text:
More than 40 retirement apartments in Nottinghamshire village set to be approved
Concerns were raised over the building's height and car parking spaces
Ben ReidSEO writer
Manor Park in Ruddington (Image: Google)
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Plans for 43 retirement apartments in a Nottinghamshire village have been recommended for approval.
The site is located on land at Ruddington's Manor Park, a private road maintained by residents.
The vacant brownfield site was formerly home to Orchard House retirement home, which has been demolished.
The retirement apartments would be built along with communal facilities, access, car parking and landscaping. The proposed building would be three storeys.
The development was put forward by Churchill Retirement Living and it will include 21 car parking spaces.
Stuart Goodwill, managing director of Churchill Retirement Living's in-house planning team, said: "The design for our proposed development in Ruddington has been carefully produced to ensure it makes a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the area.
Plan drawings for 42 retirement apartments in Ruddington (Image: Churchill Retirement Living)
"Care has been taken to ensure the scheme respects the privacy and amenity of the neighbouring properties.
"Should our development go ahead, it will bring many benefits and will enable those who live there to enjoy an active, independent retirement.
"We believe there is a compelling overall housing need in Ruddington, especially for older people and our proposed development would go some way to increasing local housing provision.
"Enabling older people to downsize would in turn free up under-occupied houses in the local area for families and younger people.
"Our future apartment owners would also support shops and services on the local high street, and play an active part in the community. The site is located on previously developed brownfield land close to the town centre, the ideal spot for a development of this kind."
Labour councillor for Ruddington, Jen Walker, objected in the planning report due to the height of the proposed build as it will impact the privacy of the residents around Manor Park and how it will become the tallest building in Ruddington, surpassing the church.
Councillor Walker also wants to see how developers will manage the increased traffic during the building phases, especially around school hours.
Another Labour ward councillor, Mike Gaunt, had reservations around "the lack of parking that appears to be available for staff, visitors and residents."
Bid for almost 50 homes on fields of Nottinghamshire village approved
Burglary happened in construction area of Barratt Homes development in Nottinghamshire
In the report, he added: "The height of the building appears to be an issue as the base of the property is already substantially higher than properties across the street and this could have privacy issues for subsequent residents."
Ruddington Parish Council has also objected to the plans on the grounds that the three-storey building would "be too imposing and excessive" and was concerned at "insufficient parking" impacting on surrounding residents and school children.
Rushcliffe Borough Council's planning committee has recommended the proposal for approval subject to a Section 106 agreement being signed - an agreement between local authorities and developers in planning applications.
The planning committee will discuss the proposal on Monday, December 16.
Concerns over neighbours' privacy as plans for flats behind church put forward
BeestonThere are also fears on parking


text:
Gavin Stewart (born 27 April 1957) is a British financial services executive and former rower. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics.

He spent 27 years in financial regulation for the Bank of England, Financial Services Authority  and Financial Conduct Authority, before joining Grant Thornton in 2016.
Stewart is also an author and his first novel Walk the Line was published in 2018.

References

External links

1957 births
Living people
British male rowers
Olympic rowers of Great Britain
Rowers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Belfast
Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Castle Point Anime Convention 2016: Two Days or was it a 1 1/2 Days?
Posted in Convention Reports Tags: anime, convention, cosplay, dancing, fandoms, Love Live, maid cafe, manga, one piece, panels, sailor senshi, video games, wrestling Comments Off on Castle Point Anime Convention 2016: Two Days or was it a 1 1/2 Days?
Episode #138: Kami Said There'd be Days Like This.
Posted in Anime Tags: 2020 Tokyo Olympics, anime, convention reports, conventions, cosplay, Cosplayer Reika, kuroko basketball, Lupin III, seiyuu, wrestling Comments Off on Episode #138: Kami Said There'd be Days Like This.


text:
'It's Mabo. It's the vibe': The NRL's Federal Court defence
Tim Gore
"Rugby league is a professional game run by amateurs".
I don't know who the above quote is attributable to, but I like to think it was delivered by the legendary Jack Gibson in his dry and laconic style back in the late 1970s.
What is really sad is that, forty years later, the exact same thing could be said of the current NRL administration. Although the game has grown massively over those four decades, the blunders being made by those charged with running the competition are massive and look amateurish.
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The big question is; at what point should we demand the game's administrators to stop stuffing things up or get shipped out? An even bigger question is just who has the power and inclination to remove those who constantly steer NRL HQ into icebergs?
These icebergs are very easy to see and each should have a logical, considered and consistent approach to avoid them. Yet, this week it is all hands to the pump at NRL HQ, as they desperately try to stay afloat from the impact of hitting two of them.
Firstly, how on earth can Todd Greenberg justify allowing the Rabbitohs to use the cap space that was allocated to the recently retired Greg Inglis, to go back into the player market?
In recent times, both the Eels in regard to Anthony Watmough and the Sea Eagles in regard to Brett Stewart have tried to get the same treatment but were refused.
Now the NRL has seemingly done a total 180 and is letting the Cardinal and Myrtle do it. That stinks. If they are going to do that, then they must let the Bulldogs medically retire Kieran Foran and the Dragons do the same with Gareth Widdop. If they don't, they are effectively granting commercial advantage to one team over others.
As the administrators of the game, they are in charge of creating as level a playing field as possible. While most of us have accepted that NRL HQ seems pretty unconcerned about carrying out that role as a priority, this inequity is the most blatant evidence of that I've seen to date.
While Inglis was a superb player and we should rightly honour his career, that can't extend to giving the Rabbitohs this unparalleled leg-up. Greenberg and co. need to right that wrong ASAP or they may well find themselves in another massive and totally avoidable mess, like the one they've created through their standing down of Jack de Belin.
Jack de Belin. (AAP Image/Darren Pateman)
You know those dreadful people who say "I told you so"? Well, on this issue, I'm totally one of them.
To me, it was clear as day that standing down the St George Illawarra forward, who had pled not guilty and had not been found guilty of any of the charges against him, was fraught with risk.
I – along with quite a few others – pointed out that standing De Belin down, even on full pay, was effectively declaring him guilty and pre-empting the verdict.
In my opinion, the very concept that the stand down was based on what the potential penalty might be – should the person be found guilty – was just absurdly stupid. You can be accused of something that carries five life sentences but if you aren't guilty of that crime, that potential sentence is not at all relevant. That's just basic logic, people.
Many of us following De Belin's legal challenge of his stand down have been astounded by the NRL's defence of their actions.
The NRL is attempting to justify their decision to stand De Belin down on a drop of six percentage points in a thing called the "Net Promoter Score", a tool created by an organisation called Futures Sport and Entertainment.
Justice Melissa Perry of the Federal Court, who is hearing the case, said as much by declaring the Net Promoter Score "incapable of bearing any probative weight" and that the evidence was of a "speculative nature."
Justice Perry was of the opinion that the NRL's Chief Operating Officer – Andrew Abdo – should have limited the influence of the Net Promoter Score when deciding how to approach the De Belin issue as it was largely irrelevant.
Yet the NRL is putting it up as a key plank in their defence.
Who are the lawyers and decision makers in their organisation who think that basing such a harsh penalty on a player – not to mention his club – on a survey that asked respondents "Are you likely to recommend rugby league to your family and friends?" was a reasonable course of action?
Further, how is it possible that Greenberg could then have gone ahead with standing De Belin down when he has now admitted in court that "the only evidence [he] had was the charge he was facing."
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg. (Photo: MAtt King/Getty Images)
The NRL CEO kept digging by then producing 500 emails sent to the NRL from fans, many of whom wanted a hard-line stance in standing down players accused of serious crimes.
There were lots of people baying for witches to be burnt at the stake in Salem too. There were also a whole lot of people very keen to see the House of Un-American Activities Committee act on Senator Eugene McCarthy and Roy Cohn's baseless accusations and destroy peoples lives.
We should have learned these historical lessons by now and realised just how stupid it is to base one's actions on such flimsy reasoning.
However, Greenberg wasn't finished with the sources he used to push through the 'Stand Down Policy'.
"I'm the father of a daughter who plays regular touch football and a number of her friends have shared that the conduct of players is the reason they will no longer play casually."
Greenberg might as well have gone with, "It's Mabo. It's the vibe."
None of those pieces of 'evidence' lend themselves to forming a reasonable position in my view. In my opinion using those kinds of justifications only serves to do one thing: demonstrate that the present powers that be at NRL HQ are completely unsuited to running the game.
Greenberg's justification for letting them do so? "Perception goes to brand and reputation, which results in revenue."
Putting the penalties imposed on De Belin and the Dragons aside, how much is it costing the NRL to defend their actions in court? How does this fiasco affect the perception of NRL HQ, and through that their brand and reputation?
At the time of De Belin's stand down, ARLC Chairman Peter Beattie – shortly before sending the long deceased Laurie Nicholls his regards via tweet – tweeted this:
"What we are doing is to set a benchmark and a standard to defend the game of rugby league."
Well, lads, in my opinion the only benchmark and standards you have set are in regard to ineptitude.
This was further reinforced when De Belin's barrister, Martin Einfield, pointed out to Greenberg a tweet from Beattie's (now deleted) Twitter account from February 27 that said: "De Belin is innocent unless proven guilty. Neither the ARLC and or the NRL, are in possession of any evidence that enables us to form a view on this matter."
Sports opinion delivered daily
Yet you acted to stand him down all the same.
Greenberg's response? "Our chairman does tweet a quite a bit."
That's the least of your problems right now Todd. While it is possible that the court may uphold your administration's actions in regard to standing down De Belin, should this case go the way that presently appears likely and the Federal Court overturns your administration's actions, you and your team will be effectively branded as incompetent.
How will you possibly be able to justify remaining in your role?
Surely you must be embarrassed by all of this. Surely it's time rugby league was a professional sport run by professionals.
Tim has been an NRL statistician for ABC Radio Grandstand since 1999, primarily as part of their Canberra coverage. Tim has loved rugby league since Sterlo was a kid with lots of hair but was cursed with having no personal sporting ability whatsoever. He couldn't take a hit in footy, was a third division soccer player making up numbers, plays off 41 in golf and is possibly the world's worst cricketer ever. He has always been good at arguing the point though and he has a great memory of what happened.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Get all images in a PDF page from diferent PDF files I want to download all images from the last page on diferent pdf files.
With the follow code i'm getting only the first image on that page.
for filename in os.listdir(directory):
    if filename.endswith(".pdf"):
        path = os.path.join(directory,filename)
        doc = fitz.open(path)
        for i in range(len(doc)-1,len(doc)):
            for img in doc.getPageImageList(i):
                xref = img[0]
                pix = fitz.Pixmap(doc, xref)
            if pix.n < 5:       # this is GRAY or RGB
                pix.writePNG("%s-%s-%s.png" % (i, xref, filename))
            else:               # CMYK: convert to RGB first
                pix1 = fitz.Pixmap(fitz.csRGB, pix)
                pix1.writePNG("%s-%s-%s.png" % (i, xref,filename))
                pix1 = None
            pix = None
    else:

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


taken a small step toward reality.
nerve cell. Their so-called silicon-to-neuron junction, reported in the Aug.
charge that trips a neuronal impulse.
impulses, transforming them into an electric impulse on a silicon chip.
communication between a nervous system and machinery.
conclude. Exactly how practical it will prove, they say, "remains to be seen."


text:
/**
 * Created by mineralmink on 3/22/2017 AD.
 */

import { MONSTER_BAG_SUCCESS,MONSTER_BAG_FAILURE } from '../actions/index';

const INITIAL_STATE ={ monsterbag: null};

export default function(state = INITIAL_STATE, action) {
    console.log('mosterbag',action.payload)
    switch(action.type) {
        case MONSTER_BAG_SUCCESS:
            return { monsterbag: action.payload.data };
        case MONSTER_BAG_FAILURE:
            return { };
        default:
            return state;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Home / Health and Medicine / JAK2 enzyme helps protect brain cells, wreaks havoc on blood vessels
JAK2 enzyme helps protect brain cells, wreaks havoc on blood vessels
Dr. Mario B. Marrero is studying an enzyme that helps protect brain cells from destruction but wreaks havoc on the blood vessels of diabetics.
How the same enzyme helps protect brain cells from the destruction of Alzheimer's yet contributes to the blood vessel disease of diabetics is a puzzle Dr. Mario B. Marrero wants to solve.
"I call JAK2 the good, the bad and the ugly because its function depends on the cell type and where it acts," says the biochemist at the Medical College of Georgia who wants to eliminate – or at least control – the "bad" and "ugly."
JAK2, or janus kinase 2, is an enzyme found in all cells that plays an important role in development and growth; mice lacking this enzyme die in utero, Dr. Marrero says. After birth, the enzyme becomes a two-edged sword that activates or deactivates other proteins and plays a role in Alzheimer's, diabetes, hypertension and kidney failure.
When JAK2 is good, it helps protect brain cells from Alzheimer's disease by blocking the action of amyloid-b peptide, the plaque-producing protein fragment implicated in Alzheimer's disease.
Nicotine, long known to have a neuro-protective role despite its other drawbacks, apparently uses JAK2 to enable this protection. "When brain cells are exposed to beta amyloid that makes plaque, nicotine protects them by activating JAK2, which activates a pathway of cell survival and blocks the beta activation of the pathway that leads to cell death," says Dr. Marrero, who discovered nicotine's ability to regulate JAK2 in collaboration with Dr. Merouane Bencherif, vice president of preclinical research at the North Carolina-based pharmaceutical company, Targacept, Inc.
But if angiotensin II – a powerful vasoconstrictor involved in blood pressure regulation and a growth factor as well – is added to the mix, nicotine no longer protects brain cells. "Angiotensin II doesn't allow JAK2 to be activated by nicotine," Dr. Marrero says.
This finding supports his theory that nicotine protects neurons through the JAK2 pathway but also points toward new treatment approaches for Alzheimer's and other age-related dementias. One such treatment may be a drug that activates JAK2 in combination with ACE, or angiotensin converting enzyme, inhibitors which block angiotensin II production. ACE inhibitors are widely used to treat high blood pressure and anecdotal evidence indicates that people who take these drugs are less susceptible to Alzheimer's and other dementias.
"What we are working on is trying to understand these pathways that lead to neuro-protection," says Dr. Marrero. "And how does angiotensin II block that action via JAK2? It may even be that JAK2 plays a role when angiotensin II acts as a growth factor." Dr. Marrero's work on nicotine neuro-protection and JAK2 was published in the Nov. 22, 2002 issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry.
His lab is also delineating the "bad" and "ugly" pathways that lead to JAK's role in cell death and destructive proliferation. Like nicotine, its partner in neuro-protection, JAK2 is bad for blood vessels. When activated, JAK2 attacks blood vessels from the inside and out, prompting suicide of the endothelial cells that comprise the smooth interior through which blood flows and proliferation of the smooth muscle cells that comprise the exterior. The result is diseased, dysfunctional blood vessels.
JAK2 activation also is stimulated by high glucose levels in the body, a hallmark of diabetes, via the polyol pathway, a finding Dr. Marrero's lab in collaboration with Dr. Carlos Isales, MCG endocrinologist, reported in the Aug. 15, 2003 issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry. "That is why diabetics have a lot of blood vessel problems, in the aorta and major blood vessels," Dr. Marrero says.
In the face of high glucose, the kidneys are an easy target for JAK2's detrimental effects, prompting glomeruli mesangial cells to grow and proliferate, thereby clogging the kidneys' intricate filtering mechanisms, according to his work published in the December 2002 issue of Diabetes. "That is why diabetes is one of the main causes of kidney failure. If you take away high glucose, it doesn't really happen," the researcher says.
Dr. Marrero is collaborating with Dr. David Pollock, MCG physiologist, to further explore what happens in the kidney in an animal model and with Dr. Patricia Schoenlein, an MCG cancer researcher, to explores JAK2's apparent interference with some cancer therapies. For example, tamoxifen, an anti-estrogen that prompts breast cancer cell suicide, won't work in cells containing insulin because insulin apparently activates JAK2, which intervenes. When the researchers add a known JAK inhibitor, AG4-90, tamoxifen works in those cells.
"We are trying to figure out how various compounds might be able to regulate JAK," says Dr. Marrero. "We know nicotine activates it, which is why we are studying it." He wants to find additional compounds that activate or inhibit JAK2 so he can maximize the protective qualities of the enzyme and eliminate its contributions to diseases such as diabetes.
Dr. Marrero recently co-authored the preface of a textbook scheduled for release later this month, "Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: Integrating Science and Clinical Medicine," with Dr. David M. Stern, a renowned diabetes and vascular researcher and dean of the MCG School of Medicine. The book is being published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, an international publisher of professional health information for physicians, nurses and students headquartered in Philadelphia.
Dr. Marrero's research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, an American Heart Association Established Investigator Award grant and Targacept, Inc.
Toni Baker EurekAlert!
http://www.mcg.edu/
All news from this category: Health and Medicine
This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.
Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.
IfADo expands systems biology approach with research MRI
20.01.2021 / Health and Medicine
Acute itching in eczema patients linked to environmental allergens
A rift in the retina may help repair the optic nerve


Title of Rule and Other Identifying Information: WAC 246-320-199, 246-322-990 and 246-324-990, the department proposes to increase licensing fees for acute care, psychiatric, and alcohol and chemical dependency hospitals to provide alternative funding for hospital fire code inspections performed by the Washington state patrol, state fire marshal's office under RCW 70.41.080 and 71.12.485.
Hearing Location(s): Department of Health, Point Plaza East, Room 153, 310 Israel Road, Tumwater, WA 98501, on July 27, 2017, at 11:00.
Date of Intended Adoption: August 10, 2017.
Submit Written Comments to: Sherry Thomas, Policy Coordinator, Department of Health, Health Systems Quality Assurance, P.O. Box 47850, Olympia, WA 98504-7850, email https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/policyreview, fax (360) 236-2901, by July 27, 2017.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Sherry Thomas by July 13, 2017, TTY (800) 833-6388 or 711.
Purpose of the Proposal and Its Anticipated Effects, Including Any Changes in Existing Rules: The proposed rules raise hospital initial and annual renewal licensing fees by $15 per bed. Revenue from this increase will pay the projected cost of regular periodic fire code inspections required by law. The current funding source, the fire protection contractor license account, was not intended to cover the current and projected volume of hospital fire code inspections and is being depleted.
Reasons Supporting Proposal: The proposed fees would provide consistent revenue that assures resources will be available for the state fire marshal's office to provide timely hospital fire code inspections integral to protecting the safety and health of hospital patients, staff and the public.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 70.41.030, 71.12.670, 43.70.110, and 43.70.250.
Statute Being Implemented: RCW 70.41.080, 70.41.100, 71.12.470, 71.12.485, 43.20B.110.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Sherry Thomas, 111 Israel Road S.E., Tumwater, WA 98501, (360) 236-4612; Implementation and Enforcement: Nancy Tyson, 111 Israel Road S.E., Tumwater, WA 98501, (360) 236-4796.
This section establishes the ((license)) initial licensure and annual ((use)) fees for hospitals licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW. The license must be renewed every three years.
(b) An annual fee of one hundred thirty-eight dollars for each bed space within the authorized bed capacity of the hospital by November 30th of the year.
(d) Excludes all normal infant bassinets((.
(e) Excludes beds banked as authorized by certificate of need under chapter 70.38 RCW.
(3) A licensee shall ((send)) submit to the department a late fee in the amount of one hundred dollars per day whenever the annual use fee is not paid by November 30. The total late fee will not exceed twelve hundred dollars.
(b) One-third of the initial fee paid after the department has received an application and conducted either an on-site survey or provided technical assistance but not issued a license.
WAC 246-322-990 Private psychiatric hospital fees.
This section establishes the initial licensure and annual fees for private psychiatric hospitals licensed under chapter 71.12 RCW.
(((f))) (g) Set up twenty-four-hour assigned patient beds only within the licensed bed capacity approved by the department.
(a) The department has received the application but has not conducted an on-site survey or provided technical assistance, the department will refund two-thirds of the fees paid, less a fifty dollar processing fee.
(b) The department has received the application and has conducted an on-site survey or provided technical assistance, the department will refund one-third of the fees paid, less a fifty dollar processing fee.
(iii) The amount to be refunded as calculated by (a) or (b) of this subsection is ten dollars or less.
This section establishes the initial licensure and annual fees for private alcohol and chemical dependency hospitals licensed under chapter 71.12 RCW.
(b) An annual ((renewal)) fee of ((seventy)) eighty-five dollars ((and zero cents)) for each licensed bed space.
(a) The department has received an application but has not conducted an on-site survey or provided technical assistance, the department will refund two-thirds of the fees paid, less a fifty dollar processing fee.
(b) The department has received an application and has conducted an on-site survey or provided technical assistance, the department will refund one-third of the fees paid, less a fifty dollar processing fee.


Most but not all companies provide some sort of tuition assistance. This goes for the airlines. While some airlines offer a benefit of tuition assistance to their employees, this only an added benefit and it is not mandatory for companies to offer such benefit.
Tuition assistance means assisting in one form or another an employee who attends classes to better themselves. Now sometimes there is a catch and you may want to make sure you fully understand what your company's tuition assistance program covers. Some will cover the cost of tuition up to a certain dollar amount, and some will cover half of the tuition. Sometimes only certain classes are covered by this benefit and this is why you want to make sure the class you will be taking is part of what is covered to make use of this benefit. And other times, the tuition assistance benefit will only cover the cost of the tuition if you make a certain grade. Usually the tuition amount is reimbursed at the end of the year. So yes, you will have to come out of pocket for you classes at the beginning.
So if your company does provide tuition assistance, make use of it as this is like free money and go to school. You're just wasting it if you don't use it.


The plot thickens. The son of the limo company owner at the center of the investigation was arrested. Mr. Hussain's improbable journey - from asylum-seeking immigrant to petty criminal to terror recruiter has taken yet another turn. His complicated past is central to the investigation of the nation's deadliest crash in years.


While a number of microbial infections induce a transient burst in viral load in individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1), a recent study has suggested that scrub typhus may suppress HIV-1 infection. We investigated the effects of Orientia tsutsugamushi on HIV-1 infection. In vitro HIV-1 infection experiments were conducted using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) acutely infected with R5 and X4 HIV-1 or PBMC derived from patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) whose plasma viral load was undetectable. Stimulation of PBMC with O. tsutsugamushi induced production of proinflammatory cytokines and β-chemokines, and markedly down-regulated expression of CCR5. Although pretreatment with O. tsutsugamushi rendered PBMC resistant to R5 HIV-1, it otherwise enhanced HIV-1 replication. Stimulation by O. tsutsugamushi induced HIV-1 replication in PBMC from patients receiving HAART. These findings suggest that scrub typhus does not necessarily suppress HIV-1 infection and does have potential to enhance HIV-1 replication.


Economy (A, B, C1, D, J1): € 650.
Compact (E, F, J2): € 900.
Familiar (L1, H1, J3): € 1200.
An extra surcharge to waive the responsibility of the "excess" mentioned above.
Economy (A, B, C1, D, J1): € 7.00 per day.
Compact (E, F, J2): € 9.00 per day.
Familiar (L1, H1, J3): € 10.00 per day.
Wheels, tires, interior, windows / windscreen, underbody and the roof of the car are not covered by the Super CDW protection.
Vehicles may only be driven into Spain and Portugal.


text:
A Friendly Chat with Flannery O'Connor
"A Friendly Chat with Flannery O'Connor" art graphic by Aberjhani. C2020
Running throughout the title story of Greeting Flannery O'Connor at the Back Door of My Mind is a series of intuited exchanges between this author and O'Connor. They range from nostalgic and humorous to confrontational and exploratory. The following is one of those exchanges:
Aberjhani: I agree about the limited perceptions of race in the South as opposed to the more extended objective reality, but I can't agree that anything you said absolves certain politically empowered social groups of responsibility for the institution of slavery.
O'Connor: That's because you're trying to booby trap me again and I'm not having it. Tell me this: can you imagine God as a great author and history as a fantastic fountain pen in His hand?
Aberjhani: Actually, yes, I can.
O'Connor: I know you can. Now imagine God in 1865 authoring a manuscript dated 2008 and writing the unexpected name of the winner of the United States' presidential election.
(From the book Greeting Flannery O'Connor at the Back Door of My Mind ISBN 1-716-68481-1)
Creator of Silk-Featherbrush Artstyle
Harlem Renaissance Centennial 2020
A month ago, I made a commitment to extend the outreach from Bright Skylark Literary Productions to different social media communities with more active engagement as part of my response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The choice was easily made due to the fact so many are huddling together on social media sites at this time much the way our ancestors once gathered at night around fires to recap the day's adventure or to exercise strength and safety in numbers.
What that translates into where this blog is concerned is that in addition to posting a little more frequently on Facebook, some of the posts shared there will be placed here as well. The items presented here, like this post, will likely include more material, such as additional photos or videos. This is the first of 2 parts on the value of Love and Laughter in the time of the coronavirus.
ON LOVE & LAUGHTER NO. 1
Love and Laughter are 2 expressions of human nature which share 1 very important quality: they are both excellent relievers of stress. Each possesses some capacity for reducing internally the pain of circumstances produced externally. Who can't appreciate that in this year of the newly-revised normal? Let's take a brief look at laughter in this post and check out Love in the next.
Late-night talk show hosts are well-paid for their ability to help us confront painfully serious issues while simultaneously laughing at them. So far as I know, the image shared with this post featuring POTUS #DonaldTrump was not produced by a celebrity talk-show host. Going by the site address at the bottom, it was done by Whomp Media. The humor comes from 2 factors.
The first is the tradition of political satire practiced by great humorists as Mark Twain, Richard Pryor, and Whoopi Goldberg. In this instance, the creator of the quotation graphic is poking fun at President #DonaldTrump's tendency to sometimes employ overly-simplistic assessments of issues like the #COVID19 pandemic, or calls for #socialjustice, by repeating the words: "very bad" or "nasty." The designer has dubbed such pronouncements #Trumpentines.
The text of this Donald Trump "Trumpentine" starts with a quote from the poem "Angel of Valentine Days & Nights" published in THE RIVER OF WINGED DREAMS. Its use by the creator of this graphic, Whomp Media, is obviously meant to be satirical.
The second is trickier and some might argue not so funny. It comes from the designer's use of a popular quote taken from the #book The River of Winged Dreams: "Un-winged and naked, sorrow surrenders its crown to a throne called grace." Before anyone asks, the answer is No, I did not receive a request to use the quote. Did I laugh when I saw it? I shouldn't have but I did. Couldn't help it.
As much as I enjoyed the relief laughter provided from stress, I'm obligated to point out that graphics of this nature fall into the category of what I call guerrilla decontextualization. It's when images and words are taken out of one context and placed in another for a specific political purpose. Both Barack Obama and #JoeBiden recently have protested against such practices against them.
I first coined the phrase #GuerrillaDecontextualization when writing for AXS Entertainment about Mr. Obama's second run for the U.S. presidency. Because the goal of this graphic is laughter, it may arguably be considered less hostile or violent than some campaign ads now running on TV. In any event, it's always a good practice when possible to acknowledge original sources. That's something I will happily do concerning the artist featured in the next post:
PART 2 OF 2-for-2 Facebook Shares on Love and Laughter in Our COVID-19-Challenged World.
Author-Poet-Artist
Aberjhani is author of the forthcoming GREETING FLANNERY O'CONNOR AT THE BACK DOOR OF MY MIND, Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah, and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (the latter with Sandra L. West). He is also creator of the Silk-Featherbrush Artstyle.
Confronting COVID-19 with Inspired Art and Determination (part 1)
("Defeating Fear with Knowledge" title graphic art by Aberjhani ©2020)
Few things can rearrange the priorities of individuals or nations like a full-blown pandemic. Its impact is felt no less by cultural arts workers than by anyone else. In some cases it is felt even more keenly through creatives' attempts to convert the overwhelming collective and personal shock to meaningful works in different disciplines.
Responding to events of an historic magnitude with visual and text creations has become very natural for me over the past couple of years so that is how my response to the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic of 2020 started. I'm stressing the word 'started' here because, like everyone else, I have had to adapt to the new social distance norms imposed by the crisis before I could begin converting the experience into a creative format. What resulting forms will look like in the weeks, months, and years to come remain to be seen. For right now, the new "Battle against the COVID-19 Curve" and "Angels of Music Revisited" artwork posted with commentaries on Fine Art American and Pixels.com represent the beginning of a series of creative counter-measures.
From the Postered Chromatics C19 Art Gallery
Spread of the coronavirus known as COVID-19 has become one of the most dominating forces, if not the single most dominating, in modern times. Populations around the world are confronting it in their own professional and creative ways to the best of their abilities. We see doctors, nurses, grocery store workers, and public transportation workers putting themselves at risk to help others. With famous singers streaming concerts from their living rooms and families gathered outside the homes of loved ones, standing several feet apart while singing them happy birthday or sharing wishes for a happy new married life together. The images in this gallery along with writings about the impact of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic are my way of standing in solidarity with humanity as we overcome the crisis.
Battle Against the COVID-19 Curve
The race to beat what scientists describe as the COVID-19 curve, meaning the highest likely impact levels of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, began back in January after people in China had already suffered its deadly fury. The goal since then has been to reduce major devastation while the pandemic continued its death march across the globe.
We nevertheless have seen within individual cities, countries, and the international community, scenes which have been terrifyingly heartbreaking and others which have been amazingly inspiring. It is my hope that the Silk-Featherbrush painting titled THE BATTLE AGAINST THE COVID-19 CURVE, captures some of the mixture of extreme emotions and behaviors which have characterized our responses to the ordeal so far.
Inspired The orange-and-rust colored arch in the foreground of the image represents a visual metaphor symbolizing two things. One is the narrow window of opportunity countries outside of China had time-wise to prepare for the invasion of the virus. Secondly, it symbolizes an entry-point to a new collective reality which shows why embracing practices of co-existence and cooperation are much more beneficial to everyone than maintaining belief in conflicts and domination.
The surrounding surging colors are waves of a diverse but unified humanity moving persistently against whatever holds us back from being our best selves. The shadows of dark red in the background can be interpreted a number of ways. I like to think the overall image implies that somehow hope will emerge victorious.
NEXT: Confronting COVID-19 With Inspired Art Part 2: Return of the Angels of Music
Aberjhani


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TV ReviewsThis Is UsSeason 2
A game-changing This Is Us builds to a fiery cliffhanger
Caroline Siede
(Photo: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)
Given the dramatic way it was advertised and the fact that the lyric referenced in its title—"That'll Be The Day"—ends with the line "that I die," I was fairly certain tonight's This Is Us would finally reveal how Jack Pearson died. So I watched the episode through that lens, counting down the minutes to what I assumed would be an emotional wallop of an ending. And then the episode went ahead and ended on a cliffhanger instead, leaving all that emotional buildup without anywhere to go. What a classic This Is Us twist!
This Is UsSeason 2
I should clarify that this episode only kind of ends on a cliffhanger. We now know most of the logistics of how Jack Pearson died. A faulty crockpot (a long ago gift from an old neighbor), a misplaced kitchen towel (once part of a Christmas gift from Jack to Rebecca), and the battery-less smoke detector from last week created a chain of events that allowed the beloved Pearson household to go up in flames. The show's dramatic looking post-Super Bowl episode will reveal exactly how Rebecca, Kate, and Randall survived while Jack died. But given Kate's emotional baggage when it comes to dogs, it's not too much of a stretch to assume Jack will make an ill-fated attempt to go back for Kate's stray, thus explaining why she blames herself for her dad's death.
To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about turning Jack's death into a two-part extravaganza. When people binge-watch these episodes in the future, I'm sure it will all play as one continuous, emotionally rich story. But for now, it feels like we've gotten the buildup without the pay off and that makes "That'll Be The Day" a tricky episode to write about without seeing its conclusion.
Going in with the assumption that Jack's "last Super Bowl with the kids" would also be his last ever day with them gave this episode a potent sense of dramatic irony for me. If the Big Three had known these were the last moments they would ever have with their father, I'm sure they wouldn't have spent them sniping over college applications or running off to hang out with their friends or refusing to talk to him on the phone. But they don't know their lives are about to change forever. So they spend their final moments with Jack being bratty teenagers, confident they'll have plenty of time to work things out in the future; confident their dad will be around for years to come. Except he won't. Nor will Jack and Rebecca get the chance to start a house flipping business together. Both the highs and lows of this episode are made more resonant because they're the last highs and lows Jack will ever have, something we know and he doesn't
Until its final moments, "That'll Be The Day" is actually a relatively low-key episode plot-wise. But unlike last week's episode, which felt effortless in its "slice of life" storytelling, you can feel "That'll Be The Day" straining in certain places. The bookending scenes of old married couple George and Sally don't add much to the episode and the storyline of teenage Kate learning to see herself through Jack's eyes and thanking him for it was just a touch too sentimental for me. Plus, as I mentioned before, the cliffhanger leaves this episode feeling rather lopsided, at least for now.
The present day stuff also feels like This Is Us spinning its wheels until the big event, albeit in an enjoyable way. Kate's trip to the animal shelter gives us the chance to meet an adorable dog named Audio, which is reason enough for it to exist. And the incredible Kevin and Randall construction montage also more than justifies the storyline about Randall's overly ambitious first day as a landlord. Though "Randall buys an apartment complex!" continues to be a weird swerve for this season to take, I really loved Randall's monologue about getting older and his anxiety over living a longer life than Jack got to. In fact, the monologue was so good, I briefly thought the episode was going to serve up a twist and skip Jack's death in favor of Randall getting gravely injured by a faulty beam or something. Thankfully, we get a much sweeter moment of Kevin telling Randall he'll make a great old man, just like his "other dad."
It's Kevin who carries the most emotionally hefty present-day storyline this week, as he sets about making amends with those he's hurt. That includes a particularly difficult apology to Sophie, who seems to make her definitive exit from the show. Kevin is karmically rewarded for his efforts by the return of Jack's necklace. But though he gets a piece of his dad back, Jack is still the last person left on Kevin's apology list. Perhaps he'll always be the person left on Kevin's list.
Unlike Kate and Randall, who got sweet final moments with their dad, Kevin and Jack were in the middle of a squabble when Jack died. And though we know both men were planning on making amends to one another, it's something they never actually got to do. And because of the fire, Kevin didn't even get to see the loving note his father left for him ("Kevin, if I don't see you before work tomorrow, I love you. You owe us an apology –Dad"). As the episode's emotional final montage drives home, in addition to the unspeakable tragedy of losing Jack, losing the Pearson home was a tragedy in its own right too. That house was like a sixth member of the Pearson family and the simple elegance of the episode's final few moments emphasizes just how many of their family memories were made there and just how many mementos were lost in the fire. This Is Us frequently does its most emotionally effectively storytelling through montage and this one is no exception.
The preview for the next episode promises This Is Us will finally (finally!) reveal the full story behind Jack's death. But though it serves as a direct intro into the big event, "That'll Be The Day" doesn't offer much indication of what kind of tone that watershed episode will take. I could easily see it being either the best or worst thing This Is Us has ever done. For now, however, let's hope it'll be even half as good as this episode's final montage.
Stray observations
In addition to Sterling K. Brown's Outstanding Actor win, the entire cast of This Is Us won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the SAG Awards. Here's Milo Ventimiglia's speech:
The Chi creator Lena Waithe turns in a nice guest performance as the dog shelter owner.
"Jack, I'm trying to do something cute here, can you take a corn muffin?"
Was Randall getting all his tenants complimentary hotel rooms supposed to be an example of how insanely generous he is as a landlord? Because as someone who's lived in a cockroach-infested building before, that was definitely not a perk I was given.
Teenage Kevin casually sleeping over at Sophie's felt really weird to me, even if her mom was around.
I used to think house fires in movies and TV shows were exaggerated for dramatic effect, but last year I witnessed a house in my parents' neighborhood go up in flames in a matter of minutes. No one was injured, thankfully, but the house was almost instantly destroyed. Please take fire safety seriously, everybody!
Next week: This Is Us is off next Tuesday but will return Sunday, February 4th for its special post-Super Bowl episode.
Contributor, The A.V. Club. Caroline Siede is a pop culture critic in Chicago, where the cold never bothers her anyway. Her interests include superhero movies, feminist theory, and Jane Austen novels.


Includes 2 full beds with private bathroom (shower), microwave, refrigerator and cable tv. This standard room has a private outdoor patio. Rate is based on double occupancy. Additional guests are $15. each, per night.


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SF: Ali outplays Paul 3-0
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-0 [5] Paul Coll (NZL) 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 (36m)
What a match for Ali. Last time he was in this court, two days ago, a family drama nearly led him to retire (as his wife did the match before him). We were wondering how he would be on court today.
I hope that Paul won't mind what I'm about to say but it was a bit of a squash lesson today I felt. Never at any point I felt Ali worried, or under pressure or running out of ideas. He was controlled the rallies that he kept fairly short, and pushed Paul to attack from difficult positions, forcing a few uncharacteristic errors out of the NZ racquet.
Paul didn't much wrong, he was just outplayed, and as their last encounter was in the British Open semis where Ali only won 11/7 in the 5th, 77m, in one of the toughest/incredible match I saw – costing probably the title to Ali, this was a bit of a surprise I have to say.
Today, Ali just too good…
"I think I played really well. We had a game plan together, myself, Karim Darwish, Nour and also my brother Wael. They reminded me to mix it up because Paul is a very good player when he gets into a rhythm. I tried to disrupt that in a way and I think I did that well. I'm really pleased to be through in three.
I know a lot of players have already mentioned it numerous times, but I want to thank CIB and the entire institution for supporting us all the way through. It's something we are really grateful for and thanks to Amr Mansi and I-Events for bringing this back. You see so many pictures of this venue and you can never get bored of it."
Tagged with Ali Farag, Paul Coll
SF : Raneem fights back to reach 4th final
Semi-Finals Roundup
Ali, finally at the Pyramids, Tarek, flat…
Farag ends Gaultier's run
Coll holds off Ibrahim challenge
Nici on fire, Ali only just…


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Willard police officer saves newborn baby struggling to breathe after unexpected delivery
APB Team Published September 10, 2022 @ 6:00 am PDT
Dreamstime.com/Inara Prusakova
A police officer in Willard, Missouri, is being hailed as a hero after saving a newborn baby who was not breathing during an unexpected home birth.
Sergeant Steve Purdy with the Willard Police Department was on a routine shift when he received a call about a pregnant woman in labor at her apartment near the station.
"Since I was close, I decided to go ahead and head that way and see if I could help," Purdy said.
While driving to the apartment, Purdy was notified that the mother, Tayllor Burt, had given birth to the baby, but it was not breathing.
"Dispatch notified that the baby wasn't breathing and that the baby was turning blue," Purdy said.
Purdy immediately took over CPR from the mother and began administrating "rescue breathing and chest compressions."
The sergeant recalled that the baby — named Asher — began to regain color but was still not breathing on his own.
Purdy then asked the parents if they had a tool that could suction debris out of the baby's airway. Thankfully, they did. Purdy soon cleared Asher's airway, and the infant began to breathe normally.
Remarkably, this was Purdy's first time being involved in a birth. However, it's something a police officer rarely encounters on the job.
"It was very tense for me because, you know, I wanted the baby to be OK, and then the mother still needed medical care herself," Purdy said. "I've given CPR several times but never to an infant. I've never been part of a baby being born."
By the time the boy started to breathe again, firefighters and an ambulance arrived on the scene and took over within minutes.
"All of that happened in a matter of minutes," Purdy recalled. "I was happy when the fire department arrived, they have a higher level of training, of course, on helping folks that need medical care than the police department does."
Asher's father, Ray Daugherty, admired Purdy's calm demeanor.
"Thank God that he was there," Daugherty said. "Because he just completely made me feel like my baby was being taken care of, and not just him, the whole police department really."
Daugherty said the baby was scheduled to be induced two days later, but that his wife began experiencing contractions earlier than expected and gave birth after only 30 minutes of labor in their apartment bathroom.
"He did not want to wait until the 23rd," Daugherty joked.
Willard Police Chief Tom McClain was proud of Purdy, calling the officer "one of my best."
"I couldn't be more proud of Sergeant Steve Purdy," the chief added. "Steve Purdy has made a grand difference in a lot of peoples' lives over his career, but this one kind of rises to the top."
Purdy, who joined the department back in 2012, said he was most impressed with the mother's actions.
"I'm glad I had the first responder training where I was able to clear the baby's airways, just the basics of the ABCs of CPR. I'm glad I had that and was able to help," Purdy said. "That being said, I think the mother is pretty amazing delivering her baby by herself in her own home."
Purdy worked as a manager at a Krispy Kreme donut shop in Branson prior to becoming a police officer.
"He was wanting to make a change," McClain said. "And I asked him why he wanted to be a police officer, and he said, 'Chief, I just want to be in a position to make a difference in peoples' lives.'"
Now, Purdy is doing just that.
"I think of the whole Willard team as heroes. The police department, the fire department and the Mercy ambulance that responds to Willard, all these people work together really well," Purdy said. "I think together we're definitely heroes.
Baby Asher is now three weeks old and is in good health, thanks in part to Purdy's actions.
Categories: On the Job Tags: firefighters, mother, CPR, newborn baby, home birth, Willard Police Department, Steve Purdy, Tom McClain, Missouri, hero


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Zina Glazebrook
Life and Style in the Zina Zone
Blogging By Design
The Zina Zone
ZG Design Studio
ZG Bathrooms
ZG Bedrooms
ZG Dining Rooms
ZG Kitchens
ZG Living Rooms
ZG Miscellany
ZG Passageways
ZG Lifestyle
I'm thrilled to have been featured in a number of design books that showcase some excellent work…
East Coast Rooms, Portfolios of 31 designers and Architects Anna Kasabian © 2000 by Rockport Publishers, Inc.
Here was the ultimate project for an interior designer: give a fresh look to a potato barn turned cow barn turned home. A working farm for twenty-five years, the two-acre lot in East Hampton, New York (complete with three integrated silos) was once part of a working dairy on a 120-acre (48-hectare) parcel. The bright red, two-story home is nestled deep in the green of a mature lawn and partially wrapped in privet evergreens. To the south, the view is enhanced by a typical white country fence and open views to the sea. Roses and daylilies provide splashes of color along the way.
When Zina Glazebrook took on the assignment, the thought was to appraise the home's features and do a simple design clean-up. Having grown up in a livestock barn turned home herself, the designer was excited at the creative possibilities. Before she was through, she worked on many rooms in this unique living space.
The first room needing a major change was the kitchen, which was "too complex" and full of terra-cotta tiles. The nickname "House by Tequila" was short-lived! Glazebrook and the owner often brainstormed via magazine tearsheets depicting ideas the owner liked. Out of that exercise came a concept the designer calls "primitive modernism" that embraces the materials that were used in the barn and similar rustic structures.
For example, the front door to the main entry silo is made of harvested driftwood from an old dock that washed up on the shores of Montauk, New York. An old grain store door works as the privacy door in the master bath. Rather than being torn up, the old hayloft floor on the second floor was refurbished with an oil-based urethane to a beautiful affect.
To keep the barn mood, the kitchen floor was power troweled like terrazzo; heat radiates via hot water and rubber hoses installed below the surface. The custom kitchen cabinets resemble utility cabinets one would see in a barn; nickel and limestone accents are integrated in the room. Prior to choosing a stove, Glazebrook consulted with a chef who highly recommended a hefty restaurant stove call the Grizzly, by Montague; it cost less than $3,000 and has six burners, a griddle, grill, and two major ovens. The look is perfect in this utilitarian kitchen.
Oversized butler's sinks from England were chosen for the kitchen and are perfect for cleaning up after a crowd! The idea came from a friend who once used a bathtub as a sink. The wooden chairs around the kitchen table are from Indonesia; they were found at a warehouse sale. The sixty-inch (152-cm) round table is made from a Palladian courthouse window; half of it was set on a poured-concrete column and topped with a half inch of sand-blasted glass for a table, and the other half became a window in the living room.
The bathroom fixtures were found in London and are old kitchen sinks with drainboards that give guests a spacious ledge for toiletries. The master bath features a six-foot (2 meter) turn-of-the-century tub; the shower has a big, modern head with an output that feels like a rainstorm over the body.
Most furnishings for the house were purchased at yard sales, flea markets, or warehouse sales. The exception is the guest beds that Glazebrook designed and built with burlap and raffia upholstery; they are twin beds that can easily by merged into a king-sized bed. The walls are painted with Benjamin Moore Super White throughout, and all window treatments are the same simple, inexpensive Swiss cotton roller shades.
This is the project the author is referring to. When clients give you a barn, turn it into a thing of beauty! That was my M.O. with this project and one of the most interesting rooms I've ever been asked to design.
To The Lighthouse
A General Store That's So Much More…
On My Radar: The Bathboat
A Space of One's Own
© 2019 Zina Glazebrook	| Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Skirmish by Blank Themes


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Mandala Wood Pendant1 x $8.00
View Cart "Mandala Wood Pendant" has been added to your cart.
Wave Alder Wood Teardrop Pendant
Natural Alder wood pendant engraved with the Japanese Seigaiha or Wave pattern. This pendant measures 2.65 inches long and 1.8 inches wide, it's 1/8th of an inch thick. It's light enough to wear as earrings.
Wave Alder Wood Round Pendant
Natural Alder wood pendant engraved with the Japanese Seigaiha or Wave pattern. This pendant measures 2 inches across, it's 1/8th of an inch thick. It's light enough to wear as earrings.
Victorian Alder Wood Teardrop Pendant
Natural Alder wood pendant engraved with a design from the 1800's. This pendant measures 2.65 inches long and 1.8 inches wide, it's 1/8th of an inch thick. It's light enough to wear as earrings.
Victorian Alder Wood Round Pendant
Natural Cherry wood pendant engraved with a design from the 1800's. This pendant measures 2 inches across, it's 1/8th of an inch thick. It's light enough to wear as earrings.
Small Flower Wood Pendant
Delicate filigree pendant with a flower design in the center, the combination of engraving and cut out spaces give this pendant an intricate lacy appearance. This pendant measures 2 inches across, it's 1/8th of an inch thick.


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In this section you can find popular forex trading platforms enabling users to carry out various calculations and buy or sell assets and currencies in real time. With a trading platform, you can monitor your trades, receive signals for opening positions and track profit and loss.
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He's been to Greenville and hes been to Charleston and tonight GM Lubomir Ftacnik will be giving a lecture and simultaneous exhibition tonight at the St Andrews Regional Library 2916 Broad River Rd, Columbia, SC 29210. Lecture will start promptly at 6:30pm. $5 donations to SCChess will be accepted.
Come and learn and see if you can win a game vs a GM.


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» Juveniles and hacking. It is not just harmless fun.
Juveniles and hacking. It is not just harmless fun.
On Behalf of Hathaway Sprague Law, P.A. | Oct 28, 2019 | Criminal Defense |
Some kids take to hacking as a challenge to beat the system, or they do it on a dare or just because they think it is fun. Few stop to think about the consequences of changing scholastic scores to get them into a better college or invading the Department of Defense to play war games.
Hacking is the act of breaking into a computer system. Depending on the situation, the hack may not be illegal. However, in 2017, the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported that illegal hacking cost the U.S. a loss of $100 billion.
Florida statute 815 considers hacking an offense against intellectual property. A person who willfully, knowingly and without permission enters a computer system, releases a virus or destroys data and programming may be charged with the crime.
Both federal and state laws try to protect businesses and civilians against illegal hacking. These laws include the following:
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
The Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act
Florida's Computer Crimes Act
Florida offenses against intellectual property can be:
Third-degree felony. When an offense is third degree, the person must knowingly and willingly steal and divulge the information he or she acquired. Penalties include a prison sentence of up to five years and a $5,000 fine.
Second-degree felony. A second-degree felony must pertain to the acts of defrauding a person or business by devising and executing any plan for this purpose. A second-degree felony may be punishable with a prison term of as many as 15 years and a $10,000 fine.
Under the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, offenses include:
Obtaining National Security Information
Trespassing in a government computer
Trafficking in passwords
Accessing a computer to defraud and obtain value
Penalties for these crimes can range from a one-year prison sentence to a period of up to 20 years. In some cases, the federal government allows victims to bring civil suits against the offenders for compensatory damages and other relief.


Anne-Sophie Mutter chose to begin her homage to Mozart's 250th birthday with the violin concertos. The choice is certainly fitting, as the concertos have been a major pillar of her repertoire ever since her earliest days: she played the Second Concerto at her public debut when she was nine, and she performed the G major Concerto K. 216 at her spectacular Salzburg debut under Herbert von Karajan when she was 13. She vigorously affirms that Mozart has since been present in her life on a daily basis.
Mozart was not only a gifted pianist but also an accomplished string player who enjoyed playing both the violin and the viola. His first violin concerto, K. 207 in B flat major, was written in 1773 and is possibly Mozart's very first concerto for solo instrument and orchestra. The other four works – K. 211, 216, 218 and 219 – were all composed within a few months from June to December 1775, while Mozart was in the employ of the Archbishop of Salzburg.


paint.net is an image and photo editing software with support for layers, unlimited undo, image effects and a tabbed thumbnail interface. The program includes a variety of paint bushes and selection tools as well as image filters such as sharpening, red-eye removal, distortion, noise etc.
The program supports plugins and will automatically start in 64-bit if within an operating system that supports it.


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CCE Directory
Information & Entry Forms
Showcase of Entries
Companies & People
Protecting the Exterior
Following the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire in London, where flames consumed the building's exterior, could the same happen here?
September 15, 2017	By William Kuffner, P.Eng.
When a building fire occurs that claims lives, the tragedy is followed by a period of reflection where we wonder if it could happen again elsewhere.
It is certainly ill conceived to draw conclusions about what really happened without all the evidence, and it can be outright dangerous to do so. However, when those conclusions are reached through a proper course of study, we try to learn from it and take the opportunity to revise regulations to help better protect society where possible.
This article focuses in on one aspect of building fire safety that is being looked at as a result of the fire in the Grenfell Tower in London, UK. That aspect is fire growth on the exterior of a building.
An exterior building fire is probably the fastest way to spread fire through a building because there are no fire barriers to stop it once it starts, there are no compartments to contain it, it could be aided by wind, and the vertical nature of the fuel arrangement feeding the fire.
That is not to say that such a fire is necessarily larger, or that it releases more heat or even that it is more dangerous than any other building fire, just that it typically moves faster than other building fires. In order for such a fire to propagate up the side of a building, combustible material must be in place with flame spread properties that would allow it to happen along with other factors.
The building code system in Canada regulates the combustible content of construction materials including exterior cladding. Buildings over six stories high must be constructed with material determined to be noncombustible including the exterior cladding. Some relaxation of this requirement is provided for smaller buildings required to be of noncombustible construction, however those buildings require non-loadbearing walls to meet vertical flame spread criteria.
That covers newly constructed buildings, but what about buildings that have been around for a while that get renovated? Renovations are covered by provincial building codes that include provisions related to exterior cladding. Any project that includes replacing or adding to the exterior wall assembly of a building is subject to the requirements of the building code in the jurisdiction of the proposed project. In addition to the provisions of the building code, every occupied building is covered by the fire code that prohibits changes that would make a building less safe than originally designed without meeting the requirements of the building code.
History of Code Provisions related to exterior cladding
In the 1980 National Building Code of Canada the use of foamed plastics began to receive specific attention. Starting with the 1990 version, combustible cladding for buildings required to be of noncombustible construction has been addressed in a separate article. From this we can see that for over 30 years the use of plastics in exterior building cladding has been included in Canadian Building Code regulations. The cladding on the Grenfell Tower included a polyethylene (thermoplastic) core.
Could the same thing
happen here?
When comparing what is known about the fire at Grenfell Tower with the residential building inventory in Canada, the question "could that happen here?" comes up. Despite all of the protection measures put in place to limit the probability of such an occurrence, unfortunately, the answer is yes.
All it would take is the inattention, or lack of understanding of this potential risk, by a small group of key people involved with an exterior cladding renovation project to create similar conditions to those which ultimately turned a single unit apartment fire into one like we witnessed in London.
The consequences of such a fire in terms of lives lost and property damage caused is another matter altogether and will likely be the subject of many studies conducted in the near future.
If a similar event were to occur in this country, the ultimate responsibility would be with the building owner who is responsible to ensure that renovations meet the requirements of the building and fire codes, but there would be plenty of blame to go around.
Product manufacturers should ensure their products are tested by accredited labs and listed as being non-combustible, or that they achieve flame spread criteria minimums before they are marketed to buildings in general. Architects, engineers, designers and installers should ensure that the proper application of materials is achieved and that construction permits are issued to achieve the requirements of Canadian building and fire code regulations with the assistance of building officials.
Cladding systems
There is no doubt that buildings operate more efficiently when they are insulated from the exterior environment, and one of the easiest ways to improve that efficiency on an existing building is through the addition of exterior insulated cladding.
Such cladding can also improve the look of an older building. For these reasons an increasing number of products and projects will seek to add exterior insulated cladding materials to buildings, but we must remain true to the objectives of our construction codes in order to ensure that safety is not sacrificed to achieve other goals.
The cladding used in the Grenfell Tower has been reported to be Reynobond PE, an architectural product intended to be part of a vented cladding system used for new construction or renovation.
Manufactured by Arconic, formerly part of Alcoa, the Reynobond product consists of two aluminum sheets bonded to a thermoplastic (polyethylene) core. The products are available as Reynobond PE, with the polyethylene core and Reynobond FR, which is fire-resistant and includes a polyethylene core loaded with mineral flame retardant.
A product sheet from a building supplier's website indicates that Reynobond is listed to ASTM E 84 (for use in the United States).
A search of the ULC database for that product shows it is not listed for use as either a noncombustible or an acceptable vertical flame propagation resistant material. The FR version of the product is listed by UL as part of several building exterior wall assemblies, but no listing for the PE product was found.
What this means is the material is not acceptable for use in any exterior cladding project in Canada for buildings over three storeys in height.
If all that sounds a bit confusing, that is because it can be and often is. So it's no stretch of the imagination to see how a bit of inattention on the part of some key players could affect public safety.
William Kuffner, P.Eng. is Senior Fire Protection Engineer, Infrastructure Engineering with SNC-Lavalin.
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UNC-11, a Caenorhabditis elegans AP180 homologue, regulates the size and protein composition of synaptic vesicles.
ABSTRACT: The unc-11 gene of Caenorhabditis elegans encodes multiple isoforms of a protein homologous to the mammalian brain-specific clathrin-adaptor protein AP180. The UNC-11 protein is expressed at high levels in the nervous system and at lower levels in other tissues. In neurons, UNC-11 is enriched at presynaptic terminals but is also present in cell bodies. unc-11 mutants are defective in two aspects of synaptic vesicle biogenesis. First, the SNARE protein synaptobrevin is mislocalized, no longer being exclusively localized to synaptic vesicles. The reduction of synaptobrevin at synaptic vesicles is the probable cause of the reduced neurotransmitter release observed in these mutants. Second, unc-11 mutants accumulate large vesicles at synapses. We propose that the UNC-11 protein mediates two functions during synaptic vesicle biogenesis: it recruits synaptobrevin to synaptic vesicle membranes and it regulates the size of the budded vesicle during clathrin coat assembly.
SUBMITTER: Nonet ML
PROVIDER: S-EPMC25452 | BioStudies | 1999-01-01
SNARE motif-mediated sorting of synaptobrevin by the endocytic adaptors clathrin assembly lymphoid myeloid leukemia (CALM) and AP180 at synapses.
Project description:Neurotransmission depends on the exo-endocytosis of synaptic vesicles at active zones. Synaptobrevin 2 [also known as vesicle-associated membrane protein 2 (VAMP2)], the most abundant synaptic vesicle protein and a major soluble NSF attachment protein receptor (SNARE) component, is required for fast calcium-triggered synaptic vesicle fusion. In contrast to the extensive knowledge about the mechanism of SNARE-mediated exocytosis, little is known about the endocytic sorting of synaptobrevin 2. Here we show that synaptobrevin 2 sorting involves determinants within its SNARE motif that are recognized by the ANTH domains of the endocytic adaptors AP180 and clathrin assembly lymphoid myeloid leukemia (CALM). Depletion of CALM or AP180 causes selective surface accumulation of synaptobrevin 2 but not vGLUT1 at the neuronal surface. Endocytic sorting of synaptobrevin 2 is mediated by direct interaction of the ANTH domain of the related endocytic adaptors CALM and AP180 with the N-terminal half of the SNARE motif centered around M46, as evidenced by NMR spectroscopy analysis and site-directed mutagenesis. Our data unravel a unique mechanism of SNARE motif-dependent endocytic sorting and identify the ANTH domain proteins AP180 and CALM as cargo-specific adaptors for synaptobrevin endocytosis. Defective SNARE endocytosis may also underlie the association of CALM and AP180 with neurodevelopmental and cognitive defects or neurodegenerative disorders.
Factors regulating the abundance and localization of synaptobrevin in the plasma membrane.
Project description:After synaptic vesicle fusion, vesicle proteins must be segregated from plasma membrane proteins and recycled to maintain a functional vesicle pool. We monitored the distribution of synaptobrevin, a vesicle protein required for exocytosis, in Caenorhabditis elegans motor neurons by using a pH-sensitive synaptobrevin GFP fusion protein, synaptopHluorin. We estimated that 30% of synaptobrevin was present in the plasma membrane. By using a panel of endocytosis and exocytosis mutants, we found that the majority of surface synaptobrevin derives from fusion of synaptic vesicles and that, in steady state, synaptobrevin equilibrates throughout the axon. The surface synaptobrevin was enriched near active zones, and its spatial extent was regulated by the clathrin adaptin AP180. These results suggest that there is a plasma membrane reservoir of synaptobrevin that is supplied by the synaptic vesicle cycle and available for retrieval throughout the axon. The size of the reservoir is set by the relative rates of exo- and endocytosis.
A role for the clathrin assembly domain of AP180 in synaptic vesicle endocytosis.
Project description:We have used the squid giant synapse to determine whether clathrin assembly by AP180 is important for synaptic vesicle endocytosis. The squid homolog of AP180 encodes a 751 amino acid protein with 40% sequence identity to mouse AP180. Alignment of squid AP180 with other AP180 homologs shows that amino acid identity was highest in the N-terminal inositide-binding domain of the protein and weakest in the C-terminal clathrin assembly domain. Recombinant squid AP180 was able to assemble clathrin in vitro, suggesting a conserved three-dimensional structure that mediates clathrin assembly despite the divergent primary sequence of the C-terminal domain. Microinjection of the C-terminal domains of either mouse or squid AP180 into the giant presynaptic terminal of squid enhanced synaptic transmission. Conversely, a peptide from the C-terminal domain of squid AP180 that inhibited clathrin assembly in vitro completely blocked synaptic transmission when it was injected into the giant presynaptic terminal. This inhibitory effect occurred over a time scale of minutes when the synapse was stimulated at low (0.03 Hz), physiological rates. Electron microscopic analysis revealed several structural changes consistent with the inhibition of synaptic vesicle endocytosis; peptide-injected terminals had far fewer synaptic vesicles, were depleted of coated vesicles, and had a larger plasma membrane perimeter than terminals injected with control solutions. In addition, the remaining synaptic vesicles were significantly larger in diameter. We conclude that the clathrin assembly domain of AP180 is important for synaptic vesicle recycling at physiological rates of activity and that assembly of clathrin by AP180 is necessary for maintaining a pool of releasable synaptic vesicles.
UNC-41/stonin functions with AP2 to recycle synaptic vesicles in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Project description:The recycling of synaptic vesicles requires the recovery of vesicle proteins and membrane. Members of the stonin protein family (Drosophila Stoned B, mammalian stonin 2) have been shown to link the synaptic vesicle protein synaptotagmin to the endocytic machinery. Here we characterize the unc-41 gene, which encodes the stonin ortholog in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Transgenic expression of Drosophila stonedB rescues unc-41 mutant phenotypes, demonstrating that UNC-41 is a bona fide member of the stonin family. In unc-41 mutants, synaptotagmin is present in axons, but is mislocalized and diffuse. In contrast, UNC-41 is localized normally in synaptotagmin mutants, demonstrating a unidirectional relationship for localization. The phenotype of snt-1 unc-41 double mutants is stronger than snt-1 mutants, suggesting that UNC-41 may have additional, synaptotagmin-independent functions. We also show that unc-41 mutants have defects in synaptic vesicle membrane endocytosis, including a ?50% reduction of vesicles in both acetylcholine and GABA motor neurons. These endocytic defects are similar to those observed in apm-2 mutants, which lack the µ2 subunit of the AP2 adaptor complex. However, no further reduction in synaptic vesicles was observed in unc-41 apm-2 double mutants, suggesting that UNC-41 acts in the same endocytic pathway as µ2 adaptin.
Endophilin A and B Join Forces With Clathrin to Mediate Synaptic Vesicle Recycling in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Project description:Synaptic vesicle (SV) recycling enables ongoing transmitter release, even during prolonged activity. SV membrane and proteins are retrieved by ultrafast endocytosis and new SVs are formed from synaptic endosomes (large vesicles-LVs). Many proteins contribute to SV recycling, e.g., endophilin, synaptojanin, dynamin and clathrin, while the site of action of these proteins (at the plasma membrane (PM) vs. at the endosomal membrane) is only partially understood. Here, we investigated the roles of endophilin A (UNC-57), endophilin-related protein (ERP-1, homologous to human endophilin B1) and of clathrin, in SV recycling at the cholinergic neuromuscular junction (NMJ) of C. elegans. erp-1 mutants exhibited reduced transmission and a progressive reduction in optogenetically evoked muscle contraction, indicative of impaired SV recycling. This was confirmed by electrophysiology, where particularly endophilin A (UNC-57), but also endophilin B (ERP-1) mutants exhibited reduced transmission. By optogenetic and electrophysiological analysis, phenotypes in the unc-57; erp-1 double mutant are largely dominated by the unc-57 mutation, arguing for partially redundant functions of endophilins A and B, but also hinting at a back-up mechanism for neuronal endocytosis. By electron microscopy (EM), we observed that unc-57 and erp-1; unc-57 double mutants showed increased numbers of synaptic endosomes of large size, assigning a role for both proteins at the endosome, because endosomal disintegration into new SVs, but not formation of endosomes were hampered. Accordingly, only low amounts of SVs were present. Also erp-1 mutants show reduced SV numbers (but no increase in LVs), thus ERP-1 contributes to SV formation. We analyzed temperature-sensitive mutants of clathrin heavy chain (chc-1), as well as erp-1; chc-1 and unc-57; chc-1 double mutants. SV recycling phenotypes were obvious from optogenetic stimulation experiments. By EM, chc-1 mutants showed formation of numerous and large endosomes, arguing that clathrin, as shown for mammalian synapses, acts at the endosome in formation of new SVs. Without endophilins, clathrin formed endosomes at the PM, while endophilins A and B compensated for the loss of clathrin at the PM, under conditions of high SV turnover.
UNC-13 and UNC-10/rim localize synaptic vesicles to specific membrane domains.
Project description:Synaptic vesicles undergo a maturation step, termed priming, in which they become competent to fuse with the plasma membrane. To morphologically define the site of vesicle priming and identify fusion-competent synaptic vesicles, we combined a rapid physical-fixation technique with immunogold staining and high-resolution morphometric analysis at Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junctions. In these presynaptic terminals, a subset of synaptic vesicles contact the plasma membrane within approximately 100 nm of a presynaptic dense projection. UNC-13, a protein required for vesicle priming, localizes to this same region of the plasma membrane. In an unc-13 null mutant, few synaptic vesicles contact the plasma membrane, suggesting that membrane-contacting synaptic vesicles represent the morphological correlates of primed vesicles. Interestingly, a subpopulation of membrane-contacting vesicles, located within 30 nm of a dense projection, are unperturbed in unc-13 mutants. We show that UNC-10/Rim, a protein implicated in presynaptic plasticity, localizes to dense projections and that loss of UNC-10/Rim causes an UNC-13-independent reduction in membrane-contacting synaptic vesicles within 30 nm of the dense projections. Our data together identify a discrete domain for vesicle priming within 100 nm of dense projections and further suggest that UNC-10/Rim and UNC-13 separately contribute to the membrane localization of synaptic vesicles within this domain.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids influence synaptojanin localization to regulate synaptic vesicle recycling.
Project description:The lipid polyunsaturated fatty acids are highly enriched in synaptic membranes, including synaptic vesicles, but their precise function there is unknown. Caenorhabditis elegans fat-3 mutants lack long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs); they release abnormally low levels of serotonin and acetylcholine and are depleted of synaptic vesicles, but the mechanistic basis of these defects is unclear. Here we demonstrate that synaptic vesicle endocytosis is impaired in the mutants: the synaptic vesicle protein synaptobrevin is not efficiently retrieved after synaptic vesicles fuse with the presynaptic membrane, and the presynaptic terminals contain abnormally large endosomal-like compartments and synaptic vesicles. Moreover, the mutants have abnormally low levels of the phosphoinositide phosphatase synaptojanin at release sites and accumulate the main synaptojanin substrate phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate at these sites. Both synaptobrevin and synaptojanin mislocalization can be rescued by providing exogenous arachidonic acid, an LC-PUFA, suggesting that the endocytosis defect is caused by LC-PUFA depletion. By showing that the genes fat-3 and synaptojanin act in the same endocytic pathway at synapses, our findings suggest that LC-PUFAs are required for efficient synaptic vesicle recycling, probably by modulating synaptojanin localization at synapses.
Direct interactions between C. elegans RAB-3 and Rim provide a mechanism to target vesicles to the presynaptic density.
Project description:Rim is a multi-domain, active zone protein that regulates exocytosis and is implicated in vesicle priming and presynaptic plasticity. We recently demonstrated that synaptic defects associated with loss of Caenorhabditis elegans Rim (termed UNC-10) are accompanied by a reduction in docked vesicles adjacent to the presynaptic density. Since Rim is known to interact with the vesicle-associated GTPase Rab3A, here we asked whether UNC-10-dependent recruitment of synaptic vesicles to the presynaptic density was through an UNC-10/Rab-3 interaction. We first established that C. elegans Rab3 (termed RAB-3) in its GTP but not GDP-bound state interacts with UNC-10. We then demonstrated by EM analysis that rab-3 mutant synapses exhibit the same vesicle-targeting defect as unc-10 mutants. Furthermore, unc-10;rab-3 double mutants phenocopy the targeting defects of the single mutants, suggesting UNC-10 and RAB-3 act in the same pathway to target vesicles at the presynaptic density. Endogenous release of unc-10;rab-3 double mutants was similar to that of unc-10 single mutants, but more severe than rab-3 mutants, suggesting the common targeting defects are reflected by the milder rab-3 release defect. Rim has recently been shown to positively regulate calcium influx through direct interactions with calcium channels. Consistent with this notion we found UNC-10 colocalized with the calcium channel, UNC-2 at C. elegans presynaptic densities and synaptic release in unc-10 and rab-3 mutants exhibit reduced calcium-sensitivity. Together these results suggest that vesicles targeted to the presynaptic density by RAB-3/UNC-10 interactions are ideally positioned for efficient calcium-dependent release.
The Caenorhabditis elegans unc-64 locus encodes a syntaxin that interacts genetically with synaptobrevin.
Project description:We describe the molecular cloning and characterization of the unc-64 locus of Caenorhabditis elegans. unc-64 expresses three transcripts, each encoding a molecule with 63-64% identity to human syntaxin 1A, a membrane- anchored protein involved in synaptic vesicle fusion. Interestingly, the alternative forms of syntaxin differ only in their C-terminal hydrophobic membrane anchors. The forms are differentially expressed in neuronal and secretory tissues; genetic evidence suggests that these forms are not functionally equivalent. A complete loss-of-function mutation in unc-64 results in a worm that completes embryogenesis, but arrests development shortly thereafter as a paralyzed L1 larva, presumably as a consequence of neuronal dysfunction. The severity of the neuronal phenotypes of C. elegans syntaxin mutants appears comparable to those of Drosophila syntaxin mutants. However, nematode syntaxin appears not to be required for embryonic development, for secretion of cuticle from the hypodermis, or for the function of muscle, in contrast to Drosophila syntaxin, which appears to be required in all cells. Less severe viable unc-64 mutants exhibit a variety of behavioral defects and show strong resistance to the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor aldicarb. Extracellular physiological recordings from pharyngeal muscle of hypomorphic mutants show alterations in the kinetics of transmitter release. The lesions in the hypomorphic alleles map to the hydrophobic face of the H3 coiled-coil domain of syntaxin, a domain that in vitro mediates physical interactions with similar coiled-coil domains in SNAP-25 and synaptobrevin. Furthermore, the unc-64 syntaxin mutants exhibit allele-specific genetic interactions with mutants carrying lesions in the coiled-coil domain of synaptobrevin, providing in vivo evidence for the significance of these domains in regulating synaptic vesicle fusion.
1998-01-01 | S-EPMC25346 | BioStudies
Tomosyn inhibits synaptic vesicle priming in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Project description:Caenorhabditis elegans TOM-1 is orthologous to vertebrate tomosyn, a cytosolic syntaxin-binding protein implicated in the modulation of both constitutive and regulated exocytosis. To investigate how TOM-1 regulates exocytosis of synaptic vesicles in vivo, we analyzed C. elegans tom-1 mutants. Our electrophysiological analysis indicates that evoked postsynaptic responses at tom-1 mutant synapses are prolonged leading to a two-fold increase in total charge transfer. The enhanced response in tom-1 mutants is not associated with any detectable changes in postsynaptic response kinetics, neuronal outgrowth, or synaptogenesis. However, at the ultrastructural level, we observe a concomitant increase in the number of plasma membrane-contacting vesicles in tom-1 mutant synapses, a phenotype reversed by neuronal expression of TOM-1. Priming defective unc-13 mutants show a dramatic reduction in plasma membrane-contacting vesicles, suggesting these vesicles largely represent the primed vesicle pool at the C. elegans neuromuscular junction. Consistent with this conclusion, hyperosmotic responses in tom-1 mutants are enhanced, indicating the primed vesicle pool is enhanced. Furthermore, the synaptic defects of unc-13 mutants are partially suppressed in tom-1 unc-13 double mutants. These data indicate that in the intact nervous system, TOM-1 negatively regulates synaptic vesicle priming.