Raw Model - The Lifestyle for Beauty, Energy, and Mental Clarity: Curt from Spiritual Gardening.com visits the Blackbird Food Forest!
Curt from Spiritual Gardening.com visits the Blackbird Food Forest!
We are planting this beauty TODAY!
In AZ aloe vera will do very well in part shade - no worries about that.
They often get very burnt out if they are getting scorched all day long.
and we have been making some amazing brews lately.
Always a pleasure! Thanks Curt!!! Come back soon!!!


TOKIA is an entirely new generation of cryptocurrency exchange platform. To understand what makes it so revolutionary, we need to understand the triangle of convenience it is based on.
The main target of this project is to make all cryptocurrencies go mainstream – become easy to buy, keep and spend. Having in mind the pace of the blockchain revolution, it is hard to grasp how come we do not have such working and reliable solution today. Well, everything is about to change.
The ICO started on 4th of December and in only 7 hours the soft cap has been reached. This is quite an achievement showing strong interest from all over the world. Investors from 73 countries have already supported Tokia in its first stage of ICO.
What is TOKIA All About?
It is about simplicity. It is about direct blockchain payments. There is also an exchange and safe storage of your crypto capital. These are the most important aspects of this crypto business that very few desire to deal with.
Multi-currency blockchain wallet enables users to store and manage all of their crypto assets that get traded on the exchange and get spent via the debit card from one convenient source.
Tokia direct debit card allows using virtual currencies in everyday life seamlessly converting their virtual assets into traditional fiat currencies at the moment of payment.
Why is the Tokia Card so Important?
All the mentioned elements interact to simplify operations in blockchain to make them more convenient for all cryptocurrency conversions. By introducing a wide variety of FIAT currencies Tokia will ensure that the whole cryptocurrency world is spinning faster thanks to the increased liquidity of assets.
There has NEVER been an easier way to buy, sell and spend Bitcoin. Anyone anywhere will be able to purchase major cryptocurrencies with Tokia. All these Altcoins can then be used to make purchases using your Tokia debit card. No external exchange is necessary and the process couldn't be simpler. One card makes all cryptocurrencies instantly accessible for everyday purchases.
"It is sometimes hard to grasp the pace at which the blockchain world is evolving. We understand that it is as important to maintain this evolution within the technology as it is vital to adjust to currently adapted everyday processes. One of them is card payments. Therefore we introduce the Tokia debit card – a perfect tool for ideal shopping experience using Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency." – says Anna Lunhu, the co-founder and a CEO of Tokia.
There will also be an increasing number of promotions dedicated to enhancing the satisfaction of using Tokia card. Exclusive benefits will only be available for those who support the project in their ICO stage while this is the most important period of the future success.
Another valuable point to memorize about Tokia project is their concept of clients' capital management. It is nothing too clever to just gather the currencies and store it allowing them to be spent. What is actually clever is to provide an option to lend your capital to other participants of Tokia exchange. It gets distributed among them automatically, therefore, all guarantees are in place – you can't lose you money. This way you not only preserve your money and win on the organic increase of the value of cryptocurrencies but also you get additional interests on the capital that you have lent.
It is as close to free money as it could be. The only thing you need to do is to allow your coins to be lent to someone else. It is entirely up to you to decide and, honestly, why wouldn't you, right?
Such project did not go unnoticed. Tokia has just started their ICO with the first stage of pre-sale and very decent -47% discount on tokens for early investors. Not surprisingly it only took 7 hours and 14 minutes to reach the soft cap.
The crowdfunding campaign is planned to take a couple of months, however, the pre-sale will only be available until the new year or earlier if it gets sold out sooner. Having in mind that one-fifth of the tokens that were dedicated for the first round are already sold – we are most likely looking at way earlier finish.
All investors who buy 1000 tokens or more will be given the right to exchange all their currencies for free forever. According to the publicly provided information, the amount of freely exchanged capital will be calculated by multiplying the number of tokens held by 10. This number increases to 50 if an investor contributes by purchasing 5000 tokens or more.
It is a great opportunity to get into something that just might shape the payment industry as well as help to globally adapt cryptocurrencies for everyday use. It is called Tokia and now is the best time to get some tokens when they are -47% off.
There has never been easier to buy, keep and sell Bitcoin. Tokia will make it go mainstream.


FRAC Lorraine is also an art collection imagined as a tool bringing together multiple partners and contemporary creation in a dialog. Nearly 1134 works by French and international artists have been acquired since 1984: installations, videos, performances, photographs, etc. are featured in exhibitions designed on regional and national scale thanks to a wide network of partners (art collectives, multimedia libraries, cultural centers, museums…).
Projects to make the collections of FRAC Lorraine available to broader audiences have been numerous and diverse. Attentive to your wishes and your needs, the FRAC team has featured thematic exhibitions, temporary loans, and repositories.
By becoming FRAC's partner, you gain the opportunity to participate in art projects and to help raise public awareness of contemporary creation. FRAC will accompany you in creating didactic and communicative tools, and provide assistance in mounting and displaying artworks on your premises.
You would like to be part of our network? It's easy: just download and follow the instructions.
You have a question or a request? Please contact Emeline Coulon, collections and circulation manager.
For those in discovering public collections of modern and contemporary art belonging to the Videomuseum network, the Navig'art database is available by appointment in the documentation center.


It was time to put my first KTM model bak into a stall.
For Sale: 2007 KTM SD 990 7k miles + awesome mods!
Dealer lent me this gem for the weekend!
My other pride and joy.
Motorbike investment - What would you buy?
When did all Rc8s go to the 1190?
Managed to score a new prototype to race!!
Anyone own a Duke 111?
Did you all place your deposits yet?


text:
Federal appeals court upholds ruling NCAA violates antitrust laws
Steve Berkowitz
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that NCAA rules limiting what athletes can receive while playing sports violate antitrust laws, but the three-judge panel also threw out a plan that would have allowed schools to provide deferred athletes compensation of as much as $5,000 per year.
"The NCAA is not above the antitrust laws, and courts cannot and must not shy away from requiring the NCAA to play by the Sherman Act's rules," the panel wrote. "In this case, the NCAA's rules have been more restrictive than necessary to maintain its tradition of amateurism in support of the college sports market. The Rule of Reason requires that the NCAA permit its schools to provide up to the cost of attendance to their student athletes. It does not require more."
The three-judge appellate panel of Sidney R. Thomas, Jay S. Bybee and Gordon J. Quist was unanimous in finding that the NCAA's rules violate antitrust laws and that the association must allow schools the option of offering scholarships that cover the full cost of attending college, not the traditional elements of a scholarship -- tuition, room, board, books and fees.
Thomas added in a partial concurrence and partial dissent that he would have concurred with U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken "in all respects," including allowing the $5,000 per year above the cost of attendance as part of a package intended to compensate athletes in a variety of ways, including the use of their names, images and likenesses.
MORE: Read the entire ruling by the appeal panel
Both sides found something to like in the ruling.
The appellate panel's rejection of the potential additional compensation for athletes is a "very, very welcome decision," NCAA President Mark Emmert during said during a conference call Wednesday afternoon.
Sathya Gosselin, an attorney for a group of plaintiffs led by former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon, told USA TODAY Sports that the panel's affirmation of Wilken's finding relative to the antitrust laws makes this "a significant legal victory for college athletes, the first of its kind from an appellate court ... that the NCAA and its member schools fixed the price that college athletes pay for their education."
Gosselin said his side disagrees with the panel's conclusion about the deferred compensation, but "it's significant to us that there's real force to the injunction that permits compensation up to the full cost of attendance in recognition of among other things, the uses of college athletes' names, images and likenesses."
That aspect of Wednesday's ruling sets the stage for the NCAA to attempt to seek a re-hearing of the case from a wider panel of 9th Circuit judges or to try to take the case to the Supreme Court. The NCAA's chief legal officer Donald Remy also noted that the association "does not believe it necessary to have an injunction" in place for schools to be allowed to have the option to offer scholarships that cover the full cost of attending college.
Remy said it was too soon for the association to determine whether it will pursue further action, an option also available to the plaintiffs. Remy said it was also too soon to determine how Wednesday's ruling would affect the association's effort to seek a reduction in the nearly $46 million in attorneys' fees and costs that a federal magistrate judge has awarded lawyers for the O'Bannon plaintiffs
"We will make those judgments in short order," Remy said. The sides basically have 14 days to pursue 9th Circuit rehearing of Wednesday's ruling and 90 days to seek review from the Supreme Court. Gosselin said his side also is reviewing its options about further action.
The stakes could be high for the NCAA. In addition to facing other antitrust challenges -- including one that returns to court Thursday -- the appellate panel ruled that language from a 1984 Supreme Court ruling that the NCAA has relied upon to preserve its amateurism system is "dicta" -- essentially related commentary, but not part of the case's value as precedent.
That case, NCAA v. Board of Regents, was about control of college football TV rights but the Supreme Court's opinion included the statement that "in order to preserve the character and quality of the (NCAA's) 'product,' athletes must not be paid, must be required to attend class and the like."
The NCAA has relied upon this – and other -- language from the Board of Regents ruling in successfully defending its amateurism system in many prior legal cases.
But the appellate panel wrote, in part "even if the language in Board of Regents addressing amateurism were not dicta, it would not support the tremendous weight that the NCAA seeks to place upon it."
Gosselin said the importance of that portion of the opinion "cannot be overstated. For decades, the NCAA has brandished the Board of Regents decision and claimed limitless antitrust immunity as to its amateurism rules."
The NCAA is facing further legal challenges about its athlete-compensation rules, and Wednesday's ruling comes one day before Wilken is scheduled to hold a hearing on whether to grant class-action status to a pair of lawsuits seeking to basically prevent the association from having any limit on what schools can offer athletes in football, men's basketball and women's basketball.
The appellate panel appeared to take that case into consideration on a number of levels.
The opinion, written by Bybee, states, in part, "we have little doubt that plaintiffs will continue to challenge the arbitrary limit imposed by the district court until they have captured the full value of their" names, images and likenesses.
Bybee's opinion also says: "The difference between offering student-athletes education-related compensation and offering them cash sums untethered to educational expenses is not minor; it is a quantum leap. Once that line is crossed, we see no basis for returning to a rule of amateurism and no defined stopping point. … At that point the NCAA will have surrendered its amateurism principles entirely and transitioned from its 'particular brand of football' to minor league status."
Said Emmert: "I think the ruling does provide greater clarity on a number of fronts … The fundamental notion of pay for play, as it's often referred to, is at odds with the notion of amateurism and at odds with the fundamental underpinnings of collegiate athletics. The ruling has those statements in there in pretty direct language. I hope that will, in some ways limit some of the legal arguments that are being made."
Michael Carrier, a Rutgers-Camden law school professor and antitrust expert who has been involved with a friend-of-the-court filing on behalf of the plaintiffs, told USA TODAY Sports via e-mail that type of language could hurt one aspect of the lawsuits that will be going before Wilken for class-certification on Thursday. Bybee's language "makes it hard to see how future attempts to get even more money for students ... would be successful. If even this deferred (money) doesn't fly, nor would greater amounts that have even less to do with educational expenses."
However, one of the cases going before Wilken on Thursday is seeking not only an end to the NCAA's rules on athlete compensation, but also monetary damages based on the difference between the value of the traditional athletic scholarship -- the one based on tuition, fees, room, board and books – and the actual cost of attendance. Because of the number of athletes affected by that difference during the years covered by a case that seeks to reach back to 2010, the suit's financial stakes could be enormous. And Carrier said the case for damages is enhanced by Wednesday's appellate ruling.
The appropriateness of cost-of-attendance-based scholarships is "set in stone after this decision," Carrier said. The damages portion of the case pending before Wilken "will be strengthened as a result."
The O'Bannon case began in the summer of 2009 and eventually boiled down to the plaintiffs seeking an injunction that would heavily overhaul the NCAA's limits on what Bowl Subdivision football and Division I men's basketball players can receive for playing sports and for the use of the names, images and likenesses in in live television broadcasts, rebroadcasts of games and video games.
A trial was held in June 2014 and Wilken ruled in August. She found that the NCAA's rules at the time – which basically limited athletes to tuition, room, board, books and fees -- "unreasonably restrain trade" in violation of antitrust laws.
Judge orders NCAA to pay $46M in fees to Ed O'Bannon lawyers
In her ruling, injunction and a subsequent interpretation of the injunction, she said the NCAA would be able to cap the amount of new compensation that the football and men's basketball players can receive while they are in school, but that cap would not be allowed to be an amount that is less than the athletes' cost of attending school.
In addition, Wilken decided to let schools and conferences deposit money in trust for football and men's basketball players that will become payable when they leave school or their eligibility expires. Under this setup, the NCAA would be allowed to set a cap on the amount of money that may be held in trust, but that cap cannot be less than $5,000 in 2014 dollars -- now about $5,040 -- for every year the athletes remain academically eligible.
The new benefits were set to be put in place for both incoming and returning athletes, beginning with the 2016-17 school year.
In January 2015 -- taking advantage of a new NCAA governance setup that allows them greater autonomy in rules making -- schools and athlete representatives from the NCAA's five wealthiest conferences voted to let athletes in any sport receive scholarships that cover the cost of attendance. The rules change means any Division I school can make such awards, beginning with the upcoming fall semester, but none are required to do so.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Walking Home - Appalachian Trail Documentary
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, or simply the Appalachian Trail is a marked hiking trail in the Eastern United States. It extends between Springer Mountain in Georgia ...
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, or simply the Appalachian Trail is a marked hiking trail in the Eastern United States. It extends between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine.
The trail travels through fourteen states along the crests and valleys of the Appalachian Mountain Range
To finish the Appalachian trail, you need between 5 to 7 months. Completing the entire 2,190 miles of the trail is one big and large adventure and undertaking. Every year, thousands of hikers attempt a thru-hike. And one in four makes it all the way.
So far, 12 people have lost their life trying to complete the overwhelming experience. Still, it remains a place of beauty rather than brutality. There are many challenges and obstacles along the way. Starting from rough terrain to wildlife animals. This documentary gives you a close look what to expect.
Danger Tourism | My North Korean Holiday
North Korea is notorious when it comes to what the country wants to show to outsiders. It is not the "safest" country to travel. North Korea does not allow independent tourism....
Namibia - The Africa you have to see!
Namibia is a country in southwest Africa. Distinguished by the Namib Desert along its Atlantic Ocean coast, the country is home to diverse wildlife, including a significant cheetah...
World's Most Dangerous Places: Coldest Road, Trip Antarctica, Wittenoom
If you want true adventure, you've come to the right place. We are going to take you to the coldest road in the world. Where? You guessed it - Siberia.The documentary visits the la...
Free Wheels East | Nomad Adventure Documentary
Cousins Jamie Mackenzie and Ben Wylson set off on an extraordinary three year adventure; without knowhow or training they attempt to ride bicycles on every continent without using ...
Catacombs of Paris – Fascinating and Scary at the Same Time
For a city famous for its love of fashion, romance, and culture, Paris has a couple of dark secrets lurking under its st...
Belchite – The Ghost Town Serves as Reminder to Spain Civil War Tragedies
The old village serve as a reminder of the tragedies that occurred during Spanish Civil War. Between August 24 and Septe...
Going through the Longest Tunnel in the World
With a length of 53.8km, Seikan connects the islands Honshu and Hokkaido
Santa Cruz del Islote – Most Densely Populated Island in the World
According to legends, the island was uninhabited some 150 years ago. The size was less than a hectare of land. It floate...


The Franklin-Southampton Area Chamber of Commerce offers a variety of tools to assist in starting or growing a business. Membership in the Chamber provides cost saving benefits to positively affect your bottom line as well as networking opportunities to promote your business.
The Chamber serves as a satellite office for the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) of Hampton Roads and houses a variety of business resource publications. The SBDC offers business counseling, specialized training and information resources to help emerging and established owner-entrepreneurs succeed. Small Business Director, Jim Carroll meets with clients on the second Thursday of each month providing experienced insight and practical solutions in a confidential setting.
Franklin Southampton Economic Development, Inc. (FSEDI) was created in 2005 as a new economic development organization that is grounded in city, county & regional cooperation. Their mission is: Diversifying the economy, creating high quality jobs, and providing a future for the families and youth of Franklin and Southampton. FSEDI is a member of Virginia's Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance.
The Franklin Business Incubator is located in a renovated 40,000 sq. foot state of the art facility on Mechanic Street in Franklin. New businesses have access to support staff and programs that help them to survive and grow during their start up period when they are most vulnerable, traditionally for a period of two years. The Incubator offers affordable rent, shared office services, access to equipment and hands on management assistance. Within the Incubator, businesses will receive the experience and knowledge on how to run a successful business. National Business Incubator Association statistics shows that 87% of incubator graduated businesses remain in business.
Downtown Franklin is designated as a Virginia Main Street Community. Their progressive programs offer assistance such as façade renovations to downtown businesses. Downtown Fall Festival and a weekly summer concert series are annual events that bring activity to the downtown area. To inquire about doing business in downtown Franklin, contact the Downtown Franklin Association office at (757) 562-6900.
The Franklin Southampton area's proximity to major highways and ports provides an ideal location for business and industry. For more information on development opportunities visit www.franklinva.com or www.southamptoncounty.org. Business resource books, CD's and videos can be obtained through The Blackwater Regional Library System. To obtain a business license for the City of Franklin, contact the Commissioner of Revenue @ 757-562-8547. For a business license in Southampton County contact the Commissioner of the Revenue @ 757-653-3030.


text:
You are here: Home / Nutrition / The IMPOSSIBLE Guide to Autophagy
The IMPOSSIBLE Guide to Autophagy
December 4, 2018 by Joel Runyon
Introduction to Autophagy
Brief History of Autophagy
How Autophagy Impacted Animal Models
How Autophagy Impacts People
Autophagy Conclusions (Actionable Takeaways)
Autophagy Sources & Citations:
The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine went to researcher Yoshinori Ohsumi for his work on the mechanism behind Autophagy. Autophagy has been shown to help increase endurance, decrease osteoarthritis and increase lifespan in various models. But what exactly is autophagy and what can it do for you?
Autophagy is defined as "consumption of the body's own tissues as a metabolic process occurring in starvation and certain diseases."1 It means that sometimes, the cells in the body will eat themselves for fuel in times of starvation and in certain diseases. However, this discovery is fairly recent and is only currently starting to get widespread research attention. While the knowledge of autophagy in humans is very new, there are important discoveries to know to understand autophagy.
To understand autophagy, a bit of cell biology is needed. According to cell theory, the cell is the basic unit of life. Inside of each cell are smaller pieces called organelles. These function a lot like organs do in humans, with each performing a certain job. Everybody should remember the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell from high school biology. While these larger organelles have been known for a long time, some organelles were only discovered recently. Christian de Duve, 1974 Nobel Laureate, noted that the lysosome contained many enzymes (proteins that make the cell run smoothly) and organelles that were degradative, making the lysosome the recycling center of the cell2. The lysosome is a small bubble full of different enzymes that floats around and can do a remodel of the cellular interior by recycling unwanted material.
Once the discovery was made that cells had the ability to perform autophagy, further research began to suggest that autophagy happened regularly in many plant, animal and fungal species and that it was used for many different purposes. Researchers found that rat livers increased this activity when they were starved3, suggesting the link between autophagy and metabolism when the cell is stressed (more on potential applications i.e. intermittent fasting later). In 1966, Duve noted that autophagy could be useful "as part of self-rejuvenation of long-lived cells," "self-clearance of dead cells," as nutrition when nutrients were scarce. He also noted autophagy could be useful during intial development4. With all of these potential uses of autophagy, how would researchers narrow down exactly how it helps organisms and what genes control it? More importantly, why does it matter to us and how can we use it to our advantage to be healthier and more fit?
The answer to those first two questions is yeast. Yeast is actually quite closely related to humans since they are also animals, and yeast is a very simple model to study. That's where 2016 Nobel Prize of Physiology and Medicine winner Yoshinori Ohsumi comes in. His lab was one of the first to discover what specific genes could increase or decrease the degrading power of the autophagosomes, specialized lysosomes designed for recycling parts of the cell. This discovery allowed many other labs to begin to isolate autophagy-related genes (ATG)5. Once these genes were identified, specific tests could begin on exactly how autophagy affects cells under different circumstances. Within 2 years of Ohsumi's discovery, there were 4 more major findings that helped to shed light on how autophagy functioned and what it did for the yeast.
Following soon afterwards came studies in mice, cows and rats. These studies found that the majority of the genes that controlled autophagy were very similar across animal species, with the same gene controlling autophagy in breast cancer cells6 as it did in yeast cells. Once it was established that the genes were pretty much the same across all complex organisms, it allowed scientists to do research in worms, mice, plants and everything in between.
Scientists soon showed that autophagy was important in development and extended life span in worms7 and in survival of baby mice directly after birth8. The mice were unable to find fuel inside their cells immediately after birth and before first feeding, and subsequently passed away. Researchers also found that the same mechanism that cells use for autophagy can be an immune response against tuberculosis9, streptococcus10 and other bacteria that attack inside of cells. These exciting results were soon followed by more studies that showed autophagy is important in controlling homeostasis (equilibrium within the body), inflammation, metabolism, immunity, and guarding against cardiac, neural and skeletal diseases. Autophagy accomplishes this by breaking down and removing unwanted material from the cell and recycling necessary materials when the cell is stressed11.
There are four major types of autophagy that the cell can undergo: bulk macroautophagy, selective macroautophagy, microautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA). The majority of autophagy is done by the two types of macroautophagy. Bulk macroautophagy is the primary method that cells use to recycle organelles and nutrients when the cell is starving, and is responsible for a significant portion of the "clean-up" function that autophagy is used for. The other part of the "clean-up" function is selective macroautophagy. The cell uses this method primarily to remove harmful molecules from the cell after metabolism and other cellular processes. The other two types of autophagy, microautophagy and CMA, have smaller roles that are generally more tissue specific and not was well understood.
So autophagy is really important on the cellular level, but how can you increase autophagy in your body? Current theories on increasing autophagy amount to putting the cells in the body under a moderate amount of stress. What constitutes a moderate amount of stress depends on your current health and fitness state, but the methods of stressing the body are pretty much the same: calorie restriction12 and endurance exercise13.
On a cellular level, in instances of calorie restriction, cells are starving. When the cells feel this stress coming on, they begin to increase the activity of lysosomes in order to continue to power the cell. In this process, the lysosomes take older or degenerating organelles and recycle them to fulfill the nutrient requirement. This process serves two purposes: to immediately provide materials to rebuild and feed the cell while also making the cell more efficient by getting rid of older organelles. This cellular remodeling helps to create healthier cells that have the potential to live longer, since it is like renewing the interior of the cells. At the bodily level, this occurs by intermittent fasting and in ketosis. By removing a constant supply of carbohydrates to the cell either by restricting intake time or volume, the cells are forced to perform autophagy to survive. This is another potential benefit to intermittent fasting and ketosis that occurs on the cellular level. This also offers a possible reason that children born during times of famine live longer and weigh less than their counterparts born during times of feast14. The genetic mechanism for autophagy isn't completely understood, but the potential for modification by your ancestors' experiences might impact how your body does autophagy to start. That's not to say the body's propensity for autophagy can't change, since it undergoes more remodeling and recycling when it is not constantly bombarded with food, leading to healthier cells.
Exercise is most affected by autophagy since it produces so much waste in the body. In exercise, the body produces many harmful byproducts, such as lactic acid, that need to be degraded and removed from the cell before they accumulate and cause damage. Properly functioning autophagic machinery is needed to allow muscles to work over long periods of time15. Autophagy allows damaged mitochondria to be repaired and keeps the cell from dying by replacing these energy producing centers16. It is unclear whether or not endurance exercise can induce autophagy in cells that are deficient or if it can stimulate autophagy in cells that have undergone exercise. Researchers believe that this process is responsible for the increased metabolism that happens post exercise17.
There are several degenerative diseases that are linked to a lack of autophagy that are common as people age: osteoarthritis, cancer and Parkinson's disease. Current research suggests that autophagy reduces as people age, and the lack of cellular remodeling causes cartilage death and the development of osteoarthritis. This suggests that an increase in autophagy and maintaining the autophagic machinery in each cell as people age could help to prevent degeneration of cartilage and the disease process.
Parkinson's is another degenerative disease that likely stems from a lack of autophagy in the brain and brain stem to clear out "Lewy bodies" that cause the disease. These bodies muck up the cell function by decreasing the effectiveness of the lysosome, which reduces the cell's ability to clean up with autophagy. As a result, damaged mitochondria and other organelles accumulate and the cell can no longer support itself sufficiently. In the brain and brain stem, this inability to clear out damage causes the swelling and poor function that characterizes the disease18.
How autophagy impacts cancer is a little complicated, since cells that have high levels of autophagy are less likely to get cancer. However, it is unclear if the higher levels of autophagy are preventing the cancer directly or by changing other processes in the cell that allow cancer to occur19. The flip side is that successful tumor cells also have higher levels of autophagy, since it can remove many of the harmful metabolites that accumulate through the tumor cell's rapid growth20. This discovery has yielded some ideas for anticancer drugs that could potentially be less harmful than current methods of fighting cancer21 like chemotherapy or radiation.
There is a significant amount of research that is being done to help understand this process in greater depth, since it helps every organism from trees to mushrooms to people to function. Currently, the best strategies to increase autophagy are through diet and exercise. It is suggested that intermittent fasting could help to increase autophagy by forcing cells to clean themselves up in order to provide nutrition. Now this is not a suggestion to stop eating for weeks at a time to do a cleanse: that would cause your body to start to eat itself on a tissue level. That is extremely unhealthy. But eating within a certain time window each day could stimulate autophagy to begin, leading to overall healthier and longer-living cells.
Another suggestion for diet would be to try a keto diet. The keto diet, if done correctly, reduces the amount of simple energy circulating around the body. While this is a dramatic oversimplification of keto, it could stimulate autophagy by allowing cells the opportunity to recycle damaged organelles instead of bombarding them with simple carbohydrates all the time. An increase in fat consumption also can increase autophagy by increasing lipophagy22 (the fat specific part of autophagy).
Exercise can induce autophagy sometimes, so regular exercise could help to increase this very important cellular process. At the end of the day, a healthy diet and consistent exercise are the same prescriptions that have been made by holistic medical plans for longevity for years. Autophagy seems to be an important part of the puzzle as to why these behaviors yield such positive health results. There is a reason that people who perform these activities are known to live longer, healthier lives.
5) A unified nomenclature for yeast autophagy-related genes. Klionsky DJ, Cregg JM, Dunn WA Jr, Emr SD, Sakai Y, Sandoval IV, Sibirny A, Subramani S, Thumm M, Veenhuis M, Ohsumi Y
10) Autophagy defends cells against invading group A Streptococcus. Nakagawa I, Amano A, Mizushima N, Yamamoto A, Yamaguchi H, Kamimoto T, Nara A, Funao J, Nakata M, Tsuda K, Hamada S, Yoshimori T, Science. 2004 Nov 5; 306(5698):1037-40.
7) Autophagy genes are essential for dauer development and life-span extension in C. elegans. Meléndez A, Tallóczy Z, Seaman M, Eskelinen EL, Hall DH, Levine B, Science. 2003 Sep 5; 301(5638):1387-91.
9) Autophagy is a defense mechanism inhibiting BCG and Mycobacterium tuberculosis survival in infected macrophages. Gutierrez MG, Master SS, Singh SB, Taylor GA, Colombo MI, Deretic V
14) Bygren, L., Tinghög, P., Carstensen, J., Edvinsson, S., Kaati, G., Pembrey, M. E., & Sjöström, M. (2014). Change in paternal grandmothers´ early food supply influenced cardiovascular mortality of the female grandchildren. BMC
3) Cytolysomes and mitochondrial degeneration. NOVIKOFF AB, ESSNER E J Cell Biol. 1962 Oct; 15():140-6.
18) Esteves AR, Arduíno DM, Silva DF, Oliveira CR, Cardoso SM (January 2011). "Mitochondrial Dysfunction: The Road to Alpha-Synuclein Oligomerization in PD". Parkinson's Disease. 2011: 693761
4) Functions of lysosomes. De Duve C, Wattiaux R Annu Rev Physiol. 1966; 28():435-92. Dev Cell. 2003 Oct; 5(4):539-45.
1) Google (n.d.). Autophagy Definition.
16) Grumati P, Coletto L, Schiavinato A, Castagnaro S, Bertaggia E, Sandri M, Bonaldo P (December 2011). "Physical exercise stimulates autophagy in normal skeletal muscles but is detrimental for collagen VI-deficient muscles". Autophagy. 7 (12): 1415–23.
13, 15, 17) He C, Bassik MC, Moresi V, Sun K, Wei Y, Zou Z, An Z, Loh J, Fisher J, Sun Q, Korsmeyer S, Packer M, May HI, Hill JA, Virgin HW, Gilpin C, Xiao G, Bassel-Duby R, Scherer PE, Levine B, et al. (January 2012). "Exercise-induced BCL2-regulated autophagy is required for muscle glucose homeostasis". Nature. 481(7382): 511–5.
21) Jin S, White E (2007). "Role of autophagy in cancer: management of metabolic stress". Autophagy. 3 (1): 28–31.
2, 11) Levine, B. and Klionsky, D. (2018). Autophagy wins the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Breakthroughs in baker's yeast fuel advances in biomedical research.
19) Liang XH, Jackson S, Seaman M, Brown K, Kempkes B, Hibshoosh H, Levine B, et al. (December 1999). "Induction of autophagy and inhibition of tumorigenesis by beclin 1". Nature. 402(6762): 672–6
22) Liu K, Czaja MJ. Regulation of lipid stores and metabolism by lipophagy. Cell Death Differ. 2012;20(1):3-11.
12) Morselli E, Maiuri MC, Markaki M, Megalou E, Pasparaki A, Palikaras K, Criollo A, Galluzzi L, Malik SA, Vitale I, Michaud M, Madeo F, Tavernarakis N, Kroemer G, et al. (2010). "Caloric restriction and resveratrol promote longevity through the Sirtuin-1-dependent induction of autophagy". Cell Death & Disease. Genetics,15(1), 12. doi:10.1186/1471-2156-15-12
20) Paglin S, Hollister T, Delohery T, Hackett N, McMahill M, Sphicas E, Domingo D, Yahalom J (January 2001). "A novel response of cancer cells to radiation involves autophagy and formation of acidic vesicles". Cancer Research. 61 (2): 439–44.
6) Protection against fatal Sindbis virus encephalitis by beclin, a novel Bcl-2-interacting protein. Liang XH, Kleeman LK, Jiang HH, Gordon G, Goldman JE, Berry G, Herman B, Levine B J Virol. 1998 Nov; 72(11):8586-96.
8) The role of autophagy during the early neonatal starvation period. Kuma A, Hatano M, Matsui M, Yamamoto A, Nakaya H, Yoshimori T, Ohsumi Y, Tokuhisa T, Mizushima N Nature. 2004 Dec 23; 432(7020):1032-6.


SILVER AND BLACK JANGLE DANGLE BANGLE KUMIHIMO COMPLETE KIT IS PERFECT FOR BEGINNERS WHO HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE BRAIDING WITH BEADS.
Complete kit contains everything you need to create this cute bangle with a flirty tassel.
Note: Copyright©2018,Linda Lawrence. All rights reserved. This original pattern and instructions are for personal use only. Please do not distribute, lend, copy or teach any portion of this document. Reproduction and distribution of these instructions in whole or in part, in any form, without the author's consent, is strictly prohibited.
Really unusual but beautiful! Can't wait to try it.


text:
Q: Can method return more than one type I am new to Java and trying to understand the below code:
int someMethod() {
    return (true ? null : 0);
}

The method's return type is int, but it can return both null and int, is this correct behavior in Java? Can a Java method return more than one type? This may sound silly for those who are experienced, but I have just took my first step in Java.

A: A method cannot return more than one type.
The signature of a method contains the return type or void if the method doesn't return anything. Since it must be defined in the method signature, you must return something of that type.
The code
return (true ? null : 0);

is a shorthand if-else statement, or conditional ternary expression, and can be rewritten to this:
if (true) {
    return null;
}
else {
    return 0;
}

The above code, however, won't compile since one cannot return null if the return type is the primitive type int. The above code will compile, because the JVM will try to convert null to an int, due to auto-unboxing. At runtime, it will throw a NullPointerException, as pointed out by Eran.
In order to 'return multiple types', you could do the following:
public class BooleanOrInt {

    private boolean isInteger; // Whether value is boolean or int
    private boolean b;
    private int i;

    public BooleanOrInt(boolean b) {
        this.b = b;
        this.isInteger = false;
    }

    public BooleanOrInt(int i) {
        this.i = i;
        this.isInteger = true;
    }

    public boolean isInteger() {
        return this.isInteger;
    }
}

And then your code should be as follows:
BooleanOrInt methodOfA() {
    if (someCondition) {
        return new BooleanOrInt(theBooleanYouWant);
    }
    else {
        return new BooleanOrInt(theIntegerYouWant);
    }
}

A: It's a conditional ternary expression, which means the method returns one of the two values following the ?, depending on the evaluation of the condition he appears prior to ? (which in your case always returns true).
The type of the expression (true ? null : 0) is Integer, since that's the common type for null and 0.
Your code will throw a NullPointerException, since when you return a null Integer in a method whose return type is int, the JVM attempts to convert the Integer to int and fails.
In order to fix this code, you'll have to change the return type to Integer (which is the reference type that serves as a wrapper for the int primitive type) :
Integer methodOfA()
{
    return (true ? null : 0);
}

A: Java method cannot return more than one type in the form you are suggesting. However, it can return any number of sub-types. In your case, int is a primitive type and it cannot have sub-types. Here you cannot return null since null can only be returned by methods whose return type is an object. For primitives you have to specify some values (0 in your case).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
<!DOCTYPE html>

    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>jQuery PWStrength</title>
    <link href="demo/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">

jQuery Password Strength Indicator

Example

            <form action="#" method="post">
                Password:

                <input type="password" id="field" data-indicator="pwindicator">

            </form>

Code

HTML

    <form action="#" method="post">
        <label for="field">Password:</label><br>
        <input type="password" id="field" data-indicator="pwindicator">
        <div id="pwindicator">
            <div class="bar"></div>
            <div class="label"></div>
        </div>
    </form>

The data-indicator attribute on the password field specifies which element is used as indicator.

JavaScript

    jQuery(function($) {
        $('#field').pwstrength();
    });

                You can also check the password manually by calling

    $.pwstrength

Options

                        label

                        The Selector for the label element within the indicator container.

                        Default: .label

                        classes

                        The CSS classes which get added for each strength level.

                        Default: ['pw-very-weak', 'pw-weak', 'pw-mediocre', 'pw-strong', 'pw-very-strong']

                        texts

                        The texts that get inserted into the label for each strength level.

                        Default: ['very weak', 'weak', 'mediocre', 'strong', 'very strong']

Requirements

jQuery 1.5 or higher

Supported Browsers

Firefox 3+

Safari 3+

Chrome 10+

Opera 9+

Internet Explorer 6+

Download

                You can download this project in either
                zip or
                tar formats.

                You can also clone the project with Git by running:
                $ git clone git://github.com/matoilic/jquery.pwstrength

Licence

Copyright © 2012 Mato Ilic

jquery.pwstrength is dual licensed under the MIT and GPL licenses:

                http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php

                http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Polish Antifa and feminist rally vs March of far rights Mlodziez Wszechpolska and ONR in Warsaw
Posted by Tomas Rafa on 7/02/18 • Categorized as Poland
Polish police broke up a feminist rally and forcefully removed activists to clear the way for a march for far-right extremists.
Women's Strike group and activists from Obywatele RP, which aims to defend democratic principles in Poland, taking part in a sit-in in central Warsaw, to block the far-right rally's route.
Many of the women were holding up photos of Heather Heyer, the American woman killed when a car ploughed into a crowd of counter-protesters during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend.
Holding white roses, the group aimed to prevent several dozen extremists from marching in central Warsaw on Poland's Armed Forces Day.
However, police officers were filmed forcibly removing the protesters off the street before taking them to a side street and recording their names. As they did so, new protesters arrived to take their place in the sit-in.
An anti-communist and nationalist political group, the National Radical Camp has been described as being influenced by Italian fascism and rejecting parliamentary democracy.
The All-Polish Youth reportedly met in front to the Polish Army Museum and were supposed to make their way across the city to the tomb of the unknown solider.
"We want to pay homage to the outstanding generation of Poles who have regained independence for Poland and who defended it in front of the Bolshevik's barbaric invasion," the organisers said.
In recent years, Polish far-right groups have become increasingly active, particularly on national holidays.
Critics of the ruling Law and Justice party believe the government is emboldening them by failing to denounce them in strong terms.
Tagged as: Antifa, Młodzież Wszechpolska, ONR, Protest kobiet, Warszawa
More in 'Poland'
Queer parade vs hooligans in Lublin
Polish Independence march in Warsaw (2017)
March of ONR to commemorate nationalist movement's foundation 83 years ago
Far right movements vs KOD in Poland


God is a God of specific purposes, plans and times, in which He uses people to accomplish these purposes. The Bible calls this VISION. It is important that we understand the vision of our church. We can define it in three phrases that describe it in a very simple way: Love God, Take care of your family and fulfill your call.


North Carolina's Mountains-To-Sea Trail runs from the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey's Ridge State Park on the Atlantic Ocean, and is popular among hikers, bicyclers, and horseback riders. The rivers, creeks and sounds of the Coastal Plain Paddling Trails offer interesting outdoor excursions and camping for canoers and kayakers. The Rail-Trails are abandoned railroad corridors that have been converted into trails.


text:
Awards, Blog Posts, News
Breeze Technologies wins Future Hamburg Award
Future Hamburg Award / unsplash.com
Today, Breeze Technologies won the first place of the Future Hamburg Award 2021. The award was looking for startups with ideas and projects for the city of tomorrow.
As award winner, Breeze Technologies receives a one-month stay in the Sunnyvale branch of Plug and Play. Within a network of more than 400 companies from all over the world, Breeze will be able to further develop its business model, create partnerships and internationalize their business. Additionally, part of the award are pilot opportunities with the award's cooperation partners Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) and AM HAFEN CAPITAL, a Hamburg-based venture capital firm.
The three winners of the Future Hamburg Award: Breeze Technologies (www.breeze-technologies.de), Traceless (www.traceless.eu) and Infinite Mobility (www.infinite-m.com).
Breeze-CEO Robert Heinecke sums up: "Our team is exhilarated to win the Future Hamburg Award! Especially given last week's decision of the European Court of Justice on air pollution in Germany, we take it as an affirmation of our work on urban air quality. We are excited about the opportunity to further our business in the US with the support of Plug and Play and are very much looking forward to continue our collaboration with the Hamburg ecosystem."
The team of Breeze Technologies would also like to congratulate the other two winners, Traceless from Hamburg and Infinite Mobility from Oslo. The award winners were decided by an internationally acclaimed jury of representatives from scale-ups, corporates and the public sector that were screening applications from 15 countries. For the expert jury, the decisive factor was that Breeze Technologies brings together impact and monetization. The successful bootstrapping and the company's success to date show: This business model has great potential in a global market.
10th June 2021 /by Robert Heinecke
Tags: awards, breeze technologies, Hamburg
https://www.breeze-technologies.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Breeze-Technologies-is-the-winner-of-the-Future-Hamburg-Award.jpg 1280 1920 Robert Heinecke https://www.breeze-technologies.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Breeze-Logo-Header.png Robert Heinecke2021-06-10 14:35:452021-06-10 14:35:12Breeze Technologies wins Future Hamburg Award
The European Court of Justice condemns Germany for poor air quality –... How to measure air quality


Despite an early hiccup in our testing due to the AMDcompatibility issue, the Lucid Virtu software has impressed me. Theidea for the technology is well founded and solves one of the fewproblems we had with the Intel 2nd Generation Core processor familythat launched in January. The architecture of the purelysoftware-based solution is cleverly intuitive and Lucid seems to thinkthey really have solved it for good.


text:
Add to my favorites Elucidating the Kinetics of STAT1 Phosphorylation in Response to TLR4 and IFNAR Agonists in Microglia
Rachel Anne Arnold, Senior, Neurobiology UW Honors Program
Jonathan Weinstein, Neurology
Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) is a robust, neuroprotective phenomenon in which a brief ischemic exposure confers resistance to injury from subsequent prolonged ischemia. Characterizing IPC may provide insight into better treatment options for those at high risk of ischemic stroke. Microglia, the immune cells of the brain, play an important role in the immune response to IPC. Previously, our laboratory found that the type 1 interferon signaling pathway in microglia is important in IPC-mediated neuroprotection. This signaling pathway is dependent upon activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and type 1 interferon receptor (IFNAR1). We hypothesize that in this pathway, damage-induced molecular patterns (DAMPs), which are released by brain tissues under ischemic conditions, activate TLR4 resulting in a signal cascade that activates IFNAR1, leading to phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1). Phosphorylated STAT1 (pSTAT1) then forms a complex with other proteins and induces transcription of multiple interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). ISG expression alters the microglial phenotype, leading to neuronal and axonal protection against subsequent ischemia-related brain injury. The kinetics of type 1 interferon signaling in microglia are not yet fully understood. We aimed to further characterize this pathway by culturing primary microglia from wild-type mice, exposing them to TLR4 agonists or type 1 interferons directly, and quantifying pSTAT1 levels using flow cytometry at multiple time points. A time course of STAT1 phosphorylation in response to innate immune stimuli will provide a clearer picture of the kinetics of microglial type 1 interferon signaling in the setting of ischemia. These findings will enable us to optimize experimental timing for future experiments involving more complex and physiologic stimuli. Optimization of the kinetics of the pSTAT1 assay will also allow us to investigate how genetic ablation of specific innate immune signaling pathways (like TLR4 or IFNAR1) might modulate the microglial response to ischemia.
Other Neurology mentored projects (11)
Add to my favorites Integrated Point-of-Care Extraction and Detection of Nucleic Acids through Novel Isotachophoresis Design
David Curtis Juergens, Senior, Chemical Engr: Nanosci & Molecular Engr
Jonathan Posner, Chemical Engineering
Andrew Bender, Mechanical Engineering
Nearly 22 million HIV-positive people are receiving antiretroviral therapy in order to suppress their HIV infections. They need consistent viral load monitoring to track viral suppression and detect the possibility of viral rebound. Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) are used to measure the viral load in a patient's blood. Traditional, laboratory-based NAATs require complex robotic systems to automate HIV RNA purification, amplification, and detection from blood. Since the majority of those living with HIV are located in low and middle income countries, there is a need for rapid viral load monitoring at the point of care (POC). We aim to provide accessible HIV viral load testing through low-cost, integrated POC NAAT devices. These proof-of-concept devices operate as a two-step assay to extract and detect nucliec acids in blood. An electrophoretic separation technique called isotachophoresis (ITP) separates HIV RNA from other components in a blood sample. An isothermal nucleic acid amplification assay amplifies the purified, concentrated nucleic acids in order to detect and quantify their presence. We present our development of a novel ITP system to remove potent contaminants from Proteinase K (PK) digested serum and extract highly pure nucleic acids automatically. Through computational modelling, a dual trailing electrolyte (TE) buffer system was designed to exploit the isoelectric point of PK for its removal, while simultaneously concentrating nucleic acids away from serum components. We demonstrate system control through comparison of experimental observations to model predictions by performing dual-TE ITP on pH paper. We also show that the dual-TE system improves upon previous limits of detection for DNA extraction and detection from complex samples. Our system processes 40 microliters of blood in 20 minutes using only simple buffers, a paper strip and an electric field - making it an ideal tool for use in a rapid NAAT for HIV viral load testing.
Other Mechanical Engineering mentored projects (15)
Add to my favorites How is Germination Affected by Identity and Concentration of Leaf Extracts?
Sophia Basil, Senior, Environmental Science & Resource Management, Biology (Plant)
Jonathan Bakker, Environmental & Forest Sciences
Loretta Rafay, Biological & Environmental Sciences
Secondary metabolite chemicals are specialized chemicals produced by plants that serve specific roles in plant survival beyond aiding in growth or development. Sometimes, the presence of these chemicals negatively impacts surrounding species, a phenomenon known as allelopathy; an example of this is the inhibition of germination of neighboring species. One common non-native species that is known to have high concentrations of leaf secondary metabolite chemicals is Plantago lanceolata (ribwort plantain). Focusing specifically on prairies ecosystem implications, this experiment aims to test the allelopathic effects of Plantago leaf secondary chemicals on the germination of native prairie species. The predicted outcome of this experiment was that increased concentrations of Plantago extract would lead to decreases in germination quantity. To accomplish this, numerous extraction concentrations (including a controlled no-extract treatment) of Plantago leaf chemicals was applied to several prairie species. These species were additionally tested in the presence of high concentrations of yarrow and lettuce extracts; yarrow is another species that contains high concentrations of secondary chemicals, while lettuce leaf material lacks substantial secondary metabolites. Prairie seeds germinated in the presence of secondary chemical extracts include yarrow, Oregon sunshine, Roemer's Fescue, Blue wildrye, and Plantago. 1,400 seeds per species were placed in petri dishes and germinated in either spring or summer growth chambers based on each species' germination requirement. Germination data were analyzed to determine the significance of germination inhibition by each leaf extract. Because Plantago is a non-native and potentially invasive species, it is important to understand the potential for native ecosystem disruption. Additionally, since yarrow and Plantago seeds were germinated in the presence of extracts from their own species, we could determine whether extracts have stronger effects on disparate species than on the species that the extract is derived from.
Other students mentored by Jonathan Bakker (1)
Add to my favorites New Evidence that Seasonal Flows on Mars are Dry, Windblown Sand Avalanches
Sarah C. King, Senior, Earth & Space Sciences (Physics)
Jonathan Toner, Earth & Space Sciences
Recurring slope lineae (RSL) observed on Mars appear to be flows of liquid water because they seasonally propagate down sunny slopes in the spring and fade during the winter. Liquid water suggests the potential for life on Mars' surface and has implications for future exploration; however, recent hypotheses contend that RSL form via dry sand avalanches. To test wet vs. dry flow hypotheses, we analyzed images and topographic data from Garni crater taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) during the Martian summer and winter. Our results show that RSL size correlates with areas where we expect high windblown sand deposition, such as on the SE lee side of the crater, or in small gullies below large headwalls. Additionally, RSL do not appear on the wind-scoured NW side of the crater. These surface relationships indicate that RSL in Garni crater form via a dry process in which windblown sand is deposited by prevailing NE winds and seasonally avalanches down steep slopes. To further test our conclusions, we are examining additional confirmed RSL sites on Mars to see if they display the same behavior.
Other students mentored by Jonathan Toner (1)
Add to my favorites Investigating Wetted Slope Streaks in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica: Do Similar Flows Form on Mars?
Ping Chun Lin, Senior, Earth & Space Sciences (Physics)
Seasonal dark streaks on Mars known as Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) propagate down steep, warm slopes and appear to be liquid water flows. However, the mechanism behind RSL formation is controversial, and both dry granular flow and percolating water hypotheses have been proposed. To determine if water is responsible for RSL formation, I investigated similar dark streaks generated by percolating water in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) of Antarctica, an extremely cold and dry Mars analog site. The goal of this research is to identify the source of water to the MDV streaks, and to compare the MDV streaks to Martian RSL. I characterized the MDV streaks by (1) analyzing a ~30-day time-lapse video of the streaks collected on site, (2) investigating the drainage hydrology, and (3) comparing hundreds of satellite images of the streaks from 2003-2017. My results show that the MDV streaks are very different from Martian RSL, which indicates that water is not involved in RSL formation. Unlike Martian RSL, I found that MDV streaks propagate downslope at much slower rates compared to Martian RSL, and do not grow and retreat seasonally. Furthermore, MDV streaks have distinctive patterns not apparent in Martian RSLs, and rapidly darken/lighten in response to relative humidity changes. Finally, MDV streaks form in response to extremely warm summer temperatures, conditions which are unlikely to prevail on Mars. These results are important for understanding how and if liquid water occurs on Mars' surface.


text:
Uganda to start printing money locally
byCONRAD AHABWE | PML Daily Senior Correspondent
Ministers: Esther Mbayo (for Presidency), Evelyn Anite (Economic Planning and State for Investment and Privatization) – signed the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of Uganda as Veridos Identity Solutions Group's Chief Operating Officer Dr Herman Sterzinger looks as banknotes, passports are set to be printed in Uganda (PML Daily PHOTO)
KAMPALA – President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Uganda and a German company, Veridos Identity Solutions Group, for the printing of Uganda's security documents like banknotes, passports and cheques.
Three Ministers –Esther Mbayo for the Presidency, Matia Kasaija of Finance and Economic Planning and State for Investment and Privatization Evelyn Anite – signed the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of Uganda while Dr Herman Sterzinger, Chief Operating Officer, initialled the document on behalf of the German Company.
Veridos Identity Solutions Group that was created with the aim of creating secure and pioneering identification and identity solutions, entered into a joint venture with the Uganda Printing and Publication Corporation (UPPC) on June 11th 2016 after winning the bid.
In the meeting that took place at State House Entebbe, President Museveni noted that this new venture would save Uganda a lot of money that it has been spending on printing documents from abroad.
"There was haemorrhage of resources that was unjustified. Money was going out to print currency notes for a long time. About $25 million was spent each year to create Ugandan currency," he said.
Mr Museveni, who thanked the German company for its joint cooperation, criticized government officials for taking too long to act on such crucial matters that affect the country. He added that licensing bodies must not over price working licenses for investors because it cripples investment and discourages potential investors.
"These things of taking two years to deliberate on such matters must stop. Why did you spend two years discussing something that was so obvious?" he asked.
Tags: finance ministermatia kasaijatop


text:
Q: What fields should be indexed together? group by? order by? I'm trying to speed up a query which I currently have as:
SELECT *
FROM `events`
WHERE (field1 = 'some string' or field1 = 'some string')
    and is_current = true
GROUP BY event_id
ORDER BY pub_date

this takes roughly 30seconds.
field1 is a varchar(150)
I'm currently indexing
field1, is_current, event_id, pub_data
charity, pub_date, is_current
and all the fields individually...
I'm really not sure what fields should be indexed together, when I remove the order by, the query speeds up to around 8 seconds, and if I removed both the order by and group by, it's less than 1 second...
What exactly should be indexed in this case to speed up the query?
Edit:
I've run explain on the modified query (which no longer includes the group by):
id  select_type     table   type    possible_keys   key     key_len     ref     rows    Extra
    1   SIMPLE  events  range   is_current,field1_2,field1_3,field1_4,field1    field1_3    153     NULL    204336  Using where; Using filesort

Which indicates it's using the key field1_3 which is: field1 & is_current
Although it's not using the key which includes those two fields and pub_date (for the ordering..?)
It's also using FILESORT which seems to be the main problem..
any ideas why it's using a filesort even though the pub_date field is also indexed (with the other fields)?

A: Everything, (field1, is_current, event_id, pub_date) in one index. MySQL can only use one index per joined table in a query.
Use EXPLAIN to see what happens when you do.
Also, an aside - as KoolKabin says, * is rarely a good idea. Sometimes MySQL will copy the rows in a temporary table; and then there are the communication costs. The less you ask from it the faster things will work.
UPDATE: I was actually wrong. Sorry. First off, you can't get full use of indexing if your grouping is different than your ordering. Second, do you have an index where your ordering key (pub_date) is first? If not, try if that fixes the ordering thing.

A: any ideas why it's using a filesort even though the pub_date field is also indexed (with the other fields)?
This is because the mysql optimizer is trying to use index "field1" and you want the data ordered by pub_date.  If you are using mysql 5.1 (the following query will give error in earlier versionn), you can force mysql to use the pub_date index for   order by, something like this
SELECT *
FROM `events`
force index for order by (pub_date)
WHERE (field1 = 'some string' or field1 = 'some string')
    and is_current = true
GROUP BY event_id
ORDER BY pub_date


Our text-books have many and valued symptoms laid down, said to be found and observed in hernia. And it may be said to be the slough of despond for students, and young practitioners alike.
I remember of old, when at my studies at college, how hard it was to understand the obsolete term of hernia, and how many weary hours were spent by us in wrestling with this hydraheaded monster. Last summer I had the honor to be a representative from the Rhode Island Homoeopathic Society to the Vermont Society, which held their meeting in Montpelier, Vt., in May, 1892, and my reception, which I have reason to remember, was very pleasant, indeed.
An old man, 73 years of age, having had phthisis for a number of years, although attending to his regular occupation, for forty eight hours had a slight swelling in the left inguinal region. Dr. Lance, when summoned, forty-eight hours before, diagnosed hernia which he was positive he had reduced by traction, it making the characteristic gurgling sound when reduced, this small swelling remaining about the size of an egg. The patient vomiting almost incessantly with the severe pains in the left inguinal region. After we had examined the swelling we adjourned to the parlour and commenced our deliberations. Certainly we had a peculiar case to deal with. Many varied and ingenious methods were used by the different physicians present to make the diagnosis, but all to no avail. The majority diagnosed hernia strangulation. Now, the disease being diagnosed, the question was asked, "What is the treatment?" It was suggested that the bowel be filled with tobacco smoke, but inasmuch as the man had been is this condition for so long a time it was considered inexpedient. In fact, there were as many remedies suggested as there were people present. One of the doctors suggested, and with great emphasis almost demanded, an operation, which was not acquiesced in by any one present, his reasoning being that inasmuch as traction had been of no avail, and as the bowels had been strangulated for some forty-eight hours, death must certainly ensue in ten hours more, hence nothing could be lost providing the operation was not a success. The next question was who would operate? The older men present, considering an operation inexpedient, refused to have anything to do with it, consequently the affair was left with Dr. Lance and myself. However, before the older doctors departed, they suggested that we send thirty miles for an old-school surgeon to do their work.
This suggestion was treated with disdain by Dr.Lance, who declared, rather than do so he would operate himself, although he did not feel competent to do so. At this time the delegation left the patient in our hands, but not without many misgivings. The vomiting continued incessantly, and the doctor departed after his instruments and necessary dressings. After about one half an hours, Dr.Lance returned well prepared, with Dr. Boardman, also of Montpelier, and another whom I do not remember. Dr. Lance and myself performed the operation in the following manner: Having etherized the patient, the belly was washed with sublimate soap, and washed again with sublimate solution, 1 to 2000. We made a parietal incision three inches in length, parallel with the ribs and over the swelling; cutting through the skin and adipose tissue; the facia was divided on a grooved director, and the bowel, which was found black in spots, was revealed. After examination it was found why thee traction resulted in no good, because the bowel had pushed itself under Poupart's ligament instead of over it. And after breaking up slight adhesions, it was pushed into place, making a gurgle in its descent. The perineum was stitched together with catgut ligature by a saddler's suture, and the same through adipose tissue and skin.
After washing the wound with solution of sublimate, 1 to 2000, it was covered with two thicknesses of cotton, and the whole tightly bound with roller bandage.
The vomiting, which had been a very troublesome symptom and also a persistent one, had stopped. The patient was replaced in bed with hot bottles at his feet, covered with blankets, and left to his dreams. Early the next morning he was seen, and was found to be in a very comfortable condition; pulse 75, temperature normal, and some appetite. It was found that after the operation he had rested well during the night. An enema of 31 milk and brandy once in four hours.
May 25. Pulse 75, temperature normal, appetite better; had drunk considerable milk and coffee. Rectal feeding was stopped; had two natural movements of the bowels during that day, and at night was very cheerful indeed, and complained of no pain or soreness.
May 26th, Pulse, 75; temperature, 99 1-5. Appetite good. He still remains very cheerful. During the night had rested well, having ordered a sponge bath before retiring. This day he had two natural movements of, the bowels.
May 27th. The symptoms remained the same as the day before.
May 28th. The patient had all the signs of rapid convalescence. Pulse and temperature normal. Appetite good. And one movement of the bowels.
May 29th. Same general symptoms prevailed. It being the fifth day after the operation, the wound was undressed and found to be perfectly healed. No sensitiveness to the touch. The surface was again washed with a solution of sublimate and redressed as before.
May 31st. At six a.m. the patient was seen and found as usual; considered him out of danger.
At 10 p.m. was hurriedly called, and found the patient in a critical condition, thee cause for alarm being a severe haemorrhage of the lungs, from which he died in thirty minutes after arrival.
On opening the abdomen no black or discoloured spots were. Found on the gut that was seen at the time of the operation, they having disappeared. The bowel was in a normal condition, the wound entirely healed, and in fact, the results of the operation an entire success. The cause of death was due to the haemorrhage of the lungs alone.
This case is reported to show how often a life is sacrificed by the too timid surgeon being afraid of the consequences. And I think that many a life might have been saved had the surgeon done his duty. Not that I advocate heroism particularly, but I certainly advocate a surgeon or physician doing his duty, his whole duty, toward his patient.
Providance, R.I. EDGAR C. GATES, M.D.


text:
Academics Athletic Director Business Operations Communications Compliance Development Economics Executive Leadership Hiring Legal Marketing Sales Social Media TV
Rising ADs
Collegiate Coaching Diversity Pledge
Transparency In NCAA Infractions Cases: How Athletic Departments Can Engage "Active Stakeholders"
By Stephen W. Dittmore, PHD
Earlier this month, the University of Mississippi made public a 125-page response to the NCAA's Notice of Allegations from February. The public disclosure of the university's response was the latest in a series of moves by Ole Miss to appear transparent to its stakeholders during an NCAA investigation, a process that is typically highly secretive. The school maintains a microsite with various information designed to educate the public on the process, particularly Ole Miss's perspective on the allegations.
Ole Miss's approach has been unconventional, but not uncommon. Universities subject to recent high-profile NCAA investigations, such as the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the University of Miami, have also maintained websites largely filled with press releases and university talking points.
In some ways, we can trace this "in the court of public opinion" approach to the May 2010 case NCAA v. Associated Press. In that case, the Florida Supreme Court compelled the NCAA to make available to media outlets documents associated with its investigation into an academic scandal at Florida State University. The NCAA had argued unsuccessfully the documents were not subject to Florida's "sunshine" laws as the documents should be considered protected under the Federal Educational Right to Privacy Act (FERPA). The decision, ostensibly, made the traditionally secretive NCAA process considerably more public.
In the year after the ruling, Richard Southall and Mark Nagel, now both professors at the University of South Carolina, speculated the court's decision would "greatly impact the future operation of the NCAA and its member departments." Southall and Nagel also opined in the wake of the decision, athletic department stakeholders might demand greater access to "public" documents pertaining to "their" team.
Indeed, it would seem Southall and Nagel were spot-on in their predictions, with athletic departments taking a more proactive stance in communicating their messages directly to stakeholders while an NCAA investigation is ongoing. The change in posture is significant enough to make one wonder if the internet had existed (in its current form) in the mid-1980s, whether SMU's football program would have received the death penalty.
Whether this tactic of increased transparency influences NCAA sanctions is unclear, but Ole Miss's approach is unique in two ways. First, unlike UNC and Miami, Ole Miss proactively published the NCAA notice of allegations on its site. My attempts to search the NCAA website for the same information came up empty. The only document I could find about Ole Miss allegations on the NCAA site was the 2016 infractions decision. In my mind, publishing the NCAA's allegation represented a clear attempt by Ole Miss to try its NCAA case in the public eye.
The second unique aspect of Ole Miss's strategy was the February 22 release of a 21-minute video statement featuring Chancellor Jeff Vitter, Vice Chancellor of Athletics Ross Bjork, and Football Coach Hugh Freeze. Ole Miss is not the first school to release a video statement; the University of Southern California used a similar approach in June 2009 to respond to allegations surrounding investigations involving OJ Mayo and Reggie Bush.
Comparing these two videos, one pre- and one post-NCAA v. AP decision, is instructive into the changing public relations approach by universities. First, the USC video on YouTube has, to date, approximately 3,200 views in eight years. Ole Miss, on the other hand, has 220,000 views of its video in four months, suggesting a changing importance of video in today's consumer culture. While I suspect both videos had similar intents, the desire to have the university's perspective of NCAA allegations presented to stakeholders in an unfiltered environment, the execution and content of these videos differed greatly.
Admittedly an unscientific metric, Ole Miss's video has received nearly three times as many "thumbs down" ratings on YouTube as "thumbs up" ratings. Twitter reaction to Ole Miss's video was quick, and largely unfavorable, with sportswriters calling it cowardice and comparing it to a hostage video. Indeed, the video comes across as extremely stiff, and, at 20-plus minutes, entirely too long. By comparison, the USC video featuring Todd Dickey, then Senior Vice President for Administration, and Mike Garrett, then Athletic Director, clocks in at just over six minutes, and presents changing settings for each speaker.
But more important than the logistics of the video was the substance of what was said. USC's Dickey stated, "we cannot comment on any aspect of the investigation until it is complete." Instead, he and Garrrett stressed how they take the allegations seriously and intended to fully cooperate with the NCAA. Clearly, this is what the NCAA wants; full subjugation by the university in an enforcement process where, as professors Southall and Nagel wrote in their summary of the AP case, the "NCAA serves as investigator, prosecutor, and judge."
Ole Miss, on the other hand, attempted to address the NCAA allegations on a point-by-point basis with Bjork often outlining specific allegations the university intended to contest with the NCAA. All three Ole Miss speakers stressed the university's core values and mission, and the importance of integrity. Freeze, in particular, attempted to shift the blame to the former players who were the subject of the allegations. Freeze positioned the current players as innocent, and implored the Ole Miss family to "rally around them and love them through this journey."
And this is where I think Ole Miss might have executed its video differently and employed today's technology to engage fans. Research from Natalie Brown (now at the University of Texas) and Kenon Brown and Andrew Billings, both of the University of Alabama in 2015, categorized fans as "active stakeholders", defining them as "people not part of an organizational structure, who turn to social media outlets to help shape a story since mainstream media options are not available to them." Crisis literature to date, the authors noted, has not delineated between those affected by a crisis, and those wishing to make an impact during crisis response.
However, two studies by the researchers present contradictory results of a university's ability to harness the power of these active stakeholders. Using the Nevin Shapiro and University of Miami case as its focus, Natalie Brown and Billings concluded "fans can, indeed, become an effective arm of the university's crisis response."
Grounded in Coombs' (2007) reputation repair strategies, Brown and Billings pointed to an ingratiation strategy in which fans rallied support for Miami among themselves. The researchers noted the creation of a trending Twitter hashtag, #IStandWithTheU, was wholly initiated by fans. Additionally, fans were active in sharing links to articles showing the school in a positive light and reminding one another of the storied history of Miami athletics. The researchers also found evidence of fans using social media to attack the accuser, directing criticisms toward media outlets for their reporting, as well as diverting attention toward other schools facing NCAA sanctions.
That last strategy, Brown and Billings noted, was particularly effective since Miami itself could not do that without facing negative backlash. Miami, however, was not held responsible for negative behaviors in which fans engage.
A follow-up study by all three researchers focused on the Penn State sex abuse scandal revealed somewhat contrary results. In this study, the researchers found evidence of fans turning on the university and focusing loyalty on Coach Joe Paterno instead, concluding the case provided "a warning for organizations that online fan-based crisis response may not always be enacted in their best interests."
Specifically, the authors emphasized the volume of scapegoating directed at Penn State administration, citing lack of transparency as evidence. The authors noted the fan base "hurled insults toward Penn State officials through their social media accounts", drawing a clear line of distinction between the institution and Paterno.
Clearly there is no guarantee of success should Ole Miss, or any other university facing NCAA sanctions, seek to engage its active stakeholders in the process. Indeed, a significant risk exists for athletic departments who cede message development to stakeholders on social media. Often, fans in this space use the anonymity of social media platforms to express frustrations toward a coach who is not winning or an athlete who, perhaps, missed a crucial field goal.
That said, as someone with 10 years of public relations practitioner experience, I applaud Ole Miss and others for educating their stakeholders about the NCAA process and communicating the institution's position. I think the risk of using active stakeholders is worth taking for athletic departments under NCAA investigation. The results of the Miami case illustrate the potential upside of having online fan support using reputation repair strategies to influence social media followers at a time when the university may be limited in what it can say publicly. As Brown and Billings concluded, "Fans become a source through which a positive message can be issued to counter existing negative reports."
However, athletic departments may wish to wade into these waters cautiously. Athletic departments in situations similar to Ole Miss may experience more positive initial feedback by creating shorter, 60-second sound bites for easier distribution, and sharing, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms which speak to today's mobile consumer. There is a difference between providing relevant talking points in sharable forms to key stakeholder groups, and the overt cultivation of activist stakeholders. I suspect the latter will not be perceived favorably.
RisingADs Book Review: Washington's Cohen & SMU's Hart on Stillness is Key
In this RisingADs book review, Washington Director of Athletics Jen Cohen and SMU Director of Athletics Rick Hart give insight on personal application of key concepts from Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday. The book touches on the importance for leaders to strive for stillness in thought, contemplation, and life. These things will lead
The Inequality Of Coaching College Basketball
The treatment of people based on the color of their skin is front and center in American life right now. From law enforcement, to pay equity, to hiring practices these differences can be seen plain as day across most areas of life. While college basketball is certainly more diverse than many areas of American life,
2020 Autonomy 5 Baseball Head Coach Compensation Survey
Introduction & Methodology We reviewed all forms of compensation for the head baseball coaches at National Collegiate Athletic Association member institutions of the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conferences (the, "Autonomy 5"). We analyzed these coaches' employment agreements and related documents, which were obtained in partnership with USAToday, and created
Eliminate the barrage of articles and time-consuming searches. Efficient D1 athletics news in a daily email. Sign up to receive D1.ticker today!
Made possible by our supportive and generous partners who do great work in the sports industry
We are a Creative Advertising & Development Agency that focuses on developing partnerships with our prospective clients. The purpose of our methodology is to complement and strengthen the impact of each discipline.
Teamworks is the leading athlete engagement platform, built by athletes, for athletes. Our software is like the gears of a machine – we help athletes, coaches and staff at more than 3,000 teams around the world operate effectively and efficiently. When athletes are engaged with the team and have the information they need to succeed, everyone wins.
Collegiate Sports Associate's purpose is defined by a commitment to assist our former Athletic Director colleagues, Presidents, and other institutional leaders in preserving an alignment between the mission of athletics with that of the University. Our experience and life-long dedication to the values of higher education and amateur intercollegiate athletics are what makes us unique.
Navigate is a data-driven consulting firm guiding major decisions and deals in sports and entertainment. Founded on best-in-class research, data and analytics, we guide strategies for the largest leagues, teams, brands, networks, and universities in the world. Over the past 15 years, we have been trusted by the industry's premier decision-makers to provide them with clarity and confidence across a diverse set of challenges.
CSMG is a College Sports Properties Group that drives the business of college athletic conferences and schools, providing them with a successful growth strategy, and generating revenue to support their athletic department and initiatives. CSMG specializes in Marketing Rights/Revenue Generation, Content Creation & Distribution, Media Rights Strategy & Negotiation, Sponsorship Sales, Name Image and Likeness Solutions, Licensing, Event Production & Management, Ticketing and Esports.
Athlete Viewpoint is a comprehensive data collection and analysis platform designed for leaders in athletics who value their student-athletes, coaches and staff above all else. We provide detailed, actionable information to assess your program, enhance performance and manage risk.
The top storytelling brands in college sports use the INFLCR platform to store, track and deliver their creative staff's internally-curated content to their student-athletes and other brand ambassadors for sharing on social media.
InXAthlete is the premier online platform bridging the gap between Student-Athletes and Employers. Created by Student-Athletes, InXAthlete is specifically tailored to the Student-Athletes journey. InXAthlete's proprietary technology provides the highest level of exposure for Student-Athletes to find jobs, internships, and mentorship while allowing the athletics administration to manage their career development comprehensively.


text:
Government must take responsibility for power crisis: Patali
31 Mar, 2019 | 10:06 pm
Written by Staff Writer 31 Mar, 2019 | 10:06 pm
COLOMBO (News 1st) – Several protests were held today (March 31) against the ongoing electricity crisis.
A demonstration was staged today (March 31) at the Haldummulla, Halatuthenna junction against the prevailing power crisis.
Residents of the area as well as politicians representing the opposition participated in the demonstration. The demonstrators took to the streets along with their household electrical equipment.
Meanwhile, residents of the Weeraketiya, Megashare area staged another demonstration last evening (March 30).
Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, Patali Champika Ranawaka noted that the Ministry of Power of the current government and the cabinet should take the responsibility of the crisis.
Minister Kabir Hashim stated that a proposal has been submitted to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, requesting the supply of furnace oil at a lower price as more people could resort to generators and ease up the power crisis.
However, the Ceylon Today reported that Minister of Power, Renewable Energy and Business Development Ravi Karunanayake is planning to purchase low-cost furnace oil from Lanka IOC, instead of standard furnace oil from the CPC, for furnace oil power plants of the CEB.
Ceylon Today quoting a top official of the CPC noted since CPC profits enormously from selling furnace oil if such a decision is made, it will face a severe crisis.
The government has also focused its attention to purchase emergency power from the private sector, with the approval of the Public Utilities Commission.
Sulakshana Jayawardena, media spokesperson to the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy noted that despite the procurement process to set up a 100-megawatt supplementary power capacity to the system had been completed they have failed to combine it to the national grid. He finally noted that they also have plans to purchase 51 megawatts from the Asian Power power plant, and 24 megawatts from S power plant.
Wasantha Samarasinghe, Convener to the Voice against Corruption noted that in reality there is no power crisis and there is the only conflict of ascertaining commissions. He added that a ship is anchored in the harbour with a 100-megawatt generator which should have been brought before the crisis not after the crisis. He added that they waited till the crisis occurred so it was not necessary to call for tenders and the government would have to pay the price the supplier demands which is, in this case, is Rs. 50 per unit. He noted that this strategy would help them ascertain a bigger cut for their pockets.
He noted that in 2018 CEB suffered a loss of Rs. 109bn and he stated that the budget only allocates Rs.100bn for education to imply the gravity of the loss. He went on to say that a government should have a strategy to construct power plants according to the consumer demand and Sri Lanka was to construct three power plants in 2019 and none have so far been constructed. He added that it was cynical that educated engineers at CEB pray for rain instead of looking for practical solutions. He added that at least the government should have consulted the Asian Development Bank as they approve loans for solar power plants. He finally noted that in the end, the public suffers from the misdoings of the rulers.
Patali Champika decides to go independent
HRCSL instructs Energy Ministry, CPC & PUCSL to resolve fuel crisis
Sri Lanka: Two-day old baby dies as fuel crisis forces delay in admitting her to hospital
POWER CUTS: 3 hours & 40 minutes for 18th May
17 May, 2022 | 04:04 PM
Sirisena, Cabraal, & PMs Office respond to Anura Kumara's revelations
PUCSL to consult public regarding electricity tariff hike
Fuel: HRCSL summons Energy Ministry, CPC & PUCSL
Baby dies as fuel crisis forces delay in admission
Sirisena, Cabraal, & PMs Office respond to AKD
04 May, 2022 | 11:33 AM
Public to be consulted regarding tariff hike
10 Apr, 2022 | 02:01 PM


text:
What Boba Fett did next...
It's the 25th anniversary of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and whilst we wait for The Book of Boba Fett this Christmas on Disney+, Marvel Comics takes us back to a time between Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in War of the Bounty Hunters.
Our very own US-based stellar scribe, Nick Smith, grabs his latest comic book bounty, from TBS Comics in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and goes in pursuit of the infamous Boba Fett.
It's a story as old as that galaxy far, far away – a protagonist does a favour for a friend in lieu of payment and has to face a series of challenges, eventually finding that the favour could prove fatal thanks to an obstacle that's bigger and more threatening than he ever expected.
However, in War of the Bounty Hunters, that protagonist is the legendary Boba Fett and the payment concerns that scruffy Corellian smuggler Han Solo. "Precious Cargo," from Marvel Comics, sets off a chain of events that will span what's being described as the biggest crossover in Star Wars comics history, filling all 4 monthly titles and a dedicated title (War of the Bounty Hunters). In all, it will take more than 30 issues to tell this story through October 2021. Boushh and IG-88 will get their own comics, while 4-LOM and Zuckuss have to share one.
"Precious Cargo" kicks off five preludes to the war, opening with Boba in his ship Slave 1 [Disney's subsequently renamed it as Boba Fett's Starship - Ed]. He's just left Bespin with Han encased in carbonite and he's en route for Tatooine where Solo will become Jabba the Hutt's favourite decoration. Since The Empire Strikes Back focuses on Luke Skywalker, we've never seen What Fett Did Next – until now.
In this kind of crossover, there is no possible character progression for Boba, and the story's conclusion is inevitable; we know Solo will end up with Jabba. The fun lies in finding out why the other bounty hunters, as well as Luke and the gang, are involved in the war, along with Valance the Cyborg, Domina Tagge and Doctor Aphra. Since the latter three are Marvel creations, they can be further developed. Their fates are unknown to us. Those characters are given just enough traits and twists to keep us reading.
Boba's situation is complicated thanks to some gangland entanglements with the Kanji Hutts and it becomes apparent that his journey to Tatooine won't be a straight run. Over in Star Wars issue 13, the rebel alliance searches for their carbon-cosy pal in "The Hunt for Han Solo." They're one issue behind Boba so they don't catch up with him or his cargo. But they, too, face the Kanji. With an image of Boba on a wall and the good guys facing aliens, the cover of this story is reminiscent of the original Star Wars issue 7.
Next up is Bounty Hunters issue 12, which develops the relationship between Valance and Han Solo; and Darth Vader issue 12, continuing a captivating conflict between the Dark Lord of the Sith and his Emperor. The animosity between them makes Vader's ultimate betrayal of his master less sudden and more believable in Return of the Jedi.
The final prelude is in Doctor Aphra issue 10. Although Aphra is a character with great potential – imagine a Lucasfilm version of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider – "The Invitation" feels the least like a Star Wars story, despite its stomping Stormtroopers and exploding machinery. There's no direct mention of the Han Solo situation and we're launched into a confusing situation, even with a 'story so far' at the beginning of the book. If you're not familiar with Aphra's past and her allies, beware.
Despite this weak link, the War of the Bounty Hunters saga has strong artwork, entertaining characters and situations, and Star Wars references aplenty. Whether that's enough to hold our attention through 34 comics remains to be seen. But fans have plenty to look forward to in these 'deleted scenes' from The Book of Boba Fett, which will lead to Marvel's contemporary take on Return of the Jedi.
Are you reading War of the Bounty Hunters (affiliate link)? Let me know in the comments below.
Posted by John Hood at 7:00 am
Labels: boba fett, darth vader, disney, disney plus, han solo, jabba the hutt, lucasfilm, marvel comics, return of the jedi, review, star wars, the empire strikes back
LEGO Star Wars: Republic Gunship
Jodie Whittaker to leave Doctor Who
The Nevers' phantasmagorical finale
Spooky reunion in Ghostbusters: Afterlife
ILM hires Deepfake expert
Doctor Who panel at Comic-Con 2021
Black Series Rancor teased by HasLab
WandaVision wows with Emmy nominations
Daisy Ridley stars in Twelve Minutes
Power of the Force Cantina Showdown
The Witcher celebrated at WitcherCon
Enter the multiverse in Marvel Studios' What If...?
Independence Day director talks Disney+
Zack Snyder's 'Star Wars' on Netflix
Star Wars: Visions first look at Anime Expo Lite
He-Man fights to save Eternia on Netflix
Alien series shooting without Ripley
The Tomorrow War on Amazon Prime
Darth Vader crashes classical concert