text:
Despite being one of the most diverse and biologically rich forests in the world, the Atlantic forest in South America is unfortunately also one of the most threatened. Only about eight percent of its original cover remains and its total area has been dramatically reduced to just less than 100,000 square kilometres. If we flip this figure; compared to the Amazon which has lost around 20% of its forest, the Atlantic forest, or Mata Atlântica as it is also known, has seen a staggering 92% decline. To make matters worse, what remains of the forest is severely fragmented and only two percent is still considered to be primary, or pristine, forest.
The Atlantic forest extends along Brazil's eastern coast, into Paraguay and northeast Argentina. It is home to thousands of species that are not found anywhere else in the world; for example, no fewer than 8,000 of the total 20,000 or more plant species are totally unique to the Atlantic forest, including over half of the forest's trees. Examples include the Endangered Pau brasil and the Vulnerable Brazilian rosewood tree. But it's not just the plants: there are many mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates that are found exclusively in the Atlantic forest. As more of the forest is degraded and fragmented by deforestation, these species are increasingly at risk of extinction.
Deforestation in the Atlantic forest is a result of human settlement, dating back centuries to when Europeans arrived in South America and began to clear forest to make way for timber and cattle ranches, as well as to grow crops such as sugarcane, coffee and cocoa. In more recent years land use has shifted towards soy cultivation and pine, tobacco and eucalyptus plantations. The spread of invasive species and the ever-looming presence of climate change are also playing their part, providing competition for food and resources, and decreasing the resiliency of species to changes in their environment.
Of the 100,000 remaining square kilometres, only approximately 23,800 square kilometres are under protection; less than 2% of the forest's historic range. There are, however, also a range of conservation initiatives working to protect and restore parts of the Atlantic forest.
One such reforestation project by The Nature Conservancy began in 2008 with the ambitious aim of planting one billion trees in Brazil's Atlantic forest within seven years. If successful, the 'Plant a Billion Trees' project will repopulate 2.5 million acres of land, increasing the forest's significance as a carbon sink that will potentially be able to remove four million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year. As numbers currently stand, 12,574,689 trees have been planted, with one tree planted per dollar donated. Despite being far from the target, this level of reforestation is still significant.
The Nature Conservancy are not alone in their bid to reforest areas of the Atlantic forest. The Alstom Foundation's project aims to promote long-term sustainability in the remaining forest, and to reconnect fragmented areas which will help to support wildlife. Its target is to restore 15 million hectares of degraded lands by the year 2040, amounting to 12 percent of the forest's original ecosystem.
While we could go ahead and list every project working to reforest areas of the Atlantic forest, the important message to take from this is why these collective efforts are significant. Many species are on the verge of being lost from the Mata Atlântica, including the jaguar, lowland tapir and giant anteater, and many more species will continue to decline if further action is not taken. Large numbers of these species occur nowhere else in the world, and they require large areas of connected forest to survive and reproduce.
With climate change on the tip of everyone's tongue, restoration in this forest could serve to provide a much-needed carbon sink, able to remove and store huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. Reforestation projects are also able to help local communities to build their knowledge of soil use, conservation and land management, enabling them to protect their land in the future and encouraging them to undertake their own forest restoration, thereby continuing reforestation efforts in the long-term.
Find out more about the Atlantic forest on ARKive's Atlantic forest ecoregion page.
Find out more about reforestation in the Atlantic forest on ARKive's reforestation topic page.
Become a conservation professional and help plant trees in the Atlantic forest with Team WILD!
Kaz Armour, ARKive Text Author


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What an admirable man. A long time top breeder who truly loves his breed.
What an admirable man. A long time top breeder who truly loves his breed.
Margaret C
Cavaliers......Faith, The Ginger Tank and Woody.
Japanese Chins.... Dandy, Benny, Bridgette and Hana.
Remembered with love......... Tommy Tuppence and Fonzi
Every chihuahua breeder -- and every breeder of other toy breeds that thinks SM is not a potential minefield for their breed -- should read this, from the breeder's email noted in the column:
Definitely a breeder to be praised for his approach to finding SM in his line and extensive efforts to follow up on every dog.The fact is that of the 29 Chihuahuas so far scanned under the BVA/SM scheme, 18 scanned positive i.e. 62%, so there is a very great chance that some of their unscanned dogs are affected.
My reason for being so open with the situation with my own dogs is because I am very concerned that many other breeders are not recognising the extent of this problem, as I have done, and seem to be taking the view that it is all right to carry on breeding. It is obvious from the evidence that I have discovered that this is not simply a problem in my Chihuahuas, but is wide spread in both this country and abroad
Yours sincerely
Graham Foote
I do think the issue of showing dogs with a confirmed, potentially serious genetic disease, that should/would prevent the dog from being bred, is more difficult.
I cannot see how it can be reconciled with the current effort by the KC to have some breeds undergo visual checks for what -- in comparison to SM -- are minor defects (on the pain scale/in terms of health) compared to syringomyelia. An inturned eyelash or heavy skin fold seems so trivial compared to a compressed brain and spinal syrinxes. The issue of whether a dog is symptomatic is also so opaque. It's one thing if a neurologist has confirmed a dog is clinically asymptomatic (and the breeder doesn't say if this is his judgement or that of a neurologist with any of the 'asymptomatic' chihuahuas), but neurologists have seen so many times that dogs which owners genuinely believe are asymptomatic actually are symptomatic. Show dogs also get pulled around, and have their heads jerked upwards, with those show leads, which I find really alarming for any dog with any form of SM, whether symptomatic or not.
So while I definitely applaud the breeder's actions on behalf of his breed (though someone needs to tell him he cannot assume SM came from one side or another just on the basis of a couple of MRIs; the likelihood is that there are many carriers in the breed regardless of whether a dog is symptomatic or has SM itself [yet?]) -- I find it hard to reconcile Crufts' and the Kennel Club's insistence that showing is -- and must be -- about healthy dogs (which I question anyway in practice...), and allowing a dog known to have SM, to be shown. Or supporting this chihuahua breeder's decision to do so.
Interested how others see this issue, which is difficult!
Cavaliers: Tansy : Mindy Connie Roxy Neasa Gus
In memory: My beautiful Jaspar Lucy Leo Lily Libby
Having read that I can only say how much I admire that man.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Mild Cognitive Impairment and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (MEMORIES)
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01482351
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : November 30, 2011
Last Update Posted : March 17, 2015
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- Results Submitted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Condition or disease
|Obstructive Sleep Apnea Mild Cognitive Impairment
|Device: Continuous Positive Airway Pressure [CPAP]
|Phase 3
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Actual Enrollment :
|86 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Single Group Assignment
|Single (Outcomes Assessor)
|Official Title:
|Mild Cognitive Impairment and Obstructive Sleep Apnea
|Study Start Date :
|February 2012
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|September 2014
|Actual Study Completion Date :
|September 2014
Experimental: Continuous Positive Airway Pressure
Participants diagnosed with OSA who choose to treat their apnea with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) will be compared with those who do not choose to use CPAP and no-apnea controls at 1 year to assess changes in mild cognitive impairment.
Device: Continuous Positive Airway Pressure [CPAP]
Study participants with sleep apnea will choose to use or not use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine to treat their apnea after a consultation with their doctor. Dosage of CPAP will be individually determined using standardized methods in an overnight CPAP titration polysomnography.
- Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised [HVLT-R] [ Time Frame: Change from baseline at 6 months and 1 year ]Memory (immediate and delayed recall) will be assessed using HVLT-R. HVLT-R has been used in elders with Alzheimer's Disease and takes 10 minutes to complete. We will use 6 alternative forms. Forms 1, 2, and 4 will be used for half the participants and forms 3, 5 and 6 will be used for the rest of the participants.
- Everyday Cognition [E-Cog] [ Time Frame: Change from baseline at 6 months and 1 year ]Cognitively mediated functional abilities will be assessed using E-Cog. It is a study-partner rated 39-item questionnaire.
- Digit Symbol-Coding [DSC] [ Time Frame: Change from baseline at 6 months and 1 year ]Psychomotor/cognitive processing speed will be assessed using the DSC subtest from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test (WAIS-III).
- Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) [ Time Frame: Change from baseline at 6 months and 1 year ]Global cognitive function will be assessed using MMSE. It is a 30-item cognitive screen measuring orientation, registration, short-term memory, attention/concentration, language, and constructional capacity. Summary score will be used as a measure of global cognitive function. It takes about 5 minutes to complete.
- Stroop Color and Word Test [SCW] [ Time Frame: Change from baseline at 6 months and 1 year ]Attention will be measured using SCW. We will use the Golden format, which is sensitive to age-related declines in processing speed. The SCW has been used in elders with Alzheimer's Disease and it takes about 30 minutes to complete.
- The Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) [ Time Frame: Change from baseline at 6 months and 1 year ]Attention/reaction time will assessed using the PVT. PVT has been used in elders with Alzheimer's Disease and requires about 30 minutes to complete.
- Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS] [ Time Frame: Change from baseline at 6 months and 1 year ]Daytime sleepiness be assessed using ESS. The ESS asks the respondent to rate the likelihood of falling asleep in eight specific situations using a four-point Likert scale ranging from never dozing to high chance of dozing. The scale significantly correlates with the frequency of apneas and is a clinical and research standard for the assessment of daytime sleepiness. Persons with cognitive impairment are able to complete the scale. It requires 5 minutes to complete.
- Functional Outcomes Sleep Questionnaire [FOSQ] [ Time Frame: Change from baseline at 6 months and 1 year ]Everyday function will be assessed using FOSQ. It is a 30-item Likert-scale, self-report, disease-specific functional status measure written at the 4th grade level.
- Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study - Clinicians' Global Impression of Change Scale [ADCS-CGIC] [ Time Frame: Change from baseline at 1 year ]Global change (progression) will be assessed using ADCS-CGIC at 1 year. It can be completed at home by participants or their study partners. It is sensitive to small differences in several domains that may add up to a clinically meaningful change.
- Clinical Dementia Rating Scale [CDR] [ Time Frame: Change from baseline at 1 year ]Cognitive ability will be assessed and staged using CDR. It uses a structured interview takes 60-90 minutes to complete. The CDR will be completed by the graduate assistant with input from the geriatrician and neuropsychologist.
- Neuroimaging Biomarker: Hippocampal Volume [ Time Frame: Change in hippocampal volume between baseline and 1 year follow-up magnetic resonance imaging scan. ]Change in hippocampal volume between baseline and 1 year follow-up scan (atrophy) will be quantified automatically using unbiased registration between 2 time points. Structural and calibration scans used in this protocol have been adopted from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative [ADNI] protocol.
- Neuroimaging Biomarker: Regional Brain Volume and Thickness. [ Time Frame: Change in regional brain volume and thickness between baseline and 1 year follow-up magnetic resonance imaging scan. ]Structural effects of CPAP outside of the hippocampus will be measured using FreeSurfer software to automatically estimate hemispheric and lobar cortical thickness; cortical and subcortical gray matter volume; white matter volume; and ventricular volume. The FreeSurfer longitudinal module will be used to estimate change in these measures.
- Neuroimaging Biomarker: Hippocampal Subfield Volumes. [ Time Frame: Change in hippocampal subfield volume between baseline and 1 year follow-up magnetic resonance imaging scan ]We will perform automatic segmentation of hippocampal subfields in the baseline T2-weighted turbo spin echo [TSE] images. This will estimate volumes of subfields CA1, CA2, CA3, dentate gyrus, subiculum, and entorhinal cortex. We will then quantify longitudinal change in subfield volumes using the approach for the whole hippocampus, modified to account for anisotropic voxel size in TSE images.
- Neuroimaging Biomarker: Ischemic Lesion Volume. [ Time Frame: Change in ischemic lesion volume between baseline and 1 year follow-up magnetic resonance imaging scan ]The volume of white matter hyperintensity (leuokoaraiosis) will be assessed in CSFsuppressed T2-weighted (FLAIR) structural MRI. A semi-automated intensity-based segmentation technique will be used to identify cortical and subcortical strokes as well as ischemic lesions in subcortical white matter considered to be the sequelae of hypoperfusion.
- Neuroimaging Biomarker: Cerebral Blood Flow. [ Time Frame: Change in cerebral blood flow between baseline and 1 year follow-up magnetic resonance imaging scan ]ASL perfusion MRI provides regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in absolute units of ml/100g/min. Arterial Spin Labeling [ASL] signal processing will follow established procedures in our laboratory using the ASL data processing toolbox (ASL tbx). CBF will then be quantified within cortical gray matter, hippocampal gray matter, and white matter regions based on FreeSurfer templates.
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|55 Years to 89 Years (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria
Participants are included in the study if all of the following criteria are met:
- Are able to provide written informed consent by self or legally authorized representative. MacArthur Competency Assessment Tool [MacCAT-CR] will be used to assess decision making capacity
- Moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as defined by an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) >= 15 using either the Apnea Risk Evaluation System (ARES) OR diagnostic polysomnography as a screening measure
- Scoring < = 11 on Dementia Severity Rating Scale
- Scoring education-adjusted total scores < 26 on Montreal Cognitive Assessment
- Scoring education adjusted scores 28-35 (inclusive) on Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status Modified
- Permitted medications stable for at least 4 weeks
- Scoring less than or equal to14 on the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) 21-item scale (i.e., non-depressed)
- Having a study partner, defined as an informant/caregiver who has an average of 10 hours per week or more contact with and accompanies participant to most study visits
- Adequate visual and auditory acuity to allow testing
- Women must be surgically sterile, 2 years postmenopausal
- Testability - willing and able to complete baseline, 6-month, and 1-year outcome measures, and willing to send in the CPAP Smartcard for adherence
- Willing to undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and provide DNA for ApoE4 assessments
- Completed at least 6 grades of education or had a good work history inside or outside the home (to exclude mental retardation)
- Fluent in English.
Exclusion criteria:
Patients are excluded from participating in this study if 1 or more of the following criteria are met:
- Any significant neurologic disease other than MCI, such as Parkinson's Disease, Huntington's disease, normal pressure hydrocephalus, brain tumor, progressive supranuclear palsy, seizure disorder, subdural hematoma, multiple sclerosis, or history of significant head trauma followed by persistent neurologic defects or known structural brain abnormalities
- Any MRI exclusions - presence of pacemakers, aneurysm clips, artificial heart valves, ear implants, metal fragments or foreign objects in the eyes, skin, or body
- Psychiatric disorders, including major depression or bipolar disorder based on DSM-IV diagnostic criteria within the past 3 months, psychotic features, agitation or behavioral problems within the last 3 months that could lead to difficulty complying with the protocol, or history of schizophrenia (also by DSM-IV criteria)
- History of alcohol abuse or dependence within the past 2 years (DSM-IV criteria)
- Any current significant systemic illness or unstable medical condition that could lead to difficulty in complying with the protocol (bronchospasm or symptomatic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as indicated by regular use of bronchodilators, steroids, history of carbon dioxide retention, waking hypoxemia, or use of supplemental oxygen; uncontrolled thyroid disease, diabetes, or seizure disorder; cirrhosis; recently diagnosed cancer; clinically significant laboratory abnormalities such as B12)
- Any current known conditions that may increase short-term risk from untreated OSA: symptomatic coronary or cerebrovascular disease as indicated by recent myocardial infarction or stroke (6 months), congestive heart failure (New York Heart Classification stage 3), unstable angina, life-threatening arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, transient ischemic attacks and history of driving accidents related to daytime sleepiness
- Participating in clinical studies involving neuropsychological measures being conducted more than twice a year or another clinical trial
- Currently receiving CPAP or bi-level pressure for OSA; and
- Requires oxygen or bi-level pressure during CPAP titration polysomnography
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01482351
|United States, Pennsylvania
|Abington Memorial Hospital
|Abington, Pennsylvania, United States, 19001
|University of Pennsylvania
|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
|United States, Virginia
|George Mason University
|Fairfax, Virginia, United States, 22030
|Principal Investigator:
|Kathy Richards, PhD, RN
|George Mason University
|Responsible Party:
|Kathy C. Richards, University Professor, George Mason University
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01482351 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
R01AG034682-01A2 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
|First Posted:
|November 30, 2011 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|March 17, 2015
|Last Verified:
|March 2015
Keywords provided by Kathy C. Richards, George Mason University:
amnestic mild cognitive impairment
older adults
Alzheimer's Disease
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Sleep Apnea Syndromes
Sleep Apnea, Obstructive
Cognitive Dysfunction
Respiration Disorders
Respiratory Tract Diseases
Signs and Symptoms, Respiratory
Signs and Symptoms
Sleep Disorders, Intrinsic
Sleep Wake Disorders
Nervous System Diseases
Cognition Disorders
Neurocognitive Disorders
Mental Disorders


text:
Selecting your vehicle's make, model, and year allows us to display only parts and items specific to your car's model and year.
Part# BC04206
Be the First to Review
OPGI Price: $69.95
Part Type: (R) = Authentic reproduction of the original GM product
Years: 1959-1960
Sold As: SET
These Tri-Power accelerator linkage sets include a slider bar, mounting bracket, all necessary hardware and complete instructions. Your satisfaction is guaranteed.


text:
Watch out for disappointing China GDP numbers over the weekend. China's Shenzen stock index was down 1.6 percent overnight on the headline that Finance Minister Lou Jiwei sees reaching this year's GDP price target of 7.5 percent "shouldn't be too big a problem." Until he added on that "we also don't think there is any big problem with [a growth rate of] 7% or 6.5."
Nice set up for Sunday night, when the Chinese government will release Q2 GDP figures. Now — three days before that data — the Minister of Finance suggests he is comfortable with growth of 6.5 percent, when the "official" target is 7.5 percent?
Coincidence? I doubt it. If this is not an effort to bring expectations down, I don't know what is. That has big implications for global growth.


text:
Physical Science and Everyday Thinking (Second Edition) (PSET) is a one-semester curriculum designed in part for prospective elementary teachers. The course uses a student-oriented pedagogy with a content focus that aims to help students develop physical science ideas included in the National Science Education Standards and the Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy. In addition to the physical science content focus, there is also a unique Learning about Learning (LAL) component, which include activities designed to help students focus on the nature of science, on the learning processes of elementary school students, and on their own learning.
The PSET curriculum has been taught at two-year and four-year institutions; has been adapted for a science methods course in schools of education; and can be offered as a workshop for practicing elementary teachers. In addition, the ESET (Elementary Science and Everyday Thinking) set of activities have also been developed for elementary school teachers to use in their own classrooms.
Resources are available to help faculty implement PSET in their classrooms and for staff development leaders to implement a PSET workshop for practicing teachers. These resources include a DVD with a comprehensive set of resources for instructors, a web-based teacher guide, and introductory workshops at professional meetings. Physical science faculty may also want to take a look at the related PET (Physics and Everyday Thinking) curriculum. Similar to PSET in structure and pedagogy, PET is a one-semester general education physics course.
Development of the PSET project has been supported by the National Science Foundation Grant ESI-0096856. The PSET curriculum, pedagogy and web-based professional development resources have been partially adapted from three other NSF-supported projects: The Constructing Physics Understanding (CPU) Project (NSF Grant ESI-9454341), the Constructing Ideas in Physical Science (CIPS) Project (NSF Grant ESI-9812299), and the CIPS Professional Development Project (NSF Grant ESI-0138900).


text:
A little blog about life, family, food, and living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Redemption Recipe: AuGratin Muffin Tin Potatoes
*Update* All is well in my world again. The blog owner mercifully corrected my mistake. I can go out in public again. Whew!Well, I hope today's recipe will offer me redemption. At least I can still cook without sticking my foot in my mouth. Give me time, though, and I'm sure I can dazzle the masses with a faux pax here, too. Luckily, today's recipe is a real show stopper, in a good way. It's homemade augratin potatoes that are prepared in muffin tins. Did any of you see The Next Food Network Star program where the lady, Melissa, who ended up winning, prepared muffin tin augratin potatoes as part of her final competition? I thought it was a brilliant idea.
I've made this a few times since then, each time tweaking it more and more. You can find the original recipe posted on the Food Network website, but mine is a little different. To be honest, I've enjoyed every variation so far. This is a no brainer recipe. It's not fast though. It takes a bit of time to prep everything and then requires 40 minutes to bake plus 10 minutes to sit, so keep that in mind.
Making this in tins is pure fun, and there is an advantage to it as well. If you have picky eaters, everyone can play sous chef by customizing their own little cubicle. Let's say you like onions, but your kids don't. If you were making this in a casserole dish, you'd either have to a) leave out your yummy onions or b) put in your beloved onions but have your kids turn up their onion-free-zone nose. With the tins, you can customize each one, and then everyone walks away happy. Plus, it will teach those up-and-coming sous chefs how to cook this marvelous dish.It's so simple. All the basic recipe contains is: ultra thinly sliced potatoes, seasoned salt, shredded cheese, butter, and cream. That's it. That's all I put in my kids "pots" as they call them. Hubbyman and I like a little more zip, so I put some crispy fried onions in ours. Oh, I've also made this in regular size muffin pans as well as the jumbo ones. The results of both are magnificent. Also, fyi, my muffin tins are heavy duty, non stick. If you use regular tins, you might want to grease them first.
To fill a 12 cup regular tin, or a 6 cup jumbo one, you will need:
5 good sized russet potatoes, peeled
about 1 ½ cups shredded cheese, divided (I used CoJack, Sharp, and Medium cheddar cheeses)
Heavy cream – about 2 generous tablespoons per tin
2 scant tablespoons butter, melted
Seasoned Salt
Optional: Crispy Fried Onions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a mandolin, slice your potatoes ultra thin.See how thin they are? Place in your largest mixing bowl.Here are those crispy onions I was talking about. YUM!Toss with melted butter, ½ the cheese, seasoned salt, and onions if using. Spoon into the muffin tins.Really pile them in because they will settle and compact down during cooking. Top with a bit more cheese.Pour 2 tablespoons of cream over each one. Be patient, it will soak in. Uh, yeah, I know the photo above this one already shows the cream in it. Well, let's just say I'm keeping the momentum moving forward on my faux pax's today. Cover with foil and place the muffin tray onto a rimmed baking sheet. Place both in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and let sit at least 10 minutes. The longer you let them sit, the more likely they will hold their shape when removed. Serve and garnish as desired.I just love crispy edges! And that color speaks for itself!Just look at these layers! It really packs down as it bakes.I love the different strata going on here.Here you go, try a bite. Oh, don't you just love that golden, crunchy bottom? This makes a great main course for a luncheon or a side course for dinner. This dish plays well with others ... beef, chicken, pork, and fish.I like it paired with a vinaigrette laced salad. Naturally, this is gluten free, all the way. YUM! (And thanks for putting up with me, faults and all!)
22 comments:
- Mickle in NZ said...
Paula - I make typos all the time, no matter how much I proofread. These mini-gratins look delishimo. I'll be adding them to my recipe favs.
(I recently came across a quiche recipe where the "crust" was finely sliced potato, brushed with butter and layered into the pie/quiche dish. The spuds were baked for a few minutes in the oven before the quiche innards were added. I'll email it if I ever find it again!)
- October 20, 2009 at 3:02 AM
- Terri said...
Paula, Don't you just love these babies?! What an awesome idea to add the crispy fried onions. I will have to try that next time.
- October 20, 2009 at 7:09 AM
- Marjie said...
I bought a mandoline, but couldn't make it work right. I'm back to my food processor. This is a great idea. Do you have giant muffin tins? I can't see my guys tolerating anything less. This is a great way to let everyone DIY and personalize!
- October 20, 2009 at 8:05 AM
- Grace said...
i just think this is such a great idea. baby portions of cheesy taters. i say "baby" because clearly i'd require (many) more than one little muffin-shaped heap. :)
- October 20, 2009 at 8:47 AM
- Cheryl said...
Paula, Paula, Paula, dang that looks good. I am roasting a turkey breast today and wondered what to have as a side! Whooo Hoooooooo
- October 20, 2009 at 10:25 AM
- The Blonde Duck said...
No one could ever be mad at you! WE all make typos! See? :)
- October 20, 2009 at 11:03 AM
- George Gaston said...
Paula... In this fast paced world we live in, it's not hard to leave a word or two out... and just think what the reader might be doing; they may have filled the word in by reading it fast. Whatever, it will make them think.
As for this incredible looking Potato AuGratin, I want seconds, please! All your photographs are so vivid, you have captured all my eating senses – sight, smell and taste. Well done and I am definitely going to give your muffin tin method a try. Thanks...
- October 20, 2009 at 12:46 PM
- DayPhoto said...
I always love coming here to see what I'm going to cook next!
- October 20, 2009 at 12:57 PM
- noble pig said...
Oh yes, the typos...we all do it!
This looks awesome...oh yes it does, I think you are forgiven.
- October 20, 2009 at 3:18 PM
- Pam said...
I hate it when I mess up on a comment...you aren't alone.
These augratin potatoes look amazing - doing them in the muffin tin is brilliant! Bookmarked.
- October 20, 2009 at 9:33 PM
- Tatersmama said...
Sometimes I'm so grateful for those "blog owner's approval" comments, 'cause I can send another one and then ask they delete what I said in the first place. Otherwise, I just go back in and use the word I forgot to use, totally confusing everyone because 12 people have commented since I pressed *send*.
Okay, enough blather. These taters look simply SCRUMPTIOUS... and I'm going to run right out and buy a muffin tin so that I can make these tonite!
- October 20, 2009 at 10:02 PM
- Mediterranean kiwi said...
i have to admire you for your patience paula - i am so slap dash in my cooking that my layers would probably like heaps if i were to make this!
and that onion is absolutely to die for - goes with everything in my opinion!
- October 20, 2009 at 11:44 PM
- Mickle in NZ said...
Has anyone come upon GIANT muffin tins anywhere for Marjie - or just a Texas style muffin tin with 30 muffin holes?
(MArjie - hope you take this okay, where is the "mandolin" now? which son has been inflicted with it?)
With Cheeky Love, Michelle
- October 21, 2009 at 4:53 AM
- Cathy said...
OMG, this looks good. How can anyone improve on potatoes and cheese. Add crispy fried onions of course.
I hate it when I mess up a comment and it goes flying off into cyberspace before I can correct it. Grrrr. But everybody does it.
- October 21, 2009 at 8:44 AM
- Robynn's Ravings said...
Paula, Paula, Paula. You make me drool. I bet you get that all the time. Me, my sheaves, and your sheep should all get together and have dinner! Au gratin potatoes are amnng my favorite foods. I'm heading in right now to make stroganoff. I'm STARVING tonight. Well, I'm starving as of showing up here 10 minutes ago!
- October 21, 2009 at 5:10 PM
but, but, but my diet! How can I resist it looks SOOOO good?
- October 21, 2009 at 5:38 PM
- John said...
I'm going on a walking errand to get the ingredients for the verde chicken enchiladas from a few days ago but the Potatoes AuGratin in muffin pans is also such a great idea-- thanks for posting!
- October 21, 2009 at 7:02 PM
- Lynda said...
What a great idea, these small sized, cheesy muffin tin tators! I'd have to have more than one as a dish like this is a real weekness with me!
- October 21, 2009 at 7:19 PM
- Proud Italian Cook said...
First of all who could ever be mad at you Paula! You're too cute. I love your cubicle idea, great for fussy eaters like my 8yr old GD.
- October 21, 2009 at 9:41 PM
- Zupan's Markets said...
Loving this innovative presentation of a traditional fall/holiday standard. Those crispy brown edges are gorgeous. We'd certainly take a moment to swoon over your pretty Au Gratin package—but only a moment! You can only resist the temptation to dig in for so long.
- October 26, 2009 at 12:24 PM
- Granny's Daughter said...
These look great! How do you get them out of the tin when they are done?
(I mean, get them out without burning myself or crushing the cute little "muffins" -- my method usually entails lots of trials and even more errors.)
- January 18, 2010 at 11:08 AM
- Kevin said...
I really like the individually sized servings that the muffin tray provides. They look so cheesy and good!
- January 19, 2010 at 3:23 PM


text: LS-ultimate.com :: View topic - Free Full Size Bed! advanced search Username: Password:   Free Full Size Bed! LS-ultimate.com Forum Index -> Forum View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message whitneyJoined: 09 Nov 2007Posts: 172Location: last weekend Posted: Mon, 08.10.15 2:36 pm Post subject: Free Full Size Bed! I'm giving away a full size bed. About 8 years old, still in good condition I just want a bigger mattress. The catch? You have to come get it out of my house yourself, and the base is a bitch to move. Let me know if you're interested and I'll give you the rest of the details 479.721.2366 Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First LS-ultimate.com Forum Index -> Forum GMT - 6 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum General----------------ForumLS Alums You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Designed by: Powered by: © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group


text:
Make-Ahead Lunches! 9 Fresh and Satisfying Grain Salads
We very often make a big salad over the weekend, leaving out the greens and using grains like barley, farro, or brown rice as the base. This becomes our lunch all week long, something we look forward to eating and that keeps us away from the leftover pizza in the office fridge! Here are our favorites – what are yours?
Almost any of these salads can be eaten as they are or warmed for a minute in the microwave. We sometimes mix them with salad greens for some fresh flavor and extra crunch. Some leftover shredded chicken or fish can round out the proteins.
• Meyer Lemon Grain Salad with Asparagus, Almonds, and Goat Cheese
• Quinoa Tabbouleh – Also try reverse tabbouleh in a Warm Wheat Salad!
• Wheat Berry Salad with Blood Oranges, Feta, and Red Onion Vinaigrette
• Rice and Mixed Green Salad with Dates, Cashews, and Chickpeas
• Wild Rice Salad with Roasted Green Beans and Dried Cranberries
Do you have a favorite grain salad?


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Profar keeps Rangers' hopes alive with walk-off HR
ARLINGTON -- Rangers manager Ron Washington wasn't looking for a home run. If so, he would have had Lance Berkman pinch-hitting in the bottom of the ninth inning on Thursday night.
Instead, he sent Jurickson Profar to the plate even though Berkman had been on deck when Craig Gentry struck out to end the eighth.View Full Game Coverage
ARLINGTON -- Rangers manager Ron Washington wasn't looking for a home run. If so, he would have had Lance Berkman pinch-hitting in the bottom of the ninth inning on Thursday night.
Instead, he sent Jurickson Profar to the plate even though Berkman had been on deck when Craig Gentry struck out to end the eighth.View Full Game Coverage
"I wasn't looking for a home run," Washington said. "I was looking for somebody to get on base, so I sent up Profar. He gave me the opposite of what I wanted, but it was huge."
Profar smashed a 1-1 fastball over the right-field wall for a walk-off home run that gave the Rangers a 6-5 victory over the Angels at the Ballpark in Arlington. The Rangers desperately needed this one as they are still looking outside for help going into the final weekend of the regular season. But a loss would have been devastating.
"We're alive for another day," pitcher Matt Garza said. "We're trying to get in there, and it doesn't matter how we do it."
The win came at the same time the Rays beat the Yankees and the Indians held off a ninth-inning rally by the Twins in Minnesota. So the Rangers remain two games behind the Rays and one game behind the Indians in the Wild Card race with three left to play against the Angels. The Indians have three more with the Twins in Minnesota, and the Rays open a three-game series with the Blue Jays on Friday in Toronto.
"We've got to win again tomorrow," winning pitcher Joe Nathan said. "We saw Minnesota put a good charge and fell a little short. But I like the way they finished that game. For us, we have to continue to take care of business at this stadium ... come in tomorrow with the same intensity and the same focus and keep the pressure on."
The Rangers drew 26,198 fans on Thursday, giving them a season total of 3,019,430. It's the second straight season the Rangers have drawn over 3 million fans, and those who were there on Thursday saw a terrific finish.
The Angels had the go-ahead run at third with one out in the top of the ninth, but Nathan struck out Kole Calhoun and Mark Trumbo to end the threat. Right-hander Michael Kohn -- the Angels' sixth pitcher on the night -- took over in the bottom of the inning and Profar, pinch-hitting in the designated-hitter spot, delivered a crushing blow.
"I was just trying to have a good at-bat, get on base," Profar said. "I made a perfect swing, it went out."
Profar, at 20 years and 218 days, is the youngest player to hit a walk-off home run since Miguel Cabrera (20 years, 63 days) with the Marlins in 2003. He was rewarded with the traditional beer shower in the clubhouse afterward even though he's slightly underage.
"He didn't drink it, he wore it," Nathan said. "His clothes aren't underage."
"It's great to see someone pick up our slack," third baseman Adrian Beltre said. "We had plenty of opportunities, myself, a couple other guys that couldn't come through, and he came through with a big clutch hit. It doesn't matter what kind of win, however we can win we're going to take it. We have no tomorrow, we have to win every ballgame we can."
This is the fourth straight walk-off win for the Rangers at home against the Angels. They won three in a row on July 29-31 on home runs by Geovany Soto, Leonys Martin and Beltre. Kohn has given up the last two.
"It's definitely weird," Kohn said. "I personally haven't made pitches here, and I've gotten beat every time I've done that. I'm kind of speechless. It's kind of weird. I really don't know what to say."
The Rangers almost gave this one away, especially in the second inning with Matt Garza on the mound. They led 3-1 going into the second but made four errors that inning -- including two on one play by second baseman Ian Kinsler -- and it led to three runs.
"I was sitting there thinking that's not us," Washington said. "The bottom line, it was early and we had a chance to settle down and catch up. We had one inning that was uncharacteristic of our defense, but everyone in that dugout felt we had time to put something together."
Garza gave them time by not letting the second inning defensive lapses affect him. He responded with three scoreless innings that kept it a one-run game. Craig Gentry, who had three hits offensively, helped out with a tremendous throw to cut down Howie Kendrick trying to score from second on a single in the fifth.
"You just try to keep the team in the game for as long as you can and go as hard as you can," Garza said. "We made a couple of mistakes, but my job is to keep it in order. You just keep making pitches. They don't try to make errors just like you don't try to make bad pitches. You just keep going."
The Rangers, after blowing big chances in the fourth and fifth, went ahead in the sixth on a two-out, two-run double by Martin. But the Angels tied the game in the top of the seventh against reliever Tanner Scheppers on a triple by Calhoun and a single by Trumbo. That set up the terrific finish.
"We know what's at stake," Washington said. "We're in the fight every night, and we showed what we're made of tonight."
T.R. Sullivan is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Postcards from Elysian Fields, and follow him on Twitter @Sullivan_Ranger.


text:
Western markets model (top) and the original Japanese system (bottom).
Hudson Soft
|Home video game console
|Fourth generation
|Retail availability
|Units sold
|Worldwide: 10 million[1]
United States: 2.5 million[1]
|HuCard, CD-ROM (only with the CD-ROM² add-on)
|Hudson Soft HuC6280
The TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem, known in Japan and in France as the PC Engine (PCエンジン Pī Shī Enjin?), is a home video game console joint-developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, in the United States on August 29, 1989, and in France on November 22, 1989. It was the first console released in the 16-bit era, albeit still utilizing an 8-bit CPU. Originally intended to compete with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), it ended up competing against the Mega Drive/Genesis, and later on the Super Famicom/Super NES.
The TurboGrafx-16 has an 8-bit CPU and a dual 16-bit GPU; and is capable of displaying 482 colors simultaneously, out of 512. With dimensions of 14 cm×14 cm×3.8 cm (5.5 in×5.5 in×1.5 in), the NEC PC Engine once held the record for the world's smallest game console.[2]
In France, the system was released shortly after its American debut under its original Japanese name, PC Engine. In the United Kingdom, Telegames released a slightly altered version of the American model simply as the TurboGrafx in 1990 in extremely limited quantities.[3] Although there was no full-scale PAL region release of the system, imported PC Engine consoles were largely available in France and Benelux through major retailers thanks to the unlicensed importer Sodipeng (Société de Distribution de la PC Engine, a subsidiary of Guillemot International).[4]
The TurboGrafx-16 failed to break into the North American market and sold poorly. However in Japan the PC Engine was very successful, briefly outselling Super Famicom, and eventually being in a steady second place, ahead of the Sega Mega Drive. Two major revisions, the PC Engine SuperGrafx and the TurboDuo, were released in 1989 and 1991, respectively. The entire series was succeeded by the PC-FX in 1994, which was only released in Japan.
- 1 History
- 2 Variations
- 3 Technical specifications
- 4 CD hardware technical specifications and information
- 5 Reception
- 6 Legacy
- 7 Emulation
- 8 See also
- 9 References
- 10 External links
The TurboGrafx-16 was a collaborative effort between the relatively young Hudson Soft (founded in 1973) and NEC. NEC's interest in entering the lucrative video game market coincided with Hudson's failed attempt to sell designs for then-advanced graphics chips to Nintendo.[5]
The TurboGrafx-16 was the first video game console to have a CD-ROM peripheral, and first device ever to use CD-ROM as a storage medium for video games.[6][7][8][9] NEC released the CD-ROM² (シーディーロムロム Shī Dī Romu Romu?, officially pronounced "CD-ROM-ROM") in Japan on December 4, 1988,[10] and released the TurboGrafx-CD in the United States on August 1, 1990. NEC was also the first to market a game console with an integrated CD-ROM drive: the TurboDuo of 1991.
The TurboGrafx-CD had a launch price of $399.99, and did not include any bundled games.[11] Fighting Street and Monster Lair were the TurboGrafx-CD launch titles; Ys Book I & II soon followed.
The TurboGrafx-series was the first video game console ever to have a contemporaneous fully self-contained portable counterpart, the Turbo Express, that contained identical hardware and played identical game software (utilizing HuCard format game software).
The TurboGrafx-16 was released in the New York City and Los Angeles test market in late August 1989. Initially, the TurboGrafx-16 was marketed as a direct competitor to the NES and early television ads touted the TG-16's superior graphics and sound. These ads featured a brief montage of the TG-16's launch titles: Blazing Lazers, China Warrior, Vigilante, Alien Crush, etc. The TG-16 was also in direct competition with the Sega Genesis, which had had its own New York/Los Angeles test-market launch two weeks prior, on August 14.[12] The Genesis launch was accompanied by an ad campaign mocking NEC's claim that the TurboGrafx-16 was the first 16-bit console.
NEC claimed that it had sold 750,000 TG-16 consoles in the United States, and 500,000 CD-ROM units worldwide, by March 1991.[13] That year NEC released the PC Engine Duo, a model which could play both TurboGrafx-16 cards and CDs. The console was licensed to Turbo Technologies Incorporated, who released it in North America in 1992 as the TurboDuo. The unit came into competition with the Sega CD, which was released almost immediately after. Turbo Technologies ran comic book ads featuring Johnny Turbo. The ads mocked Sega, and emphasized that though the TurboDuo and Sega CD had the same retail price, the TurboDuo was a standalone console and included five pack-in games, whereas Sega CD buyers needed to purchase separately sold games and Sega Genesis units before they could use the system.
However, the North American console gaming market continued to be dominated by the Super NES and Genesis rather than the new CD-based consoles. In May 1994 Turbo Technologies announced that it was dropping support for the Duo, though it would continue to offer repairs for existing units and provide ongoing software releases through independent companies in the USA and Canada.[14]
The final commercialized release for the PC Engine was Dead of the Brain Part 1 & 2 on June 3, 1999.[15]
Several variations and related products of the PC Engine were released throughout the 1990s.
First-party models
The TurboGrafx-CD, released as the CD-ROM² System (シーディーロムロムシステム Shī Dī Romu Romu Shisutemu?, pronounced "CD-ROM-ROM") in Japan, is an add-on console which, when attached to a standard TurboGrafx-16, can play CD games and audio CDs. It was followed by the Super CD-ROM² System (スーパーシーディーロムロムシステム Sūpā Shī Dī Romu Romu?), which was released as both: an add-on unit for the PC Engine with built-in BIOS, and as a Super System Card (スーパーシステムカード Sūpā Shisutemu Kādo?) for the original CD-ROM² System, which adds 192KB of RAM required to play titles in Super CD-ROM² format. Certain games in Japan were released in a third disc format, the Arcade CD-ROM² (アーケードシーディーロムロム Ākēdo Shī Dī Romu Romu?), requiring the use of an Arcade Card (アーケードカード Ākēdo Kādo?). The Arcade Card was available in a "Pro" version designed solely for the original CD-ROM² System, and a "Duo" version that worked with the Super CD-ROM² System and all PC Engine Duo models (both adding a total of 2MB of RAM). These are not compatible with the TurboGrafx-16, nor with the TurboDuo, without an adapter.
The SuperGrafx is a variation of the standard PC-Engine hardware. This system is nearly identical to the original PC Engine, except it has a second HuC6270A (VDC), a HuC6202 (VDP) to combine the output of the two VDCs, four times as much RAM, twice as much video RAM, and a second layer/plane of scrolling. The CPU, sound, and color palette were not upgraded, making the expensive price tag a big disadvantage to the system. NEC also decided to not include the extra two video chips in the all-in-one Duo replacement system. Only five exclusive SuperGrafx games and two hybrid games (Darius Plus and Darius Alpha took advantage of the extra video hardware if played on a SuperGrafx) were released, and the system fell into obscurity.
Other members of the PC Engine family include the Shuttle, the LT (a laptop version similar to the Game Boy Advance SP, but considerably larger), the CoreGrafx and CoreGrafx II, the Duo R and the Duo RX. The PC Engine was officially released in Europe as the TurboGrafx, although it received a very limited release.
The TurboExpress is a portable version of the TurboGrafx, released in 1990 for $249.99 (the price was briefly raised to $299.99, soon dropped back to $249.99, and by 1992 it was $199.99). It was the most advanced handheld of its time and could play all the TG-16's HuCard games five years before the Sega Nomad could do the same for Sega Genesis games. Its Japanese equivalent is the PC Engine GT. It has a 2.6-inch (66 mm) backlit, active-matrix color LCD screen, the most advanced on the market for a portable video game unit at the time. The screen contributed to its high price and short battery life, however. Its keypad layout is similar to that of the original Game Boy, with the unique addition of two "turbo switches" that engage two levels of semi-automatic high-speed controller button re-triggering to assist the player. It shares the capabilities of the TurboGrafx, giving it 512 available colors (9-bit RGB), stereo sound, and the same custom CPU at 7.15909 MHz. The optional "TurboVision" TV tuner included RCA audio/video input, allowing the user to use TurboExpress as a video monitor. The "TurboLink" allowed two-player play. Falcon, a flight simulator, included a "head-to-head" dogfight mode that could only be accessed via TurboLink. However, very few games offered co-op play modes especially designed with the TurboExpress in mind.
NEC Home Electronics released the PC Engine Duo in Japan in 1991, which combined the PC Engine and the Super CD-ROM² into a single unit. The system can play audio CDs, CD+Gs, CD-ROM² and Super CD-ROM² games as well as standard HuCards. It was launched for the North American market as the TurboDuo in 1992. The American version of Duo was originally bundled with one control pad, an AC adapter, RCA cables, Ys Book I & II (a CD-ROM² title), and a Super CD-ROM² including Bonk's Adventure, Bonk's Revenge, Gate of Thunder and a secret version of Bomberman accessible via an easter egg. The system was also packaged with one random HuCard game which varied from system to system (Dungeon Explorer was the original HuCard pack-in for TurboDuo, although many titles were eventually used, such as Irem's Ninja Spirit and Namco's Final Lap Twin, and then eventually a random pick). The Super System Card required for Super CD-ROM² format games when using the TurboGrafx-CD add-on was built into the Duo, rather than requiring the card to be inserted at all times when playing a Super CD title.
Third-party models
The X1 Twin is a combination of X1 computer and PC Engine. It only plays HuCards. The PC-KD863G, a computer (RGB) monitor with a built-in PC Engine, likewise only plays HuCards. Pioneer Corporation's Pioneer LaserActive supports an add-on module which allows the use of PC Engine games (HuCard, CD-ROM² and Super CD-ROM²) as well as new "LD-ROM²" titles that only work on this device. NEC also released their own LaserActive unit and PC Engine add-on module, under an OEM license.[16] Only eleven LD-ROM2 titles were produced, with only three of them released in North America.
The TurboGrafx-16 was released in South Korea by a third party under the name Vistar 16.[17]
Various PC Engine Shuttle clones exist, with varying levels of compatibility with original PC-Engine games. One of the more common types is the "PC Boy".[citation needed]
The PC Engine was never officially released in continental Europe, but some companies imported them and made SCART conversions on a moderate scale. In France, Sodipeng imported Japanese systems and added an RGB Cable called "AudioVideo Plus Cable".[citation needed] This mod improved the original video signal quality extensively and made the consoles work with SECAM televisions. In Germany, several importers sold converted PC Engines with PAL RF as well as RGB output.[citation needed] The connectors and pinouts used for the latter were frequently compatible with the Amiga video port, with two unconnected pins used for the audio channels.[citation needed]
Peripheral compatibility
All PC Engine systems support the same controller peripherals, including pads, joysticks and multitaps. Except for the Vistar, Shuttle, GT, and systems with built-in CD-ROM drives, all PC Engine units shared the same expansion connector, which allowed for the use of devices such as the CD-ROM unit, game saves and AV output.
The TurboGrafx and Vistar units use a different controller port than the PC Engines, but adaptors are available and the protocol is the same. The TurboGrafx offers the same expansion connector pinout as the PC Engine, but has a slightly different shape so peripherals must be modified to fit.
The Arcade Card Pro is designed for the original CD-ROM² System add-on, adding the 2304 kB of RAM required by Arcade CD-ROM² games. The Arcade Card Duo is for the Super CD-ROM² System and the PC-Engine Duo/R/RX consoles and adds 2048 kB RAM, since those systems already have 256K of RAM built-in.
The various CD-ROM game types are:
- CD-ROM² : Standard CD-ROM game. Runs on all CD-ROM² Systems without any additional requirements
- Super CD-ROM² : Requires a Super System Card to work on the original CD-ROM² System. No card is required for Super CD-ROM² and Duo consoles.
- Arcade CD-ROM² : Requires an Arcade Card Pro on the original CD-ROM² System, or an Arcade Card Duo on the Super CD-ROM² and Duo consoles.
Video formats
All PC Engine hardware outputs video in NTSC format, including the European TurboGrafx; it generates a PAL-compatible video signal by using a chroma encoder chip not found in any other system in the series.
Technical specifications
The PC Engine is a relatively compact video game console, owing to an efficient three-chip architecture and its use of small ROM cartridges called HuCards (Turbo Chips in North America). Hudson Soft developed the HuCard (Hudson Card) from the Bee Card technology it piloted on the MSX. HuCards are about the size of a credit card, but slightly thicker. They are not unlike the slim cartridge reserved for low-budget game releases on the Sega Master System. The largest Japanese HuCard games were up to 20 Mbit in size.
With only one exception, the PC Engine SuperGrafx, all PC Engine hardware could play the entire HuCard library, and every CD system could play all of the licensed CD games - with the right system card. Some unlicensed CD games by Games Express required a Duo system, due to their games requiring both a special system card packaged with the games and the 256 kB of RAM built into the Duo.
The console's CPU is a Hudson Soft HuC6280 8-bit microprocessor, which features integrated bankswitching hardware (driving a 21-bit external address bus from a 6502-compatible 16-bit address bus), an integrated general-purpose I/O port, a timer, block transfer instructions, and dedicated move instructions for communicating with the HuC6270A VDC. Its 16-bit graphics processor and video color encoder chip were also developed by Hudson Soft.[18] It holds 8 kB of work RAM and 64 kB of video RAM.
- X (Horizontal) Resolution: variable, maximum of 565 (programmable to 282, 377 or 565 pixels, or as 5.3693175 MHz, 7.15909 MHz, and 10.738635 MHz pixel dot clock)[19] Taking into consideration overscan limitations of CRT televisions at the time, the horizontal resolutions were realistically limited to something a bit less than what the system was actually capable of. Consequently, most game developers limited their games to either 256, 352, or 512 pixels in display width for each of the three modes.[20]
- Y (Vertical) Resolution: variable, maximum of 242 (programmable in increments of 1 scanline). It is possible to achieve an interlaced "mode" with a maximum vertical resolution of 484 scanlines by alternating between the two different vertical resolution modes used by the system. However, it is unknown, at this time, if this interlaced resolution is compliant with (and hence displayed correctly on) NTSC televisions.
- The majority of TurboGrafx-16 games use 256×239,[19] though some games, such as Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective did use 512×224.
- Colors available: 512 (9-bit)
- Colors onscreen: Maximum of 482 (241 background, 241 sprite)
- Palettes: Maximum of 32 (16 for background tiles, 16 for sprites)
- Colors per palette: 16 per background palette (color entry #0 of each background palette must be the same), and 15 per sprite palette (plus transparent, which is displayed as an actual color in the overscan area of the screen)
- Simultaneously displayable: 64 on-screen, 16 (256 sprite pixels) per scanline
- Sizes: 16×16, 16×32, 16×64, 32×16, 32×32, 32×64
- Palette: Each sprite can use up to 15 unique colors (one color must be reserved as transparent) via one of the 16 available sprite palettes.
- Layers: The HuC6270A VDC was capable of displaying one sprite layer. Sprites could be placed either in front of or behind background tiles by manipulating a bit which caused indirect pixel color entry #0 of the background tile(s) to act as transparent.
- Size: 8×8
- Palette: Each background tile can use up to 15 unique colors via one of the 16 available background palettes and 1 shared color (BG color #0) for a total of 16 colors per tile. The first color entry of each background subpalette is ignored. Instead, color #0's RGB value is shown in its place (the common/shared color). When a specific sprite is set to show behind the BG layer via the priority bit, all tiles that use relative color #0 (of 16) will not show BG color #0. But instead will show the sprite pixel (if not opaque).
- Layers: The HuC6270A VDC was capable of displaying one background layer.
Audio capacity
- Six wavetable synthesis audio channels, programmable through the HuC6280A CPU.
- Each channel had a frequency of 111.87 kHz for single cycle of 32 samples (while not in D/A mode) with a bit depth of 5 bits. Each channel also was allotted 20 bytes (32×5 bits) of RAM for sample data.
- The waveforms were programmable so the composers were not limited to the standard selection of waveforms (square, sine, sawtooth, triangle, etc.). But the use of standard waveforms, and semi-standard forms, such as a 25% pulse wave were used fairly often.
- The first two audio channels (1 and 2) were capable of LFO when channel #2 was used to modulate channel #1 with vibrato. In theory, this could also be used to perform an FM operation, though due to other limitations, this was never done (note: LFO, like FM works by modifying an audible waveform (carrier oscillator) with an inaudible waveform (modulator oscillator), but LFO's modulator is subsonic rather than sonic (FM), so LFO will not change the carrier's timbre, just its behavior, and as a result, LFO does not really sound anything like FM.)
- The final two audio channels (5 and 6) were capable of Noise generation.
- Optional software enabled Direct D/A which allows for sampled sound to be streamed into any of the six PSG audio channels. When a channel is in D/A mode the frequency is as fast as the CPU can stream bytes to the port, though in practicality it is limited to 6.99 kHz when using the TIMER interrupt with its smallest loop setting (1023 cpu cycles) or 15.7 kHz using the scanline interrupt.
- There is a method that combines two channels in DDA mode to play back 8-bit, 9-bit, or 10-bit samples.
- The addition of the CD-ROM peripheral adds CD-DA sound, and a single ADPCM channel to the existing sound capabilities of the PC Engine.
Region protection
With HuCards, a limited form of region protection was introduced between markets which for the most part was nothing more than running some of the HuCard's pinout connections in a different arrangement. There were several major after-market converters sold to address this problem, and were sold predominantly for use in converting Japanese titles for play on a TG-16. In the Japanese market, NEC went further by adding a hardware level detection function to all PC Engine systems that detected if a game was a U.S. release, and would then refuse to play it. The only known exception to this is the U.S. release of Klax which did not contain this function. The explanation commonly given for this by NEC officials is that most U.S. conversions had the difficulty level reduced, and in some cases were censored for what was considered inappropriate content, and consequently, they did not want the U.S. conversion to re-enter the Asian market and negatively impact the perception of a game.[citation needed] With some minor soldering skills, a change could be made to PC Engines to disable this check.[21] The only Japanese games that could not be played on a U.S. system using one of these converters were the SuperGrafx titles which could only be played on a SuperGrafx.
There was no region protection on TurboGrafx-CD and CD-ROM² System games.
CD hardware technical specifications and information
- Oki MSM5205 ADPCM chip with variable speed input clock, and 64 kB DRAM for audio sample storage. Only one channel of 4-bit compressed audio (decompresses to 12-bit, top 10 bits output through DAC) was supported.[22] It supports a sampling rate of up to 32.088 kHz.[23]
- Programmable, timer controlled, electronic volume attenuator to fade-out the CD-DA and ADPCM audio channels together or individually.
- The PC-Engine CD-ROM interface tray has 64 kB of DRAM for storage of program code and data loaded from the CD.
- The "System Card" contains the BIOS program used to boot CD media and provides functions for software to access CD hardware through a standardized interface. Later System Cards had extra RAM and updates to the BIOS.
- The Duo series has the same BIOS ROM (v3.00) and RAM (256 kB total) as a PC-Engine system equipped with a Super System Card. The Duo implements the memory as a single 256 kB SRAM chip rather than the split 64 kB DRAM / 192 kB SRAM.
- The list of known CD-ROM BIOS revisions are:
- v1.00 - First release (HuCard, came with the PC-Engine CD-ROM Interface Unit)
- v2.00 - Upgrade (HuCard, sold separately)
- v2.10 - Upgrade (HuCard, sold separately)
- v3.00 - Final release (built into several products and available as a HuCard - see below)
- The list of known System Card releases are:
- System Card v1.00 - First release. Came packaged with the original PC-Engine CD-ROM² System. Also available as a standalone purchase, in case the pack-in System Card was lost or damaged.
- System Card v2.00 – BIOS update. This adds support for CD+G discs.
- System Card v2.10 – BIOS update. Auto disc change detection is implemented.
- System Card v3.00 (aka. Super System Card) - 1.5 Mbit RAM (192 kB) – RAM upgrade and BIOS update. This expands the RAM available for the CD-ROM unit to 256 kB when including the existing built in DRAM. It also offers a final BIOS update to v3.00. The PC-Engine Duo (Turbo Duo in North America) had 256 kB of RAM and the same v3.00 BIOS built into the system. Games developed for this System Card bore the "Super CD-ROM² System" mark and could not be played using an older System Card.
- Arcade Card Pro - 17.5 Mbit RAM (2240 kB as 2 MB+192 kB) – RAM upgrade. This greatly expands the RAM available for the CD-ROM unit to 2240 kB. The BIOS revision was unchanged from v3.00. Games developed for this System Card bore the "Arcade CD-ROM²" mark, and could not be played using prior System Cards. The Arcade Card Pro includes the extra 192 kB needed for the original CD-ROM² System. The 2 MB of RAM is accessed through ports or units of single 8 kB banks and is intended for graphics data storage rather than program code; its flexible addressing system allows for rapid transfer of data to VRAM.
- Arcade Card Duo – 16 Mbit RAM (2048 kB) – RAM upgrade. This greatly expands the RAM available for the Super CD-ROM² and PC-Engine Duo systems to 2048 kB. The BIOS revision was unchanged from v3.00. Games developed for this System Card bore the the "Arcade CD-ROM²" mark, and could not be played using prior System Cards. This will only work on the Super CD-ROM² player and Duo models, as those systems already had extra memory built into them.
- Games Express CD Card – Bootleg System Card. This was released by Hacker International for play of unlicensed Games Express CD games. The GECD Card is essentially a dongle; a BIOS v3.00 based machine (like a Duo or a Super CD-ROM²) is required for running those games.
Corresponding CD-ROM products
|Arcade Card Duo (left) and Arcade Card Pro
- PC-Engine Interface Unit (IFU-30), came with System Card (CD-ROM² System, v1.00)
- System Card (CD-ROM² System, v1.00) (standalone, available as a replacement for the above)
- System Card (CD-ROM² System, v2.00)
- System Card (CD-ROM² System, v2.10)
- Super System Card (Super CD-ROM² System, v3.00)
- Arcade Card Pro (Arcade CD-ROM², v3.00)
- Arcade Card Duo (Arcade CD-ROM², v3.00)
- Super CD-ROM² System (Super CD-ROM² System, v3.00)
- PC-Engine Duo (Super CD-ROM² System, v3.00)
- PC-Engine Duo R (Super CD-ROM² System, v3.00)
- PC-Engine Duo RX (Super CD-ROM² System, v3.00)
- ROM² Adaptor (RAU-30), a cable with two large ends that allows the SuperGrafx to be connected with the IFU-30
Drive unit
- Single-speed CD-ROM drive, managed by an NEC microcontroller and using the SCSI-I interface.
- Transfer rate of 150 kB/s.
In Japan, the PC Engine was very successful, and at one point was the top-selling console in the nation.[24] In North America and Europe the situation was reversed, with both Sega and Nintendo dominating the console market at the expense of NEC. Initially, the TurboGrafx-16 sold well in the U.S., but eventually it suffered from lack of support from third-party software developers and publishers.
In 1990, ACE magazine praised the console's racing game library, stating that, compared to "all the popular consoles, the PC Engine is way out in front in terms of the range and quality of its race games."[25] Reviewing the Turbo Duo model in 1993, GamePro gave it a "thumbs down". Though they praised the system's CD sound, graphics, and five-player capability, they criticized the outdated controller and the games library, saying the third party support was "almost nonexistent" and that most of the first party games were localizations of games better suited to the Japanese market.[26] In 2009, the TurboGrafx-16 was ranked the 13th greatest video game console of all time by IGN, citing "a solid catalog of games worth playing," but also a lack of third party support and the absence of a second controller port.[27]
In 1994, NEC released a new console, the Japan-only PC-FX, a 32-bit system with a tower-like design; it enjoyed a small but steady stream of games until 1998, when NEC finally abandoned the video games industry. NEC would then partner with former rival Nintendo in making the CPU for the Nintendo 64 and Sega, providing a version of its PowerVR 2 Chipset for the Dreamcast.
A number of TurboGrafx-16 and TurboGrafx-CD games were released on Nintendo's Virtual Console download service,[28] including several that were originally never released outside Japan.[29][30] At the 2011 GDC, Nintendo announced that TurboGrafx-16 games would be available for the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console. However, due to Konami's acquisition of Hudson Soft in 2012, the games remained exclusively on the 3DS and Wii U in Japan and weren't released in other regions.[citation needed]
In 2011, ten TurboGrafx-16 games were released on the PlayStation Network for play on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable in the North American region.
Emulation programs for the TurboGrafx-16 exist for several modern and retro operating systems and architectures. Popular and regularly updated programs include Mednafen and BizHawk.
See also
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Blake Snow (May 4, 2007). "The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time". GamePro.com. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2007.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition (2008)
- ↑ "Hudson Entertainment - Video Games, Mobile Games, Ringtones, and More!". Web.archive.org. June 19, 2008. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Pubs Sodipeng Pc-engine (1990-91) - Le Adra's Blog ! - GAMEBLOG.fr
- ↑ Video Game Trader Magazine (March 16, 2009). "Video Game Trader #3, March 2008". Videogametrader.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ http://magweasel.com/2009/07/21/i-love-the-pc-engine-fighting-street/
- ↑ http://www.giantbomb.com/no-ri-ko/3030-39939/
- ↑ Top 25 Videogame Consoles of All Time, IGN. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
- ↑ Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), The video game explosion: a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond, ABC-CLIO, p. 119, ISBN 0-313-33868-X, retrieved April 10, 2011<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Turbo CD". GameFAQs. Retrieved May 14, 2012.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Toys R Us weekly ad". The Catoosa County News. 1990-12-05. Retrieved 2014-06-17.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Steven L. Kent, The Ultimate History of Video Games, p. 413.
- ↑ "Celebrating Software". Computer Gaming World. June 1991. p. 64. Retrieved 17 November 2013.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "At the Deadline". GamePro (60). IDG. July 1994. p. 172.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Dead of the Brain 1 & 2". Consolecity.com. June 3, 1996. Retrieved July 5, 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "International News". Electronic Gaming Monthly (54). EGM Media, LLC. January 1994. p. 94.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Vistar 16
- ↑ "United States patent 5059955".<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Forums.MagicEngine.com". Forums.MagicEngine.com. Retrieved 2011-07-05.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "forum". Pcenginefx.com. Retrieved July 5, 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "PC Engine Import Mod". GameSX. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
The fix: On Japanese systems, connect pin 29 of the Hu6280 chip to [ground]. That's it.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:G7O62_Ggt1sJ:archaicpixels.com/images/f/f8/MSM5205.pdf
- ↑ http://www.ysutopia.net/special/MSM5205.htm
- ↑ "What in the Name of Sam Hill is a PC Engine?". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis (70): 15. May 1995.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ ACE, issue 34 (July 1990), page 59
- ↑ "System Shopper". GamePro (53). IDG. December 1993. pp. 46–49.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "TurboGrafx-16 is number 13". IGN. Retrieved July 5, 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Hudson Entertainment - Video Games, Mobile Games, Ringtones, and More!". Hudsonent.com. Retrieved July 5, 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "IGN: GDC 06: Satoru Iwata Keynote". Wii.ign.com. 2006-03-23. Retrieved 2011-07-05.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Virtual Console: Sega and Hudson games are a go! - Nintendo Wii Fanboy". Revolution Fanboy. March 23, 2006. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
External links
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to PC Engine.
- The PC Engine Software Bible software listing including reviews and videos.
- PC-Engine definitive hardware listing for all PC Engine and Turbo Grafx systems.
- Archaic Pixels contains the most extensive compendium of TurboGrafx-16 technical information.
- TurboGrafx-16 overview and review show!
- Video of TurboGrafx-16 and PC Engine hardware and features from FamicomDojo.TV
- TurboGrafx-16 at DMOZ
- Pages with broken file links
- Pages using deprecated image syntax
- Pages using vgrelease with named parameters
- Articles containing Japanese-language text
- Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014
- Articles with unsourced statements from January 2014
- Articles with DMOZ links
- 1980s toys
- 1990s toys
- CD-ROM-based consoles
- Home video game consoles
- Fourth-generation video game consoles
- NEC consoles
- Products introduced in 1987
- TurboGrafx-16


text:
Butler City Police arrested a man Sunday who they say overdosed on heroin and pushed a stroller carrying his child down an embankment.
A city officer was dispatched to East Jefferson Street around 4 p.m. to investigate a report of an intoxicated man pushing a stroller, according to a police news release.
The officer allegedly saw Charles Brookbank, 25, of Butler push a stroller over a 7-foot embankment and down a hill with a 5-year-old boy inside.
Brookbank was questioned and was allegedly unable to answer basic questions, according to police. He allegedly admitted to using one bag of heroin and a search of the stroller allegedly turned up two home-made marijuana pipes.
Police said several good Samaritans reported seeing Brookbank snort a bag of heroin.
He became non-responsive and was revived with Narcan after being detained, according to police.
Butler City Fire Department and Butler Ambulance Service responded to check on the 5-year-old boy, who appeared to be unhurt. He was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital and later released to his mother.
Brookbank was booked into Butler County Prison. Police were planning to charge him with two counts of endangering the welfare of children, two counts of recklessly endangering another person, possession of drug paraphernalia and public drunkenness.


text:
Orlando On-Campus Environmental Engineering Graduate Programs & Schools
On-campus environmental engineering graduate programs prepare students for careers in the public and private sector. Graduate programs in environmental engineering provide students with the training to apply knowledge to the natural and built environment. With an on-campus environmental engineering graduate degree, you work with other students and faculty members to learn skills that may lead to exciting careers in areas such as soil, water, and air management, civil engineering, public policy, construction and structural engineering, and transportation. With field experience, graduates of environmental engineering graduate schools may also have the opportunity to teach at the college and university level or work in government agencies. Environmental engineering graduate schools combine coursework in the classroom with direct experiences and internships to prepare you for careers in these exciting areas.
On-campus environmental engineering graduate programs offer a number of specializations to satisfy your intellectual interests and career goals. You can earn a Masters of Science in the following kinds of fields: Environmental Engineering, Sustainability, Resource Management, or Alternative Energy.
There are many different types of on-campus environmental engineering degrees available,Research Environmental Engineering Graduate Programs & local campus Grad Schools by filtering for degree level, campus type and location. Find grad programs like Master of Science in Environmental Engineering (M.S.Env.E.) or Ph.D. Doctorates in Environmental Engineering or Advanced Materials and Molecules Engineering.
To find an array of hybrid environmental engineering degree programs and the best options for your career goals, filter your search by selecting the program type, the kind of certificate or graduate degree in environmental engineering, and the location of
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text:
Jesse.Fees needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 52 designs submitted by 19 freelance designers.
Zealos Software
Zealos creates engaging, educational and fun video games that will help students excel in school and on standardized tests.
Zeolos' vision is to create highly engaging, educational and fun video games for members of Generation Y that can be played in class, after school, or at home. Zealos' products will help students achieve more in the classroom, become more prepared for college, and excel in the workforce.
"Zealos" is the Greek root of zealous, it is an adjective that describes something as being full of, characterized by, or due to zeal; ardently active, devoted, or diligent. This is the sort of image we want our education company to convey. Possible tag line is "pushing the boundaries of education!". Our target audience is high school and college students, but we want to maintain a level of credibility with school administrators.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
When Nick Augostini came south from Allegany, N.Y., he knew he would be working with produce — that's what he had done for most of his professional life. He didn't know he would be a key player in a unique program geared to help the farmers who grow the crops he had spent a lifetime selling.
If all that sounds confusing, it's not. Augostini owned and operated a wholesale produce business in Allegany, N.Y. for over 25 years. He came to Wilmington, N.C., primarily to escape the harsh northern winters and secondarily to find a job.
After a couple of tries at the job market, he was hired by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture to work with North Carolina State University as the fruit and vegetable marketing specialist in a three-tiered program officially called, North Carolina Specialty Crop Program.
Started in 1997 to help eastern North Carolina vegetable growers identify, grow and market new vegetable crops, the program went statewide in 2001. In that same year grower and marketing advisory committees were appointed to ensure both short and long-term goals of North Carolina growers are met.
Headquartered at North Carolina State's Cunningham Research Center in Kinston, N.C., the program works closely with researchers at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Fletcher, N.C.
The Specialty Crops Program (SCP) looks at crops that may be feasible, both agronomically and economically, to grow in North Carolina.
Once potential crops are identified, these are grown under research conditions at one of 18 research facilities located through out North Carolina. If the crops look promising from a production standpoint, Augostini begins his work with buyers and consumers to determine how well the product will be received by wholesalers, distributors and consumers.
If there is an interest, the Extension component begins an educational program to help growers understand how to grow the crop. Often, small acreage tests are placed with growers and the product is promoted and test-marketed by Augostini. After there is positive feedback from consumers and buyers, growers begin investing in production and start producing the crop.
"In effect, we are taking the risk out of developing new crops for farmers. It typically takes 5-6 years to find a new product, grow it and test-market it sufficiently to recommend that growers plant it on a large scale. If the farmer did this on his own, it would take too much time and money, with too little chance of being successful," Augostini says.
For the Specialty Crops Program, even failures are positive, Augostini contends. If a crop doesn't grow well in North Carolina or has disease or pest problems that push the price of growing it above the expected return, that's a positive, because the farmer hasn't lost a dime in this process, he claims.
"We have had some failures on crops that looked good, and grow well in our area," he says. Greenhouse strawberries, he cites, look good growing, plants produce nice looking strawberries, but couldn't get the yields high enough to be feasible to grow. Growers couldn't make money growing the crop, so we didn't pursue the development of a market for them, he explains.
Recognizing that fruits and vegetables may not be fitted to all North Carolina growers, in 2000 the SCP began working with other commodities. Pyrethrum, a natural insecticide, looked promising, but hasn't worked out for farmers because of production problems. A super hot pepper and a number of medicinal herbs also are being looked at by researchers in the program.
On the other hand, the program has generated some real success stories that are paying off big time for farmers right now. "Our objective is to find niche crops, develop these niche crops, build acreage until these crops become commodity crops for our farmers," Augostini explains.
One of the biggest success stories has been the growth of red, seedless watermelons. Once a specialty crop, a summertime trip to the grocery story is evidence that the smaller, seedless varieties are at least as readily available as the larger, seeded varieties. In some areas of the country, particularly the East Coast, seedless watermelons are the dominant varieties sold.
Currently, the 'hot' crop that has been generated by the Specialty Crops Program is the Sprite Melon. About the size of a softball, with a slightly oblong shape, sprite melons are combination of a honey dew and watermelon, with a little cantaloupe thrown in for sweetness.
In 2004, eastern North Carolina growers produced over 300 acres of the crisp flesh melon, generating sales of over $3 million.
Grape tomatoes are another success story generated by the North Carolina facility. Once a niche crop, the small, grape-shaped, tomatoes, which come in multi-colors have just about replaced cherry tomatoes in North Carolina production.
From wholesale grocer in upstate New York to Pied Piper of North Carolina produce, Nick Augostini is a marketer and marketing expertise, he says, has long been a missing component in the arsenal of most farmers.
"For one thing, most farmers don't have time to do a good job of marketing their products," he says. Being an agronomist, pathologist, entomologist, ag engineer and financier are usually enough to keep most farmers busy, he explains.
"Today's farmer understands better than his father or grandfather the importance of growing crops that make the consumer happy, not the ones that grow well and make the farmer happy," Augostini says. Still, he contends, most farmers are more likely to be motivated by the science of growing crops than the art of selling them.
Augostini has put his years of marketing expertise to good use in the SCP. One of the programs successes is selling North Carolina grown produce to schools in the state. "We typically start out the school year with melons, then apples and tomatoes, then cabbage, sweet potatoes and end up the next year with strawberries," he notes
"We feel by starting these kids out eating North Carolina grown produce in school, they will continue to do so through adulthood. Hopefully it will help kids learn to eat more nutritious foods and it is one way we work to bring the people of the state and the farmers of the state together," he explains.
Augostini heads the marketing component of the Specialty Crops Program for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. Jeanine Davis, an associate professor of horticulture at North Carolina State University heads the research component of the program and serves as overall coordinator. Bill Jester, Extension associate in the Department of Horticulture at North Carolina State, heads the Extension component of the school.
"The inner agency program is like a three-legged stool," Augostini says. "Without any one of the three legs of the program, the stool would collapse," he explains.
Funding for the SCP is augmented by Golden Leaf Inc, which is a foundation dedicated to promote economic development. The Bright Leaf Program, is funded by revenues from the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission which administers funds generated by the national law suit settlement with the tobacco industry.
One goal of the Bright Leaf Program is to find alternative crops or enterprises for tobacco farmers looking for alternative crops to replace tobacco.
Collectively the Specialty Crops Program brings together the Land Grant Institution (North Carolina State) and the Department of Agriculture and a wide variety of funding to provide the research, outreach and marketing needed to give North Carolina farmers a reduced risk options for growing nutritious, consumer-desirable crops.
e-mail: email@example.com


text:
Ordered this on Monday early morning and I had it delivered to my work place by Thu early morn. In fact the courier guy had come to my place on Wed but I was not there. For the camera is concerned -Read More
I ordered a blue colour piece on 12september as a gift for my father, I was really impressed to see the features and specifications nikon oferred in the price range plus additional goodies theyRead More
Recently got this camera (Oct 2011) and must say the purple color looks quite nice without looking too girly.
The camera is quite slim and looks really fab with the metal body and the glossy paint
hi all ,
got this beautiful small yet powerful digicam delivered to me on Sunday which was not expected but surprised and feels good .Thanks flipkart for making my Sunday…
about the
This Camera is simply the best deal complimented by few free gifts.With is attracting light golden color & mesmerizing features one can fetch it for a most reasonable price along with its superRead More
Picture Quality was good when i used it in Day light and High Light for examples MALLS n SHOWROOMS etc ....
But when used in low light scennario .. then it dissapointed .. PICS WER BLURRY .. SOME
This is a very good camera at an Affordable Price...............
A very good Value For Money..................
Nikon CoolpixS3100 with 14 Megapixel and 5x optical zoom gives very cool Images
I received the camera in 2 days after ordering it at Flipkart. The camera is for less than Rs. 7000/- and it packs 14MP which is very good for this price. The camera is slim and you can see the lensRead More
This is one of the nice camera by Nikon at very reasonable price. Lithium battery is ok.
The only problem I faced is little slow while storing high resolution photos.
Thanks flipkart for quick
I purchased this camera in 21 January 2012.
This is awesome camera in the budget range.
Anyone can click with this camera & no need to have great knowledge to operate digital


text:
This heavy-duty mechanical device that creates a nice flash of fire. Can also be used to create electrically crackling sparks. So useful you'll carry one everywhere you go! Great for magic shows, wizard costumes, etc. Hands can be shown empty front and back; can be used in right hand or left; can be shot up or down. Spark Wheel Assembly is machined out of brass, flint is replaceable, and construction is all metal. Requires Flash Cotton (not included). Electric Sparkle Additive is optional.
Kit - This kit contains our heavy-duty Flint Flasher™, plus enough Flash Cotton and Electric Sparkle Additive to fire it more than 20 times. No batteries are needed. The products are packed in an attractive clear acrylic box for display and storage, all for much less than you'd pay for the same items if purchased individually. The Flint Flasher Kit™ is a super value and makes a terrific gift for the budding pyrowizard in all of us.
Do you own this product? Write a review.


text:
Haunted by missed chances, Reds fall in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS -- The Major League season is certainly a marathon, but the Reds are barely away from the starting line and have already seen their course littered with empty rallies and lost opportunity.
Pushing runs in during clutch time has already eluded the Reds early and often, and Monday's 5-3 defeat to the Cardinals for a 2-5 record to start 2014 was no different.View Full Game Coverage
ST. LOUIS -- The Major League season is certainly a marathon, but the Reds are barely away from the starting line and have already seen their course littered with empty rallies and lost opportunity.
Pushing runs in during clutch time has already eluded the Reds early and often, and Monday's 5-3 defeat to the Cardinals for a 2-5 record to start 2014 was no different.View Full Game Coverage
"We just have to come back tomorrow and regroup and continue to play," said Reds catcher Brayan Pena, a bright spot who went 3-for-4 with two doubles. "Those guys [the Cardinals] play good baseball. They play pretty good at home."
Hitting .224 as a team through seven games, three core players in Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce combined to go 0-for-9 in the game. The club, which entered the day batting .200 with runners in scoring position, improved on that by going 4-for-12 in the game, but two hits and two runs crossed in the ninth against Trevor Rosenthal in a non-save situation.
"These are the guys that, when the season is over, they're going to have their numbers," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "They will be the performers that we know they are. Right now, almost collectively, we've struggled to do anything with guys in scoring position and have any sustained rallies. That will change, but it's tough to sit through it."
What hurt most came at the start of the game. Cincinnati put the leadoff man on base against Cardinals starter Michael Wacha in each of the first four innings, only to put zeros on the scoreboard.
In the top of the first, Billy Hamilton snapped his 0-for-12 skid to begin the season with a leadoff double to right field. Phillips gave up an out when he sacrifice bunted and moved Hamilton to third base. It led to the fizzling of a rally as Hamilton ran on contact when Votto grounded to second base and was out in a rundown on the fielder's-choice play. Bruce struck out to end the threat.
Price explained that Phillips bunted on his own, but the skipper was also looking for one early run against Wacha, who came in with 16 2/3 scoreless innings in his brief career vs. the Reds.
"We know they've been tough to score against. We wanted Brandon to move him," Price said. "It didn't have to be through the bunt. He could try to drive one through the right side. He wanted to make sure he got the job done, and he pushed the ball over there to the right side and got the job done. I think it's always nice to try to get on top, to try to get that first run. It didn't work out for us, but he's a very good performer in that situation, a very effective bunter and good at moving guys over. And he did his job."
Both of the second and third innings ended with the Reds grounding into double plays.
Reds starter Tony Cingrani pitched four innings and racked up 88 pitches quickly. Cingrani gave up three earned runs and three hits -- all in the first inning -- while he walked four and struck out five. He remains the only pitcher in Major League history to begin his career with 20 starts without allowing more than five hits in a game.
"I didn't have my fastball, so what are you going to do? I just tried to battle," said Cingrani.
Cingrani's biggest battle would be the bottom of the first inning as St. Louis jumped to a 3-0 lead. The first three batters reached on two hits and a walk before Yadier Molina's bases-loaded double to the left-field wall.
"It was a tough way to start the first inning," Price said. "It looked like Tony might get a little momentum and get out of that with a little bit less damage. Molina is a tremendous player and a great hitter. He had to make good pitches to him, and he left one just a little too much on the plate, and he was able to drive it between the outfielders for a three-run double."
St. Louis did not notch another hit against Cingrani, who hung in there even as he allowed three walks over the next three innings. On Wednesday -- in the Reds' 1-0 win over the Cardinals, during which he had a no-decision -- Cingrani gave up two hits over seven innings. This time, the Cards were more patient.
"We know he's a solid pitcher," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "After he got through that first one, he looked pretty good there for a while, too. He worked into deep counts as well, but we had a good approach."
With one out in the fifth inning, Pena hit his second double of the day. Pinch-hitting for Cingrani, Roger Bernadina delivered an RBI double to the right-field wall to make it a two-run game. Bernadina's hit snapped Wacha's scoreless streak vs. Cincinnati at 21 innings.
Although Nick Christiani followed Cingrani with two scoreless innings of relief, the Cardinals opened some distance with two runs and four hits off of Trevor Bell in the seventh inning. For the Reds, it proved to be the unfortunate difference in the game.
Against Rosenthal in the ninth, the Reds loaded the bases with no outs on two walks and a Todd Frazier single. Zack Cozart snapped an 0-for-22 streak to begin the season with an RBI single to center field. A one-out sacrifice fly by Neftali Soto made it a two-run game before Hamilton flied out to end it.
Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Mark My Word, and follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon.


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Two Rockford men were arrested Nov. 30 in Byron on charges that they sold heroin to an undercover police operative.
Andre T. Hawkins, 33, and Harvey L. Smith, 50. Both were charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church. Ogle County Sheriff Michael Harn said announced the arrests Dec. 3.
A press release from Harn said the two were involved in the sale of 15 bags of heroin.
Both are being held in lieu of bond in the Ogle County Jail.
Harn said more arrests are pending in a separate but similar case.
Ogle County citizens are encouraged to report suspicious activity to Ogle-Lee Crimestoppers at 888-CAUGHT U (888-228-4488).


text: JEFF AND STACI TAKE THE 30-DAY METABOLIC COMEBACK™ CHALLENGE. Meet Jeff and Staci Goldman. Jeff, along with his brother Kevin, recently opened the doors of The Exercise Coach – West Bloomfield in the Detroit, Michigan area. Before launching their new studio, Jeff and Staci decided to put into practice what we at The Exercise Coach® teach our clients about Whole-Food Nutrition in combination with the Right Intensity Training we provide. They took the 30-Day Metabolic Comeback Challenge™ and had some fabulous results. Read More


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The Pied Piper To Shooting Sports – Charlie Wilson
A fresh Video News Report is now available on our site called "The Pied Piper- Charlie Wilson." He is the pied piper of shooting sports. Charlie Wilson has taught shooting safety to adults and youth for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for more than 20 years. Traveling the state of Texas with his mobile skeet shooting trailer, Charlie has served as a mentor to generations of folks who want to learn how to fire a shotgun safely from just a sport to sometimes Olympic hopefuls.
See the YouTube video at http://youtu.be/f7nNK6UJ6Jo


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Joshua Jackson & Diane Kruger: Rainy Day Errands!
Joshua Jackson and his longtime love Diane Kruger run some errands together on a rainy Saturday afternoon (December 1) in Los Angeles.
The 34-year-old actor and the 36-year-old actress went their separate ways after doing some shopping. Josh met up with a friend at a coffee shop while Diane went to a salon to get her nails done and did some grocery shopping at Gelson's.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Joshua Jackson
Earlier in the week, Josh was spotted filming scenes for the final episode of Fringe with his co-star Anna Torv.


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HALO: Carnaby Street Meets Country House Style
The 'Cool Britannia' look was everywhere at the bi-annual High Point furniture market in North Carolina this year, but British company HALO has an authentic place in the UK style universe. Since 1976, they've been making handcrafted furniture inspired by English heritage — think Carnaby Street meets the lodge-and-country-house look. Their current collection is full of Union Jack upholstery and leather club chairs.
Founded in 1976 by Manchester entrepreneur Major Philip Oulton, the company is now run by his sons, Tim and Charlie. They maintain partnerships and licensing agreements with Esquire Home, Restoration Hardware, and other companies who mix Halo's vintage masculine look into their collections.
At the HALO showroom in High Point, everything was styled with inventive twists like a bowler hat chandelier and a staircase-turned-library. Their market party featured A Clockwork Orange played on a loop while bartenders dressed in white jumpers and black hats with the signature Malcolm McDowell eyeliner.
Halo products are available to the trade through ABC Carpet & Home in New York and HD Buttercup in Los Angeles.
Located in North Carolina and held twice each year in April and October, High Point Market is "the largest furnishings industry trade show in the world." The market includes 180 buildings, 10 million square feet of showspace, and over 2,000 exhibitors who exhibit to designers, buyers, press, and industry representatives.
Photos: Sarah Coffey