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Students design mechanism that could reduce water pollution in the sailing industry
Published: 28 June 2012Origin: Engineering
A group of Ship Science students from the University of Southampton have designed a lifting mechanism that could help combat water pollution.
The mechanism is intended to reduce the need for antifouling paint to be used by limiting the amount of time that sailing boats need to be submerged in water when in their marina berth. The project was conceptualised and supervised by University Ship Scientist Dr Stephen Boyd.
The standard practice in the sailing industry is to keep boats moored in individual berths in Marinas. This means that sailing boats are constantly submerged in water and antifouling paint is needed to prevent micro-organisms growing on the boat's hull. This bio-fouling poses many problems in the sailing industry. Not only does it reduce the performance of boats, it requires time and money to remove, a process which often includes use of toxic antifouling paint.
With the help of Tek-Tanks, the UK's leading supplier of standard and custom built water, waste and diesel fuel tanks to the marine and vehicle industries, the students have designed and built a prototype lifting mechanism for sailing yachts suitable for use in a standard marina berth. It is hoped that the prototype model could be developed for general use in marinas and could help to reduce the need for toxic antifouling paint and help to prevent water pollution.
The students have investigated material selection, structural calculation, stability assessment, control systems and risk assessment of the yacht lift system. Masters student Elie Amar says: "This project was primarily developed to offer all sailors, professionals and amateurs, an efficient and affordable solution to the performance, environmental, and economic issues associated with current berthing and dry-sailing techniques. It is our hope to see the widespread use of floating berthing docks in all marinas around the world. The use of this system would help sailors to save time and money whilst having a reduced impact on the fragile environment surrounding marinas."
Hampshire based company Tek Tanks says: "It's always refreshing to meet enthusiastic and innovative students and to work with them in developing their ideas and technology, especially where the environment is concerned, as we see marine regulations ever-tightening. We'll certainly be here to help them take their concept into production, and wish them every success"
Links to external websites
Floating berth project
Tek-Tanks
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1. The University of Southampton is celebrating its 60th anniversary during 2012.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, granted the Royal Charter that enabled the University of Southampton to award its own degrees in the early weeks of her reign in 1952
In the six decades to follow, Southampton has risen to become one of the leading universities in the UK with a global reputation for innovation through academic excellence and world-leading research.
This year, the University's reputation continues to grow with the recent awarding of a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of Southampton's long-standing expertise in performance sports engineering.
To find out more visit www.southampton.ac.uk/60
2. For more information about Tek-Tanks, visit www.tek-tanks.com. To read about the floating berth project, visit http://www.tek-tanks.com/2011/12/floating-berthing-dock-project/.
3. The students involved in this project include Elie Amar, Constantinos Chaelis, Maïlys Ecoffet, Piotr Laszczak and Stavros Santis.
Charlotte Woods, Media Relations, University of Southampton, Tel: 023 8059 2128, email: C.Woods@soton.ac.uk
www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/
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Playing actual, physical DVDs from a DVD drive
optical disc
By floutsch,
December 1, 2018 in General/Windows
floutsch 1
floutsch
Hey there.
Up until today I quite enjoyed my first steps with emby as a replacement of my former MediaPortal based media center. What I especially love is that my media center, a regular PC, can now stream to my chromecast, thus freeing up an HDMI port on the TV and allowing me to move the PC away from said TV.
However, I can't figure out how to play DVDs I put into the emby server's DVD drive. No luck searching the forums, either. It seems people generally assume DVD to mean either DVD file structures or ISOs (or starting to talk about BluRay which is'n my concern) instead of... you know... the round physical discs. I don't want to rip all of those. I tried making a library "DVD" of type "Movies" and added the optical drives to that. However, opening that from either the web app or the Android app just shows two VIDEO_TS "folders" with a play button that only leads to an error. The app even says that playback of a DVD folder structure is experimental - while I was hoping for a behaviour more akin to VLC and such (letting me open the drive as a medium). So... what's the way to get DVDs to be played and streamed?
Maybe I should add that I also bought emby premiere today to see if there were any more apps that might accomplish this but it seems that only allows actual usage of the apps I can browse. None of which, to be honest, are of any interest to me. Neither are the download options or basically anything Premiere provides ^^ And I don't mean that as criticism, I can see why others are interested in those things. All I care for is a list of stuff I can play and being able to browse and play it. I don't need preview pics, scene images, ... I'd be fine with lists. Also it's nice I can do this from anywhere when I'm out and about. And, well, I'd like to play my DVDs (locally) But I'd be happy to have premiere even if it's just to support the devs.
Thanks for listening and to anybody who can help me out!
Best reagrds
PS: Also maybe, Let's Encrypt should maybe be integrated directly. I really don't want to have IIS running just for that. But that's more of a suggestion
Hi. We don't have the ability to do this at this time and you may be the first one to ask for it in about four or five years .
However, you could create "stub" files for your DVDs so you can browse and then, by installing just about any software DVD player (like VLC) you could just pop the disc in the drive and that player could automatically start playing it.
Okay, that's a solid reason that I can't find it, then But now that you mention it, I remember reading about the stub files. Actually re-read that on GitHub right now. Think, I'm going for a separate media library for that.
I know it's off-topic for emby but you don't happen to have a link at hand that explains how to get VLC stream to a Chromecast on autostart? Would be much appreciated. However, if not, I'll try to look into it and try to make some kind of guide. Won't expect it to be hugely popular but it might help someone in another 5 years to just get it going
Chief Bottle Washer, your advice got me going for it I created a new default action for Autoplay using another tool ("Default Programs Editor") that starts VLC streaming to my Chromecast on insertion of a DVD. As this doesn't have anything to do with Emby - should I still post that here? Any more appropriate place in the forum?
Not sure. Maybe post in the tools and utilities section? Basically, wherever you think it will get the proper audience.

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Home & Recipes
Nicaraguan Church leaders call out Ortega regime for human rights abuses
Mario Schiavone
A demonstrator near the Metropolitan Cathedral in Managua, Nicaragua, looks at pictures Nov. 2, 2019, of protesters who died during the protests against President Daniel Ortega's government. (Credit: Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters via CNS.)
Since a social uprising began in Nicaragua in May of last year, the government of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, has called the local bishops coup organizers and even locked priests and the faithful in their parish churches.
This weekend, another priest was held for more than 12 hours of questioning by the authorities.
But far from being frightened, one bishop upped the ante this weekend, saying that the Catholic Church "has always seen the coffin of its persecutors pass by."
"Do not forget that not everything remained in Calvary," said Bishop Abelardo Mata of Esteli, referring to Christ's crucifixion. "The morning of resurrection came."
The bishop urged his priests to be close to those who suffer, "as the Old Testament says, close to the orphan, the widow and the foreigner."
Suffering people
Mata condemned the persecution of the Catholic Church and its priests for being with the "suffering people," and called out the regime for the violation of human rights that thousands of Nicaraguans have suffered.
Mata also praised the thousands of Nicaraguan youth who, on their graduation day, carried the blue and white national flag, currently banned by the government, in a sign of protest
On Saturday, the police detained Father Ramon Alcides Pena Silva for 12 hours, after accusing him of "disturbing the peace" 31 times by celebrating Mass inside a Catholic church in the town of Segovia, which is in Mata's diocese.
"Good morning," the priest said on Sunday after being released. "I am on my way to my daily routine, or to breach the peace, now that that is what we call celebrating Mass in Catholic churches. Thank you for being concerned about me."
In a statement released on Sunday, Mata denounced the "arbitrariness" of Pena's detention, saying that it violated "fundamental human rights and due process" as stipulated by the constitution. The police officers that detained the priest had no warrant for his arrest.
"I protest that, since April 2018, the National Police has renounced its mission of protecting the people, who demand justice, peace, freedom and truth," he wrote. "In these conditions, Father Alcides has reminded the police of their mission. This is not a crime. On the contrary, it is a call for them to reorient their actions in favor of the defenseless and oppressed."
Harassment and persecution
The "harassment and persecution" of a person who has consecrated himself to the service of Jesus is "unacceptable," Mata wrote, since it is this commitment to Christ that makes it mandatory for them to speak up "against the abuses and violations of the fundamental rights of our people, in this case, religious freedom."
Finally the bishop addressed the personnel of the security forces, urging them to think about their own wellbeing and that of their families, instead of allowing themselves to be "manipulated" by those who simply "use them as puppets to perpetuate themselves in power."
On Sunday, thousands of people participated in the celebrations of La Purisima as the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is known in in Nicaragua. According to information gathered by Crux, all over the country people left flags and bottles of water – currently signs of protest in the country – at the feet of the Virgin.
The water bottles gained their significance two weeks ago, when 13 people were arrested as they tried to bring water to a group of mothers of political prisoners who had been on a hunger strike after the police barred them from leaving the San Miguel Arcangel Church in Masaya.
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Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna said that he hopes that the Maltese society keeps on caring about human life and defend it from the point of conception, following St Joseph's steps.
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Q: Angular ui-grid tooltip with large text size I am using angularjs UI-Grid to show data but tool-tip breaking the UI.
        Scenario: when any column gets large text then column tool-tip does not show text correctly even shows distorted ui.
        I have created a plunker, and check second column tool-tip text.
            URL: http://plnkr.co/edit/ZRiSriYJaaU0NLzr5RLR?p=preview
            Please suggest how to show large text in tool-tip in Angular UI-Grid
<!doctype html>

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://ui-grid.info/release/ui-grid.css" type="text/css">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="main.css" type="text/css">

A: You can use \n in a cellTooltip text to break long lines.
Like
'Name: ' + row.entity.name + '\nCompany: ' + row.entity.company +'\n';

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Japan as it is
Japan blog is short and interesting
Japan landmarks
How might Japan's invasion of China and the Nanking Massacre have affected relations between Japan and Western powers?
How did the Nanking Massacre affect China?
What was the purpose of the Nanking Massacre?
Why are China and Japan enemies?
What were the effects of the Nanjing Massacre?
Why did Japanese soldiers killed so many civilians in Nanking China Brainly?
When did Japan invade Nanking?
In what Chinese location did Japanese forces commit terrible atrocities against the civilian population?
What happened between China and Japan?
How did Japan manage to invade China?
What happened to Japanese soldiers in China after WW2?
Did the Japanese apologize for Nanking?
How might Japan's invasion of China and the Nanking Massacre have affected relations between Japan and Western Powers? Western nations condemned human rights violations but did not do much after WW2 when they would prosecute for war crimes.
Seventy years ago this December 13th, the Japanese Imperial Army began its seizure of Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China. Japanese troops killed remnant Chinese soldiers in violation of the laws of war, murdered Chinese civilians, raped Chinese women, and destroyed or stole Chinese property on a scale that …
The Nanjing Massacre, also called Rape of Nanjing (December 1937–January 1938), was the mass killing and the ravaging of Chinese citizens and capitulated soldiers by soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army after its seizure of Nanjing, China, on December 13, 1937, during the Sino-Japanese War that preceded World War II.
The enmity between these two countries emanated from the history of the Japanese war and the imperialism and maritime disputes in the East China Sea (Xing, 2011). Thus, as much as these two nations are close business partners, there is an undercurrent of tension, which the leaders from both sides are trying to quell.
IT IS INTERESTING: Why was Japan's capital moved to Heian?
The government of Japan has admitted to the killing of many non-combatants, looting, and other violence committed by the Imperial Japanese Army after the fall of Nanjing, and Japanese veterans who served there have confirmed that a massacre took place.
Italy and Germany wanted to promote the spread of fascism. Why did Japanese soldiers kill so many civilians in Nanking, China? Commanders encouraged their soldiers to be as brutal as possible.
On November 11, 1937, after Shanghai was under Japanese control, Japanese armies advanced towards Nanking. By early December, Japanese troops were entering the city of Nanking. On December 9, after the Japanese army failed to get Chinese soldiers to surrender, Japanese launched missile attacks on the city.
In late 1937, over a period of six weeks, Imperial Japanese Army forces brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of people–including both soldiers and civilians–in the Chinese city of Nanking (or Nanjing).
First Sino-Japanese War, conflict between Japan and China in 1894–95 that marked the emergence of Japan as a major world power and demonstrated the weakness of the Chinese empire. The war grew out of conflict between the two countries for supremacy in Korea.
In 1931, the Mukden Incident helped spark the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. The Chinese were defeated and Japan created a new puppet state, Manchukuo; many historians cite 1931 as the beginning of the war. This view has been adopted by the PRC government.
IT IS INTERESTING: What kind of cars do people drive in Japan?
Abandoned by their army, 80,000 Japanese civilians died in northeast China, roughly equal to the number who perished after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki.
November 13, 2013: Former Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio offered personal apology for Japan's wartime crimes, especially the Nanking Massacre, "As a Japanese citizen, I feel that it's my duty to apologise for even just one Chinese civilian killed brutally by Japanese soldiers and that such action cannot be …
Categories Japan landmarks
Hello everyone! In Japan, as in any other country, there are many myths about what the Japanese can and cannot do. And these myths are often very far from reality. In this blog, I will try to dispel some of them.
© 2022 Japan as it is


Maps, Map Of The Midwest United States was posted May 8, 2017 at 11:00 pm by gotravelingabroad.com . More over Map Of The Midwest United States has viewed by 1509 visitor.
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Making cars electric is the easy part. In order for electric vehicles to be truly green, they will also have to be powered by clean energy.
EVs are coming, but what will power them?
By Daniel T Cross on August 30, 2019
Electric Vehicles Nuclear Energy Sustainable Development
The world's roads are becoming increasingly congested with more than 1 billion passenger cars already on them. Millions more are added each month as well over 70 million new cars are manufactured every year. The vast majority of those vehicles have internal combustion engines, which means they emit large amounts of CO2, which exacerbates climate change. They also release pollutants that continue to befoul our air.
A solution to both problems — rampant CO2 emissions and air pollution — lies in electric vehicles. This is especially true in China and India, the world's most populous countries with the highest CO2 emissions, where rapid economic growth is driving an upsurge in the number of privately owned passenger cars and other vehicles.
In a bid to cut back on harmful emissions, both countries have been turning to electric vehicles. China already boasts the largest share of EVs in the world and Beijing is exploring an ambitious plan to ensure that 60% of all automobiles sold in the country will run on electric motors by 2035. India is following suit by pushing for a large-scale adoption of electric vehicles from passenger cars to motorcycles to motorized rickshaws.
However, making cars electric is the easy part. In order for electric vehicles to be truly green, they will also have to be powered by clean energy. And in that area both China and India are falling short as they continue to rely heavily on coal for electricity generation. In China nearly two-thirds of domestically generated electricity is still produced by the burning of coal, while in India coal-fired plants generate 72% of the country's electricity.
China remains the planet's largest producer and consumer of coal, as well as the world's largest user of coal-derived electricity. The percentage of coal in the country's energy mix has fallen from 80% in 2010 to 60% today, yet that ratio still means that 4.4 billion tons of coal are burned annually. The more than one million electric vehicles currently on the country's roads are powered by electricity derived largely from coal.
Riley Adams is a financial analyst based in the San Francisco Bay area.
The situation is even more dire in India. In its embrace of renewables, the South Asian country is seeking to increase its installed renewable energy capacity from 78 GW to 175 GW by 2022, especially by boosting its solar power capacity.
Yet even as the country is eyeing a larger share for renewables, its energy needs will balloon in coming years. And those needs will mostly be met by burning even more coal, often at outdated plants that release plenty of airborne pollutants. India's continued addiction to coal has worsened chronic levels of air pollution, already among the worst in the world.
Coal-fired power plants are here to stay both in China and India, two countries that together account for the lion's share of CO2 emissions globally. Needless to say, this does not bode well for the environmental credentials of locally driven electric vehicles.
Some observers have called electric vehicles powered by coal-fired plants "coal-burners, once removed." "[T]he advent of electric cars is not necessarily a boon for the environment if it means simply trading our reliance on one fossil fuel — oil, from which gasoline is distilled — for an even dirtier one: coal, which is burned to create electricity," Scientific American explains.
For the foreseeable future, renewables won't be able to meet either of the two countries' energy needs. As a result, locally driven electric vehicles will continue to run largely on coal for years to come.
That is why they should embrace nuclear energy on a larger scale, some experts argue. By supplementing their growing share of renewables with more nuclear energy, China, India and other countries can reduce their carbon footprints significantly, argues Riley Adams, a senior financial analyst for a tech company who previously worked as a regulatory policy analyst in the utility industry.
"Nuclear energy, when handled safely, is an excellent resource to combat climate change. The resource provides immense amounts of greenhouse gas-free electricity and serves as valuable baseload resource," Adams tells Sustainability Times.
"The [latest reactor generation] provides high capacity factors, near its maximum potential for 90-95% of the time. Most other resources on the power grid offer far lower capacity utilization and far more greenhouse gas emissions, should the resource match an equivalent output. Other fossil fuel sources provide high amounts of electricity output, such as goal and gas, but come with carbon dioxide among other harmful chemicals," Adams explains.
"Renewable resources, on the other hand, offer far lower capacity factor scores. Single-axis tracking solar farms average 20-35% capacity factors if well-situated in a sun-rich area," he goes on. "To increase this output would require energy storage which is currently uneconomic. Wind power offers similar capacity factors but often during off-peak periods when energy is less in need. Nuclear power generates on the hottest days or the coldest nights and emits no greenhouse gases."
Current mobile EV charging systems place peak demand on the power grid in the morning and evening – times of the day when renewables like solar are only producing insufficient amounts of power. According to CEO of Bannerman Resources Brandon Munro, this is where nuclear's advantage fully comes to bear. "That's where nuclear comes in, namely in covering the increased base-load requirement resulting from EV charge demand. In home charging – where people get home and then plug their vehicle in – overnight electricity storage resources will be depleted. This highlights the opportunity for nuclear energy in sustaining base-loading during off-peak non-solar periods."
Indeed, as EVs are set to become a staple even in the West, policy-makers should be aware what this means for electricity generation if these vehicles are to reach their full potential.
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Why Singapore should consider nuclear power
Victor Nian December 11, 2020
Air quality regulation has 'saved 1.5 billion birds' in the US
Sustainability Times November 25, 2020


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Home » Features » Father Nerinckx's Kneecap and Other Relics
Father Nerinckx's Kneecap and Other Relics
Posted on November 1, 2019, by Loretto Heritage Center
By Susanna Pyatt1
When I and the other staff at the Heritage Center opened a trunk said to be full of old chalices in November last year, we little expected what else we would find! The trunk had belonged to Father Charles Nerinckx and contained not just antique church goods, but also two chests of relics of Father Nerinckx. Most of these were not out of the ordinary for the Heritage Center's collections, like a broken quill pen and a whetstone that had belonged to Nerinckx, and some pieces of bone preserved in individual, small reliquaries. But surprisingly, one little box contained loose bones—a vertebra, foot bones, and a kneecap from Father Nerinckx's remains. How did these relics come to be housed, forgotten, in the Heritage Center?
Portrait of Father Charles Nerinckx, from The Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx by Rev. Camillus Maes.
The presence of these relics in the collections is directly linked to how Loretto has remembered its clerical founder over the past two centuries. After Father Nerinckx's death in Missouri on August 12, 1824, his remains were treated with great respect and veneration among the frontier Catholic community. One Sister reported that after Nerinckx's death, "every day after dinner for months…Sisters and pupils went in procession to pray at his tomb. Bishop Rosati [of St. Louis] considered Father Nerinckx's remains the most precious thing in his diocese," initially refusing to let anyone take the remains from Nerinckx's grave at the Bethlehem convent and school in Perry County, Missouri, back to the Kentucky Motherhouse.2 Nerinckx's tomb in Perry County was associated with at least one miraculous healing, when a Mrs. Burke was cured of her blindness by rubbing earth from the grave on her eyes.3
In 1833, Bishop Rosati finally allowed the remains of Father Nerinckx to be sent to Kentucky. Once at the Motherhouse, the box of Father Nerinckx's remains was placed in front of the church altar and watched over by Sisters for several days. The box was then taken to the Motherhouse cemetery and buried with ceremony under a simple monument. Father Nerinckx's Kentucky grave continued to be a site for community members' prayers into the twentieth century.
Two accounts of healing among the Sisters of Loretto around the time of the congregation's centennial centered on the use of Father Nerinckx relics. In 1911, a Sister made a novena to Father Nerinckx, desiring healing from an intestinal illness that had persisted since a fall some years previously. In a letter describing the case, the Sister's colleague wrote that Sister had "cried and talked to Father Nerinckx as she went about her ordinary duties, begging him to cure her—asked him why he could not do something for the Sisters now, when he did so much for them while he was on earth." Out of desperation, the Sister swallowed a small fragment of silk in which a Nerinckx relic had been wrapped. She was healed of her intestinal issues that night, including passing what she believed to be a fragment of a rib broken in the fall. Then in 1913, a dying Sister in El Paso, Texas, was unable to speak to make a final Confession. The Superior made a sign of the cross with a relic of Father Nerinckx and pressed the relic to the Sister's tongue, after which the Sister was able to speak.
It is during this same time period that the loose bones we found were removed from Father Nerinckx's grave. In July 1911, Nerinckx's remains were disinterred and brought to the Motherhouse Sacristy in preparation for reburial after the construction of a new monument over the grave. A portion of the bones were retained at that time,4 presumably for devotional use as religious relics. This includes two of the boxes we found in the trunk last year: the box of whole bones and a tin of bone dust and wood fragments from the box used to transport Father Nerinckx's body to Kentucky in 1833.
Grave of Father Charles Nerinckx, Loretto Motherhouse Cemetery.
As the twentieth century progressed, cases of miraculous healing and the use of relics became even more important. The Sisters began a beatification campaign for Father Nerinckx in the spring of 1944, aiming to eventually have their founder made a saint in the Catholic Church. A major step in the beatification process is to prove that the nominated person has at least one posthumous miracle to their name. The Sisters sent out prayer cards with information about Father Nerinckx and a prayer for his beatification. In return, they received requests for relics and reports of petitioners' successes (or sometimes lack thereof) in supplicating Father Nerinckx for favors, including for healing and various other good fortunes. In some of the most striking cases, supplicating Father Nerinckx through prayers and laying relics of him on patients were believed to have led to healing in cases where medical professionals had given up hope. Letters in the Loretto archives tell of an 11-year-old boy, a Loretto student, who was healed after his appendix ruptured and infection set in, in 1947; and of a 13-year-old girl suffering from cystic fibrosis who awoke from a coma in 1957.
Beatification prayer card for Father Charles Nerinckx, 1955.
So what changed? The bones and other relics sitting in the Heritage Center certainly are not being used for healing now. The tumultuous 1960s and the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council brought major changes to the Sisters of Loretto, including shifts in public religious practice, the structure of community life, and relationships with the Church hierarchy. Devotional practices, including the use of relics in general, changed as well. For example, altar relics originally brought by Father Nerinckx for the Motherhouse church altar were removed from the church and respectfully buried in the Motherhouse cemetery. According to memory, Father Nerinckx's trunk was rediscovered in the choir loft during the 1980 renovations. It is likely that the boxes of relics were already in the trunk and came to the Heritage Center in 1980 when the trunk was moved.
The Loretto Community now has other ways of remembering Father Nerinckx and finding inspiration and grounding from his foundational examples. When the Motherhouse church was last renovated, the few objects chosen to be placed in the sacred space were selected from items with historical ties to the community. Many of them were originally brought to Loretto by Father Nerinckx. Sayings of Father Nerinckx are still quoted, and his original written Rule for the congregation continues to be cited and reinterpreted as inspiration for guiding the future of the community as it adapts and moves forward in the twenty-first century. But there is no longer the public religious devotion to Father Nerinckx, and Loretto now gives greater prominence to the role and agency of Loretto's women founders in forming the religious order. Father Nerinckx is now one founder among others, all of them respected but none of them set on a pedestal. As church goods and museum pieces, objects related to the faith and work of Nerinckx and other early Lorettines are touchstones for the present community, but as for the relics, relegated to a forgotten trunk in the Heritage Center, their use in devotion, as spiritual touchstones, is past.
1 This post is excerpted from a paper presented at the Communal Studies Association annual conference, Winterthur, Delaware, 19 October 2019.
2 Qtd. in Rev. Camillus Maes, The Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx (Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1880), 536.
3 Maes, Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx, 540-541.
4 Affidavit of Srs. Mary Antonella Hardy and Mary Adolpha Cecil, SL, May 30, 1945, found with collection of Father Nerinckx relics, Loretto Heritage Center.
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Home » Hockey: Vandana Katariya, Rani Rampal star as India beat South Africa 7-0 in second game
Hockey: Vandana Katariya, Rani Rampal star as India beat South Africa 7-0 in second game
After a fine show in their opening match on Monday, the India registered a stunning 7-0 victory against the home side South Africa in their second match of the four-match series in Cape Town.
The visitors, riding on their recent success at the FIH Women's Nations Cup, have shown sublime form in this tournament. They opened the campaign with a 5-1 win and in the second game, they showed same intent as they began with a fine ninth minute goal by Udita.
The team led by goalkeeper Savita upped the pressure on South Africa in the second quarter, forming some potent attacking combinations. Vaishnavi Vithal Phalke, who made her international debut for the senior side in their opening match on Monday, scored India's second goal in the 22nd minute.
This was followed by a brilliant field goal by experienced forward Rani, who is making her comeback after nearly six months of playing her previous match during the FIH Hockey Pro League in 2022. She had also scored India's first goal in the opening game. India's 3-0 lead was extended to 6-0 by the end of the second quarter.
Goals were converted in quick succession when Sangita Kumari, Navneet Kaur and Vandana Katariya scored in the 25th, 26th…


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Folic acid and methotrexate use and their association with COVID-19 diagnosis and mortality: a case–control analysis from the UK Biobank
Ruth Topless1,
Ralph Green2,
Sarah L Morgan3,
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3156-3418Philip Robinson4,
Tony Merriman1,3,
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7365-7212Angelo L Gaffo3,5
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
2Departments of Pathology and Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, California, USA
3Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
4School of Clinical Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
5Birmingham VA Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Correspondence to Dr Angelo L Gaffo; agaffo{at}uabmc.edu
Objective To determine if methotrexate or folic acid prescription was associated with differential risk for COVID-19 diagnosis or mortality.
Design Case–control analysis.
Setting The population-based UK Biobank (UKBB) cohort.
Participants Data from 380 380 UKBB participants with general practice prescription data for 2019–2021. Updated medical information was retrieved on 13 December 2021.
Primary and secondary outcome measures The outcomes of COVID-19 diagnosis and COVID-19-related mortality were analysed by multivariable logistic regression. Exposures evaluated were prescription of folic acid and/or methotrexate. Criteria for COVID-19 diagnosis were (1) a positive SARS-CoV-2 test or (2) ICD-10 code for confirmed COVID-19 (U07.1) or probable COVID-19 (U07.2) in hospital records, or death records. By these criteria, 26 003 individuals were identified with COVID-19 of whom 820 were known to have died from COVID-19. Logistic regression statistical models were adjusted for age sex, ethnicity, Townsend deprivation index, body mass index, smoking status, presence of rheumatoid arthritis, sickle cell disease, use of anticonvulsants, statins and iron supplements.
Results Compared with people prescribed neither folic acid nor methotrexate, people prescribed folic acid supplementation had increased risk of diagnosis of COVID-19 (OR 1.51 (1.42–1.61)). The prescription of methotrexate with or without folic acid was not associated with COVID-19 diagnosis (p≥0.18). People prescribed folic acid supplementation had positive association with death after a diagnosis of COVID-19 (OR 2.64 (2.15–3.24)) in a fully adjusted model. The prescription of methotrexate in combination with folic acid was not associated with an increased risk for COVID-19-related death (1.07 (0.57–1.98)).
Conclusions We report an association of increased risk for COVID-19 diagnosis and COVID-19-related death in people prescribed folic acid supplementation. Our results also suggest that methotrexate might attenuate these associations.
Data are available in a public, open access repository.
A strength of the study is the use of a large population-based cohort with linked data.
Another strength is that the cohort was drawn from a population where food was not fortified with folic acid.
A limitation of the use of prescription data is that it was not possible to assess compliance or to account for over-the-counter supplementation of folic acid.
The findings cannot be generalised outside of the middle-aged (>45 years of age) white European demographic that dominates the UK Biobank cohort.
The observational nature of the data means that causality cannot be inferred from our findings.
Folate, a vitamin B, carries out critical roles in the transfer of one-carbon units in intermediary metabolism. Folates exist in various forms depending on the one-carbon substituent attached to the parent molecule and are involved in numerous reactions, including the synthesis of methionine from homocysteine and are also used in purine and pyrimidine metabolism for DNA and RNA synthesis. The oxidised form, folic acid, is presently added to fortified foods in the USA and over 80 other countries. Recently, a decision has been taken in the UK to introduce fortification to prevent neural tube defect pregnancies. Folic acid is also used in dietary supplements to prevent or treat folate deficiency.1 Additionally, folic acid supplementation of up to 5 mg daily is often advised during pregnancy and in women of childbearing age and for other medical conditions (sickle cell anaemia)2 and during treatment with certain anticonvulsants.3
Methotrexate, a structural analogue of folate, has potent antifolate activity and is in widespread use as an antineoplastic agent and as a first-line disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).4 Folic acid (at doses commonly ranging from 1 to 2 mg daily) or folinic acid supplementation is often included to lower the toxicity of low-dose methotrexate therapy.5 6
The COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance physician-reported registry has evaluated factors related to death from COVID-19 in individuals with rheumatic diseases.7 Compared with those receiving methotrexate monotherapy, use of rituximab (OR 4.0 (95% CI 2.3 to 7.0)), sulfasalazine (3.6 (1.7 to 7.8)), azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine, mycophenolate and tacrolimus (2.2 (1.4 to 3.4)) or no DMARD (2.1 (1.5 to 3.0)) all had higher risks of death from COVID-19.
In order to generate purines, SARS-CoV-2 post-transcriptionally remodels host folate metabolism. In an in vitro system using African green monkey, kidney cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 intracellular glucose and folate were depleted, and this perturbation was sensitive to folate inhibitors such as methotrexate.8 It is therefore plausible that methotrexate therapy for RA could have a beneficial effect on COVID-19 outcomes given its antifolate activity. However, since folic acid is routinely included with methotrexate to prevent methotrexate-related toxicity, such putative beneficial effect of methotrexate on viral proliferation and hence on COVID-19 outcomes may be negated by folic acid supplementation.
The aim of this study was to determine whether the use of methotrexate and folic acid prescription, together or individually, were associated with a lowered or increased risk, respectively, for COVID-19 diagnosis or mortality in a large population-based cohort.
This research was conducted using the UK Biobank (UKBB) Resource (approval number 12611).9 The UKBB is a large resource of volunteers aged 49–86 years at recruitment.10 Recruitment began in 2006 with follow-up intended for at least 30 years. SARS-CoV-2 test information, ICD-10 hospital codes, death records and general practice prescription information were obtained via the UKBB data portal on 13 December 2021. This information covered hospital diagnoses between 18 April 1991 and 30 September 2021, SARS-CoV-2 tests between 13 January 2020 and 18 October 2021, and death records until 12 November 2021. Illustrated in figure 1, there were 464 306 participants, of whom 4469 were removed owing to not having a body mass index (BMI) measure or Townsend index score or smoking status and a further 79 457 were removed owing to lack of prescription data. General practice prescription data from 1 January 2019 to 27 September 2021, available for 380 380 participants, were used to identify people prescribed methotrexate, folic acid, anticonvulsants (phenytoin, carbamazepine, phenobarbital), iron supplements (ferrous fumarate, ferrous sulfate, ferrous gluconate) and coprescribed medications.
Flow schematic of study design.BMI, body mass index.
Ethics approval statement
The UK Biobank (UKBB) was undertaken with ethical approval from the North West Multi-Centre Research Ethics Committee of the UK. This study was done under this ethical approval; researchers using the UKBB do not require separate ethical approval. The study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki and written informed consent was obtained from all participants.
We did not involve patients or the public in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of our research.
COVID-19 definitions
The criteria for COVID-19 diagnosis were defined as participants with (1) a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test and/or (2) ICD-10 code for confirmed COVID-19 (U07.1) or probable COVID-19 (U07.2) in hospital records, or death records. There were 26 033 cases, of whom 820 died with COVID-19. Figure 2 summarises how cases were diagnosed.
Data sources of COVID-19-diagnosed individuals. Of the 26 033 COVID-19-diagnosed individuals, 25 300 were identified from positive SARS-Cov-2 test results (21 705 unique to this group), 4170 identified from hospital records (650 unique to this group) and 820 identified from death records (51 unique to this group). Overall, 217 diagnosed after 13 October 2021 (30 days before the last recorded death) were removed from the case only analysis in online supplemental table S4 given the unknown outcome.
Ethnicity, age and comorbidity data
Self-reported ethnicity was grouped into white British (British, Irish, white, any other white background), black British (African, white and black African, black or black British, Caribbean, white and black Caribbean, any other black background), Asian British (Asian or Asian British, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, white and Asian, any other Asian background) and other (other ethnic group, mixed, any other mixed background, do not know, prefer not to answer). Age was calculated for 2020 from year of birth. Age groups used in the analysis were<60 years (n=69 849), 60–69 years (n=120 013), 70–74 years (n=90 627) and >74 years (n=99 891). The ICD-10 hospital codes used to determine additional comorbidity status were RA (M05) and sickle cell disease (D57). Demographic characteristics of the study population are presented in table 1.
Study population in the UK Biobank, restricted to those with data on prescriptions
All association analyses in this case–control study were done using R V.4.0.2 in RStudio V.1.2.5019. Statistical model 1 was adjusted for age group (four categories), sex, ethnicity, Townsend deprivation index, BMI, smoking status. Model 2 is model 1 plus adjustment for the presence of RA, sickle cell disease (where daily folic acid is prescribed2), prescription of statins, prescription of anticonvulsants (where coprescription of folic acid often occurs11) and iron supplements (supplementary iron has been associated with poorer outcomes of infectious disease, including COVID-1912 13). For methotrexate and folate use, a single variable with four levels was used for statistical modelling (no methotrexate or folate, methotrexate only, folate only, methotrexate and folate). Sex-stratified analyses were done using the same approach to explore any differential association with COVID-19 diagnosis or associated mortality. A p<0.05 threshold indicated nominal evidence for association.
Demographic characteristics of the study population are presented in table 1. The proportion of those diagnosed with COVID-19 while taking methotrexate was similar to the general study population (1.14% vs 1.09%, respectively) although there was a higher proportion of methotrexate prescriptions in the group that died with COVID-19 (1.34%). There was both a higher proportion of those prescribed folic acid who were diagnosed with COVID-19 (5.99% vs 4.31% in the general population) and those prescribed folic acid in those who died with COVID-19 (15.97% vs 4.31% in the general population). Medications coprescribed with folic acid were investigated (online supplemental table S1). Atorvastatin was coprescribed 23.21% of the time and Simvastatin 9.49% of the time. Due to these high prescription rates and reports describing an association between statin use and reduced mortality from COVID-1914 15 we included statins in model 2.
Association with a diagnosis of COVID-19
Compared with people prescribed neither folic acid nor methotrexate, individuals prescribed folic acid had significantly increased risk of diagnosis of COVID-19 in model 1 (OR 1.60 (1.50–1.70)) (table 2). In model 2, which included a diagnosis of RA, sickle cell disease and prescription of anticonvulsants or statins or iron supplements, this association was not attenuated (OR 1.51 (1.42–1.61)). The prescription of methotrexate without folic acid was uncommon (only 174 people) and did not show an association with COVID-19 diagnosis in either model. The prescription of methotrexate in combination with folic acid was associated with an increased risk for a diagnosis of COVID-19 in model 1 (1.15 (1.02–1.30)) but not in model 2 (1.09 (0.96–1.23)) (table 2 and online supplemental table S2). The risk for COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with similar magnitudes with the prescription of folic acid in men and women in model 2 (OR 1.50 (1.37–1.64) and 1.52 (1.39–1.65), respectively) (online supplemental table S3). The model 2 sex-specific associations were not statistically significant and of similar magnitudes with methotrexate and with methotrexate combined with folic acid.
COVID-19 diagnosis in people prescribed methotrexate and/or folic acid in the UKBB, compared with people not prescribed methotrexate or folic acid
Association with mortality related to a COVID-19 diagnosis
In the general population, compared with people prescribed neither folic acid nor methotrexate, individuals prescribed folic acid had a significant association with mortality related to COVID-19 in model 1 (OR 2.91 (2.38–3.55)) (table 3 and online supplemental table S4). In model 2, which included a diagnosis of RA, sickle cell disease, prescription of anticonvulsants, statins and iron supplements, this association was maintained (OR 2.64 (2.15–3.24)). Although there was a higher proportion of methotrexate prescriptions in the group that died with COVID-19, there were no deaths reported in individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 who were prescribed only methotrexate (N=11). Moreover, the prescription of methotrexate in combination with folic acid was not associated with an increased odds for death after diagnosis of COVID-19 in model 1 (table 3) (1.26 (0.70–2.30)) or model 2 (1.07 (0.57–1.98)). The risk for mortality after COVID-19 diagnosis was of similar magnitude with the prescription of folic acid in both men and women in model 2 (OR 2.59 (2.00–3.36) and 2.72 (1.93–3.84), respectively) (online supplemental table S5). In both men and women, coprescription of methotrexate attenuated the association.
The association of prescription of methotrexate and folic acid with COVID-19-related death in the UK Biobank
To account for improvements in outcome of patients with COVID-19, resulting from changes in public health measures and emergence of different SARS-CoV-2 lineages over time16 we tested for association with death in the COVID-19-positive cohort including also a quarterly (3-monthly) categorical time variable for diagnosis of COVID-19 using model 2 (online supplemental table S6). This revealed a similar pattern of association with death—there was association with increased risk of death in patients prescribed folic acid only (OR 1.46 (1.16–1.83)) but not in the group prescribed both folic acid and methotrexate (OR 0.96 (0.50–1.83)).
In this population-based analysis, we report association with a 1.5-fold increased risk for COVID-19 diagnosis and 2.6-fold increased risk for COVID-19-related death among those who had been prescribed folic acid supplementation. The prescription of methotrexate was not associated with an increased risk of diagnosis of COVID-19 and we were not able to make an estimate for COVID-19-related death in the small sample of those prescribed methotrexate only. Notably, those prescribed methotrexate and folic acid did not have an increased risk for COVID-19 diagnosis or associated death, indicating that methotrexate might attenuate the increased risk for COVID-19 diagnosis and related death, which were associated with the prescription of folic acid alone.
In the context of SARS-Cov-2 infection, it is established that hijacking of cellular metabolic pathways is important for viral replication.17 Zhang et al described that SARS-CoV-2 remodels host folate and one-carbon metabolism at the post-transcriptional level to support de novo purine synthesis, bypassing viral shutoff of host translation.8 This suggests that viral replication could be sensitive to folate inhibitors, such as methotrexate. Intracellular glucose and folate are depleted in SARS-CoV-2-infected cells, and viral replication is exquisitely sensitive in vitro to inhibitors of folate and one carbon metabolism, notably methotrexate.8 Stegmann et al, based on cell culture experiments, reported that methotrexate alone or in combination with remdesivir limits the replication of SARS-CoV-2.18 With the caveat that our study is observational epidemiology and causality cannot be inferred, our study does support the possibility that external folate supply facilitates the production of large amounts of virus, contributing to clinical infection and mortality. With the same caveat on inference of causality from observational data, our study also supports the notion that SARS-CoV-2 replication is enhanced by folate supply based on our finding that coprescription of an antifolate (methotrexate) attenuated the association of supplementation with folic acid with COVID-19 outcomes.
There is also evidence that inadequate folate status may be harmful in the context of host resistance to infection with SARS-CoV-2. In addition to the well-recognised complication of anaemia, folate deficiency has other detrimental health effects, including suppression of immune function.19 Additional support for the possibility that adequate folate status is important in COVID-19 outcomes is provided by the observation that folate deficiency was associated with poorer outcomes in a cohort of patients with COVID-19.20 It is important to note that it is possible that in the study by Itelman et al,20 if increased folate levels were causal of COVID-19 diagnosis and poor outcomes, that the association with lower folate levels could have been caused by selection (collider) bias.21 Vitamin B12 deficiency has also been proposed as a factor related to poor COVID-19 outcomes, presumed to be through the induction of functional folate deficiency.22 A drug–protein structure interaction analysis raises the possibility that folate blocks the 3CL hydrolase enzyme, which may affect viral entry and replication.23 It is therefore possible that both inadequate and excessive amounts of folate may be detrimental to host resistance to SARS-CoV-2 infection and that there may be an optimal range of physiological folate status related to host resistance to COVID-19 infection and severity.
Data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance describe that a number of immunomodulatory drugs used in rheumatology are associated with an increased risk of infection and death compared with methotrexate.7 Being on no DMARD, therapy was associated with an increased risk of death with COVID-19 (OR 2.11 (1.48–3.01)), which could be interpreted as either a protective effect of methotrexate or an increased risk for death associated with poor rheumatic disease control. The authors of the study additionally noted that people not on DMARD therapy had increased use of glucocorticoids meaning that confounding by indication cannot be ruled out as an explanation.24 Methotrexate was also associated with lower odds for death when compared with sulfasalazine, other immunosuppressants and rituximab. In no case was methotrexate associated with an increased risk for death. The COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance study did not explore the effect of folic acid supplementation in the setting of methotrexate, although it is highly likely that almost all patients on methotrexate also were receiving folic acid supplementation. Considering the widespread use of folic acid supplements and proposals to abandon entirely tolerable upper intake levels for folic acid,25 it would be prudent to monitor the effect of increased folic acid intake at a population level on COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, particularly at the upper end of folic acid intake.
Limitations of our analysis are important to note. First, given the small size of the methotrexate-only group and that there were no deaths related to COVID-19 in this group, we could not test a beneficial effect on mortality of methotrexate in isolation. It is uncommon to find patients with methotrexate prescribed without supplemental folic acid as this is the standard of care. Second, over the time period of this study (March 2020–November 2021), COVID-19 outcomes (ie, death) will have been influenced by the development of clinical treatments including antiviral drugs and monoclonal antibodies, changes to public health measures and the appearance of new COVID-19 strains.16 We were unable to account for these factors in the population-based analysis; however, we attempted to account for this in the analysis within the COVID-19-positive group by including a time variable (online supplemental table S4). Third, findings are not necessarily generalisable outside of the middle-aged (>45 years of age) white European cohort that dominates the UKBB. Fourth, the full extent of SARS-CoV-2 infection is not known in the UK population due to incomplete testing rates early in the pandemic. Fifth, prescription data were single script from general practitioners only, and it was not possible to ascertain compliance, dosing or frequency of administration, or whether participants were taking the prescribed medication during the COVID-19 pandemic or continuously during the study period, although we attempted to account for this by restricting our use of prescription information to the years 2019 and 2020 only. Sixth, although we included RA in model 2, we were unable to account for any potential effect of disease activity in RA in people prescribed folic acid. RA disease activity negatively impacts death from COVID-19 outcomes.7 Seventh, while it is a strength of our study that mandatory fortification of the UK diet with folic acid had not been introduced during the period of our study, and thus did not confound our analysis, we were unable to account for the lower-dose over the counter folic acid supplementation available in the UK (400 µg being the most common formulation for over the counter tablets) because there were no self-report information in the UKBB dataset on the use of folic acid supplementation. Finally, residual confounding conferred by the underlying indications for folate prescriptions (besides the ones addressed in our analysis) is a possibility. Finally, given that our study was an observational case–control design, no firm inference can be made for causality of folic acid supplementation on mortality from COVID-19.
In conclusion, and despite the limitations of our study enumerated above, our data support the hypothesis that increased folate resulting from pharmacologic folic acid prescription could contribute to a higher probability of contracting clinically detectable infection with SARS-CoV-2 and to an increase in the risk of death following the infection. The study population was drawn from the >45-year-old segment of the UK population and is predominantly of white European ethnicity, therefore our findings have reduced generalisability to younger people, to other ethnic groups and to other countries. Nevertheless, our findings justify future studies on the influence of folic acid supplementation on COVID-19 outcomes, particularly in pregnant women and people on anticonvulsants requiring supplementary folic acid.
As a final comment, we point out that attention is currently being directed toward establishing whether excessive intake of folate, particularly in the form of folic acid, may have undesirable and potentially deleterious effects.26 The possibility that susceptibility to COVID-19 infection and its serious and even fatal complications may be affected by folic acid intake and folate status should be thoroughly investigated.
This study involves human participants. The UK Biobank Resource (approval number 12611) was undertaken with ethical approval from the North West Multi-Centre Research Ethics Committee of the UK. This study was done under this ethical approval; researchers using the UK Biobank do not require separate ethical approval. The study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki and written informed consent was obtained from all participants. Participants gave informed consent to participate in the study before taking part.
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. Hispidin and Lepidine E: Two Natural Compounds and Folic Acid as Potential Inhibitors of 2019-novel Coronavirus Main Protease (2019- nCoVMpro), Molecular Docking and SAR Study. Curr Comput Aided Drug Des 2021;17:469–79.doi:10.2174/1573409916666200422075440pmid:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32321407
Hyrich KL, et al
. Response to: 'Correspondence on 'Factors associated with COVID-19-related death in people with rheumatic diseases: results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance physician reported registry'' by Mulhearn et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2021. doi:doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-220134. [Epub ahead of print: 01 Mar 2021].pmid:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33648957
Wald NJ,
Morris JK,
Blakemore C
. Public health failure in the prevention of neural tube defects: time to abandon the tolerable upper intake level of folate. Public Health Rev 2018;39:2.doi:10.1186/s40985-018-0079-6pmid:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29450103
Maruvada P,
Stover PJ,
Mason JB, et al
. Knowledge gaps in understanding the metabolic and clinical effects of excess folates/folic acid: a summary, and perspectives, from an NIH workshop. Am J Clin Nutr 2020;112:1390–403.doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqaa259pmid:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33022704
Twitter @philipcrobinson, @ALGaffoRheumMD
Contributors RT, RG, SLM, PR, TM and ALG substantially contributed to study conception and design, to acquisition and analysis of data and interpretation of results. RT, RG, SLM, PR, TM and ALG contributed to drafting the article and critical revision and approved the final version. RT and TM directly accessed and verified the underlying data reported in the manuscript. AG is the author acting as a guarantor.
Competing interests PR reports personal fees from Abbvie, Atom Biosciences, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, Novartis, UCB, Roche, Pfizer; meeting attendance support from BMS, Pfizer and UCB Pharma and grant funding from Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer and UCB Pharma, all outside the submitted work. ALG reports personal fees from SOBI, Selecta and honoraria from UptoDate, outside the submitted work.


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Rachel Stevens Quotes & Sayings
41 most famous Rachel Stevens quotes and sayings. These are the first 10 quotes we have for her. She's a 44 year old English musician born on Apr 9, 1978.
"Having a clone would make it so much easier - it would be great to send a clone to a TV station when I have to get up at 4am."
"I think having children is the most amazing thing."
"A lot of my childhood memories involve walking home in floods of tears. At that age, feeling unpopular is difficult to handle."
"Having a bad haircut can be quite traumatic!"
"Be true to yourself and go with your instincts - don't be somebody you're not just to fit in."
"I can be very passionate but I also have a bit of a hot temper - when pushed."
"I know it sounds a bit corny, but I do think that beauty and sexiness come from within."
"I am really passionate about my career and my music and I am so lucky to be able to do what I do for a job, so for all the early morning starts and long days, I could never trade it all in."
"I would love a bowl of Frosties, but I start the day with something healthier like a bowl of yoghurt or berries."
"I do love being solo because I can have more of my own creative input to every aspect of my career."
Rachel Stevens Body Stats
Rachel Stevens Dating History
Rachel Stevens Quotes Rating


I was searching for a Property and found this listing (MLS® #E4129334). Please send me more information regarding 3706 47 Avenue, Beaumont, AB, T4X 2C3. Thank you!
I'd like to request a showing of 3706 47 Avenue, Beaumont, AB, T4X 2C3 (MLS® #E4129334). Thank you!


Snes Emulator running on a console that cannot have CFW installed.
This video Shows a little more of what's possible on OFW 4.82. Wanna go retro on super slim?
All credit goes to Team PS3 Xploit @ PSX-Place forums!


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Nintendo eShop will launch in time for Switch launch with downloadable indie games
Gaming / Nintendo
Nintendo will also be showcasing some of the "nindie" titles coming soon on February 28th.
The Nintendo Switch launch is fast approaching on March 3rd, and we've already seen information released about official and unofficial peripherals, as well as digital game download file sizes. Nintendo has released some new details on the Nintendo eShop, how it will work, and what indie games will be available at launch. To showcase some of the upcoming "Nindie" creations, Nintendo will be hosting a live presentation on Tuesday, February 28th at 9am PT on http://live.nintendo.com/.
Three indie games will be available at launch on March 3rd, with more than 60 indie games expected to be available from the Nintendo eShop before the end of the year. The games that will launch with the Nintendo Switch include:
FAST RMX from Shin'en Multimedia: Challenge your friends to local split-screen competition or take part in online races against players from all over the world. This lightning-fast anti-gravity racer is exclusive to Nintendo Switch.
Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment from Yacht Club Games: The latest DLC for the critically acclaimed hit Shovel Knight is a full-featured game starring Specter Knight, one of the enemies from the original game. The massive campaign includes even more content than the last DLC, "Plague of Shadows." Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment is exclusive to Nintendo Switch for a limited time.
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove from Yacht Club Games: For Shovel Knight's biggest fans, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove includes the original Shovel Knight game, as well as all previously released DLC – even Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment! Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove will be exclusive to Nintendo Switch for a limited time.
So just how will the Nintendo eShop work? Nintendo has outlined a few of the features available at launch:
People who already have funds in their accounts on other Nintendo devices can access them using a shared wallet that works on Nintendo Switch as well. Once they link their Nintendo Network ID and Nintendo Account and then their Nintendo Account to their Nintendo Switch system, this functionality becomes possible.
Virtual Console games will not be available on Nintendo Switch at launch. We will share more information in the future.
A news feature will offer updates about the latest additions to Nintendo eShop, as well as providing information about upcoming games and other updates from Nintendo.
To access Nintendo eShop, a system update that will be available on launch day is required. The system update downloads in the background, is designed to install quickly, and doesn't disrupt gameplay.
After visiting the eShop from your Nintendo Switch for the first time, you'll also be able to purchase games on the Nintendo website and have them download automatically to your Switch, as long as there is a Wi-Fi connection.
What do you think about the details Nintendo has released surrounding the Nintendo eShop? Are you going to be tuning into the "nindie" presentation on February 28th? Are you disappointed that Virtual Console games won't be available at launch? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
Related Items:download games, Fast RMX, featured, Games, Indie games, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Shovel Knight
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This account of instructor study is a learn of 4 first grade study rooms, and the interplay among the lecturers and their scholars. The money owed supply examples of "good educating" and exhibit, via case reports, how the scholars can larger research and lecturers higher train. the writer demonstrates examples of excellent instructing by way of dialogues among academics and scholars, and she or he sees the "ethnography of empowerment" as bringing college employees towards the empowering perform, within the related means that teacher-research paintings has introduced academics toward empowering college perform.
This can be a 3-in-1 reference e-book. It supplies an entire clinical dictionary protecting hundreds and hundreds of phrases and expressions on the subject of Cenestin. It additionally provides broad lists of bibliographic citations. eventually, it offers info to clients on the best way to replace their wisdom utilizing a variety of web assets.
Although many things cannot be changed about personal appearance, many others can. Teachers can control the way they dress. Argyle (1988) points out that the choice of clothing communicates many things besides keeping warm and conforming to conventions. The social meaning of clothing changes; for example, something that is seen as fashionable may later appear strange, even appalling (length of skirts). Clothes communicate different aspects of social meaning. Formal and informal occasions, membership in a group, attractiveness and fashionability are features we express through the choice of clothing.
To strive to understand the life of classroom culture is to 'develop a different attitude, a different way of being in the world', an attitude that is not passive but receptive, an attitude that 'allows the scene to speak' (Eisner and Peshkin, 1990:99). This eclecticism is, I believe, essential to a truly holistic ethnography. But I want to go further and argue that these three approaches should not only be combined eclectically—a little of this, a little of that—but also actively integrated into a deeper level of empirical knowing.
Many classrooms that I have observed (outside this study) show a very low occurrence of teacher-student touching. In fact, in many schools classroom rules state: 'Keep your hands to yourself'. One reason for this could be the publicity that child abuse cases have received. Teachers have become careful in showing affection and warmth through body contact: fear of being misread thus exacerbates the touch-me-not atmosphere that is already normative in our low-context culture. On the other hand, in states like Mississippi and twenty-two others, unlike in other western and eastern industrialized countries, physical punishment is allowed (Newsletter of the Committee to End Violence Against the Next Generation, 9/1993), so that the only physical contact that is tolerated is abusive in another way, causing pain rather than pleasure, distance rather than closeness.


Achalasia is surgically the most important and most common motility disorder of the esophagus. The name derives from the Greek a + chalasia = "failure to relax".
Pathophysiologically there is degeneration of the autonomic nerve plexus resulting in functional denervation of the esophageal musculature. Achalasia strikes 5-10 per 100.000 of population, usually striking those between 20 and 40 years old, which suggests an acquired disorder.
The elevated tonus of the lower esophageal sphincter and its incomplete relaxation lead to dilatation of the tubular esophagus. This gives achalasia its characteristic appearance in barium fluoroscopy. Primary idiopathic achalasia is distinguished from secondary forms, or pseudoachalasias, where e.g. a heart or esophageal carcinoma causes the dysphagia and morphological changes to the esophagus. Exclusion of an underlying malignancy belongs to the differential diagnosis of dysphagia and is done not only by the mandatory endoscopy but if needed by computed tomography (CT) as well.
Patients with achalasia report dysphagia, chiefly for liquid foods (paradoxal dysphagia), and regurgitation of undigested food. The patient's report of non-acidic food intake can point to achalasia. Retrosternal pain associated with eating – but also independently of it – is an expression of disturbed motility and esophageal muscle spasm.
Untreated, achalasia progresses with increasing dilatation of the esophagus that can sometimes assume grotesque forms. There is also a risk of aspiration, stasis esophagitis, and -- in up to 20% of patients -- development of a secondary carcinoma.
The classic image of a champagne glass or hourglass is seen in the fluoroscopic swallowing exam, an excellent tool for evaluating the extent of dilatation. An air-fluid level in the esophagus points to a stasis. Endoscopy can help to exclude secondary causes such as carcinoma. In addition, the stenosis stricture and surrounding mucosa can be evaluated and if necessary biopsied.
Endosonography can aid in the differential diagnostic clarification of a stenosis stricture. Definitive clarification, however, usually only succeeds after dilatation of the stenosis stricture. Esophageal manometry can show the disturbed motility as simultaneous contractions in the hypermotile form of achalasia while at the same time documenting the impaired relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter.
Swallowing is begun as a deliberate act and proceeds involuntarily as a peristaltic wave progressing aborally through the esophagus as the smooth muscle contracts sequentially downwards. Esophageal manometry is performed using a thin nasal probe with sensors to measure pressure at multiple locations along its length. The peristaltic waves produce staggered pressure waves in the captured images. Hypermotile achalasia exhibits tertiary contractions, the esophagus contracting simultaneously along its entire length. The simultaneous contractions can be readily imaged and constitute the classical manometric finding in achalasia.
The goal of achalasia therapy is to lower the elevated tonus of the lower esophageal sphincter and eliminate the relaxation disorder responsible for the obstruction of the esophagus. Various treatment modalities are available. Drug therapy targets relaxation of the smooth muscles with agents like nitrates and calcium antagonists. But because success rates are rather poor, this option is little used. Interventionally, achalasia can be effectively treated by endoscopic Botox injection in the lower esophagus sphincter. The botulinum toxin blocks the motor end plates of the myenteric neurons, leading to improvement in symptoms in 60% to 80% of patients. The effect however is only temporary, so that renewed treatment is usually necessary.
Another approach is pneumatic dilatation. Gastroscopy is used to insert a balloon catheter up to the gastroesophageal junction where radial pressure is applied to weaken the lower esophageal sphincter by tearing the esophageal muscle fibers. The risk of perforation is about 1% to 3%. A second dilatation is often necessary. This measure achieves improvement in 80% to 95% of patients.
Operatively the muscles around the lower esophageal sphincter are split leaving only a narrow mucosal tube at the gastroesophageal junction. This of course entails a risk of perforation, especially after prior pneumatic dilatations, since tearing of the muscles can produce scarring and adhesions, which complicate layer-specific dissection.1 Destruction of the lower esophageal sphincter leads naturally to reflux of stomach acid into the esophagus. To prevent this and to cover the myotomy site, a fundoplasty is performed that covers the myotomy defect with a fundus sleeve. This procedure is called Heller myotomy combined with an anterior fundoplication according to Thal and Dor. Today it is usually performed laparoscopically and has a low morbidity rate.
The study however only covered results from a period of 1 to 2 years. Comparison of long-term results, of special importance for the mostly younger patients, cannot really be done. In the initial phase of the study, moreover, 31 patients who had suffered perforation of the esophagus during dilatation therapy were excluded, which naturally distorts the findings (Bild) in favor of dilatation. The presentation of other details favored dilatation as well, such as the duration of the surgical myotomy and handling of the intraoperative mucosa lesions, which were immediately treated and healed without complications but which the study equated with esophageal perforations resulting from dilatation therapy.
Whether one can speak of the two treatments as being of equal value is questionable. Which treatment is best for a given patient? Since young patients in particular often experience recurrence following pneumatic dilatation, surgical myotomy should probably be preferred.
Older patients and patients with an elevated risk profile should first undergo pneumatic dilatation and only after the 2nd or 3rd dilatation fails, undergo surgery. In high risk patients, botulinum toxin treatment can be used.
A relatively new procedure combines the advantages of interventional therapy with those of surgery. Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) employs a transoral endoscope to create a submucosal dissection tunnel. This is then used for endoscopic myotomy analogous to Heller myotomy, the sole difference being that the procedure is performed the side of the esophagus not intraabdominally. The mucosal defect is subsequently closed with endoscopic clips.
Endoscopic therapy for achalasia before Heller myotomy results in worse outcomes than heller myotomy alone.Ann Surg. 2006 May;243(5):579-84; discussion 584-6.Smith CD, Stival A, Howell DL, Swafford V.
Endoscopic and surgical treatments for achalasia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Ann Surg. 2009 Jan;249(1):45-57.Campos GM, Vittinghoff E, Rabl C, Takata M, Gadenstätter M, Lin F, Ciovica R.
Pneumatic Dilation versus Laparoscopic Heller's Myotomy for Idiopathic AchalasiaJ Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2011 Jul;17(3):324-6. doi: 10.5056/jnm.2011.17.3.324. Epub 2011 Jul 14.Wu JC1.


The button depicts Ouroboros circling a gem which radiates energy. On the original button, the gem is sculpted. On my ring, I have replaced it with a genuine light yellow 2.9mm rose cut diamond and mounted the button on a cuttlefish cast band. The cuttlefish bone has a scale-like pattern which seemed appropriate. The ring in this listing is cast in solid Sterling Silver and is a US size 5. I have molded this, so if you would like a version made in a different size (sizes 5-7), in gold or with a different gem, please contact me.


Africa has developed into an up-and-coming market for various product groups.
The broad range of fresh fruit and vegetables makes the country extremely interesting for importers.
In cooperation with the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA), the IPD provides producers about the steps required for the GLOBALG.A.P. certification.
Second only to Kenia, Ethiopia is the most important exporting country of cut flowers – tendency growing. Only a fraction of the roses sold in Germany are directly sourced from the countries of origin; most of them are still routed via the Netherlands.
The IPD matches Ethiopian suppliers with European importers so they can sell to the European market without intermediaries. The importers, too, profit from this kind of direct trade: They can reduce their procurement costs and gain direct access to special varieties and good quality produce.
Bonn, 12.09.2017 – At Anuga, the world's largest food industry exhibition, to be held in Cologne from 7 to 11 October 2017, the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) will be attending with 18 producers from 7 countries. Exporters from Ethiopia, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Tunisia, Columbia, Indonesia and Peru will be supported by the IPD in presenting their products at the exhibition. The companies offer high quality natural ingredients from their regions.


Kiera Cass is Going to Manila!
Kiera Cass, author of the best-selling novel The Selection and The Elite, is going to the Philippines for two book-signing events, courtesy of National Book Store. It's going to be held in two locations -- Manila and Cebu on August 3 and August 4 respectively.
For the Manila stop, it is going to be at the National Bookstore branch in Glorietta 1, Makati. The event starts at 4pm but registration starts at 10am. While, for the Cebu stop, it's going to be held at the Ayala Center Cebu Activity Center by 3pm. Registration starts by 12noon.
You may RSVP in the Facebook event page.


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Belarus Plays Down Customs Union Fears
By Aaron Mulvihill
Belarus on Friday downplayed fears that a new customs union with Russia and Kazakhstan will lead to widespread duty hikes but said an agreement on oil tariffs remains a sticking point in negotiations.
"Significant changes to customs tariff regulation in Belarus, in connection with the introduction of the single customs tariff on Jan. 1, 2010, are not expected," Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Kabyakou told the country's parliament, Interfax reported.
The unified tariff system will affect only 34.1 percent of the total volume of goods imported into Belarus, he said.
Only 6.7 percent of the country's tariffs are expected to be increased, Kobyakou said, adding that there would be few changes because Belarus has already harmonized 95 percent of its customs tariffs with Russia.
Negotiations on the harmonization of oil tariffs among the three countries are ongoing, Kabyakou said, and a deal has yet to be struck on the delivery of Russian oil to Belarus in 2010.
"[The oil tariffs] issue must be resolved before July 1, 2010," he said.
Energy Minister Syarhei Shmatko said Wednesday that the continuation of favorable oil contracts with Belarus would hinge on Belarus granting Russian investors access to its oil infrastructure. Government sources told Interfax that the proposition amounted to "blackmail."
Kobyakov said Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin would soon visit Minsk to discuss the privatization plans. "At the moment, a working group led by [Belarusian First Deputy Prime Minister] Uladzimir Syamashka and Igor Sechin is carrying out active consultations."
Negotiations are meanwhile underway between Belarusian and Russian companies to increase oil transit volumes through Belarus.
Parts of Central and Eastern Europe suffered energy shortages in January 2007 during a dispute between Belarus and Russia over transit fees. "There is enough time, I think, to reach a deal," said Kabyakou. "The heads of government are willing to negotiate."
The most difficult stage of customs union negotiations concerned automotive tariffs, Kabyakou said. Belarus agreed to increase tariffs for dealers to match Russian levels. For Belarusians, this will mean a considerable hike in the price of foreign-made cars.
Russian dealers have expressed concerns that opening the borders could lead to a flood of used cars from Belarus in the first half of 2010, as individuals will not be subject to the same tariffs as companies over the period. The unification of duties for private individuals will need to be agreed to under a separate deal by July 1, 2010.
In return for Belarus' tariff hike, Russia will raise duties on trucks, combine harvesters, machinery and electric motors. The three sides are scheduled to meet in St. Petersburg on Friday to discuss technical and health regulations for the customs union.
The Moscow Times


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I Want My Name Back (DVD)
"I don't mean to brag I don't mean to boast, but we're like hot butter on breakfast toast…" — Rapper's Delight
I'm not normally one to encourage activism among our Verdict readers, but I Want My Name Back has caused me to break my "no protest" rule and encourage you to flex your activist muscles. Don't worry, it doesn't involve the NSA or the IRS, or any other acronystic government agency. This mission involves the godfathers of hip hop — The Sugarhill Gang. What is a Sugarhill Gang, you ask? They are the group credited with popularizing this musical genre around the globe with their 1979 hit song "Rapper's Delight." I Want My Name Back covers the real life intrigue surrounding Michael Wright (aka Wonder Mike) and Guy O'Brien (aka Master Gee), betrayed by the people they trusted with their careers. This story could be the plot of an urban Shakespeare play: Two men swindled out of a fortune after writing a hit song, spending the next 30 years in relative poverty and obscurity before finally fighting back to reclaim what is rightfully theirs.
On 16 September 1979, The Sugarhill Gang released a song that introduced the world to the hip hop sound, and kicked opened the doors for every rap artist since. Unfortunately, success was fleeting for the trio, when those they entrusted with their careers not only stole millions from the naïve musicians, but also took their very identities. This documentary chronicles the early success, hard fall, and path back to stardom for the gang known as Sugarhill.
Remember these names; Sylvia Robinson, Joe Robinson Sr, Joey Robinson Jr, Moe Levy, and Leland Robinson; these are the key players and con artists in Roger Paradiso's (Moonstruck) documentary. Sylvia, Joe, and Moe (sounds like a comedy act), are no longer among the living, but the Robinsons' spawn are still alive and as devious as their parents were. Joey Jr and Leland upped the ante of their parents' thievery by stealing the band's name, as well as the stage alias' of two of the original members. Apparently the putrid acorn doesn't fall far from the rotten tree.
The Robinson's were straight up con artists from the very beginning; they founded Englewood, New Jersey's Sugarhill Records in 1979, and quickly partnered with another shyster named Moe Levy, owner of Roulette Records. Levy was well known for giving himself credit on songs he didn't write — most notably Frankie Lyman's hit "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" — and was well-versed in showing the Robinsons' how to steal from their talent. Although Sylvia did have a moderately successful singing career in the 1950s with the hit "Pillow Talk," she and her family received a financial boondoggle with "Rapper's Delight" the first single released by the very first act they signed. Sylvia also gave herself and her children writing credit on Sugarhill Gang songs they didn't write, and stole the publishing rights estimated to have earned the family over $100 Million. While Sylvia and her kin were unabashedly living high on the hog, Mike and Guy were living hand-to-mouth.
Imagine going from touring the world between 1979 and 1984, with platinum albums and gold records, then suddenly living in a one room apartment barely able to afford food for the table. Guy O'Brien was hit hardest by the betrayal. He remembers the Robinson's treating their group like family, never knowing they were robbing them blind. O'Brien turned to drugs and fell into a deep depression, leaving the music business and the Sugarhill Gang altogether in 1984. When Joey Jr. contacted him in 1995 for a reunion tour, Guy turned down the opportunity because once again he was being offered scraps while the family would rake in Millions.
Michael Wright left the Sugarhill Gang in 1985 and ran his own painting business for a while. Unlike O'Brien, he agreed to go on the reunion tour, and from 1994 to 2005, Wonder Mike was resurrected. He would later say it was the dumbest 11 years of his life. The stress of the betrayal wreaked havoc on Wright's health, struggling with heart problems and vision loss. However, between the two men, Wright came out of it a bit more positive, even praying for Joe Robinson when the man was on his deathbed.
There was a third member of the Sugarhill Gang whose name is scarcely mentioned, and whose picture was conspicuously removed from the DVD cover just before going to press — Henry Jackson, better known as Big Bank Hank. Jackson was almost as big a swindler as the Robinsons, considered by those in the know to be a second rate MC who stole his part in "Rapper's Delight" from a hip hop artist named Grandmaster CAZ, also known as Casanova Fly. Jackson was the manager of CAZ's band and promised the man he would receive full credit and payment for the use of those lyrics. CAZ never saw a dime, and never heard a word from Jackson once the record became a hit. On top of all this, Jackson sided with the Robinson family and continued on with them after they stole the Sugarhill Gang name along with Wright and O'Brien's stage monikers. Needless to say, the bitterness Guy and Michael felt towards Hank was palpable, and understandable.
As a documentary, I Want My Name Back is a bit long, a bit disjointed, and at times hard to follow, but the core of the story is so compelling it's definitely worth watching. Michael Wright and Guy O'Brien were thoroughly wronged, but somehow, after many challenging years, were able to pull themselves out of that pit of despair and fight back. Roger Paradiso did attempt to talk to the Robinson family, but they declined to be part of the film. This wasn't intended to be a movie slanted towards one side or the other, but because of the Robinsons absence and litigious nature, it's very easy to empathize with Wright and O'Brien.
I Want My Name Back hits hard at an industry that often takes advantage of individuals with big dreams and little knowledge of how the business works. I only wish Roger Paradiso and company had done it more effectively. With all of the real life drama involved here, this should've played out like a dramatic motion picture. Instead, it felt amateurish with some of the interviews sounding like tales from the neighborhood gossips. It's too bad, because Michael Wright and Guy O'Brien are worthy of so much more. These pioneering men have paid dearly for the craft they love, and I hope this film can be a part of them getting the credit they so richly deserve.
Someone from the old neighborhood said with a sigh, "Sugarhill Records could've been the Motown of hip hop." But the Robinsons greed and villainy took precedence, and after a mysterious fire burned Sugarhill Records to the ground, an empty lot is all that's left to commemorate the beginnings of these pioneering artists.
Presented in standard def 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, the film's appearance is adequate at best. The colors are muted and the film looks as if it were shot on a minimal budget. The Dolby 5.1 Surround track is of such poor quality, that it's often hard to decipher what's being said. As for extras, there are none.
Despite its obvious flaws, I highly recommend I Want My Name Back because of what it stands for — justice for two men whose careers were halted because of the greed of others. I never would've imagined that one of the most popular and beloved songs of my youth had such a notorious history, and I will never listen to it the same way again.
Not Guilty! A long overdue tribute to Wonder Mike and Master Gee.
2013, RLJ Entertainment, 90 minutes, NR (2013)
VIDEO: 1.78:1 AUDIO: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (English) SUBTITLES: English (SDH)
EXTRAS: None ACCOMPLICES: IMDB
Biographical Documentary DVD Music
Alice is a stay-at-home wife and mother on the brink of insanity as she and her husband raise a brood of 3 overly emotional girls on a modicum amount of sleep, and even less peace and quiet. Having spent most of her life in the now bankrupt state of California, she and her husband moved to a place where the cotton's high and the livin' is easy, where a simpler way of life is king. With chickens to feed and projects to complete on property that has been in her husband's family for over 50 years. On top of that Alice cohosts a podcast called A Creative Mind where she narrates her flash fiction stories, as well as writing flash fiction stories for a literary journal called Short Fiction Break. Alice enjoys the little down time she manages to eke out each day to write and unwind. "Bad TV and awful movies make me mad," she said, and once you read her reviews you'll see exactly what she means by that.
Alive Inside (Blu-ray)
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