text:
Report Highlights Proposition 47 Progress
November 12, 2015 1661 Views HGA, hospital operations, James Carpenter Design Associations, JCDA, Michael Crews, Orangewood Children's Foundation, Payne Kimball, Samueli Academy, Western U.S.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Stanford Law School Stanford Justice Advocacy Project recently released the Proposition 47 Progress Report highlighting the progress made since the proposition's enactment in November 2014.
Nebraska Prisons Report Calls for Multiple Reforms
December 17, 2014 2173 Views Accountability and Restitution Center, Cathy Wolfe, Centennial School District, Central U.S., Contractor, District 197, HGA, John Snaza, Minnesota School Board Association, Roger Duffy, Sandra Romero, Thurston County Jail
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska's seven-member Department of Correctional Services Special Investigation Committee released a 62-page report on Dec. 15 calling for sweeping reforms and the firing of several correctional officials.
Montana Feels Correctional Housing Crunch
December 9, 2014 1698 Views Central U.S., DRG Architects, Gaines County, Gaines County Jail, HGA, hospital operations, Sedalco Construction Services
HELENA, Mont. — Montana is the latest state to grapple with a growing correctional population, putting a strain on both state prisons and local county facilities.
Arizona Addresses Prison Crowding with $50 Million Facility
December 3, 2014 December 9, 2014 3329 Views commercial drone operators, Cowley Hall, flying machines, Gluckman Mayner, HGA, Jim Avery, River Architects, Western U.S., Window Systems
BUCKEYE, Ariz. — After allowing media outlets to tour the state's new $50 million prison in early November, the Arizona Department of Corrections has officially opened the new section of the Lewis Prison Complex in Buckeye.
Escapes Highlight Hawaii's Correctional Challenges
June 25, 2014 July 2, 2014 1881 Views CannonDesign, HGA, Hoener Associates Inc., Mehrdad Yazdani, U.S. Courthouse Toledo, Window Systems, Yazdani Studio
HONOLULU, Hawaii — After two inmates escaped from Hawaii's Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) in the span of a week, attention has been refocused on the state's increasingly crowded correctional population.
L.A. County Considers Expansive Jail Plans
May 7, 2014 May 8, 2014 2462 Views agriculture, dairy industry, David Short, farmers, HGA, innovation center, ranchers, rural energy, rural small businesses, SB 1085, Western U.S., Window Systems
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted on May 6 to replace the county's primary correctional facility with a new two-tower structure.
Nebraska Mulls New Prison Construction & Alternatives
March 11, 2014 1886 Views Agriculture & Business Multipurpose Classroom Building, Central U.S., Edward P. Evans Hall, HGA, hospital operations, Overland Partners, prison demolition, School of Management, The Linbeck Group, Window Systems
LINCOLN, Neb. — Consultants hired by the state of Nebraska to tackle the growing correctional overcrowding problem have delivered a new master plan that relies heavily on construction and expansion.
California Judges Issue New Order in Prison Population Debate
January 22, 2014 1784 Views Centurion Managed Care, HGA, LadyBird Lake, Mission Hills Clinic, myRisk Hereditary Cancer test, Western U.S.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Despite extensive negotiations, California Governor Jerry Brown and attorneys representing a group of prison inmates have yet to reach an agreement on how to reduce the state's prison population.
Alabama Poised to Establish Prison Reform Task Force
January 22, 2014 1952 Views Comcast Corporation, Comcast Innovation Technology Center, Contractor, Eastern U.S., Foster + Partners, HGA, hospital operations, Lord Norman Foster, Southern Poverty Law Center
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama state senators hope their recent approval of a new task force will help determine the cause of the state's growing prison overcrowding problem, and offer potential solutions. The resolution to develop the task force was sponsored by Sen. Cam Ward R-Alabaster, and, if also passed by the House, will create a 26-member group referred to as the Prison Reform Task Force.
Washington State Prisons Seek Expansion Funding
November 13, 2013 November 15, 2013 1734 Views County Executive Isiah Leggett, D.C. Department of Corrections, HGA, National Center on Insitutions and Alternatives, Thomas Faust, Tommy Wells, Western U.S.
TACOMA, Wash. — In response to an upswing in prison inmate numbers, Washington state lawmakers have requested an additional $1.8 million be added to Gov. Jay Inslee's December budget. The money would support the planning process for the expansion and renovation of existing facilities in an attempt to keep pace with a rising correctional population.


text:
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class MainMenu : MonoBehaviour {

	public float gazeActivationTime = 1.25f;

	private bool activate = false;
	private float timeElapsed;
	private float gazeProgress;

	private LevelManager levelManager;
	private GameObject buttonRT130;
	private GameObject buttonQuit;
	private bool buttonRT = false;
	private bool buttonQuitting = false;

	void Start () {
		levelManager = GameObject.FindObjectOfType<LevelManager> ();
		buttonRT130 = GameObject.Find ("Button RT 130");
		buttonQuit = GameObject.Find ("Button Quit");
	}

	void Update () {
		if (activate && buttonRT) {

			timeElapsed += Time.deltaTime;

			if (timeElapsed >= gazeActivationTime) {
				timeElapsed = 0;
				levelManager.LoadLevel ("02_VR_Pedestal");
				activate = false;
			}
		} else if (activate && buttonQuitting){
			levelManager.Quit ();
		} else {
			timeElapsed = 0;
		}

	}

	public void ButtonCheck (){
		if (buttonRT130) {
			buttonRT = true;
		} else if (buttonQuit) {
			buttonQuitting = true;
		}
	}

	public void OnPointerEnter (){
		activate = true;
		ButtonCheck ();
	}

	public void OnPointerExit (){
		activate = false;
		timeElapsed = 0;
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Where do I go after the E.M.M.I. are deactivated? I met a scientist named Quiet Robe in Ferenia who revealed that the Chozo attacking me is named Raven Beak and explained why the E.M.M.I were chasing Samus. Quiet Robe then proceeded to deactivate the remaining E.M.M.I. Now I'm lost and can't figure out where to go next.
Where do I go after Quiet Robe deactivates the remaining E.M.M.I.?

A: When Quiet Robe deactivated the E.M.M.I., he should've also opened up a new way in Burenia (the area where half the level is underwater).
Just in case you still want to figure it out for yourself, the rest of the answer will be hidden behind spoilers.

 When you first entered Burenia, you might remember a room with a visible area above its ceiling, which appears to be inaccessible. Silent Robe raised that ceiling to make the area accessible.

If you can't remember that room, here's a map of Burenia with the room marked in a red rectangle (ignore the red cursors):

And this is what the room looks like in game (the path forward has already been opened; the minimap shows you where you haven't yet been):

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Lot details : All that part and parcel of land an total extent of 592 sq.ft & Building there on with plinth area of 493 sq.ft at No.47/1, T.S.No.183/1, Ameer John Street, Choolaimedu, Puliyur Village, Egmore, Nungambakkam Taluk in name of Mr.H.Muthuraman.
Schedule of Property : All that part and parcel of land an total extent of 592 sq.ft & Building there on with plinth area of 493 sq.ft at No.47/1, T.S.No.183/1, Ameer John Street, Choolaimedu, Puliyur Village, Egmore, Nungambakkam Taluk in name of Mr.H.Muthuraman. Bounded: North: Ameer John Street, South: Mrs.Jothi & Mrs.Kamala Property, East: 3ft Common Passage & Subhiksha House, West: Vadivel Naicker Herdary Property & Old No.23 New No.49.


text:
Recruiting News Recruiting Jobs Recruiting Social Network Human Resources
RBC Leaderboard
Blog directory/search
Top Blogs - Week
Top Blogs - Month
Hiring Resources
Recruiting Tools
BOUNTYJOBS COVERS UP FOR TALENT ACQUISITION REPS OF THEIR CLIENTS AND ALLOWS THEM TO FILL THEIR DATABASES FOR FREE!!!
Posted by Tony Marshall on May 19, 2020 at 7:32pm in Recruiting 101 [General Forum]
I worked under the Bountyjobs Platform previously and had very bad experiences with their organization. I was recently FORCED back into their platform, by a client that I had a DIRECT CONTRACT with. This experience has also proven to be as awful as the first. I would like to know if anyone else has had a similar experience with Bountyjobs.
In my first experience, I was working on a position for a client in Iowa. This was a Sr. Purchasing Manager position. I submitted several qualified candidates for this position via Bountyjobs. My point of contact was as usual, a Talent Acquisition Rep for the client with the open position. I found that this Rep was very unresponsive, and ignored messages via the Bounty Wall and Candidate Wall. This is the preferred method of communication, for Talent Acquisition Reps, an in a few moments you will know why.
I submitted 6 candidates for this position, before actually filling it. However I did not fill the position, by sending the candidate via Bountyjobs and communicating with the client via the site. I repeatedly requested feedback on submittals of candidates, due to the fact that all candidates were interested in the role, and wanted to know if there was interest on the client side. After repeatedly being ignored by the Talent Acquisition Rep via Bountyjobs, I began emailing the Rep to request feedback. All emails were also ignored. After about a month, I received an email from TA stating that a phone interview was requested on one of my candidates. luckily, that candidate was still available and interested. The candidate did the phone interview, and called me right after, very excited, stating that it went well. After a week, I reached out to see if there was feedback on the candidate via email as well as via the candidate wall on the BJ site. No response. None at all! After another week of the candidate calling and requesting feedback, I tried reaching out again, no response. I finally asked the name and contact information of the Hiring Manager that interviewed the candidate, and reached out to him. He provided feedback, stating that the candidate was not quite a match for the position. After doing that, the same day, I asked the HM if it was okay to send him the other candidates that I submitted via BJ to him directly, and he said that was fine,because he really needed to get the role filled. I sent over all 6 candidates, only to find out that after a whole month of sending candidates, the HM had only seen 1 of the candidates I submitted. Subsequently, one of the ones he had not even seen, that I submitted via BJ, got the position and is still employed with the client to this very day. After I filled the position, the TA called in and complained to BJ that I was "aggressive" and that she did not want to work with me again. That was okay with me.
Second horrible situation. I submitted a candidate via Bountyjobs to UTC Aerospace Systems for a position in Troy, OH. Candidate was not hired for that role. However a month later, this same candidate gets hired for a position with Pratt & Whitney. in Columbus, GA. Pratt & Whitney and UTC Aerospace Systems were basically the same company. They were both under United Technologies. Under Bountyjobs guidelines, if a candidate is hired within 6 months by a client, even if they did not get the original position they were interviewed for, the firm that submitted the candidate, is owed a fee. So I reached out to the HR Department at Pratt & Whitney in Columbus, GA, and explained the situation to the HR Manager. The manager told me flat out, "we do not owe you a fee, because we are not UTC Aerospace Systems and we do not use Bountyjobs" After this I reached out to Bountyjobs regarding the situation and Jeff Pacyna (Enterprise Account Specialist with BJ), stated that a fee was owed. He stated that he would get Chris Mason (VP, Customer Success with BJ), involved to get the matter resolved. Chris Mason reached out to me and requested that I not reach out to anyone at UTC regarding this matter, because they would get things taken care of. I waited over a year to be paid that fee, which was about $16k. Once a fee is owed, it is supposed to only take 60 days to get paid. But this one took over a year. I had several conversations via email and telephone with Chris Mason over the course of a year, with him assuring me that the matter was being handled. Chris Mason said that he had been in contact with UTC and that things were being handled. However I still had not received the fee. I finally reached out to the Director of Talent Acquisition at UTC. Chris Mason did not know I was even connected to this person. This contact checked into things and revealed that no one at UTC knew anything on this matter, which meant that Chris Mason lied to me for over a year regarding this situation. I finally had to threaten Chris Mason, to go public with this information, and in about 5 days, payment was received. During that year, I suggested to Chris Mason, that Bountyjobs just pay the fee that was owed to me, and handle their own collections with UTC. However, he stated that BJ does not pay out fees until the client pays BJ. I felt that maybe he did not want to hurt their relationship with UTC, and that was not my desire either, because I had built great rapport with UTC, and placed many candidates with them, so hurting the relationship would not benefit me in any way, however I still needed to be paid. After receiving the information from UTC, I called Chris Mason and told him what I found out. He denied everything of course, but offered to pay me 10% of what was owed to me, until the entire fee was paid. I turned it down, because I waited over a year. A year in which he lied to me repeatedly regarding this matter. I told him that if the entire fee was not paid within 5 days, I would go to NYC, where Bountyjobs is located and stand outside one of the local TV Stations, and that I would not leave until someone let me in to tell my story. Needless to say, I received the fee a few days later. About a week after, I was called by Chris Mason to state that UTC no longer wanted to do business with me, and that I was being removed from the BJ site. I did not care at all, because, if they were willing to allow this company to do something like this, I no longer wanted to deal with BJ anyway.
Third horrible situation. I was engaged on a Procurement Manager position for Harris Corporation. Position was in California. My point of contact was not a Talent Acquisition Rep, he was a contract recruiter working for YOH, name Vinay Singh. Vinay called my office one day, after i submitted a candidate. He was very rude, and asked if we were even speaking to the candidates that we were sending because all of them were way off the mark. He was so rude that I ended up hanging up on him. By this time, I had already submitted 4 candidates, and by the way, one of my candidates got hired. But not after Vinay went into BJ and rejected all my candidates, and closed out the job order in the BJ system. However, the candidate that was eventually hired, was doing interviews with Harris Corporation all along. The candidate called me after an onsite interview to let me know how things were progressing. So I sent Vinay an email to ask why the candidate was rejected in BJ, and Harris was still interviewing this candidate. He never responded, But later that say, I received a call from BJ, stating that Vinay called to complain, stating he felt threatened when I spoke to him via telephone, which was totally untrue. He knew that I caught him trying to do what we as recruiters refer to as a "Back Door Hire" My candidate called me that afternoon stating that Vinay Singh told her that if she kept communicating with me it would "hurt her chances at getting the position" These were his exact words. I couldn't believe this. All the while Bountyjobs is threatening me, stating that if they keep getting complaints I will be removed from the site. Despite the fact that I had proof of what he was doing, because the very candidate that Harris was about to hire, was showing as rejected in their system. So I reached out to the HM at Harris and explained all of this to him. He in turn, reached out to the TA Director with Harris and explained what Vinay Singh was attempting to do. The very next day, Vinay Singh opened a duplicate of that same position, and BJ reached out to me stating that I needed to re-submit the candidate to BJ. My candidate was eventually hired. BJ gave me NO support, in fact, they claimed that I was attempting to hurt their relationship with Harris Corporation, even after knowing all of what I speaking about here. So they basically took the side of the TA, even though I caught him red-handed, trying to steal that fee, and showed BJ the proof. BJ gets a percentage of all fees, so I explained to them that if the fee was stolen from me, it was being stolen from them as well. However they did not care one bit.
Fourth horrible situation. After Bountyjobs kicked me off the site, I went and pitched Harris Corporation directly, and was awarded a Direct Placement Agreement with their company, and no longer had to go through Bountyjobs. I began submitting candidates to them directly. A few months in L3 Communications merged with Harris Corporation, and they are now called L3Harris. After they merged, a few weeks later I was notified that all outside recruiters would have to work through Bountyjobs. Any recruiting firm that had a current contract agreement with Harris, would be given a login, to engage and work on their positions. I did not like this, but really had no choice. All external firms that had a current contract were given "Preferred Vendor" status in BJ, and instead of BJ taking their usual 25% of the fee, "Preferred Vendors" only have 3% of their fee taken by BJ. Again, working with BJ turned out to be another nightmare. Our point of contact are now, talent Acquisition Reps for L3Harris, and it's much of the same. Ignoring requests for feedback on candidates submitted. Candidates being interviewed, without the knowledge of the firms that submitted them. Complaining to BJ when we email the TA Reps is HUGE. However these same TA Reps email us all the time requesting interviews with candidates, etc. But when we email them, due to their lack of response, they call and complain to BJ, stating that they want all communications with outside firms to be via BJ. However I have seen them not even log into BJ for weeks at a time. While candidates are calling and asking for feedback. Clarissa Wiley with L3harris is a prime example and there are others. Clarissa will email about a candidate she is interested in having do a telephone interview with a HM. Candidate does phone interview, and then you hear NOTHING. No email responses, no responses in BJ after repeated attempts, etc. Then, when you send an email, after she has no problem emailing you about something she wants, trying to get feedback, she "only wants contact via BJ". Looks very strange huh? Well before I wrap this up, you will know exactly why.
In BJ, there is a feature called "taking a flier". This is where you can actually pay a fee to BJ, to have a candidate submitted to a position, even when a TA will not engage you on a position. Last month, I tried to get engaged on a Sr. Electrical Engineer position in Northampton, MA, however AMBER HEINLEIN (TA AT L3HARRIS) refused my engagement request. So, I "took a flier" and paid about $30.00 of my own funds to submit a highly qualified candidate. After submitting this candidate, I waited a week to see if there was any feedback. My messages were completely ignored. Then after about another week I tried messaging AMBER HEILEIN again via BJ. She responded "no interest, thanks!" I responded asking if there was any feedback on where this candidate fell short and never received a response to this day. I knew how good this candidate was for that role, so I became suspicious. I honestly did not think she even submitted the candidate to the hiring manager. I was looking through my linkedin.com contacts, and realized that I was connected to the person that appeared to be the Hiring Manager for that position and I was right. We were connected. So I sent over my candidate's information to him via linkedin.com, and he replied with interest. He responded that he had NOT seen that candidate's information before. So it was just as I thought, she had never even submitted him to the HM. All after I paid my own funds to submit the candidate. What recruiter in their right mind, is going to pay to submit a candidate, already knowing that the candidates' information will not even reach the Hiring Manager? I don't know any recruiters that stupid. However, I did not mention to the HM, that I had already submitted this candidate. The next day, I get an email from AMBER HEINLEIN, stating that I am to stop messaging the HM on linkedin.com immediately. However linkedin.com is a public forum, and I can communicate whoever I want, and they are free to communicate with me. Later that day, I get a call from Bountyjobs, as expected. The rep at BJ states that AMBER HEINLEIN is complaining that I am emailing her and that she wants all communication to go through BJ. However I NEVER emailed her, that was a lie. I never even responded to the email she sent me telling me to stop messaging the HM. It's funny, when I got the call from BJ, I asked the Rep at BJ, t produce an email that I sent to AMBER HEINLEIN and she couldn't. It;s also funny I asked her if AMBER HEINLEIN said anything else about why she was complaining and AMBER HEINLEIN mentioned nothing about the linkedin.com situation. I assume what happenedcis that the HM has to go through AMBER HEINLEIN to schedule candidates for interviews, and when he approached her about the candidate that she NEVER SUBMITTED TO HIM, AFTER I PAID TO HAVE HIM SUBMITTED, she got pissed. Which means that not only does Bountyjobs take recruiters' money to have candidates submitted and in many cases the candidates NEVER reach the hiring managers. They also are used to cover up these types of things that the TA's are doing. It's almost like extortion. They threaten to kick you off the site for basically doing your job as a recruiter. What is going on is that the higher ups in Talent Acquistion with the clients do not know, or do not care what theses reps are doing with these Bountyjobs logins. Or, the TALENT ACQUISITION REPS DO NOT WANT EMAILS FROM EXTERNAL, RECRUITERS, SO THAT THERE IS NO INFORMATION TRAIL ON HOW THE RECRUITING IS BEING HANDLED. Let's be honest here, if they were actually doing their jobs, they would not need external recruiting firms in the first place. But from situations like this, i can see why jobs are staying on client's job boards for extended periods of time. ALL IN ALL BOUNTYJOBS IS AN ORGANIZATION THAT HAS SOME VERY SHADY PRACTICES!! AND I AM CERTAIN I AM NOT THE ONLY PERSON WHO'S HAD THESE TYPES OF EXPERIENCES WITH THEM!
RecruitingBlogs
All the recruiting news you see here, delivered straight to your inbox.
Just enter your e-mail address below
RecruitingBlogs on Twitter
Tweets by RecruitingBlogs
Virtual Recruiters Netwo…
California Recruiters
Recruiters Looking For S…
Independent Recruiters
Seattle Recruiters
Recruitment Process Outs…
Phone Sourcing
Biotech and Pharma recru…
Recruiting tips for begi…
Engineering Recruiters
© 2021 All Rights Reserved Powered by
RecruitingDaily.com
One Reservoir Corporate Drive
Email us: info@recruitingdaily.com
Join the Network!
RecruitingBlogs.com
RecruitingConferences.com
RecruitingTools.com
RecruitingWebinars.com
With over 100K strong in our network, RecruitingBlogs.com is part of the RecruitingDaily.com, LLC family of Recruiting and HR communities.
Our goal is to provide information that is meaningful. Without compromise, our community comes first.
Meet our team >>
Hello, you need to enable JavaScript to use RecruitingBlogs.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Red Line service disrupted by investigation at Park Street 7 MIN <% if ( weatherAlerts > 0 ) { %> Severe Weather <% var weatherAlertsMessage = "There " + ( weatherAlerts > 1 ? "are" : "is" ) + " currently " + weatherAlerts + " active weather " + ( weatherAlerts > 1 ? "alerts" : "alert" ); %>
Mayor-elect Michelle Wu appoints Dr. Monica Bharel to lead city's response to Mass & Cass
Updated: 6:36 PM EST Nov 10, 2021
CITY HALL WITH DETAILS OF THE PLAN. >> THE MAYOR ELECT ANNOUNCED A CABINET LEVEL POSITION TO TACKLE THE CRISIS AND A FAMILIAR FACE IS GETTING ON BOARD THE NEW TRAIN. SKY 5 IS OVER A TENT IN THE NEW MARKET SQUARE WITH NEW ENCAMPMENTS NOT FAR FM ROMASS AND CASS, THE MAYOR ELECT TAPPING A FORMER STATE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMISSIONER TO TACKLE THE CRISIS. >> WE ARE ANNOUNCING A TEAM WITH A SPECIFIC CRISIS -- FOCUS ON THE ISSUE. >> FROM PUBLIC HEALTH TO HOUSING, MAYOR ELECT MICHELLE WU SAYSR. D MONICA BHAREL WILL COORDINATE THE CITY'S RESPON.SE >> IN MY SIX MONTHS THAT I WILL BE HERE ADVISING THE TEAM, I LOOK FORWARD TO USING MY EXPERIENCE IN PUBLIC HEALTH TO BE ABLE TODDRE ASSHE TSE ISSUES -- ISSUES. >> DR. BHAREL HELPED LEAD ETH STATE THROUGH THE HEIGHT OF THE PANDEMIC. THE GOVERNOR HIGHLIGHTED HER WORK WITH THE HOMELESS BEFORE E SHJOINED THE ADMINISTRATION. >> THIS IS SOMEBODY WHO KNOWS THAT NEIGHBORHOOD THAT COMMUNITY AND A LOT OF THE PEOPLE INVOLVED THERE VERY WELL. >> THE MAYOR ELECT ALSO ELEVATING THE DIRECTOR OF THE BOST PONUBLIC HEALTH COMMISSION TO HER CABINET. SHE'S ALSO REAPPOINTING THE CITY'S CURRENT HOUSING CHF.IE DETAILS OF THE PLAN STILL BEING WORKED OUT. IN THE SHORT TERM, MAYOR ELECT WU SAYS SHE WANTS TO GET PEOPLE OFF THE STREET. WHAT IS THE PLAN AND WHAT IS THE TIMELINE TO TACKLE MASS AND CASS. WE'RE GOING TO MOVE URGENTLY, KNOWING THAT EVERY SINGLE DAY THAT GOES BY WE'RE CLOSER TO WINTER. WHEN THE TEMPERATUREMES AN ALREADY LIFE OR DEATH SITUATIONS WILL BECOME EVEN MORE REDI
The former commissioner of the Department of Public Health, who helped steer Massachusetts through the COVID-19 pandemic, will now lead the city's response to the crisis in the area around known as Mass and Cass. Mayor-elect Michelle Wu named Dr. Monica Bharel as the new cabinet-level senior advisor to address the intersecting crises of substance use disorder, mental health, public safety and homelessness."The humanitarian crisis at Mass and Cass demands urgent, bold solutions that create genuine pathways to recovery and stability for our most vulnerable residents -- and we need the right team to get it done," Wu said.Bharel, who served the Department of Public Health for the six years, stepped down in June after overseeing the department's response to the COVID-19 pandemic including data analysis, guidance development, mitigation strategies and the vaccine equity initiative.Bharel is one of three cabinet appointments being made.Wu said elevated Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, to her cabinet, expanding her role in leading the city's broader public health efforts, including response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sheila A. Dillon, the city's chief of housing and director of the Department of Neighborhood Development, was also reappointed. Dillon will work with Bharel to secure the necessary low-threshold and permanent supportive housing for those in need."This is the team that we need for Boston as we prioritize public health and housing and center the safety and dignity of all those struggling with substance use disorder, mental health, and housing instability," Wu said.
The former commissioner of the Department of Public Health, who helped steer Massachusetts through the COVID-19 pandemic, will now lead the city's response to the crisis in the area around known as Mass and Cass.
Mayor-elect Michelle Wu named Dr. Monica Bharel as the new cabinet-level senior advisor to address the intersecting crises of substance use disorder, mental health, public safety and homelessness.
"The humanitarian crisis at Mass and Cass demands urgent, bold solutions that create genuine pathways to recovery and stability for our most vulnerable residents -- and we need the right team to get it done," Wu said.
Bharel, who served the Department of Public Health for the six years, stepped down in June after overseeing the department's response to the COVID-19 pandemic including data analysis, guidance development, mitigation strategies and the vaccine equity initiative.
Bharel is one of three cabinet appointments being made.
Wu said elevated Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, to her cabinet, expanding her role in leading the city's broader public health efforts, including response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sheila A. Dillon, the city's chief of housing and director of the Department of Neighborhood Development, was also reappointed. Dillon will work with Bharel to secure the necessary low-threshold and permanent supportive housing for those in need.
"This is the team that we need for Boston as we prioritize public health and housing and center the safety and dignity of all those struggling with substance use disorder, mental health, and housing instability," Wu said.


text:
James "Red" Wassenich Memorial
Famous for coining the phrase "Keep Austin Weird," Red Wassenich passed away on Friday morning, Feb. 28. The slogan – the exact origins of which are a hotly contested piece of old Austin lore – reflected Wassenich's nonconformist commitment to preserving his hometown's original character. Although he had the opportunity to capitalize on the phrase, he made a conscious choice to not trademark it. According to his close family friend Ginny Agnew, this would not be in character for him – Wassenich believed that "Commercializing is the antithesis of weird."
He was known among his close friends and family for being an "irreverent observer of life," according to tributes and obituaries they wrote in the days following his passing. They described him as somewhat of an unorthodox public servant.
In the early days of "Keep Austin Weird," Pavelka and Wassenich used to print out bumper stickers to give to their dog groomer for free. The groomer would sell the stickers, and the proceeds were donated to dog rescue programs.
In addition to the bumper sticker project, Wassenich often engaged in many of his unconventional community projects with his best friend Chuck Herring, helping to preserve Austin landmarks like the Cathedral of Junk and Stephanie Distefano's El Paso Street Bridge mosaic.
According to Ginny Agnew, the city of Austin wanted to demolish the Cathedral of Junk due to safety concerns. To counter this effort, Wassenich and Herring conducted an extended project requiring weather research and endurance tests, which included dumping 500 gallons of water on the Cathedral to ensure it would remain stable in case of heavy rains. In the end, Wassenich was able to convince city authorities that the structure was not a local security hazard – and the Cathedral of Junk remains standing today.
Friends and family remembered Wassenich's electic interests, openness to experience, and his wild imagination. According to his brother Mark, Wassenich fell in love with the New York film scene and was cast as a mummy in the film The Hunger starring Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie. More recently, Wassenich, a librarian, was teaching a course titled "Accuracy in Age of Deception" as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin, to inform students about media literacy and misinformation.
The author of two published guides to the "odd side of town," Wassenich's public legacy is one of a passionate defense of an Austin some think is already bygone. Red Wassenich served as a Librarian at Austin Community College for over 30 years.


text:
Czabua (Mzeczabuk) Amiredżibi (; ur. 18 listopada 1921 w Tbilisi, zm. 12 grudnia 2013 tamże) – gruziński prozaik i scenarzysta.

Życiorys
Studiował w Tbiliskim Instytucie Politechnicznym; został wówczas aresztowany pod zarzutem udziału w nielegalnej grupie studenckiej i w 1943 skazany na 25 lat pozbawienia wolności. Sześciokrotnie próbował zbiec z łagrów, w których spędził 16 lat, został wypuszczony w 1959. Rok później zajął się działalnością literacką. Jego pierwsza książka – zbiór opowiadań – ukazała się w 1962. Napisał wiele powieści, m.in. powieść obyczajowo-politycznych o wątku przygodowym Data Tutaszchija (t. 1–2, 1972–1975) i opublikował wiele zbiorów opowiadań, m.in. Doroga (1965). Pisał też scenariusze filmowe. Data Tutaszchija została w 1976 przetłumaczona na rosyjski i wydana w Moskwie; przetłumaczono to dzieło na 29 języków. Został laureatem Nagrody Państwowej Gruzji im. Szoty Rustawelego. Od końca lat 80. brał aktywny udział w gruzińskim życiu społecznym, 1992–1995 był deputowanym do parlamentu, w 1999 założył fundację ochrony wartości duchowych "Iwerija". Podczas prezydentury Saakaszwilego krytykował wiele aspektów jego polityki. Był odznaczony gruzińskim Orderem Honoru oraz Orderem Wachtanga Gorgasali I i II klasy, a także cerkiewnym Orderem Świętego Jerzego.

Bibliografia

 Nowa encyklopedia powszechna PWN t. 1, Warszawa 1998.
 https://www.peoples.ru/art/literature/prose/chabua_amiredjibi/
 http://tass.ru/kultura/831000

Gruzińscy pisarze
Gruzińscy scenarzyści
Ludzie urodzeni w Tbilisi
Urodzeni w 1921
Więźniowie radzieckich łagrów
Zmarli w 2013
Uczestnicy powstania norylskiego

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Sports update
Term two sport started this week with swimming finals and AFL Sun Country Cup. Be sure to register for BSSC or state teams if you are interested by following the links below.
SSV State swimming titles
Congratulations to Holly Hawke who was our sole competitor at the SSV State Swim finals at Melbourne Sport and Aquatics Centre this week. She finished with a 4th placing (50m freestyle), two 5th placings (50m butterfly, 50m backstroke), and a 6th placing (200m freestyle). The SSV finals bring together the best swimmers from around the state, so Holly has performed exceptionally well to make four finals, and was very close to finishing on the podium in a couple of her events.
AFL Country Cup
Our 2nd XVIII football team started their season very well with a convincing 34-point win over Catholic College Bendigo at Epsom on Wednesday. The boys got away to a fly early, kicking with the wind in the first quarter and establishing a 16-point lead by quarter-time. They extended the margin to 38 points by half-time after controlling the ball brilliantly throughout the second quarter. The lead increased to 55 points by the end of the third quarter, but could have been greater had it not been for some inaccurate kicking which resulted in 4.7 for the quarter. CCB played an excellent last quarter to reduce the margin to 34 points at the final siren.
Final scores: BSSC 14.8.92 defeated CCB 8.10.58
Goal kickers: Jacob Micallef 3, Tyler McLeod 2, Tom Nunn 2, Jasper Stewart 2, Patrick Gretgrix 1, Mitch Keuken 1, Braydan Torpey 1, Seb Spijkerman 1, Seth Galvin 1.
Best players: Hayden McSwain, Braydan Torpey, Seb Spijkerman, Tyler McLeod, Jacob Micallef
Sports calendar for early Term 2
Friday 29 April Athletics – Sandhurst Division (Bendigo)
Monday 2 May Volleyball and tennis – Loddon Mallee finals (Mildura)
Wednesday 4 May AFL – Premier League v Box Hill (Melbourne)
Thursday 5 May Soccer (boys and girls) – Sandhurst Division (Bendigo)
Monday 9 May Badminton and table-tennis – Sandhurst Division (Bendigo)
Tuesday 10 May AFL (girls) and netball (boys) – Sandhurst Division (Castlemaine)
Thursday 12 May Squash – regional event
BSSC sport in 2016
A reminder that you can still register your interest in Sport at BSSC by selecting the following link and indicating the specific sports in which you would like to compete.
http://goo.gl/forms/PLIIpzgkG2
By registering your interest, you will be informed via email at the appropriate time about any information relevant to the sports you have selected (ie. trainings, meetings, etc.)
For any enquiries about sport, please contact Drew Cathcart, Director of Sport on 0419 139 591 or cathcart.drew@bssc.edu.au
Alternatively, call in to the Sports office. It is located just inside the entrance to the old jail. As you walk through the archway, the office is located through the first door on your left (sign outside the door). You are welcome to call in at any time.
School Sport Victoria State Teams
School Sport Victoria enters one basketball representative team in the School Sport Australia 18 Years and Under Championship. For further information, please visit the 'Team Vic' Basketball Interstate Team page at: https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/TeamVic/Pages/Basketball.aspx
Registrations close on Thursday 28 April.
School Sport Victoria enters a representative team in the annual School Sports Australia 10 to 19 Years Boys and Girls Cross Country Championship. For further information, please visit the 'Team Vic' Combined Cross-Country Team page at:
https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/TeamVic/Pages/CrossCountry.aspx
School Sport Victoria enters one football (soccer) representative team in the School Sport Australia 19 Years and Under Championship. For further information, please visit the 'Team Vic' Football Interstate Team page at: https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/TeamVic/Pages/Soccer.aspx
Registrations close on Wednesday 25 May.
School Sport Victoria enters one orienteering representative team in the School Sport Australia 19 Years and Under Championship. For further information, please visit the 'Team Vic' Orienteering Interstate Team page at: https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/TeamVic/Pages/Orienteering.aspx
Trials on Friday 20 May.
School Sport Victoria enters one swimming representative team in the School Sport Australia 10 – 19 Years Championship. For further information, please visit the 'Team Vic' Swimming Interstate Team page at: https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/TeamVic/Pages/Swimming.aspx
Nominations for the swim team close Monday 25 April.
Paul Galaska (Admin)2016-04-22T13:57:50+11:00April 22nd, 2016|Sports News|
Mitch wins Peter Hunt Medal
Olympic Change Makers
Netballers qualify for State finals
Cross-country runners into state finals
BSSC boys netball success


text:
Prostate Home > Enlarged Prostate
An enlarged prostate is also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or benign prostatic hypertrophy. This condition is common in older men, and refers to an enlargement of the prostate gland. The symptoms vary, but most commonly involve changes or problems with urination. In the United States in 2000, there were 4.5 million visits to a physician for this condition.
What Is an Enlarged Prostate?
It is common for the prostate gland to become enlarged as a man ages. Doctors call the condition benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), benign prostatic hypertrophy, or an enlarged prostate.
As a man matures, the prostate goes through two main periods of growth. The first occurs early in puberty, when the prostate doubles in size. At around age 25, the gland begins to grow again. This second growth phase often results, years later, in BPH.
Though the prostate continues to grow during most of a man's life, the enlargement doesn't usually cause problems until late in life. An enlarged prostate rarely causes symptoms before age 40, but more than half of men in their sixties and as many as 90 percent in their seventies and eighties have some symptoms of BPH.
As the prostate enlarges, the layer of tissue surrounding it stops it from expanding, causing the gland to press against the urethra like a clamp on a garden hose. The bladder wall becomes thicker and irritated. The bladder begins to contract even when it contains small amounts of urine, causing more frequent urination. Eventually, the bladder weakens and loses the ability to empty itself, and urine remains in the bladder. Both the narrowing of the urethra and partial emptying of the bladder cause many of the problems associated with BPH.
Many people feel uncomfortable talking about the prostate, since the gland plays a role in both sex and urination. Still, prostate enlargement is as common a part of aging as gray hair. As life expectancy rises, so does the occurrence of BPH. In the United States in 2000, there were 4.5 million visits to physicians for an enlarged prostate.
Enlarged Prostate Article Continues on Next Page >


text:
Paul Kelly: Stories of Me reaches $221,000 at the box office
by Brendan Swift October 30, 2012 July 12, 2017
Local documentary Paul Kelly: Stories of Me has continued its strong box office performance, topping the limited release chart in its second weekend after grossing more than $93,000.
The film, which premiered at the 2012 Melbourne International Film Festival, follows the life and career of singer-songwriter Paul Kelly. This weekend's special event screenings grossed $93,961 over seven screens, for an impressive $13,423 screen average.
It has been a strong year for Australian feature documentaries. Storm Surfers 3D has grossed more than $650,000 so far (placing it in eighth position on the top 10 all-time box office list for Australian feature docos) while I Am Eleven has taken more than $300,000. Last year, Mrs Carey's Concert became just the fourth Australian documentary to break the $1 million mark at cinemas.
Among other Australian releases, drama Hail opened on two screens and grossed $5648.
Australian Films at the Box Office 2012
Tagged: box-office, distribution, hail, paul-kelly


text:
CD: AmazonUK AmazonUS
Download: Classicsonline
Into This World This Day Did Come. Carols Contemporary & Medieval
Diana BURRELL (b. 1948) Creator of the Stars of Night *[5:52]
Judith BINGHAM (b. 1952) Annunciation* [6:19]
Stuart MACRAE (b. 1976) Adam lay y-bounden* [5:02]
13th century English Edi beo thu [3:11]
Richard CAUSTON (b. 1971) Cradle Song* [2:54]
Francis POTT (b. 1957) That yongë child* [4:53]
John DUNSTAPLE (c. 1390-1453) Quam Pulchra es [2:12]
Gabriel JACKSON (b. 1962) Salus aeterna* [2:54]
16th century English Salvator mundi Domine [3:57]
Howard SKEMPTON (b. 1947) To Bethlehem did they go [2:25]
Judith BINGHAM God would be born in thee [6:06]
John REDFORD (d. 1547) Tui sunt caeli [3:44]
Howard SKEMPTON Into this world, this day did come* [2:50]
William SWEENEY (b. 1950) The Innumerable Christ [3:24]
12th century English Verbum Patris umanatur [1:22]
Diana BURRELL Christo paremus cantica [2:58]
Robin HOLLOWAY (b. 1942) Christmas Carol [6:24]
15th century English Nowell sing we [2:51]
Judith BINGHAM Incarnation with shepherds dancing* [3:58]
Gabriel JACKSON Nowell sing we [2:00]
Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge/Geoffrey Webber/David Ballantyne, Matthew Fletcher & Geoffrey Webber (organ)
rec. 3-5 July 2009, St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast. DDD
Original texts and English translations included
*First recording
DELPHIAN DCD34075 [75:28]
This CD juxtaposes contemporary Christmas music with seasonal music from medieval times - though, at the risk of seeming pedantic, I'm not sure one can allow that the middle ages stretched as far forward as the sixteenth century! It's an intriguing combination that has quite a lot of logic to it, not least because so many composers, especially in recent times, have gone back to the middle ages when searching for texts for Christmas music.
The result is an exciting programme that challenges and stimulates the listener. I should think it had the same effect on the performers, at least in terms of challenge, for most if not all of the music in this programme sounds demanding to sing and play. However, Geoffrey Webber's student choir are fully up to the challenges. Indeed, I strongly suspect that they relish them. The choir comprises seven sopranos, six female altos and five each of tenors and basses. The ensemble may not enjoy the fame of the choirs at some of the other Cambridge colleges but they make a fine show on this disc.
The recital gets off to an arresting start with Diana Burrell's setting of a seventh-century Vespers hymn for Advent. The choral writing is dramatic but just as noteworthy is the accompaniment. Burrell uses the plaintive timbre of a cor anglais and also some cavernous, primitive sounds produced by organ pedals. The overall effect is to suggest powerfully something that is both new and very old at the same time. Later we hear another piece by Diana Burrell. Her rhythmically vibrant Christo paremus cantica was commissioned by King's College, Cambridge, for the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols; Robin Holloway's piece and Judith Bingham's God would be born in thee are likewise King's commissions.
The second item in the programme also merits special mention. Bingham's Annunciation for organ solo is a remarkable piece. It begins mysteriously - we're told by annotator John Fallas, that the instruction in the score is 'night time, candlelight, apprehension…'The piece is potently atmospheric and it seems to me graphically to suggest how frightening an experience for Mary, a teenage girl, must have been the angelic Annunciation message. The performance by Matthew Fletcher is stunning and the sound of the organ is captured vividly. The comfortable world of 'The Angel Gabriel from heav'n came' is a very long way away from this music - and rightly so, I think.
Actually, that well-loved carol melody makes a fleeting appearance later in the programme when Robin Holloway weaves a melodic fragment from the carol we know as Gabriel's Message into the beginning of his Christmas Carol. Musically and texturally, this is one of the most complex pieces on the disc. I must say I've found it challenging to come to terms with listening to it - though it's far from forbidding - and I'm not quite there yet. I'm equally sure it presents significant challenges to the performers but these young Cambridge musicians seem at ease with it.
Rather more accessible are the pieces by Howard Skempton for his style is less complex than Holloway's. I love his William Morris setting, To Bethlehem did they go. The opening lines are richly harmonised and Skempton reprises that material at the end. Between these musical bookends the main section of the carol is infused with what I might term gentle energy. The other Skempton piece, which gives the CD its title, is for high voices only, singing in two-part harmony. This setting of English traditional words has a fresh innocence that I find most appealing.
Many composers have made settings of the medieval text Adam lay y-bounden over the years, notably Boris Ord. The response of Stuart MacRae is very different to Ord's. He has produced a slow, mysterious piece that I found most attractive. The two Gabriel Jackson settings are very engaging - as this composer's choral pieces usually are - and I also admired the pieces by Francis Pott and Richard Causton. But I must single out for special mention William Sweeney's The Innumerable Christ. This is a remarkable, hypnotic composition. Sweeney has chosen some lines in Lowland Scots by Hugh MacDiarmid (1892-1978) and he has set them with compelling originality. I can best describe the music by saying that two solo sopranos - the excellent Rose Wilson-Haffenden and Tempe Nell - weave a haunting, complex web of solo lines against a quiet, rich choral background. That prosaic description doesn't begin to do justice to Sweeney's superbly imaginative piece, which I hope many collectors will discover for themselves by acquiring this disc.
As I said earlier, this programme challenges and stimulates the listener. Unlike many discs of Christmas music this is most emphatically not one to which one can listen as background music while making the mince pies. There's skilful, thoughtful music in this programme that demands - and repays amply - serious, concentrated listening. The music bristles with technical difficulties but the performers rise to these challenges and surmount them. The choir sings very well indeed. Their tone is bright, focused and fresh and they sing with clarity and precision. The blend between the voices is also excellent. Geoffrey Webber has clearly trained them expertly. The organists also contribute significantly. As I've said, Matthew Fletcher excels in the solo piece by Judith Bingham and he does the solo piece by Diana Burrell, which comes towards the end, equally well. David Ballantyne has no solos per se but he also plays very effectively and Webber himself plays the short solo piece by John Redford.
The recorded sound is first rate. The Belfast organ is reported in all its glory while the choir is atmospherically caught by the microphones with just enough distance put on the voices to give the correct ambience while not sacrificing any detail. Perhaps it helps that engineer, Beth Baxter, is, I believe, a professional singer in her own right? The documentation is excellent, not least the essay by John Fallas.
This is one of the most original and enterprising Christmas discs to have come my way in a long time. Intelligently planned and superbly executed it can be recommended most warmly to all choral music collectors who have an enquiring ear.
Return to Review Index


Belimo products have open interfaces so that there are no problems at all in using them in conjunction with all popular makes of controlgear. And investors and designers are not the only ones to profit from them either. Operators and service technicians find the extra flexibility very much to their liking and also the greater freedom they have in choosing the most suitable products and suppliers.
In addition to standard products Belimo also co-operates with the makers of dampers to produce special customized designs whenever they are needed – especially for fire and smoke protection, for variable air volume control and for motorized globe valves. The fundamental idea is to ensure that the dampers always do their job effectively, efficiently and as the law requires while at the same time improving the overall efficiency of the whole installation.


Acid 1400CC cigars are amongst the most searched for cigars in the world. So, we try to keep Acid 1400CC cigars in stock at all times. These cigars originate from Nicaragua and are packaged in a Box of 18 cigars. Cigars-Now sells Acid 1400CC cigars online at discount prices. While they may not be cheap, we do sell them at the lowest price possible.
Reviews on Acid 1400CC are crowd sourced on the Cigars-Now.com website. This means we rely on visitors to provide positive or negative comments regarding Acid 1400CC cigars. If you are familiar with this cigar, please provide your personal review.
See the information tab for more info regarding Acid 1400CC cigars.
Wholesale Acid 1400CC cigars are also available to those customers possessing a valid retailer's license. Please inquire for wholesale accounts and rates.
The team at Drew Estate has gained the reputation for consistently throwing tradition out the window to create cigars so unique and deliciously satisfying that their smokes have become some of the best-selling cigars in America. Prepare your taste-buds for the flavor revolution that is Acid 1400cc.
The 1400cc is wondrously aromatic 5" x 50 cigar that is comprised of specially cultivated tobaccos which are infused with botanicals, herbs and essential oils using a special process that adds the supple flavor and aroma to the tobacco without overwhelming the tobacco blend itself.
Smooth and creamy with tons of taste and aroma, the Acid 1400cc is a mind-blowing escape that will get the taste-buds revved up and wanting more. Join the flavor party and get your box of 18 Acid 1400cc cigars today!


text:
The Manual Transmission Will Be Around For Another Decade, BMW Says
It appears the M4 will be the only model to carry the manual transmission torch for the brand into its final days.
By Rob StumpfNovember 30, 2018
BMW has been one of the most driver-focused brands on the market for some time now, and building an enthusiast's car for the businessman and giving it a proper manual gearbox has been a staple for the automaker's diehard following. With the unveiling of BMW's upcoming G20 platform, BMW has shown that the manual transmission has become less of a priority for the future of its brand, which according to Road and Track its engineers say shouldn't worry those buying M cars for at least the next decade.
Klaus Frohlich, BMW's development chief, sat down at the Los Angeles Auto Show to discuss the bittersweet future of the manual transmission with regards to BMW M cars. The BMW-veteran brings good news to enthusiasts, announcing that the Germans will continue to stuff BMW's current six-speed manual transmission into the next generation M4, which Frohlich considers to be the "fortress" of the automaker's manual transmission.
"Honestly, the pure engineering answer is, you're much faster with paddles and an automatic transmission," Frohlich told Road and Track at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show. "They're very precise and sporty. Especially on the Nurburgring, you are much better in control when you're not taking one hand away [to shift]. I think, in the overall portfolio, manuals will disappear. But I think M4 should be the fortress of manual. So the last manual transmission which will die, it should die in an M4, as late as possible. That's my view."
Though Frohlich concedes that a flappy-paddle automatic gearbox is quicker 'round the track, he acknowledges the niche market that BMW has built around a very specific platform that all but defines the legacy of the M3 and M4: a front-engine, inline-six with a manual gearbox that puts the power down to the rear wheels. Because of this, he confirms that the next generation M4, which will likely be produced until 2027 or 2028, will feature the same manual transmission with a rear-wheel-drive drivetrain available. We had hoped this was the case, as BMW affectionately coined the next M4 the "drift machine."
Unfortunately, BMW isn't investing in a new manual transmission at this time. With a limited amount of people buying three-pedal M cars that output gobs of torque, building a reliable manual transmission for the desired power output would simply cost too much. The automaker says that it simply isn't able to turn a profit when considering the research and development costs that go into designing a new transmission.
"Honestly, you have a problem with manuals," Frohlich continued later in the conversation. "Because we have these turbocharged engines with 600 N-m of torque, to develop such a high-torque manual transmission for such a small volume isn't profitable at all. So I tried to prolong the lifetime of the manuals, but we can't invest in developing a new manual transmission. No transmission partner will do that with us. So we are evolving our existing manuals as long as possible."
Frohlich has a reputation for being a no-nonsense kind of guy. Last month, he made the news after telling journalists that he no longer wanted to hear about how the E46 was the last "real" BMW the automaker produced. He is also the silent voice behind keeping both the manual transmission and rear-wheel-drive platforms alive for so long in favor of automatic and all-wheel-drive. But after the next generation M4, both coveted features may disappear and simply represent Frohlich's legacy at BMW.
2018 BMW M4: The Gold Standard Holds Its Luster...for Now
BMW Waves Goodbye to the 3 Series' Manual Transmission
It will be replaced by an 'easier to use' eight-speed automatic transmission.
BMW Considers Automatically Switching Hybrids to Electric-Only Mode in Heavily Polluted Cities
BMW wants to use its connectivity and navigation systems to determine if the car is in a polluted city area, and then switch to electric-only power.
New BMW M3 Will Get Manual Transmission and Be Offered With RWD and AWD: Report
As far as rumors go, this is one we're certainly hoping is true.
2019 BMW M8 Will Get Over 600 HP and Selectable RWD
BMW has also confirmed Convertible and Gran Coupe variants of the high-performance 8 Series.
2020 BMW M340i xDrive Will Have 382 Horsepower but Still No Manual
It'll be the fastest 3 Series you can get short of the M3.


text:
Brathwaite will be back, says Sammy
Barbados,Sports, Mon, 30 Apr 2012 IANS
Bridgetown (Barbados), April 30 (IANS/CMC) West Indies captain Darren Sammy has backed out-of-form teenage opener Kraigg Brathwaite to bounce back strongly after his axing from the cricket team's tour of England.
The 19-year-old Barbadian was left out of the 15-man squad for the three-Test tour after a lean patch with the bat in the Australia series.
Brathwaite managed a half-century in the first innings of the opening Test in his native Barbados but subsequently failed to score in three of his four remaining innings.
"The selectors and coach (Ottis Gibson) spoke to him, obviously he didn't have the best series this time. He's definitely one for the future for us," Sammy explained.
"He's out of form and in England where the ball tends to swing a bit more (would have been difficult). This series he was getting out to the swinging ball a lot."
He continued: "We have a few A Team tours coming and the coach has told him he'll be there to get some form. We also have the HPC where he can go and work with the coach over there.
"Just like we said to (Devendra) Bishoo. He had an excellent year for us last year and he was not part of the Test squad but I expect them to come back. They're both strong mentally and they'll go and do what's necessary to force their way back into the team."
Brathwaite made his debut against Pakistan last May and has gone on to post four half-centuries in nine Tests.
However, he experienced a poor run of form during the Regional Four-Day Championship for Barbados and it continued into the Test series.
Like Brathwaite, young left-hander Kieran Powell has also struggled for runs but managed to get the nod for the England tour after getting a few starts against the Australians.
Sammy said the emergence of the current set of young players augured well for the Windies programme.
"The good thing for us is we have a lot of youngsters. We have a lot of time and the more you play the more you should gain experience," Sammy pointed out.
"Kraigg has had a good run in Bangladesh, India and now here. Powell and (Adrian) Barath are quite young as well. So we're just looking to give everyone a fair chance, and hopefully guys go back and work on their game and come back strong and perform for West Indies."
--IANS/CMC
sr/dg
Read More: Barbados | South West Delhi | North West Delhi | West Midnapore | West Sikkim | West Kameng | West Siang | West Khasi Hills | West Garo Hills | Imphal West | West Tripura | West Singhbhum | West Champaran | Patel Nagar West | Kidwai Nagar West | Subhash Nagar West | Regional College Ajmer Dtso | Regional College | Bhilai West | Regional Engineering College .


Found this guy while hunting new Silithid rares. He's underground in Hive'Ashi in the western part of the tunnels.
Qem is a rare Silithid bug found underground in Hive'Ashi.
Healthpool: 8352HP. (easily soloable once sent there questing).
Drop: Didn't drop anything spectacular, just a plain green-textured item.
Uploaded a picture, currently waiting for approval.
One of the newly added rares to Silithus, their purpose is for hunters to gain access to new exotic pets.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think he is the one of the only silithid with his brain showing.
Spawn timer for me was 3/12 - 4 hours. Underground in largest chamber of larger cave.
The pet is exotic, if you are not able to tame them make sure you are in Beast Master spec and at least level 69.
For hunters, Qem and Qu'rik are exactly the same, look alike and they have the same abilities.
There's a room within the underground tunnels on the northwest side of Hive'Ashi with four little "legs" coming off it. I found him in one of those legs. Unsure if he has spawn points outside of that room.
This NPC can be found in Silithus (2).


As the 1st woman ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she's still Number 1 in every way, and both a 20th and 21st century musical and cultural icon known the world over simply by her first name . . . ARETHA!
With the release of "Aretha Franklin Sings The Great Diva Classics", Aretha puts her indelible stamp on 10 classic Hit songs previously recorded by other female artists – and in her own inimitable way (as she has time and time again), she makes each one her own.
The result is simply stunning: introducing her brilliant gospel-fired makeover of Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" (with a wonderful musical bridge from the Motown classic, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough") on The David Letterman Show, Aretha received an immediate standing ovation and within a week, the track had received over two million views.
Ms Franklin, who previously headlined the 25th Anniversary M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest in 2007, will close out the 33rd Annual edition of Jazz Fest with a 9:30 pm performance on Saturday, July 18th at OCC, marking the Queen's long-awaited Jazz Fest return, and 1st Syracuse-Area Appearance in 8 years.


text:
THURSDAY 'KILL THE HOUSE LIGHTS' LP
Like Fugazi, Snapcase and Refused before them, New Brunswick, NJ's Thursday became the model for other bands to follow. They helped forward punk rock by redefining it without losing it's initial aesthetic. Relive the story of Thursday with this fantastic 2007 archive compilation of music recorded between 1997-2007 which traces the band's humble beginnings in the basements of America all of the way to international acclaim. Plus, hear three brand new studio tracks, recorded especially for this historic release. This is an essential offering for any Thursday fan and a must-have for true believers of punk rock.
Pressed to vinyl in 2016 for the first time.


text:
Browsing by Subject "POLYCYSTIC-OVARY-SYNDROME"
A Genome-Wide Association Meta-Analysis of Circulating Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin Reveals Multiple Loci Implicated in Sex Steroid Hormone Regulation
Coviello, Andrea D.; Haring, Robin; Wellons, Melissa; Vaidya, Dhananjay; Lehtimaki, Terho; Keildson, Sarah; Lunetta, Kathryn L.; He, Chunyan; Fornage, Myriam; Lagou, Vasiliki; Mangino, Massimo; Onland-Moret, N. Charlotte; Chen, Brian; Eriksson, Joel; Garcia, Melissa; Mei, Yong; Koster, Annemarie; Lohman, Kurt; Lyytikainen, Leo-Pekka; Petersen, Ann-Kristin; Prescott, Jennifer; Stolk, Lisette; Vandenput, Liesbeth; Wood, Andrew R.; Zhuang, Wei Vivian; Ruokonen, Aimo; Hartikainen, Anna-Liisa; Pouta, Anneli; Bandinelli, Stefania; Biffar, Reiner; Brabant, Georg; Cox, David G.; Chen, Yuhui; Cummings, Steven; Ferrucci, Luigi; Gunter, Marc J.; Hankinson, Susan E.; Martikainen, Hannu; Hofman, Albert; Homuth, Georg; Illig, Thomas; Jansson, John-Olov; Johnson, Andrew D.; Karasik, David; Karlsson, Magnus; Kettunen, Johannes; Kiel, Douglas P.; Kraft, Peter; Liu, Jingmin; Ljunggren, Osten; Lorentzon, Mattias; Maggio, Marcello; Markus, Marcello R. P.; Mellstrom, Dan; Miljkovic, Iva; Mirel, Daniel; Nelson, Sarah; Papunen, Laure Morin; Peeters, Petra H. M.; Prokopenko, Inga; Raffel, Leslie; Reincke, Martin; Reiner, Alex P.; Rexrode, Kathryn; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Schwartz, Stephen M.; Siscovick, David; Soranzo, Nicole; Stockl, Doris; Tworoger, Shelley; Uitterlinden, Andre G.; van Gils, Carla H.; Vasan, Ramachandran S.; Wichmann, H. -Erich; Zhai, Guangju; Bhasin, Shalender; Bidlingmaier, Martin; Chanock, Stephen J.; De Vivo, Immaculata; Harris, Tamara B.; Hunter, David J.; Kahonen, Mika; Liu, Simin; Ouyang, Pamela; Spector, Tim D.; van der Schouw, Yvonne T.; Viikari, Jorma; Wallaschofski, Henri; McCarthy, Mark I.; Frayling, Timothy M.; Murray, Anna; Franks, Steve; Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta; de Jong, Frank H.; Raitakari, Olli; Teumer, Alexander; Ohlsson, Claes; Murabito, Joanne M.; Perry, John R. B. (2012)
A population-based follow-up study shows high psychosis risk in women with PCOS
Karjula, Salla; Arffman, Riikka K.; Morin-Papunen, Laure; Franks, Stephen; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Tapanainen, Juha S.; Miettunen, Jouko; Piltonen, Terhi T. (2022)
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder affecting up to 18% of women. Besides metabolic and fertility aspects, attention has lately been directed towards the detrimental effect of PCOS on psychological health. The objective of the study was to investigate whether women with PCOS are at higher risk for psychotic disorders. The study population derives from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (N = 5889 women). The women with PCOS were identified by two simple questions on oligo-amenorrhea and hirsutism at age 31. Women reporting both symptoms were considered PCOS (N = 124) and asymptomatic women as controls (N = 2145). The diagnosis of psychosis was traced using multiple national registers up to the year 2016. Symptoms of psychopathology were identified using validated questionnaires at age 31. Women with PCOS showed an increased risk for any psychosis by age 50 (HR [95% CI] 2.99, [1.52-5.82]). Also, the risk for psychosis after age 31 was increased (HR 2.68 [1.21-5.92]). The results did not change after adjusting for parental history of psychosis, nor were they explained by body mass index or hyperandrogenism at adulthood. The scales of psychopathology differed between women with PCOS and non-PCOS controls showing more psychopathologies among the affected women. PCOS cases were found to be at a three-fold risk for psychosis, and they had increased psychopathological symptoms. PCOS should be taken into consideration when treating women in psychiatric care. More studies are required to further assess the relationship between PCOS and psychotic diseases.
Age at adiposity rebound in childhood is associated with PCOS diagnosis and obesity in adulthood-longitudinal analysis of BMI data from birth to age 46 in cases of PCOS
Koivuaho, E.; Laru, J.; Ojaniemi, M.; Puukka, K.; Kettunen, J.; Tapanainen, J. S.; Franks, S.; Järvelin, M. -R.; Morin-Papunen, L.; Sebert, S.; Piltonen, T. T. (2019)
Background: Adiposity rebound (AR), the second BMI rise in childhood at around the age of 6 years, is associated with obesity and metabolic alteration in later life. Given that polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has a strong metabolic component, early life growth patterns could reveal a risk of PCOS. Thus, we aimed to investigate the associations between age at AR and PCOS diagnosis and BMI later in life. Materials and methods: This study is part of a prospective, population-based longitudinal study, where women with PCOS diagnosis by age 46 (n = 280) were compared with asymptomatic women (CTRLs, n = 1573). Weight and height data from birth to age 13 years, at age at menarche, and at ages 31 and 46 years were analyzed Results: Women with PCOS had lower birth weight (3357 +/- 477 vs. 3 445 +/- 505 g, p <0.001), earlier age at AR (5.2 +/- 1.0 vs. 5.6 +/- 0.90 years, p <0.001) and higher BMI from AR onwards compared with controls. Early timing of AR was associated with PCOS diagnosis independently of BMI (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.37-1.92). Women with PCOS and early AR had higher BMI at 31 and 46 years when compared to controls with early AR. The age at AR did not associate with T levels at ages 31 or 46 years. Conclusions: Early AR was associated with PCOS diagnosis and high BMI in adulthood. Adolescent girls with early AR and persisting obesity should be screened for PCOS symptoms, such as persistent irregular cycles and hirsutism.
Does the sex of one's co-twin affect height and BMI in adulthood? A study of dizygotic adult twins from 31 cohorts
Bogl, Leonie H.; Jelenkovic, Aline; Vuoksimaa, Eero; Ahrenfeldt, Linda; Pietilainen, Kirsi H.; Stazi, Maria A.; Fagnani, Corrado; D'Ippolito, Cristina; Hur, Yoon-Mi; Jeong, Hoe-Uk; Silberg, Judy L.; Eaves, Lindon J.; Maes, Hermine H.; Bayasgalan, Gombojav; Narandalai, Danshiitsoodol; Cutler, Tessa L.; Kandler, Christian; Jang, Kerry L.; Christensen, Kaare; Skytthe, Axel; Kyvik, Kirsten O.; Cozen, Wendy; Hwang, Amie E.; Mack, Thomas M.; Derom, Catherine A.; Vlietinck, Robert F.; Nelson, Tracy L.; Whitfield, Keith E.; Corley, Robin P.; Huibregtse, Brooke M.; McAdams, Tom A.; Eley, Thalia C.; Gregory, Alice M.; Krueger, Robert F.; Mcgue, Matt; Pahlen, Shandell; Willemsen, Gonneke; Bartels, Meike; van Beijsterveldt, Toos C. E. M.; Pang, Zengchang; Tan, Qihua; Zhang, Dongfeng; Martin, Nicholas G.; Medland, Sarah E.; Montgomery, Grant W.; Hjelmborg, Jacob van B.; Rebato, Esther; Swan, Gary E.; Krasnow, Ruth; Busjahn, Andreas; Lichtenstein, Paul; Oncel, Sevgi Y.; Aliev, Fazil; Baker, Laura A.; Tuvblad, Catherine; Siribaddana, Sisira H.; Hotopf, Matthew; Sumathipala, Athula; Rijsdijk, Fruhling; Magnusson, Patrik K. E.; Pedersen, Nancy L.; Aslan, Anna K. Dahl; Ordonana, Juan R.; Sanchez-Romera, Juan F.; Colodro-Conde, Lucia; Duncan, Glen E.; Buchwald, Dedra; Tarnoki, Adam D.; Tarnoki, David L.; Yokoyama, Yoshie; Hopper, John L.; Loos, Ruth J. F.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Sorensen, Thorkild I. A.; Silventoinen, Karri; Kaprio, Jaakko (2017)
Background: The comparison of traits in twins from opposite-sex (OS) and same-sex (SS) dizygotic twin pairs is considered a proxy measure of prenatal hormone exposure. To examine possible prenatal hormonal influences on anthropometric traits, we compared mean height, body mass index (BMI), and the prevalence of being overweight or obese between men and women from OS and SS dizygotic twin pairs. Methods: The data were derived from the COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins) database, and included 68,494 SS and 53,808 OS dizygotic twin individuals above the age of 20 years from 31 twin cohorts representing 19 countries. Zygosity was determined by questionnaires or DNA genotyping depending on the study. Multiple regression and logistic regression models adjusted for cohort, age, and birth year with the twin type as a predictor were carried out to compare height and BMI in twins from OS pairs with those from SS pairs and to calculate the adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for being overweight or obese. Results: OS females were, on average, 0.31 cm (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.20, 0.41) taller than SS females. OS males were also, on average, taller than SS males, but this difference was only 0.14 cm (95% CI 0.02, 0.27). Mean BMI and the prevalence of overweight or obesity did not differ between males and females from SS and OS twin pairs. The statistically significant differences between OS and SS twins for height were small and appeared to reflect our large sample size rather than meaningful differences of public health relevance. Conclusions: We found no evidence to support the hypothesis that prenatal hormonal exposure or postnatal socialization (i.e., having grown up with a twin of the opposite sex) has a major impact on height and BMI in adulthood.
Genetic loci associated with coronary artery disease harbor evidence of selection and antagonistic pleiotropy
Byars, Sean G.; Huang, Qin Qin; Gray, Lesley-Ann; Bakshi, Andrew; Ripatti, Samuli; Abraham, Gad; Stearns, Stephen C.; Inouye, Michael (2017)
Traditional genome-wide scans for positive selection have mainly uncovered selective sweeps associated with monogenic traits. While selection on quantitative traits is much more common, very few signals have been detected because of their polygenic nature. We searched for positive selection signals underlying coronary artery disease (CAD) in worldwide populations, using novel approaches to quantify relationships between polygenic selection signals and CAD genetic risk. We identified new candidate adaptive loci that appear to have been directly modified by disease pressures given their significant associations with CAD genetic risk. These candidates were all uniquely and consistently associated with many different male and female reproductive traits suggesting selection may have also targeted these because of their direct effects on fitness. We found that CAD loci are significantly enriched for lifetime reproductive success relative to the rest of the human genome, with evidence that the relationship between CAD and lifetime reproductive success is antagonistic. This supports the presence of antagonistic-pleiotropic tradeoffs on CAD loci and provides a novel explanation for the maintenance and high prevalence of CAD in modern humans. Lastly, we found that positive selection more often targeted CAD gene regulatory variants using HapMap3 lymphoblastoid cell lines, which further highlights the unique biological significance of candidate adaptive loci underlying CAD. Our study provides a novel approach for detecting selection on polygenic traits and evidence that modern human genomes have evolved in response to CAD-induced selection pressures and other early-life traits sharing pleiotropic links with CAD.
Higher blood pressure in normal weight women with PCOS compared to controls
Mellembakken, Jan Roar; Mahmoudan, Azita; Morkrid, Lars; Sundström-Poromaa, Inger; Morin-Papunen, Laure; Tapanainen, Juha S.; Piltonen, Terhi T.; Hirschberg, Angelica Linden; Stener-Victorin, Elisabet; Vanky, Eszter; Ravn, Pernille; Jensen, Richard Christian; Andersen, Marianne Skovsager; Glintborg, Dorte (2021)
Objective: Obesity is considered to be the strongest predictive factor for cardio-metabolic risk in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The aim of the study was to compare blood pressure (BP) in normal weight women with PCOS and controls matched for age and BMI. Methods: From a Nordic cross-sectional base of 2615 individuals of Nordic ethnicity, we studied a sub cohort of 793 normal weight women with BMI <25 k g/m(2) (512 women with PCOS according to Rotterdam criteria and 281 age and BMI-matched controls). Participants underwent measurement of BP and body composition (BMI, waist-hip ratio), lipid status, and fasting BG. Data were presented as median (quartiles). Results: The median age for women with PCOS were 28 (25, 32) years and median BMI was 22.2 (20.7, 23.4) kg/m(2). Systolic BP was 118 (109, 128) mmHg in women with PCOS compared to 110 (105, 120) mmHg in controls and diastolic BP was 74 ( 67, 81) vs 70 (64, 75) mmHg, both P <0.001. The prevalence of women with BP >= 140/90 mmHg was 11.1% (57/ 512) in women with PCOS vs 1.8% (5/281) in controls, P <0.001. In women >= 35 years the prevalence of BP >= 140/90 mmHg was comparable in women with PCOS and controls (12.7% vs 9.8%, P = 0.6). Using multiple regression analyses, the strongest association with BP was found for age, waist circumference, and total cholesterol in women with PCOS. Conclusions: Normal weight women with PCOS have higher BP than controls. BP and metabolic screening are relevant also in young normal weight women with PCOS.
In sickness and in health : The functional role of extracellular vesicles in physiology and pathology in vivo Part II: Pathology
Yates, Abi G.; Pink, Ryan C.; Erdbrugger, Uta; Siljander, Pia R-M.; Dellar, Elizabeth R.; Pantazi, Paschalia; Akbar, Naveed; Cooke, William R.; Vatish, Manu; Dias-Neto, Emmanuel; Anthony, Daniel C.; Couch, Yvonne (2022)
It is clear from Part I of this series that extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a critical role in maintaining the homeostasis of most, if not all, normal physiological systems. However, the majority of our knowledge about EV signalling has come from studying them in disease. Indeed, EVs have consistently been associated with propagating disease pathophysiology. The analysis of EVs in biofluids, obtained in the clinic, has been an essential of the work to improve our understanding of their role in disease. However, to interfere with EV signalling for therapeutic gain, a more fundamental understanding of the mechanisms by which they contribute to pathogenic processes is required. Only by discovering how the EV populations in different biofluids change-size, number, and physicochemical composition-in clinical samples, may we then begin to unravel their functional roles in translational models in vitro and in vivo, which can then feedback to the clinic. In Part II of this review series, the functional role of EVs in pathology and disease will be discussed, with a focus on in vivo evidence and their potential to be used as both biomarkers and points of therapeutic intervention.
Markers of gastrointestinal permeability and dysbiosis in premenopausal women with PCOS : a case-control study
Lingaiah, Shilpa; Arffman, Riikka K.; Morin-Papunen, Laure; Tapanainen, Juha S.; Piltonen, Terhi (2021)
Objectives Altered intestinal permeability and gut barrier dysfunction have been suggested to play a role in the pathogenetic mechanism of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrine and metabolic condition in reproductive-aged women. However, data on intestinal permeability and dysbiosis of the gut microbiota in PCOS is still limited, with conflicting results. To this end, the concentrations of gastrointestinal permeability and gut dysbiosis markers were analysed in women with PCOS. Design Case-control study. Setting General community. Participants 104 women with PCOS and 203 body mass index (BMI) matched control women at age 46. Primary and secondary outcome measures Serum levels of zonulin, fatty acid-binding protein 2 (FABP2), urinary levels of indican, and hormonal and metabolic parameters. Results Serum levels of zonulin (128.0 +/- 17.0 vs 130.9 +/- 14.0 ng/mL, p=0.13) and FABP2 (1.5 +/- 0.9 vs 1.5 +/- 0.7 ng/mL, p=0.63) and urinary levels of indican (9.5 +/- 5.5 vs 8.4 +/- 4.2 mg/dL, p=0.07) were comparable in women with PCOS and controls in the whole study population. Likewise, when the study population was divided into different BMI groups as normal weight, overweight and obese, the levels of the above markers were comparable between the study groups. After BMI adjustment, zonulin levels correlated with the levels of high-sensitivity C reactive protein and homoeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (p
Niche matters : The comparison between bone marrow stem cells and endometrial stem cells and stromal fibroblasts reveal distinct migration and cytokine profiles in response to inflammatory stimulus
Khatun, Masuma; Sorjamaa, Anna; Kangasniemi, Marika; Sutinen, Meeri; Saio, Tuuia; Liakka, Annikki; Lehenkari, Petri; Tapanainen, Juha S.; Vuolteenaho, Olli; Chen, Joseph C.; Lehtonen, Siri; Piltonen, Terhi T. (2017)
Objective Intrinsic inflammatory characteristics play a pivotal role in stem cell recruitment and homing through migration where the subsequent change in niche has been shown to alter these characteristics. The bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (bmMSCs) have been demonstrated to migrate to the endometrium contributing to the stem cell reservoir and regeneration of endometrial tissue. Thus, the aim of the present study was to compare the inflammation-driven migration and cytokine secretion profile of human bmMSCs to endometrial mesenchymal stem cells (eMSCs) and endometrial fibroblasts (eSFs). Materials and methods The bmMSCs were isolated from bone marrow aspirates through culturing, whereas eMSCs and eSFs were FACS-isolated. All cell types were tested for their surface marker, proliferation profiles and migration properties towards serum and inflammatory attractants. The cytokine/chemokine secretion profile of 35 targets was analysed in each cell type at basal level along with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced state. Results Both stem cell types, bmMSCs and eMSCs, presented with similar stem cell surface marker profiles as well as possessed high proliferation and migration potential compared to eSFs. In multiplex assays, the secretion of 16 cytokine targets was detected and LPS stimulation expanded the cytokine secretion pattern by triggering the secretion of several targets. The bmMSCs exhibited higher cytokine secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)A, stromal cell-derived factor-1 alpha (SDF)-1 alpha, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA), IL-6, interferon-gamma inducible protein (IP)-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)1, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP) 1 alpha and RANTES compared to eMSCs and/or eSFs after stimulation with LPS. The basal IL-8 secretion was higher in both endometrial cell types compared to bmMSCs. Conclusion Our results highlight that similar to bmMSCs, the eMSCs possess high migration activity while the differentiation process towards stromal fibroblasts seemed to result in loss of stem cell surface markers, minimal migration activity and a subtler cytokine profile likely contributing to normal endometrial function
Obesity and gynaecological and obstetric conditions : umbrella review of the literature
Kalliala, Ilkka; Markozannes, Georgios; Gunter, Marc J.; Paraskevaidis, Evangelos; Gabra, Hani; Mitra, Anita; Terzidou, Vasso; Bennett, Phillip; Martin-Hirsch, Pierre; Tsilidis, Konstantinos K.; Kyrgiou, Maria (2017)
OBJECTIVE To study the strength and validity of associations between adiposity and risk of any type of obstetric or gynaecological conditions. DESIGN An umbrella review of meta-analyses. DATA SOURCES PubMed, Cochrane database of systematic reviews, manual screening of references for systematic reviews or meta-analyses of observational and interventional studies evaluating the association between adiposity and risk of any obstetrical or gynaecological outcome. MAIN OUTCOMES Meta-analyses of cohort studies on associations between indices of adiposity and obstetric and gynaecological outcomes. DATA SYNTHESIS Evidence from observational studies was graded into strong, highly suggestive, suggestive, or weak based on the significance of the random effects summary estimate and the largest study in the included metaanalysis, the number of cases, heterogeneity between studies, 95% prediction intervals, small study effects, excess significance bias, and sensitivity analysis with credibility ceilings. Interventional meta-analyses were assessed separately. RESULTS 156 meta-analyses of observational studies were included, investigating associations between adiposity and risk of 84 obstetric or gynaecological outcomes. Of the 144 meta-analyses that included cohort studies, only 11 (8%) had strong evidence for eight outcomes: adiposity was associated with a higher risk of endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, antenatal depression, total and emergency caesarean section, pre-eclampsia, fetal macrosomia, and low Apgar score. The summary effect estimates ranged from 1.21 (95% confidence interval 1.13 to 1.29) for an association between a 0.1 unit increase in waist to hip ratio and risk endometrial cancer up to 4.14 (3.61 to 4.75) for risk of pre-eclampsia for BMI > 35 compared with <25. Only three out of these eight outcomes were also assessed in meta-analyses of trials evaluating weight loss interventions. These interventions significantly reduced the risk of caesarean section and pre-eclampsia, whereas there was no evidence of association with fetal macrosomia. CONCLUSIONS Although the associations between adiposity and obstetric and gynaecological outcomes have been extensively studied, only a minority were considered strong and without hints of bias.
Overweight, obesity and hyperandrogenemia are associated with gestational diabetes mellitus : A follow-up cohort study
West, Sammeli; Ollila, Meri-Maija; Franks, Stephen; Piltonen, Terhi; Jokelainen, Jari; Nevalainen, Jaana; Puukka, Katri; Ruokonen, Aimo; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Auvinen, Juha; Tapanainen, Juha S.; Morin-Papunen, Laure (2020)
Introduction The aim of the study was to determine the association of body mass index (BMI), self-reported symptoms or diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and hyperandrogenemia with the occurrence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) through reproductive life. Material and methods A cohort of women born in 1966 were investigated at ages 14, 31 and 46. Women with self-reported PCOS symptoms (presence of both oligo-amenorrhea and hirsutism) at age 31 or with formally diagnosed polycystic ovaries (PCO)/PCOS by age 46 formed the group of self-reported PCOS (srPCOS, n = 222) and were compared with women without self-reported PCOS symptoms or diagnosis (n = 1357). We investigated also the association of hyperandrogenism (hirsutism or biochemical hyperandrogenism) at age 31 with the occurrence of GDM throughout reproductive life. Results Self-reported PCOS alone was not a risk factor for GDM, but combined with overweight at age 31 (odds ratio [OR] 2.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.22-4.86) or 46 (OR 3.04, 95% CI 1.58-5.83) srPCOS was associated with GDM when compared with normal weight controls. The association disappeared when comparing overweight srPCOS women with overweight controls. However, hyperandrogenemia at age 31, but not hirsutism, was associated with GDM even after adjustment for BMI. Conclusions The increased risk of GDM in women with srPCOS was mostly attributed to overweight or obesity. Importantly, normal weight women with srPCOS did not seem to be at increased risk for developing GDM. However, hyperandrogenemia was associated with GDM even after adjustment for BMI. These findings strengthen the importance of weight management in reproductive-age women and suggest a noteworthy role of hyperandrogenemia in the pathophysiology of GDM.
PCOS Features and Steroid Profiles Among Young Adult Women with a History of Premature Adrenarche
Tennilä, Jussi; Jääskeläinen, Jarmo; Utriainen, Pauliina; Voutilainen, Raimo; Häkkinen, Merja; Auriola, Seppo; Morin-Papunen, Laure; Liimatta, Jani (2021)
Context: Premature adrenarche (PA) may increase the risk for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Objective: To study features of PCOS in young adult women with a history of PA. Methods: Thirty PA and 42 control females were followed from prepuberty to young adulthood (median age 18.1 years).The main outcome measures were ovarian function, the use of contraceptives, and clinical and biochemical indicators of hyperandrogenism. Results: We found no differences in the use of hormonal contraceptives (50 vs 50%, PA vs controls, respectively; P> .999), indication for using contraceptives (P= .193), or in the history of oligo- (17 vs 26%, P= .392) and amenorrhea (0 vs 0%, P> .999). Among women not using hormonal contraceptives, those with a history of PA had a higher prevalence of hirsutism (27 vs 0%, P= .023) but not acne (87 vs 67%, P= .252). Steroid profiles were broadly comparable between the groups, but PA women had lower sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) concentrations (30.1 vs 62.4 nmol/L, P< .001) resulting in higher free androgen index (3.94 vs 2.14, P< .001). The difference in SHBG levels persisted through body mass index adjustment. SHBG correlated negatively with the homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (r -0.498, P= .003). Anti-Mullerian hormone concentrations were comparable between the groups (39.3 vs 32.1 pmol/L, P= .619). Conclusion: PA was not associated with evident ovarian dysfunction in young adult women. However, women with a history of PA had decreased SHBG levels and thus, increased bioavailability of circulating androgens.
Psychological Distress Is More Prevalent in Fertile Age and Premenopausal Women With PCOS Symptoms : 15-Year Follow-Up
Karjula, Salla; Morin-Papunen, Laure; Auvinen, Juha; Ruokonen, Aimo; Puukka, Katri; Franks, Stephen; Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Tapanainen, Juha S.; Jokelainen, Jari; Miettunen, Jouko; Piltonen, Terhi T. (2017)
Context: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with increased psychological distress, obesity and hyperandrogenism being suggested as key promoters. Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of anxiety/depression and their coexistence in women with PCOS/PCOS-related symptoms at ages 31 and 46. The roles of obesity, hyperandrogenism, and awareness of PCOS on psychological distress were also assessed. Design: Population-based follow-up. Setting: Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 with 15-year follow-up. Participants: At age 31, a questionnaire-based screening for oligoamenorrhea (OA) and hirsutism (H): 2188 asymptomatic (controls), 331 OA, 323 H, and 125 OA plus H (PCOS). Follow-up at age 46: 1576 controls, 239 OA, 231 H, and 85 PCOS. Interventions: Questionnaire-based screening for anxiety and depression symptoms (Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25) and previously diagnosed/treated depression at ages 31 and 46. Body mass index (BMI), serum testosterone/free androgen index, and awareness of polycystic ovaries/PCOS on psychological distress were also assessed. Main Outcomes: Population-based prevalence of anxiety and/or depression in women with PCOS/PCOS-related symptoms at ages 31 and 46. Results: Anxiety and/or depression symptoms, their coexistence, and rate of depression were increased at ages 31 and 46 in women with PCOS or isolated H compared with controls. High BMI or hyperandrogenism did not associate with increased anxiety or depression symptoms. The awareness of PCOS was associated with increased anxiety. Conclusions: Women with PCOS or isolated H present more often with anxiety and/or depression symptoms and their coexistence compared with controls. High BMI or hyperandrogenism did not provoke psychological distress in PCOS. The awareness of PCOS increased anxiety but did not associate with severe anxiety or depression.
Putative adverse outcome pathways for female reproductive disorders to improve testing and regulation of chemicals
Johansson, Hanna K. L.; Damdimopoulou, Pauliina; van Duursen, Majorie B. M.; Boberg, Julie; Franssen, Delphine; de Cock, Marijke; Jaager, Kersti; Wagner, Magdalena; Velthut-Meikas, Agne; Xie, Yuling; Connolly, Lisa; Lelandais, Pauline; Mazaud-Guittot, Severine; Salumets, Andres; Draskau, Monica Kam; Filis, Panagiotis; Fowler, Paul A.; Christiansen, Sofie; Parent, Anne-Simone; Svingen, Terje (2020)
Modern living challenges female reproductive health. We are witnessing a rise in reproductive disorders and drop in birth rates across the world. The reasons for these manifestations are multifaceted and most likely include continuous exposure to an ever-increasing number of chemicals. The cause-effect relationships between chemical exposure and female reproductive disorders, however, have proven problematic to determine. This has made it difficult to assess the risks chemical exposures pose to a woman's reproductive development and function. To address this challenge, this review uses the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) concept to summarize current knowledge about how chemical exposure can affect female reproductive health. We have a special focus on effects on the ovaries, since they are essential for lifelong reproductive health in women, being the source of both oocytes and several reproductive hormones, including sex steroids. The AOP framework is widely accepted as a new tool for toxicological safety assessment that enables better use of mechanistic knowledge for regulatory purposes. AOPs equip assessors and regulators with a pragmatic network of linear cause-effect relationships, enabling the use of a wider range of test method data in chemical risk assessment and regulation. Based on current knowledge, we propose ten putative AOPs relevant for female reproductive disorders that can be further elaborated and potentially be included in the AOPwiki. This effort is an important step towards better safeguarding the reproductive health of all girls and women.
Thromboinflammatory changes in plasma proteome of pregnant women with PCOS detected by quantitative label-free proteomics
Arffman, R. K.; Saraswat, M.; Joenväärä, S.; Khatun, M.; Agarwal, R.; Tohmola, T.; Sundström-Poromaa, I.; Renkonen, R.; Piltonen, T. T. (2019)
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrinological disorder of fertile-aged women. Several adverse pregnancy outcomes and abnormalities of the placenta have been associated with PCOS. By using quantitative label-free proteomics we investigated whether changes in the plasma proteome of pregnant women with PCOS could elucidate the mechanisms behind the pathologies observed in PCOS pregnancies. A total of 169 proteins with >= 2 unique peptides were detected to be differentially expressed between women with PCOS (n = 7) and matched controls (n = 20) at term of pregnancy, out of which 35 were significant (p-value <0.05). A pathway analysis revealed that networks related to humoral immune responses, inflammatory responses, cardiovascular disease and cellular growth and proliferation were affected by PCOS. Classification of cases and controls was carried out using principal component analysis, orthogonal projections on latent structure-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), hierarchical clustering, self-organising maps and ROC-curve analysis. The most significantly enriched proteins in PCOS were properdin and insulin-like growth factor II. In the dataset, properdin had the best predictive accuracy for PCOS (AUC=1). Additionally, properdin abundances correlated with AMH levels in pregnant women.


New Jersey has always been greatly affected by hurricanes, oftentimes suffering severe damage to homes and businesses. We want your business to be prepared. Below is a checklist of how to prepare, as well as a list of websites and phone numbers you will find helpful in the event that your business is affected by a hurricane.
Account for all hazards: Plan to manage any emergency. Think first about the basics of survival and then how to protect your business and employees. Obtain sufficient cash, seeing as ATMs and banks may be closed.
Internal Communications: Talk to your staff and involve them in all levels of emergency planning. Have various means of communicating with them and create a staff phone tree. Also make sure you have a list of vendors, insurance companies (have your policy number ready), contractors, and anyone else you may need to contact. Keep this list at home or in a safe place outside your restaurant or hotel.
External Communications: Make sure you have a communications plan to inform the public if you are closed and to cancel reservations if need be. Update the public on your business activities.
Carefully evaluate internal and external operations: Determine which staff members, procedures, and equipment are necessary for the business to keep operating. Make sure all your emergency equipment is in good working order (e.g. generators).
Secure your property: Board up windows, place sandbags by doors and entrances, remove ice from machines, and unplug appliances and electronics.
Prepare for utility and essential service disruptions: Know what to do for extended outages during and after a disaster. This can include electricity, portable water, gas, and phone system.
Reduce your food supply: Consider donating to first responders, shelters, and emergency facilities.
Cyber Security: Make sure your data and information technology are protected.
Engage with local government officials: Let them know if you are available to help the community either by providing shelter or feeding the community. Keep them updated on whether your business is open or closed.
NJOEM works closely with our federal, state, and local partners to prepare for all hazards, natural or manmade, that could affect New Jersey's families, communities, and businesses. You can find current weather and traffic, information on how to prepare and plan for an upcoming disaster, resources for emergency management for businesses and industries of all sizes, evacuation routes, information on disaster recovery, how to volunteer, and information on how to apply for disaster public assistance or money.
Visit this section of the NJOEM website to find information on electric companies and gas companies.
Both temporary and long-term options are available.
NJ 211 is a community resource database that can help you find solutions to personal needs by sharing information on hurricane long-term recovery, FEMA assistance programs, power outages, info on cleaning your home after a flood and removing mold, flood fire safety, filing flood insurance claims, day care facilities, shelters, affordable housing units, social services, employment training programs, senior services, medical insurance, and more. You can either access NJ 211 by clicking the link above or by calling 2-1-1.


Posted In: it burns! It burns!
I'm about done (for now, anyway) with my latest rounds of fussing over this website (GaryWOlson.com, for those of you reading this entry from the RSS feed or NetworkedBlogs or what have you, instead of the actual blog). The primary change was a change of template — while I liked the old one, I decided I needed a three-column setup, and that template was fixed at two columns. The one I have now needed a bit of modification (cutting down the way oversized top image, brightening up the text font so it would not get lost against the grey background, assorted other nit-fixing), but I think it's ready to go.
I also changed my mind about creating a whole separate site to promote Brutal Light. On paper it sounds good, but I was imagining five or six books down the line how much maintainance I'd be doing on my six or seven websites — updating the Joomla installations, fixing broken modules, etc. So I'm setting it up so it'll be within this site instead (another reason for changing to a template that gives me more display options), right about… here.
Outside of that, the book trailer for Brutal Light is coming along really well, and should be ready to be unveiled in October. I'm glad to be getting that done, as it means I can get to mapping out all the other promotey stuff I need to do between now and December 1st. And those two short stories I mentioned a couple weeks ago? Submitted. Productive Gary is productive!
The only thing I haven't done yet is get back to outlining. Which will happen… soon. Yes.


Good morning and welcome to the hearing of the Senate Committee on Finance. On the agenda in today's hearing are Senate Bill No. 1450 or the Budget Reform Act, which aims to modernize the country's public financial management system and strengthen the power of Congress over public funds, and the Proposed Senate Resolution No. 43 filed by Senator Ralph Recto.
With the Duterte Administration embarking on an ambitious spending target for the next six years—infrastructure spending worth P8.2-Trillion and social sector spending worth P10.33-Trillion in the next six years, it is imperative that the country's legal framework on public financial management framework  be revised and updated in order to ensure efficient budget execution and financial management and to limit Executive discretion in budget implementation. To ensure that the accounting standards set by the Commission on Audit (COA) are enforced by government agencies, this bill proposes the creation of the Office of the Comptroller General which shall assist the COA by monitoring how agencies address the latter's audit findings.
Given the role played by the National Budget as the "financial expression of any administration's social and economic development goals", it is imperative that we in Congress ensure our existing policies on public financial management are aligned with international best practices that emphasize fiscal responsibility, transparency and people's participation.
 Figures on infrastructure and social sector spending targets were taken from DBM Presentation on the Budget Reform Bill.