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Paws Through Time And Space/The TARDIS Cat art from the Jenny Parks Illustration website.
Wizard World Chicago Comic Con drew an enormous crowd to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont this past weekend. While most of the attendees no doubt came from the surrounding area, it was more fun imagining that at least some of them dropped in from other galaxies or dimensions. Quite a few guys came dressed as The Doctor from Doctor Who, and the definite article himself was there in the form of actor Matt Smith. Karen Gillan, who portrayed The Doctor's companion Amy Pond (and is in the blockbuster Guardians Of The Galaxy) was also on hand, along with John Barrowman, another Doctor Who alum.
Other celebrity guests included Patrick Stewart, Stan Lee, James Marsters, William Shatner, Katie Cassidy, Levar Burton, Elvira, and several other TV and film stars. A good percentage of the previously mentioned enormous crowd was waiting anxiously for Smith Saturday afternoon as he arrived for his Autograph Op session, so my wife and I were only able to catch a quick glimpse of him. The best way to guarantee getting a close-up look at one of the better-known stars is to pay the extra bucks for one of the Autograph or Photo Ops.
In addition to grabbing a few moments with a favorite celebrity, Wizard World Chicago Comic Con offered two large rooms filled with vendors. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of comic books for sale, but there were also t-shirts, action figures, posters, masks, costumes, books, and the Micro Drone 2.0. People in costumes wandered throughout both rooms and there were at least two large-scale creatures in the main lobby. All were more than willing to pose for pictures. We took photos of a Weeping Angel holding a Wizard World shopping bag, Wonder Woman, Batman, Batgirl, and a life-size TARDIS.
The talent varied throughout the long rows of seated artists and writers that comprised Artists Alley, but once again there was no shortage of clever and imaginative creations. Jenny Parks' illustrations are funny mash-ups of realistic cats faces and pop culture heroes from Star Trek, Doctor Who, Batman, Harry Potter, and other films and TV shows. Corbyn S. Kern's impressive gallery includes portraits of the actors who have played The Doctor, as well as montages of them with their various companions. Kevin McPartlin AKA Mr. Antihero, creates comic book and graphic novel stencils; Onrie Kompan and his staff have published a series of elaborately illustrated graphic novels based on the true life Korean naval commander Yi Soon Shin; and Brian Liss renders film and TV art via eye-popping colors.
Other notable artists at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con included Kevin West, Katrina Catizone, Brian Long, Matt Leese, and Mike Mahle.
Other notable artists at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con included Kevin West, Katrina Catizone, Brian Long, Matt Leese, and Mike Mahle.


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Billie Joe Armstrong took a trip down memory lane over the weekend, and shared the journey with his Instagram followers. The Green Day frontman began by sharing footage from a show in 1990, when the trio were students at Pinole Valley High School.
"PVHS 1990 . We use to play dry ice at the end of every set.. high school was brutal for me.. and mike shows it at the end!" Armstrong captioned the post. "The next page is an old locker from that 'show'.. also the girls behind us have some serious 'mall bangs'."
He also shared footage from their Lollapalooza set in 1994 (back when recording shows was illegal), when he borrowed a guitar from L7's Suzi Gardner; a clip of Green Day opening for Bad Religion in Toronto, where Armstrong recalls Brett Gurewitz writing a song on his guitar backstage, and and Operation Ivy show in 1988.
Though the rockstar has archived plenty of footage himself, he also urged fans to send him any clips they might have. He plans to continue sharing videos on Instagram and telling short stories about the shows that people might not otherwise know.
Check out Billie Joe Armstrong's nostalgic Instagram posts below.
Photo: Getty Images

subset: commoncrawl


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Ensure your RFID printer is working at full capacity by keeping the software updated.
Using the latest in Zebra card-printing technology, the ZXP Series 7 provides high-quality card printing. The ZXP Series 7 printer has an innovative design. It automatically adjusts to the thickness of the card, and ribbon loading is easy. With colour coded guides and a clear LCD control panel, it's simple for anyone to use.


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I'm doing some work with model categories and operads, and to check a certain hypothesis I've had to learn a bit of equivariant homotopy theory. Let $M$ be a model category and $G$ be a finite group. We can assume $M$ is cofibrantly generated and left proper, but I'm trying to avoid assuming $M$ is combinatorial. If necessary we can assume $M$ is cellular, but right now I don't see how that can help. It has turned out to be useful to know that $M^G$ has a model structure where the cofibrations are $G$-equivariant maps which are cofibrations in $M$. This is simply the injective model structure on $M^G$, where a map $f$ is a weak equivalences or cofibrations if the underlying map in $M$ is such.
I tend to think of $M^G$ as a special case of a diagram category $M^I$ (where $I$ is small), because I feel like I have a decent grasp on diagram categories. In that setting, I believe one must know that $M$ is combinatorial in order to know the injective model structure exists. However, I don't have a good reference for this other than having seen it mentioned without proof or reference in a number of papers.
(1) Can anyone provide a reference which proves the injective model structure on $M^I$ exists? I'd like to see where the hypothesis that $M$ is combinatorial gets used. I'd also like the reference to prove the injective model structure is cofibrantly generated.
It's worth noting that Proposition A.2.8.2 in Lurie's Higher Topos Theory proves existence of the injective model structure, but I'm not satisfied with that for a couple of reasons. First, the proof is very complicated because Lurie wants it to hold in the setting where $M$ and $I$ are enriched over an excellent model category. My ideal reference would be a simpler proof holding in the non-enriched setting, preferably the first place the injective model structure was defined. Second (and related), because everything in this appendix is about combinatorial model categories, I can't help but wonder if there's a proof which relies on that hypothesis less. Finally, it's almost impossible for me to get my hands on the generating (trivial) cofibrations from that proof. Lurie relies on the very-complicated Lemma A.3.3.3 to get generating cofibrations and on Proposition A.2.6.8, which says basically that if you're in a category which is almost combinatorial (missing only generating trivial cofibrations) then you can get the generating trivial cofibrations for free from the generating cofibrations.
In the special case where $I$ is a group $G$, I can't seem to find anything on the injective model structure. Most of the work I can find on equivariant homotopy theory uses the projective model structure instead of the injective (and this one is known to exist if $M$ is cofibrantly generated). I imagine that with so much structure on $I$ and with so much theory which has been developed out there for equivariant homotopy theory, one should be able to come up with a much better proof in this setting than the one in HTT.
(2) Is the hypothesis that $M$ is combinatorial still necessary to prove existence of the injective model structure on $M^G$? In what ways is this model structure nicer than $M^I$ for a generic $I$?


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Don't miss the new i+s insider newsletter!
Picglaze from Baltus Hospitality is a new finishing technology that amplifies perceptions of volume, color, clarity and luminosity in images. The system applies a series of layers over a printed image on any solid surface. Picglaze gives photos and graphics an upscale, three-dimensional character, and is suitable for wall panels, headboards and other large-scale art installations.


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Spiced Bacon Twists
Total TimePrep: 10 min. Bake: 25 min.
Makes5 servings
Loved it
I have had other bacon twists but none with all these ingredients - I did do them on foil and on a rack - makes clean up so much easier. To make them even go further, I cut the strips in half - more for everyone.
My co-workers hassle me to make this recipe all the time - it is delicious! I definitely put foil on the cookie sheet to ease clean-up, and I have found that using center-cut bacon, as the recipe suggests, makes a difference.
Interesting recipe. Not sure where the spice part comes in. They certainly do take a back seat to the Brown sugar. It is chewy and slightly sticky. I would have liked to have tasted a better ratio of sweet to savory.
I made this for a football watching party and it was a big hit. I ended up baking it 3 minutes longer than recipe stated hoping it would crisp up. I thought it might crisp up when it cooled and it did not. I then put it in a 425 degree oven for 5 minutes. It was a beautiful golden brown, but it never got completely crisp. It was a little chewy, but the flavor was sooooo good!! It is more sweet than savory. Everyone was commenting on how good it was and calling it Bacon Candy. Field Editor since July 2013
Want to impress people for a party? Make a plate of these! Caution: for a party DOUBLE this recipe. Everyone is always impressed by these. Great for brunches, top hamburgers, chopped onto a salad, crumbled over chili or even as appetizers. They will disappear, ultimate Super Bowl muchie!! My tip: Use a foil lined cookie sheet with a cookie cooling rack. Lay bacon on rack. Greese drips off, through away foil. Easiest clean up!!
Very easy recipe that has wonderful taste. I made the mistake of trying to drain them on a paper towel and they stuck. Also, took longer to cook than recipe shows. Nice flavor and they disappeared really quickly when I took them into work.
OK so I haven't actually made it...how do you get the bacon to stay twisted? It just flops.
No comment left
This sounds "Awesome". Haven't made them yet but plan definitely plan on it. However, not sure how you rated it as "healthy". Thank you!


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Kettlebell Training: A Full Workout For Those Who Don't Like To Leave Home
I'm what you call a lazy exerciser. Let me explain my oxymoron. It's not that I don't do it....March 22, 20130
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There is 1 item in your bookbagStart Price Comparison
I'm what you call a lazy exerciser. Let me explain my oxymoron. It's not that I don't do it....
BIGWORDS compares every combination of items and stores, calculating the shipping and promotions available for each. We then select the cheapest combination, saving you the most money.Whether you wish to buy textbooks, rent textbooks or sell textbooks, the Uber-BOT always finds the cheapest textbooks, saving you $1,000 annually on average.
BIGWORDS is the only site that that allows you to consider buyback pricing when purchasing, so that you can tell whether you're better of to rent your textbooks, or buy and then sell them back at the end of the term.
Using BIGWORDS, you can compare prices on just about everything - DVDs, Games, and Meat, for instance. Check it out.


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With fish stocks under pressure, which are okay to eat?
Information was compiled from four main sources: the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Marine Conservation Society, FishWatch, and the Greenpeace Red List. Individual entries have lists of sources, and I have aimed to reach a verdict solely based on the information contained in the sources. MCS ratings of 1-2 are considered "sustainable", and a rating of 3 is acceptable if other sources label the fish as sustainable.
Where there was serious contradiction, or the differences between sustainable and unsustainable sources of a fish was too involved, I have erred on the side of caution.
Mercury information is taken from the FDA Mercury table. Fish with a mean mercury PPM of less than 0.1 are considered low in mercury.
With some fish labeled unsustainable there will be exceptions where you can source them sustainably from specific places. To highlight these sources and mention updates, I've started a twitter stream at @which_fish.
Project and data collation by David Stark
Design inspired by Mike
Follow us on Twitter
Raw data in JSON and as a spreadsheet. Feel free to use.
Disclaimer: sustainability data is simplified for ease of use, and may contain inaccuracies.
Contact me with suggestions/corrections.


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Revisiting Wood and Vine with a New Chef
Hollywood favorite Wood and Vine recently recruited a new chef who has revamped the menu. Worry not, though, as the popular cheese and charcuterie platter will still be around. Chef Marc Johnson used to work at Waterloo and City, so the charcuterie here is something to anticipate.
There will be potted items like chicken liver mousse with blood orange marmalade, which I was kind of addicted to.
He's making terrines from game meat, including a rabbit terrine with pistachio and pickled carrot puree, head cheese, and a wild boar terrine with pecans and apple chutney.
For appetizers, he plays with vegetables and fruits like Beetroot, horseradish, kumquat, sourdough, amaranth


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Return to Index
Recent Physical Activity Associated With Stroke Prevention
A stroke occurs when a part of the brain does not receive enough blood and oxygen. The symptoms can vary depending on the size of the area and the location in the brain. It can cause minor changes or can lead to severe disability and death. A transient ischemic attack ( TIA ) is similar to a stroke but is temporary. TIAs should be considered warning signs of a stroke. Risks for stroke include high blood pressure and cholesterol, smoking, and sedentary behavior. Healthy dietary choices and regular physical activity have been shown to decrease the risk.
Researchers from Germany conducted a study to determine if physical activity at any time in life could decrease the risk of stroke. The study, published in Stroke , found that physical activity in adulthood has beneficial effects.
About the Study
The case-control study reviewed the records of 370 patients that had a stroke or TIA. They were compared to a control group of 370 people of similar sex and age from the same population. Both groups were asked about current and previous sport activities. The researchers found that:
- Recent sports activities were reported by 25% of patients with stroke and by 43% of the control group
- The groups did not differ in the amount of activity in youth
The researchers accounted for other factors that are linked to a higher risk of stroke such as vascular risks and education. Even after these risk factors were accounted for, recent activity appeared to be a significant factor.
How Does This Affect You?
Physical activity can help keep your heart and blood vessels healthy, which in turn can significantly reduce your risk of stroke. A case-control study design is the least reliable design because it can allow biases that may change the validity of the results. Physical activity is already known to be safe and effective. This study emphasizes that physical activity needs to be continued throughout life, or if you are not currently active, you can benefit from beginning physical activity.
Talk to your doctor about beginning an exercise program, especially if you have any heart conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease or if you have had a previous stroke or TIA. Begin gradually. Add small bits of activity to your day such as taking stairs instead of elevators or walking instead of taking the car on small trips.
American Heart Association
National Stroke Association
Grau AJ, Barth C, Geletneky B, Ling P, Palm F, Lichy C, et al. Association between recent sports activity, sports activity in young adulthood, and stroke. Stroke . 2009 Feb;40(2):426-31. Epub 2008 Dec 24.
Revision Information
- Reviewer: Larissa J. Lucas, MD
- Review Date: 03/2009


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Istanbul is one of those cities that leaves everyone who's been there hankering to go back. But if you're about to make your first appearance, here are five things you won't want to miss.
1. Aya Sofia or Hagia Sophia - This is the most breathtaking building in all of Istanbul. Originally built as St Sophia orthodox cathedral in the 6th century, it had the largest dome in all of Christendom and pure gold mosaics on the walls. In the 15th century it became a mosque and Muslim symbols were added. Today it is a museum with artefacts and mosaics dating to its beginning.
2. The Grand Bazaar - This 600 year old market is a maze of 60 covered streets crammed with 5000 vendors selling everything from antique rugs, glass lamps, ceramic bowls, leather coats, jewellery, cushion covers and more. Get your game face on and prepare to haggle - over a cup of hot apple tea. But the quality of goods can be amazing. Remember, the old adage is true, you get what you pay for. Oh, and James Bond rode his motorbike through here on Skyfall.
3. The Spice Market - Start here for your first foray into the world of doing business Turkish style. It's smaller than the Grand Bazaar but no less skill is demanded. You'll find piles of dried spices and tea and plenty of fresh Turkish delight and other shops selling some of what the Bazaar sells. But the best thing is, you can declare your vacuum-packed spices and bring them home.
4. The Blue Mosque - The main mosque in Istanbul, Sultan Ahmed Mosque, is located near Aya Sofia in the tourist area of Sultanahmet. Nicknamed for its 20,000 handmade blue Iznik tiles, this is the mosque that pilgrims try to get to once in their lifetime. The public can enter and take photos. Scarves are provided for women and shoes are carried in plastic bags.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
5. A Turkish Bath - Probably the most eye-popping experience you can have as a traveller. Pay for the works including the bath, massage and hair wash and prepare to leave your modesty at the door as you are scrubbed with a mitt by a middle-aged Turkish woman (in the women's hamam that is), soaped up like a car and sloughed down with bowls of warm water until your skin is soft and smooth.
- nzherald.co.nz


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With rugs on the floor, the house looks welcoming, warm and agreeable. Floor coverings upgrade not just the look of the insides; they likewise help decrease commotion made by strides and are a decent method for avoiding mischances as they are dangerous safe. Not to overlook that they keep the house warm amid the nippy chilly winters.
For all the decency that they do, the key factor to recall is that rugs require customary cleaning to keep their appearance unblemished, as well as for wellbeing related reasons. Proficient cover cleaners are accessible for the most part in all urban communities of the world that utilization diverse strategies and procedures – present day and customary – to purify the cover of earth stains, sustenance stains and indoor air toxins.
Like cover cleaning, keeping up the upholstery is similarly vital. They are great reproducing justification for dust, germs and microbes and look awful when secured with nourishment stains, dust and different blotches and flaws.
Scratch purposes behind contracting master floor coverings and upholstery cleaning administrations
Cleaning the cover and upholstered furniture is a basic movement that requirements consistent support work. The essential work of expelling residue should be possible at home or office by vacuum cleaning however to restore them to their typical solid shape, the cover and the furniture need to experience proficient floor coverings and upholstery cleaning administrations, on occasion.
A portion of the principle reasons why the cover ought to be sent for consistent cover cleaning and overhauling are:-
a. Cleaning of floor coverings help evacuate awful scent particularly in homes where there are pets or little kids. Utilizing the customary strategy for steam cleaning or boiling water soil extraction cleaning, the floor coverings can be rendered free from the stink and the stench.
b. A standard cover cleaning exercise helps expel earth, trash and undesirable stains accordingly influencing it to look clean. With guests at home and office, there would be not any more humiliating minutes with unkempt and unclean floor coverings.
c. One of the primary purposes behind taking help of an expert cover cleaner is to make a contamination free indoor air. Very much kept up rugs are incredible methods for engrossing unsafe allergens show noticeable all around. For youthful kids and asthma patients, breathing can turn into an issue if the cover has not been cleaned appropriately for quite a while. Grimy rugs are the perfect place for molds to increase that effectsly affects the respiratory arrangement of the body. Residue, dust bugs, defecation of residue, microscopic organisms, germs – all swarm in the grimy cover making the indoor air more undesirable and unhygienic than the outside contaminated condition. Private cover cleaning on a routine premise tends to all the above issues with exactness.
d. Another justification behind home cover cleaning is – cleaner the cover, longer will be its span. Contracting the administrations of a cover cleaner is less expensive contrasted with purchasing and changing rugs on a standard premise. Great quality floor coverings include some significant pitfalls. A very much kept up cover looks comparable to spic and span and accordingly is a saving money on the pocket.
A portion of the advantages of cleaning the padded furniture are:
a. The lounge chairs and the cushioned couches and seats trap germs, microscopic organisms and allergens adequately. They likewise are great safeguards of asthma causing residue and bugs. Cleaning these assistance enhance the nature of air in the parlor and the workplace space.
b. With stains and different flaws evacuated, the upholstered furniture turns into the ideal place to unwind, talk up with loved ones and work all the more adequately.
It is reasonable to take assistance from a specialist cover cleaning administrations supplier as they have the essential information and abilities for giving powerful home cover cleaning and business cover cleaning administrations.


text: Create your perfect wedding With unique ideas to inspire your Look, clever tools to simplify the tricky bits for you and a special wedding website to share information and memories with everyone you love. Get started for free or sign in with Facebook Find the right look Explore our library of inspiring images, snip the ones you like and collect them in your personal free lookbooks. Get inspired Manage your guests Import guests from a spreadsheet or Facebook, manage RSVPs & organise your seating plan quickly and easily. Create a guest list or find out more Stay on budget Keep your perfect wedding affordable with easier estimates and cost tracking as you go. Save some for the honeymoon! Create a budget or find out more Tasks at a glance Make the most of your time and simplify your planning with readymade to-do lists, tailored to each phase. Create a to-do list or find out more Create beautiful memories Share your love story with your personal wedding website, and allow your guests to RSVP easily online. Choose a theme or find out more


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Don't Gamble on Social Security
Reap lifetime financial rewards by pinpointing the best time to start your benefits.
Want to take the guesswork out of one of the most important decisions affecting your financial security in retirement? We can help.
Kiplinger's is joining with Social Security Solutions Inc. to offer a tool to uncover the most advantageous time to start collecting your Social Security benefits. The goal is to maximize the amount you'll receive from the program over your lifetime. Whether you are single, married, divorced or widowed, Kiplinger's Social Security Solutions can show you how to add tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to your lifetime benefits, according to William Meyer, founder of Social Security Solutions.
Meyer has spent his career -- including stints with Charles Schwab and H&R Block -- developing financial services for "real people." Working with William Reichenstein, a professor of finance at Baylor University, Meyer devoted four years to creating the methodology and technology at the heart of the tool.
A complex puzzle. The decision of when to claim benefits can be maddeningly complex. You can start collecting as early as 62, as millions do, even though that means accepting 25% less each month than if you waited until full retirement age (FRA) -- 66 for those born between 1943 and 1954. If you wait past 66, you're awarded an 8% delayed-retirement credit for each year up to age 70. Dodging the penalty and piling on the bonus means benefits at age 70 are 76% more than at age 62.
Whether a higher benefit at the later age is worth the wait depends, of course, on an unknowable: how long you'll live. Meyer and Reichenstein's research shows, for example, that for a single person who dies at age 80, it makes little difference whether benefits start at 62, 70 or any age in between. But for almost anyone who lives past 80, waiting until age 70 will pay off in increased lifetime benefits.
The decision is more complicated for married couples because they can mix and match benefits and employ potentially valuable strategies unavailable to singles. There are additional twists and turns for widows, widowers and divorcees, too. Kiplinger's Social Security Solutions online tool crunches the numbers to unravel some 500,000 permutations and develop a personalized recommendation for your particular circumstances.
A real-life example. Knight Kiplinger, editor in chief of this publication, thought he knew the best strategy for his family: He and his wife, Ann, should each wait to claim benefits until age 70. "For people struggling to get by, it makes sense to claim early," Kiplinger notes. "But for those who can afford to do so, I always thought waiting as long as possible is the best strategy."
But the new software tells him otherwise. It recommends that Ann (who is slightly older and has earned a smaller benefit than Knight has over her career as a teacher) take her benefits as soon as she turns 66 -- never mind missing out on the delayed-retirement credits. Knight should claim at 66, too, but immediately suspend his claim. That would make Ann eligible for a spousal benefit that, when added to her own, will equal half of Knight's benefit. That will immediately boost her monthly benefit. At age 70, Knight should start collecting his benefit, which will then be supercharged by 32%, thanks to delayed-retirement credits.
The result: Over their expected lifetimes, Knight and Ann could receive about $165,000 more than if they both claimed benefits at age 62 -- and about $55,000 more than if they waited until age 70. The report also shows how their benefits would differ if they lived longer (or died sooner) than the life expectancies they used as estimates for the initial calculations.
"It was an eye-opener," says Kiplinger. "My instinct -- for both Ann and me to wait as long as possible -- would have been a mistake."
Visit www.kiplinger.socialsecuritysolutions.com for details on how to get your personalized recommendation. You can choose a do-it-yourself version for $49.95, or use the tool with telephone guidance from a Social Security expert for $124.95.


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Black Country Living Museum
|Story location: Home / Blog / birmingham /
We continued yesterday's theme of visiting somewhere new, this time we drove west to the Black Country Living Museum. This is similar to Blists Hill at Ironbridge with a similar range of displays and shops.
Click on the thumbnail to view the image


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A massive red tide off the beaches of southwest Florida is causing an outbreak of wheezing and coughing among beachgoers, and new evidence suggests that the effects of an airborne neurotoxin the tide produces may be more harmful than health officials previously thought.
Since early January 2005, a large algae bloom stretching from the mouth of Tampa Bay to Sanibel Island has been releasing into the air odorless toxins that waft onto beaches with every onshore wind. Red tide occurs nearly every year, but this year's bloom is unusually persistent, parking itself in coastal waters and failing to dissipate.
Calls about the toxins have poured into hospitals, doctors' offices, and poison control centers, and some doctors say the current algae bloom is producing more reports of health difficulties than any other red tide they can remember.
''It's awful -- you choke," said a visitor from Massachusetts who was visiting Lido Beach in Sarasota last week with her husband. ''As soon as we got here we started to cough."
Florida tourism officials have long downplayed the human respiratory effects of red tide, in part because exposure depends on shifting winds and the toxins affect some people differently than others. But some results from a 5-year, $6.5-million federally funded series of studies by scientists and health officials being published next month show for the 1st time that the events may be causing significant health problems.
During a 3-month 2001 red tide event examined in the study, Sarasota Memorial Hospital's emergency room admissions for respiratory problems were 54 percent higher for people living along or visiting the coast than during the same time period the next year, when there was no red tide. There was no similar spike inland.
The study also documents that beachgoers with chronic respiratory problems have reduced lung capacity after even a short exposure to red tide, although it's unclear how long the problems last.
''For years we've had anecdotal information this is happening, but you can't decide public policy on anecdotes," said Barbara Kirkpatrick, staff scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota and one of the lead researchers of the study, which will be published in a series of 7 papers in Environmental Health Perspectives. She wants state and local officials to develop a visible warning system to alert beach visitors to red tides.
Still, healthy people appear to be affected only temporarily; their watery eyes and scratchy throats can be cured by simply going inside an air-conditioned room or leaving the beach.
Florida's version of red tide -- actually more green-brown in appearance than red -- is a different organism from the one blamed for the red tide that appears off the New England coast, which doesn't produce an airborne toxin and is most dangerous to humans if they eat contaminated shellfish.
First documented in the 1800s, Florida's red tide is caused by a naturally occurring single-celled organism, _Karenia brevis_, and can stretch tens of miles wide and long. The current bloom is patchy, but stretches about 50 miles north to south and about 20 miles from shore in some places, according to researchers at Mote. For reasons that are not entirely understood, the organism multiplies and accumulates in the Gulf of Mexico almost every year, reaching concentrations that discolor the water with the tiny plants' pigments. The neurotoxin is released when the fragile cells die -- and also perhaps when they are smashed in the surf. Red tide does not normally occur on Florida's East Coast.
This year's outbreak has killed thousands of fish, many of which could be seen last week speckling the shoreline along the Siesta Key and Lido beaches. At least 44 endangered manatees are believed to have died from exposure to the algae, according to wildlife officials. People who eat seafood contaminated by the neurotoxin can become ill. Still, swimming is allowed and most people report few adverse reactions.
Whether the blooms have been getting worse or are persisting longer are matters of debate among environmental researchers in this state, where tourism is a major industry. Some studies have suggested sewage and other runoff might be to blame. Florida wildlife officials say no evidence exists to show that the blooms are increasing in frequency or lasting longer. ''We haven't seen an increase in the duration or frequency of red tides," said Cynthia Heil, a scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
State officials also say it's unclear whether this year's bloom has caused more medical problems.
Symptoms associated with exposure to red tide's neurotoxins can mimic the start of a cold, change with variable winds, and affect different people in different ways. Several doctors who deal with red tide complaints say that they always see an uptick in emergency room visits and calls during red tide, but that sometimes it can be hard to sort out which complaints are truly related to red tide and which are separate respiratory events.
''Still, I've heard about more difficulties this year than any year in recent memory," said Dr. Terrence Kane, a pulmonologist with Lung Associates of Sarasota who was one of the authors of the emergency room admission study. ''There have been bad spells before, but they have been relatively short-lived."
How best to warn the public about red tide's respiratory effects is a delicate subject in southwest Florida, where so many people's livelihoods rely on tourism. Although Florida public health officials have stepped up awareness campaigns in recent years with pamphlets and public service messages that warn people with respiratory problems to stay away from beaches during a red tide bloom, several first-time tourists to the area said they were unaware why they were coughing during a particularly gusty Wednesday night last week on Lido Beach.
Because Florida does not close beaches during red tide events, lifeguards often educate beach-goers. State public health officials say they and Kirkpatrick are developing a pilot program to place beach signs warning about the dangers.
''We do tell people to bring an inhaler if they are asthmatic," said Tamara Pigott, beach and shoreline project manager for Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau in Fort Myers. ''For most people, it's a nuisance. It's not going to ruin their vacation."
Kirkpatrick, along with Daniel Baden of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, lead investigator on the forthcoming study, said there are still many unknowns about red tide, such as how long symptoms can last and the potential for exposure to cause chronic and immune system problems.
''You feel the effects before we have the ability to measure them. It's happening at very low levels," said Baden. His groups' research, funded largely by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences with help from the Centers for Disease Control, is under review for another 5 years of funding. ''We still need to learn more."
Red tide is caused by several toxic algae. Depending upon the toxin, it is also known as paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), because it causes shellfish to be toxic for consumption. Generally the effects in people are
short-lived and not serious. - Mod.TG
Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message board at: http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?
Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
Go with God and in Good Health
CureZone Newsletter is distributed in partnership with https://www.netatlantic.com
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4 Tonne Tow Strap Select Length
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4 Tonne Tow Strap Select Length
Tow Straps are an alternative to kinetic recovery tow ropes. Tow Straps are a strong and robust solutions to towing they are also compact and take up less storage space than a standard tow rope.
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This downtrodden-looking Eagles' fan is Dan Leone who, up until last week, was a game-day stadium employee at Lincoln Financial Field. Leone was fired after he Facebook-slammed the organization for trading Brian Dawkins.
Irascible Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, John Gonzalez, relays Leone's sad-sack tale of being a lifelong fan — who also happens to have a nerve-disorder that gives him trouble walking — getting his dream job yanked away from him after he posted this impassioned message on his Facebook page after Dawkins signed with Denver. [Sic'd]:
Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver. . .Dam Eagles R Retarted!!"
Two days after he posted it, the Eagles' director of event operations, Leonard Bonacci, informed Leone that they needed to talk about his Facebook status. Leone deleted it and was ready to apologize to Bonacci face-to-face in order to make things right again. Didn't happen. Instead, two days later, poor Dan was called by the Eagles' Italian angel of death, Rachel Vitagliano, who informed him that he was no longer employed by the team.
And here we are today, with Leone clutching his keyboard in his Eagles sweatshirt begging for a second chance, or at the very least, a more personalized dismissal.
"I apologized 20 million times. I never bad-mouthed the organization before. I made one mistake and they terminate me? And they couldn't even bring me into the office to talk to me? They had to do it over the phone? At least look me in the eye. To get done dirty like this, I can't believe it. I'm devastated."
Yeah, comments like that are probably not gonna help you get your job back, fella. Besides, if he was a true fan of the Eagles, he would know that the team's history of re-signing aging, injury-prone players isn't something they normally do. They'd rather use that money to get a faster, younger, more malleable west gate chief than overspend on cantankerous veterans.
Oh, and an aside: I'm a little amazed that Dan nailed "devastated" on the first try, given he was way off on both "damn" and "retarded." Maybe it was purposeful.
Anyway, good luck with reaching cause célèbre status in Philadelphia, Dan.
Cold Eagles sure are thin-skinned [Philly.com]