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VANCOUVER — Shannon Szabados made Melody Davidson look awfully smart Thursday and now hockey coaches across the country just might take their sweet time picking their starting goalie every game.
Davidson, the Canadian coach with a penchant for keeping quiet about who is minding the net for her each game, wouldn't come clean publicly about Szabados getting the call against the archrival Americans in the Olympic gold-medal affair until game time.
It seemed to work as the Edmonton native was absurdly good, making 28 saves in leading Canada to a 2-0 win — and its third straight Olympic gold — before a crowd in excess of 16,000 at Canada Hockey Place.
"My teammates were unbelievable today," said the 23-year-old stopper. "We played a great game and this is an incredible moment."
Szabados' best save may have come at 18:48 of the second period, when she flung her glove hand around behind her and knocked away at a Kelli Stack chance.
"It was unbelievable," said forward Jayne Hefford. "I don't know if it's hit us yet. This year and the Olympics has been incredible."
Szabados, the youngest of Canada's three netminders, didn't get a single minute of ice time at the IIHF world championship in April, as Davidson opted to go with veterans Kim St-Pierre and Charline Labonte. Canada lost the final there 4-1, although Labonte was named the tournament's top goalie.
Davidson's game plan gave Canada its eighth gold medal of these Games.
"It's so special, I don't know if it has sunk in yet," said veteran Hayley Wickenheiser. "You grow up in Canada, you know the expectations.
"Just to win on home ice, the crowd, the family. . ."
Szabados wasn't the only youngster shining for the home side Thursday.
Forward Marie-Philip Poulin, 18, had both goals for the winners.
There was talk heading in that — given the improvement in both the Canadians' and Americans' games — this could be the greatest women's match ever. It was far from a how-to video technique wise, but it was an example of grit.
Canada killed off all five American power plays, including a lengthy pair of five-on-three advantages. The U.S. had come into the game with a man-advantage unit working at 59 per cent (13-of-22) in the tournament.
Jessie Vetter, who had backstopped the Americans to wins in the last two world championships, made 26 saves for the U.S.
"It's unbelievable in front of fans, family and friends to win," said defenceman Carla MacLeod. "We wanted this really bad."
Canada got on the board at 13:55 of the first, just moments after killing off back-to-back penalties. Jennifer Botterill took the puck along the side boards and into the corner and found Poulin wide open in the slot for a one-timer. She beat Vetter high to the glove side.
They went up 2-0 at 16:50 of the first as Poulin jumped on a loose puck in front after winning a faceoff on a four-on-four situation.
The Canadians had a couple of chances to take a 3-0 lead, but Jayna Hefford missed an empty net at 7:16 of the third period and Vetter stoned Cherie Piper on a backhand in front of the net seven minutes later.
The Americans had a glorious chance to get on the board midway through the first frame, when penalties to Gina Kingsbury and Catherine Ward gave the U.S. a 40-second five-on-three advantage. The Canadians foiled it thanks in large part to a Hayley Wickenheiser blocked shot on a Lisa Chesson blast from the point, and a glove grab by Szabados on Caitlin Cahow.
They had their second lengthy, five-on-three advantage in the second period when Hefford, at 2:35, and Becky Kellar, at 2:58, took back-to-back delay of game penalties for shooting the puck over the glass. The Americans were stopped again, this time with help on shot blocks by Piper and Sarah Vaillancourt.
The Canadians looked disjointed and nervous early on. They had trouble getting open for passes, and, when they did manage to find some free space, pucks were fired into feet. They had two early power plays and mustered very little.
But all they really needed on this night was the play of Szabados.
"She stood tall for them and they did what they had to do," said U.S. blue-liner Kerry Weiland. "All the credit to Canada."


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Rachel Hovnanian's Artwork on Beauty's Dark Side
Artist Rachel Hovnanian Explores the Ugly Side of Beauty
Artist Rachel Hovnanian Explores the Ugly Side of Beauty
New York-based sculptor and painter Rachel Hovnanian has made a career out of exposing the worst parts of our society's obsession with beauty norms. The Texas native's work highlights everything from trophy wives (and husbands) to body dysmorphic disorder and beauty advertising. "[My parents] always told me that it's what's inside your head that counts," Hovnanian told WWD in a recent interview. "And I just turned to them one day and asked, 'How could you even say that? Of course it matters what you look like!'"
Her two latest exhibitions, "Too Good to Be True" and "The Power & the Burden of Beauty," both present a darkly humorous view on attractiveness, self-perception, and aging in the modern US. One of Hovnanian's recurring "products," a fictional brand called Texas Beauty Queen Cream, features many depressing slogans taken from actual beauty advertising: "Fix your face for good" and "Imagine . . . having the confidence to approach new people." It's an acerbic, provocative point of view that's definitely worth a second look.
Source: Rachel Hovnanian

subset: commoncrawl


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Smithfield sets vote on China firm's takeover
- Would be largest takeover of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm
- Shuanghui International plans %244.7B purchase%2C amounting to %2434 a share
- %27An opportunity for U.S. pork producers to grow%2C%27 Smithfield CEO says
WASHINGTON -- The $4.7 billion purchase of Smithfield Foods by Chinese meat processor Shuanghui International Holdings could move a step closer to completion when shareholders of the world's largest pork processor and hog producer vote on the merger next month.
Smithfield said Tuesday it will hold a shareholders' meeting on Sept. 24 to vote on the transaction with Shuanghui that was announced by the two companies in late May. Smithfield said its board of directors recommended that shareholders vote in favor of the deal.
The companies have said they expect the transaction to close later this year.
Smithfield, founded in 1936 and based in Virginia, sells packaged products under its own name and other popular brands, including Farmland, Armour and Cook's. The company employs more than 46,000 people in 25 states and four countries.
The purchase of Smithfield for $34 a share would be the largest takeover of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm. In addition to a shareholder vote, the deal must receive antitrust clearance and be approved by the secretive U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, which reviews such transactions for their impact on national security.
CFIUS initially conducted a 30-day review into the merger, but chose in July to extend the process for an additional 45 days. The government panel, which has the option to extend a review, did not say why the extra time was necessary.
Washington lawmakers have expressed concern the takeover would squeeze the U.S. pork supply by shipping more of the meat to China and leave the U.S. susceptible to food safety concerns that have plagued Chinese companies, including Shuanghui.
Smithfield has vigorously lobbied in favor of the deal and told skeptical lawmakers that jobs will be protected and the safety of the U.S. food supply would be maintained. The firm also said the deal would benefit U.S. pork farmers by giving them greater access to meat-hungry consumers in China, South Korea, Japan and other Asian countries.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for the U.S. to do what it does best: produce agriculture products and ship them around the world," CEO Larry Pope told the Senate Agriculture Committee last month. "This is an opportunity for U.S. pork producers to grow."


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CFDA Number: 84.051
Program Type: Discretionary/Competitive Grants, Cooperative Agreements
The Perkins National Activities authority supports research, evaluation, information dissemination, technical assistance to states, and other activities aimed at improving the quality and effectiveness of career and technical education. The legislation specifically calls for, among other activities, the operation of a national center for research, dissemination and technical assistance in career and technical education, and a national assessment of career and technical education programs operated under the Perkins Act (see legislative citation). Current major activities by CFDA # include:
National Centers for Career and Technical Education (NCCTE) (# 84.051A)—This program supports the establishment of a national center or centers to conduct applied research, development, dissemination, and training activities in the field of vocational education. See also http://www. nccte.org.
- Promoting Rigorous Programs of Study (# 84.051C)—This program promotes rigorous programs of study through the creation of statewide or multistate articulation agreements that ensure a common statewide set of program of study standards aligned with postsecondary and employer expectations, and a common assessment instrument documenting student competencies. These agreements will allow secondary students to earn college credit that is accepted throughout a state or consortium of states, and allow community college students to transfer to other state two- or four-year institutions without losing credit for courses already taken.
Projects include: research, development, demonstration, dissemination, identification of best methods, capacity building, technical assistance, evaluation, and assessment activities.
The NCCTE conducts research projects that include development of management systems to improve performance; and projects that provide teaching and learning, organization and finance, professional development, and research and development.
The SSI supports a national nonprofit organization that selects and funds state business-education partnerships that encourage high school students to enroll in rigorous courses. Projects stress the importance of completing a rigorous high school curriculum; develop incentives for students to complete rigorous course work; and work with state-level policymakers, business, and community stakeholders to help encourage students statewide to enroll in demanding courses.
Additional Information
National Centers for Career and Technical Education (NCCTE) (84.051A)
Supports the establishment of a national center or centers to conduct applied research, development, dissemination, and training activities in the field of vocational education. National Centers for Career and Technical Education Website http://www.nccte.org


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The Sci-Art Graduate Student Exhibition, an exhibit featuring scientific and artistic collaborations between graduate students from the colleges of Arts and Architecture, Engineering, Health and Human Development, and the Department of Psychology, will be on display in the Borland Gallery on the Penn State University Park campus, Dec. 2-5. Gallery hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. An opening night reception will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 2, in the gallery.
Sci-Art is a result of a Studio|Lab project designed to bring together graduate students and faculty from a variety of fields to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. Working throughout this semester, seven three-person teams of students, supported by faculty from represented colleges and departments as well as Studio|Lab, focused their creative energy into the project which is reflected in the complexity and diversity of the work presented.
Studio|Lab is a research initiative at Penn State that emerged from the idea that the arts and sciences are complementary. In its most literal sense, Studio|Lab is a "studio" for scientists to refine the aesthetic dimension of their work, and a "laboratory" for artists to test the performance and impact of their work.
The teams displaying their work:
Lauren Bangerter (human development and family studies), Xiaojiao Shao (art), Chujun Zeng (art): Evoking memories through photos is one of the best ways to remind an Alzheimer's patient of important people, events, and places. This team designed a memory game, based on empirical findings, for Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers to play together.
Lo Ou (human development and family studies), Xin Wen (art), Mengya Xia (human development and family studies): Family relationship data are reinterpreted in the form of wind chimes. Differences between families in aspects of parent-child closeness and conflict are experienced through sound.
Brandon McDaniel (human development and family studies), Richard Proffitt (engineering), Kelly Wilton (art): Social sciences often focus on the individual without sufficient attention to the effects of others on individual behavior. This team's piece uses light and projections to emphasize the interconnections between people.
Matthew Howard (psychology), Kyle Kresge (music performance), Aaron Ziolkowski (art history): Pop-up spaces consisting of artwork and music were installed on campus in order to encourage creativity. The results of this experiment are presented.
Wyatt Culler (engineering), Steven Read (art), Andrew Whalen (engineering): This team's piece focuses on the processes behind interdisciplinary collaboration, highlighting the conversations that occur when people from different fields are brought together.
Dengke Chen (art), Rachel Koffer (human development and family studies), Anna Margush (art): Graphical displays from stress research and photographs of an individual experiencing stressors can be thought of as simply two different forms of data - numeric and narrative. The relationships between the media of three disciplines - empirical data, photographs, and animations - are explored through integrated projections in order to demonstrate the common aim of these different media - to explore and illuminate daily human experience.
Kristine Bova (human development and family studies), Kate Brennan (art education), Evan West (art): With the rise of the internet and spontaneous posting, a variety of processes related to identity constructionare emerging online. Through the use of prompts relating to various domains of identity on popular social media sites, the construction of online identity was explored.
Guidance was provided by the following faculty and staff:
College of Arts & Architecture: Andrew Belser, professor of theatre, Michael Collins, instructor of new media, Bill Doan, professor of theatre, and Andrew Schulz, associate dean for research, associate professor of art history;
College of Health & Human Development: Sy-Miin Chow, associate professor, Greg Fosco, assistant professor, Lisa Gatzke-Kopp, associate professor, and Charles Geier, assistant professor;
Studio|Lab: Matthew Kenney, M.F.A. candidate, David Lydon, human development and family studies graduate student, Brian Orland, andNilam Ram.
Brian Orland, distinguished professor of landscape architecture, and Nilam Ram, associate professor of human development and family studies, are co-directors of Studio|Lab. They make use of and develop 'time-oriented' technologies, study designs and interdisciplinary paradigms to understand how and why individuals and contexts change over their life spans.
One of the presenting teams will be invited to represent Penn State at the Emerging Creatives Student Conference at Stanford University, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2014. The conference, supported by the Alliance for Arts in Research Universities, held its inaugural year at Penn State in March 2013. For more information, click here.
To learn more about Studio|Lab, visit https://studiolab.psu.edu/.


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Stephanie's blog
Show Your Support: Vote for Scarleteen
Our founder, Heather Corinna, and Scarleteen have been nominated for the Our Bodies Ourselves Women's Health Heroes award. This award is designed to honor and recognize those who make a difference through significant contributions to the health and well being of women.
Upper St. Clair: Could the School Have Prevented Rape?
School districts have a list of policies that are to be followed in the case that something happens that endangers one or more students, teachers, or faculty members. These policies range in degree from detentions, to in and out of school suspensions, through a student no longer being permitted to attend the school district.
Teen Pacts in Massachusetts School ... for Pregnancy?
Every year there are new student trends or patterns in schools and teachers may understand or may be left scratching their heads in wonder of what's to come. Trends may be in types of clothing, hairstyles, a different set of words, even what classes will be deemed interesting for that year. A troubling trend began not too many years back with school shootings, making teaching a less safe career choice than it used to be.
Most recently a pact purportedly began in Massachusetts for teenage girls to become pregnant and have their babies to raise together.
Road to Change: From Coed Dorms to Coed Dorm Rooms
Colleges over the years have made many changes that to younger generations are seen as 'keeping with the times' while older generations looking back are finding themselves in a situation of slight culture shock. One of the newest decisions being made about the dormitories in the past few years have been that more and more colleges are allowing – believe it or not – coed dorm rooms.
A New Prom Promise In the Making?
For years student at different high schools around the country have participated in Prom Promise (founded and organized by Nationwide) where they sign a card stating,
I promise not to use alcohol or other drugs. This is a promise I take seriously. It's one I intend to keep, for my sake and the sake of my friends and family.
Recently a school district has decided to take part in the sexual health protection of their prom-attending students as well.


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By Jamie Crawford
Soldiers killed themselves at a higher monthly rate in July than any other since detailed statistics have been kept on the issue, the U.S. Army said Thursday.
A total of 38 confirmed or suspected suicides were counted by the Army last month in a tally that took into account both active and non-active duty soldiers who serve in the Army National Guard or Reserve. Three of those active duty soldiers were deployed at the time of their death.
Prior to the announcement, the highest monthly level suicide rate for soldiers was 33 in the months of June 2010 and July 2011 according to statistics released by the Army.
"Suicide is the toughest enemy I have faced in my 37 years in the Army. And it's an enemy that's killing not just Soldiers, but tens of thousands of Americans every year," Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army said in a written statement. "That said, I do believe suicide is preventable. To combat it effectively will require sophisticated solutions aimed at helping individuals to build resiliency and strengthen their life coping skills."
To date, the Army has confirmed 120 suicides for both active and non-active duty soldiers in 2012 with 67 other deaths suspected as suicides, but still under investigation. Twenty-five of those were attributed to soldiers who did not have any previous deployments. The Army reported 242 suicides in 2009, 305 in 2010 and 283 in 2011.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told a Congressional committee last month that the U.S. military was facing an "epidemic" of suicides, and was in need of improvements in mental health services for active duty and returning troops.
In his statement, Austin noted that with Suicide Prevention Month in September, the Army must also continue to address the stigma associated with mental health issues in the service. "Ultimately, we want the mindset across our Force and society at large to be that behavioral health is a routine part of what we do and who we are as we strive to maintain our own physical and mental wellness," he said.
The White House lifted a ban last year on the sending of condolence letters from the president to the families of service members who commit suicide. It reversed a policy in place by previous administrations that had come under intense criticism as the country entered into its 10th year of war.
"This issue is emotional, painful, and complicated," President Barack Obama said last July when the policy was changed. "But these Americans served our nation bravely. ... We need to do everything in our power to honor their service, and to help them stay strong for themselves, for their families and for our nation."
I was around many guys who got out of the military because of being or thinking suicidal. As the military teaches to pay attention to detail I would wonder how could you get so down to commit suicide? I became friends with these guys, actually listened to their problems, asked questions about why they felt bad, what happened to you, the answers I received were just awful. So I learned from them, figuring ways to make them want to leave another day. Knew when something was bothering them badly. There are ways to prevent suicides, aleast lower the statistics dramatically. There's better techniques, just wished I had the power and support to help.
[...] Backlink [...]
Coaching is really valuable, It transformed my existence
My son is active military and has been suffering from PTSD for a few years, I finally called his SGT one night because I was afraid my son was going to take him own life. I have yet to see them help my son, thankfully he did not take his life but the nightmares he is experiencing are debilitating. I want the military to help these young women and men. What can we do to help our soldiers get the help and encouragement they need?


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Pasadena Events, Coupons, Reviews!
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I am loving this ring I got from Mama's Jewelry! It is a birthstone ring representing each of my kids – April (Diamond), June (Alexandrite), and August (Peridot). Mama's Jewelry has been designing rings and pendants for moms for 30 years. The company is committed to creating exceptional mothers pendants, rings and earrings at affordable prices. I will say the photos on their website make the ring appear bigger, but this ring is the perfect size for me. I've been wearing it since I received it!
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SOS International LLC Welcomes Lieutenant General (United States Army, Retired) Frank Helmick to Expanded Leadership Team
Dec 03, 2012, 06:15 ET
RESTON, Va., Dec. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SOS International LLC (SOSi) today announced the addition of Lieutenant General (United States Army, Retired) Frank Helmick as the company's new Vice-President for Corporate Strategy. Lieutenant General (Ret.) Helmick joins the SOSi executive team at the company's operational headquarters in Reston, Virginia to lead the planning and execution of its growth strategy for the defense and national security sectors.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121203/NE21728-a )
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121203/NE21728LOGO-b )
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Helmick retired from the United States Army in July of 2012 as Commanding General of the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, capping his accomplished 36-year military career as the leader of America's only Airborne Corps and largest military installation. Lieutenant General (Ret.) Helmick completed three distinguished tours of duty in Iraq, serving first as Assistant Division Commander, Operations, for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) under then Major General David Petraeus in 2003 and 2004; then as Commanding General of the Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq and the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) Training Mission – Iraq; and finally serving as the Deputy Commanding General for Operations with United States Forces – Iraq in 2011, where he was responsible for overseeing the drawdown and redeployment of United States combat forces and the transition to Iraqi sovereignty and Department of State support. As the Assistant Division Commander, Operations, for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Lieutenant General (Ret.) Helmick was the senior Commander on the ground during the 2004 operation that killed Uday and Qusay Hussein.
Helmick's other military leadership responsibilities have included serving as Commander of the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division; Commander of the Ranger Training Brigade; and Operations and Intelligence Director for the Directorate of Operations, Combating Terrorism (J–34) of the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. He is a graduate of both the United States Military Academy at West Point and the United States Army War College and earned a Master's Degree from the Naval Postgraduate School.
"We are very proud of our successful history of twenty-three years of support to the national security community," said Julian M. Setian, SOSi's Chief Executive Officer. "Frank is an incredibly skilled, experienced and accomplished leader. It is a privilege to have him on our team to deepen and extend that support."
"I was able to see SOSi's achievements and outstanding way of providing support when they were responsible for several of the most specialized programs in Iraq," said Lieutenant General (Ret.) Helmick. "I value their integrity, agility, responsiveness, and commitment to their customers. I joined the team to expand that critical support to even more clients around the world."
About SOSi
SOS International LLC, SOSi, is a privately -held company, founded in 1989 and headquartered in New York City that specializes in providing solutions for international stabilization and capacity building; logistics, sustainment and life support; information technology and communications; intelligence and knowledge management; and media operations and strategic communications. For more than 23 years, the international defense, intelligence and law enforcement communities and large multinational corporations in the defense, energy, and logistics sectors have relied on SOS International LLC for critical operational support in many of the world's most austere environments. Drawing on the strength of more than 800 highly experienced professionals with diverse academic, technical, and cultural backgrounds, and experience in 29 countries, including Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Libya, Mali, and Nigeria, SOSi provides solutions to complex challenges around the globe.
Bill Dixon
SOS International LLC (SOSi)
[email protected]
SOURCE SOS International LLC (SOSi)


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The Game is almost ready to release his long-awaited OKE mixtape and here we have look at the official artwork for the project. Check back later today for the full thing, hosted by DJ Skee.
The Game "OKE" Mixtape Cover Revealed
The Game delivers his Born 2 Rap single, "West Side". The track features production by Wallis Lane, DONTMINDIFIDUKE, and Prince Productions.
The Game "Oh I" (Feat. Jeremih, Young Thug & Sevyn)
Putting differences to the side, The Game and Young Thug join forces on "Oh I." The track also features Jeremih and Sevyn, both of…
The Game – Heaven 4 A Gangster (2Pac Tribute)
Honoring the late 2Pac, The Game has released a new track titled "Heaven 4 A Gangster." The song was recorded for A&E's upcoming Who…
DJ Kay Slay – Jealousy (Feat. Busta Rhymes, The Game & Tech N9ne)
DJ Kay Slay brings together some of the most advanced rhymes spitters for his new track "Jealousy." The song lives on the popular mixtape…
The Game Teases Westside Story Album Collaboration With Kendrick Lamar & Dr. Dre
The Game is hard at work on his new album, Westside Story. The rapper claims it's his last album and none of us believe…
The Game provides us with some new bars on "What Else". The record appears in the new Tom Clancy video game, Ghost Recon Wildlands….
The Game samples Drake's "Look What You've Done" on this unreleased record "Drake Flows".
The Game – Baby You (Feat. Jason Derulo) (Official Music Video)
The Game promotes his 1992 album with a brand new visual for "Baby You" featuring Jason Derulo. Directed by Benny Boom.
The Game – What Your Life Like
The Game raps about suing Jimmy Iovine for his royalties, making up with 50 Cent, and more on "What Your Life Like" from the…
The Birth Of A Nation: The Inspired By Album (Album Stream)
The Birth Of A Nation soundtrack has been slowy leaking out today ahead of it's official release tomorrow. We bring you a stream of the…
Beanie Sigel Talks Meek Mill & The Game Beef
Beanie Sigel sat down for an interview with Taxstone and DJ Self. Beanie Sigel went in-depth about entering Meek Mill and The Game's beef,…
The Game – Pest Control (Meek Mill, Beanie Sigel & Sean Kingston Diss) (Official Music Video)
The Game gives us a visual for his Meek Mill, Beanie Sigel and Sean Kingston diss somg "Pest Control". Live from the streets of…
Beanie Sigel Knocked Out By Meek Mill's Crew (Video)
Last week footage of Beanie Sigel in the studio with Meek Mill recording a diss song surfaced. The clip was a sign of what…
The Game – Pest Control (Meek Mill Diss) (Video Teaser)
The Game already shot a music video for his Meek Mill diss song "Pest Control" in Baltimore, New York and Philly. The video is…
The Game – Pest Control (Meek Mill, Sean Kingston & Beanie Sigel Diss)
The Game continues to diss Meek Mill, Sean Kingston and now Beanie Sigel with the release of "Pest Control". Like Meek's diss, Game rhymes…
The Game – 92 Bars (Meek Mill Diss)
The Game goes off on Meek Mill for reasons unknown on the new diss track "92 Bars". The Game's new album 1992 drops October…
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What do I need to provide to get a permit?
Applying for My Permit
- Some minor permits do not require plan review, including certain electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits. These may be applied for and issued online. See the Permits Online page, which includes submittal instructions.
- Applications which require plan review must be submitted in person in the Development Services Center.
Submittal Requirements
The materials required to be submitted will vary along with the complexity of the project proposed. In general submittals will include:
- A completed permit application form
- A description of the scope of work proposed. For example: addition of a bedroom and bathroom to the first floor of a single family residence.
- Detailed Plans and Supporting Documents. These include the construction drawings showing the work proposed along with existing and proposed layouts. Supporting documents may include structural calculations, specifications, and geotechnical reports. Within this website, you will find individual pages for different scopes of work which have more detailed submittal guidelines.
- The contractor's name and state license (CCB) number if a contractor will be doing the work
- A description of all plumbing, mechanical and electrical work you will be doing
- The fair market value for the completed project. The fair market value includes the cost of materials and labor that would typically be charged to complete a project of this type, even if you plan to do all of the work yourself.
Application Processing
The Development Services Center staff will scan your submittal for completeness and determine the next processing step – reviewing for conformance with applicable codes. See Step 4.


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Why not build activist communities via White House petitions?Posted: April 26th, 2012 | Author: Chris Berendes | Filed under: Civic engagement, Open Government, Technology, Transparency | 1 Comment »
Is that all there is?
You've landed on a Whitehouse.gov petition on an issue that's close to your heart, and you're thrilled that's it's finally getting some visibility. Of course, you sign the petition, but then you wonder Who are these people? What else can I do? How can I get plugged in?. In way too many cases, the people who started the petition leave you to your wits, and of course to the Google. It's like a 3am infomercial without the 800-number. What were they thinking?
My inspiration and goad to build tools for the White House "We the People" petition site was the story of an activist who had, in effect, lost her work gathering signatures when she failed to reach the necessary threshold after a month of work.
Along the way, I wondered how often petition initiators added links to their petition text, to provide more information to potential signers or to supplement their work on whitehouse.gov by building a community on a site that gave them more control.
"We The People"-scope
To investigate, I've built a live, interactive database of petitions currently visible and open for signatures at the White House. How well are petitioneers using WhiteHouse.gov traffic and visibility to build activist communities? The results aren't pretty.
90% of the time, you're on your own
Of the 39 petitions open for signatures this morning, only four include links:
- a request for funding of an MIT anti-viral drug links to a press release providing further information
- a call for legislation implementing various economic and legal reforms (NESARA) links to an activist website and to a religious/New Age Ning community
- a call for increased funding for NASA includes a reference to a website for that issue campaign, and
- a request that the Administration veto any legislation that extends tax cuts for the highest earners includes a reference to MoveOn.Org.
None of the links (actually in plain text, since the petition site doesn't allow hot links) make it easy to plug in to community. The NASA funding campaign website is focussed and includes further calls to action, but does not provide a community forum or a mailing list sign-up. The NESARA-related websites provide a wealth of information and, via Ning, a community. However, I could not see how I might easily connect with other supporters of the linked petition. MoveOn.org is a major activist community, but nothing on its home page references the current tax-related petition.
So, of 39 petitions, only three provide links that would allow a signer to tap into a larger community, discuss the petition, and monitor progress, and even those three links are muddy.
The opportunity
What if, instead, a petition linked to a well-designed landing page that encouraged people to sign up to track the progress of the petition, support the cause via other actions, and connect with fellow activists. It's a missed opportunity.
And there's more!
(The petition overview can be filtered and sorted in many different ways. For instance, you can highlight the backlog of petitions that have met their signature goal but don't yet have an official Administration response, or focus just on the petitions for civil liberties, human rights, or immigration issues – almost half of the total currently open.)


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There is a very large variety of equipment that you can give to your units. The list below shows some of the data relevant to each item available in the game. The DATA column shows the weight and size adjustment, if any. The COST column shows how much of each type of city materiel is needed to create this item for your unit. The MAINT column shows the monthly cost of maintaining this item. DEFENSE shows the adjustment to your unit defense given by this item. The type of weapon used determines the specific adjustment versus this attack. ATTACK shows the adjustment for hand-to-hand attacks, THROW for thrown weapon attacks, MISSILE for missile attacks and SPELL for magical attacks.
The Attack value modifies your chance to hit, Dam Base and Dam Rand are the base damage and random variation. Rng Base is the short range distance, which is at the base attack value, and Rng Max is the maximum attack range. The Attack value is adjusted down for distance beyond Rng Base by -10 for each distance increment of the base range. For example, a missile at three times the Rng Base distance would be at -20%
There are several types of defense: Slash, Bash and Pierce. Each weapon is of a specific type, and the defense type determines the actual defense bonus versus that weapon.
Last Edit 02-17-2010 01:02 AM


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FunStuff: December 22 and beyond
Night lights
You may never be sure the Great Wall of China is visible from space, but you can bet your last chocolate coin that Jeffrey Norford's Christmas lights are visible from I-64. The full-time delivery driver (whose hauls include the Hook) has become legendary for personally greeting visitors– this year dressed as Rudolph– at his house-dwarfing display near the U.S. 20 exit. (From Downtown: Take Monticello Avenue toward PVCC and then left on Quarry Road which turns into Mountain View Street.)
Until January 8, 1307 Mountain View Street, evenings, free
Skip is back
There may not be a "Skip" in Skip Castro, but like Jesus to Bethlehem, the venerable "Boogie at Midnight" party band returns to its birthplace for one night at the Jefferson Theater. From their Charlottesville base, they rocked the college scene for much of the 1980s. Now, they're spread out but coming home. Show your incredible insider cred by reminding wild-haired keyboard virtuoso Danny Beirne of the few weeks in the mid-1990s when he actually sold popcorn as a Theater employee! Equally popular '80s-tastic band the Nighthawks opens.
December 30, Jefferson Theater, doors open at 7pm, $20/22
No turning back
Wintergreen Resort opened for skiing and snowboarding on December 17, and the rich person's sport is a little more affordable for newbies thanks to Wintergreen's special "guaranteed" learning discount. With daytime pricing of $82 or $102 for adults (mid-week v. weekend) and $67 or $82 for kids, this Nelson County resort provides not only the lift ticket but also a lesson or two along with rental equipment. Because people over the age of 20 are notoriously fearful of learning– and since the price when a lift ticket alone can near $80 can make them equally fearful of paying– this deal may be your ticket to ride.
Every day, Wintergreen Resort, 9am-10pm, many prices
Women in art
Nope, this isn't about Yoko Ono or Karen Finley but about a travel further back in time and place to New York's Union Square district. The artists in this exhibition entitled "Figure Study" taught or studied at the Art Students League between the World Wars. Paintings include "City Street," a big canvas shown here and painted in 1939 by Kenneth Hayes Miller. The work recalls some of history's greatest painters as these artists represented the classic female form in the decidedly unclassic– but then quite modern– environment of early 20th Century Manhattan.
Thru December 30, UVA Art Museum, 12-5 daily except Mondays, free
Men's basketball
The UVA students may have left town, but they left their basketball team behind. With some student sections opened to public sale, holiday break might be the perfect opportunity for less-than-avid fans to come see what Tony Bennett's men can do on their home court. Before the December 18 game in Oregon, the team had an overall record of 8-1 with victories in their last six games thanks in no small part to Jontel Evans, shown here. Better get moving, because at presstime some lower-level seats appear to be available; and you get a free hotdog and soda with the purchase of four or more tickets.
December 27: Maryland Eastern Shore, John Paul Jones Arena, 7pm, $12-35
December 30: Towson, John Paul Jones Arena, $12-35
Night prowlers
Thomas Jefferson was no Christmas fanatic, but he did call this "the season of mince pies," and his house will look extra special when you take a nighttime holiday tour. These evening tours aren't cheap, but neither was Jefferson, who– although he died bankrupt– did actually turn away a neighbor's proposed delivery of Christmas brandy when the British put an embargo around his fledgling nation. Reservations required.
December 21-23 & 26-30, Monticello, 5:30 & 5:45pm, $45
Run for the hills
It's been called one of the most scenic marathons in the nation, and you'll be pretty scenic too if you lose those extra 20 pounds by hitting the pavement. You just missed the first training session, but there are sixteen more weeks of training before the Charlottesville Marathon and Half Marathon take place on April 7, 2012.
Every Saturday in Riverview Park, 8am, $10 covers all sessions
Meet the Russians
The Great Russian Nutcracker at The Paramount Theater on December 21 and 22 is sold out ($27-$102), so unless you're good at making sad eyes at the ticket-taker or finding a tuxedoed scalper, your chance to see this renowned ballet are over. But your chance to meet and greet members of the award-winning Moscow Ballet has just begun. Thanks to the Hip Joint shop just off the Downtown Mall.
December 22, 110 2nd St. NE (around the corner from The Paramount), 5:30-6:30pm, free
Produce this
We remember when Live Arts was a mostly avant garde kinda theatrical troupe. Over the years, however, crowd-pleasing has occasionally taken a front seat to envelope-pushing. Case in point: the current production is The Producers, a decade old musical based on a 43-year-old Broadway play by Mel Brooks. It won a record-setting 12 Tonys, so it must be pretty good. It stars Doug Schneider, shown here with the "usherettes," Jaime Kurtz and Jessica Wilbert.
Thru January 14, LiveArts, various times, $14-24.50
The big 30 for 2012
The state's longest-running alcohol-free extravaganza is turning 30, and First Night Virginia isn't letting its old age cause ennui. In fact, it's a veritable baby compared to Charlottesville itself which turns 250 this year. The inaugural First Night 5K kicks things off at 11am, and a laser light show in the nTelos Wireless Pavilion happens at 7pm. Compounding the fun are the usual cornucopia of singers, dancers, jugglers, and more. Musicians include two Paramount shows by Bone Hampton and inside-the-Omni gigs by Groove Train and the Gladstones.
December 31, Downtown Mall, all day, $15/18 adults, $5 for children 6-15
Schuyler's in Charlottesville
Currently on the silver screen in a new Gus Van Sant picture called Restless, Schuyler Fisk may be best known locally (besides having famous parents in the form of Sissy Spacek and Jack Fisk) as the dog-saving voice– thanks to her once-ubiquitous "Love Somebody" song whose iTunes proceeds helped the local SPCA. Now busy with movies and music on the West Coast, Fisk returns to her old stompin' grounds with a special "Sounds of the Holiday" concert that should include music from the singer-songwriter's new holiday EP. Jesse Harper and Friends opens
December 22, The Southern Café, 8pm, $8/10
–We'd like to take a moment to thank former culture editors Vijith Assar, Laura Parsons, Linda Kobert, and Rosalind Warfield-Brown for bringing readers interesting info about events for the past ten years. This week's "FunStuff" was compiled by Hawes Spencer, and next issue's "FunStuff" will be compiled by another staffer. To be considered, send your press release to firstname.lastname@example.com.
3 comments
Not to be missed --Jeffrey's Hooville . They even have a facebook page.
December 19th dozens of local birders combed the nooks and crannies of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, joining thousands of others nationwide, in the Monticello Bird Club's annual Christmas Bird Count. At last report 65 species were seen by our local group.
So, if you aren't the late night partying type, and instead prefer to rise with the sun, you still have a chance to participate in a local Christmas Bird Count to be held January 1st in Warren Va. The Warren Count is organized by well known birder Allen Hale, and if you'd like to join the effort just call Allen to participate at 434-263-8671 .
And to shed those excess pounds and enliven your spirit - head to our magnificent Natural Areas: Ragged Mt. and Ivy Creek, for a wintertime hike.


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DAVID EGGERT Associated Press
LANSING (AP) — Michigan residents needing help with their utility bills as the weather cools must wait until November to apply, a change that coincides with an effort to keep customers from waiting to ask for assistance until facing a service shutoff.
From Nov. 1 through May 31, people will qualify for help when they get a past-due notice and no longer have to wait until they accumulate so many warnings that their utilities could be cut off. Until now, residents had been able to apply for assistance year-round, often in October with the start of the new state budget.
"They're going to be denied. So they need to know that Nov. 1 is the first application date," state Department of Human Services spokesman Dave Akerly told The Associated Press.
The primary goal of the law changes, which Gov. Rick Snyder approved in January, is to help customers become more self-sufficient by encouraging them to address their unpaid bills earlier before they get way behind, Akerly said. While the government helps residents in a pinch, benefits are capped at a yearly amount.
"That's when the spiral starts for a lot of our clients," Akerly said. "We want to see if we can avoid that during the season of the year we know is the toughest in terms of cost and having to keep the household heated."
Advocates generally approve of helping people before they are at risk of losing service but say they received little to no heads up from the state about implementing the changes. Call centers across Michigan have been "slammed" with calls from "a lot of really scared people" turned away by the state, said Tom Page, executive director of Michigan 2-1-1, which links callers with social services.
"The way the policy change has been implemented, it's created this gap of 31 days in October when people expecting to have their bills paid are having their power shut off," he said. "It just would have been a lot easier if there had been a heads up."
In recent years, federal funding for low-income heating assistance peaked in the recession but has dropped precipitously in Michigan, which also has contended with a similar state fund being declared void by an appeals court. In response, state lawmakers in June created a new fund and authorized regulators to add up to a $1 monthly surcharge to utility bills to help low-income customers.
To qualify for energy assistance, people receiving federal or state aid must make less than 150 percent of the poverty line — roughly $35,000 for a family of four and $17,000 for an individual.
"It's good that the Legislature found a funding solution and that folks do not have to wait until they are on the brink of a utility shutoff to receive energy assistance. We are worried, however, that some families who thought they could get help this month will be left out in the cold and told to wait until November," said Judy Putnam, spokeswoman for the Michigan League for Public Policy, an advocacy group for the poor.
The sponsor of the law, Republican Sen. Bruce Caswell of Hillsdale, plans to hold a legislative hearing Tuesday to take testimony about how the changes are working.
Photo by BLH-Images
State delays home heating aid
By Mark Hornbeck , October 08, 2013 09:05 AM
Welcome to AARP Michigan
Contact information and more from your state office. Learn what we are doing to champion social change and help you live your best life.


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What could be easier than picking up a potato chip? Well, try to do that wearing a pair of ski gloves. The chances of dropping the chip or crushing it are extremely high. That's because you do not "feel" the chip and without the feeling you have no way of controlling the pressure to apply with your fingers. Notice that even with a pair of ski gloves you still have a minimum of touch feedback. Imagine if you have none.
This is the situation of people wearing a prosthetic hand. They can control the movements of the hand and of its finger but getting clever to move their arm muscles in a specific way but not having any feedback from touch it is almost impossible to do such easy tasks as picking up a chip or an egg...
Providing a sense of touch is the challenge taken by researchers at the University of Glasgow. They have described their result in an article recently published.
Prosthetic hands have progressed quite a lot from the time of Captain Hook ;-). We have prosthetics with well articulated fingers that can be controlled by the electrical signals that activate the arm's muscles. With some training the person wearing the prosthetic hand can control its movements. However getting a feeling of touch has proved very difficult and basically if you want to control the hand you need to look at it and use visual clues as substitute to touch.
Researchers at Glasgow University have made a significant step forward by creating a prosthetic hand whose "skin" is made of graphene. The graphene layer doubles up as sensors. It can detect temperature and pressure and by integrating the various "sensations" the brain can feel the texture of the object being manipulated. The "sensations" are transmitted to the brain through an array of neural sensors interfacing the hand with the skin on the arm where the prosthetic hand is attached. It takes some time to get used to it (for the brain to learn to interpret the "sensations" but in the end the person has a restored sense of touch, not as good as the real thing but good enough to let it control the hand with subtle commands that make picking up a potato chip feasible.
The graphene and the underlying surface also convert light into electrical power recharging the hand batteries that power the actuators (motor) controlling the hand's movements.


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Summary: Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase
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Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase Edit Wikipedia article
|Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase
the Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylase single subunit structure (generated by PyMOL)]
|EC number
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|IntEnz view
|BRENDA entry
|NiceZyme view
|KEGG entry
|metabolic pathway
|PDB structures
|RCSB PDB PDBe PDBsum
|Gene Ontology
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|Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase
|1fiy / SUPFAM
Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (also known as PEP carboxylase, PEPCase, or PEPC; EC 22.214.171.124, PDB ID: 3ZGE) is an enzyme in the family of carboxy-lyases found in plants and some bacteria that catalyzes the addition of bicarbonate (HCO3−) to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to form the four-carbon compound oxaloacetate and inorganic phosphate:[1]
- PEP + HCO3− → oxaloacetate + Pi
This reaction is used for carbon fixation in CAM (crassulacean acid metabolism) and C4 organisms, as well as to regulate flux through the citric acid cycle (also known as Krebs or TCA cycle) in bacteria and plants. The enzyme structure and its two step catalytic, irreversible mechanism have been well studied. PEP carboxylase is highly regulated, both by phosphorylation and allostery.
Enzyme structure
The PEP carboxylase enzyme is present in plants and some types of bacteria, but not in fungi or animals (including humans).[2] The genes vary between organisms, but are strictly conserved around the active and allosteric sites discussed in the mechanism and regulation sections. Tertiary structure of the enzyme is also conserved.[3]
The crystal structure of PEP carboxylase in multiple organisms, including Zea mays (maize), and Escherichia coli has been determined.[3] The overall enzyme exists as a dimer-of-dimers: two identical subunits closely interact to form a dimer through salt bridges between arginine (R438 - exact positions may vary depending on the origin of the gene) and glutamic acid (E433) residues.[4] This dimer assembles (more loosely) with another of its kind to form the four subunit complex. The monomer subunits are mainly composed of alpha helices (65%),[1] and have a mass of 106kDa each.[5] The sequence length is about 966 amino acids.[6]
The enzyme active site is not completely characterized. It includes a conserved aspartic acid (D564) and a glutamic acid (E566) residue that non-covalently bind a divalent metal cofactor ion through the carboxylic acid functional groups.[1] This metal ion can be magnesium, manganese or cobalt depending on the organism,[1][2] and its role is to coordinate the phosphoenolpyruvate molecule as well as the reaction intermediates. A histidine (H138) residue at the active site is believed to facilitate proton transfer during the catalytic mechanism.[1][4]
Enzyme mechanism
The mechanism of PEP carboxylase has been well studied. The enzymatic mechanism of forming oxaloacetate is very exothermic and thereby irreversible; the biological Gibbs free energy change (△G°') is -30kJmol−1.[1] The substrates and cofactor bind in the following order: metal cofactor (either Co2+, Mg2+, or Mn2+), PEP, bicarbonate (HCO3−).[1][2] The mechanism proceeds in two major steps, as described below and shown in figure 2:
- The bicarbonate acts as a nucleophile to attack the phosphate group in PEP. This results in the splitting of PEP into a carboxyphosphate and the (very reactive) enolate form of pyruvate.
- Proton transfer takes place at the carboxyphosphate. This is most likely modulated by a histidine (H138) residue that first deprotonates the carboxy side, and then, as an acid, protonates the phosphate part.[1] The carboxyphosphate then exothermically decomposes into carbon dioxide and inorganic phosphate, at this point making this an irreversible reaction. Finally, after the decomposition, the carbon dioxide is attacked by the enolate to form oxaloacetate.[1][2][7]
The metal cofactor is necessary to coordinate the enolate and carbon dioxide intermediates; the CO2 molecule is only lost 3% of the time.[2] The active site is hydrophobic to exclude water, since the carboxyphosphate intermediate is susceptible to hydrolysis.[1]
The three most important roles that PEP carboxylase plays in plants and bacteria metabolism are in the C4 cycle, the CAM cycle, and the citric acid cycle biosynthesis flux.
The primary mechanism of carbon dioxide assimilation in plants is through the enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (also known as RuBisCO), that adds CO2 to ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (a 5 carbon sugar), to form two molecules of 3-phosphoglycerate (2x3 carbon sugars). However, at higher temperatures and lower CO2 concentrations, RuBisCO adds oxygen instead of carbon dioxide, to form the unusable product glycolate in a process called photorespiration. To prevent this wasteful process, plants increase the local CO2 concentration in a process called the C4 cycle.[3][8] PEP carboxylase plays the key role of binding CO2 in the form of bicarbonate with PEP to create oxaloacetate in the mesophyll tissue. This is then converted back to pyruvate (through a malate intermediate), to release the CO2 in the deeper layer of bundle sheath cells for carbon fixation by RuBisCO and the Calvin cycle. Pyruvate is converted back to PEP in the mesophyll cells, and the cycle begins again, thus actively pumping CO2.[2][9][10]
The second important and very similar biological significance of PEP carboxylase is in the CAM cycle. This cycle is common in organisms living in arid habitats. Plants cannot afford to open stomata during the day to take in CO2, as they would lose too much water by transpiration. Instead, stomata open at night, when water evaporation is minimal, and take in CO2 by fixing with PEP to form oxaloacetate though PEP carboxylase. Oxaloacetate is converted to malate by malate dehydrogenase, and stored for use during the day when the light dependent reaction generates energy (mainly in the form of ATP) and reducing equivalents such as NADPH to run the Calvin cycle.[2][3][10]
Third, PEP carboxylase is significant in non-photosynthetic metabolic pathways. Figure 3 shows this metabolic flow (and its regulation). Similar to pyruvate carboxylase, PEP carboxylase replenishes oxaloacetate in the citric acid cycle. At the end of glycolysis, PEP is converted to pyruvate, which is converted to acetyl-coenzyme-A (acetyl-CoA), which enters the citric acid cycle by reacting with oxaloacetate to form citrate. To increase flux through the cycle, some of the PEP is converted to oxaloacetate by PEP carboxylase. Since the citric acid cycle intermediates provide a hub for metabolism, increasing flux is important for the biosynthesis of many molecules, such as for example amino acids.[11]
PEP carboxylase is mainly subject to two levels of regulation: phosphorylation and allostery. Figure 3 shows a schematic of the regulatory mechanism.
Phosphorylation by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase kinase turns the enzyme on, whereas phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase phosphatase turns it back off. Both kinase and phosphate are regulated by transcription. It is further believed that malate acts as a feedback inhibitor of kinase expression levels, and as an activator for phosphatase expression (transcription).[12] Since oxaloacetate is converted to malate in CAM and C4 organisms, high concentrations of malate activate phosphatase expression - the phosphatase subsequently de-phosphorylates and thus de-actives PEP carboxylase, leading to no further accumulation of oxaloacetate and thus no further conversion of oxaloacetate to malate. Hence malate production is down-regulated.[1][12]
The main allosteric inhibitors of PEP carboxylase are the carboxylic acids malate (weak) and aspartate (strong).[5][12] Since malate is formed in the next step of the CAM and C4 cycles after PEP carboxylase catalyses the condensation of CO2 and PEP to oxaloacetate, this works as a feedback inhibition pathway. Oxaloacetate and aspartate are easily inter-convertible through a transaminase mechanism; thus high concentrations of aspartate are also a pathway of feedback inhibition of PEP carboxylase.
The main allosteric activators of PEP carboxylase are acetyl-CoA[13] and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (F-1,6-BP).[1][13] Both molecules are indicators of increased glycolysis levels, and thus positive feed-forward effectors of PEP carboxylase. They signal the need to produce oxaloacetate to allow more flux through the citric acid cycle. Additionally, increased glycolysis means a higher supply of PEP is available, and thus more storage capacity for binding CO2 in transport to the Calvin cycle. It is also noteworthy that the negative effectors aspartate competes with the positive effector acetyl-CoA, suggesting that they share an allosteric binding site.[14]
Studies have shown that energy equivalents such as AMP, ADP and ATP have no significant effect on PEP carboxylase.[15]
The magnitudes of the allosteric effects of these different molecules on PEP carboxylase activity depend on individual organisms.[16]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kai Y, Matsumura H, Izui K (June 2003). "Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase: three-dimensional structure and molecular mechanisms". Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 414 (2): 170–9. doi:10.1016/S0003-9861(03)00170-X. PMID 12781768.
- ^ a b c d e f g Chollet R, Vidal J, O'Leary MH (June 1996). "Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase: A Ubiquitous, Highly Regulated Enzyme in Plants". Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology. 47 (1): 273–298. doi:10.1146/annurev.arplant.47.1.273. PMID 15012290.
- ^ a b c d Paulus JK, Schlieper D, Groth G (2013). "Greater efficiency of photosynthetic carbon fixation due to single amino-acid substitution". Nature Communications. 4 (2): 1518. doi:10.1038/ncomms2504. PMC 3586729. PMID 23443546.
- ^ a b Kai Y, Matsumura H, Inoue T, Terada K, Nagara Y, Yoshinaga T, Kihara A, Tsumura K, Izui K (February 1999). "Three-dimensional structure of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase: a proposed mechanism for allosteric inhibition". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 96 (3): 823–8. doi:10.1073/pnas.96.3.823. PMC 15309. PMID 9927652.
- ^ a b Gonzalez DH, Iglesias AA, Andreo CS (February 1986). "Active-site-directed inhibition of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from maize leaves by bromopyruvate". Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 245 (1): 179–86. doi:10.1016/0003-9861(86)90203-1. PMID 3947097.
- ^ PDB: 3ZGE; Paulus JK, Schlieper D, Groth G (19 April 2018). "Greater efficiency of photosynthetic carbon fixation due to single amino-acid substitution". Nature Communications. 4: 1518. doi:10.1038/ncomms2504. PMC 3586729. PMID 23443546.
- ^ Fujita N, Izui K, Nishino T, Katsuki H (April 1984). "Reaction mechanism of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. Bicarbonate-dependent dephosphorylation of phosphoenol-alpha-ketobutyrate". Biochemistry. 23 (8): 1774–9. doi:10.1021/bi00303a029. PMID 6326809.
- ^ Leegood RC (May 2007). "A welcome diversion from photorespiration". Nature Biotechnology. 25 (5): 539–40. doi:10.1038/nbt0507-539. PMID 17483837.
- ^ Hatch MD (2002). "C(4) photosynthesis: discovery and resolution". Photosynthesis Research. 73 (1–3): 251–6. doi:10.1023/A:1020471718805. PMID 16245128.
- ^ a b Keeley JE, Rundel PW (2003). "Evolution of CAM and C4Carbonâ€Concentrating Mechanisms". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 164 (S3): S55–S77. doi:10.1086/374192.
- ^ Cousins AB, Baroli I, Badger MR, Ivakov A, Lea PJ, Leegood RC, von Caemmerer S (November 2007). "The role of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase during C4 photosynthetic isotope exchange and stomatal conductance". Plant Physiology. 145 (3): 1006–17. doi:10.1104/pp.107.103390. PMC 2048775. PMID 17827274.
- ^ a b c Nimmo HG (February 2000). "The regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in CAM plants". Trends in Plant Science. 5 (2): 75–80. doi:10.1016/S1360-1385(99)01543-5. PMID 10664617.
- ^ a b Morikawa M, Izui K, Taguchi M, Katsuki H (February 1980). "Regulation of Escherichia coli phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase by multiple effectors in vivo. Estimation of the activities in the cells grown on various compounds". Journal of Biochemistry. 87 (2): 441–9. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jbchem.a132764. PMID 6987214.
- ^ Smith TE (April 1970). "Escherichia coli phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase: competitive regulation by acetyl-coenzyme A and aspartate". Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 137 (2): 512–22. doi:10.1016/0003-9861(70)90469-8. PMID 4909168.
- ^ Coombs J, Maw SL, Baldry CW (December 1974). "Metabolic regulation in C4 photosynthesis: PEP-carboxylase and energy charge". Planta. 117 (4): 279–92. doi:10.1007/BF00388023. PMID 24458459.
- ^ Schuller KA, Plaxton WC, Turpin DH (August 1990). "Regulation of Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase from the Green Alga Selenastrum minutum: Properties Associated with Replenishment of Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle Intermediates during Ammonium Assimilation". Plant Physiology. 93 (4): 1303–11. doi:10.1104/pp.93.4.1303. PMC 1062672. PMID 16667617.
This page is based on a Wikipedia article. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
This tab holds the annotation information that is stored in the Pfam database. As we move to using Wikipedia as our main source of annotation, the contents of this tab will be gradually replaced by the Wikipedia tab.
Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase Provide feedback
No Pfam abstract.
Internal database links
|Similarity to PfamA using HHSearch:
External database links
This tab holds annotation information from the InterPro database.
InterPro entry IPR021135
Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPCase), an enzyme found in all multicellular plants, catalyses the formation of oxaloacetate from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and a hydrocarbonate ion [PUBMED:1450389]. This reaction is harnessed by C4 plants to capture and concentrate carbon dioxide into the photosynthetic bundle sheath cells. It also plays a key role in the nitrogen fixation pathway in legume root nodules: here it functions in concert with glutamine, glutamate and asparagine synthetases and aspartate amido transferase, to synthesise aspartate and asparagine, the major nitrogen transport compounds in various amine-transporting plant species [PUBMED:1421147].
PEPCase also plays an antipleurotic role in bacteria and plant cells, supplying oxaloacetate to the TCA cycle, which requires continuous input of C4 molecules in order to replenish the intermediates removed for amino acid biosynthesis [PUBMED:2779518]. The C terminus of the enzyme contains the active site that includes a conserved lysine residue, involved in substrate binding, and other conserved residues important for the catalytic mechanism [PUBMED:1508152].
Based on sequence similarity, PEPCase enzymes can be grouped into two distinct families, one found primarily in bacteria and plants, and another found primarily in archaea.
Gene Ontology
The mapping between Pfam and Gene Ontology is provided by InterPro. If you use this data please cite InterPro.
|Molecular function
|phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity (GO:0008964)
|Biological process
|tricarboxylic acid cycle (GO:0006099)
|carbon fixation (GO:0015977)
Domain organisation
Below is a listing of the unique domain organisations or architectures in which this domain is found. More...
The graphic that is shown by default represents the longest sequence with a given architecture. Each row contains the following information:
- the number of sequences which exhibit this architecture
a textual description of the architecture, e.g. Gla, EGF x 2, Trypsin.
This example describes an architecture with one
Gladomain, followed by two consecutive
EGFdomains, and finally a single
- a link to the page in the Pfam site showing information about the sequence that the graphic describes
- the UniProt description of the protein sequence
- the number of residues in the sequence
- the Pfam graphic itself.
Note that you can see the family page for a particular domain by clicking on the graphic. You can also choose to see all sequences which have a given architecture by clicking on the Show link in each row.
Finally, because some families can be found in a very large number of architectures, we load only the first fifty architectures by default. If you want to see more architectures, click the button at the bottom of the page to load the next set.
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Pfam Clan
This family is a member of clan PK_TIM (CL0151), which has the following description:
This superfamily consists of a number of TIM barrel domains found in enzymes such as pyruvate kinase, malate synthase and citrate lyase.
The clan contains the following 11 members:C-C_Bond_Lyase HpcH_HpaI ICL Malate_synthase Pantoate_transf PEP-utilizers_C PEP_hydrolase PEP_mutase PEPcase PEPcase_2 PK
We store a range of different sequence alignments for families. As well as the seed alignment from which the family is built, we provide the full alignment, generated by searching the sequence database (reference proteomes) using the family HMM. We also generate alignments using four representative proteomes (RP) sets, the UniProtKB sequence database, the NCBI sequence database, and our metagenomics sequence database. More...
There are various ways to view or download the sequence alignments that we store. We provide several sequence viewers and a plain-text Stockholm-format file for download.
Alignment types
We make a range of alignments for each Pfam-A family:
- seed
- the curated alignment from which the HMM for the family is built
- full
- the alignment generated by searching the sequence database using the HMM
- Representative Proteomes (RPs) at 15%, 35%, 55% and 75% co-membership thresholds
- UniProt
- alignment generated by searching the UniProtKB sequence database using the family HMM
- alignment generated by searching the NCBI sequence database using the family HMM
- meta
- alignment generated by searching the metagenomics sequence database using the family HMM
You can see the alignments as HTML or in three different sequence viewers:
- jalview
- a Java applet developed at the University of Dundee. You will need Java installed before running jalview
- an HTML page showing the whole alignment.Please note: full Pfam alignments can be very large. These HTML views are extremely large and often cause problems for browsers. Please use either jalview or the Pfam viewer if you have trouble viewing the HTML version
- PP/Heatmap
- an HTML-based representation of the alignment, coloured according to the posterior-probability (PP) values from the HMM. As for the standard HTML view, heatmap alignments can also be very large and slow to render.
You can download (or view in your browser) a text representation of a Pfam alignment in various formats:
- Selex
- Stockholm
You can also change the order in which sequences are listed in the alignment, change how insertions are represented, alter the characters that are used to represent gaps in sequences and, finally, choose whether to download the alignment or to view it in your browser directly.
You may find that large alignments cause problems for the viewers and the reformatting tool, so we also provide all alignments in Stockholm format. You can download either the plain text alignment, or a gzipped version of it.
View options
We make a range of alignments for each Pfam-A family. You can see a description of each above. You can view these alignments in various ways but please note that some types of alignment are never generated while others may not be available for all families, most commonly because the alignments are too large to handle.
|Representative proteomes
1Cannot generate PP/Heatmap alignments for seeds; no PP data available
Key: available, not generated, — not available.
Format an alignment
Download options
We make all of our alignments available in Stockholm format. You can download them here as raw, plain text files or as gzip-compressed files.
|Representative proteomes
|Raw Stockholm
You can also download a FASTA format file containing the full-length sequences for all sequences in the full alignment.
HMM logo
HMM logos is one way of visualising profile HMMs. Logos provide a quick overview of the properties of an HMM in a graphical form. You can see a more detailed description of HMM logos and find out how you can interpret them here. More...
If you find these logos useful in your own work, please consider citing the following article:
This page displays the phylogenetic tree for this family's seed alignment. We use FastTree to calculate neighbour join trees with a local bootstrap based on 100 resamples (shown next to the tree nodes). FastTree calculates approximately-maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees from our seed alignment.
Note: You can also download the data file for the tree.
Curation and family details
This section shows the detailed information about the Pfam family. You can see the definitions of many of the terms in this section in the glossary and a fuller explanation of the scoring system that we use in the scores section of the help pages.
|Seed source:
|Previous IDs:
|Sequence Ontology:
|Finn RD , Coggill P
|Number in seed:
|Number in full:
|Average length of the domain:
|587.70 aa
|Average identity of full alignment:
|30 %
|Average coverage of the sequence by the domain:
|82.22 %
HMM information
|HMM build commands:
build method: hmmbuild -o /dev/null HMM SEED
search method: hmmsearch -Z 47079205 -E 1000 --cpu 4 HMM pfamseq
|Model details:
|Model length:
|Family (HMM) version:
|download the raw HMM for this family
Species distribution
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This visualisation provides a simple graphical representation of the distribution of this family across species. You can find the original interactive tree in the adjacent tab. More...
This chart is a modified "sunburst" visualisation of the species tree for this family. It shows each node in the tree as a separate arc, arranged radially with the superkingdoms at the centre and the species arrayed around the outermost ring.
How the sunburst is generated
The tree is built by considering the taxonomic lineage of each sequence that has a match to this family. For each node in the resulting tree, we draw an arc in the sunburst. The radius of the arc, its distance from the root node at the centre of the sunburst, shows the taxonomic level ("superkingdom", "kingdom", etc). The length of the arc represents either the number of sequences represented at a given level, or the number of species that are found beneath the node in the tree. The weighting scheme can be changed using the sunburst controls.
In order to reduce the complexity of the representation, we reduce the number of taxonomic levels that we show. We consider only the following eight major taxonomic levels:
- superkingdom
- kingdom
- phylum
- class
- order
- family
- genus
- species
Colouring and labels
Segments of the tree are coloured approximately according to their superkingdom. For example, archeal branches are coloured with shades of orange, eukaryotes in shades of purple, etc. The colour assignments are shown under the sunburst controls. Where space allows, the name of the taxonomic level will be written on the arc itself.
As you move your mouse across the sunburst, the current node will be highlighted. In the top section of the controls panel we show a summary of the lineage of the currently highlighed node. If you pause over an arc, a tooltip will be shown, giving the name of the taxonomic level in the title and a summary of the number of sequences and species below that node in the tree.
Anomalies in the taxonomy tree
There are some situations that the sunburst tree cannot easily handle and for which we have work-arounds in place.
Missing taxonomic levels
Some species in the taxonomic tree may not have one or more of the main eight levels that we display. For example, Bos taurus is not assigned an order in the NCBI taxonomic tree. In such cases we mark the omitted level with, for example, "No order", in both the tooltip and the lineage summary.
Unmapped species names
The tree is built by looking at each sequence in the full alignment for the family. We take the name of the species given by UniProt and try to map that to the full taxonomic tree from NCBI. In some cases, the name chosen by UniProt does not map to any node in the NCBI tree, perhaps because the chosen name is listed as a synonym or a misspelling in the NCBI taxonomy.
So that these nodes are not simply omitted from the sunburst tree, we group them together in a separate branch (or segment of the sunburst tree). Since we cannot determine the lineage for these unmapped species, we show all levels between the superkingdom and the species as "uncategorised".
Since we reduce the species tree to only the eight main taxonomic levels, sequences that are mapped to the sub-species level in the tree would not normally be shown. Rather than leave out these species, we map them instead to their parent species. So, for example, for sequences belonging to one of the Vibrio cholerae sub-species in the NCBI taxonomy, we show them instead as belonging to the species Vibrio cholerae.
Too many species/sequences
For large species trees, you may see blank regions in the outer layers of the sunburst. These occur when there are large numbers of arcs to be drawn in a small space. If an arc is less than approximately one pixel wide, it will not be drawn and the space will be left blank. You may still be able to get some information about the species in that region by moving your mouse across the area, but since each arc will be very small, it will be difficult to accurately locate a particular species.
Tree controlsHide
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The tree shows the occurrence of this domain across different species. More...
Species trees
We show the species tree in one of two ways. For smaller trees we try to show an interactive representation, which allows you to select specific nodes in the tree and view them as an alignment or as a set of Pfam domain graphics.
Unfortunately we have found that there are problems viewing the interactive tree when the it becomes larger than a certain limit. Furthermore, we have found that Internet Explorer can become unresponsive when viewing some trees, regardless of their size. We therefore show a text representation of the species tree when the size is above a certain limit or if you are using Internet Explorer to view the site.
If you are using IE you can still load the interactive tree by clicking the "Generate interactive tree" button, but please be aware of the potential problems that the interactive species tree can cause.
Interactive tree
For all of the domain matches in a full alignment, we count the number that are found on all sequences in the alignment. This total is shown in the purple box.
We also count the number of unique sequences on which each domain is found, which is shown in green. Note that a domain may appear multiple times on the same sequence, leading to the difference between these two numbers.
Finally, we group sequences from the same organism according to the NCBI code that is assigned by UniProt, allowing us to count the number of distinct sequences on which the domain is found. This value is shown in the pink boxes.
We use the NCBI species tree to group organisms according to their taxonomy and this forms the structure of the displayed tree. Note that in some cases the trees are too large (have too many nodes) to allow us to build an interactive tree, but in most cases you can still view the tree in a plain text, non-interactive representation. Those species which are represented in the seed alignment for this domain are highlighted.
You can use the tree controls to manipulate how the interactive tree is displayed:
- show/hide the summary boxes
- highlight species that are represented in the seed alignment
- expand/collapse the tree or expand it to a given depth
- select a sub-tree or a set of species within the tree and view them graphically or as an alignment
- save a plain text representation of the tree
Please note: for large trees this can take some time. While the tree is loading, you can safely switch away from this tab but if you browse away from the family page entirely, the tree will not be loaded.
There is 1 interaction for this family. More...
We determine these interactions using iPfam, which considers the interactions between residues in three-dimensional protein structures and maps those interactions back to Pfam families. You can find more information about the iPfam algorithm in the journal article that accompanies the website.
For those sequences which have a structure in the Protein DataBank, we use the mapping between UniProt, PDB and Pfam coordinate systems from the PDBe group, to allow us to map Pfam domains onto UniProt sequences and three-dimensional protein structures. The table below shows the structures on which the PEPcase domain has been found. There are 21 instances of this domain found in the PDB. Note that there may be multiple copies of the domain in a single PDB structure, since many structures contain multiple copies of the same protein sequence.
Loading structure mapping...


text:
Kurt Nimmo
January 10, 2013
Photo: Michael Saechang.
A number of states are moving to enact anti-Second Amendment laws following moves by Congress and the Obama administration to outlaw firearms.
When the 113th Congress convened on January 3, no less than ten anti-gun bills were introduced. At the same time, the Obama administration said it is considering bypassing the Constitution, Congress and the American people and will use "executive action" to hollow out the Second Amendment.
California Democrat Dianne Feinstein has promised to introduce her anti-Second Amendment bill on January 22, according to The Daily Caller.
Meanwhile, on the state government level, legislatures are moving to pass anti-Second Amendment laws of their own.
"Legislators in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Delaware, and Vermont will be among the first to ponder proposed state automatic weapon bans — 'feel good' formalities that, in all but Vermont's case, would only further tighten already restrictive laws," writes John Haughey of OutdoorLife, a website dedicated to hunting and fishing.
In Connecticut, where the Newtown massacre occurred, a Democrat has proposed making public all the names of citizens who hold state-issued handgun permit holders. According to Rep. Stephen Dargan, the legislation violating the privacy of handgun owners in the state is intended "to get a broader discussion going on gun issues and mental health in the state." Dargan's bill follows a stunt by an upstate New York newspaper that published the names and addresses of gun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties.
Democrats opposed to firearms in Illinois failed to ram through legislation that would have required government registration of semiautomatic weapons and detachable magazines. "Lawmakers were undoubtedly nervous about attempting to pass the gun ban because of the deluge of opposition they received from gun owners over the course of the last week," Paul Joseph Watson reported on January 7.
Lawmakers in Vermont are working to rollback the state's "permissive" gun laws. Gun owners in the state are not required to ask the government for permission to carry a concealed weapon and are not obliged to register their firearms.
Delaware's Sen. Robert Marshall is urging a "crackdown on gun ownership" and wants to give local government to ability to harass gun owners with bureaucratic licensing laws.
In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called for draconian gun laws and said the state may confiscate semiautomatic weapons. "Confiscation could be an option. Mandatory sale to the state could be an option. Permitting could be an option — keep your gun but permit it," Cuomo said.
Restricting Second Amendment rights on the state level, however, may prove problematic for government despite the current hysterical anti-Second Amendment push that is dominating the establishment media.
"We found that while legislators in Virginia, Alabama, Arizona, New York, Texas and Colorado sometimes contemplated tightening rules after rampage shootings, few measures gained passage. In fact, several states have made it easier to buy more guns and take them to more places," write Joaquin Sapien for ProPublica.
This may change if a Congress operating under the terror of anti-Second Amendment campaign successfully enacts radical and unconstitutional legislation – or if Obama uses executive action to outlaw firearms and tighten the federal screws on law-abiding gun owners, as vice president Joe Biden has hinted.
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