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TBI/PTSD4, Aging/Exercise & Brain 6
*COMMUNITY SUPPORT VETERAN'S RESOURCES
HealthMedicine 11
How lonely you are may impact how well you sleep
Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Study of adults in tight-knit South Dakota community shows lonely feelings associated with compromised sleep -- that is, the stronger the loneliness, the more disruptions during the night, with potentially negative consequences on wellness. Results agree with 2002 study of college students, indicating that individuals young and old, in big towns and small, need to feel secure in their social setting to get a healthy night's rest.
"It's not just a product of very lonely individuals having poor sleep. The relationship between loneliness and restless sleep appears to operate across the range of perceived connectedness," said lead author Lianne Kurina, PhD, of the Department of Health Studies at the University of Chicago.
"Loneliness has been associated with adverse effects on health," Kurina said. "We wanted to explore one potential pathway for this, the theory that sleep -- a key behavior to staying healthy -- could be compromised by feelings of loneliness. What we found was that loneliness does not appear to change the total amount of sleep in individuals, but awakens them more times during the night."
"Whether you're a young student at a major university or an older adult living in a rural community, we may all be dependent on feeling secure in our social environment in order to sleep soundly," Kurina said. "The results from these studies could further our understanding of how social and psychological factors 'get under the skin' and affect health."
Dreaming takes the sting out of painful memories
Science Daily/University of California - Berkeley
They say time heals all wounds, and new research indicates that time spent in dream sleep can help. Researchers have found that during the dream phase of sleep, also known as REM sleep, our stress chemistry shuts down and the brain processes emotional experiences and takes the painful edge off difficult memories.
UC Berkeley researchers have found that during the dream phase of sleep, also known as REM sleep, our stress chemistry shuts down and the brain processes emotional experiences and takes the edge off difficult memories.
The findings offer a compelling explanation for why people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as war veterans, have a hard time recovering from distressing experiences and suffer reoccurring nightmares. They also offer clues into why we dream.
"The dream stage of sleep, based on its unique neurochemical composition, provides us with a form of overnight therapy, a soothing balm that removes the sharp edges from the prior day's emotional experiences," said Matthew Walker, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley and senior author of the study to be published on Nov. 23, in the journal Current Biology.
For people with PTSD, Walker said, this overnight therapy may not be working effectively, so when a "flashback is triggered by, say, a car backfiring, they relive the whole visceral experience once again because the emotion has not been properly stripped away from the memory during sleep."
The results offer some of the first insights into the emotional function of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which typically takes up 20 percent of a healthy human's sleeping hours. Previous brain studies indicate that sleep patterns are disrupted in people with mood disorders such as PTSD and depression.
"We know that during REM sleep there is a sharp decrease in levels of norepinephrine, a brain chemical associated with stress," Walker said. "By reprocessing previous emotional experiences in this neuro-chemically safe environment of low norepinephrine during REM sleep, we wake up the next day, and those experiences have been softened in their emotional strength. We feel better about them, we feel we can cope."
Walker said he was tipped off to the possible beneficial effects of REM sleep on PTSD patients when a physician at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in the Seattle area told him of a blood pressure drug that was inadvertently preventing reoccurring nightmares in PTSD patients.
Brain Rhythm Predicts Real-Time Sleep Stability
Mar. 7, 2011 —
Science Daily/Massachusetts General Hospital
A new study finds that a brain rhythm considered the hallmark of wakefulness not only persists inconspicuously during sleep but also signifies an individual's vulnerability to disturbance by the outside world. In their report in the March 3 PLoS One, the team from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Division of Sleep Medicine uses computerized EEG signal processing to detect subtle fluctuations in the alpha rhythm during sleep and shows that greater alpha intensity is associated with increased sleep fragility. The findings could lead to more precise approaches to inducing and supporting sleep.
"We found that the alpha rhythm is not just a marker of the transition between sleep and wakefulness but carries rich information about sleep stability," says Scott McKinney, informatics manager at the MGH Sleep Lab and lead author of the study. "This suggests that sleep -- rather than proceeding in discrete stages -- actually moves along a continuum of depth. It also opens the door to real-time tracking of sleep states and creates the potential for sleep-induction systems that interface directly with the brain."
One of numerous neuroelectrical signals produced by the brain and detected by electroencephalography (EEG), the alpha rhythm was first discovered nearly a century ago. Typically generated when the brain is relaxed but awake, the alpha rhythm fades as consciousness recedes and seems to disappear when sleep begins. However, a mathematical technique called spectral analysis, which quantifies the elemental oscillations that make up complicated signals, reveals that fluctuations in the alpha rhythm persist during sleep at levels that cannot be detected by visual inspection of an EEG.
Since alpha activity is associated with both wakefulness and receptiveness to sensory signals, the researchers hypothesized that it also could indicate a sleeper's sensitivity to environmental stimuli. To test this hypothesis, they monitored EEG rhythms in 13 healthy volunteers who spent three nights in the MGH Sleep Lab. At frequent intervals through each night the volunteers were exposed to 10 seconds of typical background noises like traffic or a ringing telephone. The sounds were repeated at successively louder levels until the EEG reflected that sleep had been disturbed.
Spectral analysis of the EEG measurements revealed that the strength of the alpha signal predicted how easily volunteers could be disturbed at the moment the measurement was taken, with a more intense alpha signal associated with more delicate sleep. The predictive power of alpha activity persisted for up to four minutes after the initial measurement, and the association was seen during both stage 2 and stage 3 non-REM sleep but not during REM sleep.
"We've found a quantitative measure that discloses sleep's momentary fragility," McKinney explains. "This technology may someday allow the development of adaptive sleep-inducing agents that can be guided by real-time feedback from neural activity -- a great enhancement over conventional sleep drugs that act like sledgehammers, inducing a blanket sedation throughout the brain for an entire night."
Jeffrey Ellenbogen, MD, chief of the MGH Division of Sleep Medicine and senior author of the PLoS One report adds, "This finding paves the way toward futuristic sleep treatments in which medication or other therapies are delivered moment-to-moment, only when needed, to protect sleep when the brain is most vulnerable but otherwise let natural brain rhythms run their course. Learning more about the mechanism behind this association between the alpha rhythm and sleep fragility should lead to an even greater understanding of the factors that maintain sleep's integrity in the face of noise and other nuisances."
New 'Chemical Pathway' in the Brain for Stress: Breakthrough Offers Hope for Targeted Treatment of Stress-Related Disorders
Apr. 20, 2011 —
Science Daily/University of Leicester
A team of neuroscientists at the University of Leicester, UK, in collaboration with researchers from Poland and Japan, has announced a breakthrough in the understanding of the 'brain chemistry' that triggers our response to highly stressful and traumatic events.
The study found that the emotional centre of the brain -- the amygdala -- reacts to stress by increasing production of a protein called neuropsin. This triggers a series of chemical events which in turn cause the amygdala to increase its activity. As a consequence, a gene is turned on that determines the stress response at a cellular level.
"However when the proteins produced by the amygdala were blocked -- either pharmacologically or by gene therapy -- the mice did not exhibit the same traits. The behavioural consequences of stress were no longer present. We conclude that the activity of neuropsin and its partners may determine vulnerability to stress."
Sleep Deprivation in Doctors
May 24, 2011 —
Science Daily/Canadian Medical Association Journal
Sleep deprivation is an issue that affects practising physicians and not only medical residents, and we need to establish standards for maximum work and minimum uninterrupted sleep to ensure patient safety, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
A recent study indicated that lack of sleep can result in higher rates of surgical complications if a surgeon had less than six hours of sleep the preceding night. Doctors practising post-call may not be at optimal levels as fatigue can effect mental acuity. "We doctors ourselves are part of this problem," write the authors. "We need to shift our professional culture. Long periods on call should not be accepted as routine or a source of pride."
The Good Life: Good Sleepers Have Better Quality of Life and Less Depression
June 15, 2011 —
People with a "normal" sleep duration of six to nine hours per night had higher self-reported scores for quality of life and lower scores for depression severity compared to short and long sleepers. Among patients who reported having perfect health, there were a higher percentage of normal sleepers, who also had significantly lower scores for depression severity compared to short and long sleepers with perfect health. Data were analyzed from 10,654 patient records.
Getting six to nine hours of sleep per night is associated with higher ratings for quality of life and lower ratings for depression, suggests a research abstract that will be presented on June 14, in Minneapolis, Minn., at Sleep 2011, the 25th Anniversary Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS).
Results show that people with a "normal" sleep duration of six to nine hours per night had higher self-reported scores for quality of life and lower scores for depression severity compared to short and long sleepers. These differences were statistically significant in all comparisons. Among patients who reported having perfect health, there were a higher percentage of normal sleepers, who also had significantly lower scores for depression severity compared to short and long sleepers with perfect health.
Exposure to 'white' light LEDs appears to suppress body's production of melatonin more than certain other lights
Science Daily/University of Haifa
Exposure to the light of 'white' LED bulbs appears to suppress melatonin five times more than exposure to the light of high pressure sodium bulbs that give off an orange-yellow light, according to new research.
"White" light bulbs that emit light at shorter wavelengths are greater suppressors of the body's production of melatonin than bulbs emitting orange-yellow light, a new international study has revealed. Melatonin is a compound that adjusts our biological clock and is known for its anti-oxidant and anti-cancerous properties.
The study investigated the influence of different types of bulbs on "light pollution" and the suppression of melatonin, with the researchers recommending several steps that should be taken to balance the need to save energy and protecting public health.
The fact that "white" artificial light (which is actually blue light on the spectrum, emitted at wavelengths of between 440-500 nanometers) suppresses the production of melatonin in the brain's pineal gland is already known. Also known is the fact that suppressing the production of melatonin, which is responsible, among other things, for the regulation of our biological clock, causes behavior disruptions and health problems.
Listening to music can be effective for reducing pain in high-anxiety persons
Science Daily/American Pain Society
Distraction is a proven pain reliever, and a new study reported in The Journal of Pain concludes that listening to music can be effective for reducing pain in high-anxiety persons who can easily become absorbed in cognitive activities.
Researchers from the University of Utah Pain Research Center evaluated the potential benefits of music for diverting psychological responses to experimental pain stimuli. They hypothesized that music may divert cognitive focus from pain. If true, the key to successful pain control from this method would be the degree of engagement by the patient in the diversion task.
One hundred forty-three subjects were evaluated for the study. They were instructed to listen to music tracks, follow the melodies, and identify deviant tones. During the music tasks, they were given safe, experimental pain shocks with fingertip electrodes.
The findings showed that central arousal from the pain stimuli reliably decreased with the increasing music-task demand. Music helps reduce pain by activating sensory pathways that compete with pain pathways, stimulating emotional responses, and engaging cognitive attention. Music, therefore, provided meaningful intellectual and emotional engagement to help reduce pain.
Among the study subjects, those with high levels of anxiety about pain had the greatest net engagement, which contradicted the authors' initial hypothesis that anxiety would interfere with a subject's ability to become absorbed in the music listening task. They noted that low anxiety actually may have diminished the ability to engage in the task.
The findings suggest that engaging activities like music listening can be effective for reducing pain in high anxiety persons who can easily become absorbed in activities. They noted that interaction of anxiety and absorption is a new finding and implies that these personality characteristics should be considered when recommending engagement strategies for pain relief.
Low vitamin D levels linked to depression
Science Daily/UT Southwestern Medical Center
Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to depression, according to psychiatrists.
"Our findings suggest that screening for vitamin D levels in depressed patients -- and perhaps screening for depression in people with low vitamin D levels -- might be useful," said Dr. E. Sherwood Brown, professor of psychiatry and senior author of the study, done in conjunction with The Cooper Institute in Dallas. "But we don't have enough information yet to recommend going out and taking supplements."
Vitamin D levels are now commonly tested during routine physical exams, and they already are accepted as risk factors for a number of other medical problems: autoimmune diseases; heart and vascular disease; infectious diseases; osteoporosis; obesity; diabetes; certain cancers; and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, multiple sclerosis, and general cognitive decline.
Treatment With Light Benefits Alzheimer's Patients
Jan. 11, 2012 —
Science Daily/Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research
In a study published recently in the Western Journal of Nursing Research, LuAnn Nowak Etcher, Ph.D., assistant professor of nursing, reported that patients treated with blue-green light were perceived by their caregivers as having improved global functioning.
Caregivers said patients receiving the treatment seemed more awake and alert, were more verbally competent and showed improved recognition, recollection and motor coordination. They also said patients seemed to recapture their personalities and were more engaged with their environment. Patients' moods also were described as improved.
Etcher's work is inspired by her interest in a phenomenon known as "sundowning," when Alzheimer's patients sleep during the day, wake up later and may be up all night long. Part of her doctoral research was to utilize light, a common intervention for circadian disorders, to regulate the rest-activity patterns of women with Alzheimer's.
This study, Etcher said, was an effort to address disagreement among researchers on the effect of therapeutic light in regulating rest-activity patterns in Alzheimer's patients. The study involved 20 women older than age 65 with Alzheimer's dementia from nursing homes in southeast Michigan. Each patient was assigned randomly to an experimental group receiving blue-green light treatments or a control group receiving dim red light.
A commercially available visor used to treat seasonal affective disorder and jet lag was used to administer the light to patients. Caregivers -- patients' family members and nursing facility personnel -- were not told which type of light was hypothesized to have physiologic effects.
Although blue-green light recipients comprised the active experimental group, Etcher said she was surprised when some recipients of red light -- the placebo group -- also were reported as showing improvements, with caregivers saying their patients were calmer and had reduced resistance to care.
The level of effects varied, Etcher said, noting that while the blue-green group recipients were largely reported by caregivers as showing improvement, a few showed little to no effect from the treatments.
"Some of the rest-activity pattern disruptions that we see associated with Alzheimer's dementia may not necessarily be circadian based," Etcher said. "They may be due to unmet needs, pain or other phenomena, and therefore would not respond to an intervention aimed at regulation of the circadian system."
Calling her study preliminary, she said it now needs to be replicated with a larger sample and different demographics.
In addition to ascertaining which behaviors are circadian based, establishing which methods are most appropriate to analyze data like Etcher's requires exploration, she said. She is proposing further work that uses two different nonlinear analytic methods to examine sensitivity and specificity to detect change in circadian patterns, with a long-term goal of developing interventions to regulate those patterns to the benefit of patients' overall function.
"If they sleep better at night, and are more awake during the day, they can eat, they can interact with other people and they can take advantage of other cueing agents in the environment," she said. "In addition to light during daytime and darkness during the nighttime, smells at mealtimes, food intake, interactions -- all these things in conjunction help regulate our day."
Hyperactivity in Brain May Explain Multiple Symptoms of Depression
Feb. 27, 2012 —
Science Daily/University of California - Los Angeles
https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2012/02/120227162656_1_540x360.jpg
Brain hyperactivity. Maps showing the difference in the strength of brain connections between depressed subjects (left) and controls (right). Depressed subjects show much stronger connections, as evidenced by red colors in their maps.
Credit: Image courtesy of University of California - Los Angeles
Most of us know what it means when it's said that someone is depressed. But commonly, true clinical depression brings with it a number of other symptoms. These can include anxiety, poor attention and concentration, memory issues, and sleep disturbances.
Traditionally, depression researchers have sought to identify the individual brain areas responsible for causing these symptoms. But the combination of so many symptoms suggested to UCLA researchers that the multiple symptoms of depression may be linked to a malfunction involving brain networks -- the connections that link different brain regions.
Now, for the first time, these UCLA researchers have shown that people with depression have increased connections among most brain areas. Indeed, their brains are widely hyperconnected. The report, published this week in the online journal PLoS ONE, sheds new light on the brain dysfunction that causes depression and its wide array of symptoms.
"The brain must be able to regulate its connections to function properly," said the study's first author, Dr. Andrew Leuchter, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. "The brain must be able to first synchronize, and then later desynchronize, different areas in order to react, regulate mood, learn and solve problems."
The depressed brain, Leuchter said, maintains its ability to form functional connections but loses the ability to turn these connections off.
"This inability to control how brain areas work together may help explain some of the symptoms in depression," he said.
In the study, the largest of its kind, the researchers studied the functional connections of the brain in 121 adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder, or MDD. They measured the synchronization of electrical signals from the brain -- brain waves -- to study networks among the different brain regions.
While some previous studies have hinted at abnormal patterns of connections in MDD, the UCLA team used a new method called "weighted network analysis" to examine overall brain connections. They found that the depressed subjects showed increased synchronization across all frequencies of electrical activity, indicating dysfunction in many different brain networks.
Brain rhythms in some of these networks regulate the release of serotonin and other brain chemicals that help control mood, said Leuchter, who is also the director of UCLA's Laboratory of Brain, Behavior, and Pharmacology and chair of the UCLA Academic Senate.
"The area of the brain that showed the greatest degree of abnormal connections was the prefrontal cortex, which is heavily involved in regulating mood and solving problems," he said. "When brain systems lose their flexibility in controlling connections, they may not be able to adapt to change.
"So an important question is, to what extent do abnormal rhythms drive the abnormal brain chemistry that we see in depression? We have known for some time that antidepressant medications alter the electrical rhythms of the brain at the same time that levels of brain chemicals like serotonin are changing. It is possible that a primary effect of antidepressant treatment is to 'repair' the brain's electrical connections and that normalizing brain connectivity is a key step in recovery from depression. That will be the next step in our research."
REM Sleep Disorder Doubles Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment, Parkinson's
Mar. 13, 2012 —
Science Daily/Mayo Clinic
People with symptoms suggesting rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, or RBD, have twice the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Parkinson's disease within four years of diagnosis with the sleep problem, compared with people without the disorder, a Mayo Clinic study has found.
One of the hallmarks of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a state of paralysis. In contrast, people with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, appear to act out their dreams when they are in REM sleep. Researchers used the Mayo Sleep Questionnaire to diagnose probable RBD in people who were otherwise neurologically normal. Approximately 34 percent of people diagnosed with probable RBD developed MCI or Parkinson's disease within four years of entering the study, a rate 2.2 times greater than those with normal rapid eye movement sleep.
"Understanding that certain patients are at greater risk for MCI or Parkinson's disease will allow for early intervention, which is vital in the case of such disorders that destroy brain cells. Although we are still searching for effective treatments, our best chance of success is to identify and treat these disorders early, before cell death," says co-author Brad Boeve, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurologist.
Previous studies of Mayo Clinic patients have shown that an estimated 45 percent of people who suffer from RBD will develop a neurodegenerative syndrome such as mild cognitive impairment or Parkinson's disease within five years of diagnosis.
RBD, MCI and Parkinson's Disease
"This study is the first to quantify the risk associated with probable RBD in average people, not clinical patients, and it shows that we can predict the onset of some neurodegenerative disorders simply by asking a few critical questions," says lead author Brendon P. Boot, M.D., a behavioral neurologist. Dr. Boot was at Mayo Clinic when the study was conducted. He is now at Harvard University.
• MCI is an intermediate stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the more pronounced decline of dementia. It involves problems with memory, language, thinking and judgment that are greater than typical age-related changes.
• An estimated 500,000 Americans suffer from Parkinson's disease, which is characterized by tremor or shakiness, stiffness of the limbs and trunk, slowness of movement, and impaired balance and coordination.
Circadian Rhythms Have Profound Influence On Metabolic Output
Science Daily/University of California - Irvine
By analyzing the hundreds of metabolic products present in the liver, researchers with the UC Irvine Center for Epigenetics & Metabolism have discovered that circadian rhythms -- our own body clock -- greatly control the production of such key building blocks as amino acids, carbohydrates and lipids.
They identified more than 600 liver-originated metabolites, which are the chemical substances created by metabolism that sustain and promote cell health and growth. Approximately 60 percent of these metabolites were found to be dependent on the endogenous circadian clock -- many more than expected, as only about 15 percent of the body's genes are regulated by it.
Circadian rhythms over 24 hours govern fundamental biological and physiological processes in almost all organisms. They anticipate environmental changes and adapt certain bodily functions to the appropriate time of day. Disruption of these cycles can seriously affect human health.
Center for Epigenetics & Metabolism director Paolo Sassone-Corsi, lead author on the study and one of the world's preeminent researchers on circadian rhythms, said the liver metabolites reveal how the body clock -- through the main circadian gene, CLOCK -- orchestrates the interplay between metabolites and signaling proteins in much the same way a conductor leads a symphony.
"Metabolites and signaling proteins -- like the horns and strings in an orchestra -- need to be perfectly coordinated, and we've found that CLOCK provides that direction," he said.
Since external cues such as day-night lighting patterns and nutrition influence the circadian machinery, metabolites and their relationship to signaling proteins in cells seem to be acutely tied to circadian disruptions. This may help explain, Sassone-Corsi added, some of the primary physiological factors underlying obesity, high cholesterol and metabolic-based diseases like diabetes.
"This interplay has far-reaching implications for human illness and aging, and it is likely vital for proper metabolism," he said. Study results appear this week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"By identifying the relationship between metabolites and the body clock, we have taken a first step toward a better understanding of how nutrients interact with our metabolism, giving researchers a new opportunity to spot the optimal times for us to get the fullest benefits from the foods we eat and the medications we take," added Kristin Eckel-Mahan, a UCI postdoctoral researcher in biological chemistry and study co-author.
Working with Metabolon Inc., Sassone-Corsi and Eckel-Mahan created the first liver metabolome -- the full set of metabolites. With this information, they partnered with Pierre Baldi, director of UCI's Institute for Genomics & Bioinformatics, and his graduate student Vishal Patel to analyze the data and build CircadiOmics, a Web-based data system that provides detailed profiles of the metabolites and related genes in the liver and the underlying networks through which they interact.
"Within CircadiOmics, we were able to integrate this circadian metabolite data with multiple other data sources to generate the first comprehensive map of the liver metabolome and its circadian oscillations and develop regulatory hypotheses that have been confirmed in the laboratory," said Baldi, Chancellor's Professor of computer science. "CircadiOmics is being expanded with metabolic data about other tissues and conditions and will be invaluable to further our understanding of the interplay between metabolism and circadian rhythms in healthy and diseased states."
Scientists Redraw the Blueprint of the Body's Biological Clock
Apr. 5, 2012 —
Science Daily/Salk Institute for Biological Studies
The discovery of a major gear in the biological clock that tells the body when to sleep and metabolize food may lead to new drugs to treat sleep problems and metabolic disorders, including diabetes.
"This fundamentally changes our knowledge about the workings of the circadian clock and how it orchestrates our sleep-wake cycles, when we eat and even the times our bodies metabolize nutrients," says Evans. "Nuclear receptors can be targeted with drugs, which suggests we might be able to target REV-ERBα and β to treat disorders of sleep and metabolism."
Nurses, emergency personnel and others who work shifts that alter the normal 24-hour cycle of waking and sleeping are at much higher risk for a number of diseases, including metabolic disorders such as diabetes.
Less Sleep, Disrupted Internal 24-Hour Clock: Higher Risk of Diabetes and Obesity
Science Daily/Brigham and Women's Hospital
A study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) reinforces the finding that too little sleep or sleep patterns that are inconsistent with our body's "internal biological clock" may lead to increased risk of diabetes and obesity. This finding has been seen in short-term lab studies and when observing human subjects via epidemiological studies. However, unlike epidemiological studies, this new study provides support by examining humans in a controlled lab environment over a prolonged period, and altering the timing of sleep, mimicking shift work or recurrent jet lag.
The researchers saw that prolonged sleep restriction with simultaneous circadian disruption decreased the participants' resting metabolic rate. Moreover, during this period, glucose concentrations in the blood increased after meals, because of poor insulin secretion by the pancreas.
According to the researchers, a decreased resting metabolic rate could translate into a yearly weight gain of over 10 pounds if diet and activity are unchanged. Increased glucose concentration and poor insulin secretion could lead to an increased risk for diabetes.
"We think these results support the findings from studies showing that, in people with a pre-diabetic condition, shift workers who stay awake at night are much more likely to progress to full-on diabetes than day workers," said Orfeu M. Buxton, PhD, BWH neuroscientist and lead study author. "Since night workers often have a hard time sleeping during the day, they can face both circadian disruption working at night and insufficient sleep during the day. The evidence is clear that getting enough sleep is important for health, and that sleep should be at night for best effect."
Role of Impaired Sleep in Fibromyalgia Pain Explored
Patients coping with the complex pain disorder fibromyalgia often have difficulty sleeping, and a new study published in The Journal of Pain reports that despite the negative quality of life implications, poor sleep is not a significant predictor of fibromyalgia pain intensity and duration.
Many fibromyalgia patients complain about poor sleep, and studies have shown that interrupted sleep experienced by individuals with other pain conditions is predictive of next day clinical pain. Also, sleep duration has been shown to predict clinical pain in healthy adults. For this study, a research team from the University of Florida hypothesized that decreased total sleep time would predict higher clinical pain in a sample of patients with fibromyalgia.
Intense Light Prevents, Treats Heart Attacks, Study Suggests
Science Daily/University of Colorado Denver
Strong light, or even just daylight, might ease the risk of having a heart attack or suffering damage from one.
Credit: © Iakov Kalinin / Fotolia
There are lots of ways physicians might treat a patient after a heart attack -- certain resuscitation methods, aspirin, clot-busters and more. Now University of Colorado medical school researchers have found a new candidate: Intense light.
"The study suggests that strong light, or even just daylight, might ease the risk of having a heart attack or suffering damage from one," says Tobias Eckle, MD, PhD, an associate professor of anesthesiology, cardiology, and cell and developmental biology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "For patients, this could mean that daylight exposure inside of the hospital could reduce the damage that is caused by a heart attack."
Change in Attitude May Ease Chronic Pain by Aiding Sleep, Study Suggests
Science Daily/Johns Hopkins Medicine
Chronic pain sufferers who learn to dwell less on their ailments may sleep better and experience less day-to-day pain, according to results of research conducted on 214 people with chronic face and jaw pain.
"We have found that people who ruminate about their pain and have more negative thoughts about their pain don't sleep as well, and the result is they feel more pain," says Luis F. Buenaver, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the leader of a study published online in the journal Pain. "If cognitive behavioral therapy can help people change the way they think about their pain, they might end that vicious cycle and feel better without sleeping pills or pain medicine."
Buenaver and his colleagues say the study highlights the function of a major neurological pathway linking negative thinking about pain to increased pain through disturbed sleep. Buenaver says roughly 80 percent of people with chronic pain experience sleep disturbances, and previous studies have shown that people whose sleep patterns are altered are more sensitive to pain. It is also known, he says, that those who focus frequently on their pain and think more negatively about their pain report more debilitating pain. Such "pain catastrophizing," he adds, has been found to be a more robust predictor of worse pain and pain-related disability than depression, anxiety or neuroticism.
For the study, researchers recruited 214 people with myofascial temporomandibular disorder, or TMD, serious facial and jaw pain believed to be stress-related in many cases. The participants were mostly white and female, with an average age of 34 years. Each participant underwent a dental exam to confirm TMD, then filled out questionnaires assessing sleep quality, depression, pain levels and emotional responses to pain, including whether they ruminate or exaggerate it.
Researchers found a direct correlation between negative thinking about pain and poor sleep, as well as with worse pain in the TMD patients.
Buenaver says sleeping pills and painkillers can help, but these pain patients may benefit just as much, if not more, from cognitive behavioral therapy. He says the same may be true of people who suffer from other stress-related ailments without a clear underlying pathology, including fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and some headaches, neck and back pain.
"It may sound simple, but you can change the way you feel by changing the way you think," Buenaver said.
He and his colleagues currently are studying whether older adults with arthritis and insomnia can benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.
The research is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Some Adults With Sleep Disturbances Are Actually Afraid of the Dark
A small study of Toronto college students is shedding light on a contributing factor of insomnia that might be hard to admit -- an adult fear of the dark.
Nearly half of the students who reported having poor sleep also reported a fear of the dark. Researchers confirmed this objectively by measuring blink responses to sudden noise bursts in light and dark surroundings. Good sleepers became accustomed to the noise bursts but the poor sleepers grew more anticipatory when the lights were down.
"The poor sleepers were more easily startled in the dark compared with the good sleepers," said Taryn Moss, the study's lead author. "As treatment providers, we assume that poor sleepers become tense when the lights go out because they associate the bed with being unable to sleep. Now we're wondering how many people actually have an active and untreated phobia."
Top Risk of Stroke for Normal-Weight Adults: Getting Under 6 Hours of Sleep
Habitually sleeping less than six hours a night significantly increases the risk of stroke symptoms among middle-age to older adults who are of normal weight and at low risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), according to a study of 5,666 people followed for up to three years.
The participants had no history of stroke, transient ischemic attack, stroke symptoms or high risk for OSA at the start of the study, being presented June 11 at SLEEP 2012. Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham recorded the first stroke symptoms, along with demographic information, stroke risk factors, depression symptoms and various health behaviors.
After adjusting for body-mass index (BMI), they found a strong association with daily sleep periods of less than six hours and a greater incidence of stroke symptoms for middle-age to older adults, even beyond other risk factors. The study found no association between short sleep periods and stroke symptoms among overweight and obese participants.
"In employed middle-aged to older adults, relatively free of major risk factors for stroke such as obesity and sleep-disordered breathing, short sleep duration may exact its own negative influence on stroke development," said lead author Megan Ruiter, PhD. "We speculate that short sleep duration is a precursor to other traditional stroke risk factors, and once these traditional stroke risk factors are present, then perhaps they become stronger risk factors than sleep duration alone."
Further research may support the results, providing a strong argument for increasing physician and public awareness of the impact of sleep as a risk factor for stroke symptoms, especially among persons who appear to have few or no traditional risk factors for stroke, she said.
"Sleep and sleep-related behaviors are highly modifiable with cognitive-behavioral therapy approaches and/or pharmaceutical interventions," Ruiter said. "These results may serve as a preliminary basis for using sleep treatments to prevent the development of stroke."
Ruiter and colleagues collected their data as part of the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, led by George Howard, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. REGARDS enrolled 30,239 people ages 45 and older between January 2003 and October 2007, and is continuing to follow them for health changes. The study is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.


The year is 1968. "Up, Up and Away" is record of the year, rock musical Hair opens on Broadway, and construction is completed on this Mt. Washington time capsule. Flash forward to 2013, and this home is on the market for the very first time. Nearly 3,000 sq ft of total living space are found in this mid-century masterpiece. Main level consists of three beds, two baths, kitchen, living/dining and laundry. The lower level is a blank palette perfect for a media room plus home office or multiple guest suites. Over 8,000 sq. ft lot with mature landscaping, views and privacy.


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Lawyers Debate Meaning of 'Abstract' in Federal Circuit Patent Case
A full panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments Friday in a case to determine the patent eligibility of a computer-assisted financial transaction method.
The case pits CLS Bank International, the largest multi-currency cash settlement system for the foreign exchange market, versus Alice Corp., the patent holder of a "computerized trading platform for exchange obligations."
A panel of Federal Circuit judges validated the patents in a 2-1 ruling in July. In October, the Federal Circuit granted an en banc review.
In arguing for CLS, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Mark Perry told the en banc panel of 10 judges that "these patents claim only abstract ideas," and that "reciting an abstract idea is not a sufficient claim."
Judge Pauline Newman questioned Perry on the definition of abstract. He responded by saying that it's something that can be done "entirely in the human mind or made with pen and paper." Using a computer to accelerate this process does not make the method unique, it simply accelerates the process. "In this context, a computer is a neutral," Perry said.
Nathan Kelley, the deputy solicitor for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, supported Perry's claims.
"We reject the notion that a general purpose computer and software would never be eligible for a patent," Kelley told the judges. "Adding a general purpose to an abstract idea is not a claim."
Williams & Connolly partner Adam Perlman argued on behalf of Alice Corp. He told the judges that the claim was valid because it did not restrict other forms of payment transaction, simply one that was superior.
"We have a computer that requires specialized programming," Perlman argued. "That creates a new machine."
Judge Timothy Dyk asked Perlman if there was another way to perform the transaction that met the international requirements, and that did not infringe upon the patent.
"I don't know the answer to your question," Perlman said. "We have claimed one particular way to exchange obligations. Nothing that we do in our claim prohibits others from doing it another way."
For more background on the case, check out this recent National Law Journal article.
Posted by Matthew Huisman on February 08, 2013 at 02:41 PM in Current Affairs, D.C. Courts and Government, Legal Business, Other Courts, Points of View , Politics and Government | Permalink
Well, a new program on a computer does not make it a 'new machine'. Maybe the software is patentable, but someone could make up a similar program , out of their head, and there you go, as Perry said, it's just a process from the mind and speeding it up with a machine does not make it novel.
Posted by: Thomas M. Cole JD | February 08, 2013 at 06:05 PM

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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It has been seen that in the US, seasonal influenza can cause thousands of deaths as well as hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations. If forecasting is done, then it can able to improve the prevention, planning as well as it can care to reduce the human toll of severe seasonal as well as pandemic influenza.
As per the researchers, they have now developed a computer model which will help in forecasting about the new upcoming flu season which will be like the results that are often said to be not accurate at all. The main challenge about this is by choosing the right kinds of data to feed the models.
As per professor Lauren Ancel Meyers as well as the postdoctoral researcher Zeynep Ertem, he has developed a method for evaluating the hundreds of data sets which will be found with the most predictive and how to combine them with it to get the most accurate forecasts. When it comes to the mathematical parlance, it is known as an optimization problem.
It has been seen that about more than 600 flu related data sets have been evaluated and they have found that this best prediction will be coming from electronic health records which can get collected by athenahealth. It is the company that provides cloud-based services for the health care providers. These type of data can be collected across the US as it included the information which is how many patients have received the flu vaccinations as well as some positive flu results as and flu related prescriptions. It will combine with athenahealth's data with traditional surveillance data that was collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These predictions are said to be about 15 percent more accurate with the combined data sets than the CDC data that are used usually in this.
The study of the athenahealth's data that was provided to the University of Texas at Austin shows that it will be worthy to cross some of the hurdles as the data can be powerful. Meyers said it in a statement.
The results of this research study were got published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology. This method can be able to apply to any type of geographical region along with infectious diseases like mosquito transmitted dengue or chikungunya, as said by Ertem.


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A Japanese football club based in the Ehime Prefecture city of Imabari will sell disaster relief T-shirts at its home stadium to support reconstruction of flood-hit areas in western Japan.
FC Imabari will play against Honda FC in the Japan Football League at "Arigato Service Yume Stadium" on Sept. 2. The T-shirt, selling for 2,000 yen, has the letters "EHIME" arranged like the face of a clock in a design by artist Katsuhiko Hibino. The T-shirts are also planned to be sold over the internet.
The event is part of the "YOU ARE NOT ALONE" project that started after the recent torrential rains that hit dozens of municipalities in western Japan.
Profits will be used for recovery assistance in disaster-hit areas. Hibino plans to support reconstruction "until everyone can smile again." The designer pointed out, "It's important to consciously move ahead in everyday life, especially when going through rough times."


Twitter search can give you a snapshot of trending topics.
Last on our list is Twitter Search. Twitter is the messaging service that spans across cell phones and the Web. Users can send messages of up to 140 characters in length to a network of followers. They can also reply to messages publicly or send direct messages to their correspondent. Twitter messages -- or tweets -- show up in a user's Twitter account chronologically. In general, newer tweets are at the top of the list. But there are dozens of different applications for computers and phones that can arrange tweets in different ways.
One of the more useful Twitter applications is Twitter Search. Type a keyword into Twitter Search right from the Twitter home page and you'll see the most recent public tweets that contain that keyword. You can take the pulse of the Twitter audience instantly. A quick glance at the time stamp on each tweet tells you if the topic you're searching for is generating a lot of interest or is dead in the water.
Twitter users have adapted their behaviors to make Twitter Search more useful. For example, the hashtag is a way to designate a term in your tweet. It consists of a # symbol followed by a keyword. Why use a hashtag? By searching for a term with a hashtag on it, you're more likely to pull up tweets that are relevant to your interests. Otherwise, you'll get a search results page containing every tweet that includes your keyword. If the keyword is a common term, you may have to sort through dozens of irrelevant messages before you find one that applies to your search.
Is Twitter Search a threat to Google? Well, it gives the user an instant glance at topics of interest. And Twitter Search results update as you plow through them, while Google search results take more time to update. But Twitter limits messages to 140 characters in length. Most of the time, you'll find more helpful information using Google. Exceptions include breaking news or tweets that contain links to sites that Google has yet to index.
There are lots of useful search engine tools on the Internet. Some of them even rival Google -- there might even be a few that are arguably better at returning searches than Google. But it looks like it's going to take more than a good search results page to topple this Goliath.
Learn more about Web services by following the links below.


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Friday, April 14, 2017 by Sherri Stewart
It amazes me that I enjoy writing—me—the girl who spent more time counting the words on a page in school than writing them. So, imagine my surprise now more than a few decades later that I look forward to writing every day. It boggles my mind.
It all started when we lost everything, or so it seemed. Our house, our savings, my husband's job, and with it his joy and love of life, even part of both feet. For four years, we struggled, but those four years were sweet because God gave me manna.
Manna isn't always wafers from heaven. Manna is provision that can't be explained or described until one receives it. It's special and personal and different for each person. It lasts for a season, and it's gone, but the effects remain.
For me, manna showed up in two forms. One, I discovered the ability to memorize scripture and put it to music—my music, sung to the Lord as I walked around a lake close to home. The list of verses increased over the four years to the point that I could sing my way around the lake. And the tunes were good. The verses chronicled different problems with which we were dealing and promised an end to the darkness. I clung to those verses as I sang them, as I clung to God. For me, it's during the hard times that I cling, and he feeds me.
The second way manna showed up in my life was in a new-found love of writing, all because of Faith. Faith was a second-grade teacher at a school where I was principal in the 90s. She was young, fearless, and loads of fun. The students adored her. We lost touch over the years until Facebook reunited us. It was Faith that challenged her friends to write a novel in a month, not unlike Nanowrimo.
I took Faith up on the challenge. For one month, every day, I wrote 2000 to 3000 words after a day of teaching high-school French and caring for my mother who was living with us at the time. I was a woman driven to finish, no matter what. And out of that came my first novel, although it took years to revise and edit. But more than that, God gave me a newfound love of writing. If you knew me in high school, you'd know it was a miracle.
Manna came at a time of need. I just read II Kings 4 this morning. A widow was down to her last jar of oil. She cried out to Elisha to help her before the creditors took her sons as slaves. Like the Israelites, she was in survival mode. God didn't take away her debt. Instead, he took that jar of oil and filled all the containers she could find. Her part was to ask her neighbors for containers. God did the rest, providing her with a way to pay off her debt.
God gave manna to the Israelites for a limited time when they needed it. It was something that hadn't existed before, and except for a slice kept in the Ark of the Covenant, it hasn't been seen since. But my manna will live on in the form of more books and more songs. He feeds me everyday.
Have you experienced His manna? What was it for you?
Sherri Stewart has just finished writing her sixth romantic suspense novel and has started an editing business. Her careers as a teacher, principal, lawyer, and flight attendant have allowed her to draw on personal experiences. She lives near Orlando with her husband Bobby, son Joshua, and dog Lily.
Jann Martin From Ocoee, Fl At 4/19/2017 6:50:14 PM
Thank you for your inspiring words.


Words cannot begin to express my gratitude to everyone who made the carnival and cash raffle successful! Sunday was a wonderful testament to our school community past and present.
Marlene Dawson, the carnival committee, and the parent club board spent the better part of six months preparing for the carnival. With the help of the entire parent community and alumni families our carnival was a huge success! The games and activities, entertainment, and delicious food were excellent and God blessed us with great weather! Thank you Marlene Dawson, the many volunteers and parents that made it all possible.
The cash raffle was also successful. Sheri Vetter, who organized this event, and many others have been selling raffle tickets since November. Many families sold over 20 tickets and Father Dan sold 40! The winners of the raffle are all part of our school community. As soon I have the cash raffle profit I will share the news with all of you. Thank you Mrs. Vetter for once again sharing your time and talents!
Mr. Alex Andrade-Lozano, our extension care lead, will be leaving us soon. Alex will be graduating from Fresno State with a double major in psychology and political science. In the fall, he will begin the Masters Program in Counseling at Fresno State. Alex is an OLV and SJM alumni and as our extension care lead he has used all of his gifts and talents to make our program successful! I will personally miss Alex a great deal. Even as a young boy, he was filled with God's goodness. His work ethic, compassion, kindness, and love for all will be missed. We hope to keep seeing him around!
I have interviewed several prospective teachers and I will announce the new fifth grade teacher in next week's family letter. On a happy note Mr. Wukits, our 7th grade teacher, has decided to continue teaching at Our Lady of Victory School for the 2015-2016 school year! Thank you Mr. Wukits!
The school advisory board has approved the budget for the 2015-2016 school year and registration forms will be available soon. Due to an increase in salaries and health benefits, tuition will increase 2% next year. If you need financial help for next year, make sure you let us know as soon as possible. Go in peace and don't run in the halls!
Blessed Edmund Rice (1762-1844) Edmund Rice founded schools, and undertook the training of teachers. In 1808 he and six companions took religious vows. They were the nucleus of the Presentation Brothers, who continue to this day.
Pray For– Charlie DeGrange and his family; Arleen Rendon, grandmother of Louie Davila and Pat Quinto, grandmother of Tyler Speir and Neal McCraw, as they recover from illnesses; the repose of the soul of Consuelo Boschke, great grandmother to the Cardinale children; Bill Durham as he goes through chemo therapy.
Thank you– To all of our parents, friends, and alumni who made the cash raffle and carnival successful!!
Prayer– Dear Lord, I give You my heart that You may lead me to love the Father and all humankind.
Rosaries in the Grotto- During the month we will pray a decade of the rosary at morning prayers. Students are encouraged to bring their rosaries to school.
Mass and Crowning of Mary- May 13th in Mary's Grotto.
Spring Concert- May 14th at 2:00pm at the Our Lady of Victory Church. Students in the choir, beginning band, intermediate band and guitar will perform.


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Humanity has long seen itself as the most important species, the top of the food chain or otherwise as the masters of the earth. Although human intelligence is impressive, every other species is a complex biological system with adaptations that have allowed them to flourish even with domineering species like Homo sapiens roaming the earth. Scientific innovation is often seen as a result of human intellect, but it can happen through the observation of other species' traits as well. This study of nature to solve human problems is called biomimicry, and recent developments show a promising trend for biomimicry as a research method. Species that survive pass down their traits and over time develop sophisticated biological mechanisms that allow them to thrive in their environment. If nature has already created and tested these survival systems, why not use what already works?
For example, scientific observation of hedgehogs has found that in their natural environment, they tend to fall from tall trees quite often. Whether they were looking for food, running from predators or just trying to get around, falling is an everyday part of a hedgehog's life. As a defense to their own clumsiness, hedgehog spines function as a sort of crash helmet to absorb the impact from a large fall. A new company, Hedgemon, located in Akron, OH, plans to use this aspect of the hedgehog's biology to improve several types of sports helmets in an attempt to prevent concussions.
Current helmets for sports, such as cycling or football are lacking in shock absorption for impacts involving rotational motion. To understand the difference in a rotational impact, picture a ball. Imagine the difference between dropping the ball straight to the ground and dropping it with a spin; that spin on the ball is going to make it bounce off into one direction because of that added rotational force. That same added rotational force is present when, for example, a receiver's head is hitting the ground after being tackled mid-air. In a study done by Hedgemon in August 2016, a hedgehog inspired design was found to add protection against a rotational fall. After all, a terrified ball of quills falling 30 feet from a tree wouldn't exactly fall straight, and neither do most athletes who sustain concussions.
Approaching innovation through biomimicry can help us adapt to situations much more foreign to us than falling, however. In July of 2016, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) sought to create a wetsuit that would help a swimmer retain body heat while keeping them agile in the water. The team decided to look more closely at semi-aquatic mammals like otters or beavers to find a solution. These creatures have stayed warm and nimble in the water for millions of years, so scientists started their research by looking at their fur, which are essentially natural wetsuits. They found that the secret to how our furry friends stay warm lies in how air is trapped in between their hairs. As an otter or beaver dives, more warm air is trapped within their fur depending on how fast the dive is.
Studying the biomechanics of hedgehogs and otters can help us develop tools to better interact with our environment, but by going deeper into animal biology we could solve more fundamental human problems. To combat things like disease and pain, the biology of the naked mole rat has been intensely studied. While its appearance is not as endearing as the hedgehog or otter, it's what's on the inside that counts for the naked mole rat.
For years, the naked mole rat's near complete resistance to cancer has inspired researchers, but more recently it was found that the naked mole rat is also resistant to pain. In October of 2016, Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany, found that naked mole rats aren't as sensitive to pain as other mammals. In the human nervous system, damaged cells release a chemical signal to nearby pain receptors, which in turn send signals to other cells to become more sensitive. The pain receptors on cells effectively tell nearby cells to turn up the volume on the pain. In the naked mole rats, this signaling to amplify the pain signal is not nearly as strong, allowing the naked mole rat to feel less severe lingering pain. By copying the neurological pain pathway in naked mole rats, it could be possible to make more sophisticated pain drugs that can more specifically alter how pain is perceived by the pain receptors.
Going along a different avenue of science with an equally unappealing creature is the study of two tarantula species Poecilotheria metallica and Lampropelma violaceopes, both blue species. Just calling them "blue" however, does not do these species justice. The color of these tarantulas is vibrant and non-iridescent, so it does not change color depending on the angle of view. Why tarantulas, a creature with poor eyesight, developed such a striking color on their hair was a mystery to science, so researchers dug deeper. The answer for how the color benefits the tarantula still isn't answered, but it is clear how this color can help us. In October of 2016, a team of researchers at the University of Akron, in Akron, OH found that the non-iridescence is due to the repeating nanostructure of the hairs. This gives the color a viewing angle of 160 degrees, which is the angle at which the color does not change. This angle is greater than that of any other synthetic structural color. Development of structural colors is important because it can optimize display on screens and replace toxic dyes.
There may be a sizable gap in intelligence between humans and the rest of Earth's species, but we still have a lot to learn from those with whom we share this earth. The world is littered with species with precise biological adaptations that may solve a problem through an approach we never thought about. Mother Nature is the world's greatest engineer, and there's a lot we can learn from her.


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#DealbreakersIn5Words, Soccer-Style
Here's the five most-annoying five-word phrases in the beautiful game.
By Eli Hoff@byEliHoff Jun 28, 2018, 11:36am PDT
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May 9, 2018 - Duluth, Minnesota, United States - Duluth FC and Dakota Fusion FC are level at halftime at 3-3 during the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in a match held at James S. Malosky Stadium. (Photo by Seth Steffenhagen/Steffenhagen Photography)
Twitter has fallen in love with five-word dealbreakers today as thousands have shared combinations of five words that are quick to turn them off.
Here's five of the worst things you can hear in soccer:
I think soccer is boring
Okay, first off: it's not. Really, just watch it. Sure, some of the 0-0 draws get a tad tedious, but there have also been some darn good nil-nils. This dealbreaker tends to come from people who like to watch the Golf Channel or NASCAR. Speaking of boring...
The club declined to comment
This dealbreaker is literally a dealbreaker. You find a rumor and you're ready to report on it, but the club gives you a "no, thanks." It's not their fault—teams don't want to tip their hands if negotiations are taking place—but it's neither fun to read nor write.
VAR is conducting a check
Yuck yuck yuck. We're now in for two minutes of the referee standing with a finger up his ear trying to fend off 22 enraged players who all had the perfect angle for the play in question. It's not like the officials will get the call right at the end of this either.
Only a draw with Trinidad
Oh, no, the memories. As we watch all the teams who actually qualified for the World Cup enjoy raucous celebrations in Russia, we're just reminded of the USMNT's failure on a small island in the Caribbean. Uff da.
Fédération Internationale de Football Association
That's the long way of saying FIFA. And they're a bunch of dealbreakers, unless your name starts with Q and rhymes with "utter."
What are some of your soccer #DealbreakersIn5Words? Share 'em below!


When some people hear the name "Buick," they think of retirees and grandparents. And while it is hard to argue that point, I am not one of those people.
You see, my first car was a Buick—a 1974 Century 350 Colonnade coupe. And while that car will never be considered a big-time muscle car or highly sought-after collectable, it sat pretty high on the pedestal to me. As far as I was concerned, when I got that car in 1987, it was in the same category as a new Regal Grand National, or a '70 GNX, or a '65 Riviera Grand Sport.
The Kansas City area is full of cool secret car stuff, if you know where to look. This week I had the opportunity to visit one of those hidden gems, when we made a stop at Rich's Classic Cars in Grain Valley, Mo. When you look at this place on the outside, you'd never guess you'd find all the great cars inside.
Owner Rich Koury has been buying and selling cars for 40 years, and when you visit with him, you realize that he really enjoys the hobby. As we toured his inventory, he was ready with a story on each and every car. He'd tell you how long the guy owned it before him, where it came from, and sometimes even the dealership at which it was originally sold.
Christmas is upon us. We've had a great season of car shows, events, and more, but now it's time to spend some time with family and friends, and do something a little less car-related.
I know when I was a kid, I always looked forward to getting some kind of model car, toy car, slot car, Matchbox car ... well, you get the idea. I really never could get enough of this stuff.
Even though there aren't many car shows scheduled around Kansas City right now, that doesn't mean that you can't go check out some nice cars once in a while. Take Happy Days Dream Cars in nearby Warrensburg, Mo. Owner John Meyer had a whole showroom full of very nice things to see. It was definitely worth the short trip out of town.
Did you know that 2013 marks the 60th anniversary of the Chevrolet Corvette? Since the Corvette is admittedly my favorite car, I couldn't let this momentous occasion pass by without a little recognition.
What other car elicits such widespread admiration as the Corvette? And I'm talking about every single year, from the first production car in 1953, right up until the latest Corvettes that are rolling off the line in Bowling Green, Ken. To prove that point, I'm including a slideshow at the end of this article with pictures of every single year the Corvette was produced. I took every one of these pictures myself, mostly at car shows around Kansas City.
Since today is December 7, the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, I thought we could revisit a World War II car-themed story today. Actually, it's more of a non-car-themed story, because as you will see, there really weren't even any cars being produced.
People often have a hard time differentiating American vehicles from foreign vehicles these days. The complex equation of assembly plant locations, company headquarters, content origin, and marketing message can throw off even those who want to support the home team. General Motors builds Impalas in Canada. Chrysler has an Italian owner. Toyota and Honda build a few of their vehicles in the U.S. What does it all mean?
Six years after the release of the movie, Pixar Cars 1:55-scale die-casts are still hot. It's a product line that refuses to die, and the folks at Disney know how to keep it going. With a second feature film last year, the popular Mater's Tall Tales shorts, and several new books and special events, they just keep coming up with reasons to introduce new die-cast models.
2013 Lincoln MKZ test drive review. Is this car worthy of Lincoln's heritage?
Lincoln is an automotive icon that has experienced some ups and downs throughout its history. During the peaks, their cars are the choice of presidents, athletes, and celebrities. During the valleys, they have been considered old ladies cars, airport shuttles, and tarted-up Fords. But right now, the folks at Lincoln are definitely climbing back up the mountain, as evidenced by the beautiful new 2013 MKZ sedan.
In a sad bit of news, it has been announced that the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Mich., will be closing at the end of the year. The Chrysler Foundation, which is the not-for-profit group that owns the content of the museum, was unable to raise enough money each year to maintain their status.
The content will be purchased by Chrysler Group LLC, and the museum will become a private display, used only for special events and Chrysler employee functions. That means the days of walking in off the street and appreciating this significant display of Chrysler vehicles, will come to an end.
Thursday, Chevrolet took the wraps off of the much-anticipated, 2013 SS NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The car will be based on the upcoming, Australian-built, 2014 Chevrolet SS. This is pretty big news for bowtie loyalists, because it marks the return of full-sized, rear-wheel-drive performance to the Chevrolet lineup. But it certainly isn't their first foray into this market segment. When people think of the SS badge, images of '69 Camaro 396s and '70 Chevelles with 454s might come to mind. But the SS badge was born on Chevy's full-sized offerings.
In 1944, Ezra Sutton took his '37 Chevy pickup to the Midville General Store to pick up some supplies for his chicken farm. Ezra had been trying to keep the old truck running for the last two years, but between the broken exhaust manifold and the massive oil leak out of the main seal, plus the ever-increasing valve clatter that refused to adjust out, it was getting harder. There were no parts available because of the war, and he had to do it all himself because his son was stationed in Japan. The truck simply refused to start when this photo was taken in front of the general store, and no one there could figure out how to make it run. Ezra's neighbor ended up towing the truck back to the farm, where it sat until the scrap metal dealer hauled it away two weeks later.
Black Friday. Depending on your perspective, that term either makes you excited or scared to death. Do you like fighting the crowds to get the best deals of the year, or do you hate taking your car into door ding and shopping cart hell to save a few bucks?
Personally, I do not enjoy the feeding frenzy that is Black Friday, although there are occasionally some good deals online that I can get behind.
It turns out there is a place in Bonner Springs, Kan., that specializes in those very types of cars. On any given day, Wagner's Classic Cars will have a fresh supply of Hemi Cudas, 409 Chevys, and magazine-worthy customs.
As someone who attends a lot of car shows, and also as the owner of an ugly old '63 Chevy C-10, I tend to notice trucks like mine when I'm out and about. This generation of trucks was around from 1960-1966, and they sold a bunch of them.
I think they kind of went off the radar for awhile. I know I used to think they were pretty ugly old trucks, and not many people seemed to be focusing on them as restoration candidates.
What do old car guys do when the place that their favorite car cruise is normally held closes down? Well, in the case of the Longbranch Cruise in Overland Park, they keep going to it.
For many years, this was the destination for old cars on Friday nights. It wasn't unusual to see 150 or more cars packed into the Longbranch and adjoining closed-up Chili's parking lots. People would file into the Longbranch, and sit out on the patio listening to the D.J. and keeping an eye on their rides.
In honor of Veterans Day, I thought it would be nice to look back at one of the more significant and poignant vehicle displays I have ever been to.
The Military Vehicle Preservation Society has all kinds of interesting old war machines that they display at various functions, and a couple of years ago they brought out several fascinating, battle-tested vehicles to Kansas City's Liberty Memorial. And the enthusiastic group of owners was available and willing to answer any questions that people may have had.
Of course, the car show season is just about over in Kansas City, but there are still a few holdouts.
If you want to stay close to home, be sure to go to the Basehor Boys Cruise Night on Friday, or the Gibson's General Store Cruise on Saturday. Of course, you can also head west for a car show in Wichita, or east for a swap meet near St. Louis. Whatever you decide to do, you better do it now. Old Man Winter is coming.
I put everything I could find on the very short list below. You can also see the NASCAR television schedule from Phoenix this weekend.
Don Dougan was livin' every car guy's dream. Just one look around the large, fenced-in yard of the World War II veteran's estate, and you can see that he was completely submerged in the things he loved.
The large, grungy, three-bay shop was stocked with every tool, engine hoist, and welding rig anyone could ever need. The land around the shop was crammed full of old cars and parts. And whether they were waiting for the day they would find their way into the garage, or halfway through the process, every car and truck had a story to tell.
When BHo and I showed up for the Fritz's Shawnee cruise Sunday afternoon, I wasn't surprised that we were one of only three cars in the lot. It was a little cool out. The Chiefs were sort of playing football. The NASCAR race was underway. It just wasn't the idea situation to have a huge turnout.
So after we parked, we went in and enjoyed a little ice cream while people had their burgers delivered via model train. Fritz's is a good place to go for a car show, because even if there aren't any cars to look at, you are still entertained.
Well, you knew it was going to happen. The Kansas City car show calendar is getting smaller and smaller. Soon, there will be nothing left to report.
Of course, for the folks that are hosting the events below, it isn't all that small. If you're still looking for some automotive action, go to the Toys for Tots run at Rawhide Harley Davidson on Sunday. Or see some races at Grain Valley or Heartland Park. You might even buy yourself a project at the estate auction in Stillwell.
I'm also including the SEMA show in Vegas, because it is so big it just can't be ignored, and the NASCAR schedule from Texas. The entire Kansas City car show, car cruise, and car racing calendar is listed below.
We are dangerously close to the end of the line when it comes to car shows here in Kansas City this year, but there are still a few welcome holdouts as the harsh realities of winter loom ominously in the distance.
The idea of a permanent racing museum and local hall of fame is pretty nice, and C.A.R.B. is working on just that. Go to Lakeside during the day Saturday to get in on their auction and swap meet to raise money for this worthwhile cause.
If you like big car cruises, there are several of them that will end for the season after this weekend. This is your last opportunity to see the Belton Cruise, the Hartman Heritage Center Cruise, and the Longbranch Cruise. Trust me when I say this: next week's calendar is going to be sparse.
The entire Kansas City-area car show, car cruise, and car racing calendar for October 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 is listed below.
For car folks, this is a depressing time of year in Kansas City. Yes, there are some really cool season-ending events, but it also reminds you that soon there will be nothing left until next spring. And there is no better example of that than the huge racing weekend that just came to an end in Kansas City, Kan., which was punctuated by the Hollywood Casino 400 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Let's review some of the action that took place in Wyandotte County.
If you click on the headlines, they'll take you to the complete race results.
And you know, she was definitely on to something. PPG Industries, the folks who manufacture the paint that goes on most of the new cars out there, announced that for the second year in-a-row, white was the most popular choice. That's not a big surprise. For a daily driver, white is a pretty good pick. It's easy to take care of, doesn't show many scratches, and looks pretty clean, even when it's not. I've had a few white cars along the way, and they were always a pleasure to maintain.
Well, one of the biggest events in Kansas City, car event or not, is the two-day NASCAR show at Kansas Speedway. You'll see Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart—all the big names of the sport (except Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who is still recovering from a concussion). And as usual, there will also be a dirt late model show at nearby Lakeside Speedway, which usually turns out to be the best race of the weekend.
Oh, and there are still a few car shows and cruises hanging on until the end of the month. Hit them while you still can, because winter seems like an eternity once the car stuff is over.
The entire Kansas City car show, car cruise, and car racing schedule, including local and television information for Kansas Speedway, is listed below.
The annual Turner Days Car Show in the Turner High School parking lot is always sort of a bittersweet event. It's great, of course, because there are always lots of nice cars in attendance. But it is one of the last significant car shows in the Kansas City area each year, so it always makes me a little bit sad.
For four decades, the Lawrence chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America has been hosting one of the better car shows in the area at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Lawrence. No, it might not get the most cars. But it gets some very good cars. I really enjoy it because it has sort of a flavor that you can't get at the typical hot rod/muscle car-packed extravaganza.
This is more of an original old car show. Heck, this is an original old car guy's show. It represents one of the best facets of the old car hobby, and a group of people that unfortunately seems to be fading away as time goes on.
The Cars in the Park show at Shawnee Mission Park is a pretty nice place to go if you want to spend a relaxing day with a few nice cars. This is a fund raiser for Special Olympics, and the parking area near the boat docks is a nice place to spend some time.
This is the fourth year for this show, and it has the potential to be relatively big. But the Basehor High School show is held at the same time 15 miles away, and that's where most of the old cars seem to want to go. If they were to schedule this a little differently, I think it could really take off.
You might think that since the calendar switched over to October, there wouldn't be many car things left to do in Kansas City. But actually, this weekend's schedule of events is surprisingly busy.
They are having the 40th edition of the antique car show in Lawrence, and that always brings lots of interesting things to the fairgrounds. And while you're out in that direction, Heartland Park has a drifting competition scheduled for Sunday. I've been told that this Corvette gathering in Eureka Springs, Ark., is a big shindig.
Or just stay close to home. There are lots of great car shows and cruise nights in the Kansas City area this weekend, and this is the last one of the year for many of them. Or go watch the races at Lakeside or Grain Valley. Think about how much you're going to miss this stuff when it's over! The full Kansas City car show, car cruise, and car racing schedule, plus this weekend's NASCAR schedule, is listed below.
I don't know how they do it, but this Basehor-Linwood High School Project Grad Car Show packs 'em in every year. This was the 15th edition of this event, and although the car count may have been a little bit down from last year, there was still plenty to look at.
As you can see from the pictures, this is quite a diverse car show. You might get an interesting car that belongs to one of the high school kids, and it'll be parked next to a high-dollar muscle car. Over here you had a car that was built by George Barris in the early '50s, and over there was a Yugo (I kid you not).
We keep clicking off the car events as we head into the fall, but there are still a few good ones to check out before Old Man Winter checks in.
One of the bigger events in this area will be the Basehor-Linwood High School car show, which always seems to pack 'em in. You also might want to check out the weekly cruise in Independence, or Cars in the Park at Shawnee Mission Park. Wherever you decide to go, there will be some great cars and trucks to look at, and no doubt several owners who would be more than happy to tell you all about them.
The entire Kansas City-area car show, car cruise, and car racing schedule, plus the NASCAR TV schedule from Dover and Las Vegas, is listed below.
I was in time-killing mode Saturday afternoon, so I looked at the old HMC weekly calendar and found out that the Vintage Fabrication open house was taking place in Independence. I wasn't really expecting that much, but I jumped in the Impala and headed east.
As it turns out, I'm glad I went. Vintage Fabrication is actually a pretty cool place, and the turnout was surprisingly robust. This was the 19th year for this event, and obviously word has spread during that time.
Hey, look, there's an Aston Martin following us! Well, not really. But that was the reaction when I looked in the mirror while driving in a caravan of 2013 Ford Fusions. This does not look like the typical midsized sedan. And with all the attention that Ford put into the development of this car, those looks aren't deceiving.
Ford is serious about this new car. It will be the most expensive global car launch in the company's history. And this is a global launch. The Fusion follows in the footsteps of the Focus, Fiesta, and C-Max as another vehicle that should be popular all over the world. In Europe, this new Fusion will be the new Mondeo sedan.
Some of the bigger car shows may be coming to an end in Kansas City, but we still have a pretty long list of things to do this weekend.
The big Chevelle show is at the Great Mall on Saturday, and there are church shows in Olathe, Independence, and Blue Springs. And there are cruise nights all over town, including big ones in Belton and Independence. Or take in a car race. Lakeside is running a big Modified show Friday and Saturday nights, or head down to Lebanon for a 100-lap Late Model show.
The entire car show, car cruise, and car racing schedule for September 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 is listed below.
2012 Old Marais River Run. 1,200 photos. Yeah, it was that big.
Generally, you can expect the Goodguys show at Kansas Speedway to be the biggest car show of the year in the Kansas City area. But I think we might have a new champion for 2012—the Old Marais River Run in nearby Ottawa, Kan. Nearly 1,700 pre-1972 cars and trucks packed into picturesque Forrest Park for a beautiful weekend of spit-shining and cruising.
This is a dynamic show, with cars driving around the access road all day, people riding the shuttle through the show, and numerous organized cruises and activities throughout the weekend. This is the 26th year of this event, and the Over the Road Gang has obviously learned a thing or two about putting on a good show in all that time.
On Sunday, I had this bright idea that I could go to 10:30 church, partake in a heaping plate of fake Krab salad from the Golden Corral buffet with my family, go home, get the truck, dart over to Shawnee to snap a few quick pictures of the 7th Annual Wheels and Dreams Car Show, and still make it to the awards ceremony at the All-Truck Nationals in Riverside at 2:00.
There are lots of car events all over Kansas City this weekend, but most of the classic car world will be focused on Ottawa and the Ol' Marais River Run. This is a monster show, with some 1,500 cars packing it into Forest Park. If you want to see something special, take that short trip south of town.
Other significant events of note include the Shrine Swap Meet in Lee's Summit, the Basehor Boys cruise on Friday night, the Platte City cruise on Saturday night, and the strong cruise at the Hartman Heritage Center in Independence.
Check out the entire schedule of Kansas City car shows, car cruises, and car races for September 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 below the break.
If you own a Camaro, Corvette, Mustang, Thunderbird, or Chevelle, there is a big, model-specific car show in Kansas City just for you. Now, I don't own a Camaro, Corvette, Mustang, Thunderbird, or Chevelle. I have an old truck. Not even a pretty old truck. So the chances of me hitting a show that I would fit in at are few-and-far between.
As the summer winds down, lots of big car shows fire up in Kansas City. See tons of really great trucks from all over the country at the Midwest All-Truck Nationals in Riverside. Check out a couple of big Johnson County car shows in Shawnee and Merriam. See an all-Dodge show at Olathe Dodge, or an all-Chevy show at Heartland Chevrolet.
Whatever you like to see or do that involves cars, you'll probably be able to find it in Kansas City this weekend. Check out the entire Kansas City car show, car cruise, and car racing schedule, plus the NASCAR events at Richmond, in the schedule below.
The Goodguys Mid-Western Nationals is typically the biggest car show in Kansas City, and Saturday is usually the biggest day. In 2012, this was still the biggest show in town, but rains on Saturday kept most of the cars away until Sunday. Bright sunshine ensured that the car count was more like what people have come to expect on the final day of the show. They also open up this day to allow later-model vehicles, which obviously adds to the festivities.
Every year about this time, the car show world descends on the infield of Kansas Speedway for the Saturday installment of the Goodguys Mid-Western Nationals. This is the biggest car show of the year in this area, and Saturday is the biggest day.


Good Beer Kitchen returns again to the festival and will see Arbory Bar & Eatery Executive Chef Nick Bennett team up with Renee Trudeau (Little Latin Lucy), Diana Chan (CHANTEEN & Masterchef 17′ Champ) & Dylan Roberts as they cook a 4 course lunch.
Featuring beers from: Garage Project (NZ), Stomping Ground, Sailors Grave, Mountain Goat.
Hosted by Cameron Smith (RRR, Eat It) guests can expect beers in hand as he chats to brewers over a rock long lunch.


During the four days at the Antibes Yacht Show I took a shine to a couple of yachts, the first being the Ron Holland designed sailing yacht Kestrel. This elegant 32.4-metre ketch is the result of a bold and highly successful initiative to create an 'all worlds' superyacht – one that combines exceptional levels of recreational amenity and accommodation space, with excellent sailing performance, high stability and an easy motion at sea. Everyone I chatted with was very impressed with this yacht and her asking price of €7.5 million. The Kestrel 106 is for sale through Watkins Superyachts.
My second interesting yacht at the show was the 2009 Leopard 46 Auspicious, with her three 2,450hp 16V 2000 M93 MTUs delivering a top speed of 33 knots. She has recently had a little work up top and now boasts a decent sunpad and seating area, rather than the dayboat 'patio furniture' previously installed.
In fact, it now looks exactly how Leopard had originally designed the space. On the inside, the boat has a light contemporary feel and is immaculately presented – all the finishes look like new, thanks to the hard working crew. She's on brokerage with K&K Superyachts in Monaco.
A show is only finished when all the boats get together and sound their horns, and Antibes was no exception – an uplifting and surprisingly tuneful experience that never fails to stir the emotions. A big thank you must go to the show organisers for an immaculate event, and to the people of Antibes for their hospitality. As SuperYacht World enters its sixth year of existence, it was great to banter with friends old and new from the trade and to look forward to a great European superyacht season ahead.


ODEON are also offering two-for-one tickets for the showing, meaning Top Gun fans can take their 'wingman' to the film for free.
Grab your wingman and look out your aviators, Top Gun is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
And to celebrate, ODEON are putting on a special screening of the hit film in Glasgow.
The cinema chain are also offering two-for-one tickets for the showing, meaning Top Gun fans can take their 'wingman' to the film for free.
Plus, anyone who attends the screening dressed as Tom Cruise's character Maverick, will be entitled to a free popcorn.
To qualify for a free large popcorn you must wear a pair of aviator-style sunglasses and either a leather bomber jacket, or a pilot's jumpsuit - just like the heart-throb character did in the movie.
Nick McDiarmid, General Manager at ODEON Glasgow Quay, said: "We can't wait for Goose and Maverick to fly on to the big screen again to mark 30 years of one of the most iconic films of all time.
The screening at ODEON Glasgow Quay or Braehead will start at 6pm tonight.
All Glasgow residents need to do is book their tickets via the ODEON website or ODEON app, or they can take advantage of the offer in person when they fly in on the night.
Tickets are on-sale now and can be purchased online – with no booking fees – via the ODEON website .


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Art Week Exhibition @ N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art
By Ron Scott
In Paintings, Sculpture
I, Too, Am Detroit, Exhibition at the N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Installation image, Courtesy of DAR
During these dog days of summer, and in coordination with the celebration of Detroit Art Week, the N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art has on exhibition I, Too, Am Detroit, in its main Gallery, featuring over twenty local Detroit Artists. Inspired by Langston Hughes poem I, Too, Am, America the exhibition seeks to spotlight the artists in Detroit and their influence building the creative community throughout the world. I, too, am, Detroit is an exhibition that focuses on diversity and inclusion within the culture of Detroit and beyond.
"We have to be very conscious and purposeful in making a holistic and diverse community. And, that's why I think our three exhibitions are so important because it allows for our local artist and the diversity of the City to be highlighted during Detroit Art Week," said Dr. George R. N'Namdi.
Shirley Woodson-Reid, Sisters 2, Acrylic on Canvas, 51 x 57″ 1991
Detroit artist Shirley Woodson Reid portrays one of her many acrylics on canvas to produce an expressionistic figurative landscape Sisters Two, a style she perfected over the many years making of art in Detroit.
Shirley Woodson Reid was born in 1936, from a small town in Tennessee. An Artist and educator Shirley Woodson studied painting and art education at Wayne State University, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and her graduate studies were begun at The Art Institute of Chicago with a concentration in painting and art history. As a part of her independent studies she traveled to nine countries in Europe, visiting galleries, museums and historical sites. Woodson completed her graduate work at Wayne State University and received a Masters of Arts degree in painting.
Gary Kulak, Untitled, Welded Steel, 72 x 10 x 10, 2005
Known for his ever-evolving chair work, this untitled welded steel sculpture painted with a high gloss enamel yellow reminds us of a serialist approach to an idea grounded in an ordinary object. The variations on a chair theme has been seen in a large variety of galleries in and around Detroit dating back to early 1980's. Kulak earned his MFA from Hunter College, NYC and continues to work with metals and industrial materials.
Diana Alva, Super Mercado, Tempura & Encaustic on Canvas, 72 x 48″
These tempura and encaustic crowded people portraits on a flat picture plane of the artist Diana Alva, feel like abstraction with a heavy emphasis on a black outline. The artist describes her paintings, largely done in acrylics, as "toothy." She uses a "push-pull" technique, applying paint with brushes, cardboard or sticks, to create a "structural thicket" with textured lines reminiscent of calligraphy. A native Detroiter, Alva attended Henry Ford Community College and Wayne State University.
Charles McGee, Patches of Time V, Mixed Media Collage on Masonite, 32 x 20″, 1990
One of the most revered artists in Detroit is Charles McGee and to see a collage, Patches of Time V, Mixed media collage on Masonite from 1990 is both interesting and reflectively refreshing. The design elements imbedded are clearly indicators of work to come, from the painting in the Detroit Institute of Arts, Noah's Ark: Genesis, to his recent sculpture at the Charles Wright Museum, United We Stand, his work has left his sense of design like a branding process. Born in 1924, from a family of sharecroppers, McGee did not start his schooling until he moved to Detroit at the age of 10 years old.
He says in his statement, "I'm delighted that nature gave me this propensity to share the little information it has given me. And that is the motor that drives me into tomorrow, thinking about what I can do to help humanity if indeed I can contribute."
His works are on permanent display at Museum of African American History in Washington, DC, and has shown at the Brooklyn Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Hampton Art Lovers Presents: "Ebony Broadsides, Celebration of the Masters", a poster art exhibition featuring original signed exhibition posters
In addition in the Black Box at NCCA, Hampton Art Lovers Presents: "Ebony Broadsides, Celebration of the Masters", a poster art exhibition featuring original signed exhibition posters of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jacob Lawrence, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, John Biggers, Lois Malou Jones, Gordon Parks, Roy DeCarava, Oliver Johnson, Bob Thompson and Ed Clark. The show also includes original signed poster art of Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden, Samella Lewis, James Denmark and Basil Watson. With special artist proof and studies of poster art by Ernie Barnes and A.C. Hollingsworth.
The N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art opened with the sole purpose of introducing the community to art and its ability to inspire, edify and delight. George R. N'Namdi, believed in Detroit long before the resurgence post-bankruptcy and the new millennial demographic that has taken to our great city. NCCA has paved the way to bring art, education and opportunity for artists to exhibit and sell their work.
Play Ball! Transforming the Game, 1876 – 2019 @ the Detroit Institute of Arts
Dissident Art Under Repressive Regimes @ the Broad


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Бассак — коммуна во Франции, департамент Шаранта
 Бассак — река в Камбодже и Вьетнаме, один из рукавов дельты Меконга

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Q: Solve congruence with large exponents I'm trying to solve:

$$ x^{1477} \equiv 54 \mod 97 $$

Applying Euler-Fermat gives:
$$
x^{1477} = x^{15\cdot 96 + 37} = x^{37}\cdot x^{{96}^{15}} \equiv x^{37}\cdot 1^{15} = x^{37} \mod 97
$$
So instead of solving $ x^{1477} \equiv 54 \mod 97 $ one can solve  $ x^{37} \equiv 54 \mod 97 $. How could I proceed from here? I know about the Chinese Remainer Theorem and Euler-Fermat.

A: If $x^{37} \equiv 54 \pmod {97}$ then $x^{37\cdot 24} \equiv 54^{24} \equiv 1 \pmod {97}$ because the order of $54 \pmod {97}$ is $24$.
This means the order of $x$ is a common divisor of $96$ and $37 \cdot 24$.
Therefore the order of $x$ is a divisor of $24$, and so $x^{24} \equiv 1 \pmod {97}$.
But if $k$ is a divisor of $24$ then $x^k \equiv 1 \pmod {97}$ implies $1 \equiv x^{37k} \equiv 54^k \pmod {97}$ so $24$ divides $k$.
Therefore the order of $x$ is $24$.
That means $x^{12} \equiv -1 \pmod {97}$.
So $54 \equiv x^{37} \equiv x^{1 + 3\cdot 12} \equiv x\left(x^{12}\right)^3\equiv x(-1)^3 \equiv -x \pmod {97}$
Finally, we obtain $x \equiv -54 \pmod {97}$, or $x \equiv 43$.

A: Let us find integers $a,b$ such that $37a+96b=1$
Like Solving a Linear Congruence,
$$37\cdot13-96\cdot5=1$$
$$x^{37}\equiv54\pmod{97}$$
$$x=x^{37\cdot13-96\cdot5}\equiv54^{13}$$
Now by observation $2^{10}\equiv54\pmod{97},2^{11}\equiv11$
$$54^{13}\equiv(2^{10})^{13}\equiv2^{130}\equiv2^{34}\equiv2(11)^3=?$$

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