text:
LG webOS Wish List
No cable or SAT TV
By Ralf Beck
November 15, 2021 in LG webOS Wish List
Ralf Beck
Since the future for TV is not any more cable or SAT TV and many people are moving to IP based TV provider I'm a little bit confused that a smart TV is not giving the possibility to start the TV with an ip based TV app and always falling back to old fashioned systems whenever you stop Netflix, start the system, pushing the guide button on the remote control and whatsoever. SMART would give the possibility to choose whatever you want
Ralf Beck 2 posts
Alley Cat 1 post
I agree with this so much! My TV blasts loud static every time I start it up. At first it was a mild annoyance but now it's starting to drive me crazy!
On 1/15/2022 at 6:05 AM, Alley Cat said:
Anyone who has the same topic?
Any chance to upgrade from webOS 3 to 4 for uj635v?
By qUArtEx
Hi to all!
I'm really new into this and have a problem. My 2018 LG 55UJ635V-ZF has only webOS 3 (latest; ethernet-automatic download) an i can't use airplay or miracast. The apps i found in the store for mirroring are only pay2use to use this needed feature for me.
On the LG Homepage i can't find an upgrade for my TV an maybe is my tv really to old for upgrades or am i wrong?
Maybe someone can help me out or bring some light for me in this.
I also found the suggestions on this site for the firmware 4.70.70 (for the UJ's), but i can't download....error.
sorry for my bad english 🙂
thx for your help, quartex.
LG Introduces 4K Smart Camera Solution for Healthcare Environments
New Video Camera Solution With LG webOS Facilitates Convenient
Medical Staff-Patient Interactions, Day and Night
SEOUL, Jan. 26, 2023 — LG Electronics (LG) is unveiling its Smart Cam Pro (model AN-VC22PR), a 4K video camera designed for use in hospitals and healthcare centers. LG Smart Cam Pro delivers sharp, clear image quality with or without the lights on, allowing seamless video communications at any time of day or night. The new model also presents healthcare solution providers with customizability through the integration of LG's versatile webOS platform.
LG Smart Cam Pro incorporates a 4K RGB main camera and a 4K night vision camera, each offering crisp, ultra-high definition (3,840 x 2,160) images1 and 4x digital zoom. The device also implements LG's HDR effect, which adjusts color and contrast to make the subject easier to see, even when they are backlit by strong, natural or artificial light. When paired with a TV/display2 in the patient rooms, LG Smart Cam Pro with customized solution makes it possible for medical staff to complete their rounds virtually and ascertain if a patient needs specific support before physically attending to them. Also, after accepting a call placed through LG Smart Cam Pro, the screen of the recipient's TV3 switches from the content being viewed to the camera feed, then switches back once the call has ended.
Featuring a compact, space-saving design with a foldable mount, LG Smart Cam Pro can be placed on or near a TV or display. The device has a subtle, dark silver casing and a gloss-black front featuring a manual privacy cover that can be moved over the main lens at the user's discretion. To provide clear communications between patients and medical staff, LG Smart Cam Pro is equipped with a built-in 4-way microphone system with echo cancellation and noise reduction.
Additionally, LG's 4K smart camera leverages the LG webOS platform, which provides a convenient user experience with the ability to add new and customized services in the future, and a Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. high-performance system on chip (SoC) for the Internet of Things (IoT) – capable of providing an excellent video experience and intensive Edge AI applications – to deliver seamless software services4 for healthcare solutions.
"Utilizing both Qualcomm Technologies' system-on-chip innovations and the LG webOS platform will allow the LG Smart Cam Pro to transform the way that medical services are performed across the globe," said Jeffery Torrance, senior vice president and general manager of Connected Smart Systems (CSS), Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "LG and Qualcomm Technologies are continuing to advance IoT camera technology for consumers and businesses alike."
"Based on the LG webOS platform and Qualcomm's advanced SoC, the new LG Smart Cam Pro is a 4K video camera solution intended to provide a convenient means of medical staff-patient communication in busy healthcare settings," said Paik Ki-mun, senior vice president and head of the Information Display business unit of LG Electronics Business Solutions Company. "A reliable innovation partner, LG will continue to provide a wide range of product lineups designed to meet the specific needs of diverse business sectors."
The LG Smart Cam Pro will be introduced at ISE 2023, which will be held in Barcelona, Spain from January 31 to February 3. To learn more about the innovation, visit
link hidden, please login to view. # # #
1 Image definition may vary depending on the network environment.
2 Available on a TV/display connected via HDMI.
3 Available on compatible LG commercial TVs when connected via MPI port.
4 Performance may vary depending on the network environment.
New 2022 LG smart TV can't move HD channels in UK to 1 to 5 from 101 to 105
By Libbo2003
Hi just got a new QNED LG to replace 2021 Nano tv
the problem is I can't move my HD channels down to channels 1 to5.
the program manager does not have the function to move channels like my old Nano tv which is only a year older.
is there anyway I can get around this strange function?
LIFE'S GOOD AWARD Winners Present Warm-Hearted Tech Solutions for a Better Future
Award's Final Four Teams Joined by Renowned ESG Scholars and Company's
Executives at LIFE'S GOOD AWARD Conference in South Korea
SEOUL, Jan. 17, 2023 — LG Electronics (LG) has announced the final winner of its LIFE'S GOOD AWARD, supporting global innovators taking on challenges to help create a Better Life for All. The Grand Prix was awarded to Dot Inc. from South Korea.
The jury ranked the final four teams after each of the teams pitched their innovative solutions in the award's final round, held during the LIFE'S GOOD AWARD Conference at LG Sciencepark in Seoul, Korea, on January 16. LG's own executives leading the company's ESG management, CSO Lee Sam-soo and CTO Dr. Kim Byoung-hoon, were present as well.
The award embodies LG's ESG vision of a Better Life for All, aiming to foster a brighter future for the planet and people. The company aimed to solicit ideas for environmental sustainability and accessibility, two key focuses of its long-term ESG initiative, the Better Life Plan 2030. The ingenious solutions presented by the four winners illustrate the power and potential of tech-for-good to spread positive impact on the world.
The winning teams are: Dot Inc. of South Korea (Grand Prix/USD 700,000 in prize money); SOLUTUM of Israel (Gold/USD 200,000); Day1Lab of South Korea (Silver/USD 100,000); and NONA Technologies of the United States (Bronze/USD 50,000).
LIFE'S GOOD AWARD Winning Solutions
Dot Inc.: developed an assistive information display device for the visually impaired composed of 2,400 braille pins – or 'dots' – which move up and down. The novel device converts images, maps and other diverse digital information from connected devices such as computers and mobile phones into a display for visually impaired users to comprehend. SOLUTUM: developed a novel plastic material that dissolves in water at ambient temperature and then biodegrades leaving no microplastic or toxin residue. Day1Lab: created an organic polymer plastic which completely biodegrades in freshwater after about two weeks, and in the earth after about two months. NONA Technologies: developed a desalination solution leveraging Ion Concentration Polarization (ICP) to remove viruses, bacteria, salt and debris from water. Along with the final four teams, the LIFE'S GOOD AWARD Conference was graced by the esteemed members of the award's jury, the LG's Life's Good Committee, consisting of the company's executives and respected scholars in the area of responsible business management; Alex Edmans, a professor at London Business School, Christopher Marquis, a professor at Cambridge Judge Business School and Hyun S. Shin, a professor at Hanyang Business School and a director of the Collective Impact Center at Hanyang University.
The conference saw various attendees – including members of the public and local university students as well as LG employees and partners – and was livestreamed so that audiences from all around the globe could tune into the proceedings. During the morning, all four teams gave a final presentation and participated in a Q&A session, while the jury provided feedback based on the impact, innovation and sustainability of each solution. The afternoon featured an awards ceremony honoring the four teams and announcing their final placings, as well as special lectures delivered by Professor Edmans, Professor Marquis and Professor Shin.
"We will continue to pursue solutions assisting the visually impaired, and thanks to LG's support, we will be able to achieve this at a greater scale and in less time than we otherwise would have," said Ahrum Choi of Dot Inc., Grand Prix winner of the LIFE'S GOOD AWARD. "We are so grateful for this experience and are looking forward to collaborating with LG in the future, a company that really shares our desire to make the world a better place."
"We will continue to collaborate with like-minded innovators as we forge ahead on a shared journey to create a sustainable future for all, embracing the company's Life's Good vision," said Lee Sam-soo, Chief Strategy Officer at LG Electronics.
Meanwhile, LG will carry out ESG efforts spearheaded by the Better Life Plan 2030 and continue to share the initiative with internal employees and external stakeholders in order to bolster the company's sustainable business practices.
For all the latest on LG's ongoing efforts to realize a Better Life for All, stay tuned to
link hidden, please login to view.
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Select a procedure to learn more.
Dr. Drew D. Howard is a bariatric surgeon in The Woodlands and Houston, Texas and a member of Surgical Group of the Woodlands and Houston Bariatric Surgery. Dr. Howard offers a full range of bariatric weight loss surgery options including: gastric bypass surgery, sleeve gastrectomy and adjustable gastric bands (aka - Realize Band or LAP-BAND).
Dr. Howard is glad to also now offer to his patients the gastric balloon. Dr. Howard is one of first in the city of Houston to be placing the ReShape gastric balloon in patients.
Dr. Howard is board certified by the American Board of Surgery, and the only fellowship trained certified surgeon by the American Board of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons in Montgomery County. He believes that taking care of his patients is a privilege and it is important to work with them to find the best possible treatment.
He focuses on developing a full weight loss program while utilizing a comprehensive bariatric team approach to treat his patients for the best results and to minimize their postoperative pain through small incision surgery.
A nutritionist who can help the patient understand what they're eating now and what they will need to eat after weight loss surgery.
A psychologist who can be sure the patient understands their decision to have weight loss surgery.
Dr. Howard treats patients from all around the state of Texas and the greater Houston area including The Woodlands, Conroe, Kingwood, Spring, Huntsville, and College Station. You may attend one of the free informational bariatric seminars or may view this webinar to learn more about Dr. Howard and the surgical weight loss options available.
Registration isn't required to attend, but if you'd like more information, call (713) 448-7827 for seminars held at Memorial Hermann, or (936) 266-2279 for seminars held at St. Luke's.
Free seminars are held at Memorial Hermann every third Wednesday of the month at 6:00 p.m. For questions please call (713) 448-7827.
Our bariatric coordinator is fluent in both English and Spanish.
Dr. Howard partners with Bariatric Advantage to provide his patients with quality vitamins & supplements to support proper nutrition before and after bariatric surgery.
Copyright ©2019 Drew D. Howard M.D. All Rights Reserved.


Also, certain website platforms have RequireJS built in (Magento being a very popular one).
It requires a bit more work to get Juicer working on these systems, so we've built an example implementation and uploaded it to our github.
If you can think of a way to improve this example, feel free to open a pull request!


text:
Lana Del Rey Performs Two New Songs With Jack Antonoff
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
News December 5, 2018 10:34 PM By Julia Gray
Lana Del Rey's Jack Antonoff-produced album Norman Fucking Rockwell is due out next year. So far, we've heard "Venice Bitch," "Mariners Apartment Complex," and previews of "Slyvia Plath" and "How To Disappear." Tonight, Lana and Antonoff took the stage at Antonoff's annual Ally Coalition benefit concert. Together, they debuted two new "country songs," as Lana described them. One of them is supposedly called "I Must Be Stupid for Being So Happy" and the other is "Hey Baby Blue." Watch a clip from the performance below.
Julia Gray Contributor juliagrayok

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
<?php

namespace Cocorico\ContactBundle\Mailer;

use Cocorico\ContactBundle\Entity\Contact;

class TwigSwiftMailer implements MailerInterface
{
    protected $mailer;
    protected $twig;
    protected $parameters;
    protected $templates;
    protected $fromEmail;
    protected $contactEmail;
    protected $locale;

    /**
     * @param \Swift_Mailer     $mailer
     * @param \Twig_Environment $twig
     * @param array             $parameters
     * @param array             $templates
     */
    public function __construct(
        \Swift_Mailer $mailer,
        \Twig_Environment $twig,
        array $parameters,
        array $templates
    ) {
        $this->mailer = $mailer;
        $this->twig = $twig;

        /** parameters */
        $this->parameters = $parameters['parameters'];
        $this->fromEmail = $parameters['parameters']['cocorico_contact_from_email'];
        $this->contactEmail = $parameters['parameters']['cocorico_contact_contact_email'];
        $this->templates = $templates;
        $this->locale = $parameters['parameters']['cocorico_locale'];
    }

    /**
     * @param Contact $contact
     */
    public function sendContactMessage(Contact $contact)
    {
        $template = $this->templates['templates']['contact_message'];

        $context = array(
            'contact' => $contact,
            'user_locale' => $this->locale,
        );

        $this->sendMessage($template, $context, $this->fromEmail, $this->contactEmail);
    }

    /**
     * @param string $templateName
     * @param array  $context
     * @param string $fromEmail
     * @param string $toEmail
     */
    protected function sendMessage($templateName, $context, $fromEmail, $toEmail)
    {
        $context['user_locale'] = $this->locale;
        $context['locale'] = $this->locale;
        $context['app']['request']['locale'] = $this->locale;

        /** @var \Twig_Template $template */
        $template = $this->twig->loadTemplate($templateName);
        $context = $this->twig->mergeGlobals($context);

        $subject = $template->renderBlock('subject', $context);
        $context["message"] = $template->renderBlock('message', $context);

        $textBody = $template->renderBlock('body_text', $context);
        $htmlBody = $template->renderBlock('body_html', $context);

        $message = \Swift_Message::newInstance()
            ->setSubject($subject)
            ->setFrom($fromEmail)
            ->setTo($toEmail);

        if (!empty($htmlBody)) {
            $message
                ->setBody($htmlBody, 'text/html')
                ->addPart($textBody, 'text/plain');
        } else {
            $message->setBody($textBody);
        }

        $this->mailer->send($message);
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Bush medicine comprises traditional medicines used by Indigenous Australians, being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Indigenous people have been using various components of native Australian flora and some fauna as medicine for thousands of years, and many still turn to healers in their communities for medications that provide physical and spiritual healing.

Traditional methods of healing have underwritten the development of non-Indigenous medicines throughout history. One notable example would be the development of seasickness medication which enabled the Invasion of Normandy in World War II.

Today, traditional healers and medicines have been incorporated into modern clinical settings to help treat sick Indigenous people within some healthcare networks.

Overview

Traditional medicine has been defined as the sum of the total knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health, as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness. Bush medicine is also connected to the holistic worldview in such a way that the interplay between the physical, emotional, social and spiritual aspects is crucial in attaining wellbeing.

The modern world and Aboriginal cultures have differing approaches for health. Whilst conventional medicine deals with direct causes of illness and science-based views of health, the Aboriginal view on health as defined by the National Aboriginal Health Strategy considers "not just the physical well being of the individual, but the social, emotional and cultural well-being of the whole community. This is the whole-of-life view and it also includes the cyclical concept of life-death-life".

Broadly, most human societies see the manifestation of illness as natural, human or supernatural. According to Patrick Maher, the traditional Aboriginal model of illness sees social and spiritual dysfunction as a cause of illness, while supernatural intervention is regarded as the main cause of serious illness. Aboriginal concepts of illness and pain and its causes are quite different from western medicine; for example, a severe headache may be attributed to an evil spirit having taken up residence in the head. It is also believed that damage to sacred sites associated with Dreamtime mythology may cause serious illness. The basic structures and more complex systems of belief need to be understood before the role of bush medicine or traditional healers can be grasped.

Generally, bush medicine in Australia is made from plant materials, such as bark, leaves and seeds, although animal products were used as well. A major component of traditional medicine is herbal medicine, which is the use of natural plant substances to treat or prevent illness. Aboriginal remedies vary among the many Aboriginal groups in different parts of the country. There is no single set of Aboriginal medicines and remedies, just as there is no single Aboriginal language.

Remedies
Herbal medicine is a major component of traditional medicine. The Aboriginal people view E. alternifolia, a plant considered by some Australians as an invasive weed, as a valued medicinal plant and some carry the leaves with them. They use it to treat symptoms of the common cold and flu, with some also viewing it as a cure.

Other plants used in bush medicine includes the leaves of the emu bush, which some Northern Territory Aboriginal people used to sterilise sores and cuts. It could also be gargled when necessary. The stinging nettle has also been used in some Aboriginal bush medicine to treat paralysis and rheumatism.

Mitchell Park, now within Cattai National Park and situated near Sydney Basin in NSW, had many plants that were used as remedies for Aboriginal people. Nine species of eucalyptus present in the park could act as remedies. The red gum kino is known to be rich in astringent tannins. Additionally, this park also contained native plants that were actually used by early European settlers. The nectar-laden liquid from banksia flowers was used as a cough syrup, and from the native grapes (Cissus hypoglauca) a throat gargle was made.

The use of animals and other living things may also be used in bush medicine. In Warrabri, Northern Territory, one cure for earache is squeezing the fatty part of a witchetty grub into the sore ear. In Uluru, the cure involves squeezing rabbit urine into the ear.

Healers
Aboriginal people believe that their healers, their "medicine men", have special powers which are bestowed upon them by their spiritual ancestors to heal. They have the roles of both a general practitioner and a psychiatrist, healing both the body and mind.

For the Aṉangu of the Western Desert cultural bloc, practitioners of bush medicine are known as ngangkari. They cure illnesses through healing rituals that may involve magic. An example of such ritual would be singing, massaging and sucking to remove a foreign object that has entered the body, and invoking the power of the war god Ancestor Ngurunderi to heal the wounds of soldiers caused by spears and clubs. Aside from physical healing, ngangkaris also act as mental health practitioners, as they try to resolve conflicts within the community and offer advice as well. With every sickness, in addition to giving a diagnosis and advice on suitable remedies, the duty of the ngangkari is also to assess the impact of the sickness to the community.

Many Aboriginal people choose to be treated by bush medicine instead of, or as well as, Western treatments for a number of reasons. These include: some Aboriginal people feel uncomfortable and out of place in a sterilised, Western clinic; Aboriginal bush medicine incorporates physical, spiritual and emotional healing, whereas Western medicine does not; and they believe that by using these treatments they are being drawn closer to their ancestors.

Modern and non-Indigenous use

20th century use

A medicine developed by Aboriginal peoples of the eastern states of Australia, from the soft corkwood tree, or Duboisia myoporoides, was used by the Allies in World War II to stop soldiers getting seasick when they sailed across the English Channel on their way to liberate France and defeat Hitler during the Invasion of Normandy. It had been flown over to Europe and developed in great secrecy by Canadian researchers, before the "mystery pill" was dispensed to every participating soldier for the massive military operation, which was pivotal to winning the war but had been delayed several times because of seasickness. Later, it was found that the same medicine could be used in the production of the tropane alkaloid drugs, scopolamine and hyoscyamine, which are useful for eye surgery, and a multi-million dollar industry was built in Queensland based on this substance. As a bush medicine, the substance was or is used by various Aboriginal groups for catching fish, as part of ceremonies, and as a sleeping potion, among other uses.

A 1969 study reported that variety of bush medicine techniques were still being used. In Western Australia and the Northern Territory, eucalypt kino (gum) was drunk for influenza, colds and coughs.

A 1994 survey reported that 22% of the 15,000 Aboriginal people from all over Australia in the sample had practised bush medicine in the previous six months.

21st century use
Traditions in southern and eastern Australia have largely been lost, but efforts are being made by anthropologists to record traditions from Aboriginal people in central and north-western Australia. In the Northern Territory, however, it is still relatively well-preserved. Ngangkaris are said to be present in health clinics to perform rituals and give medical advice when necessary.

The use of bush medicine and natural remedies in Australia has declined, partly due to the loss of information. This can primarily be attributed to the effects of colonisation, and policies made to eradicate Aboriginal people's and their culture such as the Stolen Generation. In Aboriginal culture they do not pass on information through writing, but through singing and dancing ceremonies, which are becoming far rarer. This oral traditions means records do not last without a living culture. Without these ceremonies, the tens of thousands of years of knowledge that the Aboriginal elders hold can be lost.

In 2019, the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network developed the first formalised, clinically endorsed mechanism to support ngangkaris working in accessed in acute, rehab, and palliative care inhospitals including Lyell McEwin and Modbury hospitals, as well as other units, including mental health facilities. Traditional healing methods used include Pampuni (healing touch), Mapampa (blowing), and Marali (spiritual healing and bush medicines) to complement mainstream treatment.

, research into various types of bush medicine is being carried out by Central Queensland University in consultation with Ghungalu elder Uncle Steve Kemp, who has been providing plant materials including gumby gumby and Alstonia constricta (bitterbark) parts for the project. The study will include examination of the methods used to extract and process the plants.

See also

 Ngangkari, traditional healers of Anangu
 Prehistoric medicine
 Puckowe, a spirit who comes to the aid of medicine men

References

Further reading

Medicine
Medicine
Biologically-based therapies

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
HotSpot Therapeutics
Allokraft
Following Nature's lead
by Jonathan Montagu
Lately it seems that allostery is constantly in the news, especially in stories covering a series of high-profile financings by companies touting a range of approaches and a steady stream of news from top tier academic institutions. The interest in allostery is driven by a desire to drug targets that remain inaccessible to the current pharmacopeia. Allostery allows us to reach beyond the limits of traditional drug discovery. In this post, I want to make the case for why the conventional 'active site' approach to drug discovery is challenging and why Nature might give us clues to a solution.
Problems with the conventional approach to drug discovery
Conventional approaches to drug discovery generally focus on the active site of the protein, the 'engine' where fuel molecules such as ATP are consumed or where chemistry is performed on the enzyme's substrate. Unfortunately, the active site presents significant challenges for a number of reasons:
• Drug molecules must compete with very high concentrations of substrate (the engine's fuel,) and this can lead to many orders of magnitude reduction in potency
• Nature performs chemistry in a select number of ways, so even if a molecule can successfully target an active site, it is likely that the molecule will cross react with a series of other proteins, leading to side effects and poor tolerability in humans
• Active sites are often either very lipophilic (i.e. greasy) or charged, leading to medicines with similarly poor physical properties. Such molecules can be very difficult to formulate into low dose, once-a-day pills that lead to good patient compliance
In addition, many proteins lack active sites entirely, meaning that a large class of proteins are out of reach with this approach.
Nature as the inspiration for drug discovery
At HotSpot, we are pursuing a new approach to drug discovery that uses Nature as its blueprint. Nature has long been the inspiration for innovation, and in many cases this has led to the creation of entirely new industries. Watching birds fly inspired the first aviators to build wings and then airplanes; the sun prompted physicists to ask how stars can create seemingly limitless energy, which in turn led to scientists to harnessing fusion here on earth; and the human brain provided the blueprint for neural networks and the field of machine learning.
A similar mindset can be applied in the field of drug discovery.
Over many millions of years, evolution has developed precise ways of controlling protein function. These usually involve chemical modifications of the protein that lead to protein rearrangements or interactions with new partner proteins, resulting in the inhibition or activation of a cellular function.
Cells take advantage of a diverse menu of chemical modifications, including adding or removing negatively charged phosphates (phosphorylation), carbon-containing groups (methylation, acetylation) and longer fatty acid chains (myristolation).
It is remarkable to think that adding just four atoms of a phosphate group can dictate whether a protein a thousand times larger is active, but such is the precision with which Nature orchestrates proteins within the body. Understanding exactly how Nature's regulatory chemistry works is at the heart of HotSpot's approach to drug discovery. If we can uncover the mechanisms that Nature itself uses to control proteins, we can design small-molecule medicines that replicate the same mechanisms. In many cases we are able to generates medicines with similar precision and potency.
Harnessing ACC's hotspot
These is good reason to believe that such an approach is feasible and could lead to important new medicines. An important example exists in the metabolic enzyme, Acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC), an enzyme responsible for the rate-limiting step of fat synthesis. Addressing fat accumulation in the liver is an important step in treating diseases such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which led to significant industry interest in ACC. Animal models that lacked the gene encoding ACC showed broad improvements in metabolic and liver health, leading to a gold rush to develop an effective ACC-targeting therapeutic. The pharmaceutical industry spent about 20 years focused on the active site of ACC without success, invariably leading to non-selective molecules with poor drug properties.
In her previous life at Nimbus Therapeutics, HotSpot Co-Founder Gerry Harriman pioneered an approach to drug a regulatory hotspot on ACC. Nature regulates ACC via the phosphorylation of a flexible "tail" at one end of the protein. Once phosphorylated, the tail binds tightly into the interface between two of the protein's subunits. The binding of the tail prevents the two protein subunits from coming together, thereby inhibiting the protein.
Nature regulates ACC through binding of phospho-domain to regulatory region or 'hotspot'. Source: Harriman et al. PNAS (2016); Svensson et al. Nature Medicine (2016)
The Nimbus team, collaborating with computational chemistry leader Schrödinger, recognized that small drugs could be created that replicate the effect of the phosphorylated tail. Using knowledge of the protein's molecular structure and computer-based drug discovery methods, Gerry's team developed the first hotspot-targeted molecules, differentiated from the active-site forerunners. These molecules were exquisitely selective since the natural regulatory site was not present elsewhere in the cell. The inhibitors showed dramatically-improved pharmacology, in part because potency was maintained in vivo but also because the molecules disrupted how the ACC protein came together in a complex. The idea that a tiny small molecule can prevent two sizeable proteins coming together may seem remarkable, but the natural regulatory mechanism works in exactly the same way.
In addition, the pocket on the ACC protein has never been targeted before with small molecules. It represents completely novel biological real estate that allows chemists to move away from the overused active-site chemical libraries to fresh new chemotypes. In the hands of the Nimbus team, this led to molecules with pristine chemical properties enabling the drug substance to be formulated as a low dose, once-a-day oral pill.
Armed with these desirable properties, the ACC hotspot inhibitors were able to progress rapidly to clinical studies and were shortly thereafter acquired by Gilead. The ACC hotspot inhibitor is currently in Phase 2b studies for NASH having shown striking effects in smaller studies.null
Systematic discovery of hotspots
The success of the ACC program led our founders to consider how regulatory hotspots could be uncovered systematically. Our team has developed a platform leveraging computer-based and experimental tools to identify new protein sites and design molecules that serve as the basis for new drug discovery projects.
Machine learning approaches are used to uncover proteins that are regulated through specific control mechanisms and chemical modifications. The substrate for machine learning is the entire corpus of biomedical literature comprising 30 million publications, which are evaluated and retrained by a panel of experts. Protein structures derived from x-ray structures are then used to pinpoint the regions of proteins involved in regulatory function. HotSpot has uncovered approximately 200,000 pockets each of which has been scored as a regulatory binding site. Each pocket is then evaluated for known links to protein function using a broad range of mutational databases, and its suitability for small molecule drug targeting is determined.
The list of in silico-ranked pockets has led to important insights for our team. We observe groupings of pockets by structure function, insights within and across target families and stand-alone pockets with previously unknown function.
HotSpot is focusing on a number of high-value target classes that have been under-exploited by current chemical matter and drug discovery approaches. For example, within the kinase class, HotSpot is focusing on the highly validated but unsuccessfully-drugged targets S6 Kinase (S6K) and PKC-theta.
Unfortunately, it is clear that conventional chemistry libraries focused on active sites are not going to be successful for regulatory hotspots. A recent analysis performed by our team indicates that only 3% of commercially available compounds are predicted to interact with regulatory regions. Given this, we are developing our own library of chemical scaffolds biased towards the unique properties of hotspots along with specialized assays to assess hotspot binding in vitro and in cells.
Our strategy is succeeding. Our scientists have delivered the first and only allosteric inhibitors for a series of important proteins, including S6K and PKC-theta. Initial in vitro and in vivo pharmacology experiments indicate that hotspot inhibitors are indeed structurally differentiated compared to traditional active site inhibitors and can be exploited using specially designed chemical libraries to identify molecules that specifically bind the hotspot.
Taken together, our approach uncovers unexploited parts of proteins and then generates starting points for chemistry. Our platform, called SpotFinder™, delivers target-molecule pairs for biological pathways that have remain inaccessible to date. We are now positioning our programs to move rapidly into clinical trials.
Jonathan Montagu
HotSpot Therapeutics, Inc
50 Milk St, 16th floor
Copyright © 2018 HotSpot Therapeutics – All rights reserved – Made with ❤ by Eatch


text:
Norfolk County ist der Name folgender Countys:

in den Vereinigten Staaten:
 Norfolk County (Massachusetts)
 Norfolk County (Virginia) (aufgehoben)

in Kanada:
 Norfolk County (Ontario)


smapse.com News Learning English in the Emirates became easier - the abolition of visas to citizens from Russia!
Learning English in the Emirates became easier - the abolition of visas to citizens from Russia!
We are pleased to inform you that on January 29, 2017, the Sheikh of Dubai approved a Cabinet resolution that exempts Russian citizens from issuing visas to the UAE in advance. Based on this Decree, Russians will be able to obtain visas for a period of 30 days at all points of entry into the UAE.
If necessary, the visa can be extended once more for another 30 days, at an additional cost.
From February 1, 2017, Russians planning a trip to the UAE, it is enough to approach the migration control sta- tions, Put a 30-day visa.
We remind you that at schoolES Dubai special action is in place, thanks to which you can book an English course with significant benefits.
Leave your request in the form of feedback and our specialists will gladly respond to all Questions and help with the choice of the program.


That might be the best part of Fire Pro Wrestling World, too. Lots of stories are going to be told without much of a need for a story mode, although this new expansion has one. Each match is set to offer marks much of the technical drama of a traditional New Japan Pro Wrestling experience. That, despite the NJPW brand being new to the franchise and a select add-on for the PS4 release on August 28th — which happens to be my sister's birthday, so I should buy her the game so she can give it to me. Actually, she loves wrestling games and 2 gals around her age playing the game (with Kota Ibushi and Juice Robinson, to my wonder) just before us at Anime Expo looked like they were having more fun with FPWW than we did.
Fire Pro Wrestling World is a real sim that doesn't solely depend on reversals, a strategy game designed as an in-ring brawler that will probably take a good hour (or 10) to get the hang of — and perhaps become even a preference. Once players shifting over from the 2K world "git gud" in the Fire Pro arenas and enjoy all the little nuances they absolutely will not see in another wrestling title, there's a game deep in customization to be had, too. This is the element of FPPW this wrestling critic is interested in the most, and wasn't yet able to explore.
The game's throwback graphics, a very cool-looking mish-mash of 2D sprites and 3D ring, appeared far more impressive and detailed than I imagined, that, despite some screwy in-game mechanics, I definitely feel compelled after my lengthy first bout. But being able to do whatever the Sabu Hell I please in the game — from having exploding ring deathmatches to personalizing mat logos to creating/sharing countless "name" wrestlers from around the world, including my beloved local PWG — is really what this franchise will be all about. I'll no doubt Gotch Piledrive countless hours of my own squared-circle sandbox with Spike Chunsoft's Fire Pro Wrestling World!
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Manal Younus is a writer, performance poet and creative producer. As a Muslim woman with Eritrean origins living in Australia, the young artist discovers and strengthens her identity while inciting thought and discussions amongst her audiences in schools, workplaces, conferences and communities.
Her background in community work has seen her create inclusive, progressive spaces. In 2015 Manal self published her first book of poetry titled Reap, and has since travelled the country and internationally performing her work.
She has been featured at Adelaide's TedX Conference, appeared on ABC's Q&A and represented Australia at Malaysia's Georgetown Literary Festival.


A frequent guest with leading orchestras worldwide, Ilan Volkov works regularly with a wide range of repertoire and ensembles, and appears in many of the foremost Festivals of the world, including Salzburg, Edinburgh, BBC Proms, Lucerne and Berlin. Highlights of his schedule include performances with the BBC Symphony and Stuttgart Opera, as well as CBSO, SWR Stuttgart, Bayerische Rundkunft, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, WDR Köln and Oslo Philharmonic orchestras.
Equally interested in opera, Ilan has conducted Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" for San Francisco Opera, Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream "at the Glyndebourne Festival, "Peter Grimes" for Washington National Opera and Glyndebourne Festival, Kurt Weill's "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" for Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Bartók's "Duke Bluebeard's Castle" with the Israeli Opera, Gerald Barry's "Importance of being Ernest" at the Lincoln Centre with New York Philharmonic. In 2018 he will be conducting Bach's "Actus Tragicus" for Stuttgart Opera.
Considered to be the electricity powering "new music", Ilan Volkov launched "Tectonics" in Reykjavik, Glasgow Tectonics followed shortly afterwards. Tectonics' vibrant and diverse programming, reflecting Ilan's omnivorous interests in experimental, free improvisation, electronica, folk, world music and new hip-hop, has now been presented 21 times with regular festivals in Adelaide, Oslo, New York, Tel Aviv, Krakow, Athens, Glasgow and Reykjavik.
His diverse discography includes projects with Hyperion including two albums of Stravinsky's ballet scores, comprising "Jeu de cartes", "Agon", "Orpheus", "Le baiser de la fée" and "Scènes de ballet"; Britten's complete works for piano and orchestra, a Gramophone Award-winning recording with Steven Osborne, and a critically acclaimed survey of Liszt's three "Funeral Odes" with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra released in the composer's anniversary year. Volkov's NMC disc of works by Jonathan Harvey, "Body Mandala", received a Gramophone Award in 2008 while his recording for the Aeon label of Harvey's "Speakings" won the prestigious Monaco Prize and the Prix Caecilia de l'Union de la Presse Musicale Belge.


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Q: Find point which sum of distances to set of other points is minimal I have one set (X) of points (not very big let's say 1-20 points) and the second (Y), much larger set of points. I need to choose some point from Y which sum of distances to all points from X is minimal.
I came up with an idea that I would treat X as a vertices of a polygon and find centroid of this polygon, and then I will choose a point from Y nearest to the centroid. But I'm not sure whether centroid minimizes sum of its distances to the vertices of polygon, so I'm not sure whether this is a good way? Is there any algorithm for solving this problem?
Points are defined by geographical coordinates.

A: Centroid of the polygon might not be right, but such a point exists.
In the paper: n-ellipses and the minimum distance problem, it is shown that if the points (called foci, your set of X) are not collinear then

*

*There is a unique point (called center) for which the sum of distances are minimized. This point is such that the sum of unit vectors from that point to the foci is zero!

*The locus of points for which the sum of distances is constant is a convex curve (called an n-ellipse) containing the center

*The n-ellipse for distance D completely contains the n-ellipse for any other distance D' for which D' < D.
Thus you can do some type of hill climbing algorithm to find the center.
Of course these n-ellipses are not necessarily circles, so just picking the point closest to the center might not work, but might be a good approximation.
You can perhaps do some preprocessing on the 20 points (if those are fixed) to figure out a good partitioning scheme (based on the above information).
Hope that helps.

A: If you want to minimize the sum of the squares of the distances (not the sum of the distances), then the point that minimizes that sum is the average of the points in X.
Proof:
sum(squares of distances) = (x-x0)^2 + (y-y0)^2 + (x-x1)^2 + (y-y1)^2 + ...

d/dx sum(squares of distances) = 2(x-x0) + 2(x-x1) + ... = 2(Nx - x0 - x1 - ...)

the sum is minimized when the derivative is zero, which occurs when Nx = x0+x1+..., so x = (x0+x1+...)/N
The derivative is symmetric around this point, and the function is quadratic, so I'm pretty sure the closest point in Y to this average point is the best.
Minimizing the distances is harder, but I suspect the same algorithm, with more leeway in the set of Ys that you test, would work also.

A: Because you want the minimal sum of distances I believe that you can reduce the set of points X to its spatial mean. Then you can use a KDTree or some sort of spatial partitioning tree to find the point in Y closest to the spatial mean of X. Using a spatial partitioning tree can save a good bit of work compared to checking all the possible points.

A: Excuse me for suggesting brute force.
The way the question is posed we do not know where X,Y lie.
Suppose X is 30 points, Y is 1000 points.
Then for each point of Y sum 30 distances.
Altogether 30000 calculations, done in a jiffy.
This guarantees a minimum.
Finding some "center" of X and choosing the closest Y will be an approximate solution only.
The more interesting question is to find such a point for X alone. ignore Y.
For X three points only, the Fermat-Torichelli point solves the problem.

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Spring is finally on its way. The Crocus are up. The seedlings are well established, the bees are out and even the birds are singing. Our little cactus is so happy it has two flowers soaking in the sun.
First the crocuses peeked through the bare earth, then the daffodils began to toss their yellow manes joyfully in the warm breezes.


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Democrat or Republican?
Submitted by ANGELnWard14 on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 09:51.
For one moment; please try to educate an uneducated voter.....
Why should they choose to be a Republican or choose to be a Democrat? Explain with PARTY ONLY format---without divisely using one candidate as an example.
If you had five minutes to empower a voter with factual based splendor why they should support a party; what would you tell them?
I walked door to door a few times... the educational experience relative to talking to "Citizens vs VOTERS" was absolutely humbling. I heard it all..but reality speaks by the turnouts... and the reality is pretty ugly. People are completely DISENFRANCHISED, INTIMIDATED, and adversely affected by the political regime of our region. They have a long history of getting violated for speaking their truths and opinions on matters of significance in our community from the simple public forums to asking for politicians to do their jobs in the local community. They have been retaliated against; had their integrity and character devaluated by the regime, and in many cases; they have been used as pawns and stepping stones for the politicians. In addition to that; they have been labeled recklessly, bullied, and threatened. So, now, they do not even CARE about what happens in this arena. They are bitter, angry, and resentful of the historical and ongoing political practices that affect them and their community at large. They have been hit with the pay to play politics that have destroyed their senes of neighborhood stability and community. Their bottom line is the same as the politicians, What is in it for me? Why should I vote? Who cares? What are you going to do to make our lives better? If I vote for your candidate; will they stop harrassing me for not supporting the other candidate? If I tell you my opinion; will it make a difference? In most cases; they answer that themselves with a big, "NOPE!"
Meeting with citizens who are totally disconnected from the local politics and disgusted by the history is not easy. First; you get to hear the horror stories of how the politicians speak down to them. Second; you get to hear how they have been violated by retaliatory practices for not playing on the team of the current regime effectively. Third; you get to hear their excuses of how they don't have time for all of the politics. Fourth; you get to hear how many of them are so transient that they don't even have roots to vote. Fifth; you hear about how they are unable to get out to vote or that they didn't even know that it was voting day. Sixth; they don't know how to register to vote, didn't have time, or simply don't vote because they are a "FELON!" Seventh; they don't believe that their vote counts anyways.
I remember Santiago telling me that "non-voters don't matter." I wanted to strangle him. But that is true at the end of the line; for only the actual people who engaged their democratic rights to vote usually chronically engage the councilman's office. All the rest are just pawns. So, perhaps the non voters are right. (I personally don't believe this; but it's a great reflection of how the politicians treat them.)
So, I think back to the days of living in the community where it started with block club leadership, then it went up to Precinct Leadership for both parties, and upwards to the local councilman with public meetings that overflowed with citizen engagement for voting sessions and much more. Citizens once worked tirelessly to hold their local leadership accountable and to share up and down information to keep it's population INFORMED. Over the years; all of those public sharing sessions, one on one engagements, and citizen driven forums has been maligned with corruption that violated the citizens.
So, Republicans and Democrats.. please explain to the ignorant voters; what is in it for them to choose sides?
...............oh, I forgot.... there are more sides to the party system. Yet, at this time; in our community; only the R or D's matter on the ballot. By stance; the D's outweigh the R's. So, anyone playing politics would be an idiot to run on the R ballot by sheer numbers alone.
The voting bases that actually vote have LEARNED by trial and error---to play politics to acheive their missions-even unsuccessfully and getting burned many times over for supporting the 'wrong' candidates.
SO, WITHOUT DISCUSSING SPECIFIC CANDIDATES; CAN YOU PLEASE EDUCATE THE UNEDUCATED VOTER ON WHY TO CHOOSE WHICH PARTY?
JUST CURIOUS. :)
ANGELnWard14's blog
Why choose sides - EJB is contemplating as well
Submitted by lmcshane on Tue, 03/28/2017 - 07:29.
Eric J Brewer: This is why a lot of Democrats are telling the Cuyahoga County and Ohio Democratic Party to kiss their asses on that party loyalty bullshit. It's not a two-way street. Why is party chairman Stu Garson silent about a Democratic mayor's wild attacks on a Democratic judge?
South Euclid Mayor Georgine Welo's continued harassment of Judge Gayle Williams-Byers has moved into the realm of being far beyond the authority of the mayor's office. Ever since a majority of South Euclid voters decided that Williams-Byers was the best person to replace part-time Judge Patricia Kleri, Welo has sought to undo the results of the election. Her attacks on Williams-Byers have been maniacally relentless and questionably motivated.
Welo's latest attack on Williams-Byers involves Senate District 24 State Senator Matt Dolan. Welo asked Dolan to introduce a bill to eliminate the South Euclid Municipal Court. She tried the same thing with State Rep. Kent Smith last year under the threat that she wouldn't endorse him. Smith stood his ground and said no. State Senator Ken Yuko was no from the beginning and no now. Both didn't appreciate Dolan's decision to introduce a bill to eliminate a municipal court in a district he didn't serve. More specifically, in their district.
Dolan's excuse was he didn't know Williams-Byers was running a full-time day court with a night court. Or that she had a mental health and drug docket; and that she was processing 5000 cases a year. He didn't even think it was odd that Welo was targeting the only DOS female suburban judge. Dolan never gave it a second thought that Welo's target was the first from her citizenry to be elected to the judgeship in South Euclid. Welo accused the court of not being profitable. Since justice and profit for him went hand-in-hand, Dolan bought into Welo's bullshit. Welo and South Euclid's council majority led by Jane Goodman, along with Marty Gelfand, seem to think justice has a price tag. Issuing arrest warrants for driving under suspension makes sense to them and it obviously did to Dolan. Ruth Gray and Ed Icove, both South Euclid council members, are not supportive of the lunacy.
What Welo, Dolan and South Euclid's council majority ignored was a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice to all of Ohio's 722 judges last March 14, 2016. That letter from U.S. DOJ lawyers Vanita Gupta and Lisa Foster instructed this state's judges that profit driven justice was unconstitutional; so was taking drivers licenses without trials and issuing warrants without first scheduling hearings. So when Dolan jumped into Yuko and Smith's business, who'd already been informed of the US DOJ letter by Judge Williams-Byers, he was advancing Welo and South Euclid council's unconstitutional profit driven justice agenda. Here's a link to the March 14, 2016 letter. It's powerful folk and you need to use it to protect yourselves against the type of profit-driven judges Welo and Dolan support. https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/832461/download
I'm still trying to figure out how Welo thinks $600,000 Williams-Byers is spending for the court's 14 employees versus the $600,000 the mayor is spending for four part-time law department lawyers equates to waste on the judge's part. Welo is very clearly the wasteful spender and I've never seen such lavishness in a police union contract. I think it's actually $640,000 Welo's spending for four part-time lawyers. Makes no damn sense and I feel sorry for Ruth Gray and Ed Icove who appear to be council's only two sensible members.
Just in the paragraphs above I've described Welo's acts of intimidation and duty-exceeding manipulation to harass Williams-Byers. But those acts are just the tip of the iceberg.
Welo tried to eliminate the municipal court through a charter change that went no where. She then used the Plain Dealer and cleveland.com's Sara Dorn to do her dirty work.
Y'all remember all of Dorn's lying assed articles and the distorted facts about South Euclid's judge. Dorn told five lies about Williams-Byers in one less than 30 word sentence. This was the same "collar popping" reporter who was feeling her oats because she did an editorial hack job on Richmond Heights Mayor Miesha Wilson-Headen. Williams-Byers backed Dorn's ass off with a series of letters to the Plain Dealer's editorial bosses and lawyers. They apologized, profusely and offered her space to dispel Dorn's bullshit. Once they realized Dorn's reporting was actionably inaccurate they pulled her dumb ass off the DOS judge and assigned her to harass the white one's.
I bet most judges in this county and others don't know Dorn is engaged to a Riverside Investments investment banker who's company owns SCRAM. SCRAM provides ankle bracelets, monitoring and drug testing to 76 county courts. I'll get into this later. Below is a scram link. Just remember that Dorn's court reform series is nothing but a profit driven scam … judges. She's "editorially steering" you and using the pressure the newspaper brings to intimidate you. It's all a direct attack on the bail system. Court ordered monitoring instead of bail is a conviction before a trial and it helps her boyfriend's investment company. Y'all are starting to get a clue as to why I don't trust or play with this town's reporters. They're on the take worse than cops. You never know who they're fucking or who's agenda they're serving.
https://www.scramsystems.com/…/ohio-alcohol-monitoring-sys…/
So not only did Welo toss Dorn at Williams-Byers, she tossed council at her. Ex-council president David Miller sponsored legislation to eliminate the municipal court as Welo's minion in 2015. Goodman pushed it. Gray and Icove voted no. The Supreme Court returned with a letter and said "hold it." To paraphrase, Goodman, Gelfand, Dennis Fiorilli, Jason Alexander voting yes were told by the Supreme Court of Ohio that the legislation they'd enacted was just outright dumb. As legislation it is about as silly as it gets.
Think about a majority of South Euclid council members voting to turn over their city's 5000 court cases to the taxpayers of the City of Lyndhurst and telling them to pay their judge and court employees to handle them. It's like finding a baby left at your doorstep. It's about as dumb as Donald Trump telling Mexicans they're paying for his wall to keep them out. The Supreme Court of Ohio reminded Welo and the majority of councilors who followed her that they hadn't even consulted with Lyndhurst officials to get an ordinance from them that said "yes."
There were a long list of assignments the Supreme Court of Ohio told Goodman they had to engage in to move forward, and even then they might not agree. Who knows why Goodman didn't lead council to continue? Maybe they finally figured out Welo was bullshitting them. Regardless, the letter from the Supreme Court of Ohio wasn't even shared with the remaining members of council and that attack strategy from Welo failed. But it didn't stop her. That's why Welo went to Dolan. She figured he was a sucker and would fall for her bullshit; and he did. That was until his office became inundated with telephone calls. Welo's nefarious plotting was foiled again.
Something is wrong with the thinking of South Euclid's mayor. Her relentless attacks on Gayle are not motivated in the least by good governance. If that were the case Welo would resign as a mayor based on her own misconduct. Telling voters one thing about safety levies and using the money for something else ain't cool. Your kid working for a law firm that's doing city business ain't cool. Using a city lawyer to represent family members ain't cool. Running a family business when the charter says no ain't cool.
The problem in South Euclid ain't with the judge. The problem is the mayor attacking the judge. Welo is building up a lot of animosity against herself and between the loyalist of Cuyahoga County Democrats and the resentment over this type of poor treatment is about to hit the boiling point. Trouble's coming Democrats. You'd better wake the fuck up and quick. Loyalties are changing that will not return.
CSU Kills the Arts
The header does not have our logo and is a distraction from what matters today
Biden vs. McCain
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False Flag Attack Upon the GOP Convention In Cleveland (anyone doesn't do their best to prevent terroist- blood is on your hands
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Cleveland Innerbelt Conceptual Alternatives Study and Request for a "Peer Review" of the Innerbelt Bridge
COSE - Business After Hours
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Curtain never falls: Wuzhen festival witnesses Chinese theatre burgeoning with vitality
In an exclusive interview with DotDotNews on Thursday (Jan. 20), Baek Yong-chun, Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong, shared Korea's long tradition in winter sports and how it boosts the tourism industry significantly.
The seventh-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) began its first meeting on Wednesday (Jan. 12) morning, marking the 90 Members elected under the improved electoral system through extensive democratic elections formally taking office to become the backbone of the patriots who perform their duties and govern HK towards a brighter future with prosperity, stability and better representation of HK people's real interests.
Opinion 01-12 17:17:26
After Hong Kong's National Security Law came into effect, a large number of anti-China rioters fled to the UK and continue to hold rallies to promote "HK independence", resulting in a number of vicious incidents, which have been widely criticized.
On December 29, the Hong Kong police arrested several current and former senior staff members of Stand News. Subsequently the online news outlet decided to shut down its website and social media pages, deleting previous stories.
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Curtain just fell on the 8th Wuzhen Theatre Festival last month in Wuzhen, Zhejiang in China. This year, the theme of the festival is "Burgeoning."
A Thousand Hamlets 11-23 17:36:28
The future of parenting: Gender neutrality?
Currently, a new style of parenting — Gender neutral parenting — is becoming more widespread and encouraged within families and parental communities. Gender neutral parenting stems from the idea of gender neutrality, where people are not distinguished by whether they are born male or female - biological sex is not made the determining factor of physical and psychological characteristics, and is detached from social roles in order to avoid fixed stereotypes on the abilities and capacities of men and women.
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Why race is a myth: The interpretation of race in anthropology
Race has always been a common factor used as a means of categorization of people. By defining groups of people through a set of observable characteristics, classification through race becomes convenient and automatic, but also has detrimental impacts on perception of identity. In recent times, as racial tensions run high as people of colour rise to defy racial bias and discrimination embedded in social institutions, it is crucial to deconstruct the concept of race to understand what race represents at its core in order to fully subvert systemic racism and achieve stable equality.
German girl speaks out for China, no fear of attacks
Navina Heyden, a 21-year-old German girl, has been attracting a lot of attention online recently. For more than a year, she has been speaking out on Twitter and other social media platforms, refuting all the attacks on China in the Western media and showing the real situations in China to overseas netizens. But because of that, Navina has been subjected to a lot of online violence, and was recently attacked by German media outlet Die Welt and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a British think tank.
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US$4.6 billion sales a year? Viya nails it via live-streaming
It's no news that e-commerce in China is highly developed and COVID lockdowns propelled it even further. Chinese e-commerce is projected to be US$1 trillion dollars in 2020, up from US$862 billion in 2019. As for Viya, in 2019, the turnover during the Double 11 Shopping Festival exceeded 3 billion yuan, and in 2020, she topped the list of live-streaming e-commerce with over 30 billion yuan (US$4.66 billion) of sales...
Evidence reveals: US research paid HKUST students for participating in protests
A paper on how to "incentivize" protest movements in HK was published in the latest June issue of American Economic Review, a world-renowned academic journal.
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Since its introduction to Hong Kong, Sinovac has been the subject of heated discussion. HK experts tried to block it because of the lack of a Phase III medical report, and the government had to waive that requirement to introduce it successfully. Recently, there have been several incidents of side effects and deaths after inoculation, causing some citizens to cancel the injections in fear. What exactly leads to the tarnished reputation of Sinovac? Watch this video to find out the truth.
Exclusive | Carrie Lam: HK people will be the biggest beneficiary from improving electoral system
The National People's Congress has passed the decision to improve Hong Kong's electoral system. To help the general public better understand the upcoming changes, DotDotNews conducts an exclusive interview with Ms. Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the HKSAR.
Freeze Peach | Tech overlords self-medicate inauguration fever
Freeze Peach is an irreverent weekly column dedicated to newsfeed commentary and cultural analysis. The name is a corruption of the phrase free speech. Turn on, tune in, drop out.
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Serendipity | Dazzling & Puzzling: Ubiquitous Chinese New Year elements adopted by big brands
2021 is a year of the Ox, and as usual, big brands are trying every effort to blend Chinese New Year elements with their newly-launched products almost everywhere. Some of them are creative, glamorous and dazzling, while others can be quite puzzling and make us wonder: Do these big brands really understand Chinese elements in a correct way?


Once all papers are turned in, we will turn over your replication paper to another student, and assign you a replication paper to evaluate. Your last assignment for the class will then be to read and comment on a fellow student's work and to grade this student according to certain guidelines we will provide. Your main objective is to give the student feedback on what changes and improvements need to happen in order for the paper to be published. As always, you will be evaluated based on how helpful, not how destructive, you are. Your comments on your fellow student's paper are due Monday, May 7, at 5pm.


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The Ongoing Struggle to Preserve the Ozone Layer
Four decades of successes and setbacks in protecting the layer of the atmosphere that protects us.
Four decades of successes and setbacks in protecting the layer of the atmosphere that protects us
By Courtney Suciu
In the 1970s, scientists first warned of a hole in the layer of the atmosphere that protects us from the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation. In the '80s, the Montreal Protocol – one of the most successful international agreements regarding climate change – put strict limitations on the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a major contributor to the depletion of the ozone layer. In the '90s, evidence suggested that we were on the right track. It looked like the ozone layer could make a complete recovery by the middle of the next century.
But in spring 2018, a disconcerting discovery was made. It turns out tons of CFCs are still being released into the atmosphere, setting progress back by decades.
Where are these emissions coming from? And can the ozone layer still be saved?
A CFC mystery solved – sort of
"Last month," The New York Times1 reported in June, "scientists disclosed a global pollution mystery: a surprise rise in emissions of an outlawed industrial gas that destroys the atmosphere's protective ozone layer."
Times reporters and private investigators collected evidence including documents, interviews and advertisements to find out where the emissions were coming from. All signs pointed to Xingfu, "a scrappy industrial boomtown" in rural China. Here, small factories continued to make or use CFC-11, a banned version of the chemical frequently used in foam insulation.
"The scale of this environmental crime is devastating, with massive potential impact on the climate the ozone layer," Alexander Von Bismarck, executive director of the Environmental Investigation Agency, told The New York Times.
The challenge of enforcing CFC bans in China is two-fold. First, it's easy for these small-scale industries to be overlooked by officials – many of these factories don't even have names are situated in remote areas. Some plants move around, closing down in one location and popping up in another as a way to evade attention and punishment.
Second, CFC-11 is cheaper than alternative chemicals, which many of the small refrigeration and insulation factories can't afford to use. So, demand is high because demand for products made with them is high – and, ironically, on the rise along with rising environmental consciousness.
"Paradoxically," according to The Times, "underground demand for CFC-11 may have been partly spurred by China's increasingly strict environmental standards. The government has demanded better insulation of building so they waste less energy, and that means more foam."
But some experts are not convinced these Chinese factories are the sole culprit. Erik Solheim, head of the United Nations Environment Program, which oversees the Montreal Protocol, told reporters: "We have to dig deeper. Based on the scale of detected emissions there is good reason to believe the problem extends beyond these uncovered cases."
What is the Montreal Protocol?
Established September 1987, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty that includes legally binding goals to phase out the use of CFCs and other chemicals which contribute to the deterioration of the ozone layer.
This agreement, along with the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (which the Montreal Protocol supplements), is an unprecedented example of international cooperation – and the UN's first universally ratified treaties, signed by 196 states, plus the European Union.
As required by the Montreal Protocol, top scientists from around the world prepare a report on the state of the ozone layer every three or four years. By 1995, the report was cause for optimism. Newsday2 writer Robert Cooke reported that measurements indicated that amounts of one of the first chemicals regulated by the treaty was "disappearing from the air more quickly than expected."
But in July 2018, more than 140 national delegates, civil society representatives, industry stakeholders and environmental agencies gathered for the annual Open-Ended Working Group of the Montreal Protocol "against the backdrop of an urgent challenge to 30 years of ozone recovery," according to a news release issued by the UN Environmental Program3.
The protocol's Scientific Assessment Panel shared with the group these key findings, as outlined in the statement:
Since 2013, the annual decline in CFC-11 has been only half as fast as it was over the previous decade (2002-2012)
Emissions of CFC-11 increased after 2012 and have remained elevated in all the years since
Monitoring data currently available suggest Eastern Asia as the source of these emissions
The scale of observations suggests unreported production of CFC-11 after the 2010 global phase-out
Despite accounts presented to the parties, the exact sources off these emissions have yet to be fully verified and accounted for
"We cannot relax our vigilance for a second," Ozone Secretariat Tina Birmpili said in the meeting's opening remarks. "We cannot let this go unaddressed. Any illegal consumption and production of CFC-11 demands decisive action."
The 30th Annual Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol will convene November 5-9, 2018. This is the formal decision-making arm of the protocol who will determine what needs to be done in response to breaches of the agreement, how to move forward with preservation of the ozone layer.
Well, to put it simply, "Without the ozone layer, earth would be effectively sterilized and devoid of life as we know it."
This is according to Allen E. Goodman of Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, in a case study titled "The Negotiations Leading to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substance that Deplete the Ozone Layer."4
The document is an eye-opening and thought-provoking read in a few ways. Goodman's case study not only provides a comprehensible summary of how the ozone layer functions, and the consequences of its depletion ("Scientists calculate that for decreases in ozone in the stratosphere even as small as 1 percent, thousands of people are more likely to develop skin cancer and other diseases..."), but it also provides insight into the complex development of the Montreal Protocol.
As scientists in the '80s explored the relationship between CFCs (which were ubiquitous at the time, found in hundreds of products, from egg cartons, bicycle seats and stuffed animals, to air conditioners, ice machines and soda fountain dispensers, as well as all kinds of aerosol dispensers) the CFC industry came out strongly opposed to "premature" international CFC regulation or bans. This complicated international efforts to preserve the ozone layer.
Goodman explained:
"It is not unusual for American industries to become deeply involved in framing U.S. position toward international negotiations that affect corporate profits and jobs. In fact, the Congress mandates that the private sector be consulted by the State and Commerce departments and the Office of the Special Trade Representative on most international trade negotiations…For, if an agreement is negotiated that industry cannot support or is one on which its lobby groups were not at least asked to submit their views, the risk is great that Congress will not ratify the agreement or will seek to change what has been negotiated…
Goodman described how this put the chief U.S. negotiator at the Montreal Protocol in a tough position of having to ensure that the viewpoint of CFC industry lobbyists was considered, even as he and his department disagreed with many of their talking points.
If he didn't address the concerns of CFC industry lobbyists, any international agreement would be worthless if rejected by Congress and not signed into U.S. law. Negotiators would have to go back to the drawing board to revisit the terms – not a simple undertaking, considering nearly 200 international parties were involved.
This case study concludes with a series of questions designed for students of diplomatic studies to consider how they would approach and navigate such circumstances in the position of the U.S. negotiator of the Montreal Protocol. The questions are valuable for anyone who is interested in environmental issues, corporate responsibility, and international relations.
But really, they are worth considering for anyone who is impacted by the decisions of these government agencies and industry lobbyists – so, all of us. Especially going into the November meeting of Montreal Protocol when next steps will be decided in the preservation of the ozone layer.
For further research
Environmental Issues Online
This comprehensive database includes multimedia content related to such climate change issues as preservation of the ozone layer, Including animated models of the projected polar atmospheric ozone levels from 1974 to 2065, had CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) not been banned.
Environmental Studies in Video
A collection of documentary films and footage from around the globe curated for deeper insight and understanding of climate change issues, including:
Wisneski, B. (Director), & Wisneski, B. (Producer). (2006). Global Warming and Ozone Depletion [Video file]. Palomar Community College.
Explore Ebook Central:
Abbasi, S. A., & Abbasi, T. (2017). Ozone Hole: Past, Present, Future.
Andersen, S. O., & Sarma, K. M. (2012). Protecting the Ozone Layer: The United Nations History.
Bankobeza, G. M. (2005). Ozone Protection: The International Legal Regime.
Grundmann, R. (2002). Transnational Environmental Policy: Reconstructing Ozone.
Sethi, R. (Ed.). (2012). Ozone and Ozone Depletion: Sources, Environmental Impact and Health.
Buckley, C., & Fountain, H. (2018, Jun 25). In a High-Stakes Environmental Whodunit, Many Clues Point to China. The New York Times. Available from Global Newsstream and ProQuest Central.
By Robert Cooke, S. W. (1995, Aug 08). Chemical Control Proves Treaty's Helping the Ozone. Newsday. Available from Global Newsstream and ProQuest Central.
Parties to Montreal Protocol Take Up Urgent Response to CFC-11 Emissions. (2018, Jul 16). Targeted News Service. Available from Global Newsstream and ProQuest Central.
Goodman, A. E. (1992). The Negotiations Leading to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. District of Columbia: Georgetown University. School of Foreign Service. Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. Available from Environmental Issues Online.
Courtney Suciu is ProQuest's lead blog writer. Her loves include libraries, literacy and researching extraordinary stories related to the arts and humanities. She has a Master's Degree in English literature and a background in teaching, journalism and marketing. Follow her @QuirkySuciu
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Needle aspiration is a procedure done to remove fluid from a mass or cyst, which can then be sent for testing.
The doctor will explain the procedure and get your consent if he/she has not already done so. Please be sure to discuss any allergies (food and drug) with your physician.
You will be positioned so that the area in which the mass or cyst is located is accessible to the doctor.
A solution (usually Betadine) will be used to clean the skin at the site.
A small amount of local anesthetic (usually Xylocaine) is injected into the area to help decrease the discomfort caused by the aspiration needle. This anesthetic may initially cause a burning sensation but within minutes the area should begin to feel numb.
The doctor will then attempt to aspirate fluid from the mass or cyst. The needle may cause a feeling of pressure. Please inform the doctor if you are uncomfortable.
After the procedure is completed a band-aid will be applied to the site and you will be assisted to a comfortable position.
Please inform your doctor if any of the following occur: swelling, redness, increased tenderness, drainage at the site, fevers of 100.5° F or above.


Our main goal for this budget build is to provide enhanced gaming performance that will allow you to play current generation games, such as Battlefield 3 or Skyrim, on medium specifications at around 50FPS. I myself, have a build similar to the one we're creating, so I know that the PC will out-perform some of its competitors by a long shot.
The items I've linked in the build are purchased all from Novatech. The reason for this, it's a great supplier in my region and I also believe it ships internationally as well, they provide a great range of products for such a small price, have a live support option and have a great technical team behind their products. They also offer an excellent range of their own remade graphic cards, monitors, and keyboards.
Editor's note: If you're from the US, NewEgg always gets my vote!
It's under our $750 original price-mark, and for the build there you'll get yourself a great gaming computer that can run most games flawlessly. If you're aiming for other kinds of websites, they should all range around the same price as Novatech, but I'd recommend strongly with using them if you can.
There is a perfectly good reason as to why I've gone for the AMD Bulldozer FX-6 Six Core 6100 Black Edition over another processor. I believe the sheer power of this processor will give you anything you need to run any program/game. The i7's these days are great, if you're rich. We're going for a great, budget build, so this is what we've chosen. For only $180, you get six cores of 3.4GHz per core… that's outstanding.
Alternative: You could grab yourself an i5 Sandy Bridge 2nd Generation, if you're more of an Intel fan, for around the same price.
Motherboards are a key part of the equation and are the hardest things to pick in a build. They have to be right, for you as a person. I've grabbed this one myself as it's very close to the one I have right now, which is outstanding. It has a variety of USB3.0 slots too, expanding too with the new on/off power saver options on the Gigabyte range.
A very good reason as to why I chose this, it's the same as the one I have! It's a GTX550Ti, with 1GB dedicated memory and it runs flawlessly. I've been able to run BF3 on High Quality settings at around 30-40FPS on average no problem, and that's what we're here to do, build a great gaming machine. I think, for its price, it's a great graphics card.
Alternative: However, if you're aiming/willing to throw in an extra $50-$70, I'd recommend getting the next upgrade, the GTX560Ti. It has a better range of performance, and can run BF3 on Ultra with around 35-45FPS.
You simply cannot complain with Corsair on this one. For just $60, you can get 8GB of DDR3 RAM, two 4GB modules with epic designs. They range in three colours, the original, blue, and red to match your motherboard. If you run them alongside each other at a dual-crossfire style setting, they will do any task no problem, and if you want to be cheeky, you can buy two of these!
The Western Digital range of hard drives have always been a great one. Their range of green, black and bue drives all have their individual characteristics: green for storage, black for performance, blue for the best of both worlds. We've gone for a 500GB, 6GB/s blue which will run games at a great rate and not have any "slow" loading speeds.
Alternative: If you're one of them speed freaks (like myself) you may want to grab yourself an SSD. Novatech have a OCZ 60GB SSD for around $100 at the moment and it's one hell of a performance blower.
The Novatech Vortex case is said to be based on the Corsair 600T, one of the best gaming cases available (also featured in PCBuilder and PCGamer magazines). The case itself has two USB3.0 ports on the top, one E-SATA, two USB2.0 ports, and a fan controller knob. It also has great cable management slots, alongside four water-cooling entry/exit points if/when needed.
I would say one of the most important components in a PC, is a power supply! Do not forget this component or leave this to your minimal budget as it is one of the key parts, that will keep your computer running well or see it crash and burn. You need to make sure you have enough wattage for your parts, and for a build like this we'll need a 500W PSU. I've provided a link above of a Novatech one that does the job perfectly, runs flawlessly and doesn't cost a ton of money. Of course you may invest in a higher wattage if you want, but do not go too low.
That's it for our build this time around. As you can see, I've left out parts like the display and input devices since they tend to be incredibly subjective items. If you're looking for a little help, make sure to hit our earlier guide that goes a little into those as well.
Look for more builder's guides catering to different niches as well as in-depth guides on picking individual parts very soon! Thanks for stopping by and let us know if you have any questions in the comments below. Happy building!


text:
module.exports = require('ridge/collection').extend({
  model: require('../models/invite'),

  url: '/api/invites'
});


text:
HOPE by Luv and Peace
Fiction » Fantasy Rated: T, English, Adventure & Romance, Words: 8k+, Published: 2/9/2004 Updated: 1/6/2005}
AN: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I hope this chapter will be just as good.
_10 minutes before the explosion..
"For the love of GOD! STOP!"
"Then, tell me, dammit, where is the BASE?! Or I'll blow your brains out!"
"I don't know! Let me GO!"
Cries of tortured soul came from the prisons, and no color was allowed here. Even the guards wore grey, and their skin was either white or black. All the guards had either blue, grey eyes, creating an environment that was beyond cold. Cold was the theme, expression, surrounding, everything. Without the feel of remorse, they tortured. When they left, the good ones had too much guilt to pay any attention to the tavern wrenches, the evil ones enjoyed themselves thoroughly. It was a time of insanity, where humanity was scorned at, and brutality won.
A pair of eyes, different from the others, shone out in the dark. Red, like the fire as it blazed, or the setting of the sun, as the sky turned bloody. He walked with a natural grace, as if he was gifted from heaven, as if he was a cat.
"Let him go, Chester," the voice said. Even the voice sounded so musical, as if the man was singing rather than commanding despite the fact that this man had the authority over everything in the prison.
"Sergeant LeFaye," Chester addressed standing up straight. His grey eyes looked at the ceiling and his red hair was hidden under the ridiculous cap they were required to wear. "What brings you to our humble prison?"
In stead of answering, Lefaye asked, "Have you done your homework, Ramiro?"
"In about two minutes."
An identifiable shake went through the ground, and as the prisoners whimpered, Lefaye smirked, "Well done."
Pilar's Dream:
Darkness was enveloping me, slowly cutting off any air supply I had. The only ray of sun was coming from down the hallway, near the computer room. There were sounds coming from there as well. I knew that if I walked through that doorway, I was dead. No questions asked. I huddled at a corner feeling like a wimp, like a six year old who was a coward. My teddy bear, Sugar, was in my arms. I panted as my heart beat accelerated.
I could see Chester's face, his evil smirk, and his dirty hands on me. I could feel the embarrassment, the guilt, the regret but most awful of all, I felt like a victim.
Suddenly, I heard my mother's voice coming from the study. She was yelling my name over and over, after ending it sometimes with "my baby". Automatically I shot up, ran to the room with light.
As soon as I entered the room, I saw my mother clutching her chest, blood spurting out of her beautiful face and her blonde curly hair seemed tainted with blood. Her arm was raised towards me, as if she wanted to hug me, or protect me. It was too late.
"MOM!"
"Area 559, we seem to be having a blitz. Coding, lots of zeros and ones. Pattern is still be to detected," Pause, "There are voices, however it is evidently hard to decipher what is being said. Language is perhaps Germen. English words understood: kidnap, use, and kill. No name is mentioned. Biological words used include T cells, among other cellular names."
Agitated, I brushed away my blonde hair and clucked, my blue eyes narrowing as I thoughtfully tried to catch what was on the computer. I placed my finger on the pause button as I squinted to listen what the voice was saying, then turned the play button again, "Cannot identify as a woman or man, suspect origins of voice to be a part of a government experiment. More examination is recommended. File 09921, clear." Pressing the stop button, I leaned closer to identify what the sound actually was. It vibrated through the room as it moaned. There were a few shuffles, which indicated the object can move, but what was it?
"Turn it off," a husky voice said behind me. I turned around and regarded the speaker thoughtfully with a smile. Obeying his command, I turned it off. The room suddenly was so quiet, with the absence of the "sound"
I cleared my throat, "What do you think it is?"
Skyller shook his head, his green eye regarding everything without a slight emotion. "Get a move on, we're wanted at Katrina's. No questions."
Without another word, he left.
I followed him.
What choice did I have? It seemed so bleak coming here, and working with Skyller, when I had worked with Eric. Skyller was cold, almost ruthless, and was the perfect description of "a man with few words". I wonder why sometimes. Was it because something horrible happened to him?
As we walked up the darkened stairs and neared Katrina's office, I studied him from the corner of my eyes. In the last few months, all I knew about him was that his name was Skyller and he had been a past flame of Katrina's. I wonder..
"Hello, Skyller, Pilar. Have a seat."
Settling down, I noticed that there were other people in the room. I recognized most of them, having met them at the earlier meetings; there was Doll with Miguel, and that Lee, and Stewart. But who was the guy staring outside the window?
"Well, Walker, this is Pilar and Skyller. They are part of the researchers and the computer geniuses in our camp." After each nodded to each other in acknowledgement, Katrina continued, "Alright. Now that we have bee acquainted with each other, I should proceed to inform you the purpose of this meeting. We have information about a scientist, named Zertasia, who is genius. She may have information about the government's plan. Also, we are to request her to join us, for she is 'sitting on the fence', as the saying goes. Am I perfectly clear?"
"So, we persuade this Zertasia to join us, get as much information as we can and what? What if she says no?" I asked.
"Then I'm afraid you have no choice but to kill her. And when she has said yes, we will have to test her loyalty of course, bind her to us. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Skyller murmured, "But I won't kill her. If she joins, she joins. We can't force people."
Katrina shocked at being challenged glared at Skyller. Skyller didn't break the stare only stared harder with no expression. Slowly, the edges around his eyes softened and he looked away. Katrina had one of her eyebrows raised at his actions. She turned to me, "Will you do it then?"
"If I truly think she will harm us, then yes I will."
"Good." Katrina opened her drawer and took out another folder, "You are dismissed. All of you."
"You're alive?"
That's the first thing that came out of Skyller's mouth as we walked into the hallway. I turned to look at him, but saw that he was talking to that Chase fellow we were introduced to. Chase was handsome alright, but someone not to be trusted. I felt uneasy, but not as uneasy as I felt about Skyller.
"Well, yes." He answered back. I noticed the English accent, although very slight. "Tell me, how are you? How is life here?"
"Planning on staying?"
"Nah, it wouldn't do. You know what a fan of luxury I am."
I noticed for the first time the slight smile on Skyller's face. He rolled his eyes, "I remember. Why don't you get to the point?"
"Oh, don't be like that. I'm already sore from Davina's cold attitude." He pretended to rub his chest as if bruised. "Well, aren't you the bird I was introduced to?"
I smiled at him, "I prefer chick to bird."
"I like you," Chase said, "You do know Skyller here has been a friend of mine since we were in grade nine? Grade ten?"
"Grade five." Skyller corrected, amused.
"Same difference." Chase waved the answer away before turning to me, "Anyway, the first time I met Katrina, you know the broad who's managing this messy business? The first thing out of her mouth when I said hi to her was, 'Oh, dear, doesn't anybody here realize that snow can be actually harmful? As the rays of the sun hit the sun, it is'.what did she say, Sky? You remember?"
Skyller smiled, "Yes, reflected back at the powerful, superior beings like her and she was wasting her time playing at recess." He shook his head sadly, "Good times."
The look in his eyes would have melted anyone, myself included, and I almost reached up to hug him only to force my hand to remain with me by shoving deep into my jacket. Awkwardly, I smiled, "Yeah."
"Don't worry, bird. We're not getting you out of our loop. In fact, why don't you go start packing your things, eh? Then we'll all go to a nice road trip to Miss Zatesha."
"It's Zertasia."
"Same difference."
*&*
Well, packing was easy. All I had to do was put in my tooth brush, clothes, female necessities, a couple of guns, bombs, nothing big. Despite how ironic it sounded, I had been put through this kind of assignments many times. The only thing that was difficult for me was the wait. When Davina had returned, she brought with her a few survivors. Grime had covered every inch of her, and the humor and I saw everyday in her seemed to have disappeared the moment Chase had walked in. In fact, the moment he walked in was when Davina had been in the arms of Eric. Then I recognized Chase. That's when I remembered.
This man had been the same boy holding Davina.
I had been in shock for a few minutes and recovered quickly. Davina had told me frequently how she missed her brother, and how he disappeared with Walker a.k.a. Chase. She had repeatedly told me about the times they had spent together and recounted to the silliest things they had done. I had a feeling that I was looking at the real Davina, the one who was losing her best friend slowly, who had already lost her family, then her brother, and then finally, her love. She had lost so many people, it was how she seemed optimistic all the time.
Why couldn't Skyller be like that? Had he gone through the same thing?
I had stayed here for three years and never had he indicated anything about his past. I had assumed that he was still in love with Katrina however unable to express it. Either that, or he had lost people as well, and was currently hurting.
I hoped it was not the latter.
A knock interrupted my thoughts. "It's time."
I shrugged out of my thoughts, picked up my bags and headed towards the door.
After all, it was a waste of time to think.
AN: Alright! What are you waiting for? Review! Criticism will be appreciated.