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Region: The Persian World and West Asia [X]
New Year Celebrations: Nowruz
The Persian New Year celebration, Nowruz, started 3,000 years ago in ancient Persia (modern day Iran) and is still celebrated all over the world. Nowruz means "new day" in Farsi, the official language of Iran. Learn more.
Nowruz: Out with the Old in with the New (lesson)
20 minutes per day over two weeks
Students will create a "Fresh Start" journal in which they will observe and record the progress on their sabze plant each day. They will then record their progress towards achieving their new year's resolution.
Ottoman Art
Plate Made for Mas'ud Mirza Zill al-Sultan of Persia, 1879
Plate made for Mas'ud Mirza Zill al-Sultan of Persia, 1879. Qing dynasty (1644–1911), reign of the Guangzu emperor (1875–1907). Jingdezhen, China. Porcelain with "rose canton" decoration. Asian Art Museum, 1999.40.
Roots of Hinduism
Hinduism is one of the world's oldest religions. It has complex roots, and involves a vast array of practices and a host of deities. Learn more.
For over 600 years, the Ottomans ruled the mightiest of the Islamic empires.Learn more about the Ottomans.
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul (iTunes U)
A series of talks (lengths vary)
View a series of lectures from the exhibition, Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul, which was on view at the Asian Art Museum from October 24, 2008–January 25, 2009.
Amir Hamzah, uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, spreader of Islam, and hero of the Serat Menak
Amir Hamzah, uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, spreader of Islam, and hero of the Serat Menak, by dalang Otong Rasta. Indonesia; Bandung, West Java. Wood, cloth, and mixed media. From the Mimi and John Herbert Collection, F2000.86.62.
An Introduction to Sufism
Islamic mysticism, or Sufism, was a distinct tradition within Islam that aimed to cultivate inner spiritual life. Sufism probably derives from the word suf, meaning wool, a reference to the woolen clothing worn by early Sufi mystics. The focus of Sufism changed over the centuries as Islam grew and expanded. Initially moved by the fear of God, Sufism eventually adopted an affirming doctrine of love, and later the concept of the spiritual journey of the individual towards God.
Archaeology Inventory Project (lesson)
Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12)
To expose students to terminology used by archaeologists and to heighten awareness of the rich discoveries in Afghanistan. Students make visual observations, write clear, succinct descriptions, form hypothesis on the function of the artwork, and investigate the influences of different cultures on art found along the Silk Road in Afghanistan.
Join the Society for Asian Art as we explore the art of India and the Islamic world. As in past seasons, the Fall 2011 lecture series will feature prominent scholars and curators from across the country and showcase many treasures of the Asian Art Museum. An array of topics will be discussed, including the life and visual representation of the Buddha; Hindu gods and goddesses and the depiction of heavenly bodies; sacred architecture; Hindu epics; the diversity of South Asian religious practice and the rise of Islam across Asia; Mughals, maharajas, and manuscript paintings; and contemporary Indian art. This lecture series coincides with the beginning of a three-year training program for new Asian Art Museum docents.
Cup with calligraphic inscriptions
Hear the inscriptions on this rare drinking cup in white jade from the Timurid period (1370-1507) read aloud. The first inscription is in Arabic and the second is in Persian.
Decorated pages intended for a Koran, approx. 1500
Decorated pages intended for a Koran, approx. 1500. Turkey. Manuscript page; Gold and colors on paper. Gift of Elton L. Puffer, 2004.67.
Learn about BCE and CE through Events in Afghanistan (lesson)
Two 45 minute sessions
By constructing a graph that visually reflects a time span, students will gain a basic understanding of BCE and CE and specifically when key events happened in Afghanistan.
Nowruz: The Persian New Year Celebration
Scholar, Nasrin Naraghi, discusses Nowruz: The Persian New Year Celebration as part of the Asian Art Musuem's New Years Celebrations teacher workshop on February 4, 2012.
Page from a Koran, approx. 1200–1300
Page from a Koran, approx. 1200–1300. Manuscript page; Ink, colors and gold on paper. Gift of Elton L. Puffer, 2004.65.A-.B.
Page from a Koran, approx. 1500–1700. Manuscript page; colors and gold on paper. Probably Iran. Gift of Elton L. Puffer, 2004.57.
Passport to Asia: An Odyssey through Asian Art and History (iTunes U)
A series of lectures in two parts (approx. 45 minutes per part)
A lecture series by renowned scholars on the arts of Asia—explore temples, palaces, and sometimes forgotten places of power, religion, and art. Visit world wonders not simply as tourists today, but as monks, monarchs, artisans and artistocrats, traders and explorers experienced them over the centuries.
This background information will help you prepare your students for their visit to Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia (on view at the Asian Art Museum from October 24, 2014–January 18, 2015).
Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
An enticing look at the ancient past of the Arabian Peninsula, Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia features artworks—most of them recently excavated—that trace historic trade routes and pilgrimage roads stretching from Yemen in the south to Iraq and Mediterranean cultures in the north.
The Cyrus Cylinder
The Cyrus Cylinder, 539–538 BCE. Iraq, Achaemenid period (550–330 BCE). Baked clay. © Trustees of the British Museum.
The Key Holder (Tahilwidar) Tradition in Afghanistan (lesson)
Elementary School (4-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12)
For centuries a process was followed to ensure that precious art objects would be secure in Afghanistan. A particular person, the "key holder"(tahilwidar), and appointed witnesses were responsible for the task of protecting national treasures. In the first part of the activity students will participate in acting out the roles of the key holder, and will discuss the efficacy of this system. In the second part of the activity students are introduced to the meticulous process that was followed in order to preserve the Afghan tahilwidar tradition while taking inventory of the treasure.
Tillya Tepe Gold Ornaments and Accessories (lesson and activities)
Elementary School (K-3), Elementary School (4-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12)
Students examine how artifacts found at Tillya Tepe reflect artistic and cultural exchange along the Silk Road. Students will learn how a nomadic group in Central Asia incorporated motifs from the eastern Mediterranean to China with their own to create items with composite styles and function. They will learn how many of the objects were made with gold, engraved with patterns, modeled into geometric shapes and mythical creatures—composite animals and fish forms, and embellished with semi-precious stones. Students will combine the cultural and artistic symbols of ancient Afghanistan to create their own ornament or accessory.
Translation of the Cyrus Cylinder
Afghanistan!
Ancient Persian Gardens: Evolution and Legacy
Dr. David Stronach, University of California, Berkeley, professor emeritus of Near Eastern art and archaeology, kicks off the museum's new Perspectives on Persian Art lecture series with a talk about the influence of traditional Persian gardens in Asia and Europe.
A series of lectures in two parts (about 45 min. per part)
The lectures in this series have been structured to provide a broad overview of both pre-Islamic and Islamic art. The subjects include pre-Islamic art in Iran, Central Asia, Arabia and Byzantium, painting, architecture, ceramics, textiles, calligraphy, Islam in India, attitudes towards images, and contemporary art. A distinguished roster of prominent scholars and curators has been assembled, several of whom will be coming from famous UK institutions such as Oxford and the British Museum.
A series of lectures (about 45 min. per part)
This lecture series, organized by the Society for Asian Art, explores narrative using Asian art—how myths, legends, histories and moral precepts have been transmitted through visual means. Topics range from sculptural reliefs and murals used to educate pilgrims at famous religious sites to works created primarily for entertainment. Contemporary storytelling is also addressed via lectures on Bollywood and manga produced by San Francisco's Henry Yoshitaka Kiama.
Bowl with Landscape, approx. 1600–1700
Bowl with landscape, approx. 1600–1700. Iran. Glazed fritware with luster decoration. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60P1985.
Thanks to the Society for Asian Art's renowned Arts of Asia lecture series, speakers from the Bay Area and across the country will transport you across Asia by land and by sea.


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Decreased cytokine production by mononuclear cells after severe gram-negative infections: early clinical signs and association with final outcome
Nikolaos Antonakos1,
Thomas Tsaganos1,
Volker Oberle2,3,
Iraklis Tsangaris4,
Malvina Lada5,
Aikaterini Pistiki1,
Nikolaos Machairas1,
Maria Souli1,
Michael Bauer3,6 &
Evangelos J. Giamarellos-Bourboulis1,3
Critical Care volume 21, Article number: 48 (2017) Cite this article
An Editorial to this article was published on 26 May 2017
Failure of circulating monocytes for adequate cytokine production is a trait of sepsis-induced immunosuppression; however, its duration and association with final outcome are poorly understood.
We conducted a substudy of a large randomised clinical trial. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated within the first 24 h from the onset of systemic inflammatory response syndrome in 95 patients with microbiologically confirmed or clinically suspected gram-negative infections. Isolation was repeated on days 3, 7 and 10. PBMCs were stimulated for cytokine production. The study endpoints were the differences between survivors and non-survivors, the persistence of immunosuppression, and determination of admission clinical signs that can lead to early identification of the likelihood of immunosuppression.
PBMCs of survivors produced significantly greater concentrations of tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-10, interferon-γ and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor after day 3. Using ROC analysis, we found that TNF-α production less than 250 pg/ml after lipopolysaccharide stimulation on day 3 could discriminate patients from healthy control subjects; this was associated with a 5.18 OR of having an unfavourable outcome (p = 0.046). This trait persisted as long as day 10. Logistic regression analysis showed that cardiovascular failure on admission was the only independent predictor of defective TNF-α production on day 3.
Defective TNF-α production is a major trait of sepsis-induced immunosuppression. It is associated with significant risk for unfavourable outcome and persists until day 10. Cardiovascular failure on admission is predictive of defective TNF-α production during follow-up.
ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01223690. Registered on 18 October 2010.
Sepsis is the leading cause of death in critically ill patients. Mortality can reach up to 70% of patients with septic shock and up to 80% of patients with multiple organ dysfunction [1]. This great mortality reflects our poor understanding of sepsis for recognition and management as well as of the mechanisms of its pathogenesis and pathophysiology. Although traditionally conceived of as an exaggerated reaction of the host to a microbial insult, one current suggestion of the immunobiology of sepsis is that, inside the septic host, pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory phenomena co-exist. The phenomena may involve both hyper-production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by the innate immune system and impaired innate and adaptive immune responses [2]. Impaired immune responses are characterised by enhanced apoptosis and dysfunction of lymphocytes, impaired phagocyte functions and decreased ex vivo cytokine production [2–4].
Early patient death may result from exaggerated pro-inflammatory responses [2]. However, late death may be related to a late anti-inflammatory phase sometimes called sepsis-induced immunosuppression. In their study, Boomer et al. explored the function of splenocytes isolated from early cadavers of severe sepsis and compared them with those from brain-dead subjects with multiple injuries. A clear-cut down-regulation of both innate and adaptive immune responses was found, leading to the assumption that sepsis-induced immunosuppression is the driver towards unfavourable outcome [5].
The findings of the study by Boomer et al. [5] generated some important questions:
How is cytokine production associated with final outcome?
How long does down-regulation of sepsis last?
Which clinical signs on admission can help discriminate the patient who is entering into the immunosuppression stage?
A proper answer to these questions can lead to appropriate application of drugs with the aim of reversing immunosuppression of sepsis. In the present study, we used serial stimulation of circulating mononuclear cells during patient follow-up to seek answers to these questions.
A prospective, randomised clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01223690) was conducted during the period from July 2007 to April 2011 in six departments in Greece to assess the efficacy and safety of intravenous clarithromycin over placebo for patients with microbiologically documented gram-negative infections or with infections at high clinical risk of being of gram-negative origin [6]. During this trial, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated at serial time intervals for cytokine stimulation from a subgroup of patients, and because all-cause mortality was similar in placebo- and clarithromycin-treated patients, results were analysed together. The subgroup study design was approved by the ethics committee of Attikon University Hospital (license 6/18-05-2011), and written informed consent was obtained from participants' first-degree relatives.
Inclusion criteria for this subgroup of patients were (a) age 18 years or older; (b) written informed consent provided by first-degree relatives; (c) presence of at least two signs of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS); (d) presence of acute pyelonephritis, acute intra-abdominal infection or primary bacteraemia caused by gram-negative bacteria; and (e) start of blood sampling within the first 24 h from the onset of signs of SIRS. Exclusion criteria were (a) neutropenia due to causes other than SIRS, defined as an absolute number of neutrophils less than 1000/mm3; (b) diagnosis of HIV infection; and (c) corticosteroid treatment over the last 30 days in doses greater than 0.4 mg/kg prednisone or equivalent.
Definitions of acute pyelonephritis, acute intra-abdominal infections, primary gram-negative bacteraemia and organ failure have been published [6]. The following data were recorded for every patient for 28 days: age, sex, previous medical history, vital signs, clinical signs, type of infection, type of failing organ, microbiology, laboratory findings, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score and final outcome. A retrospective evaluation of these patients showed that they all met the new Sepsis-3 definitions of admission SOFA score greater than or equal to 2 for patients admitted at the emergency department or an increase of admission SOFA score greater than or equal to 2 for patients developing sepsis after hospital admission [7]. Cardiovascular (CV) failure in patients was defined as any persisting systolic blood pressure below 90 mmHg despite restoration of negative fluid balance that necessitated the administration of vasopressors. A retrospective evaluation of patients with CV failure showed that they all met the new Sepsis-3 definition of septic shock [7].
Laboratory investigation
All laboratory investigation was run in the central laboratory of the 4th Department of Internal Medicine at Attikon University Hospital, Athens, Greece. The time interval from blood sampling until processing was a maximum of 1 h. Twenty millilitres of heparinised blood was collected after venepuncture of one forearm vein under aseptic conditions during the first 24 h from the onset of signs of SIRS (day 1) and repeated on days 3, 7 and 10. PBMCs were separated after gradient centrifugation of the blood over Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient (Biochrom, Berlin, Germany). After three washings in ice-cold PBS, pH 7.2 (Biochrom), PBMCs were counted using a Neubauer plate with trypan blue exclusion of dead cells. PBMCs were then stimulated in duplicate at a density of 5 × 106 cells/ml at 37 °C in a 5% CO2 atmosphere in RPMI 1640 medium enriched with 2 mM of l-glutamine, 100 U/ml penicillin G, 100 mg/ml gentamicin and 10 mM pyruvate with or without 10 ng/ml lipopolysaccharide (LPS) derived from Escherichia coli O55:B5 (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA), and 5 μg/ml Pam3Cys-SKKK (EMC Microcollections, Tübingen, Germany). After incubation for 24 or 48 h, plates were centrifuged at 800 × g for 7 minutes, and the supernatants were collected and stored at −70 °C until assayed. Cytokines were measured with a Bio-Plex Pro Human Cytokine Panel on a Bio-Rad Luminex 200 suspension array system (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA, USA). The measurements were carried out according to the manufacturer's instructions. All samples were measured in duplicate. Every plate had its own standard curve built from data also measured in duplicate. The cytokines used were tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 with supernatants coming from the 24-h incubation of the plates, as well as IL-4, IL-10, IL-12, interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) using supernatants coming from the 48-h incubation of the plates. The lower limit of detection was 0.5 pg/ml (Additional file 1: Table S1). PBMCs were also isolated from 16 healthy individuals during the 2007–2011 period and stimulated as described above in the absence and presence of LPS. TNF-α was measured as described above to be used as control measurements.
Results were expressed as mean ± SE. Patients were divided into survivors and non-survivors on the basis of their 28-day outcome. Comparison of each cytokine between healthy control subjects and patients as well as between survivors and non-survivors was done using the Mann-Whitney U test. ROC curve analysis was done to identify TNF-α production on day 3 that could significantly differentiate between patients and healthy control subjects. Using this ROC curve, a cut-off cytokine concentration with more than 80% sensitivity for this discrimination was defined. Patients above this cut-off were considered to have adequate TNF-α production by circulating PBMCs on day 3; those below this cut-off were considered to have defective TNF-α production by circulating PBMCs on day 3. ORs and 95% CIs for death between patients with adequate and defective TNF-α production on day 3 were determined using Mantel-Haenszel statistics. In order to identify which patients' characteristics at admission might be predictive of defective TNF-α production on day 3, admission characteristics of patients with adequate and defective TNF-α production on day 3 were compared. Comparisons were done with Student's t test for quantitative variables and the chi-square test for qualitative variables. A step-wise forward logistic regression analysis was conducted with defective TNF-α production on day 3 as the dependent variable; admission characteristics with differences at a p value below 0.10 were entered into the equation as independent variables; and ORs and 95% CIs were determined. Any p value after adjustment for multiple comparisons according to the method of Bonferroni was considered significant.
From among the total enrolled patients in the clinical trial, 95 patients participated in the substudy. The study flowchart is presented in Fig. 1, and the demographic and clinical characteristics of enrolled patients are displayed in Table 1.
Study flowchart. SIRS Systemic inflammatory response syndrome
Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of the 95 patients enrolled in the study
Patients were divided into survivors and non-survivors on the basis of their 28-day outcome. Figure 2 shows the production of cytokines from PBMCs of survivors and non-survivors on admission day 1 and on serial days 3, 7 and 10 after stimulation with LPS. Cytokines in supernatants of medium-treated cells were below the limit of detection. Although cytokine production by PBMCs after LPS stimulation was similar for survivors and non-survivors on day 1 with the exception of IL-10, PBMCs of survivors produced significantly greater concentrations of TNF-α, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-γ and GM-CSF than PBMCs of non-survivors starting on day 3 and mainly shown on day 7. The respective increase after Pam3Cys stimulation was shown for a lower number of cytokines, mainly TNF-α and IL-10 (Fig. 3).
Cytokine production after stimulation with bacterial endotoxin. Cytokine production from medium-stimulated cells was below the limit of detection. White bars represent survivors and black bars non-survivors after 28 days of follow-up. p Values indicate statistically significant differences between survivors and non-survivors at the indicated time intervals. Non-significant differences are now shown. GM-CSF Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, IFN-γ Interferon-γ, IL Interleukin, TNF-α Tumour necrosis factor-α
Cytokine production after stimulation with Pam3Cys. Cytokine production from medium-stimulated cells was below the limit of detection. White bars represent survivors and black bars non-survivors after 28 days of follow-up. p Values indicate statistically significant differences between survivors and non-survivors at the indicated time intervals. Non-significant differences are now shown. GM-CSF Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, IFN-γ Interferon-γ, IL Interleukin, TNF-α Tumour necrosis factor-α
These findings led us to hypothesise that survival is associated with improved cytokine production for TNF-α because TNF-α was the only cytokine that was produced early from PBMCs of survivors after stimulation with both stimuli used. TNF-α production by PBMCs of patients was significantly lower than that by PBMCs of healthy control subjects during all days of follow-up when PBMCs were stimulated with LPS; this was not the case when PBMCs were stimulated with Pam3Cys, where significant differences ceased to exist after day 3 (Fig. 4a). This made us consider that LPS is a more sensitive stimulus to indicate sepsis-induced immunosuppression, which lasted until day 10. When separate comparisons were done between TNF-α produced by PBMCs of healthy control subjects and by survivors and non-survivors of sepsis, production of TNF-α was significantly lower in both survivors and non-survivors on days 3, 7 and 10 when LPS was used as a stimulus; this was not the case when Pam3Cys was used as a stimulus (Additional file 2: Table S2).
TNF-α production by LPS-stimulated PBMCs as an index of sepsis-induced immunosuppression. a Comparative production of TNF-α by PBMCs from healthy control subjects and patients after stimulation with LPS and Pam3Cys. The exact p values after correction for multiple testing are provided: a9.8 × 10−4; b2.5 × 10−3; c7.6 × 10−4; d5.7 × 10−4; enon-significant. b ROC curve analysis to identify a cut-off concentration of TNF-α produced by PBMCs after stimulation with LPS on day 3 between patients and healthy control subjects. c Survival analysis between patients with production of TNF-α less than 250 pg/ml (defective, n = 42) and patients with production of TNF-α more than 250 pg/ml (adequate, n = 46). p Values of significance are provided. LPS Lipopolysaccharide, PBMC Peripheral blood mononuclear cell, TNF-α Tumour necrosis factor-α
Next, we designed a ROC curve to discriminate TNF-α production by PBMCs after LPS stimulation on day 3 between patients and healthy volunteers. Generated ROC curves for TNF-α production after LPS stimulation provided a statistically significant AUC (Fig. 4b). Co-ordinate points of the ROC curve showed that TNF-α production after stimulation with LPS less than 250 pg/ml could discriminate patients from healthy volunteers with 47.7% sensitivity, 81.3% specificity, 93.5% positive predictive value and 22.0% negative predictive value. Among the 88 patients surviving on day 3, defective TNF-α production less than 250 pg/ml was found in 42; 8 (19.0%) of them died, as opposed to 2 (4.3%) of 46 patients in whom TNF-α was above 250 pg/ml (p = 0.043). The OR for death with defective production of TNF-α by PBMCs after stimulation with LPS was 5.18 (95% CI 1.03–25.97, p = 0.046); this was also shown after survival analysis (Fig. 4c).
These findings drive the concept that defective production of TNF-α by PBMCs on day 3 may be a marker of sepsis-induced immunosuppression and generate a key question: Can clinical signs of a patient on admission guide the prediction of the level of TNF-α production by PBMCs on day 3? To answer this question, univariate analysis was performed using demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with TNF-α production greater than 250 pg/ml and TNF-α production less than or equal to 250 pg/ml from circulating PBMCs after LPS stimulation on day 3 (Table 2). Differences with p values less than 0.100 were found for APACHE II score, sex, acute coagulopathy and CV failure. Sex, acute coagulopathy and CV failure were entered into the equation of the step-wise logistic regression analysis as independent variables. APACHE II was not entered into the equation, because blood pressure is one of the APACHE II components. This analysis revealed that CV failure was the only risk factor associated with defective production of TNF-α on day 3 (Table 3).
Table 2 Univariate analysis of characteristics of 88 patients on admission with sepsis in relation to the effected tumour necrosis factor-α production on day 3 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells after stimulation with bacterial lipopolysaccharide
Table 3 Step-wise logistic regression analysis of patients' characteristics on day 1 to predict sepsis-induced immunosuppression on day 3 as expressed by tumour necrosis factor-α production less than 250 pg/ml after stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with lipopolysaccharide
The present study shows that defective cytokine production from circulating PBMCs following a severe gram-negative infection is a major trait of sepsis-induced immunosuppression. Defective TNF-α production after stimulation with LPS is the most susceptible trait of this process and remains as late as day 10, whereas defective TNF-α production induced by stimulation with Pam3Cys is restored by day 7. Defective TNF-α production after stimulation with LPS is associated with unfavourable outcome. CV failure on the first day is a predictive sign of the persistence of defective TNF-α production on day 3.
Although traditionally conceived of as a regulator of an exaggerated immune response, it is now broadly accepted that immunosuppression may exist right from the onset of sepsis [2]. This is not the first study showing an association of cytokine production by circulating PBMCs over the course of sepsis with final outcome. Several years ago, Munoz et al. [8] showed a profound inhibition of circulating monocytes for the production of TNF-α and IL-1β. This was most pronounced when LPS was used as a stimulus in patients experiencing gram-negative infections. A rebound of this phenomenon was associated with favourable outcome. We enrolled a larger population than that in the study of Munoz et al. [8]; our studied population had gram-negative bacteria infections, whereas theirs had infections of mixed causality; and we elaborated significant clinical variables that can predict from the first day the likelihood of incapacity of PBMCs for the production of TNF-α. The correlation of diminished TNF-α production and shock was demonstrated in 2001 by de Werra et al. [9]. They compared TNF-α production and CD14 expression on monocytes among patients with severe sepsis, septic shock or cardiogenic shock as well as in healthy volunteers. Their results demonstrated a defective response of monocytes and lower TNF-α levels in both patients with sepsis and patients with cardiogenic shock compared with healthy control subjects.
In a recent publication, Santos et al. [10] stimulated whole blood from 34 patients with sepsis with LPS, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. By flow cytometric analysis, they showed that the intracellular levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in patients with sepsis were significantly lower than those of healthy control subjects. Analysis of a subset of 15 patients after 7 days showed an increase of intracellular cytokine levels. However, they studied fewer patients than we did; they did not report differences between survivors and non-survivors on day 7; and their population comprised patients with infections of mixed aetiology, including the respiratory tract. The same group of researchers [11] focused on serial changes of gene expression of PBMCs in a small number of patients with sepsis developing in the field of community-acquired pneumonia. The level of expression of genes encoding for cytokines involved in the inflammatory response, such as TNF, IL-6 and IL-8, was decreased on day 7 among non-survivors compared with the first 48 h from organ dysfunction. This finding was compatible with our observation of persistence of sepsis-induced immunosuppression among non-survivors.
It should be emphasised that the enrolled studied population had sepsis originating from gram-negative bacteria (Table 1). Although gram-negative bacteria carry a wide variety of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that can interact with Toll-like receptors (TLRs) embedded on circulating monocytes and tissue macrophages, their LPS is the best studied PAMP. Exposure to LPS leads to endotoxin tolerance whereby a second exposure to LPS elicits blurred cytokine production [12–14]. Circulating PBMCs of both survivors and non-survivors have defective cytokine production on day 1 after exposure to LPS, representing signs of LPS tolerance. LPS tolerance down-regulates the stimulatory efficacy of other TLRs [15], and this can partly explain why circulating PBMCs of patients did not respond to stimulation with Pam3Cys, which is a purified ligand for TLR1 and TLR2. Owing to the interaction of TLR4 becoming tolerant to LPS with the other TLRs making them tolerant to their ligands, it becomes evident that survivors of our study escaped from tolerance to both TLR2 and TLR4 as early as 48 h after the first blood sampling.
Two main limitations of our study should be underscored. The first limitation is related to the inability to isolate the exact pathogen in all enrolled pathogens, raising concerns regarding whether the results may be generalisable to all patients with severe gram-negative infections. However, the infections to be studied were selected because they are caused mainly by gram-negative bacteria [6], whereas the offending pathogen, wherever isolated, was one gram-negative species. The second limitation is the use of PBMCs that are a mixed population of lymphocytes and monocytes; the lymphocyte/monocyte ratio may change over time, at least between baseline and day 7 [16], and this may hamper precise interpretation of findings.
Our results encourage former attempts with the use of immunostimulation to improve sepsis outcomes. Recombinant human IFN-γ was the most common approach, originating as an idea in the early 1980s [3]. Leentjens et al. [17] conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised study with healthy volunteers becoming tolerant to LPS after the intravenous administration of LPS; subcutaneous treatment with IFN-γ reversed LPS tolerance, as shown by increased circulating TNF-α. Other proposed approaches targeting reversal of immunoparalysis include GM-CSF administration [18], recombinant human IL-7 [19, 20] and the anti-PD-1 antibody [21]. Proving the clinical efficacy of these agents requires the conduct of randomised clinical trials where patients most likely to jump into immunosuppression that does not resolve early should be enrolled. The present study provides evidence that patients with CV failure on SIRS onset are most likely to have persistence of sepsis-induced immunosuppression on day 3. These patients may be likely for inclusion in studies with agents targeting reversal of immunosuppression.
The present study emphasises the association between cytokine stimulation of circulating PBMCs and final outcome. Sustained decreased cytokine production is linked with great risk for unfavourable outcome, and it is a characteristic of sepsis-induced immunosuppression. Defective production of TNF-α lasts as long as day 10, and it is associated with greatest risk for unfavourable outcome. CV failure on admission is a major indicator of the likelihood for defective TNF-α responses over the time course of sepsis. These findings can help in the design of future trials on immunostimulation for the management of severe sepsis.
Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor
Interferon-γ
LPS:
Lipopolysaccharide
PAMP:
Pathogen-associated molecular pattern
PaO2/FiO2 :
Ratio of partial pressure arterial oxygen and fraction of inspired oxygen
PBMC:
Peripheral blood mononuclear cell
SOFA:
Sequential Organ Failure Assessment
Toll-like receptor
Tumour necrosis factor-α
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de Werra I, Zanetti G, Jaccard C, Chioléro R, Schaller MD, Yersin B, et al. CD14 expression on monocytes and TNFα production in patients with septic shock, cardiogenic shock or bacterial pneumonia. Swiss Med Wkly. 2001;131:35–40.
Santos SS, Carmo AM, Brunialti MKC, Machado FR, Azevedo LC, Assunção M, et al. Modulation of monocytes in septic patients: preserved phagocytic activity, increased ROS and NO generation, and decreased production of inflammatory cytokines. Intensive Care Med Exp. 2016;4:5.
Severino P, Silva E, Baggio-Zappia GL, Brunialti MKC, Nucci LA, Rigato Jr O, et al. Patterns of gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and outcomes from patients with sepsis secondary to community acquired pneumonia. PLoS One. 2014;9:e91886.
Martin C, Boisson C, Haccoun M, Thomachot L, Mege JL. Patterns of cytokine evolution (TNF-α and IL-6) after septic shock, hemorrhagic shock, and severe trauma. Crit Care Med. 1997;25:1813–9.
Morris MC, Gilliam EA, Li L. Innate immune programming by endotoxin and its pathological consequences. Trends Immunol. 2015;5:680.
Kopanakis K, Tzepi IM, Pistiki A, Carrer DP, Netea MG, Georgitsi M, et al. Pre-treatment with low dose endotoxin prolongs survival from experimental lethal endotoxic shock: benefit for lethal peritonitis by Escherichia coli. Cytokine. 2013;62:382–8.
de Vos AF, Pater JM, Van den Pangaart PS, de Kruif MD, Van 't Veer C, Van der Poll T. In vivo lipopolysaccharide exposure of human blood leukocytes induces cross-tolerance to multiple TLR ligands. J Immunol. 2009;183:533–42.
Payen D, Laukaszewicz AC, Belikova I, Faiver V, Gelin C, Russwurm S, et al. Gene profiling in human leukocytes during recovery from septic shock. Intensive Care Med. 2008;34:1371–6.
Leentjens J, Kox M, Koch RM, Preijers F, Joosten LA, van der Hoeven JG, et al. Reversal of immunoparalysis in humans in vivo. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2012;186:838–45.
Meisel C, Schefold JC, Pschowski R, Baumann T, Hetzger K, Gregor J, et al. GM-CSF to reverse sepsis-associated immunosuppression: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled multicenter trial. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2009;180:640–8.
Mackall CL, Fry TJ, Gress RE. Harnessing the biology of IL-7 for therapeutic application. Nat Rev Immunol. 2009;11:330–42.
Unsinger J, McGlynn M, Kasten KR, Hoekzema AS, Watanabe E, Muenzer JT, et al. IL-7 promotes T cell viability, trafficking, and functionality and improves survival in sepsis. J Immunol. 2010;184:3768–79.
Brahmamdam P, Inoue S, Unsinger J, Chang KC, McDunn JE, Hotchkiss RS. Delayed administration of anti-PD-1 antibody reverses immune dysfunction and improves survival during sepsis. J Leukoc Biol. 2010;88:233–40.
The study was funded by unrestricted educational grants provided by the Hellenic Institute for the Study of Sepsis and by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) via the Centre for Sepsis Control and Care integrated research and treatment centre (grant 01EO1002). The study sponsors had no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Data are available upon request from the corresponding author.
NA participated in patient enrolment, wrote the manuscript and gave final approval for the version to be submitted. TT, IT, ML and NM participated in patient enrolment, critically revised the manuscript for intellectual content and gave final approval for the version to be submitted. VO measured cytokines, critically revised the manuscript for intellectual content and gave final approval for the version to be submitted. AP participated in cell isolation and culture, critically revised the manuscript for intellectual content and gave final approval for the version to be submitted. MS and MB participated in study design and analysis of data, critically revised the manuscript for intellectual content and gave final approval for the version to be submitted. EJGB analysed the data, drafted the manuscript and gave final approval for the version to be submitted. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
EJGB has received honoraria for providing scientific advice to AbbVie, Chicago IL, USA; Astellas, Athens, Greece; Biotest AG, Dreieich, Germany; and Thermo Fisher Scientific GmbH, Henningdorf, Germany. EJGB has also received unrestricted educational funding from Biotest AG; Thermo Fisher Scientific GmbH; Sanofi SA, Athens, Greece; and the HemoSpec project funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Consent for publication was provided by all authors.
The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the Attikon University Hospital (license 6/18-05-2011), and written informed consent was obtained from participants' first-degree relatives.
4th Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Nikolaos Antonakos, Thomas Tsaganos, Aikaterini Pistiki, Nikolaos Machairas, Maria Souli & Evangelos J. Giamarellos-Bourboulis
Department of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
Volker Oberle
Centre for Sepsis Control and Care, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
Volker Oberle, Michael Bauer & Evangelos J. Giamarellos-Bourboulis
2nd Department of Critical Care Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Iraklis Tsangaris
2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Sismanogleion Athens General Hospital, Athens, Greece
Malvina Lada
Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
Nikolaos Antonakos
Thomas Tsaganos
Aikaterini Pistiki
Nikolaos Machairas
Maria Souli
Evangelos J. Giamarellos-Bourboulis
Correspondence to Evangelos J. Giamarellos-Bourboulis.
Rationale for the selection of measured cytokines in supernatants of PBMCs. (DOCX 13 kb)
p Values of comparisons between TNF-α production by PBMCs of healthy control subjects and patients with sepsis in relation to their 28-day outcomes. p Values are corrected according to the method of Bonferroni. (DOCX 14 kb)
Antonakos, N., Tsaganos, T., Oberle, V. et al. Decreased cytokine production by mononuclear cells after severe gram-negative infections: early clinical signs and association with final outcome. Crit Care 21, 48 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13054-017-1625-1

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Grab your gloves, trowels, rakes and come join us as we clean up the church property.
We will begin at 9:00 am on Saturday, April 13 and hopefully we will get a lot done to make our grounds look great for the summer!
If you have any questions, please contact Herb Rasmussen at herb@sandybottom.com.


text:
Current Position:Home > Industry Consultant > HD maps – the key to
By working with existing vehicle sensors, a HD map can extend a driverless car's line of sight beyond the next corner, writes Celeste Dooley
In-vehicle maps have seen great transformation from the earliest days of the automotive industry; from paper maps to digital solutions on a touch screen, the evolution of navigation has been a much-considered factor in automotive development. Now, technology companies are taking this one step further to support the growing trend of autonomous driving, by integrating a new age of high-definition (HD) maps into new vehicles.
HD maps enable vehicles to see beyond the driver's field of view, providing an accurate representation of the road ahead and information on the surrounding environment. Though not limited to use only within autonomous vehicles, this technology will be particularly beneficial to vehicles with automated features. In fact, HD map information could be critical to their success.
Autonomy is not the limit
Although self-driving vehicles will not rely solely on HD maps, this technology can significantly enhance the functionality of autonomous driving features. "Lower levels of autonomy can function without an HD map, but it is not as safe or smooth," Willem Strijbosch, Head of Autonomous Driving at TomTom, told M:bility. The company, which has been bulking out its capabilities in autonomous driving, stresses that GPS is no longer accurate enough for vehicles that are equipped with as low as Level 2 autonomous features. HD maps are not the solution, then, but they are a critical piece to the puzzle.
It does not matter if it is snowing or pouring down with rain, the map remains clear and increases the safety of these assistance systems
This is also true for vehicles on the market today, many of which feature low levels of automation provided through advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). "The TomTom HD Map is not limited to autonomous driving, but can also be leveraged to fulfil a broad range of ADAS applications such as Predictive Powertrain Control, Highway Pilot, and Adaptive Cruise Control," Strijbosch explained. "If there is very dense traffic ahead, you can 'see' through all of those cars, and understand what is around the corner or even two kilometres ahead of you. It does not matter if it is snowing or pouring down with rain, the map remains clear and increases the safety of these assistance systems."
Consumer trust is essential to the success of autonomous vehicles, and players are seeking ways to garner this trust. A recent study conducted by the American Automobile Association (AAA) found that only 20% of respondents would trust a self-driving car. One area causing concern for many consumers is the idea of sensor failure – if the car cannot 'see', can it drive?
Various passenger cars on sale today are equipped with sensors that can identify road markings, other vehicles and unexpected obstacles in the road. RoadDNA, a 'suite of localisation attributes' within TomTom's HD mapping technology, acts as a level of redundancy if sensors are obstructed by dirt or poor weather conditions. This is a common issue today, with heavy rainfall often rendering camera sensors useless. Having the map as an additional layer of sensing could remove some of the doubts surrounding ADAS.
Improved road safety is generally presented as the greatest benefit of autonomous driving, with a significant reduction in human error behind the wheel. The additional safety that HD mapping technology brings is essential in order to achieve this vision, believes Strijbosch. But it is not just human error that is an issue today; the capabilities of some ADAS features also need to improve. He highlights recent events that have shown lapses in currently available highway pilot systems. In March 2018, one Tesla driver was killed when his Model S collided with a concrete lane divider on a Mountain View highway. With Autopilot engaged at the time, the system struggled to identify the correct trajectory and hit the barrier head on.
"Instances where these systems fail might have been prevented with a HD map because the vehicle would have known there was a curve coming, that there was a concrete barrier ahead, and that road markings were quite poorly visible," suggested Strijbosch. "The vehicle's sensors and HD map software all work in concert – they are each other's redundancy."
An interconnected system
Ideally, HD maps should be integrated with other connected features within a vehicle, explains Tomaso Grossi, Senior Product Marketer at TomTom Automotive. "We don't see HD maps as standalone products. They don't exist in a vacuum and must be used as part of the automated system in a vehicle," he said. "We believe in a closed-loop system, whereby we produce the most accurate, robust and reliable maps in the cloud, deliver these systems to the car, and then leverage multiple sources – such as different types of vehicle sensors – to ensure this map is up-to-date, safe and matches reality."
The vehicle's sensors and HD map software all work in concert – they are each other's redundancy
To further improve its HD maps, TomTom is currently utilising observations from a variety of sensors, including cameras, within the vehicle. "All cars have a camera," Strijbosch pointed out. Road infrastructure, such as traffic signs, can be recognised by the vehicle's cameras. This data is then fed into the RoadDNA software, and can be compared against the HD map data. If multiple traffic signs can be seen, this should be enough for the car to determine its exact location. "It is a great localisation attribute, which utilises the vehicle's existing cameras," he explained.
The goal is to improve an autonomous vehicle's awareness and to provide precise information on where it is on the road, often referred to as 'contextual awareness.' Looking ahead, Strijbosch affirms that Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous vehicles must have HD mapping technology – it is not up for debate, he suggests: "Level 2 vehicles are on the road today without a HD map, but all of the car manufacturers are looking to integrate these maps to make their systems smoother, and ultimately, safer."
TomTom is not the only company exploring the benefits of HD mapping. Companies such as Nvidia, Vexcel, and HERE Technologies – Nokia's spun-off mapping unit that was bought by Audi, BMW and Daimler in 2015 – are also developing similar offerings. In China, NavInfo has tasked itself with charting domestic roadways in HD for autonomous vehicles. The faith that companies are showing in this technology is demonstrative of its potential to advance the safety of automated driving functions, right from low-level ADAS features up to the driverless vehicle.
Turn-by-turn signals afforded by traditional GPS navigation systems will no longer cut it in future when the car is in control. By enhancing navigation into a digitalised, HD platform, connected and autonomous features can be confidently deployed and adopted in the knowledge that there are fail-safe systems in place to support them.
This article appeared in the Q4 2018 issue of M:bility | Magazine. Follow this link to download the full issue
Previous Item:NAVER LABS' and LG partner for future of indoor autonomous drive
Next Item:5 Startups Doing HD Mapping for Autonomous Vehicles
US, German, and Dutch companies had taken the lead in developing 3D HD maps, and now Japan is trying to catch up and surpass them.
Airbus and ZF to develop high precise end-to-end autonomous driving solution
5 Startups Doing HD Mapping for Autonomous Vehicles
Hyundai MNSoft and Netradyne are partnering to map the US in HD
Mercedes-Benz's future self-driving cars will rely on a cloud-based high-definition map updated in real time to see the world around them.
Simultaneous Localization and Map Change Update for the High Definition Map-Based Autonomous Driving Car


EPISODE 75: HOW TO GET THE EYES OF BIG BRANDS ON YOU!
Today is the 75th episode of The Happy Workaholic Podcast! Woo Hoo! I could not be any more excited!!!
In today's show I am talking about how you can get the attention of big brands and how to contact and/or pitch them appropriately.
In a way that will benefit both you and the other brand.
I'm also sharing my two cents on the new JLO music video "Dinero" and the brands she had involved in the video and the big bucks they must have spent to be included.
← EPISODE 74: WOULD YOU CHANGE YOUR CAREER IF YOU HAD A CHOICE?


The Mist browser is the tool of choice to browse and use Ðapps or blockchain apps. So you are a beginner at ethereum development then you will require to install Mist for better development view.
So let's start with installing Mist.
You can select any mist as per your OS is, and download it.
Now I will show it on Ubuntu installation.
Go to Download folder and run following command.
if this will not work then run the same command with force as follow.
Now when you run mist command then it will open the mist browser.
Thanks if you have any queries please comment it out.


Information about candidates in the 2018 primary election on Aug. 7.
Michigan's primary election is Aug. 7.
For more information on county voting, check out the upcoming elections page on the clerk's website. To verify your voter registration, request an absentee ballot and find your polling place, go to michigan.gov/vote.
Here are the elected representatives and proposals that are up for a vote in Calhoun County. Those in bold are those eligible for the primary election. An asterisk marks the incumbent.
Who will be on the ballot for senate, house of representatives and governor.
Candidates in the sixth district will be on the ballot.
Townships looking to fill board positions.
Proposals for schools, roads and safety funding.


The pipefitting training program at Tulsa Welding School provides students the opportunity to train for a new career in just over six months. Contact us today for more information.
The Pipefitting Training Program at Tulsa Welding School in Tulsa, OK, prepares you for a new career in just six-and-a-half months. Trained pipefitters are needed in various types of jobs throughout the country. They can work as part of a plumbing company or on a construction crew. They may work in industrial operations or on government construction and maintenance crews. Professional pipefitters can also work independently; consulting on construction projects and assisting homeowners who need help with remodeling projects.
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Our six-and-a-half month pipefitting training program is designed to provide the beginning student with all the tools and skills he or she needs to succeed in pipefitting and its corresponding career fields. We begin by offering an introduction to construction skills that will prove invaluable throughout the course of your career. A comprehensive introduction to pipefitting delves into the ins and outs of this trade, introducing major styles of pipefitting and forms of construction.
We provide comprehensive pipefitting classes to those students who wish to learn the ins and outs of underground pipe laying and rigging. We stay focused on providing students with the safety skills they need in order to have successful, long-term careers as pipefitters. Students also learn supervisory skills that can give them an edge on job competitors. Our students receive a mix of theory and hands-on learning, meaning students are able to apply the concepts they learn in the classroom into their lab work. Training under the supervision of our skilled instructors allows students to make beginners mistakes in a controlled, safe environment.
Upon completing our pipefitting program, students will be prepared for careers in this exciting field. They can choose to work in the local area or may pursue jobs nationally.
If you are interested in training for a new career in just over six months, contact Tulsa Welding School today to find out more information about our pipefitting training program. An admissions representative will be happy to answer your questions and get your application started today.


This mouse sculpture is made of wire and thread in shades of blue and green.
The strings were wrapped and wound around the wire structure to create a hollow see-through effect. While the flossy threads encircling the wire are soft and silky, it is not quite soft enough to be called a soft sculpture. Maybe this mouse can be considered semi-soft? Either way he's a nice addition to the menagerie.


text:
In a time of war, investigative reporting in Ukraine is a tough sell
By Cheryl L. Reed
Dmytro Gnap, an investigative reporter at Hromadske TV, being interviewed by another television station in regards to a story about a wealthy driver who won't be charged for murder after striking and killing a pedestrian in Kyiv. (Photo credit Cheryl L. Reed)
The morning after journalist Pavel Sheremet was blown up in his car in Kyiv last July 20, a US State Department expert told Fulbright Scholars headed to Ukraine that the post-Soviet country would only become truly democratic when journalists expose its corruption.
I was among a handful of former journalists in that large DC conference room. My Fulbright project—to teach investigative reporting to the next generation of Ukrainian journalists—suddenly took on new significance.
Now, after 10 months of teaching in one of Ukraine's top graduate journalism programs, I see major challenges to reporting corruption there in a way that makes a difference, especially in the everyday lives of Ukrainians. Most investigative reporting in Ukraine focuses on high-level corruption and pays little attention to failing institutions, which is where most citizens intersect with the government. Too often, it fails to identify and humanize the victims of corruption, or show how changes could be made to improve people's lives. Investigative reporters are largely uninterested in reporting in-depth about crime and courts, and as result they aren't pushing the government to open these critical records.
Moreover, the cadre of 25 to 30 reporters who do independent investigative journalism are constantly under attack. Even media watchdogs have disparaged their investigations. Because Ukraine is at war with Russia, journalists who report critically about the Ukrainian government—including the president, military, or police—are labeled tools of Russian propaganda.
"It's one of the attempts to split journalists," explains Anna Babinets, 33, an investigative reporter at Hromadske TV, an independent media outlet in Kyiv. "They are saying that either you are with the government and against Russia, or you are with the Kremlin. The war has made people see the world in either black or white."
Since Ukraine's independence in 1991, more than 60 journalists have been killed, according to the Kyiv Post, an English-language newspaper and website that has tracked the deaths. The gruesome murders—poisonings, a beheading, point-blank shootings, and the latest, Sheremet's car bombing—are warnings to future reporters, and, to some degree, it's working. Up and coming journalists say they are reluctant to put their lives on the line.
"We can write about all this corruption and the bad oligarchs and no one will care," explains Mariia Yuzych, a Ukrainian journalist and one of my graduate students at Kyiv Mohyla Academy School of Journalism. "Young journalists do not have a prime example of how their work can really change our system of government."
While journalists face extreme risks in Ukraine, aspects of their professional practice also open them to criticism. Investigative journalism in Ukraine has no uniform ethical standards. Investigative reporters routinely use hidden cameras, don't always identify themselves as journalists when interviewing people, and in their reports, use dramatic music and effects, like over-the-top re-enactments, to heighten drama.
Ukraine's journalism schools are partly to blame for the lack of quality reporting. Most are stuck in a Soviet mode in which professors with little or no newsroom experience teach theory—not the practical application of reporting and editing, and certainly not the modern skills of shooting video and using social media. Students themselves often lack the ambition to tackle investigative stories, another legacy of the Soviet system, which seldom rewarded hard work. As a result, the reporters and media executives I spoke with said journalism graduates arrive in their newsrooms unprepared to do basic stories, let alone investigative pieces.
"I'm not seeing anybody coming up who can do the work," says Vlad Lavrov, one of Ukraine's leading investigative journalists.
Last year, Lavrov offered data training for journalism students from some of the country's best schools at an investigative reporting conference in Kyiv. Lavrov gave the students information on Ukrainian businessmen, provided access to the Panama Papers online database, and asked them to write 300- to 500-word stories from the information they developed using those and other sources. Out of about 100 students, no one produced a single story, he says.
"Whenever we said, 'You have to dig deeper, they didn't do anything,'" says Lavrov, 40, who was educated to become a businessman but decided journalism was a better fit.
The war in eastern Ukraine—which has claimed 10,090 lives, including about 2,777 civilians, and internally displaced more than 1.5 million people, according to the United Nations—has profoundly altered the climate for investigative reporting.
"There are many sensitive topics—like criticizing the Ukrainian army—which if you cover them, you may be deemed unpatriotic or pro-Russian," says Oksana Grytsenko, 36, a war correspondent for the Kyiv Post. One of Grytsenko's recent stories looked at how people who did little or no fighting were receiving lush military benefits, while some who had suffered serious injuries were denied them.
In May 2016, Grytsenko and 4,500 other journalists worldwide discovered that their names, cell phone numbers, and addresses had been posted on the internet site Myrotvorets, which purports to expose "enemies of Ukraine." The site claimed the journalists had "cooperated with terrorists" because they received accreditation from separatists to report in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. Several of the journalists received threatening phone calls and emails. "It was really dangerous for some of them," says Grytsenko, who believes she was spared any reprisals because her stories appear in English.
A few months later, Grytsenko wrote a story about the Ukrainian Security Police (SBU) operating secret prisons in which they detained people who had voiced pro-Russian sentiments. I invited Grytsenko to speak to my journalism class about her work, which I hoped would inspire my students. Instead, the students grilled her about her decision to report such stories during wartime.
"It makes the army look bad," one student said. Another said: "It is bad for society. We need to support the government."
Grytsenko told the students that such stories push the country to improve by forcing it to weed out corruption. "The real journalists are the ones who tell what the real problems are in the army, in the country, in the government," she said.
After her talk, three students out of 21 expressed a vague interest in investigative reporting, and no one wanted to cover the war.
"Americans romanticize being war correspondents," said Mariia Ulianovska, 24, a journalism graduate student with a bachelor's degree in law. "When the war is fought in your country and not overseas, it's more real. We see the devastation and the danger up close."
Her reasoning—echoed by several others in class—struck me as remarkably lucid for such a young journalist. Even US war coverage in Iraq and Afghanistan tended to be pro-government.
Dmytro Gnap and Anna Babinets, who run their own investigative NGO called Slidstvo.info, in their offices at Hromadske TV, an independent news website and cable television network where most of their work appears. (Photo credit Cheryl L. Reed)
Lavrov, who is technically on staff at the Kyiv Post, but whose salary is largely paid by the global Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), isn't surprised by the students' attitudes.
"When it comes to war correspondents, you must understand there is no consensus on their role [and] whether it is to cover the facts fully, which would be super difficult because Ukrainian journalists do not have not access to the other side," he says. "It's an unfortunate situation with media watchdogs in Ukraine taking the stance that journalists should be on the side of the government."
Lavrov and his colleagues Babinets and Dymtro Gnap—who have their own investigative NGO called Slidstvo.info—have been highly criticized for their reports about President Petro Poroshenko's administration. Last year, the three worked on a video report that aired online at Hromadske TV. Entitled "President Poroshenko's Secret Life," the report was based on documents that were part of the the database known as the Panama Papers. The 20-minute investigation showed a re-enactment of Poroshenko's lawyers setting up offshore accounts while the Ukrainian army was engaged in some of its bloodiest battles with Russian-backed separatists.
"People were asking: 'How could you accuse our president of setting up offshore accounts during a time of war?'" Lavrov remembers. "I still stand behind it because during the worst military conflict in your country, you don't expect the president, who is commander in chief of the army, to be working simultaneously on tax evasion offshore schemes."
Poroshenko said the accounts were established to set up a blind trust, not to avoid taxes.
An independent media council made up of journalism critics and lawyers summoned the reporters to defend their story.
"They asked us why we used every word of the text in that story," says Babinets, who lost her appetite for mountain climbing and extreme sports once she became an investigative reporter. "Then they said we are working for the Kremlin. And from then on, that became the discussion. Even our former [journalism] colleagues criticized us."
Journalism Critics
Yevhen Fedchenko, who sits on the board of Hromadske TV, has also been critical. A former TV anchor and current director of Kyiv Mohyla Academy School of Journalism, he is familiar with Western journalism standards, having been a Fulbright Scholar for a year at USC-Annenberg.
"Investigative reporting is a growing sector in Ukraine," he says. "But it is self-centered and sometimes infantile in its approaches and its critical judgment of it results. It's self-centered because the journalists see themselves as the most important part of the project.''
Fedchenko criticized the Panama Papers' juxtaposition of war scenes and re-enactments as an attempt to play on people's emotions. "The Panama Papers report was a simulation of a real investigative project," he says.
In late May, OCCRP released an investigative documentary of the Sheremet car bombing, titled Killing Pavel. The documentary took almost 10 months to report and produce, and the reporters believed its quality would make it a model for future investigative pieces.
Unlike the Panama Papers piece, which used moody music and special effects, the Sheremet documentary is Western in its approach and style. The 50-minute film shows reporters collecting and analyzing security footage taken near Sheremet's apartment. The reporters—who included Lavrov, Babinets, and Gnap—painstakingly track down a man with former ties to SBU, who on closed-circuit videos appeared to be staking out Sheremet's apartment the night before the assassination. The story suggests that SBU may have been behind the murder, and that police have done little to find the killers. The film's narrator lists the government authorities who declined to meet with reporters.
As soon as Killing Pavel was released, the stinging backlash began. The team was criticized for a host of purported offenses, including not sharing their findings with authorities prior to release. (The reporters say they prepared a two-minute video summation of their findings to show Poroshenko, but still couldn't get a meeting, a key point that was bewilderingly absent from the film.) Media critics questioned whether the report had jeopardized the police investigation.
Yevhen Fedchenko is the director of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy School of Journalism and sits on the board of Hromadske TV. (Photo courtesy of Fedchenko)
"The documentary didn't deliver anything," Fedchenko says. "It's just bits of scenes glued together with emotional stuff. It was the same as the Panama Papers. It's conspiracy theories." He added, "It didn't produce any answers or valuable outcome. The result was that it basically framed law enforcement. That's no secret. Everyone knows they're not doing enough."
The loudest detractor was Natalia Ligachova, a media critic at the website "Detector Media: a Ukrainian Media Watchdog."
"The authors make a claim that SBU might be involved in Pavel Sheremet's murder. But, when watching this film, we see that there are no sufficient arguments for such a strong allegation. That is to say, there's whipping up of emotions without a sufficient body of evidence," Ligachova explains in an email. She also questions why reporters didn't turn over the identity of a key witness, instead of waiting months until the documentary aired.
Ligachova and reporter Gnap got into a spat on Facebook. "I claimed to be the real watchdog, and not a Maltese," says Gnap, 39. "I didn't call her personally a dog. I said, 'You are a media critic and you also need to support and protect the media community from soft censorship of the government. You need to support reporters. You need to be a real watchdog of Ukrainian media society, and not act like a Maltese.'"
Fedchenko characterized Gnap's portion of the exchange as arrogant and unprofessional. Ligachova is "a very well respected media critic," he says. "She asked a lot of questions, which sounded reasonable. Instead to getting answers, she was brushed off." He adds: "Dmytro [Gnap] is not a journalist. He's a politician. He really needs to switch sides of the barricades. He's basically using journalism for his own personal agenda."
Gnap says he was surprised at Fedchenko's criticism, since he says Fedchecko had lauded him as "a brave and professional investigator" only a few years ago when Gnap exposed the large-scale corruption of former President Viktor Yanukovych and his friends, who siphoned millions from government coffers.* "But now when I do the same things about President Poroshenko and his friends, Fedchenko says I'm not an objective journalist. Could there be some connection here?"
Fedchenko says that Gnap was courageous for his investigative reporting during the Yanukovych regime. "It was dangerous for a journalist," he says. "The added value was that journalists could make a difference. But you cannot be a professional 'opposition journalist' all the time just because it's a good position and you will always get your portion of attention with that."
Katya Gorchinskaya, CEO of Hromadske TV, which airs many of Gnap's stories, strongly disagrees with the criticism. "Fedchenko is in the patriotic camp that says in the times of war, we shouldn't be criticizing the president because we are undermining trust. I think it's just wrong. If you don't identify problems, they'll never get fixed. If you don't look for graft, the army will continue to be starved. I think it's very unpatriotic not to do it."
Fedchenko admits he's a Poroshenko supporter. "I consider Poroshenko to be the most able president in recent Ukrainian history, but that does not mean that he should not be subject to criticism. But the criticism should be grounded and justified and scaled according to his wrongdoings. He should also be credited for all his positive efforts in nation-building during times of war."
Fedchenko says he's simply trying to raise the level of journalism in his country, and he feels the investigative reporters are "an incestuous group" who are not critical enough of their own work. "If you say something against their work, then you become kind of a foil."
Oligarch-funded vs NGO-funded Investigations
Part of the reason investigative reporting is growing in Ukraine is that oligarch-owned TV stations have their own investigative teams, though they largely target their employers' enemies.
"They're just over-sensationalized stories taken out of context," says Gorchinskaya, who was a well-regarded former editor and reporter before leading Hromadske. "It's actually quite shocking what people think is investigative reporting. The media in Ukraine is used to either promote business interests of the oligarch directly, or to promote political interests. It's very effective."
Even President Poroshenko owns his own media station, and seems to hold sway over the other oligarchs who own media outlets. According to a 2016 VoxUkraine content analysis, there were almost no negative mentions of the president on the country's largest television stations, where most Ukrainians get their news.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are three or four independent investigative teams, financed by Western grants. The teams produce their own content and contract with various media, usually small and medium independent outlets, to publish their work. This arrangement allows the teams to retain editorial control. The partnership gives media organizations the option of publishing or not publishing the work, but the outlets do not have any editorial input.
Critics say dependence on donor-supported reporting creates a quest for big stories involving top officials at the expense of uncovering smaller-scale corruption in local city councils, courts, police departments, hospitals, and schools.
"I created my own standards. We don't lie. We don't make up things. I have no problem with hidden cameras. I see no problem with not identifying yourself as a journalist because these tactics are effective. I'm pretty sure in the USA I'd be some gonzo, badass journalist, the most unethical bastard ever
"Donors want big stories," Fedchenko says. "They want big investigations."
Dependence on outside grants has given the government ammunition to discount uncomfortable findings, and in some cases, legitimate reason to distrust such work. Last summer a scandal erupted when Sergeii Leschenko, an investigative reporter-turned-politician, bought a $281,000 condo that he said was partly financed by Western grants he'd received for his investigative reports. (The average monthly salary in Ukraine in 2016 was about $200, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.)
"If you're a good investigative reporter, your standard of living is way above the average reporter's because there is enough financing through the grants," Lavrov explained.
President Poroshenko recently signed a law that requires investigative reporters and investigative NGOs to reveal income sources. Many journalists see the law as retribution for media coverage critical of many politicians' vast income and assets, which they've recently been required to make public.
Editorial control residing with the investigative teams can also undermine quality control. While Gorchinskaya, the Hromadske CEO, says she's confident of the work of some NGOs, she'd like more input with others. "When we see a problem with a story we won't put it online, and we get back to them with our feedback.''
But that doesn't mean the NGO will make changes.
Denys Bigus, 31, a self-proclaimed "dictator-editor," founded and runs two investigative NGOs that are funded by a number of foreign grants. He and his team have won many international journalism awards for exposing corruption in the country's procurement system. He dismisses the need for formal ethical standards.
Denys Bigus is an investigative reporter who founded two journalism NGOs. One is called Book 14 and the other is called White Collar Hundred. Those NGOs are largely supported by Western grants, including donations from USAID and the US Embassy in Kyiv. His investigative team's work largely appears on the website Nashi Groshi, which means "Our Money" in Ukrainian, and on a Youtube channel. (Photo credit Cheryl L. Reed)
"I created my own standards. We don't lie. We don't make up things. I have no problem with hidden cameras. I see no problem with not identifying yourself as a journalist because these tactics are effective," he says. "I'm pretty sure in the USA I'd be some gonzo, badass journalist, the most unethical bastard ever."
Lavrov, the highly respected reporter at OCCRP, says he has no problem with hidden cameras when there is no other way. He also questions how journalism schools can teach ethics because the situations that arise on the job usually fall into gray areas, unlike cases culled from textbooks.
One area in which Lavrov believes journalists should be trained is detecting whether they themselves are under surveillance. "If someone is going to kill you, they need to know your schedule, your lifestyle. Sheremet was under surveillance for many, many months, and he didn't do anything about it. Unfortunately for him, it was like a joke to tell his friends."
After all the work Lavrov and others invested in the documentary, they still don't know conclusively why Sheremet was murdered. He was a commentator, not an investigative reporter. Lavrov believes his death ties back to the Myrotvorets list of journalists who were labeled as having "cooperated with terrorists."
Once the list was published, government officials accused journalists of being overly dramatic about threats to their safety, Lavrov says. "They said: 'Ukraine is a free country with a free press. There is no danger to the journalists.' I'm afraid this could be one of the reasons why Sheremet was killed. Someone wanted to embarrass the Ukrainian government for saying 'Ukraine is not Russia and journalists are not in danger here.'"
Crimes without Victims
If you ask ordinary Ukrainians about their biggest concerns, they talk about police corruption and the inability to get local police to investigate routine crimes. That's where government corruption affects citizens. Yet crime and the inner workings of the police generally go unreported.
Police records are private in Ukraine. Court records have names blocked out. Military records are closed. Conviction records are difficult to obtain. Yet investigative reporters I talked with didn't see a need for access to such records.
Bigus explained that investigative reporters in Ukraine follow the money and the data. Since there is no data from the police and the corruption seems comparatively small, police reporting doesn't often pique reporters' interest.
In addition, investigative reporting in Ukraine rarely connects large-scale fraud to its victims. The reports neglect to suggest ways Ukrainians can make changes. A steady diet of this kind of reporting is numbing after awhile. After several months of studying such reports, I understood why my students expressed such cynicism about journalism's ability to change their country's culture of corruption.
"Reporters do very institutional reporting instead of bringing the reporting down to the ground and converting it to issues relevant to people's' lives," Gorchinskaya says. "With shortage of both skills and time to allow the story to brew, you're not going to have this kind of reporting. They simply don't answer 'Who does it affect?'"
Ukraine is ranked as the 38th most corrupt country in the world—more corrupt than Russia, according to Transparency International. Though oligarchs and politicians have bilked billions of dollars from Ukrainian coffers and assets, the reporting mostly focuses on the lavish lifestyles of the schemers and how they orchestrated their elaborate frauds, often escaping prosecution.
For example, many Ukrainian banks have collapsed from fraud schemes that gave connected oligarchs and their friends millions in loans, which they never paid back. When the banks collapsed, average citizens lost their deposits. It is a heartbreaking story that plays out frequently in Ukraine. Yet rarely do the stories focus on the 1.5 million Ukrainians who are the victims of such schemes.
Earlier this year, reporter Gnap was working on such a story. He had connected the bank collapse to huge loans taken out by friends of President Poroshenko. He asked me how such a story would be structured in America. I told him that the story would almost inevitably begin with one of the victims he'd found—one man who had lost everything and another man who needed the money for his wife's cancer treatments. Viewers, I explained, need to relate to the people who were affected to be engaged in the story. Initially Gnap disagreed, saying that he thought Ukrainian viewers were more interested in the big names connected to the schemes and not the common victims. But Gnap decided he would try the American approach and was happy with the result, which aired in late February.
"This was a good idea to focus on victims," Gnap says. "During the last year we cooperated with producers from USA, Canada and Sweden. So we see this is one way to provide good storytelling—to find a victim or hero who can show the problem through his life."
Worth the Risk
Mariia Ulianovska graduated from the Kyiv Mohyla Academy School of Journalism master's program in June. She is now a social media editor at Hromadske TV in Kyiv. (Photo supplied by Ulianovska)
As my investigative reporting class progressed this spring, I saw slight changes in my students' attitudes toward reporting. Maybe they had a better appreciation for the work required after having spent months on their own investigative projects that were the mainstay of my classes. But it wasn't until some of them started their lives beyond the classroom that I heard a real shift in their beliefs.
Mariia Ulianovska, who had criticized American attitudes toward war reporting, often voiced a disbelief that investigative reporting could make a difference when she was a student. Then she went to work at Hromadske TV. She told me that she's learned more in a month on the job than she did during her two years at journalism school.
"Previously, I didn't see any results from investigative journalism, and no consequences for politicians," she says. "But I've discovered that journalism has played a huge role in reforms. We've progressed as a country only after these stories. I saw that it is hard and extremely slow. But we still have to do this. It's worth the risk."
*An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect first name for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Cheryl L. Reed is an assistant professor at Syracuse University where she researches investigative reporting in post-Soviet states.


Sometimes getting more of something or combining services can lead to lower costs.
I don't usually advocate buying more of something just to score savings. For example, I always say no to the "spend-more-to-save-more" pitch from store clerks who tell me that if I spend another, say, $10 I can earn a coupon for $25 off my next purchase of $50 or more. That doesn't save me any money -- it just tempts me to spend more.
However, buying more of an item you know that you will use or signing up for more than one service from a single provider can actually help you save money. By bundling these ten things below -- that is, combining them or purchasing in bulk -- you'll pay less than buying or using them individually or in smaller quantities.
Insurance. Most insurers will give you a price break if you have multiple policies -- such as homeowners and auto insurance -- with them.
Banking services. More and more financial institutions are tacking fees on formerly free accounts. Signing up for other services that banks offer -- such as direct deposit, online statements (rather than paper) and online bill pay -- can help you avoid fees on checking accounts. And some banks waive fees if you have more than one account, such as a checking account and mortgage or IRA.
Student loans. You can lower your monthly student-loan payments if you have more than one federal loan by refinancing them through the federal Direct Loan consolidation program. Consolidation lets you combine all your loans into one and extend repayment to as long as 30 years. (However, a longer period means you'll pay more interest overall.) For more information, visit the Direct Consolidation Loans site.
Prescription drugs. If you get a 90-day supply of your prescription medication, you'll save by making just one insurance co-pay rather than the three co-pays you'd have to make for the same number of pills if you filled your prescription monthly.
Groceries. Buying items in bulk can be a money saver if you know that you can consume them before they go bad (or if they're nonperishable to begin with, such as toilet paper). For example, my kids like frozen waffles and I tend to buy a package of ten each week -- overlooking the larger package because of its higher sticker price. But when I bothered to check the unit price on the 24-pack, I realized I was missing a good deal: 13.4 cents per ounce versus 18.1 cents per ounce for the 10-pack. We also buy chicken breasts at the warehouse club because the package of a dozen we get there is usually several dollars less than smaller packages at the grocery store.
Hotel stays. Over Memorial Day, Labor Day and other long holiday weekends, hotels often offer deals that let you stay three nights for the price of two. So by booking an extra day, you can stay a little longer without paying any more.
Sales, coupon and free shipping. Waiting for retailers to have sales or using a deal or price-comparison site to find the lowest price on a product when shopping online can help you save money. You'll score the trifecta of bargain shopping, though, if you bundle marked-down merchandise with coupons and free shipping to lower the price further.
Babysitting. Hiring a nanny can be quite pricey if you live in a big city. But if you have just one child and know another family with just one child, you can cut your costs in half by hiring one nanny to watch both kids.
Kids' extracurricular activities. Some art, music and dance teachers offer families a discount if they have more than one child taking lessons with them -- if you aren't afraid to speak up and ask for a deal. For example, when both of my daughters were taking violin lessons, I asked the teacher if he would trim the price a little because I was having to pay for two weekly lessons -- and he did.


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Home / animation / Featured / reviews / Studio Ghibli / Wild Bunch / The Red Turtle (2016)
The Red Turtle (2016)
Unknown May 26, 2017 animation, Featured, reviews, Studio Ghibli, Wild Bunch
Surely the summer's most unusual 'go-see' is Michaël Dudok De Wit's The Red Turtle, a subtle and beautiful work of magic realism, and a masterful piece of animation.
The movie, which has garnered a slew of nominations and several awards for its creator, tells the tale of a castaway on a tropical island whose encounter with a giant red turtle transforms and then, ultimately, completes his life.
The Red Turtle is not only the first co-production by Japan's legendary Studio Ghibli (famous for features such as Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro) with a non-Japanese co-creator, but is also Dudok De Wit's first feature, the Dutch-born animator having had a notable career thus far in shorts, the best-known being Father and Daughter, which took the Oscar for Best Short Film at 2001's Academy Awards.
Ghibli's play to Dudok De Wit was to say they thought his style was "very Japanese" and later, in typically inscrutable Japanese manner, managing to entirely avoid explaining exactly what that meant when asked.
Dudok De Wit's guess is that Ghibli's interest was piqued by his use of space, a characteristic of Japanese art in general and a marker of many Ghibli features, but this is to underplay what he demonstrates here; a thorough command of his workspace, with one hand always delicately-poised on the dial of human emotion.
The new island home of our nameless protagonist is no tropical paradise, just a featureless hump of rock jutting from the pitiless ocean, girdled by a bleak bamboo forest and wide sweeps of desolate beach. Beyond the bamboo, and the thick moss which grows around an inland pool which provides fresh water, there seems to be no other vegetation. Animal life is confined to flocks of distant birds and a cast of curious, dead-white crabs whose antics provide the movie's fleeting moments of comic relief.
It soon becomes clear that this is not a traditional survival tale. Our man never builds a fire, nor a shelter. He subsists on fruit, but the crabs only get fed by him, not eaten themselves. From the first scene where he is buffeted by walls of water in the torrid ocean, to his almost-drowning in a tsunami, we are never left in any doubt about his powerlessness in the face of nature.
Through our protagonist's anonymity, the lack of any dialogue and the backdrop of the bland island The Red Turtle allows us to move beyond Anglo-Saxon notions of the ultimate power of human agency and reflect on our own inner world. What tale will we inscribe on the blank canvas of our life?
Not that the movie is a heavy watch; it can be seen as a simple, beautiful parable of love, or a deep-dive into man's struggle to define himself, of the futility of identity where there are no observers to validate our existence; or indeed anything in-between.
Does the turtle save him or trap him? Does she show him the true meaning of happiness? Does she even exist? Does it matter? You decide.
True devotees of the craft of animation should not miss The Red Turtle, and fans will love De Wit's delicate colour palette, extravagant use of space and silence and his sparse, confident storytelling. As with Ghibli's creations, this is mainly hand-drawn, with CG only used to render the turtle and our protagonist's useless bamboo rafts, the better to create clean lines when patterned objects turn in 3D space.
The Red Turtle is not, though, any kind of Ghibli knock-off. The Japanese studio let De Wit and his team of French (and some Hungarian) animators dictate the style, confident in the knowledge that he would deliver something worthy of their unique imprimatur. He does.
To some, the idea of 80 minutes of feature with no dialogue might seem like a daunting prospect, but the The Red Turtle's transcendent beauty will quell the doubts of the hardiest sceptic.
FORMATS In UK Cinemas Now
FROM Studio Canal
RATING PG
TIME 1hr 20m


Time to go out and get a new pool cleaner? The Baracuda G3 W03000 Pool Cleaner is one of the options being marketed heavily as a 'go to' option. Does it really have the quality needed for your family pool? Let's take a look at the pros and cons in this detailed review.
Let's take a look at the main features for the Baracuda G3 W03000 Pool Cleaner.
1) Water flow is regulated with the help of a neatly designed flow-keeper valve. This ensures the cleaner's power is being maximized for the task at hand.
2) Can easily manage small and/or medium-sized dirt and/or debris in the pool.
3) Economical and powerful suction capabilities while remaining quiet.
4) The quick-release cassette on offer to ensure maintenance is simple and quick.
5) Easy to install and have ready to go as needed.
6) Diaphragm built with 'moving-part' tech to ensure maximum value is being provided.
What are the pros of this cleaner? Does it provide the value needed in this day and age from such products? The Baracuda Pool Cleaner brings a lot of value to the forefront beginning with its durable build quality. It stands out immediately as being both robust and well-built.
The Baracuda Suction Side Pool comes down to being able to get the job done. This is what pool owners will crave for. Does it do a good job in this regard? Yes, it does. It is able to do an exceptional job in this regard and it shows immediately. The suction abilities are tremendous and all debris will be taken care of.
Quick results are important when you are in search of proper results. What is the point of using something that will not yield good power? It is simply not worth it, yet many people go down this path for one reason or another.
This is a comprehensive solution which is optimized with its long diaphragm enabling speed to become an added benefit. How fast can this work? It is able to pump out the debris in less than three hours. Other pool cleaners take more than 6 hours at best.
What about electricity use? Does it do a good job in this regard? It does an exceptional job right off the bat. It is able to reduce the electricity being consumed and can be termed as being 'eco-friendly' as that is what matters most.
This is a powerful machine and one will notice this immediately as soon as the process begins. It is able to yield high-grade results purely due to the power it is able to expend. It is able to generate a significant amount of torque and horsepower.
The 1-year warranty is an added bonus for those who wish to be safe with this investment. It is not easy spending money on pool cleaners when you are not sure about what is being purchased. This can be a risk, but it does not have to be with Baracuda. They understand what you are looking for and it shows. The value is present with this comprehensive warranty. This makes a tremendous difference for those wishing to remain secure at all times and give the pool cleaner a real test before making a decision.
If there was one that has to be pointed out, it would come in the form of the tweaking that has to be done along the way. What does this mean? The pool cleaner is tremendous with regards to how it cleans the pool, but getting it to work as needed can take time.
Yes, one could just pop it open and install it as needed, but that wouldn't optimize the process for your pool. The goal is to make sure the connections are being checked to ensure the speed and power being produced is at the highest level possible.
Even without doing this, the pool cleaner is going to do a wonderful job. This is a con that has to be listed, but one that is not going to have a serious impact on the overall quality of the cleaner and its performance. You will still enjoy it from the word 'go'.
It is also important to remain diligent with regards to how the pool cleaner travels around the pool. It won't get onto the steps, but certain pool sizes could lead it to get stuck in the drain. This is a rare occurrence, but one should be prepared for this as the cleaner is designed to be as meticulous as possible.
Quality. Precision. Power. These are all qualities you are going to appreciate from this pool cleaner. It is a comprehensive solution without a doubt and a must have for those who are tired of dealing with dirty water. A pool that is not clean is a pool you are not going to want to swim in.
Make sure you are considering this pool cleaner as it has the ability to provide significant results on a regular basis.
All Baracuda Automatic Pool Cleaner reviews have the same to say. It is exceptional and a necessity for those who desire quality. This is the charm of the Baracuda G3 W03000 Pool Cleaner.


Often described as an upscale community, Annadale sits on the South Shore of Staten Island.
During the late twentieth century, the construction of Annadale townhouses began. With this, Annadale was split and the southeast corner began to be known as "Southeast Annadale". Down the road, builders started constructing detached custom houses instead of townhouses. See homes for sale on Nicolosi Dr. and Nicolosi Loop. In 1860, a railway station was built in the area, connecting it to what is now the Staten Island Railway. The treasurer of this railroad was Stephen Seguine, a Huguenot (or member of France's Protestant church). Not too long after the station opened, it was named after Mr. Seguine's wife, Anna Seguine.
In 1898, when Staten Island became one of the boroughs of New York City, the neighborhood itself used the name of the station and has since been known as Annadale.During the early 1700's, most of the roads on Staten Island were given names. Many of them were named after the owners of the property or natural features of the area, such as Arbutus Road. Others, such as Road to Richmondtown, were named for the point to which they led. Seguine Avenue and Poillon Avenue were named after Huguenot family's, who lived in the area. Immigrants from Spain purchased land on the shoreline in Annadale in 1923.For several decades, this secluded community was known as "Spanish Camp".


Just in Time for Christmas...Free Reads!
So, here's the thing: I had this prologue I wrote for DARK AND STARS (Serengeti Book 2) that I really liked but, for a lot of reasons, didn't end up fitting with the rest of the book. The tone was different, the characters were different, and at the end of the day, the book didn't really need that prologue so I axed it during the last round of edits.
Interested? Well, head on over to Wattpad and check my little prologue/short story out. It's free--totally, completely, 100% no strings attached--so what do you have to lose?!
Some of you may remember the Author Spotlight I did on Reddit Books last year (if not, there's a post on here somehwere all about it). Anywho, I had such a great time interacting with readers and other interested parties that I'm heading back for a second help. So, head on over to Reddit Books this Saturday, 17 December 2016 and hang out with me or a while. I'll be chatting and taking questions between 11AM and 6PM US EST. Obviously, I'll be talking a lot about SERENGETI and DARK AND STARS, but come on out and ask me anything. I'm here for you guys!
Those of you who read my blog regularly will remember that Serengeti won an AudioFile Magazine Earbuds award a few months back. That was huge and thanks in large part to the narration of the multi-talented Elizabeth Wiley. Well, AudioFile did me one better and picked Serengeti as one of the Best AudioBooks of 2016. It's a huge honor to have my little book listed alongside Joe Hill's work, and those from several other notable and well-known authors. You can check out the list in its entirety by clicking the document file link below.