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Trending > Genetics & Genomics
Using CRISPR to Edit the Genomes of Microbes in the Gut
The gene editing tool CRISPR was originally inspired by an immune defense system used by bacteria, and it's been adapted by scientists to be an editor that can alter the genomes of many different species. Now, it's been applied to an organism that exists inside of another. May animals, including humans carry a huge community of microbes in our gastrointestinal tracts, and scientists have been learning that this microbiome can have a significant influence on various aspects of health. The human microbiome has been linked to many disorders, and modifying it could be a way to treat disease. Scientists have now brought CRISPR to the microbiome, and edited the genome of gut microbes called Escherichia coli that were living in the gastrointestinal tracts of mice. The work has been published in Cell Reports.
"We've demonstrated the first stable gene edit within the gut microbiome of a mammal," said Peter Turnbaugh, PhD, a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). "This is the starting point for trying to engineer bacteria within the gut."
There are a few ways to alter the microbiome, usually in broad strokes. Antibiotics, for example, can kill off huge swaths of the microbiome, but they do so indiscriminately, and we need beneficial microbes or nasty ones can get a foothold. Sometimes, an antibiotic treatment can lead to a disrupted microbiome and poor health for just that reason. Fecal transplants have been used to treat that problem, but the treatment is not applied in many cases, and doesn't always work. Diet can also change the microbiome, but that may have a slow effect, which may also be small.
Scientists can now tinker with the genomes of gut bacteria to assess how those changes impact the microbiome and health of a host. This could help reveal the bacteria that might have a detrimental or therapeutic effect on various intestinal diseases.
"Being able to alter the DNA of microbes already in the gut can allow us to study the microbiome in a more controlled way than we've been able to before," said Turnbaugh. "It really gives us a chance to ask important questions about health and disease." This technique could help create microbiome treatments that work in a more precise way.
Though E. coli is usually associated with food poisoning, not all strains are dangerous, and they are commonly used in the research lab. In this study, the researchers used a virus called M13 to infect a specific strain of E. coli in the guts of mice, using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editor. They specifically targeted one strain of E. coli, aiming to remove large portions of its genome. This approach caused the strain to be eliminated from the microbiomes of the mice; only one percent of the original level still remained after only two weeks.
Turnbaugh is hopeful that eventually, this method could encourage the growth of beneficial microbes, and reduce harmful ones, in people.
"The dream is that you could just choose which specific strains in your gut, or even just individual genes you want to promote or take out," Turnbaugh said. "We're really excited about how far we were able to push this in E. coli. Hopefully it will lead to similar tools for other members of the gut microbiota."
Sources: UCSF, Cell Reports
Carmen Leitch
Experienced research scientist and technical expert with authorships on over 30 peer-reviewed publications, traveler to over 70 countries, published photographer and internationally-exhibited painter, volunteer trained in disaster-response, CPR and DV counseling.
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Jack Kerouac e beat generation
Appunto inviato da nerocristallo
Jack Kerouac: vita, pensiero, opere e breve descrizione del suo romanzo autobiografico "On the road" (Sulla strada) (2 pagine formato doc)
JACK KEROUAC: VITA
Jack Kerouac.
Jack Kerouac, the king of the Beat, as he defined himself, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1922, of French-Canadian parents. His childhood was typical of a standard American boy. He sought some sort of evasion in day-dreams about becoming a football champion, a writer and so on.
He netered Columbia University, but abandoned the studies after one year and went back to his home.
He tried more several manual jobs and was in the Navy for a few months.
In 1943 he went to New York, and joined some young people who, like him, rebelled against the middle class way of life.
In 1944 he met Allen Ginsberg who remained one of his true friends in the corse of his life.
He soon began to live in an apartment with a small group of young people. The group separated in 1945 and Keoruac joined his parents.
In this period he began to write The Town and the City, a novel reflecting his own life experiences.
He met Neal Cassady. Neal's spontaneity, love for adventure made him a sort of hero in Jack's eyes; he idealized the new friend and portrayed him in On the Road, his best known novel.
In 1947 Kerouac hitch-hiked around the country.
In 1948 he began to work at On the Road; his restlessness led him to ch'ange his residence continually. First he lived with his family, the with friends in San Francisco and New York.
In 1950 Jack was busy working at On the Road, to which he devoted himself with ardour, trying to convey the spirti of the adventures which make up the book.
Kerouac's role in the book is that of the narrator, and the rest of the characters, like the adventures described, depict the author's own friends and experiences.
As soon as the book was finished, in 1951, Kerouac resumed his restless moving from place to place. He had financial difficulties and became more and more dependent on alcohol; during this gloomy period he found comfort in the study of Buddhism. The Dharma Bums reflects the author's interest in Oriental philosophy. In 1955 Kerouac obtained a contract with a publisher and consented to the piblication of passages from On the Road in magazines. In 1956 Kerouac work as firewatcher. It was an experience of solitude and he abandoned it to go back to his standard life among people, noises, on the road. In 1957 On the Road was published. The book became a best-seller. Kerouac was faced with the difficult side of popularity: newspaper reports, radio and tv interviews were too much for him. He drank more and more and suffered from hallucinations.
He returned to live with his mother. Big Sur contains the account of his despair at the breakdown of all is hopes, and Desolation Angels contains his thoughts. His last novel was Pic.
The writer died in 1969 from abdominal hemorrhaging, a consequence of his alcoholism.
JACK KEROUAC: BEAT GENERATION
The Beat Generation. Kerouac was the outstanding personality of the Beat Generation, a group of writers who rejected the way of life of the Establishement. They marked a revolution in the style of life, advocating freedom, peace, love. The group included writers like Ginsberg, Corso, Holmes, Cassady, Burroughs.
Te Beats did not denunce, they sought for a new reality, in order to give shape and meaning to life.
They were basically a religious generation. They found inspiration in various form of mysticism, in a life of endless travelling always in search of new sensations and in jazz.
They also turned to extreme means, like alcohol, drugs, or speed driving, risking death like James Dean.
On the road: trama del libro di Jack Kerouac
JACK KEROUAC: ON THE ROAD
On the Road. A novel about a group of friends travelling across the USA, driving cars from one city to another. They are constantly moving, determined to have any new experience.
Jack Kerouac: vita, opere e analisi di On the road
Letteratura straniera — Biografia, libri e poesie di Jack Kerouac, scrittore e poeta statunitense tra i più importanti del XX secolo e autore del romanzo autobiografico On the road…
Jack Kerouac e la beat generation: riassunto
Letteratura straniera — Vita e libri di Jack Kerouac e storia della beat generation: riassunto
Jack Kerouac: riassunto
Letteratura straniera — Breve riassunto in inglese della vita di Jack Kerouac, i suoi libri, e della beat generation
Scheda libro Sulla strada
Letteratura straniera — Sulla strada: scheda libro del romanzo scritto da Kerouac
On the road: trama del libro di Kerouac
Letteratura straniera — On the road: trama e caratteristiche del libro di Kerouac, l'autore e la beat generation con un commento di Fernanda Pivano
Podcast su Jack Kerouac
File audio scaricabile gratuitamente su Jack Kerouac. Podcast con biografia, opere principali e temi dello scrittore della Beat Generation…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Alison Frankel
War looms between plaintiffs' firms after suit vs. Walmart board is tossed
By Alison Frankel
(Reuters) – When Delaware shareholder lawyer Stuart Grant of Grant & Eisenhofer gets mad, he says so.
A decision Tuesday by a federal judge in Texarkana, Arkansas, has left him enraged. The ruling, which tossed a derivative suit against Wal-Mart's directors and officers for allegedly covering up bribes paid by the company's Mexican subsidiary, has left the fate of Grant's long-running Delaware investigation of Wal-Mart's board in serious doubt. He blames Wal-Mart and its lawyers at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher for delaying his case so the company could litigate in Arkansas instead. But Grant also says the plaintiffs' lawyers who brought the Arkansas derivative suit made a big mistake in their handling of the case. And if Delaware judges ultimately decide that the Arkansas dismissal precludes Grant from bringing Delaware claims against Wal-Mart's board, he told me Tuesday, he may file a malpractice suit against the plaintiffs' lawyers who litigated the Arkansas case. "If I were them, I'd be letting my malpractice carriers know," Grant said.
That's a pretty radical idea, not least because Grant would actually be suing on behalf of Wal-Mart. Remember, derivative suits are filed by shareholders standing in the shoes of the corporation itself to assert allegations against directors and officers. So any purported malpractice claim stemming from the Arkansas derivative litigation would actually belong to Wal-Mart, not to shareholders. I'm sure a derivative malpractice suit by one set of shareholders against lawyers for another set of shareholders acting on behalf of the corporation would raise all kinds of questions about standing and adequacy of representation.
But what about the merits? How did this litigation get to a point in which the future of Grant's Delaware case depends on work by other plaintiffs' lawyers in Arkansas?
That story begins in 2012, after the New York Times broke the news of Wal-Mart's alleged coverup of bribes paid by the company's Mexican subsidiary. The Times revelations were blood in the water for the shareholder bar. In addition to a securities fraud class action based on the company's supposed misrepresentations to investors, shareholder lawyers initiated derivative litigation against Wal-Mart directors and officers in two different jurisdictions, Delaware, where Wal-Mart is incorporated, and Arkansas, where the company is headquartered.
Grant, who is one of the savviest plaintiffs' lawyers in Delaware, recognized that judges in Delaware Chancery Court have come to look askance at derivative suits by shareholders that haven't conducted a pre-suit investigation of corporate books and records. So instead of rushing to file a complaint against Wal-Mart, he made a demand to see the corporation's books. That is supposed to be a relatively quick process, but Grant and Wal-Mart ended up in heated litigation over what Wal-Mart must produce to shareholders. Grant won a 2014 Delaware Supreme Court decision giving him access to a broad swath of documents, but Wal-Mart managed to narrow the scope of production in subsequent litigation before Chancellor Andre Bouchard.
Grant is now trying to have Wal-Mart and its lawyers sanctioned for misrepresenting how the documents were produced in certifications to the court. Bouchard is scheduled to hear Grant's contempt motion in May. After nearly three years of fighting over the books and records he is entitled to see, Grant has still not actually filed a derivative suit against Wal-Mart's board, though he told me Tuesday that his draft complaint is just about ready.
In Arkansas, meanwhile, plaintiffs' firms led by Scott & Scott filed a derivative complaint in federal court that included, in addition to state-law breach of duty claims, additional claims under the federal Securities and Exchange Act. Scott & Scott didn't move first to see Wal-Mart's books and records, said lead partner Judy Scolnick, because there was no need: The public record already contained copious evidence to justify shareholders' derivative claims.
Wal-Mart moved to stay the Arkansas case while the Delaware books-and-records action moved forward. The trial judge agreed to defer to Delaware, but in December 2013, the 8th U.S. District Court of Appeals ruled that the Arkansas derivative suit should proceed in federal court.
Both Grant and Scolnick say that their firms discussed how to deal with the situation, in which parallel derivative cases were moving forward in two separate jurisdictions. Those discussions do not appear to have been amicable. Grant, who represents pension funds with a combined stake of nearly $1 billion in Wal-Mart shares, told me he invited Scott & Scott to drop the Arkansas suit and join the Delaware case. According to him, Scott & Scott said it wouldn't do that unless he agreed to permit Scott & Scott to serve as lead counsel in Delaware. Grant refused.
Scolnick told me in an email that Scott & Scott asked Grant several times to join its Arkansas case, which, unlike a suit in Chancery Court, could be tried before a jury. "Mr. Grant refused to participate for no apparent reason other than to serve his own economic self-interest and sense of self-aggrandizement," she wrote.
That's the background to the decision Tuesday, in which U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey ruled that the derivative suit must be dismissed because Scott & Scott didn't serve a demand letter on the Wal-Mart board and failed to establish that such a demand would have been futile. Scott & Scott's Scolnick said the firm intends to appeal the decision and believes the 8th Circuit will reverse Judge Hickey on demand futility.
Wal-Mart lawyer Theodore Boutrous of Gibson Dunn sent me a very circumspect statement when I emailed to ask how the Arkansas ruling will impact the Delaware case: "The shareholder plaintiffs, represented by experienced counsel, had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the question of demand futility in Arkansas," the statement said. "Judge Hickey correctly ruled that their allegations were insufficient."
You can be dead sure, however, that Wal-Mart and Gibson Dunn will argue in Delaware that Judge Hickey's ruling precludes any derivative action by Grant's plaintiffs under the doctrine of collateral estoppel. They've got very strong precedent for that contention. In 2013, the Delaware Supreme Court considered a case with facts very similar to the ones in the Wal-Mart litigation. Parallel derivative suits were brought against Allergan in Delaware and federal court. The federal case was tossed, and Allergan moved to dismiss the Delaware case, arguing that the California decision disposed of it as well. Vice-Chancellor Travis Laster, blasting the plaintiffs' firms in the California case for rushing to file without conducting an adequate pre-suit investigation, refused to dismiss the Delaware suit. But the Delaware Supreme Court reversed Laster in 2013, finding that the complaints in the Delaware and California cases were so similar that the two sets of plaintiffs – one in Delaware and the other in California – were in the same boat.
Wal-Mart lawyer Mark Perry of Gibson Dunn just happens to have argued and won that 2013 ruling for Allergan, which is why there is absolutely no doubt that Wal-Mart knows exactly how potent the Arkansas dismissal will be in Delaware.
But Grant told me there is a critical difference between the Allergan and Wal-Mart facts: Because of the material he has obtained in his long quest for Wal-Mart documents, he said, his complaint will be much stronger than the complaint in the dismissed Arkansas suit. He said, in fact, that the allegations in his yet-to-be-filed complaint will show why Scott & Scott and the other plaintiffs' firms in the Arkansas derivative litigation ill-served shareholders by moving forward with a case before conducting a books and records investigation.
"This is a perfect example of what happens when you have a small shareholder running to a foreign jurisdiction filing a derivative suit without investigation" he said. "I don't believe this is the way Delaware wants things to be."
Grant says he will consider a derivative malpractice case against the plaintiffs' firms in the Arkansas case only if his Delaware suit is barred as a result of the Arkansas dismissal. Scolnick of Scott & Scott said in an email that such case would be utterly unfounded. "While we were working our case in the Western District of Arkansas, Mr. Grant has been tilting at windmills in Delaware," she wrote. "Now, in an apparent temper tantrum, Mr. Grant has resorted to Monday morning quarterbacking, name-calling and lobbing incendiary and frivolous charges at our firm … Mr. Grant's resort to name calling and threats is unfortunate, and only empowers the wrongdoers that we should be joined in seeking to hold accountable. We have an important job to do in pressing our appeal before the Eighth Circuit and should not have to be distracted by the brouhaha created by Mr. Grant's petulance."
For more of my posts, please go to WestlawNext Practitioner Insights
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Bonjour, lovely ones! I don't want to see any moody faces today! It's the first day of May, which means, we can all start counting down for summer vacation – if you haven't already. I just wanted to give you a post that will make you smile and just stop for a second, look around and appreciate the small things.
Each year in my hometown on the last day of April, a flower festival is being held. Everyone goes downtown for the music and a glimpse of the beautiful colours. Oh, the colours are endless… It's like a wonderland of pastels!
So, what better to do when it's so warm outside and you know everyone will be there than a date night, walking around the flowers. Under the starry sky, as it's already 25 degrees in the evening here in Greece, just a spaghetti strap dress and a denim jacket is enough. What did I forget? Oh, that's right! The more-than-necessary-for-the-night flower crown.
Take in all the colours and smells and enjoy the last month of spring!
P.S. I know this one didn't have any super interesting discussions but those flower pictures are a wonderful way to welcome May and I hope I got you in the mood to fill your house with colour end floral smells. More content coming up soon!


How much do Edelweiss Financial Services employees make? Glassdoor has salaries, wages, tips, bonuses, and hourly pay based upon employee reports and estimates.
See Edelweiss Financial Services Hourly Wages, Edelweiss Financial Services Bonuses, or check out salaries for Edelweiss Financial Services Internship or Edelweiss Financial Services Contractor.


Schedule your appointment today. Walk-ins are welcome!
Correct your eyesight and complete your mind's vision of obtaining gorgeous frames or contact lenses at Eyecon Optometry. Find a huge selection of exclusive and fashion-forward frames and high-tech lenses.
You'll get the latest in eye exam technology at our doctor-owned and operated office. Get a FREE 1 year warranty with the purchase of a pair of frames and receive a discount when you buy your second pair.
We are now accepting new patients. Call 425-678-0300 or email us to schedule an appointment.
The doctors and staff of Eyecon Optometry are committed to providing our patients with the very best in eye care. We believe the Optomap Retinal Exam is an important part of your annual eye health exam. We strongly recommend every patient have an Optomap Retinal Exam to aid in early detection of eye and systemic diseases. Visit the Optomap website to learn more about this amazing technology.
In everything we do, we aim to provide our friends, neighbors, and the surrounding community with quality eye care and optometric expertise in a setting that is friendly, organized, and efficient.
"I love this place! Small shop with great customer service. I had fun trying on new frames here. They gave me great, honest advice and helped me find a perfect pair."
"This was my first visit with Dr Godines and the team at Eyecon. I will definitely be back. They took the time to explain the results of my eye tests and details of my prescription. Then, even the Dr came out to help me find the perfect frames!
The technology they have is top notch. I was able to see a map of my retina (so interesting!) and they have a machine that helps measure your glasses for a perfect fit. I can't wait to get my frames back!"
"I've had a wonderful experience working with Eyecon Optometry. They are always professional, personable, and welcoming! I was able to get an appointment within two hours of calling with an eye emergency. Great staff, very accommodating, I highly recommend!"
"This place definitely exceeded my expectations for eye doctors. The appointment was quick but I felt like he really took the time to answer my questions and any concerns I had with my vision and walked me through my options with insurance. Will definitely be returning when I need fresh contacts or new glasses."
"My experience here was fantastic. Everybody was ridiculously nice! I will continue to go here for many many years. Dr. Godines was fantastic! Keep up the great work Eyecon!"
Call us today or visit our appointment request page to find a time that is convenient for you to see Dr. Brian Godines!


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Thank you, Dr. Lockamy: retiring schools superintendent will be missed
It's disappointing, but not totally unexpected, to hear that Savannah-Chatham Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Lockamy plans to retire at the end of the school year.
There were rumblings that Dr. Lockamy, who was hired to run the public school system in 2005, might retire last year after 10 years as superintendent. Fortunately, several school board members and others talked him out of it. It's a testimony to Dr. Lockamy's skills as a professional that he was able to stay in this job for 11 years, a relative eternity in his line of work, where the average tenure of a superintendent is about two years.
Dr. Lockamy, a true turn-around artist, has earned his retirement. Under his leadership, the local school district has made tremendous strides. Perhaps his biggest achievement is largely erasing the negative reputation of public schools, which once triggered a massive flight among children of middle-class families to private schools here and a migration to public schools in Effingham and Bryan counties.
If anything, that trend has been stopped if not reversed: Public school enrollment, about 38,000, has never been higher in recent years, and many schools are bursting at the seams as more parents are choosing to send their children to local public schools for academic and economic reasons.
The superintendent's long-range plan to improve the district, called Passport to Excellence, has been a proven winner. Graduation rates have jumped 14 points in three years, as the district has done a much better job of tracking the progress of individual students and helping those who are struggling so they can stay in school and earn their diplomas. Conversely, dropout rates have been falling, proof that the district isn't giving up on failing students and is staying true to the superintendent's motto when it comes to educating all students, not just those who attend certain schools: His words, "All means all," have been drilled into the heads of every teacher and principal in the district.
Are all public schools where they need to be to serve all students?
No, not by a long shot. Too many of them are failing their students, which is why Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal tried unsuccessfully this year to set up a statewide system to take over operations of chronically failing schools in Georgia. Savannah-Chatham had several of these chronically failing schools on the governor's list.
But Dr. Lockamy and his staff have been doing a lot of things right. The Woodville-Tompkins Technical and Career High School, created to help students acquire real-world job skills, has been a smashing success. So has the cutting-edge STEM school at Bartlett. Beach High School has been totally transformed, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of despair and poor academics.
One success that has continued to elude the superintendent and will be left for the next one is turning around Savannah High School, which occupies one of the district's newer buildings but is sadly underutilized.
While the superintendent is appointed and works at the pleasure of the elected school board, voters here have had the opportunity to express their opinions about his job performance three separate times in ESPLOST referenda to generate additional revenue for public school project by imposing additional sales taxes. Voters looked at the district and liked what they saw, as ESPLOST cruised to success at the polls each time.
Dr. Lockamy also has been an adept politician in dealing with what may be any superintendent's toughest task: Working with elected school boards that are subject to change every election cycle. He has been blessed with a slew of good board members, including fellow educator Joe Buck, a former two-term school board president. Both men saw eye-to-eye on a lot of things, which allowed the district to avoid the kind of pitfalls that trip most superintendents.
Finally, Dr. Lockamy has been blessed with the ability to surround himself with good people. One of the best was Dr. Otis Brock III, one of his chief lieutenants who died in 2012. His academic team led by Ann Levett has successfully tackled lagging academic outcomes.
Dr. Lockamy's low-key and dry-witted style has also contributed to his success. The former administrator who came here from Norfolk, Va., was nothing like the bombastic and divisive school chief he replaced, Col. John O'Sullivan. Dr. Lockamy's own humble beginnings as a school teacher gave him special insight into the struggles of the many poverty-stricken students and their parents here who view public schools as their best ticket to a better future.
This is ancient history now, but Dr. Lockamy was hired in 2005 in a 6-3 vote by a school board that was racially divided. Credit should go to those board members who provided the prevailing margin to bring Dr. Lockamy to town over other candidates and give him an opportunity here: Hugh Golson (board president), Susu Cox and Lori Brady.
They proved that the most important job for a school board is recruiting, then keeping, a good superintendent. In Superintendent Lockamy, this district has been blessed with one of the best.
The public thanks him for his contributions and his decision to stay put for so long. He will be missed, and he leaves some big shoes to fill.


Blue oak (Quercus douglasii) is one of several species of native California oaks that is reported to be regenerating poorly in some locations. Recent studies have indicated that two of the most important factors limiting both natural recruitment success and field performance of planted seedlings are 1) limited soil moisture induced by competing plants, and 2) browsing or insect defoliation. A variety of approaches have been used to offset these factors including several types of cages and alternative methods of weed control. This study compared the effects of a relatively new type of protector (rigid tree shelters) with standard screen cages on the field performance of blue oak seedlings. It also examined the response of seedlings to varying levels of weed control including no weed removal and weed-free circles with diameters of 2, 4, and 6 feet.
Twenty one-year-old container seedlings were planted for each of the eight treatment combinations in February, 1991. From planting until the end of summer, weeds in the circles were removed by hoeing. The survival, height, height increment, caliper and caliper increment were evaluated at the end of the first field growing season.
After one year seedlings protected with tree shelters were significantly taller than those in screen cages (46 vs 29 cm), had significantly greater height increment and significantly greater survival (90 vs 71%). However, there were no differences in caliper or caliper increment between these groups. The size of weed control areas also had significant, but less dramatic, effects. In general, seedlings receiving no weed control or 2-foot diameter circles had significantly less height, height increment, caliper and caliper increment than those with 4- or 6-foot diameter weed-free circles. There were no significant differences in survival between the four weed control treatments, though seedlings from treatments with the greatest weed control had the highest average survival. There was, however, a significant interaction between weed control and type of protector for height increment; seedlings with good weed control tended to grow much taller in shelters, while those with little or no weed control remained stunted regardless of the protection used.
This study indicates that rigid tree shelters can promote increased survival and height growth of blue oak seedlings. However, shelters had no effect on caliper and consequently the seedlings tended to be tall and spindly. Stem elongation of this type may partially be due to lower light levels within the shelters. It is not yet clear how this growth form will affect subsequent field performance or the ability of the seedlings to grow upright once the shelters are removed. This study also found that the size of weed control significantly affected performance, with 4-foot diameter circles best in terms of costs and benefits. Larger circles added little to growth or survival, while smaller circles or no weed control resulted in less survival and smaller seedlings.


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Q: Spring Custom Value Resolver I have a simple spring boot application and I would like to write a custom value resolver for something like this:
@Value("${APPL:key}"
private value;

Now I need to extract the placeholder, parse it and resolve it by a custom resolver. If the pattern of the placeholder doesn't match a certain pattern, the standard resolving mechanism of spring should be in place.
I would appreciate any ideas to solve my problems.
Thanx in advance.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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package com.blazebit.persistence.impl.function.every;

import com.blazebit.persistence.spi.FunctionRenderContext;

/**
 *
 * @author Jan-Willem Gmelig Meyling
 * @author Sayra Ranjha
 * @since 1.4.0
 */
public class FallbackEveryFunction extends EveryFunction {

    public static final FallbackEveryFunction INSTANCE = new FallbackEveryFunction();

    private FallbackEveryFunction() {
    }

    @Override
    public void render(FunctionRenderContext context) {
        context.addChunk("MIN(");
        context.addArgument(0);
        context.addChunk(")");
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Resources available for victims of sexual assault
By Paul Kampe |
PUBLISHED: September 16, 2015 at 3:05 p.m. | UPDATED: June 16, 2021 at 7:08 a.m.
It took nearly a week before Oakland University officials were alerted to a Sept. 8 sexual assault on the suburban campus, but a campus counselor said victims often wait much longer to share details of their ordeal.
Campus police reported the incident, which occurred in the parking lot of the student apartment building, to the school community Tuesday, Sept. 15.
A female student anonymously reported being assaulted in a vehicle by a man, a non-student, whom she met online. Police did not know if the victim and the suspect had any previous encounters.
A school representative said Wednesday afternoon police had not been notified of any further information regarding the suspect.
Psychologist David Schwartz, director of the school's counseling center, said it can take years for victims to come forward, if at all.
'In the aftermath of the event, they're still sorting out what they want to do,' he said. 'There's a lot we can do for them.'
Women ages 18 to 24 have the highest rates of sexual assault, with 80 percent of those being perpetrated by someone they know, Schwartz said.
Citing national figures, Schwartz said only 20 percent of all sexual assaults are reported to campus police departments, though there are other ways of reporting an incident.
There are many reasons for the delay, Schwartz said, including a fear of reprisal. Other victims may regard the situation as a personal matter, while others may not know which steps to take or may harbor mistrust of authority.
Kole Wyckhuys, prevention education programs director for HAVEN, a non-profit organization for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, said victims may be hesitant to come forward out of fear they won't be believed or they worry they will be considered responsible for the violence.
'We live in a society that shames and blames women,' he said.
HAVEN provides shelter, counseling, advocacy and educational programming to nearly 30,000 people annually, according to its website.
Schwartz and other counselors at the Graham Health Center can provide confidential therapy for victims of sexual assault.
'Someone can come here and safely discuss it without it getting back to a dean or (other officials),' he said. 'What's talked about here stays here.'
Counselors can help victims determine the best course of action for them, Schwartz said.
'If you force people to talk before they're ready, it can be harmful for them,' he said.
Oakland University police have reported three sexual assaults on campus in each of the past three academic years, according to a report by Bridge Magazine. Schwartz said the counseling center may see a 'handful' more than that number, but that includes incidents which may have occurred several years prior a student being enrolled at the school.
Schwartz said victims can experience a range of emotions including depression and anxiety. Through therapy they can rebuild their sense of trust and safety, he said.
'It completely flips their world upside-down,' Schwartz said. 'We work with them to (show) them they didn't do anything to deserve this.'
Students at the Rochester-area school are allowed six free visits, with each subsequent visit costing $12.
The Graham Health Center can be reached at (248) 370-3465. Walk-ins are also welcome.
Paul Kampe
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Leading in healthcare: Cambridge University Hospitals
Innovation in SmartTech and in Education, Nov 2019
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In 2015, Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust – Addenbrooke's and The Rosie Hospitals – faced a series of leadership and operational challenges. The internationally renowned teaching hospital was rated 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and put in 'special measures' by the NHS's hospital regulator. While the inspection team acknowledged CUH's leading position in several areas and the dedication of its staff, it also found 'serious failures in quality of care' with 'concerns that existing management cannot make the necessary improvements without support'. In addition, the hospital was experiencing many of the common challenges found in the health sector; stretched resources, low morale and fatigue around improvement initiatives.
The new leadership team at CUH was able to make rapid changes that led to the improvement of the CQC rating from 'inadequate' to 'good' in under two years and increased staff engagement as measured by the NHS national staff survey. However, the new team wanted to go further to achieve national excellence. CUH has a vision to work with staff and partners to improve people's quality of life through innovative and sustainable healthcare, across care quality, finance, teaching, research and workforce. To build on its position at the heart of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. To maximise the benefits for patients, staff and the UK economy.
To achieve their vision, the leadership team at CUH identified four key areas of improvement: improving patient journeys, working with communities, strengthening the organisation, and contributing nationally and internationally. Improving culture, climate, leadership and engagement was a key focus on strengthening the organisation and work was undertaken to diagnose the current state and a considered and planned approach to leadership development was created.
In 2017 CUH commissioned Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education (CJBS) and Cambridge University Health Partners (CUHP), along with The King's Fund, to develop and deliver a Senior Leadership Programme to a group of 150 most senior leaders across clinical and managerial functions, to support the hospital's ambitions and values of Together – Safe | Kind | Excellent.
Leading in a healthcare setting
Working with Cambridge University Health Partners (CUHP), Cambridge Judge Business School has developed a bespoke approach for CUH and delivers three main components of the programme to 150 of the most senior leaders including clinicians, nurses, doctors, operational managers and corporate staff.
First, eight highly interactive 'MBA' style masterclasses are held bi-monthly over a period of 18 months. The purpose of these masterclasses is to develop a common language and joint understanding of the leadership challenges in the hospital. They include classes on hospital finances, the use of routinely collected data to drive change, the cascading of hospital strategy to divisional and ward level, and the building and leading of high-performing multi-functional teams.
Second, CJBS faculty and senior industry leaders, including former CEOs of NHS hospitals, work closely with multi-functional teams in the hospital to address clearly identified challenges. This training on the job solidifies the understanding developed in the masterclasses and creates a momentum of change in the hospital.
Third, the programme will be supported by a 'Virtual Learning Environment' (VLE) which offers the participants and CJBS faculty an online community and communication tool to enhance their learning and provides a forum in which debate and knowledge-sharing continues outside of the classroom.
This combination of MBA-style interactive classroom teaching, on-the-ground supervised workshops, and online learning offers an innovative way to address the challenges of transforming a hospital "on the fly". It integrates the expertise of business school faculty and senior industry mentors with the specific context knowledge of the programme participants and develops a momentum for change in the organisation.
Equipped for the future
The Senior Leaders Programme at CUH supports individual's leadership capability, through personal reflection, challenge and learning, helping them to achieve their full potential as leaders. It will also help support the Trust's ambition to have a culture of continuous quality improvement and embed a new way of working. The online learning platform that faculty and participants develop together during the course of the programme is an important element for the sustainability of the advances made during the programme.
Ultimately, the programme will foster a culture that delivers cross-functional working to achieve the Trust's vision.
JBS Executive Education Ltd:
Registered address: The Old Schools,
Trinity Lane, Cambridge CB2 1TN


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Is there anything more delicious than fresh, warm bread? Adding Butter and salt and you are all set. Hardly any other man-made food has a history as long as bread. More than 30,000 years ago, the seeds of wild plants and other ingredients were ground and baked north of the Alps. All over the world, very different types of bread have developed. But Germany is the world champion in terms of bread variety and quality.


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The Institute of the Incarnate Word
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Incarnate Word in Africa and the Middle East
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Province "Our Lady of Fátima"
The first missionaries of our Institute came to Russia in 1993 and in the following years they founded different religious communities, mostly parishes, in different parts of Russia. Currently, there are four missions in this country. The mission in the city of Kazàn, capital of the Republic of Tatarsan, in which we have a parish and the missionaries celebrate the Holy Mass in small communities all around the city. There are two parishes in the cities of Uljanovsk and Syzran, and the missionaries attend three communities of catholic Armenians. We attend a parish in the city of Jabarovsk (Eastern Russia) and a catholic community located 500km out of the city. Finally, in the mission of Omsk, Siberia, the Institute started its apostolate in 2011 in two parishes of Latin and Byzantine Rite. The priests assist other communities located 150km in the countryside out of the city. The mission in Russia is difficult especially for the great distances and the geographical dispersion of the catholic communities. In the years of the Communist government, some hidden catholic communities survived the persecution and, after the fall of the regime, they remained scattered through the whole country, without receiving the Sacraments for years. Our missionaries have to travel for a long time and for long distances before coming to visit all these communities and administrate the Sacraments. However, they already did much work and many of these Christians had the possibility to confess and receive the Eucharist. Other apostolates are the summer camps for the youth and children, as well as Youth Days.
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Weird Truck Spills Throughout the U.S. Highlight Continuing Dangers of Truck Accidents
You are here: Home / Blog / Big Truck Accidents / Weird Truck Spills Throughout the U.S. Highlight Continuing Dangers of...
2016-09-22 By News Blogger
1 800 Truck Wreck Lawyer Amy Witherite Highlight Continuing Dangers of Truck Accidents
Always consult with a truck accident lawyer, who can provide the information needed to determine if a lawsuit against the trucking company is warranted.
Commercial vehicles like freight and delivery trucks often cause more damage than small cars when they are involved in accidents because of their size, coupled with the danger of spilling whatever they are transporting.
Recent truck accidents in the U.S. have highlighted this fact, and serve as a warning to motorists in passenger vehicles to be aware of the potential threat posed by these bohemuth trucks on the highways.
Truck Accident Spills
Brazoria County, TX – Earlier this year, a tanker truck filled with chicken steroids rolled over and blocked the highway, according to a report filed by the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office.
The truck accident occurred at around 3 a.m. on FM 2917 near the FM 2004 marker. Brazoria County Sheriff's Office deputies did not disclose the cause of the accident or who was at fault.
However, deputies did report that two people were taken to the hospital, though they did not reveal the extent of their injuries.
The chicken steroids that the truck was transporting were moved to another truck. Northbound and southbound lanes were blocked as crews cleaned up the accident site.
Eden Prairie, MN – In April, a tractor-trailer that was transporting a ton of meat, struck a median on Interstate 494 during the morning commute, according to a report filed by the Minnesota State Patrol.
The truck accident caused numerous packages of sausage to spill onto the opposite lane, blocking traffic for several hours.
State Patrol reported that the driver of the truck had suffered a health issue prior to the accident, and that the driver lost consciousness, causing the truck to swerve into the median.
The driver was not injured, and there were no reports of car accidents caused by the spill, or of damage to other vehicles.
Dayton, OH – Another truck accident spill occurred in June 2015, when a truck carrying more than 800 live pigs overturned, killing as many as 500 pigs, and setting free as many as 400 pigs from the wreckage.
West, TX – In January 2015, an 18-wheeler that was transporting frozen French fries, rolled onto its side, spilling its load across Interstate 35.
Although no injuries were reported, the truck spill closed both lanes on the highway as crews worked to clean up the site.
Houston, TX – In another Texas truck-spill accident, an 18-wheeler crashed into a small vehicle on the westbound lanes of Katy Freeway, spilling cases of beer onto the road. The crash took place in September 2014, and there were no reports of injuries.
Summit, SD – The driver of a tractor-trailer fell asleep while driving in June 2014, and when his eyes opened, he yanked the steering wheel too hard, causing his truck to flip onto its side, spilling cases of Bud Light.
The truck accident occurred on Interstate 29, which is just north of Summit. Cleanup crews were dispatched to remove the beer. There were no reports of injuries.
Rocky Mount, NC – In January 2015, a truck transporting ramen noodles was involved in an accident on the I-95, according to ABC-affiliate WTVD-TV.
Larry Scholting, the driver of the truck, said he fell asleep while driving, and woke up just as his truck smashed into a guardrail. The truck veered off-road and struck a highway bridge, cutting open the cargo space, and spilling ramen noodle packages onto the road.
Although there were no injuries reported, the main lanes were closed as cleanup workers removed the ramen and diesel fuel from the road.
"I kind of drowsed off," Scholting said in an interview with WTVD-TV, "and next thing I knew, I had taken out the guardrail."
Lake Samish, WA – A truck carrying porta-potties was involved in an accident with a small vehicle on the I-5, according to a local police report.
The truck accident happened on the southbound I-5 in the afternoon, though the exact details were not disclosed.
Because the porta-potties were full at the time of the accident, a Hazmat team was dispatched to the accident site to clean 20 gallons of human waste that had spilled onto the highway.
Traffic was stalled for five miles as the Hazmat team cleared the biological waste for the next two-and-a-half hours.
Truck Accident Statistics
From 2004 to 2009, fatal truck accidents decreased by 33 percent, according to a report issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). But fatal truck accidents increased by 20 percent from 2009 to 2013.
In addition, the FMCSA reported that from 2013 to 2014, there were 81,000 truck accidents that caused some type of property damage, an increase of 31 percent over that same period the year before.
The FMCSA reported that truck accident percentages as a total of all motor vehicle accidents were expected to remain steady or rise, because of the increase in commercial delivery vehicles on the road, as well as driver inattention, driver fatigue, and the lower margin of error associated with driving larger vehicles.
Truck Accident Spill Statistics
In 2014, there were nearly 47,000 barrels of hazardous liquids spilled, according to a reported issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), with nearly 50 percents of those spills, recovered.
That same year, there were more than 700 separate spill incidents of hazardous liquids, which caused 19 deaths, 96 injuries, and $310 million in property damage.
And as startling as those numbers are, that's a drastic reduction from 2013, in which truck-related spill accidents accounted for $1.5 billion in property damage.
Most Common Causes of Truck Accidents
The FMCSA undertook a major study several years ago to determine the most common causes of truck accidents, in an effort to lower the number of crashes.
The report identified the following causes:
Driver Error — The FMCA coded 'driver error' as any error related to lack of performance, lack of recognition, decision-making, and improper performance. Non-performance included incidents in which truck drivers fell asleep or suffered a medical impairment that compromised driving ability. Lack of recognition included incidents in which the driver was distracted or did not observe a posted road sign or road warning. Decision-making included incidents of excessive speed, or tailgating, and improper performance included incidents in which a driver over-corrected or experienced panic.
Vehicle — Equipment or mechanical failure were coded under this category, and were another prime cause of truck accidents. In addition, loading was also cited as a main cause of trucking accidents. Commercial vehicles that are not properly loaded can cause shifts in the cargo hold that imbalance a truck, and cause it to tilt to one side or the other during a sharp turn.
Environment — This included all weather-related factors, as well as the condition of roads and streets at the time of an accident. Poor weather included fog, rain, hail, snow, intense brightness due to sunlight, and excessive wind. Bad road conditions included slippery roads, roads with obstructions, roads with potholes, and roads that were not properly lit or marked for night driving.
Associated Causes of Truck Accidents
In addition to the most common main causes of truck accidents, the FMCSA also identified these associated causes:
Prescription drug use
Unfamiliar roads
Motorist Safety Tips
Smaller cars are at a distinct disadvantage when driving on roads with large trucks and commercial delivery vehicles.
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) has developed a Share the Road campaign that includes some tips that motorists in small passenger vehicles can follow to lower the risk of colliding with a truck:
Keep A Safe Distance — Motorists should avoid driving too close behind a truck or commercial vehicle. ATA recommends keeping 2o to 25 car lengths between a small vehicle and a truck, which gives the driver of the small vehicle enough time to avoid a collision.
Pass Safely — After changing lanes to pass a truck, drivers of smaller vehicles should glance into their rear view mirrors to ensure that they can see the truck's headlights before switching back into the truck's lane. Improper lane passing can lead to a collision with a truck, because trucks need a much longer time to come to a complete stop, than smaller vehicles.
Avoid Excessive Use of Technology — Drivers of smaller vehicles and truck drivers should limit their use of onboard technology as well as mobile devices while driving. Distracted driving is a major factor and also a contributing factor to many motor vehicle accidents, and includes talking on a mobile phone, using navigation devices, and using entertainment systems such as a built-in DVD player.
Legal Recourse
But despite all the precautions motorists may take, they may still be involved in a truck accident, caused by a spill, or by some other type of error on the part of the truck driver.
Drivers in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and in Houston who have have suffered an auto accident in which a truck driver was at fault, should consult with a truck accident lawyer, who can provide the information needed to determine if a lawsuit against the trucking company is warranted.
Whether the accident was caused by a mechanical failure in the truck, driver distraction, or a driver under the influence of drugs or alcohol, victims have the right to seek compensation for pain and suffering, medical bills, and loss of income.
Lucy Tiseo
Eberstein Witherite, LLP
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Regulators Propose Speed Caps for Large Trucks Semi Driver Charged with Homicide In Truck Accident That Killed Six In Nebr...


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Episodes

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The #DataInsecurity Digest | Issue 38
Issue 38 | February 1, 2017
#DataInsecurity Digest: No executive action on cyber just yet, reflecting on Ramirez, and more
By John Breyault (@jammingecono, johnb@nclnet.org)
NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud
Subscribe here. Tell us what you think.
Editor's Note: With battle over President Trump's immigration policies consuming much of the political oxygen, it might be easy to overlook what was an exciting few weeks on the data security front. President Trump's much-discussed executive order on cybersecurity -- rumored to reduce DHS's role in protecting the nation's critical cyber infrastructure -- was delayed late Tuesday for reasons that remain unclear. Underscoring fears about the lack of clear direction from the Trump Administration so far on data security, new data from the Pew Research Center finds that nearly 2 in 3 Americans have been affected by data breaches, doing significant damage to consumers' faith in the Internet. That may be one reason a bipartisan group of senators is calling for a permanent Senate committee to focus attention on cybersecurity. The fallout from two massive breaches at Yahoo look likely to push the close of its merger with Verizon into Q2, a delay that is attracting the SEC's attention. Finally, we say goodbye to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, who prepares to depart an agency that her admirers (including yours truly) are increasingly seeing as the Federal "Technology" Commission.
And now, on to the clips!
Cybersecurity order delayed amid concerns over reduced role for DHS. President Trump's much-anticipated signing of an Executive Order on cybersecurity was delayed yesterday for reasons that remain unclear to many data security watchers. A draft version of the order had suggested that the Pentagon would be elevated to a co-equal role with the Department of Homeland Security, though--as of Monday night--DHS officials had reportedly not yet seen a finalized version of the order. @attackerman (who has the must-read story on these developments) writes that "[a] former senior DHS official said the department's apparent downgrading would lead to surveillance fears among companies concerned with customer privacy, as well as interrupting relationships … with Silicon Valley firms in the years after the disclosures of Edward Snowden." (Source: The Guardian)
Pew: Shocking number of Americans are victims of a major data breach. We know that data insecurity affects millions of Americans, but a new study from the Pew Research Center is casting light on the scope and effects on consumers. Pew found that 64 percent of Americans "have experienced or been notified of a significant data breach pertaining to their personal data or accounts." The same study found that "[r]oughly half of Americans think their personal data are less secure compared with five years ago." This should be of particular concern for social media sites, with more than half of survey respondents expressing a lack of confidence in a company's ability to protect their data. (Source: Pew Research Center)
Senators call for permanent cybersecurity committee. Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Chris Coons (D-DE) are calling on colleagues to create a permanent Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity to address the scattered nature of Congressional oversight of cybersecurity. Last Congress, at least 20 standing committees of the House and Senate held hearings on the topic of cybersecurity. Gardner and Coons hope such a committee will draw together the various committees with jurisdiction and focus attention and resources on addressing the problem. "With a stronger cybersecurity congressional oversight structure, our federal government agencies could have built more proactive and resilient defenses," wrote Gardner in TIME. "Even if these safeguards failed, with greater congressional oversight, it may not have taken a year for OPM to disclose that its network was breached." (Source: TIME)
SEC investigation is the latest Yahoo breach fallout. Federal authorities are now investigating whether Yahoo violated Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules after the company took 2+ years to report its massive 500-million-account breach to investors. @WSJ reports that Yahoo could be in hot water as "[t]he SEC requires companies to disclose cybersecurity risks as soon as they are determined to have an effect on investors." Former SEC enforcement official John Reed commented that the Yahoo case was particularly interesting: "Here you are talking not just about the potential for a data breach, but a deal [the proposed Verizon-Yahoo merger] blowing up because of a data breach." (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Yahoo/Verizon deal delayed. Yahoo executives had hoped to complete the estimated $4.8 billion buyout by the end of Q1 2017. However, Yahoo's two massive data breaches may be gumming up the deal as executives are now "working expeditiously to close the transaction as soon as practicable in Q2." (Source: CNET)
Third Circuit Court allows data breach class-actions to proceed. Under the Supreme Court's ruling in Spokeo v. Robins, it is extremely hard for consumers affected by data breaches to bring a class-action lawsuit. That could be changing, thanks to a decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month. The court ruled that even when plaintiffs' injuries are intangible (such as when the defendant in the case, Horizon Healthcare, exposed the plaintiff's data through an unsecured laptop) victims may form a class action. If the decision stands, the ability of consumers to be compensated for harm suffered as a result of data breaches could become a reality. (Source: Reuters)
Acer settles with New York Attorney General Office for $115,000. Taiwanese computer manufacturer Acer left 35,000+ credit card numbers unprotected in plain text for more than a year, and now they're paying for it. Last week, NY AG Eric Schneiderman reached a settlement that will prevent Acer from making such a mistake again. "Businesses have a duty to protect their customers' personal information as securely as possible," Schneiderman said in a statement. "Lax security practices like those we uncovered at Acer put New Yorkers' credit card information and other personal data at serious risk." (Source: PC Magazine)
Farewell to Ramirez. As FTC Commissioner (formerly Chairman) Edith Ramirez prepares to leave her post, analysis of her time at the FTC reveals her influence as having established, in effect, the Federal "Technology" Commission. @omertene argued that "after three years in office and six years as FTC Commissioner, Ramirez leaves the agency stronger and better equipped to deal with the challenges of the next years." (Source: IAAP)
@POTUS Twitter account linked to insecure private email account. President Trump's @POTUS Twitter account, as well as the First Lady's @FLOTUS, and Vice President Pence's @VP accounts, are seriously vulnerable to hacking since they were linked to commercial Gmail addresses. While the accounts have been moved to more secure whitehouse.gov addresses, the episode continues to fan concerns about the ability of the Trump White House to protect its data. "It's unclear whether compromising those email addresses would give an attacker access to the accounts," writes @russellbrandom. "President Trump has drawn criticism from many in the security world for apparently continuing to use his unsecured Android phone, while his senior staff has drawn similar fire for maintaining private email accounts at the RNC." (Source: The Verge)
May 24, 2017 - Planning for the Future: A Conference About Identity Theft - Washington, DC
The FTC will host an all-day conference to take a comprehensive look at how identity theft has evolved over the last decade and what can be done to address this challenge in the future. The conference will be used to gather input from academics, business and industry representatives, government experts, and consumer advocates. Participants will look at the current state of identity theft, examine potential future challenges, and discuss how to address these issues.
May 25, 2017 - Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection (ConPro '17) - San Jose, CA
At this year's 38th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, a Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection (ConPro'17) will explore computer technology's impact on consumers, with a special focus on privacy and ways in "which computer science can prevent, detect, or address the potential for technology to deceive or unfairly harm consumers." ConPro'17 aims to bring together academic and industry researchers along with government officials.


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Apple unveils $999 iPhone X with facial recognition
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE and BARBARA ORTUTAYSeptember 13, 2017 GMT
Apple CEO Tim Cook announces the new iPhone X at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple has broken the $1,000 barrier with its latest, and most expensive, phone, the iPhone X.
With a price starting at $999 and a host of new features, the phone will be a big test for both Apple and consumers. Will people be willing to shell out really big bucks for a relatively fragile device that's become an essential part of daily life?
On Tuesday, CEO Tim Cook called the iPhone X "the biggest leap forward" since the first iPhone. ("X″ is pronounced like the number 10, not the letter X.) It loses the home button, which revolutionized smartphones when it launched; offers an edge-to-edge screen; and will use facial recognition to unlock the phone.
Apple also unveiled a new iPhone 8 and a larger 8 Plus with upgrades to cameras, displays and speakers.
Those phones, Apple said, will shoot pictures with better colors and less distortion, particularly in low-light settings. The display will adapt to ambient lighting, similar to a feature in some iPad Pro models. Speakers will be louder and offer deeper bass.
Both iPhone 8 versions will allow wireless charging, a feature already offered in many Android phones, including Samsung models. Some Android phones have also previously eliminated the home button and added edge-to-edge screens.
Apple shares were mostly flat after the announcement, down 64 cents to $160.86.
STEVE JOBS HOMAGE
This was the first product event for Apple at its new spaceship-like headquarters in Cupertino, California. Before getting to the new iPhone, the company unveiled a new Apple Watch model with cellular service and an updated version of its Apple TV streaming device.
The event opened in a darkened auditorium, with only the audience's phones gleaming like stars, along with a message that said "Welcome to Steve Jobs Theater." A voiceover from Jobs, Apple's co-founder who died in 2011, opened the event before CEO Tim Cook took stage.
"Not a day that goes by that we don't think about him," Cook said. "Memories especially come rushing back as we prepared for today and this event. It's taken some time but we can now reflect on him with joy instead of sadness."
The iPhone X costs twice what the original iPhone did. It sets a new price threshold for any smartphone intended to appeal to a mass market.
'WHAT APPLE DOES BEST'
Gartner analyst Brian Blau said the iPhone X's augmented reality features will "change the way people use apps" and give app developers new, "cool things" to do. Apple showed off a simple use for this new, sophisticated camera technology with "animoji," which lets people animate emoji characters with their facial expressions. Showing off a new technology with something that everyday people can use and understand, he said, is "what Apple does best."
Blau also praised the extended battery life for the phone, saying "you don't often get that" with new smartphones.
Other analysts such as Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Creative Strategies, don't believe the $1,000 price tag will present much of a hurdle to Apple buyers, at least to those with means or access to installment plans. And people who won't spend that kind of money, she added, have a choice of other products that will keep them "within Apple versus looking at the competition."
NEW WATCH
Apple's latest Watch has built-in cellular service. The number on your phone will be the same as your iPhone. The Series 3 model will also have Apple Music available through cellular service. It won't need a new plan, but will require a data add-on to your existing plan.
"Now, you can go for a run with just your watch," said Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer and in charge of Watch development.
Apple is also adding more fitness features to the Watch, and says it is now the most used heartrate monitor in the world. Now, Apple Watch will notify users when it detects an elevated heart rate when they don't appear to be active. It'll also detect abnormal heart rhythms.
The Series 3 will start at $399. One without cellular goes for $329, down from $369 for the comparable model now. The original Series 1, without GPS, sells for $249, down from $269. The new watch comes out Sept. 22.
Cellular plans for smartwatches typically cost $5 to $10 a month. AT&T says its plans are $10 a month. T-Mobile said the Watch connection will be free for the first three months and $10 a month after for unlimited talk, text and data.
APPLE TV GETS UPGRADE
A new version of the Apple TV streaming device will be able to show video at "4K" resolution — a step up from high definition — and a color-improvement technology called high-dynamic range, or HDR.
Many rival devices already offer these features. But there isn't a lot of video in 4K and HDR yet, nor are there many TVs that can display it. Apple TV doesn't have its own display and needs to be connected to a TV.
Apple said it's been working with movie studios to bring titles with 4K and HDR to its iTunes store. They will be sold at the same prices as high-definition video, which tends to be a few dollars more than standard-definition versions. Apple said it's working with Netflix and Amazon Prime to bring their 4K originals to Apple TV, too.
The new Apple TV device will cost $179 and ships on Sept. 22. A version without 4K will cost less.
Ortutay reported from New York. AP Technology Writer Tali Arbel contributed to this story from New York.