
Unions or Unity: A CEO's Dilemma
A Hire Power: How to Really Get to Know a Candidate
Leadership Enlightened: How to Upend the Status Quo
Lesson Learned the Hard Way
How to Hire People on the Spectrum
How Middle Managers Can Make a Difference
How to Connect with Your Kid About Tricky Topics
Five Ways Whites Can Effectively Respond in Cross-cultural Conversation
There's a Better Question
What's the Point of Impact?
What's in Your Blindspot?
Hear Me Now?
Epic Remedies for a Cultural Fail
WoManifesto: The Backstory


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Tags: sonic boom | california | earthquakes
Sonic Boom Startles California Residents on Edge After Earthquakes
By Clyde Hughes | Thursday, 10 April 2014 12:14 PM
A sonic boom in the Los Angeles area that led to concerned residents calling emergency agencies in Orange County was caused by the U.S. Navy, the military branch confirmed Wednesday.
Some feared that the area, including Huntington Beach, was experiencing another earthquake, but county officials quickly ruled that out.
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"We reached out to Caltech, and they said it's not seismic; it's sonic-related,'' Orange County Assistant Emergency Manager Vicki Osborn told KNBC-TV.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the Navy said one of its aircraft flew faster than the speed of sound as part of a naval exercise with the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier about 50 miles off the California coast.
Southern Californians are still jittery over a series of earthquakes and aftershocks that rattled the area in March. On March 28, Orange County was the epicenter of a magnitude 5.1 earthquake, which was accompanied by roughly two dozen aftershocks.
A week earlier, a magnitude 4.4 earthquake centered near downtown Los Angeles shook the same area as well, but caused little damage.
Twenty years ago, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake caused $42 billion in damage to the Los Angeles area, the costliest natural disaster in the country after Hurricane Katrina.
Navy Cmdr. Kevin Stephens told the LA Times that "pretty much all of San Diego felt" a similar sonic boom from an exercise off its coast in 2012.
The sonic boom shook up some who went to social media to talk about the boom or explain it.
I FEEL LIKE HUNTINGTON BEACH IS GOING TO HAVE AN EARTHQUAKE BC THE SONIC BOOM TODAY
— leyla (@versacemoran) April 10, 2014
everyone in hb saying there was an earthquake today when it was really a sonic boom .
— liv (@oliviaaleigh) April 10, 2014
Definitely some strong seismic signals along SoCal coast this afternoon, could be sonic boom, but not clean N-wave pic.twitter.com/ecgiRYh8aY
— Jascha Polet (@CPPGeophysics) April 9, 2014
Scott Conner of Malibu told the LA Times that the shaking was so intense that it nearly tipped over one of his computer monitors till he caught it.
"I thought it was the biggest quake I've ever been in," he said.
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California Earthquake: No Injuries, Damage After 6.9 Quake in North
California Earthquake in Pacific Causes Scientists to Rethink Theory
sonic boom, california, earthquakes
Thursday, 10 April 2014 12:14 PM

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Last week we witnessed the presentation of MyFox Spain one of my favorite hotels in Madrid, Only You, that we already presented at the time, since it is decorated by Lázaro Rosa-Violán Studio and is a real wonder.
On this occasion we convened to explain the operation of this surveillance and alarm system, which can be purchased in supermarkets or online.
The classic security company that you hire, assemble you the device and your alarm is connected to the alarm Center and with the police has nothing to see. In this system, where there are two devices "Myfox Home Alarm" and "MyFox Security Camera", who were recently honored with awards International CES Innovation Awards, iF Design Award and Red Dot Design Award, the customer can choose to buy one of them or they can work together and have of a series of sensors attached are a powerful deterrent to prevent thefts and intrusions.
Incorporates the patented IntelliTAG™ technology in its individual sensors that you stick to any door or window of the House. Each sensor is able to differentiate between the normal, everyday vibrations of those that occur when there is intrusion attempts.
In addition, the alarm has of a Keychain smart, (this will love or at least my seemed pump) handsfree that allows you to disable the system to automatically recognize the user, and which incorporates (attention) a panic button for emergencies.
The intelligent key fob allows home owners to turn on or turn off the security system quickly and also check who is entering and exiting the property at any time. In addition, the powerful alarm 110db frightens intruders and alert neighbors, while he immediately sends, a notification to the smartphone user.
A camera that can be used together with "Myfox Home Alarm" to act as the eyes of the security system or any way isolated as a high-performance security camera. It has wide angle lenses of display, night vision and motion sensor that warns of any unexpected movement when the House is empty. The camera also has a system of bi-directional communication It allows users to contact his family when they leave or return home.
Much that carry built-in speaker, immediately, I liked I thought of myself saying to my greater dwarf: "studies and leaves of to the once Rubius!". Go scare.
In my opinion it is a great system to monitor your House, is to say to people who are in it, for example older people with limitations or who live alone, unreliable kangaroos, or preteen students.
Another advantage is that they ensure the privacy of users, all without wires, or or monthly fees. With a sleek and simple design, this safety system is discrete, non-intrusive and fits perfectly with the style of decoration of current households. In addition, you can easily install and configure.
On the other hand it seems to me that perdsonalmente would be more secure if the system directly connected with the police, something that is fundamental. What happens if you are far away and have no close neighbors who heard the alarm?
Since the thief enters your House, until you realize and you same call the police you can spend too much time, while if at the time when their sensors detect the intruder skip the alarm to the police, the closest patrol is at home in minutes.
Well as you can see it has many pros, I certainly see it perfect if you live a little distressed because your older spend much time alone, but I would add that communication with the police am maybe overly alarmist?
What do you think about this Myfox system? You pondríais at home or you prefer cultural activities by the traditional security systems?


Today's blog is a repost from Peter McLachlan, Chief Architect at Mobify. The article originally appeared on Mobify's blog on October 30, 2012.
In this post we'll review the results of a real-world test with over three million samples showing that domain sharding is at best neutral and at worst harmful for mobile websites.
If you're already familiar with sharding, you may want to skip straight to our results. Otherwise, we'll begin with a brief introduction to the subject.
Traditionally, web browsers place a limit on the number of simultaneous connections a browser can make to one domain. These limits were established in 1999 in the HTTP/1.1 specification by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The intent of the limit was to avoid overloading web servers and to reduce internet congestion. The commonly used limit is no more than two simultaneous connections with any server or proxy.
Domain sharding is a technique to accelerate page load times by tricking browsers into opening more simultaneous connections than are normally allowed. It's a widely-used optimization tactic that enables browsers to make better use of high-bandwidth internet connections.
Additional network connections above and beyond the recommended limits are not "free". Each connection comes with a setup overhead in the form of a DNS lookup and a TCP 3-Way handshake, as well as TCP slow start. For mobile browsers, the resulting latency is much higher than for desktop users. Additionally, this connection setup consumes extra CPU, memory and battery power–all considerations on mobile devices with scarce resources.
Many mobile browsers implement HTTP pipelining and no longer observe the old HTTP/1.1 connection rules.
Domain sharding works because web browsers recognize each unique internet name (a DNS entry such as www1.yourdomain.com, www2.yourdomain.com and so forth) as being a different server, even if in reality all those domain names resolve to a single server.
If you divide your references to static assets such as images, scripts and CSS files over several servers, the browser will open two connections to your web server for each server name. You may have noticed, for example, that resources on YouTube pages load from i1.ytimg.com, i2.ytimg.com and so forth.
When the "two connections per server" rule was established, most internet users were using dial-up internet connections one-tenth to one-hundredth the speeds of today's broadband connections. Most contemporary browsers no longer implement the two-connection per-server limit since 2010.
For example, the default for desktop Firefox is eight connections per server, and for Google Chrome and Internet Explorer 8/9 the limit is now six connections per server. For most websites, these values are high enough to effectively maximize bandwidth utilization. Additional sharding for desktop computers will only offer marginal improvements or may even penalize your site's performance.
So what about in the mobile browser use case?
As you can see, mobile browsers also no longer respect the two-connection per-server limit.
So, is domain sharding still necessary? We wanted a definitive answer, so we ran some real-world tests.
Our test required downloading 15 images, each about 10 KB in size. By using a portion of our Mobify Cloud network, we were able to test using real users on real networks and real phones distributed around the planet with almost 3-million unique samples.
The test was limited to visitors using high-end smartphones such as iOS 5, Android 2.2+, BlackBerry OS 7 and newer devices. The backend was serviced by our global Content Delivery Network, so mobile visitors received data from a web server running in one of our 35 worldwide data centers with the images in memory geographically close to their location.
Regardless of browser, when we added shards, the results were at best neutral and, in most cases, detrimental.
The lesson: the connection overhead for mobile browsers exceeds the benefits of having additional simultaneous connections.
Mobile Chrome takes the biggest penalty for adding more shards, performing half of a second slower when sharding is used, but Safari Mobile also pays a hefty penalty.
Ultimately, sharding adds complexity to your infrastructure without providing performance benefits. In many cases, sharding can degrade visitor performance for your site.
Based on our data, we recommend disabling sharding for both for desktop and mobile visitors.


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The housing bubble was much, much worse for Hispanics
By Lydia DePillis
It's five years after the worst of the housing crash, and we know a lot about the unsavory mortgage lending practices that helped bring it about. We even know how black and Hispanic people were disproportionately impacted by subprime lending, which led to a massive foreclosure wave in minority communities that still hasn't entirely cleared.
Now, thanks to a Zillow analysis of federal mortgage data and its own home value index with the Urban League, we know that the housing bubble and subsequent crash were much more pronounced in Hispanic communities than places where most whites, blacks and Asians live:
The good news, for Hispanics, is that their home values have rebounded more quickly than those of both blacks and whites, who tend to live in cities that haven't seen robust recoveries. And although the homeownership rate among Hispanic people is much lower than that of whites — 50.9 percent to 73.9 percent respectively — both have barely changed over the past decade. The homeownership rate among black people, by contrast, declined by 2.4 percent, and that of Asians rose by the same amount.
More analysis of lending disparities in the full study here.


MIUI to support Motorola Defy!
News from China this morning, there is currently a private beta out 1.3.5 for theMotorolaDefy. As always it will likely be a couple more weeks before this is seen publically like we all saw with the HTC G2 (DesireZ) and GalaxyS (I9000).
More news to follow later today on BETA fixes and so on.


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Architectural Design & Build Services
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Our architectural design build services will help you conceptualize and design a building that holds true to your company and vision. Build It employs a dedicated team of architects who play an integral role in the construction process, blending artistry and design prowess through the lens of functional engineering. They see the big picture, and will help bring yours to life.
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What does an architect do?
When most people think of an architect, their mind often jumps to the image of big canvas pencil sketches, miniature models, and soaring design concepts. And while these are certainly important parts of the job, the true responsibilities of an architect range far beyond the visual design of a building. There's a lot of technical considerations that go into an architect's final plan, and all these details ultimately provide the guiding playbook for the entire construction team.
But it always starts with the "big idea". What exactly is this building going to look like and represent? For an architect, this creative design exercise is bound by a number of technical limitations – everything from building codes to structural engineering requirements and plumbing must be considered. And of course, there's no consideration more important than budget. The funds allotted for each project drastically impact the creative options an architect can consider, affecting everything from materials to labour options, which has a trickle-down effect on an architect's design concepts.
BUILD IT keeps architects connected to construction.
Once construction begins, our BUILD IT architects remain closely connected to the project, advising contractors to ensure the final construction is aligned with the approved designs. This is often overseen by a project manager, who ensures all sides are in close communication throughout. Since BUILD IT is able to centralize these teams through our turnkey delivery model, our architects are able to collaborate more effectively – and creatively – with all our on-site teams. Our integrated approach to architectural design build can also help our clients save on budget, as hiring a third-party architectural firm can often come with a hefty price tag.
What are the different types of architect?
While many architects are generalists who assume a broad range of responsibilities, there are a few subsets of architectural design build specialists who may be assigned to tackle individual aspects of a project – especially for larger, more complicated builds.
"Design architects" are the most commonly thought-of specialists when it comes to architectural services. They're the ones who conceive the overarching look and feel of a building, and they're in charge of translating a client's vision into build-ready designs.
If design architects are responsible for the big picture, "technical architects" are the ones who iron out the finer details. This can include the creation of schematic drawings and technical documents that are used to guide on-site production, as they stay closely connected to the construction project management teams.
And then there's the outdoors. "Landscape architects'' bring the same creative vision and logistical expertise to external environments and how they interact with surrounding or connected structures. This role requires many of the same skill sets as a traditional architect, supplemented by expertise in fields like sustainability and water management.
BUILD IT brings architecture to life.
Whatever scope or specialty your project requires, BUILD IT's architectural design build specialists can help you conceptualize a design that holds true to your brand and purpose. Together, we'll build something that consumers can't ignore.
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Highlights of this one were shooting Shauna and John at the private lake in front of their log cabin. I wanted the shot from the water so I walked my pregnant self right on into the lake chonies and all. Working with Katie Rebecca owner of Cotton & Oak Events who not only brought together so many of the beautiful details but also came with THE BEST and most fun attitude I have ever seen out of a wedding planner.


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ALPF Medical Research
» Kawasaki Disease
Last Updated on Tue, 12 Apr 2016 | Kawasaki Disease
Pathologically KD is a vasculitis of medium-sized vessels [52]. Studies from Japan have described four stages of pathology in the heart [53] (Tab. 4). The classification was based on the careful evaluation of 20 hearts taken from patients who had died of KD. Stages were based on the duration of illness at the time of death. The pathological description is considered unique and is distinguished from other vasculitis in the "medium-sized vasculitis" group, polyarteritis nodosa, in that the arterial inflammation does not affect vessels smaller than arteries [52]. Prior to the introduction and the availability of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) for treatment of KD, 20-25% of children developed coronary artery aneurysms as a sequela [2].
Table 4. Pathology of the heart in KD [52]
Stage I (0-9 days): Acute perivasculitis and vasculitis of microvessels (arterioles, capillaries and vessels) and small arteries
Acute perivasculitis and end-arteritis of the three major coronary arteries (MCAs)
Pericarditis myocarditis
Inflammation of the atrioventricular conductor system Endocarditis with valvulitis
Stage II (12-25 days): Panvasculitis of the MCAs and aneurysm with thrombus in the stems
Myocarditis, coagulation necrosis, lesions of the conduction system
Endocarditis with valvulitis
Stage III (28-31 days): Disappearance of inflammation in the microvessels
Granulation of the MCAs
Myointimal proliferation in the coronary and other medium-sized arteries
Stage IV (40 days to 4 years): Scarring with severe stenosis in the MCAs
Fibrosis of the myocardium Coagulation necrosis Lesions of the conduction system Endocardial fibroelastosis
The vasculitis of KD is clearly immunologically mediated and a wide variety of immunoregulatory abnormalities have been documented during the acute phase [54]. In a study of 21 children in the acute phase of KD, Leung and colleagues [54, 55] demonstrated a significant reduction in circulatory T8-positive (T8+) suppressor-cytotoxic T cells, increased activated T4+ helper cells and a proliferation of circulating activated B cells spontaneously secreting IgG and IgM. Furukawa et al. [56], in Japan, demonstrated activation of CD23+ monocytes/macrophages in the peripheral blood of patients with acute KD.
Immunopotent cellular activation is associated with a broad array of proinflammatory cytokines including TNF-a [57, 58], IL-1 [59], IFN-y [60] and IL-6 [61]. These mediators undoubtedly contribute to the high fever, discomfort and inflammatory changes during the acute phase but also facilitate the vascular injury.
Vascular endothelial cells become activated by cytokine stimulation and may induce or increase expression of endothelial cell surface antigens that promote functional changes such as leukocyte adhesion and antigen presentation. These changes may make endothelial cells more vulnerable to attack by cytotoxic IgM antibodies present in acute phase serum of KD [62]. Further evidence of immunological injury to coronary arteries derives from immunohistochemical studies demonstrating transmural infiltration of artery walls with CD45RO T lymphocytes (activated/memory T cells) with CD8 lymphocytes predominating over CD4 T cells [63]. Remarkably, T cell activation, cytokine excretion and other immunological perturbations are reversed by IVIG [64].
Numerous other immunoregulatory abnormalities have been observed during KD or have been suggested as possible contributors to the patho-genesis of the disease. Macrophage activation syndrome has been observed with KD [65]. CD25+ CD4+ regulatory T cells, which maintain immunologi-cal self tolerance and control immune responses to microbial invasion, have been shown to be reduced in acute KD patients more than normal controls, suggesting this might play a role in the disease [66].
Wang et al. [67] proposed that CD40 ligand (CD40L) might play a role in the pathogenesis of KD because they found CD40L expression on CD4+ T lymphocytes in patients with the acute disease. CD40L is a potent activator of the immune system and might enhance endothelial cell inflammation and vascular damage [67].
Several recent reports implicate vascular endothelial grown factor (VEGF) in the pathological findings associated with KD. VEGF is the primary growth factor for formation of blood vessels and is a vascular permeability factor. It may also be a driver of inflammation as it enhances mono-cyte chemotaxis in humans and increased the production of B cells in mice [68]. Several reports have documented significantly elevated levels of VEGF in the acute and subacute phases of KD [69-71]. VEGF induces expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), which degrade extracellular matrix and basement membrane proteins such as collagen and elastin [68]. Gavin et al. [72] demonstrated MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the damaged arterial walls of children who died of KD. The same group subsequently demonstrated angiogenesis in acute KD aneurysms much earlier than previously reported, probably related to several angiogenesis factors including VEGF.
Thus, through such highly complex and intricate interactions of immu-nopotent cells, cytokines and other mediators, the inflammatory process results in vascular damage in KD.
Genetic influence of the pathogenesis of KD
Racial differences in incidence, families with multiple cases, and the apparent greater tendency for CAA to occur in some children but not in others
Table 5. Gene polymorphisms and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in KD
Polymorphism or SNP
Susceptibility or risk factor
HLA Bw22J
Associated with KD in Japanese children
HLABw51
Associated with KD in United States and Israel population
Associated with KD during Boston epidemic
IFN-y gene
Over production of TNF-a
Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 gene (MCP-1
Over production of MCP-1
TNF-a gene A/A at LT-x + 250
SLC11A1 gene 51-promoter (GT)n
Possible dysregulation of IL-1B or TNF-a
Genotype 1/11 fa IL1-Ra
Higher susceptibility of KD
Angiotensin converting enzyme genotype ID
Associated with KD
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) CGCC
Angiotensin/converting enzyme genotype I/I
Associated with development of CAA
MHC-class-1-chain related gene A (MICA) allele 4A
Protective for development of CAA
Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductose (MTHFR) TT genotype
Protective for females and risk factor for males for CAA
CD14/-159 TT genotype
Associated with CAA
CD40 ligand (CD40L) SNP in intron 4
Associated with CAA in males
VEGF G allele
Matrix metalloproteinase-3 gene 6A/6A genotype
Fc x RIIa HR and RR alleles
May predict failure of IVIG therapy
Mannose-bending lectin (MBL)gene MBL2 genotype
May predict failure of IVIG therapy in < 1 year olds
are all observations that suggest there may be a genetic influence in the pathogenesis of KD. Many investigators are attempting to identify genetic factors that predispose to acquiring KD or its complications.
Many single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified that seem to be associated with susceptibility to KD or a risk factor for developing CAA. Table 5 lists 21 studies that identify polymorphisms or SNPs possibly associated with these or other risks.
Epidemiology and etiology of Kawasaki disease Table 6. Proposed etiological agents of KD
Infections Human herpes virus 6 & 8 Epstein-Barr virus Human parvovirus B-19 Retrovirus Adenovirus TT virus
Propionibacterium acnes Streptococcus mitis Leptospira Erlichia species
Staphylococcus aureus (TSST-1 positive) Chlamydia pneumoniae
The numerous known or candidate SNPs identified on multiple separate gene locations suggest that the genetic influence on pathogenesis, like the inflammatory process itself is highly complex [68]. New genetic markers will undoubtedly be identified in the future.
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The Dahle 40430 Office Shredder is designed to accommodate the needs of most busy offices that shred between 400 and 2,000 sheets per day. With a 10 1/4" feed opening, #20 paper capacity of 9 sheets at a time, and a shred size of 1/32" x 7/16", this cross cut shredder is ideal for shredding personnel records, tax documentation, health records, or any other confidential information.
Dimensions (h x w x d) 36 3/4" x 21 1/2" x 17 1/2"
With the widespread use of network printers and fax machines, confidential business information is constantly being printed throughout the workday, it's important to have a powerful shredder located nearby to easily dispose of this information. The Dahle 40430 Office Shredder is designed to accommodate the needs of most busy offices. With a 10 1/4" feed opening, #20 paper capacity of 9 sheets at a time, and a shred size of 1/32" x 7/16", this cross cut shredder is ideal for shredding personnel records, tax documentation, health records, or any other confidential information. The Dahle 40430 Office Shredder also offers features important for employee safety and ease of use including Automatic Shutoff when the cabinet door is open, Auto Reverse to prevent an overfeed, automatic On/Off and Bag Full Auto Off. Quiet operation and power management are also hallmarks of Dahle Office Shredders. Each cutting cylinder is encased in an all-steel frame and sits on rubber shock mounts, reducing vibration through the cabinet producing whisper quiet operation. Our revolutionary SmartPower Energy Management System saves energy by using a multi-stage system that reduces power consumption after ten minutes of sitting idle (sleep mode), and completely powers down after an additional 20 minutes of inactivity. Dahle's shredders are German Engineered using the latest technology and finest materials, ensuring peace of mind in knowing your Dahle shredder will provide many years of trouble free operation.


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Originally from Derry, New Hampshire, Adam is a graduating senior at University of Miami Frost School of Music majoring in Studio Music & Jazz. Adam has accumulated over a decade of experience in music studying jazz through multiple mediums, including saxophone, piano, clarinet, flute, composition, arranging, and film music.
At the Frost School of Music, Adam studies saxophone under Gary Keller. He has performed with many ensembles at Frost, including the Downbeat Award-winning Concert Jazz Band, the Frost Septet, and the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, as well as numerous other ensembles. In addition to his studies with Professor Keller, Adam has studied composition with renowned composers Gary Lindsay, Martin Bejerano, and Stephen Guerra at the Frost School.
In the summer of 2018, Adam spent a semester abroad studying jazz composition and German language at Johannes Gutenberg Universität in Mainz, Germany. Under the tutelage of Jesse Milliner and Claudius Valk, Adam deepened his knowledge of music greatly and brought back a new experimental mindset to Miami.
Through ensembles at the University of Miami and other musical connections, Adam has shared the stage with the likes of Quincy Jones, Adam Rogers, Maria Schneider, Arturo Sandoval, and John Williams to name a few. In 2017, Adam was named the recipient of a Student Downbeat Award for his original composition "All Bets Are Off", as well as the winner of the 2017 BMI William Golstein Scholarship for outstanding work in the field of jazz composition.
In February 2019, Adam released his debut album as a bandleader, "Arethusa Falls". The album demonstrates Adam's skills in improvised music and jazz composition, as it features six of his original compositions written in 2017- 2018.
All About Jazz musician pages are maintained by musicians, publicists and trusted members like you. Interested? Tell us why you would like to improve the Adam Claussen musician page.


Advanced Roofing is recognized nationally for its commitment to the environment and sustainable roofing practices. Our commitment to sustainability means we use roofing systems, products and company best practices that reduce waste and limit the impact on our environment while creating resilient and environmentally-responsible buildings for our community and customers.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Walmart on Tuesday criticized a "conscience protection" measure in the retail giant's home state that opponents say sanctions discrimination against gays and lesbians, while Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson also expressed concerns about the legislation.
The proposal to prohibit state and local governments from imposing a "substantial burden" on someone's religious beliefs faced new resistance a day after a separate bill became law that prohibits Arkansas cities and counties from expanding anti-discrimination protections to gays and lesbians.
Bentonville-based Walmart's criticism of the pending legislation was nearly identical to concerns it raised about the new law regarding local ordinances. The world's largest retailer includes sexual orientation and gender identity in its non-discrimination policy.
"While HB1228 will not change how we treat our associates and operate our business, we feel this legislation is also counter to our core basic belief of respect for the individual and sends the wrong message about Arkansas, as well as the diverse environment which exists in the state," Walmart spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said in a statement.


I am a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in the Stanford Network Analysis Project Group.
My research focuses on information networks and recommender systems.
For the complete list, see Google Scholar.


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Michael L. Fair (born June 16, 1946) is an American politician who represented the 6th District in the South Carolina Senate. Fair, a Republican, was a state senator from 1995 to 2017.

Personal
Fair is a native, and lifelong, resident of Greenville, where he serves as a deacon at Faith Baptist Church.  He graduated from Greenville's Parker High School, where he played baseball, basketball, and football and served as president of the student body. He married his high-school sweetheart, Judy, and the couple has a daughter and three grandchildren. Fair is a graduate of University of South Carolina, where he played quarterback on the Gamecock football team during the mid-1960s. Prior to being elected to the South Carolina General Assembly, Fair served for six years on Greenville County Council.

South Carolina General Assembly
Fair was first elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1984 and served until November 1995 when he was elected to the South Carolina State Senate. As chairman of the Corrections and Penology committee, he was criticized in Atlantic Monthly for not attempting to check mistreatment of mentally ill prisoners in the South Carolina prison system and claiming he had no knowledge of the mistreatment despite having chaired the task force that investigated the abuses. Fair also served on the Education, Finance and Medical Affairs committees.

Like approximately 40% of South Carolina state senators, Fair elected to take a yearly lifelong payout of $32,390 in deferred pay from the General Assembly Retirement System rather than his $10,400 salary.

In 2016, Fair faced a Republican primary challenge from lawyer William Timmons, which Fair lost in a runoff. Timmons went on to win in the general election that same year.

Political positions
Fair, a conservative Christian, is a supporter of abstinence-based sex education and proposed legislation mandating that sex education classes include information that homosexual behavior is "unnatural, unhealthy and illegal."

Fair supported the teaching of intelligent design in public schools.  In 2008, he introduced a bill that would have specifically allowed public school teachers to critique evolution in their classrooms. The bill died in committee.

Fair is anti-abortion and referred to abortions as our nation's holocaust. During a state senate debate over a proposed bill to ban abortions past 20 weeks, Fair said that according to Hitler "because you're a Jew, you had no right to live. In essence, some people are more qualified to live than others. And that's what we're saying here", referring to abortion.

In 2011, Fair proposed a bill that would have prohibited Sharia law from being enacted in the state of South Carolina. The following month, Fair unsuccessfully introduced legislation that would have prohibited Common Core educational standards from being imposed on South Carolina public schools.

References

External links
South Carolina Legislature - Senator Michael L. Fair (official SC Senate website)
Project Vote Smart - Senator Michael L. Fair (SC) profile
Follow the Money - Michael L. Fair
2006 2004 2002 2000 1996 campaign contributions

South Carolina state senators
Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives
1946 births
Living people
South Carolina Gamecocks football players
21st-century American politicians

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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"Houston, we have a spot market"
Author Tom Fowler
Houston has long been the US capital for the oil and gas industry, a place where office towers full of geologists, accountants and engineers look out on a horizon dotted with refineries and storage terminals. The Houston Ship Channel has been one of the world's largest hubs for refining, where crude flows in via pipeline and ship, and tankers stream out laden with refined products.
Despite all the activity, there hasn't been a widely traded crude oil spot market in Houston in decades. But that's changing.
Argus has launched a new crude price assessment known as WTI Houston, reflecting the new surge of oil that is arriving in the region. The WTI Houston assessment will be a volume-weighted average of all trades done at Magellan Midstream Partner's East Houston terminal, the 4.5mn bl storage site where interest in expanded light sweet crude volumes has grown since late last year.
The activity behind the WTI Houston assessment follows the re-plumbing of the country's oil infrastructure driven by the recent boom in domestic oil output. Pipelines have been reversed along decades-old routes from the coast to the interior, and are now carrying oil from prolific landlocked fields to Gulf coast refining centers. New lines were added, previously unimagined volumes of oil started to move throughout the country via rail, and millions of barrels of new storage capacity built.
For several years, oil from Texas' Eagle Ford shale, Western Canada Select, WTI and other sweet grades has been arriving at Houston in growing volumes, but critical mass was slow to develop for a spot market similar to the highly liquid Light Louisiana Sweet (LLS) benchmark in Louisiana. Now the activity has finally grown to justify the WTI Houston assessment.
What does this mean? One example is that for the first time ever, one can calculate a better crack spread for the region. Gasoline in New York Harbor versus light sweet crude at Cushing, Oklahoma, doesn't give a good picture of reality. But with WTI Houston one can now calculate gasoline, diesel and jet at the Colonial pipeline terminals in Pasadena, Texas, versus WTI at Magellan East Houston – which are only 8 miles apart.
Even with the steep drop in crude prices since last June, the flow of oil is expected to keep coming Houston's way, supporting the value of a WTI Houston assessment for years to come.
For more information please contact OilBlog@argusmedia.com


JungeDGAP Ambassador's Briefing: H.E. Jeremy Issacharoff | Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V.
In our exclusive Ambassador's Briefing, Junge DGAP members will have the opportunity to discuss current challenges facing Israel in 2019 with H. E Jeremy Issacharoff, who has been representing his country in Germany since August 2017. Among the issues we hope to raise are the current security situation in the Middle East, the impact of the current US administration on domestic Israeli policy and the rise of Israel as a global digital pioneer.
The event forms part of the series "Ambassador's Briefing". It offers you, the members, the opportunity to get to know current political developments and key questions in the foreign policy of various states from the perspective of their respective diplomatic representatives in Berlin. This is a limited seated event and we ask that you kindly register before the 20th January. This event will be held in English.


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Wildlife Diary: The birth of a nature reserve
Ed Andrews explores an unlikely wildlife haven, which is prospering thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers.
In the village of Eardington, a gateway at the side of the road leads to an abandoned concrete track. The track is thick with leaf litter and leads through some metal bollards to an old weighbridge. This was once the entrance to a busy quarry, lorries constantly arriving to be loaded with sand and gravel. Now the only sound is the birdsong that signals the arrival of an early spring. The quarry buildings have been razed to the ground, the old gravel pits bulldozed. This unlikely place is set to become Bridgnorth's newest nature reserve.
Walking around Eardington Nature Reserve, you don't feel as though you're within a wildlife hotspot. Nature reserves should be green and pleasant places; this site stinks of industry and dereliction. Some might say it's a scar on the landscape, a reminder of mankind's insatiable demand for building materials. Such sites are often landscaped, covered in topsoil and planted with trees. If this happened at Eardington, a valuable habitat would be lost. The shifting piles of sand and gravel are home to some very unusual plants and animals.
A revealing survey
When Shropshire Council first got involved with the restoration project, wildlife surveys were commissioned. This is paramount when planning a new nature reserve so priority habitats and species can be identified. The surveys showed the site is important for many rare invertebrates including nationally scarce species of solitary bee and hoverfly. These insects bask on the sunny banks, some even burrowing into the soft substrate. Several unusual species of plant were also found, including blue fleabane and thyme-leaved sandwort. A species of moss was discovered that has only been found at three other sites in Britain. Conservation is a delicate balance and management of a site to conserve one species may well make the area unsuitable for another species. Many of the species that were found as part of the surveys are pioneer species that grow in disturbed ground before other vegetation gets established.
Land will not remain open for long. The march of silver birch across the site would be relentless if action was not taken. The trees cast shade and make the site unsuitable for the invertebrates and plants that live there. Long-term management will need to control the spread of trees and maintain an open mosaic habitat of scrub, wetland and open ground.
We're lucky to have a very dedicated group of people known as the Friends of Eardington Nature Reserve, who are helping to manage the site. At the first volunteer day in January, around 20 people spent the day cutting and pulling out scrub to open up bare patches of sand and gravel on warm south-facing banks. In future it is likely that some areas of the site will have to be scraped with a digger to open up larger patches of sand and gravel. This will create germination pockets for the plants and basking areas for invertebrates.
Fascinating wetland
One of the most interesting parts of the site is the wetland area in the centre of the site. Birds such as snipe and little ringed plover have been recorded in the vicinity of the pool. The winter rains have meant that the pool has swelled. In summer it will shrink again and possibly even dry up. This prevents fish from surviving in the pool. Fish eat young newts so the lack of fish has allowed great crested newts to become established at Eardington. The newts spend most of the year sheltering amongst log piles and piles of rubble on the site. As you read this, they'll be moving to the pool to breed. They are active under the cover of darkness and I've spent many enjoyable evenings searching the margins of pools with a torch, watching newts doing their magical mating dance.
With the lack of large trees and the way the ground falls away in the centre of the site, Eardington Nature Reserve is big sky country. On a brisk winter's day, the sky is a constantly changing panorama. One minute it is monochrome with grey clouds overhead, the next minute the heavens are illuminated by rays of golden sunshine that pick out the clumps of rush growing at the edge of the pool. The conditions that are found at Eardington Nature Reserve are seldom found elsewhere in the modern countryside. I'm sure that the true wildlife value of this site will become more apparent as it matures and develops.
Do one thing for wildlife this month
Would you like to get involved with the Eardington Nature Reserve project? The Friends of Eardington Nature Reserve hold regular meetings to discuss works needed at the site. Whether your interest is in practical work, wildlife surveying or helping with grant applications, we would love to hear from you! For more details, please contact me by email (edward.andrews@shropshire.gov.uk) or telephone 01746 781192.
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Index Engines started life as a search system for archives. If my memory serves me, Index Engines was an appliance vendor. During a recent visit to the company's Web site (www.indexengines.com), I learned that the firm has relegated search to a utility function. The company has a data sheets page that explains the company's products and services. These range from "data profiling" to "preservation" and information governance.
I found this shift fascinating. Like the open source search vendor, Elastic (né Elasticsearch), search is no longer the main event. This trend has been evident in the cyber OSINT vendor landscape as well.
The shift underscores that the sales friction for "search and retrieval" is increasing. Savvy outfits are finding new ways to generate revenue with search a baked in component. "Information governance" is sufficiently general and important sounding to create an opportunity for a sales pitch. When many people consider themselves experts in "search," different positioning is required.
Search? Too tough to sell. Watch for other vendors of search crafting ingenious ways to derive revenue from information retrieval and access.
Stephen E Arnold, March 18,2015.


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RYKER by Sawyer Bennett: Review
Posted September 7, 2015 in Favorites, Giveaway, Reviews / 1 Comment
Ryker by Sawyer Bennett
Series: Cold Fury Hockey #4
Published by Loveswept
Publication Date: September 8th 2015
Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.
The rugged men of the Carolina Cold Fury hockey team are winning hearts once again in another scorching novel from New York Times bestselling author Sawyer Bennett.
The stakes have never been higher for Carolina Cold Fury goalie Ryker Evans. With his contract running out, he's got a year left to prove he's still at the top of his game. And since his wife left him, Ryker has been balancing life as a pro-hockey star and a single parent to two daughters. Management is waiting for him to screw up. The fans are ready to pounce. Everybody's taking dirty shots—except for the fiery redhead whose faith in Ryker gives him a fresh start.
As the league's only female general manager, Gray Brannon has learned not to mix business with pleasure. And yet even this tough, talented career woman can't help breaking her own rules as she gives Ryker everything she's got. She hopes their hot streak will last forever, but with Ryker's conniving ex plotting to reclaim her man, the pressure is on Gray to step up and save a tender new love before it's too late.
Gray Brannon has just made history as the first female general manager of a professional hockey team and she has her work cut out for her dealing with misogynistic colleagues and players who are neither thrilled with the idea of a woman leading a professional sports team nor her controversial methods of doing so. Being attracted to one of her players is a definite no no so when the chemistry between her and team goalie, Ryker Evans starts to crackle and pop, she's quick to shut things down. But for how long?
Ryker has had a less than thrilling year in the game he loves. First, he finds himself juggling his job as goalie with the task of being the primary custodian of his two girls when his wife leaves him for a former team mate and then his new team loses their chance to go to the playoffs. With just a year left on his current contract, Ryker is determined to prove that he's still got what it takes to rule the ice. So far, he's been on a hot streak but juggling life as a single dad and a hockey player is really hard and Ryker is ready to jump back into the dating game, only the one person who piques his interest is none other than Gray Brannon, the GM of his team and he knows better than to mix business with pleasure.
I love, love, love Ryker (both the book and the character)! I was drawn into this book as soon as I read Ryker's interactions with his daughters at the beginning but what made me sit up in excitement was Ryker's conversation with Gray about using statistical analysis in her hiring decisions. Weird, I know, but I'm a regular geek and brains are a real turn-on for me. I'm also all about girl power so I also completely loved the direction of the story – a woman breaking the glass ceiling in a man's world.
Ryker is my favorite of the series so far. I love him because of how much he loves his daughters. He's a dad first and a hockey player second. He's a macho and big guy but he's also confident, caring, sweet, sexy and in spite of his wife's cheating, he still believes in love and commitment. Most of all, I love that he's mature enough to be willing to give up his career so that the woman he loves can get a chance to make history in her own career.
And Gray. She is my favorite female character so far this year! She's a very potent combination of beauty and brains and has brass ones to go with that combo! She's tough, hardworking and even though she knows her job would not be easy, she's willing to take on the challenge with a smile on her face.
Ryker and Gray have some major chemistry and they have a lot to contend with – keeping things between them quiet to avoid the storm that would ensure if their relationship becomes public and external characters intent on sabotaging them both personally and professionally – so it's not a very smooth ride for them, but I love how creative they were at getting their HEA. RYKER is a sweet, sexy and emotional book and I enjoyed every single bit of it.
Sawyer is offering a RYKER Jersey Giveaway as well so click on the graphic below to go to the giveaway page!
About Sawyer Bennett
New York Times and USA Today bestselling Author, Sawyer Bennett is a snarky southern woman and reformed trial lawyer who decided to finally start putting on paper all of the stories that were floating in her head. Her husband works for a Fortune 100 company which lets him fly all over the world while she stays at home with their daughter and three big, furry dogs who hog the bed. Sawyer would like to report she doesn't have many weaknesses but can be bribed with a nominal amount of milk chocolate.
Sawyer is the author of several contemporary romances including the popular Off Series, the Legal Affairs Series and the Last Call Series.
Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
By Sawyer Bennett
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One response to "RYKER by Sawyer Bennett: Review"
Thank you for hosting RYKER! So happy you enjoyed!
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The Fortune Teller is an operetta in three acts written by Victor Herbert, with a libretto by Harry B. Smith. After a brief tryout in Toronto, it premiered on Broadway on September 26, 1898 at Wallack's Theatre and ran for 40 performances. It was revived on November 4, 1929 at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre and ran for 16 performances.
Herbert wrote his sixth operetta for prima donna Alice Nielsen and her newly formed Alice Nielsen Opera Company. Nielsen having earned widespread praise in The Serenade, requested and received not one but three roles in The Fortune Teller. The story is set in Hungary and involves Irma, an heiress from Budapest, who is studying for the ballet. Irma is in love with a young Hussar captain but is being forced to marry the silly Count Barezowski. When a gypsy fortune teller, Musette, arrives, she is mistaken for Irma, a case of mistaken identity that fosters many complications.
Songs include the famous "Gypsy Love Song," ('Slumber on, my little gypsy sweetheart') and "Romany Life."
GYPSY LOVE SONG
From the Broadway musical "The Fortune Teller" (1898)
(Victor Herbert / Henry Bache Smith)
William F. Hooley - 1899
Reinald Werrenrath - 1920
Chico Marx (feat. in the film "The Cocoanuts) - 1929
Bing Crosby & Frances Langford - 1938
Benny Goodman & His Orch. - 1939
Cab Calloway & His Orch. - 1945
Also recorded by:
Connee Boswell with Bob Crosby & His Bob-Cats;
Vaughn Monroe; Isley Brothers; Alfredo Campoli;
Jerry Hadley; ..... and others.
The birds of the forest are calling for thee
And the shades and the glades are lonely
Summer is there with her blossoms fair
And you are absent only
No bird That nests in the greenwood tree
But sighs to greet you and kiss you
All the violets yearn, yearn for your safe return
But most of all I miss you
Slumber on, my little gypsy sweetheart
Dream of the field and the grove
Can you hear me, hear me in that dreamland
Where your fancies rove
Wild little woodland dove
Can you hear the love song that tells you
All my heart's true love
The fawn that you tamed has a look in its eyes
That doth say, "We are too long parted"
Songs that are trolled by our comrades old
Are not now as they were light hearted
The wild rose fades in the leafy shades
Its ghost will find you and haunt
All the friends say come, come to your woodland home
And most of all I want you


Luca set her hot chocolate on the counter. I did the same with my gum. I pulled out my wallet, found a crisp new $5 bill and handed it to the clerk. Instead of making change he looked at it for a few seconds over an open till.
He reminded me of the forensic detectives on CSI. Did he think I'd given him a counterfeit fiver or was he looking for trace evidence?
After staring at it for a few seconds he took a couple steps backward into better light. Then he held the bill at arms length towards the light rocking it from side to side.
Maybe not but the clerk still wasn't satisfied. He turned the bill over and inspected it for a few seconds. At this point I wondered if I was going to leave the store with my daughter's hot chocolate and my Trident "Splash" Strawberry Lime gum. You know that kind that squirts when you bite it? Oh yes, it's as good as it sounds.
If I were going to print up a sheet full of counterfeit bills, I wouldn't risk prison time pumping out Lincolns.
No way. I wouldn't waste ink on anything less than a Jackson.
Just as I was about to say, "Is there a problem?" the clerk gently placed the five dollar bill in the till and counted my change back to me.
Next time it's Visa all the way.
Can you imagine how many fake bills actually through? It is astonishing. The more people use it, and businesses don't check, the more chances for you and me to get stuck with these bills and then look like criminals.
Really? There are a lot of fakes bills out there? It seems strange to check five dollar bills so carefully. The message it sends is, "I don't trust you".


Werder Bremen extended their unbeaten run to four matches in the Bundesliga with a 4-0 victory over Augsburg on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts put on a fine first-half display, netting three goals through a brace from Milot Rashica and a solitary strike from Johannes Eggestein.
Kevin Möhwald rounded off the scoring for the home side with his second goal of the campaign in the 83rd minute.
The win sees Bremen move up to 10th spot, while Augsburg have dropped to 15th position.
Kenan Karaman opened the scoring after 34 minutes. before Oliver Fink and Benito Raman rounded off the scoring in the second half.
Stuttgart also finished the game with ten men after Nicolas Gonzalez was shown a straight red card in second-half stoppage time.


Online registration is open. take advantage of the early fee!
Abstract Submission is open. Submission remains open until 22 September 2019!
Welcome to the 7th Meeting of the EAU Section of Uro-Technology in conjunction with the German Working Groups of Endourology, Laparoscopy and Robotic Assisted Surgery.
As ESUT Section chairman and Meeting chairman, it is our pleasure to announce that the Meeting of the European Section of Uro-Technology (ESUT) in conjunction with the German Working Groups of Endourology, Laparoscopy and Robotic Assisted Surgery will be organised on 23-24 January 2020 in the beautiful German city of Leipzig.
As during our last Meeting in Modena, attended by more than 600 experts in the field, the ESUT20 Meeting aims to introduce and provide updates of the most recent technological advances to European urologists and the impact of these developments on our everyday clinical practice. The Scientific Programme will provide many live demonstrations of urological procedures using modern instrumentations, with expert panels critically evaluating the benefits and limits of emerging technologies. Live surgery transmission will be organized both locally, but also from remote intercontinental locations. Moreover, the programme will focus on all available treatment options for the same disease, with treatment strategies directly compared to enable participants to draw conclusions and gain new insights regarding the superiority or drawbacks of these technologies.
Our scientific programme organisers are exerting all efforts to come up with a memorable meeting with the support of our partners and affiliates. The ESUT has always been a family for all endourologists and throughout all these years we are fortunate to have the collaboration of many experts and specialists.
So mark the date, tighten the bonds in our family as we continue to boost our scientific activities and social exchanges.
We look forward to see you in Leipzig in January 2020!
Leading experts from all over the world will present the entire spectrum of endourology and laparoscopy cases. Gain useful insights from interactive live surgeries performed in India, Brazil, China and Rome (Italy).
The EAU Section of Uro-Technology (ESUT) deals with novel technological developments in the field of urology and their application in the clinical practice. During ESUT20 you will get updated on the latest developments, technological breakthroughs and emerging techniques in uro-technology.


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One can also hear the underwater theme in the stage. The brothers travel through Dark Land, enter his castle, and defeat Bowser in a battle. In 2007, called Super Mario Bros. While there is no strategic advantage in performing this glitch, many find it intriguing. Then, when the Koopa is about to come out of its upside down shell, the player should hit the bricks again.
Disappearing Trampoline Sometimes, if someone breaks the bricks at the end of World 3-1 at just the right place, the will disappear. GamesRadar claimed that while Super Mario Bros. This is most likely caused by a data overflow signed byte , as the developers may not have thought said amount of lives could be earned. Then he or she must go to the left side of the second pit. Mario Tanooki Hoodie The coveted Tanooki suit was awfully hard to acquire in Super Mario Bros 3. In , the Mushroomy Kingdom stage, which is based on Worlds 1-1 and 1-2 from Super Mario Bros.
Trivia The original story of Super Mario Bros. In addition to simply looking better, there are a number of changes and improvements from the original New Super Mario and Luigi U games. Mario must go to the left side of the screen, jump, and not fall. She loses the Super Crown if she's hit by an enemy or if she picks up another power-up, such as a Fire Flower. Every world is broken into four levels with each coming full circle with a battle against Bowser. He taught us how to save from another castle, how to shoot fireballs at Goombas, how to fly using nothing more than a tail and, most importantly, he taught us touching a star turns you invincible not all of those lessons apply to real life. Total, there are five total playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Nabbit, Toad, and Toadette.
The game was also featured in. Video games have evolved over the years, and so has Mario. The overworld map displays an overhead representation of the current kingdom and has several paths leading from the world's entrance to a castle. En él representaremos a los personajes más importantes, Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi Princesa Peach, Yoshi y Toad. U Deluxe absolutely loves putting secret areas in its courses. Its inclusion in served as a preview which generated a high level of anticipation in the United States prior to its release.
Bueno lo primero es recortarlo todo para luego irlo pegando, pero en la L no debemos ponerle dentro el color verde, pues ya lo hace el gorro en si. On the other hand, I just got a sweet idea for a Mario Maker level. New enemies were included to add diversity to the game, along with variants of previous enemies, such as , Hammer Bros. Only can undo the spell and restore her people back to life, but she is being held captive by himself. The first few notes of this theme plays when switching from Mario and Luigi and back. To do this, Mario has to get past said pipe to update the teleport destination, then he has to go back and enter the pipe. The majority of the game takes place in these levels, with the player traversing the stage by running, jumping, flying, swimming, and dodging or defeating enemies.
The film was released in December 1989, between the Japanese and English versions of the game. Holding down left and repeatedly jumping will cause Mario to get inside of the wall, allowing the Mario Jackson glitch to occur, where Mario begins to moonwalk. If done correctly, Mario will go through the block on the far right and through the wall to the Warp Zone. If you have any other questions about New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, let me know in the comments! As in previous Mario games, they defeat enemies by stomping them or using that bestow magical powers; they also have new abilities, including flight or sliding down slopes. The overworld theme from this game is arranged and plays on the screen with Mario's face. Music Change This works in World 1-1. Includes the New Super Mario Bros.
The game ends with Toadstool being freed from the castle. Nintendo licensed its products for inclusion in what would become the film. Its incredible none the less. After a Game Over, pressing while holding on the title screen allows the player to continue from the start of the world. Mario could use weapons and the control scheme was different as a result, such as having the up arrow of the used as the jump button. U Deluxe is playable solo, or with up to four players at a time, each using a Joy-Con or other controller.
Later in the game, the items you earn will come in handy for tackling the toughest courses. All you have to do is use this officially licensed. Then, the player must back up and wait for the first Goomba to approach the pitfall. It contains three levels which can be beaten, and once -3 is complete the player will return to the title screen as if they have beaten the game. Also, the last course is based off of.
Bowser's children, the , were designed to be unique in appearance and personality; Miyamoto based the characters on seven of his programmers as a tribute to their work and efforts. The glitch was removed in all remakes of the game, excluding the imports and remakes. When the Koopa starts to walk under the level, Mario should follow it to the end. In worlds 3-1 and A-3, there are warp zones placed beyond the goals. For the most part, there's a considerable measure of bouncing and running as you make your way through the games eight universes. The game was designed to appeal to players of varying skill levels. There is no way to successfully complete the level, as entering the pipe at the end will simply return Mario or Luigi to the one at the beginning.
We know your little one probably hasn't quite been able to grow that perfect facial hair just yet, which is why this costume comes complete with a fake mustache. This is because when Mario hits a wall, he goes slightly into the wall. If done correctly, Mario will go through the block on the far right and through the wall to the Warp Zone. There are tons of reasons to love Shigeru Miyamoto's little plumber. Kahn told Ars Technica that the game could eventually be worth a million dollars, if video game collecting grows at a similar pace to comic books and coins. For those who find the game too easy, however, New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe includes three new modes: Boost Rush, Challenges, and Coin Battle that offer more complex challenges. At the ending, there are two Question Blocks.


The Executive Master Program in Business Administration with Dual Specialization along with the 4 Certificate enables the managers to understand the challenges of business world and to master the opportunities they represent.
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After successful completion of this course the student is fully equipped with the right qualification certification along with the right experience. The growth of the student in any sector would be exponential and tremendous.


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Chris Cornell's Daughter Shares Duet Of Prince Cover For Father's Day tribute
(hennemusic) Chris Cornell's daughter, Toni, is streaming audio of a duet by the pair on the Prince song, "Nothing Campres 2 U", as a Father's Day tribute to the late Soundgarden singer.
"Daddy, I love you and miss you so much," shared Toni on the rocker's social media sites. "You were the best father anyone could ask for. Our relationship was so special, and you were always there for me. You gave me courage when I didn't have any. You believed in me when I didn't. I miss your love every day.
"Recording this song with you was a special and amazing experience I wish I could repeat 100 times over and I know you would too. Happy Father's Day daddy, nothing compares to you."
Originally written by Prince for one of his side projects, The Family, the tune first appeared on that group's self-titled 1985 album before becoming a worldwide hit by Sinead O'Connor in 1990. Stream the duet here.
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I don't recall actively pushing music on my children, but they will tell you there was always music around; for the most part it was Classic Rock. For me it was just music I'd gotten stuck on between the ages of 18 and 25. If I was at home and the TV wasn't on, I had the stereo playing. I rigged up speakers in the basement workshop so I could have music down there. Before the days of Walkmen and iPods I even rigged an old transistor radio with a headphone jack so I could listen to music while I mowed the lawn.
In the car it was 96 Rock most of the time. They played the artists I liked, but not just their hits. They also played deep cuts from older albums and new releases. I'd sometimes switch over to Fox 97, the "oldies" station that played 60s and 70s Top Forty and sing along, certainly mortifying my daughter when she had friends in the car.
I remember telling him that The Beatles, Clapton, Billy Joel etc. were classics that would stand the test of time and one day he would appreciate them. I also told him there would come a day when he'd sell or give away his rap CDs and that in 10 years (this was probably about 1990) nobody would be listening to that "stuff"-I refused to call it music. HHe reminded me recently that I was only half right, the genre has endured and is bigger today than it ever was.
Someplace in here I guess it clicked. In his last year or so of high school I'd occasionally notice that a cassette or two missing from my rack. Maybe Springsteen or the Who. When the Drama Department had its annual Talent Night he played a smoking version of "Pinball Wizard" on the guitar. He was listening to Green Day, Nirvana and Pearl Jam (at least it was rock n roll..), but it appeared Dad's music had some merit, too.
Things really changed when Scott went away to college and was exposed to the musical melting pot that is Athens, Georgia. His musical horizons were stretched way beyond anything I could imagine. All of a sudden he was hearing more new music in a week than I heard in a year. Not at all unlike my experience when I went off to college in Boston 25 years before. He was excited and enthusiastic about it.
There is a saying that goes something like this: "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear". I guess at forty-five the student was ready, because the teacher appeared, in the form of my son. He started (as we used to say) "turning me on" to groups like The Jayhawks, Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt and Wilco. Wow, there had been some really great music made since 1980. Rock and Roll didn't die with disco! Not only that, he quickly drew the parallels and his appreciation for the music I love exploded. This give and take has of course continued. I started a list of all the bands Scott brought to my attention and found that maybe 75% of what he recommends I really like. That's a pretty good batting average; I'm not sure I do as well with him. He still doesn't get the Doors or Steely Dan, and loathes most of the Eagles catalog.
To use a Classic Rock analogy; Blood, Sweat and Tears first album was titled "The Child is Father to the Man". That's how it turned out musically in our family, and I'm really glad it did.
You can sing as loud as you want in the car Pomp! I no longer get embarrassed by you!
Specifically, he said "Rap is a fad, there is no way this will be around in 10 years" About the only thing in my entire life I can think of that Dad has been explicitly wrong about. Excepting all of the Braves' world series wins, of course.
I swear just the other day I heard "Pinball Wizard" and thought of the time I saw that in the old high school theater with Scott (and others).
Loved Fox 97. Z93 was my favorite for the longest time. But the saddest day for Atlanta radio, as far as I am concerned, was when 96 Rock went off the air.
It was Mitch Stripling and Patrick Snow. They did the singing and came up with a pretty good routine to go along with it.


Are you searching for a chiropractor? Actually, there are myriad men and women out there who are searching for these health practitioners because they want to get treatment or relief from whatever pain they have in their bodies. If you are like those who experienced leg pain, back pain or recuperating from diverse kinds of accidents, then surely you need to hire certified, accredited, licensed and experienced chiropractors. Because of the great demand of their services, you can find plenty of chiropractors in the marketplace. That is why, it is challenging to choose one. To help you with it, you can adhere to the tips showcased in here in finding the right chiropractors.
If you want effective treatment and management for different bodily pain, then you should begin by selecting and hiring reputable chiropractor to help you out. Always remember that chiropractic treatment involves wide-array of techniques and practice philosophies. For these reasons, patients should get only the services of trusted and reputable chiropractors operating in the market. If you are careful and cautious in choosing your family doctor, then you should do the same with chiropractors. Always remember that you are risking your health, hence you should hire only experienced and reputable one.
2. It is also important to hire chiropractors whom you are comfortable dealing with. It is vital to get positive treatment and relations with them. One way of knowing this aspect is by talking to several chiropractors so as to know who have the skills in establishing rapport and positive relations with their patients.
3. To narrow your list of chiropractors, it is advised that you dig deeper by knowing not just the treatment options they offer but also their charges as well as the other services they offer.
6. It is also important for patients and their families to opt only for chiropractors who are accredited with national, local and international organizations and associations of chiropractors.


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Packers', Steelers' 300-pounders bulk up now, worry about later
Published: Feb 01, 2011 at 03:59 PM
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Casey Hampton is listed at 325 pounds. The way his jersey stretches tautly across his biceps (and belly) suggests the real number is north of that. Asked for his actual weight, the Steelers nose tackle says: "It's 300 and change. Lots of change."
Hampton is among 26 players on Green Bay's and Pittsburgh's Super Bowl rosters -- 13 apiece -- who tip the scale at more than 300 pounds -- an eye-popping number made more startling when placed in historical context.
Green Bay's first Super Bowl team, 45 years ago, didn't have a guy heavier than 265 pounds. Mean Joe Greene, at 275 pounds, was the biggest player on the Steelers when they won their second of six championships in 1976.
All this largesse was roundly joked about and brushed off during Super Bowl media day Tuesday -- as good a day as any to celebrate all the excesses that America's favorite sport has to offer. But it also brings up some uncomfortable questions. Namely: How'd these guys all get so big, and could any of this really be good for them?
"In terms of food, yeah, they eat tons of food during their careers, and they get very big," said dietitian Michele Macedonio, who has worked for the Cincinnati Bengals. "And if they don't do something to get back to their healthful weight, their rate of disease is very high."
As for those using more than food, well, that's a statistic that almost certainly won't ever be properly measured.
The supplement Creatine helps stimulate muscle growth and has long been considered an integral part of any NFL player's bodybuilding regimen. But even that has its limits, and the growth rate of the players -- even more noticeable while walking among them on media day when they're not covered in shoulder pads and helmets -- has been more or less exponential.
According to stats provided to The Associated Press by Stats LLC, there was one 300-pound player in the league in 1970, three in 1980, 94 in 1990, 301 in 2000 and 394 at the start of last season.
Meanwhile, the NFL does not test for human-growth hormone and has a banned-substances list that's considered laughably short by the people who run Olympic-style testing programs.
"That's a difficult one for me to respond to other than to say that the sport played in my country, rugby union, the same thing has happened since the game went more professional, since there started being more money in it," said David Howman, a New Zealand native who is the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency. "I look back to when I was a kid and remember the size of the players when I was a kid. Nowadays, they'd be lucky to make it to" a preseason game.
Speaking of which, Packers nose tackle Howard Green spent the preseason with the Redskins, who wanted him to play at about 360 pounds. They cut him and the Jets picked him up, but after a few more weeks they decided he was too heavy. So they released him, then the Packers signed him and, in their media guide, they boasted that he "brings size and bulk to the interior of the defensive front at 6-foot-2, 340 pounds."
He's more like 355 pounds. A 15-pound discrepancy. A drop in the bucket.
"That's cool for right now," Green said. "I could do better, but I've got to do what I do for right now. You can't go into depletion mode in the middle of the season. You'll be weak. You'll get your butt kicked out here by these guys."
In very little danger of getting his butt kicked by anyone is the Packers' starting nose tackle, B.J. Raji, who's listed at 337. His nickname: "The Freezer" -- a name he appreciates although he was an infant when fellow appliance/big man William "Refrigerator" Perry was playing.
Raji returned an interception 18 yards for a touchdown in the NFC Championship Game against the Bears.
"When B.J. scored, it got to rumbling in there," said Packers defensive end Cullen Jenkins, who weighs 305. "I could feel the ground shaking a little bit."
Says Raji: "Big guys, we're always trying to keep our weight down. You have to stay on top of it. I have no problem with that."
Packers defensive lineman Ryan Pickett does.
He says his "magic number" is 338 pounds. Weigh-ins are every Thursday, and he pays $500 for every pound he's over.
"Right when I get on the scale, I start having flashbacks," he said. "It's everything. It's, 'Man, I shouldn't have done that this week.' Or 'Why did I do this?' Or 'If I hadn't done that, I'd have been fine.'"
"This" and "that," Pickett conceded, are indulgences such as the huge bucket of chicken wings he and the other linemen "gorge on" after the weigh-ins are over.
It's pretty much the same story on the Steelers side.
The heaviest Steeler, 344-pound offensive lineman Chris Kemoeatu, said the O-line eats together a lot -- and sometimes that can be hard.
"Just looking at what the dude sitting next to you is eating makes you want to eat more," Kemoeatu said. "But you have to watch yourself. The team invests a lot of money in you. And they fine you if you get overweight."
Indeed, it is a dollars-and-cents business, and staying big is these guys' livelihood, even if it sets them up for a possible failed drug test (exceedingly rare given the NFL's testing policy) or bigger health problems down the road.
Macedonio referred to a study that showed a sampling of 70 collegiate offensive lineman averaged 27.4 percent body fat -- the healthy range is 8 to 19 percent -- and that 69 of those players already had at least one condition, such as high blood pressure or waist circumference of 40 inches or greater, that predicted they would be susceptible to heart disease later in life.
She said there was no accurate way of gauging whether the supplements players use are allowed or disallowed.
"Guys use supplements all the time," she said. "Now, are they legal supplements? The ones I see have to be legal, because they're inside the (team) weight rooms.
"If they're not doing legal things, are they going to tell me about that? No. They're not going to sit there and tell me."
The man who used to be the poster child for unhealthy NFL living here in the Super Bowl city of Dallas is Nate Newton. Once a proud 400-pounder nicknamed "The Kitchen," he's now on billboards for gastric-sleeve surgery. The ads scream "Lose Weight Like Nate," and, indeed, Newton is a shell of his former self, weighing in at a svelte 215 pounds. He said all the weight-related health problems he had -- diabetic condition, sleep apnea and more -- resolved themselves when he took off the pounds.
On the other end, there's the story of his fellow Cowboys lineman, Erik Williams, who limped into the Super Bowl media hotel Tuesday on a cane. He recently was diagnosed with severe degenerative arthritis in his hip -- a result, in part, of playing in the 300-plus range over 11 seasons.
"I'm disabled right now," he said. "I need two hip replacements. It's definitely something to look out for."
And yet, he concedes, he wouldn't change a thing.
"If they lose weight, then they jeopardize their position," Williams said. "Linemen have to be strong, have to be quick, have to be agile. It comes with the territory. They may need hip surgery, it might be toes, or it might be knees. I'd just tell guys to just keep doing things you love, and whatever consequences come with that, deal with it."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press


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