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iNANO About Research Groups Protein Biophysics
Protein Biophysics
Daniel Erik Otzen
Protein Biophysics (Prof. Daniel Otzen)
Daniel Otzen
Professor Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center - INANO-MBG, iNANO-huset
M dao@inano.au.dk
Research focus in brief
Our research activities fall within 3 main areas, which all relate to the study of the kinetics and thermodynamics of protein conformational changes, namely membrane protein folding, protein-detergent interactions and protein fibrillation. These areas are linked by a keen interest in understanding the mechanistic and thermodynamic behaviour of proteins in different circumstances by quantifying the strength of internal side-chain interactions as well as contacts with solvent molecules, whether it be detergents, denaturants, stabilizing salts and osmolytes or lipids. Ultimately we hope this will lead to a greater manipulative ability vis-a-vis processes of both basic, pharmaceutical and industrial relevance. The general approach is to use available spectroscopic techniques (fluorescence, CD, stopped-flow, FTIR, NMR and dynamic and static light scattering) to generate data which can be analyzed in a quantitative manner to develop models and mechanisms for conformational changes at the molecular level.
RESEARCHERS PRINT IMPLANTS FOR THE BODY
27 February 2014 - Research news
Age-related damages in the locomotor system have taken the lead as the fastest-growing health problem in the European population. The doctors have limited possibilities of eliminating the pains and discomfort that many patients feel. But now the researchers are a step closer to finding a new treatment method that catches attention far beyond the borders of Denmark. They will print surgical implants and create new tissue by means of stem cells.
World-Class Research Equipment at iNANO
In an effort to gain a deeper understanding in the natural and medical science, research has over the last decades been increasingly focused on…
ELECTROCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE FIBRILLATION OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE ?-SYNUCLEIN
Amyloid formation of proteins and peptides play a crucial role in many diseases such as Alzheimer's, Diabetes and Parkinson's disease. This makes…
Page 123 of 125.
Grønnemose, A. L., Østerlund, E. C., Otzen, D. E. & Jørgensen, T. J. D. (2022). EGCG has Dual and Opposing Effects on the N-terminal Region of Self-associating α-synuclein Oligomers. Journal of Molecular Biology, 434(23), [167855]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2022.167855
Sønderby, T. V., Rasmussen, H. Ø., Frank, S. A., Skov Pedersen, J. & Otzen, D. E. (2022). Folding steps in the fibrillation of functional amyloid: denaturant sensitivity reveals common features in nucleation and elongation. Journal of Molecular Biology, 434(2), [167337]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167337
Sønderby, T. V., Najarzadeh, Z. & Otzen, D. E. (2022). Functional Bacterial Amyloids: Understanding Fibrillation, Regulating Biofilm Fibril Formation and Organizing Surface Assemblies. Molecules, 27(13), [4080]. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27134080
Otzen, D. E. (2022). Functional amyloid in a lipid-like environment: a merry dance of many steps. Essays in Biochemistry, 66(7). https://doi.org/10.1042/EBC20220062
Farzadfard, A., König, A., Petersen, S. V., Nielsen, J., Vasili, E., Dominguez-Meijide, A., Buell, A. K., Outeiro, T. F. & Otzen, D. E. (2022). Glycation modulates alpha-synuclein fibrillization kinetics: a sweet spot for inhibition. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 298(5), [101848]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101848
Otzen, D. E., Pedersen, J. N., Rasmussen, H. Ø. & Pedersen, J. S. (2022). How do surfactants unfold and refold proteins? Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 308, 102754. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cis.2022.102754
Rasmussen, H. Ø., Otzen, D. E. & Pedersen, J. S. (2022). Induction, inhibition, and incorporation: Different roles for anionic and zwitterionic lysolipids in the fibrillation of the functional amyloid FapC. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 298(2), [101569]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101569
Reimer, L., Haikal, C., Gram, H., Theologidis, V., Kovacs, G., Ruesink, H., Baun, A., Nielsen, J., Otzen, D. E., Li, J-Y. & Jensen, P. H. (2022). Low dose DMSO treatment induces oligomerization and accelerates aggregation of α-synuclein. Scientific Reports, 12, [3737]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07706-2
Sønderby, T. V., Zou, Y., Wang, P., Wang, C. & Otzen, D. E. (2022). Molecular-level insights into the surface-induced assembly of Functional Bacterial Amyloid. Biophysical Journal, 121(18), 3422-3434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2022.08.013


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Cisco 'cannot wait' for open standards
The networking giant edges towards a more open philosophy but still sees its technology as the best
Jennifer Scott, TechTarget
Published: 29 Jan 2013 15:50
Cisco today preached its dedication to open source standards, but executives couldn't help boasting that its software was superior technology.
The company's chief technology officer (CTO), Padmasree Warrior, told Computer Weekly open source had been prominent in the enterprise for some time, but admitted Cisco had to play its part to stay relevant to customer desires.
"We are a very active participant and we have a very distinct strategy… being hypervisor agnostic for example," she said. "I think that will become more important, not just in enterprise per se but across the cloud ecosystem.
"Cisco has always contributed. We are very active in standards bodies across the board and we use Linux a lot. I think our distinction… is our ability to build a system all the way from an ASIC to a system that can scale a datacentre. That is our expertise and this is where we think we are unique in the industry."
Cisco has taken more steps to open up its technologies recently. The firm took the decision when launching its OnePK platform to open up its APIs to others, enabling developers to build applications on top of the software and signaling a much more open approach for a company with such a proprietary reputation.
"Opening up the APIs was a big step for Cisco," admitted Warrior.
In software-defined networking (SDN), Cisco has continued with its line of supporting the OpenFlow standard, with Warrior stating the firm held a "leadership position," but it was clear that executives still rate Cisco's own developments above the standard, despite OpenFlow's backing by a large portion of the industry.
"Because of the way we do things, you can view OpenFlow as literally a subset of Cisco's OnePK," said David Yen, senior vice president and general manager of the datacentre technology group at Cisco. "But by providing such a super set you go deeper and wider allowing the customer or user to have access to a much broader set of tools.
"If you like to stay within the so-called standard limit, then that is completely your judgment, your choice. We offer more rather than less or different."
Yen concluded that Cisco's position meant it had to work separately from the open source community to keep its place.
"When there is an industry standard, we absolutely want to support it, but Cisco being the leader in the market, we cannot wait until certain standards are formed or widely adopted," he said.
"We regularly have to go above and beyond."
Read more on Network software
SDN trends: All eyes on SD-WAN; open SDN's path unclear
By: Alissa Irei
Cisco bans departing execs from vast swathe of IT industry
By: Alex Scroxton
Network programming skills from scripting to DevOps: What to learn
By: Shamus McGillicuddy
In SDN optical networks, centralized control and scalability
By: Lee Doyle
Management tools to create a Workload-Centric Network – ComputerWeekly.com
Cisco: the (software-defined) network is the computer – ComputerWeekly.com
SDN basics: Understanding centralized control and ... – SearchNetworking

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Woman photographs officers helping resident in need
By: Rosie Woods
Posted: Feb 25, 2015 9:19 AM EST
A local resident caught police officers doing a good deed for another resident.
Brian Hoffman, an ISP Detective, said, "We were in the neighborhood doing a detail nearby and one of the South Bend officers noticed an elderly man across the street shoveling his driveway."
So instead of leaving when their job was done, they picked up some shovels, crossed the street, and got to work.
"I took a picture and I sent it out on Facebook because they did a really good job and you know everyone sees the bad they don't always see the good," said neighbor Kayla Fuchs. "I want to thank them because that was very nice of them."
Hoffman says when they aren't fighting crime, helping neighbors is another part of their service to the community.
"People don't expect other people to be nice anymore honestly and that's all it is. It's just doing the right thing and helping people," said Hoffman.
Which 86-year-old Ray Celie says is his life motto.
"It's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice," said Celie.
City of South Bend provides update on traffic signals at Hill & Lasalle, Charles Martin & Colfax


RGB + 알파 매트 형식의 성장 콩 야채 3B3의 굴광성 효과 검은 배경에 고립입니다. 식물의 이동이 광원의 방향에 나뭇잎 표시합니다.
Phototropism effect in growing carrot vegetables 3a1 in PNG+ format with ALPHA transparency channel isolated on black background. Displays the move of plant leaves to the direction of light source.


Inadequate drainage is a big problem in the Park, making the ground very waterlogged in places and also allowing water to run over the paths which then freezes in winter, hazardous for walkers. The Volunteers have decided to make fixing the Park drainage a priority.
These should still drain well, providing they're regularly kept clear of detritus. Other drains have been blocked with pieces of wood or concrete, we plan to swap decent gratings from little-used drains to these places where they would be more useful. Another problem is that in some places new benches have been installed with no thought to drainage – in fact in one place the tarmac appears to be over a drain. We are digging channels behind these benches to allow water to flow past.
We have mostly finished the Lime Avenue drainage, we plan to continue around the Park. We have also been investigating near the playpark, where the water regularly floods over the path. the metal detector found a drain off to the side of the path which we have dug out – it backs up and overflows in very wet weather, but drains normally most of the time, so we plan to improve the gully to this drain to prevent the path flooding in normal circumstances. In very heavy rain the path may still flood, but we have also dug a channel on the other side of the path to allow floodwater to drain off the path.
Today's volunteering was a bit different – instead of working in the park, we had a walk-around to look over work we've already done and discuss what to do next. It was very good to see some more people coming along to give their input.
Firstly it was emphasised that the majority of the work of the volunteers met with the full approval of the Friends committee, and our hard work is appreciated. Some work, such as the 'laying' of the overgrown beech hedge at the bowling green, was commented upon as being especially good, specialist work that the Council / Glasgow Life would never have carried out.
We need to continue to have open dialogue about the work of the volunteers, and suggestions about how to do this would be welcome. At the moment we send out these emails, put updates on the website, Facebook and park noticeboard, consult on new ideas and report on work completed at every meeting, and of course anyone is welcome to come along on Sundays to discuss what we are doing, but we recognise that not everyone has access to the Internet or is able to come to the Sunday volunteering.
– Judith updated us on a discussion with LES about the wetlands area. lES are going to reduce the height of the "berms" that are preventing water from reaching the wetlands area. There was discussion about how to retain water for longer, because we need standing water to encourage amphibians.
– Some dead-looking trees near the play park were inspected, but Judith assures us that they are Ash trees and they're meant to look dead at this time of year.
– The shrub bed at the bottom of the centre path next to the play park will be trimmed in a similar manner to the bed a bit further up the path. At the suggestion of Judith, we will save some Horse Chestnut seedlings to replant elsewhere later.
– The bed around the Whitton St gate was discussed – suggested that we ask LES to prune the boundary hedge with the others. The laurels will be left for a year or two before pruning. In later discussion (not all present) it was suggested that we re-concrete the circular base and ask LES for a planter to sit on it.
– We discussed the wish to plant some more decorative plants under the trees, and towards the fronts of the woodland areas. It was suggested that these would have to be shade tolerant, could be smaller trees such as rowan, elder, flowering shrubs or shrubs with colourful stems, also they could be scented.
– The hollies need some more tidying work. Sarah is going to ask LES if they can use a stump grinder, but there's a low probability of this happening so we will cut the stumps as low to the ground as possible, and try different techniques to deal with them. The litter and rubble under the trees needs clearing and raking out. There was discussion about removing the rogue (Ash?) tree in one of the hollies.
– We discussed considering measures we could take to encourage wildlife. ( A frog and a number of nearly black bumble bees were seen during the walk.) It was commented upon that nettles are good for wildlife, so only those at the front of the beds at the Bowling Green will be tackled. There are other plants and methods we could use to encourage wildlife, such as buddlea for butterflies, various flowers for bees.
– It was emphasised that we have an obligation to ensure we don't disturb nesting birds when we're working, though no sign of bird nesting was observed in the hollies.
– In the bowling green, we can do some tidying up for the summer fair – hack back the nettles temporarily.
– The idea of a path from the bowling green up to the trig point was discussed, as a possible volunteers project. Also discussed was the idea of asking Glasgow Life about the fencing at the bowling greens, with the aim of making it look neat and not derelict, perhaps by moving some fence panels.
– The beech hedge overlooking the Campsies was discussed, agreed that we would let the cut stumps sprout for a couple of years then the shoots could be woven to produce a hedge effect similar to on the opposite side. Neil suggested a bench with a gap facing the Campsies would take advantage of the view.
– The large rhododendron was discussed – opinion was that it should be left in the shape it is. Suggestions were that the centre open space could be made into a hidden garden (Ben) or that the centre trees should be removed to improve the shape (Judith).
Next week we will be back to normal, working on the shrub bed near the play park.
We have literally thousands of bulbs to plant, so this Sunday we will be doing bulb planting. We will be meeting at the Whitton Street entrance, and will be working from 2-4pm. Please feel free to turn up at any time – you are not expected to do the full 2 hours!
If we have moved on from the Whitton Street gate area, there will be information posted there about where you can find us. Please come along, whether you just want to watch, or plant one bulb, or one hundred!
Everyone is very welcome, of all ages, just bring yourself/your family/your friends and something to dig with if you are able.
Another very successful weekend of work – thanks to all that attended!


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AllPoliticsSocial AffairsForeign AffairsDefenseNorth KoreaHwang on ChinaScienceDiplomatic CircuitEducationK-Wellness
US lawmakers to hold hearing on Seoul's leaflet ban in Jan.
The US Congress is reportedly set to hold a hearing on January to discuss South Korea's recent passage of a bill that penalizes activists sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets and other materials across the border, amid an escalating backlash from Washington and international human rights groups that Seoul is undermining free speech.  The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan body in the House of Rep...
By Ahn Sung-mi
Published : Dec 18, 2020 - 17:11
Updated : Dec 18, 2020 - 17:11
Civic groups run by defectors in South Korea send balloons containing anti-North Korea leaflets, along with food and medicine, near the inter-Korean border in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, April 2, 2016. (Yonhap)
The US Congress is reportedly set to hold a hearing on January to discuss South Korea's recent passage of a bill that penalizes activists sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets and other materials across the border, amid an escalating backlash from Washington and international human rights groups that Seoul is undermining free speech.
The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan body in the House of Representatives that promotes, defends and advocates human rights, is set to convene a hearing on the issue when the new session begins in January, according to the Voice of America on Friday, in what would be the first congressional move in Washington regarding Seoul's legislation.
The issues discussed during the session expected to include the anti-leaflet law, as well as other humanitarian issues concerning North Korea.
Earlier, Chris Smith, a Republican lawmaker who co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, has expressed concern on the bill as "inane legislation criminalizing humanitarian outreach, condemning as "ill-conceived (and) frightening in its implications for democracy and liberty."
The Unification Ministry, in charge of inter-Korean affairs, declined to comment on the report, but added that it would continue to communicate with Washington and international society regarding the bill.
On Monday, the National Assembly, controlled by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, voted to amend the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act. The gist of the revision is to impose punishments of up to three years in jail or fines of up to 30 million won ($27,000) on those distributing propaganda leaflets, goods, money and other items of value into the North.
On backing the legislation, the ruling party and the South Korean government said it was necessary for the security of residents living in the border area, against any possible provocation from the North that could arise due to the propaganda leaflets.
In June, Pyongyang demolished a joint liaison office over the anti-NK propaganda leaflets. Also in 2014, the two Koreas exchanged fire across their heavily armed border, after the North attempted to shoot down balloons distributed by South Korean activists, which carried propaganda leaflets condemning the reclusive regime.
The amendment, however, sparked a backlash from conservative politicians in Washington and Seoul, as well as international human rights groups, denouncing the move as a violation of the freedom of expression and blocking already scant access of information in the North. They also accused Seoul of caving into pressure from Pyongyang's threats over the leafleting, in a move to improve ties with the regime as part of Moon's engagement efforts.
Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican leader on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, earlier released a statement, raising concern on the freedom of expression.
"Freedom of expression is a core democratic value and bipartisan majorities in the US Congress have long supported efforts to make outside information available in North Korea's closed dictatorship," he said. "A bright future for the Korean Peninsula rests on North Korea becoming more like South Korea -- not the other way around."
US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun had "privately conveyed" the US government's concern about the bill before its passage during his trip to Seoul last week, according to the Washington Post on Thursday.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry on Friday declined to comment on the report, but added that its mission in Washington had been communicating with the US on Seoul's new legislation.
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha also defended the bill during an interview with CNN on Thursday, saying freedom of expression was not "absolute" and could be limited if it threatened people's security.
By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)


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Excerpt: Yaro, Zhang, and Steiner on Megaregions
Megaregions—a concept pioneered by Robert Yaro, professor of practice emeritus in city and regional planning, in a Penn studio more than a decade ago—can help the United States contend with its mega-challenges. A new book, Megaregions and America's Future (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2022) by Yaro, Ming Zhang, professor of community and regional planning at the University of Texas at Austin, and Fritz Steiner, dean and Paley Professor at Weitzman, reviews the origins of the megaregion concept and the economic, ecological, demographic, and political dynamics to help readers understand trends, processes, and innovative practices within and between megaregions and identify the most pressing challenges that demand strategic decisions and actions. In this excerpt, Yaro, Zhang, and Steiner reflect on what they have learned by becoming urban and regional planners. The excerpt continues with the concluding chapter of the volume, which summarizes the important takeaways from the book.
A book launch for Megaregions and America's Future will take place on Thursday, March 17, 6:00pm.
What Has Yaro Learned?
From his experience over decades of working to protect large landscapes and advance other public policy goals, Yaro concluded that a key to success is to not only have a compelling vision that inspires action but also stay focused on political realities. In Theodore Roosevelt's admonition, "Keep your eyes on the stars, but your feet on the ground" (1). This was good advice in the late 19th century, and is valid today. In addition, success depends on patience, persistence, and perseverance. Yaro learned that it might take years, or even decades, to achieve his objectives.
Finally, it is important to seek allies with diverse interests and create coalitions of unlikely partners to build political support. The coalition behind the creation of the Long Island Central Pine Barrens protection plan, for example, included the Long Island Association business group, the Pine Barrens Society, the Nature Conservancy, and the Long Island Homebuilders Institute. Although each of these groups had its own narrowly defined special interest, they came together around a shared interest to protect this 100,000-acre groundwater and ecological preserve. Generally, it is enlightened self-interest, not altruism, that motivates people to take action on difficult environmental and land conservation initiatives. A focus on public health—in particular, public water supply protection—is a motivator. People get the connection between their health and what comes out of their water taps. A concern for public health and disease prevention was one of the reasons for the creation of Frederick Law Olmsted's urban parks in the 19th century, and along with climate change, it remains a prime motivator for action is the postpandemic time.
Protecting large landscapes and their resource systems requires the following provisions:
The public must perceive a threat to an important resource system or landscape—for example, a public water supply system. Loss of life from floods, fires, or other extreme weather events can galvanize public support for protecting the resource or protecting and restoring landscapes. Our new understanding of the critical role that large landscapes have in advancing global climate efforts can also underpin public support for actions needed to protect these places.
A regional conservation or planning agency must have authority from the state or federal government to protect the resource system; further, municipal or county plans and land use regulations must be consistent with and designed to implement the regional plan.
Federal, state, local, and private land conservation programs with dedicated revenue streams and staff are needed to protect the most significant lands, using the entire land conservation toolbox of fee-simple and less-than-fee preservation techniques.
Leadership is needed to initiate and sustain these programs, skilled staff to administer them, and effective outside advocates to support them.
Public understanding of and support for local, regional, and private initiatives must be maintained. Creating and managing reserves is not enough—they must be protected in perpetuity from attempts to restrict conservation efforts. Determined advocacy groups cannot forever fend off attacks.
What Has Zhang Learned?
Cultivate the habits of visionary thinking, communication, and persistence. These traits are needed when addressing the challenges cities and regions face from the very nature of megaregions—for instance, traffic congestion, pollution, and socioeconomic inequality. Population growth and movement, technological advances, and politics (from local to global) add dynamic forces to the mix, as do extreme weather events and pandemics.
Learn from international experience. Successes such as the transformation of the Rhine-Ruhr or implementation of high-speed rail in Asia should be studied for their valuable lessons, but they cannot be simply copied and pasted to other regions and countries. Megaregions are global geographic phenomena that share many characteristics, but each has a unique history and geosocial setting.
Build the megaregion knowledge base. Scholars like Patrick Geddes and Jean Gottmann described the megalopolis decades ago, yet contemporary knowledge on megaregions is limited. Whether theoretical, empirical, or a collection of best practices, knowledge is the basis for megaregional planning, strategic investment, and policy. Megaregional governance needs particular research attention. Megaregions cross jurisdictional boundaries. How can federal agencies help? U.S. federal precedents are the Tennessee Valley Authority and interstate highways (successes) and the Greenbelt Towns and Model Cities programs (failures).
What Has Steiner Learned?
Dwight Eisenhower once said that "plans are useless, but planning is indispensable" (2). A plan is but one artifact of planning. Successful planning yields many other results. Ideas from the planning process, realized in the built environment, result in better places for people to live, work, study, recreate, and worship. Lives are transformed.
From his national and international experiences in planning at the megaregional scale, Steiner has learned the following lessons:
A good planner seeks out everything possible that has been recorded about the planning area. Study the history of the place, previous plans, existing laws, maps of everything, and scholars' research on the natural environment and the human cultures there. Places are layered with meaning. People have settled them with hope that sometimes has been realized, other times not. They have left accounts of their settlement and recorded their plans and expectations.
Think in geological time. The planet predates humans, but this age is the Anthropocene epoch, in which human activity has significant effects on Earth's weather, geology, and ecosystems. Consider the consequences of a plan for future generations.
Learn from past planning failures and successes. Every community has its share of both. A good planner not only identifies what worked and what did not in past plan but also ascertains what led to those outcomes. Failures often involve lack of citizen support. Conversely, positive results frequently flow from informed political leadership ready to act when opportunity presents.
Be bold and visionary but humble. "Make no little plans," the architect Daniel Burnham (3) stated in a 1910 London speech: "They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work." Among others, Jane Jacobs (4) and Robert Caro (5) have documented the folly of big plans that were too big and not grounded in the desires of citizens. An ideal plan strikes a balance between high aspirations and firm grounding.
Illustrate plans generously with photographs, drawings, maps, and diagrams. People are visual creatures. Illustrations clarify complex ideas and illuminate process outcomes. Good planners possess graphic sophistication or appreciation.
Be adaptable and flexible. Things never go completely to plan. A good planner compromises, especially on small matters (and knowing what is not important is an art in itself). However, remain loyal to core values and be prepared to walk away from situations that are unethical.
Early successes help realize a plan's goals. Such success can be credited to the effectiveness of the planning process. Conversely, early failures are not helpful. Sometimes a project or policy envisioned in a plan falls flat because of opposition, controversy, or expense. By the way, be sure to take credit for the successful project or policy. Also, own the failures.
Keep planning. Humans are planners. That fundamental trait applied to shaping communities affects how future generations plan and live their lives.
Megaregions and the Next "American Century"
All of us are called, each to his own measure of capacity, and each in the widest horizon of his vision, to create the first great American Century.
—Henry Luce, Life Magazine, February 17, 1941
In 1941, just before the United States entered World War II, Henry Luce proclaimed the 20th century to be the "American Century." Whether the 21st century becomes the second great American century will be determined by the success of the nation's megaregions.
In the 21st century, the United States may no longer have the world's largest economy for the first time since 1870, when U.S. GDP surpassed that of Germany and the United Kingdom. China is expected to surpass the United States in GDP within the next 5 to 10 years because of decades of declining investments in U.S. infrastructure and lagging productivity growth—and unless Americans rise to this challenge, we will no longer have the economic resources needed to sustain our standard of living and advanced research base or to support a robust defense establishment.
In 1956, at the height of the Cold War, strengthening the economy and national defense were two of the reasons the Clay Committee recommended that President Eisenhower and a Republican Congress raise taxes to build the National Defense and Interstate Highway System. This investment helped create U.S. metropolitan regions. It also underpinned a fivefold increase in GDP over the next five decades and enabled the United States to make defense investments needed to win the Cold War. It is time for similarly bold action today but, this time, focused on activities and investments for U.S. megaregions to reach their full potential, in much the same way that the interstate highways enabled the growth and success of metropolitan regions in the mid-20th century.
The nation's megaregions will determine whether the United States can compete with China and other growing economies and sustain its high standard of living. The 13 U.S. megaregions are home to more than 80 percent of the nation's population and close to 90 percent of its economy. They are home to its innovation economy and most of its major research universities, teaching hospitals, and national laboratories. Unleashing the creative capacity of these places will allow them to continue to be engines for the prosperity of the whole country throughout the 21st century and beyond.
U.S. megaregions are also home to more than 80 percent of the nation's growing Black, Latinx, and immigrant populations, many of whom are not part of the economic and social mainstream. If the places where they live can achieve a zero-carbon economy and adapt to climate change, the rest of the country can, too. And finally, sustaining the livability and vitality of U.S. megaregions will determine the future standard of living and quality of life enjoyed by the next generations of Americans for decades to come.
To finance and deliver needed investments in megaregion-scale infrastructure, alternative energy, climate adaptation, and other measures will require new governance and public finance systems and new levels of innovation and public entrepreneurship not seen since the New Deal nearly a century ago. Fortunately, the templates for these innovations already exist in many parts of the United States and overseas, but they must be adapted to the unique circumstances and politics in each megaregion. Overcoming bureaucratic inertia and political foot-dragging in adapting the models will not be easy. The political reality is that for multistate megaregions, many governors and state legislators will resist creating agencies that will be beyond their control. Even megaregions contained within one state may have considerable resistance to the innovations proposed in this book. With megaregions encompassing portions of 44 states, however, it should be possible to mobilize congressional leadership around the investments and institutional changes proposed here.
Rebuilding the nation's infrastructure and economic capacity will require the full range of financing options, including taxes, tolls, fares, and other user fees; for long-term investments it will require, judicious use of deficit financing. But not tax cuts. Since the Reagan administration, Republican presidents and talking heads repeat the mantra that prosperity depends on cutting taxes. What is the result? Economic inequality grows, and funding is not there for critical investments in both physical and human capital. We have not, for example, built a new international airport since Denver opened its airport a quarter century ago. But U.S. competitors in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East have either modernized and expanded or built dozens of airports. As noted in chapter 9, the United States has not built a single high-speed rail line, but virtually every other developed and developing country in Europe and Asia has built entire high-speed rail networks.
Creating institutions and implementing reforms will require bold federal leadership and financial incentives to mobilize all levels of government and all sectors of society. We should look for inspiration to FDR's New Deal, whose programs were enacted during a similar period of economic, social, and political turmoil. FDR's commitment to large-scale innovation and experimentation transformed the economy and landscape of the country. The United States still benefits from this legacy, and almost a century later, it is time to do it again.
Americans have always turned major political and economic catastrophes into opportunities for reform, investment, and innovation. The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented economic, racial, and political unrest is the catalyst for today. Achieving the goals outlined in this book requires that we rise above narrow partisan politics and the social wars that have distracted Americans for much of the last half century. The $550 billion of new funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (of the total $1.2 trillion) signed by President Biden in November 2021 should be seen as a down payment toward this goal (6). And even if current proposals for high-speed rail projects like North Atlantic Rail are not funded now, this act can enable engineering, permitting, and early action demonstration projects for this and other priority initiatives. By enabling these and other strategic investments in America's megaregions, we can ensure a bright, prosperous future for this and ensuing generations of Americans.
1) Leonard Safire and Leonard Safir, "Idealism," in Good Advice (New York: Times Books, 1982).
2) Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 11, ed. Louis Galambos and Daun Van Ee (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984).
3) Daniel Burnham, "Stirred by Burnham, Democracy Champion" Chicago Record-Herald, October 15, 1910.
4) Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (New York: Random House, 1961).
5) Robert Caro. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (New York: Knopf, 1974).
6) "Fact Sheet: Historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal," White House. 2021. July 28. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/28….
Story Weitzman Faculty at Planning History Conference November 10, 2022
Story Reina Joins White House as Senior Policy Advisor on Housing June 14, 2022
Story Planning Students Gain Critical Perspective on the Carceral State May 6, 2022


By wheeling into cyber space?
Almost the same isn't it?
so we, forever friends can be.
if I arrive there first.
from all the beauty we unwrap.
with no time to ever measure.
is the very best delight.
with all the dearest friends we like.
in your heart forever glow.
by all that God has done.
That saves us from the grave.
and then enjoy, forever in your heart.
With love, the sweetest life to live.
As yours to keep today.
each day that I applaud.
That my thoughts be understood.
To send my love to you.
'Cause for you, love is on its way.
And may I leave nothing unsaid.
To kiss the tear from your eye.
Sure a smile she will win.
And you'll feel a warmth inside.
Of the most treasured kind.
But with what is in my heart, down deep within.
All that I feel, so I'll say it with flowers, and send a beautiful bouquet.
This easter gift of beauty, chosen lovingly by me.
Your friends may leave you, but never will I.
The blessings here and now today.
you shall not be in want.
and one I'll always love.
The very special way you are.
One you'll love so very well.


Al Michaels, a sportscaster who has reputedly covered more major sporting events than any other, celebrates his 72nd birthday today. And, he has a memoir out, You Can't Make This Up, excerpted in Sports Illustrated, which was what Larry read as his advanced reader copy before bringing the title in for stock even while true sportswriting (versus books of photographs of the Bears and Cubs) do not sell. This memoir perhaps is not so much sportswriting as storytelling.
He was especially entertained by Michaels's recounting of on-air give-and-take between Howard Cosell and Bob Ueker, two other contemporary sportscasters. Cosell was not a sportscaster per se. He was a personality. I think he made his mark announcing boxing or football, or following larger-than-life stars like Muhammad Ali and Joe Namath. He created/made popular the non-word "irregardless." I recall he became so larger-than-life himself that he had his own summer television variety show at a time when variety shows were big (think Carol Burnett and Sonny & Cher). Gee, I didn't mean to take away from Al Michaels's story, but I am sure Mr Michaels as well as any good storyteller realizes that the people and events surrounding him are what makes the telling interesting.


First thing to note about Dreamies is that they are a snack food, but one intended for cats. This may be a Food Stuff Finds first - food for other species - I'm really not sure, but in no way do I recommend humans eating these.
We've had the original chicken flavour of these floating around in the house for a while, and I picked up the salmon one about six weeks ago. I thought these were pretty small time things but then I saw them advertised on TV - these are big time! The recent packs are slightly redone and there are maybe around 6 flavours now.
I figured that this was enough of an incentive to get Duchess the review cat to do a comparison.
Based on the packs alone there was notable excitement. I use these as an incentive to get her to go into the room where she sleeps. This is usually pretty successful as they are certainly her favourite treat. The packs suggest that you can give quite a few in one go, but I find usually 4 or 5 is plenty. Always make sure your cat has access to fresh water folks!
To see which she fancied first I lined them all up (with 2 of each) and placed her in the centre. Naturally being a cat she wandered back to where the bags were originally and then to the end of the line and proceeded to eat them all.
In short then - the flavour that Duchess the cat likes best is whichever is closest. To humans the coloured bags are the only real difference. If you want some reasonably priced cat bribes then you should consider these Food Stuff Finds approved, but just buy whichever bag is your favourite colour as if your cat likes one then they will probably like them all.
Personnally I prefer dog biscuits, tried the cat biscuits before and didn't really enjoy the taste. They are for cats though.
My dog & cat love these, but over here in America they're known as: Temptations. I went through a period where I became besotted with trying out my dog's organic hard food. It was alright & I've stopped doing so since.
Dreich / S.Emerals - you both tried them? :-D I'll stick with choccie biscuits for myself!
They do look tempting, but I've seen the odd colours that they produce in the cat's hairballs. I think i'll let her have the rest.
These are known as cat crack in my house.


text:
layout: post
title: Multi-Task Learning in Tensorflow (Part 1)
author: Jonathan Godwin
---

### A step-by-step tutorial on how to create multi-task neural nets in Tensorflow.

A jupyter notebook accompanies this blog post. Please download [here](https://github.com/jg8610/multi-task-part-1-notebook/tree/master).

-----

# Introduction

## Why Multi-Task Learning

When you think about the way people learn to do new things, they often use their experience and knowledge of the world to speed up the learning process. When I learn a new language, especially a related one, I use my knowledge of languages I already speak to make shortcuts. The process works the other way too - learning a new language can help you understand and speak your own better.

Our brains learn to do multiple different tasks at the same time - we have the same brain architecture whether we are translating English to German or English to French. If we were to use a Machine Learning algorithm to do both of these tasks, we might call that 'multi-task' learning.

It's one of the most interesting and exciting areas of research for Machine Learning in coming years, radically reducing the amount of data required to learn new concepts. One of the great promises of Deep Learning is that, with the power of the models and simple ways to share parameters between tasks, we should be able to make significant progress in multi-task learning.

As I started to experiment in this area I came across a bit of a road block - while it was easy to understand the architecture changes required to implement multi-task learning, it was harder to figure out how to implement it in Tensorflow. To do anything but standard nets in Tensorflow requires a good understanding of how it works, but most of the stock examples don't provide helpful guidance. I hope the following tutorial explains some key concepts simply, and helps those who are struggling.

## What We Are Going To Do

### Part 1
1. **Understand Tensorflow Computation Graphs With An Example**. Doing multi-task learning with Tensorflow requires understanding how computation graphs work - skip if you already know.

2. **Understand How We Can Use Graphs For Multi-Task Learning**. We'll go through an example of how to adapt a simple graph to do Multi-Task Learning.

### Part 2
3. **Build A Graph for POS Tagging and Shallow Parsing**. We'll fill in a template that trains a net for two related linguistic tasks. Don't worry, you don't need to know what they are!

4. **Train A Net Jointly and Separately**. We'll actually train a model in two different ways. You should be able to do this on your laptop.

------

# Understanding Computation Graphs With A Toy Example

The Computation Graph is the thing that makes Tensorflow (and other similar packages) fast. It's an integral part of machinery of Deep Learning, but can be confusing.

There are some neat features of a graph that mean it's very easy to conduct multi-task learning, but first we'll keep things simple and explain the key concepts.

------

### Definition: Computation Graph

The **Computation Graph** is a **template** for computation (re: algorithm) you are going to run. It **doesn't perform any calculations**, but it means that your computer can conduct backpropagation far more quickly.

If you ask Tensorflow for a **result of a calculation** it will **only make those calculations required** for the job, **not the whole graph**.

------

## A Toy Example - Linear Transformation: Setting Up The Graph

We're going to look at the graph for a simple calculation - a linear transformation of our inputs, and taking the square loss:

{% highlight python %}
# Import Tensorflow and numpy
import Tensorflow as tf
import numpy as np

# ======================
# Define the Graph
# ======================

# Create Placeholders For X And Y (for feeding in data)
X = tf.placeholder("float",[10, 10],name="X") # Our input is 10x10
Y = tf.placeholder("float", [10, 1],name="Y") # Our output is 10x1

# Create a Trainable Variable, "W", our weights for the linear transformation
initial_W = np.zeros((10,1))
W = tf.Variable(initial_W, name="W", dtype="float32")

# Define Your Loss Function
Loss = tf.pow(tf.add(Y,-tf.matmul(X,W)),2,name="Loss")

{% endhighlight %}

There are a few things to emphasis about this graph:

* **If we were to run this code right now, we would get no output**. Remember that a Computation Graph is just a template - it doesn't do anything. If we want an answer, we have to tell Tensorflow to run the computation using a **Session**.

* **We haven't explicitly created a graph object**. You might expect that we would have to create a graph object somewhere in order for Tensorflow to know that we wanted to create a graph. In fact, by using the Tensorflow operations, we are telling Tensorflow what parts of our code are in the graph.

**Tip: Keep Your Graph Separate**. You'll typically be doing a fair amount of data manipulation and computation outside of the graph, which means keeping track of what is and isn't available inside of python a bit confusing. I like to put my graph in a separate file, and often in a separate class to keep concerns separated, but this isn't required.

## A Toy Example - Linear Transformation: Getting Results

Computations on your Graph are conducted inside a Tensorflow **Session**. To get results from your session you need to provide it with two things: Target Results and Inputs.

1. **Target Results or Operations**. You tell Tensorflow what parts of the graph you want to return values for, and it will **automatically figure out what calculations within need to be run**. You can also call operations, for example, to initialise your variables.

2. **Inputs As Required ('Feed Dict')**. In most calculations you will provide the input data ad-hoc. In this case, you construct the graph with a **placeholder** for this data, and feed it in at computation time. Not all calculations or operations will require an input - for many, all the information is already contained in the graph.

{% highlight python %}
# Import Tensorflow and Numpy
import Tensorflow as tf
import numpy as np

# ======================
# Define the Graph
# ======================

# Create Placeholders For X And Y (for feeding in data)
X = tf.placeholder("float",[10, 10],name="X") # Our input is 10x10
Y = tf.placeholder("float", [10, 1],name="Y") # Our output is 10x1

# Create a Trainable Variable, "W", our weights for the linear transformation
initial_W = np.zeros((10,1))
W = tf.Variable(initial_W, name="W", dtype="float32")

# Define Your Loss Function
Loss = tf.pow(tf.add(Y,-tf.matmul(X,W)),2,name="Loss")

with tf.Session() as sess: # set up the session
    sess.run(tf.initialize_all_variables())
    Model_Loss = sess.run(
                Loss, # the first argument is the name of the Tensorflow variabl you want to return
                { # the second argument is the data for the placeholders
                  X: np.random.rand(10,10),
                  Y: np.random.rand(10).reshape(-1,1)
                })
    print(Model_Loss)
{% endhighlight %}

------

# How To Use Graphs for Multi-Task Learning

When we create a Neural Net that performs multiple tasks we want to have some parts of the network that are shared, and other parts of the network that are specific to each individual task. When we're training, we want information from each task to be transferred in the shared parts of the network.

So, to start, let's draw a diagram of a simple two-task network that has a shared layer and a specific layer for each individual task. We're going to feed the outputs of this into our loss function with our targets. I've labelled where we're going to want to create placeholders in the graph.

{% highlight python %}
#  GRAPH CODE
# ============

# Import Tensorflow
import Tensorflow as tf

# ======================
# Define the Graph
# ======================

# Define the Placeholders
X = tf.placeholder("float", [10, 10], name="X")
Y1 = tf.placeholder("float", [10, 1], name="Y1")
Y2 = tf.placeholder("float", [10, 1], name="Y2")

# Define the weights for the layers
shared_layer_weights = tf.Variable([10,20], name="share_W")
Y1_layer_weights = tf.Variable([20,1], name="share_Y1")
Y2_layer_weights = tf.Variable([20,1], name="share_Y2")

# Construct the Layers with RELU Activations
shared_layer = tf.nn.relu(tf.matmul(X,shared_layer_weights))
Y1_layer = tf.nn.relu(tf.matmul(shared_layer,Y1_layer_weights))
Y2_layer_weights = tf.nn.relu(tf.matmul(shared_layer,Y2_layer_weights))

# Calculate Loss
Y1_Loss = tf.nn.l2_loss(Y1,Y1_layer)
Y2_Loss = tf.nn.l2_loss(Y2,Y2_layer)

{% endhighlight %}

When we are training this network, **we want the parameters of the Task 1 layer to not change no matter how wrong we get Task 2**, but **the parameters of the shared layer to change with both tasks**. This might seem a little difficult - normally you only have one optimiser in a graph, because you only optimise one loss function. Thankfully, using the properties of the graph it's very easy to train this sort of model in two ways.

## Alternate Training

The first solution is particularly suited to situations where you'll have a batch of Task 1 data and then a batch of Task 2 data.

Remember that Tensorflow automatically figures out which calculations are needed for the operation you requested, and only conducts those calculations. This means that **if we define an optimiser on only one of the tasks, it will only train the parameters required to compute that task - and will leave the rest alone**. Since Task 1 relies only on the Task 1 and Shared Layers, the Task 2 layer will be untouched. Let's draw another diagram with the desired optimisers at the end of each task.

{% highlight python %}
#  GRAPH CODE
# ============

# Import Tensorflow and Numpy
import Tensorflow as tf
import numpy as np

# ======================
# Define the Graph
# ======================

# Define the Placeholders
X = tf.placeholder("float", [10, 10], name="X")
Y1 = tf.placeholder("float", [10, 20], name="Y1")
Y2 = tf.placeholder("float", [10, 20], name="Y2")

# Define the weights for the layers

initial_shared_layer_weights = np.random.rand(10,20)
initial_Y1_layer_weights = np.random.rand(20,20)
initial_Y2_layer_weights = np.random.rand(20,20)

shared_layer_weights = tf.Variable(initial_shared_layer_weights, name="share_W", dtype="float32")
Y1_layer_weights = tf.Variable(initial_Y1_layer_weights, name="share_Y1", dtype="float32")
Y2_layer_weights = tf.Variable(initial_Y2_layer_weights, name="share_Y2", dtype="float32")

# Construct the Layers with RELU Activations
shared_layer = tf.nn.relu(tf.matmul(X,shared_layer_weights))
Y1_layer = tf.nn.relu(tf.matmul(shared_layer,Y1_layer_weights))
Y2_layer = tf.nn.relu(tf.matmul(shared_layer,Y2_layer_weights))

# Calculate Loss
Y1_Loss = tf.nn.l2_loss(Y1-Y1_layer)
Y2_Loss = tf.nn.l2_loss(Y2-Y2_layer)

# optimisers
Y1_op = tf.train.AdamOptimizer().minimize(Y1_Loss)
Y2_op = tf.train.AdamOptimizer().minimize(Y2_Loss)
{% endhighlight %}

We can conduct Multi-Task learning by alternately calling each task optimiser, which means we can continually transfer some of the information from each task to the other. In a loose sense, we are discovering the 'commonality' between the tasks. The following code implements this for our easy example. If you are following along, paste this at the bottom of the previous code:

{% highlight python %}
# Calculation (Session) Code
# ==========================

# open the session

with tf.Session() as session:
    session.run(tf.initialize_all_variables())
    for iters in range(10):
        if np.random.rand() < 0.5:
            _, Y1_loss = session.run([Y1_op, Y1_Loss],
                            {
                              X: np.random.rand(10,10)*10,
                              Y1: np.random.rand(10,20)*10,
                              Y2: np.random.rand(10,20)*10
                              })
            print(Y1_loss)
        else:
            _, Y2_loss = session.run([Y2_op, Y2_Loss],
                            {
                              X: np.random.rand(10,10)*10,
                              Y1: np.random.rand(10,20)*10,
                              Y2: np.random.rand(10,20)*10
                              })
            print(Y2_loss)
{% endhighlight %}

### Tips: When is Alternate Training Good?

Alternate training is a good idea when you have two different datasets for each of the different tasks (for example, translating from English to French and English to German). By designing a network in this way, you can improve the performance of each of your individual tasks without having to find more task-specific training data.

Alternate training is the most common situation you'll find yourself in, because there aren't that many datasets that have two or more outputs. We'll come on to one example, but the clearest examples are where you want to build hierarchy into your tasks. For example, in vision, you might want one of your tasks to predict the rotation of an object, the other what the object would look like if you changed the camera angle. These two tasks are obviously related - in fact the rotation probably comes before the image generation.

### Tips: When is Alternate Training Less Good?

Alternate training can easily become biased towards a specific task. The first way is obvious - if one of your tasks has a far larger dataset than the other, then if you train in proportion to the dataset sizes your shared layer will contain more information about the more significant task.

The second is less so. If you train alternately, the final task in your model will create a bias in the parameters. There isn't any obvious way that you can overcome this problem, but it does mean that in circumstances where you don't have to train alternately, you shouldn't.

## Training at the Same Time - Joint Training

When you have a dataset with multiple labels for each input, what you really want is to train the tasks at the same time. The question is, how do you preserve the independence of the task-specific functions? The answer is surprisingly simple - you just add up the loss functions of the individual tasks and optimise on that. Below is a diagram that shows a network that can train jointly, with the accompanying code:

{% highlight python %}
#  GRAPH CODE
# ============

# Import Tensorflow and Numpy
import Tensorflow as tf
import numpy as np

# ======================
# Define the Graph
# ======================

# Define the Placeholders
X = tf.placeholder("float", [10, 10], name="X")
Y1 = tf.placeholder("float", [10, 20], name="Y1")
Y2 = tf.placeholder("float", [10, 20], name="Y2")

# Define the weights for the layers

initial_shared_layer_weights = np.random.rand(10,20)
initial_Y1_layer_weights = np.random.rand(20,20)
initial_Y2_layer_weights = np.random.rand(20,20)

shared_layer_weights = tf.Variable(initial_shared_layer_weights, name="share_W", dtype="float32")
Y1_layer_weights = tf.Variable(initial_Y1_layer_weights, name="share_Y1", dtype="float32")
Y2_layer_weights = tf.Variable(initial_Y2_layer_weights, name="share_Y2", dtype="float32")

# Construct the Layers with RELU Activations
shared_layer = tf.nn.relu(tf.matmul(X,shared_layer_weights))
Y1_layer = tf.nn.relu(tf.matmul(shared_layer,Y1_layer_weights))
Y2_layer = tf.nn.relu(tf.matmul(shared_layer,Y2_layer_weights))

# Calculate Loss
Y1_Loss = tf.nn.l2_loss(Y1-Y1_layer)
Y2_Loss = tf.nn.l2_loss(Y2-Y2_layer)
Joint_Loss = Y1_Loss + Y2_Loss

# optimisers
Optimiser = tf.train.AdamOptimizer().minimize(Joint_Loss)
Y1_op = tf.train.AdamOptimizer().minimize(Y1_Loss)
Y2_op = tf.train.AdamOptimizer().minimize(Y2_Loss)

# Joint Training
# Calculation (Session) Code
# ==========================

# open the session

with tf.Session() as session:
    session.run(tf.initialize_all_variables())
    _, Joint_Loss = session.run([Optimiser, Joint_Loss],
                    {
                      X: np.random.rand(10,10)*10,
                      Y1: np.random.rand(10,20)*10,
                      Y2: np.random.rand(10,20)*10
                      })
    print(Joint_Loss)

{% endhighlight %}

## Conclusions and Next Steps

In this post we've gone through the basic principles behind multi-task learning in deep neural nets. If you've used Tensorflow before, and have your own project, then hopefully this has given you enough to get started.

For those of you who want a more meaty, more detailed example of how this can be used to improve performance in multiple tasks, then stay tuned for part 2 of the tutorial where we'll delve into Natural Language Processing to build a multi-task model for shallow parsing and part of speech tagging.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Co-Owning Property With Strangers Can Make Homes In LA Cheaper— But It's Also Displacing Renters
Can California Reduce Homelessness Through Better Prevention?
More Californians Are Moving Out Of State, And Fewer Are Moving In
Equity actors vote overwhelmingly against minimum wage proposal for 99-seat theaters
Equity's 99-seat wage proposal hasn't led to drawn swords or choke holds, but has caused a rift in the union. Actors Ramon De Ocampo (front) and Daniel Bess rehearse a fight scene in the Antaeus Company's production of "Henry IV, Part I" in North Hollywood.
Brian Watt
Ramon De Ocampo runs lines for The Antaeus Company's production of Shakespeare's "Henry IV, Part I"
Chuma Gault rehearses "The Gun Show" at the Moving Arts Theater in Silverlake
Chuma Gault says he tries never to sit down before an audition.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 23: AEA actors picket their own union over the proposal to end the 99-seat theater plan in Los Angeles on March 23, 2015 in North Hollywood, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
David Livingston/Getty Images
Brian Watt | April 20, 2015
Elected leaders of the Actors Equity Association, a union that represents theater actors, will meet Tuesday to decide if their actors should get a pay bump for performing in small theaters in Los Angeles.
Currently Equity actors who perform in so-called "99-seat theaters" (theaters with 99 seats or less) only receive a small stipend for their work - usually $7 per performance. The union wants their actors to be paid minimum wage for the time spent in both rehearsals and performances.
Actors in the union were asked to weigh-in on the idea through a non-binding vote, which was tabulated Friday. Roughly two-thirds of voters cast ballots against the pay increase. Nearly half of the eligible members voted.
Actors who are against their union's proposal say it would put many small theaters out of business, because producers wouldn't be able to afford the additional costs. Many actors pursuing commercial success in film and television say they have come to rely on the more intimate theaters as a place to practice their craft, create new and more daring work, with a chance of being spotted by someone looking for talent.
For actor Chuma Gault, the smaller theaters have offered a sense of community, and a safe place to create.
"I get to do stuff on stage that only if you are at a certain place in your TV or film career you get to do otherwise," Gault told KPCC. "I get to play characters that I get to play on stage but that would go to Terrence Howard if we were up for a movie together."
Gault moved to Los Angeles from New York about 20 years ago and says his first acting opportunity came in a smaller theater - The Actors Gang. He's now a working actor, who hasn't had to wait tables or take a "day job" for 13 years, with television credits that include regular appearances on "Girlfriends" and "Without a Trace" and some commercials under his belt. He drives the Los Angeles freeways constantly for auditions, which he says is a recently-added luxury.
"I spent four and a half years on my bicycle and on the train getting to this audition or that audition and if I had a fitting, I would stuff a bunch of clothes in a duffel bag, throw it on my back and ride my bicycle with that," Gault said while behind the wheel. "So my hustle is real."
At the end of the day, Gault often retreats to The Moving Arts Theater in Silverlake, where he practices a one-man play, "The Gun Show." Moving Arts is a tiny theater, with just 28 seats. Gault, a member of the Equity union, wouldn't say what he is being paid for the work - just that it's a little more than the customary $7 per-performance stipend. He calls it "gas and grocery money," but says he's done a lot of work in small theaters for next to nothing, and he is fine with it. It's a lot cheaper than acting class, which he says can add up to $400 dollars a month. "I can't afford that," he says.
Gault is worried that if Equity mandates all of its members be paid minimum wage for their work in smaller theaters, the creative outlets many LA-based actors have depended on will fold…or start producing less daring work featuring better-known actors to draw in more audiences.
"I think that when you do start to tread on how the majority of the people in this city feel about theater, you're wading into dangerous territory, because they will fight back," Gault said.
'Justice to actors'
Many Equity actors who've worked in the 99-seat theaters believe they should be paid more, and in crafting its latest proposal, the union says it is responding to their pleas.
"This is not about talking away anybody's creativity. This about doing justice to actors," says Gail Gabler, the western regional director for the union. "Actors should be first on a theater's budget, not an afterthought that doesn't even happen."
Gabler says the proposal on the table still gives Equity members an opening to produce their own shows for no pay without oversight of the union.
"But when you're working for a production where...the artistic directors are getting paid, the playwright's getting paid, the set designer, everybody else is getting paid, the actor should get paid as well," Gabler said.
"I do the same work for the Mark Taper Forum as I do for a 99-seat show," says actor Ann Colby-Stocking, an Equity member who supports the union's proposal. "The process is no different. It's a craft."
Colby-Stocking takes issue with an argument opponents of the proposal have made that the union is interfering with their right to "volunteer" in smaller theaters. "The fact is, there are actors who cannot afford to participate in the 99-seat plan," Colby-Stocking told KPCC. "It's for people who don't need to paid."
The proposal has caused a rift within the union, and created an ironic scene: actors marching through North Hollywood to the union's west coast headquarters to protest the union's push to get them more pay.
'A scalpel...not a sledgehammer'
"I believe that there is an inequality inside L.A. theater and I think it should be fixed," says actor Ramon De Ocampo. "But I don't think it should be fixed with a sledgehammer. We need to scalpel it away to get that payment."
Like Chuma Gault, De Ocampo is earning a living as an actor. He guest-starred last week on "NCIS New Orleans" and has narrated more than a hundred titles in audiobooks. He is also playing Prince Hal in the Antaeus Theater Company's production of Shakespeare's "Henry IV, Part I". Antaeus is an ensemble that produces plays in a 99-seat theater in North Hollywood.
Twelve actors perform "Henry IV, Part I"on different nights, but the roles are double cast, to accommodate actors who get called away to work in film or television. That's 24 actors. The last show the non-profit company produced involved 50 actors. De Ocampo, who's been with the company for the past eight years, said he can't imagine the financial hit that would come with having to pay them all minimum wage for every hour of rehearsal and performance.
"It would crush us," he said. "We would never be able to do a show like that. Here there is this opportunity for us to work in these big companies, in these big casts and to tell these large stories by essentially subsidizing our craft …ourselves. And we do that voluntarily because we believe in this part of our work."
Ahead of its National Council's meeting, Equity released a statement that read, "Equity's leadership has received important information from its members over the last several months. The National Council, Equity's governing body, will take all of the information into account before making any decision."
Jayne Meadows, actress and TV personality, dies at 95
Report finds few colleges have a Shakespeare requirement
Actors Equity eliminates 99-seat theater plan against membership vote
Equity actors vote no on 99-seat theater minimum wage
Actor Equity: Hear both sides of the 99-seat plan argument
Performers split over actors' pay in 99-seat theaters
Theater community debates whether stage actors should be paid minimum wage
KPCC's Business & Economy coverage is a Southern California resource provided by member-supported public radio. We can't do it without you.


The timing for his adventures could not have been better, his first trek was in the late 70s. Japan was just starting to break into a economic boom. Japan and the Japanese countryside was rapidly transforming and many small towns were being abandoned. People were heading for the cities to seek there fortunes and the small country towns were forgotten. Booth visited many of these places on his travels and showed us (the reader) how wonderful or sometimes weird and funny Japanese country people are. His second journey was 10 years later in the 80s and the changing Japanese countryside is evident in his writing. Japan is not the same Japan from 30 years ago. It's a shame because the Japan from 30 years ago is the place I would like to live in. Some people believe Booth did not really like Japan and sometimes in his writing you can see his disappointment and frustrations with the country, however I do understand these feelings. I lived in Japan for 6 years and for the most part I loved it. Of course there were times I did not like it and I think it is the same for most people where ever they live. Unfortunately Alan died young back in 1993.
ONE OF the favourite watering- holes of the writer Alan Booth was a very small, country-style bar in the suburbs of Tokyo named after the Japanese 'wandering poet' Ishikawa Takuboku, who died of tuberculosis in 1912 at the age of 26. Booth liked the place for several reasons: it was close to where he lived, he was on friendly terms with the masta of the shop and the beer was not served from small glasses, as usual in Japan, but from half-pint pewter tankards stamped 'Made in England'.
It was to Takuboku-tei that Alan Booth might turn after a hard day's writing – a bristling film review for the Asahi Evening News, or an account of his epic walk from the tip to toe of Japan, a journey which cost him several toenails, and which eventually became a classic travel book on Japan, The Roads to Sata (1986).
At that time, Booth was only in his mid-thirties, but he was almost an old Japan hand. He moved there in 1970, following a brief spell working in theatre in England. Before that he had studied theatre and English literature at Birmingham University and produced a prize-winning Hamlet.
In his early years in Japan, Booth studied Japanese theatre, particularly the classic Noh drama which was developed in the 15th century. While learning the art of Noh-style drumming, he was also gradually finding his true vocation as a writer. He wrote for local English-language publications, taught English at Waseda University and worked for the Japanese broadcasting company NHK, scripting English-language television documentaries. He also learnt how to speak fluent Japanese and sing old Japanese folk songs, a skill which gained him great respect from the Japanese.
After the success of The Roads to Sata, Booth made more epic walks in Japan, one of which retraced the last journey of Saigo Takamori, the Meiji leader who came to a tragic end making a last stand at Kagoshima in the southern island of Kyushu. Saigo characterised the spirit of the Kyushu man: bold, brave, decisive and honourable; qualities which also applied to Alan Booth. Both were physically powerful men with strong voices and both died in their forties.
Booth's last book, Tsugaru, inspired by a gloomy book written nearly 50 years ago by Dazai Osamu, deals with his travels in the far north of Honshu. Booth's manuscript was translated into Japanese, serialised in a leading weekly magazine and published as a book in 1992. The original English version is yet to be published. Other books of Booth's journeys have been published in both English and Japanese, as well as articles, many of which were commissioned by Winds, the inflight magazine of Japan Airlines.
Although Alan Booth was a city person – having been born and brought up in London and spending most of his working life in Tokyo – one of his main strengths as a writer was his ability to capture the anecdotes and atmosphere of present-day rural Japan, a world of farmers and fishermen, shopkeepers and school children, festivals and funerals. Booth's skill was to be able to walk into a small inn or restaurant in a remote corner of Japan where at first he would be greeted with considerable suspicion, but would end up entertaining the assembled company with folk-songs that even the Japanese did not know and listening to the life-story of the innkeeper's wife. This was a world far removed from the slick city life and corporate comforts of urban Japan. With sharp wit he criticised Japan's manic modernity and his sympathies always lay with people whose houses were pulled down to make way for new motorways.
Into the blue sky smoke fading . . .
sadly, emptily, smoke fading . . .
Unfortunately Booth died in 1993, I would have liked to meet him.
I first came across the name Alan Booth when I was reading the work of another travel writer, Will Ferguson. In Hokkaido Highway Blues, Ferguson hitchhikes from the south of Japan to the north, a journey I learned Booth had taken in reverse earlier in the The Roads to Sata. The difference was that where Ferguson had hitchhiked, Booth had done the journey on foot—from the most extreme point north, Cape Soya, to the most southerly point, Sata: a distance of over 2000 miles. It was a bit like discovering a good album, then tracing the artist's own musical influences: a trail which often leads to the unearthing of gems—such was the case with Alan Booth.
Booth has been described by Ian Buruma as "Not only one of the finest travel writers on Japan, but one of the best travel writers in the English language." Good travel writers are prepared to go that little bit further, to dig deeper and discover more about the country that they are traveling in. The way Booth traveled and his intent as a writer were inseparable: traveling on foot allowed him access to the places that the expressways and shinkansen missed, places which he brought to life with a mix of anecdote, observation and historical/cultural background.
The Japan of this time still has one foot in the past, though, and not everybody has evacuated the countryside to live in the cities. Life in the more remote regions remains as it has for generations. People still talk of distances in terms of 'ri' instead of kilometers, and real traditional festivals are carried out away from the flash of the tourist cameras. In one chapter, Booth describes an O-bon festival in Yamagata where the entire village heads to the local graveyard to welcome back the dead by candlelight.
On another occasion, he is invited to participate in the Namahage festival in Akita, where locals dressed as devils go door to door terrorizing children. At the culmination of the festival Booth is asked to lead the communal prayer and perform a Shinto ritual. Unfortunately, the sake gets the better of him and in a typical Booth moment, he messes it up. Not that anyone seems to mind, given that the entire village seems to be as drunk as he is.
Descriptions of encounters with the people he meets show a comic sensibility, sometimes used to expose pretentiousness, but often, it is simply a means of highlighting the gentle absurdity of the world he saw around him. In the extract below, a ryokan owner takes Booth to the local school where he teaches.
A battered metal globe had been dragged out to the front of the class and the four children clustered around it, wriggling.
"No Kazuko-chan, that's Saudi-Arabia. This is England," said Mr. Obata, tapping Iceland.
Booth's second and last book, Looking for the Lost, is based on a series of journeys undertaken more than a decade after Sata. In late-eighties Japan, he sees the result of the changes underway in the first book. The construction industry has been busy paving, damming and building roads through even the more remote regions; the migration to the big cities has left some of the rural areas looking like ghost towns; and children no longer follow him around yelling English phrases. The journeys are temporal as well as spatial and Booth takes us back in time, following routes taken by famous Japanese. We learn about present day Japan in the way it reinterprets its past and reconstructs its heroes. He searches for the ancestors of the tragic Heike clan, follows the final march of 'Last Samurai' Saigo Takamori, and traces a journey home to Aomori by the writer Dazai Osamu, who turns out to be one of Booth's least favorite subjects. The angst-ridden Dazai, from a wealthy background, is compared unfavorably to the blind Tsugaru shamisen player, Takahashi Chikuzan, from the same area.
Booth's respect for Takahashi Chikuzan and appreciation of his music was consistent with the version of Japan that Booth, who grew up in the working class area of London's East End, came to love. An actor and theatre director, he originally came to study Noh, but found it detached from the country he found himself in. Instead he was drawn to more earthy forms of local culture like festivals and folk music. His was not the Japan that other Western writers of the time swooned over—of Noh, Tea Ceremony and Zen. Booth's Japan was more that of common people, of the countryside (especially the north), and of Shinto more than Buddhism.
On the last page of Looking for the Lost, Booth describes a "niggling in the stomach" that turned out to be a symptom of the colon cancer that led to the writer's death in 1993, at the age of only 47. During his illness Booth continued to write a column for the Asahi newspaper, recounting his experiences as a patient with the same sense of humor that characterized his travel books.
His former editor and friend, Tim Harris, describes Booth as a "witty, highly intelligent, passionate man" with an ability to "see things with a freshness" that anybody who has read the books would understand. The Roads to Sata and Looking for the Lost still make most people's top ten list of the best travel books written about Japan. They are published by Kodansha International and are still available in most major bookstores.
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iCast laughs in face of Web entertainment woes
At a time when online entertainment sites are stumbling or folding, the CMGI-owned company is planning to launch a site devoted to comedy on the Web.
Jim Hu
At a time when online entertainment sites have stumbled or folded, CMGI-owned iCast is planning to launch a site devoted to comedy on the Web, News.com has learned.
iCast currently hosts short films and animation, music and video clips, and other entertainment-oriented content. Now the company plans to add a comedy site to its roster of offerings.
Dubbed "iCast Comedy," the service will debut with a publicity tour of 10 universities. It has signed comedian Janeane Garofalo as its spokeswoman, according to sources familiar with the plans.
The company has tapped Lara Stein, formerly of iXL Enterprises and Microsoft, as its president; former TV producer Brian Murphy as its chief executive; and former Maxim Online director John Wooden as its head of programming.
iCast declined to comment on the new venture.
For iCast, the expansion of its offerings comes as a growing list of online entertainment ventures experience hard times. Today, Shockwave.com, which also hosts animation and music clips, said it would lay off 20 of its 170 employees to concentrate on interactive games and films.
Yesterday, Pop.com, an online entertainment start-up backed by Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, announced it was shutting its doors before launching. Earlier this summer, Digital Entertainment Network also closed.
iCast still faces a handful of competitors that are hosting video and audio entertainment on the Web, including AtomFilms, Ifilm and Icebox.
Discuss: iCast laughs in face of Web entertainment woes


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The mechanism(s) responsible for the loss of neurons that characterizes Alzheimer disease is incompletely understood. Nonetheless, there is considerable evidence suggestive of immune abnormalities coupled to alterations in blood-brain barrier permeability that likely play a key role in both the etiology and progression of the disease. To examine these issues further, this study was designed to examine the presence of human antibodies within hippocampal regions of both diseased and normal brains. Specifically, using antibodies directed against either human lambda (λ) or kappa (κ) subunits of human IgG, we examined the amount and localization of endogenous human antibodies within the brain. In cases of Alzheimer disease, but not in age-matched controls, we found human antibodies associated with pyramidal neurons and dystrophic neurites surrounding amyloid plaques - pathological structures that characterize the disease. Since such human immunoglobulins likely originate in the vasculature, we also examined cases of cerebral amyloid angiopathy to further explore the importance of blood-brain barrier breaches and found high levels of antibodies associated with many blood vessels as well as pyramidal neurons. Taken together, these findings strengthen the notion that alterations in blood brain barrier permeability in both Alzheimer disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy leads to the accumulation of antibodies that then may contribute to the inflammatory cascade within the brain.
© 2007 David J. Bonda, Kate M. Webber, Sandra L. Siedlak, George Perry, Robert P. Friedland and Mark A. Smith. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


Welcome to the October issue of the Brewmaster, the official newsletter of the Homebrewers of Staten Island. I want to apologize for the delay in getting out the September issue, I was waiting for information on the now canceled Oktoberfest.
I am hoping that many more HOSI members will submit something to this publication. Send me your recipes, questions, and comments. We will use them all!
September's meeting was a very busy one. We had to deal with the cancellation of the Oktoberfest and the issue of who will run this great organization for the next year. The first issue was whether or not the Club needs any officers. The general consensus was that the club needs a President and a Treasurer. I was nominated and seconded (many wanted me declared President immediately, but it was decided that that would be unfair to those not in attendance).
The second issue dealt with the cancellation of the Oktoberfest. It was with great sorrow that this event had to be canceled. There were numerous issues that brought about this unfortunate turn of events. Hopefully some of these issues will be resolved in the future.
HOSI's 7th Annual Oktoberfest Canceled!!!!!
Due to unforeseen difficulties the Oktoberfest has been canceled. There are no plans at this time to hold the event.
It was decided at the September meeting that elections for President will be held during the October meeting. Tom Kolakowski (your editor), was the only nominee for the position. Any member wishing to run for Office should be present at the October meeting.
The September meeting is scheduled to be held at Schaffer's Tavern on Thursday Sept. 2nd at 8:30pm..
Oct. Meeting - Oct. 2nd. - ELECTIONS!!!
The alarm clock went off at 5am, the same way it would have on any winter's day, except it was still summer. In spite of that I woke up whining: "Oooh... I don't want to go to school today. The kids are so mean, and the principal always gives me nasty looks!" Karyn must have been in a daze too, because (in a sleepy voice) she responded: "but you have to go... you're the teacher!"
When my feet finally hit the floor I realized that today was the day Frank Slat and I were going to visit the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, PA. This is the oldest brewery in continuous operation in America. I was established in 1829.
The trip to Yuengling is an easy run, taking only 2hrs and 10 minutes. With lights and sirens on it could be done in under 2 hours. There are two tours daily. One is at 10am and the other at 1:30pm. On Saturday there is a noon tour. Yuengling brews four times a day, while operating 24 hours a day. This gives visitors a real view of a working brewery. The tour takes about an hour, ending in the brewery's beautiful bar and tap room, where you can sample some deliciously fresh beer. This bar was built in 1934.
In all, the trip turned out to be a wonderful, impressive and informative experience. It is a good idea to call ahead at (717)628-4890 for reservations.


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Source: Nintendo
Should You Shell out the Extra Money for the New Nintendo Switch OLED?
By Sara Belcher
During the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020, more people flocked to video games for entertainment than they have in years. Many pulled out old classics from the backs of their closets to revisit some childhood favorites, while others invested in new consoles like the Nintendo Switch, causing games like Animal Crossing to soar in popularity right after launch.
For a time, it was almost impossible to get your hands on either the Nintendo Switch or the Nintendo Switch Lite, as the consoles were often sold out in stores as the company struggled to match the supply to the demand.
But now, Nintendo is releasing a new console, the Nintendo Switch OLED model, on Oct. 8. Whether or not you already have a Nintendo Switch, is the new console worth it?
Is the Nintendo Switch OLED worth it? Here's what the specs tell us.
While the Nintendo Switch "Pro" was long rumored to have drastically increased specs and features, the announcement was a bit underwhelming, given all of the hype around the OLED model. The upgraded console has a larger screen size, twice the internal storage, and a wider kickstand to improve your play experience on the go — but beyond that, there aren't very many differences between the two devices.
The display performance of this upgraded console is bound to be better than the original — so if you're a graphics geek, this is something you'll likely appreciate about the OLED model.
That being said, both the original Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch OLED are running on the same CPU, meaning much of the software is the same. While there were rumors that Nintendo was asking developers to begin making games with 4K graphics, it does not appear that this one currently supports that.
It's entirely possible that a future software upgrade will make 4K graphics possible on the Nintendo Switch OLED model (considering the original Switch always had Bluetooth capability and Nintendo only recently turned it on for Bluetooth headphone compatibility), though at this time that is not confirmed.
If you don't already have a Nintendo Switch, it might be worth it to spend the extra money.
As it is with most consoles, if you don't already own it, it might be worth it to spend a little bit of extra money to have the most current generation console — to increase its longevity, if anything.
At this time, Nintendo has not announced any games that will be exclusive to this upgraded console, and while it doesn't have as advanced of graphics and resolution as consoles like the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S have, it'll likely perform better than the current Nintendo Switch will.
Buying the newer console will also make it more likely to last long after the Nintendo Switch is replaced with another next-generation console. If you plan to play it often (or even on the go), purchasing the OLED model might be worth your money.
How Does the Nintendo Switch OLED Stack Up Against the Other Switch Models?
Want the Nintendo Switch OLED? Here Are the Specs You'll Want to Pay Attention To
Did You Know the Nintendo Switch Has Bluetooth? Here's How You Can Connect Your Devices


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Stanhope Wins At Navan 23-4-22
Stanhope came into this having been deliberately put away for the winter he no longer enjoys Dundalk. There was a lot of back and forward on leaving the horse off for the winter. In the end, we're all comfortable trying this route. John McConnell felt we would get the benefits of it. So Stanhope headed away to Delanys for the winter, he was completely switched off. Stanhope had a good winter he looked well and has been moving well. Since he came back in we were positive about it. Obviously, he was coming off a 173 day lay off however he has run plenty of good races fresh. Stanhope was in an apprentice race here we had Siobhan Rutledge who knows our horse well. Stanhope ran two belters at Navan and The Curragh last season if he could reproduce those runs he would be a player here. The bookies were taking no chances at 12/1. Stanhope means a lot to everyone involved with no Mokhalad anymore. Stanhope took the captain's armband for the first time hopefully he could give us all a lift after a difficult winter.
Stanhope under Siobhan Rutledge stormed forward at Navan to sweep away our winter blues to win. Stanhope was securing his fourth victory for us. He is already an icon for our Syndicate, he has done so much already. Stanhope delivered for us lifting the gloom for ourselves and our talented young jockey. As Siobhan correctly said in her post-race interview. It has been a difficult time for her and us. This is the way of it for young people making their way in all walks of life. I always say " They are never doing as well as they think but most importantly they are never doing as badly as they think". It is important to try to stay level. We have stuck together as a team the owners, the trainer, and the jockeys.
Stanhope was very good on the day. There was much joy and some relief afterwards. We got a great kick out of it. Three of our recent wins came during a time of no owners. Our last victory as a syndicate was ruined by Mokhalad sustaining a serious injury. It has been tough but plenty of folks have suffered far worse over the last two years. That said we have had at least one winner every year since 2017. It was our 14th win as a syndicate. I felt it was the closest feeling I have had since our first win on 21-12-2017. We as I said earlier have to stay level. Stanhope won with a little in hand he enjoys this kind of task. We believe it or not have learned a lot about Stanhope in the last twelve months.
John McConnell changed his training regime last season in the middle of the season. John McConnell deserves great credit for this win he peaked the horse very well for this target. After a winter off and at Stanhopes age he would have been entitled to come forward for his first run of the season. We gave John a list of races for Stanhope for the early season on turf. John worked towards them very well. We will enjoy this win and have a chat with John McConnell when the dust settles. The list of races that John is working off is still relevant even after this win. We will work through them. Stanhope will attempt to eat his own body weight in Polo mints and carrots while we come up with a plan. We will happily feed them to him for as long as John McConnell permits us.