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With a Growth Factor, Neurogenesis and Hippocampus Make a Comeback
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In the search for therapeutic targets that might help slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, scientists are eyeing neurogenesis—the birth of new neurons from progenitor cells—which declines in aging and disease. Boosting the brain's capacity to regenerate neurons and integrate them into circuits could counteract neurodegeneration, some scientists reason. In the October 31 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online, researchers led by Tsuneya Ikezu at Boston University School of Medicine report that fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) restores hippocampal function in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Whether treatment is given before or after symptoms begin, mice show enhanced neurogenesis and maturation of new neurons. The growth factor also seems to activate microglial cells to partially clear Aβ from the brain. "I liked the multipronged effect," said Margaret Fahnestock, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, who was not involved in the study. "A lot of people work on targeted therapeutics that have a single mode of action, but FGF2 seems to have broad effects."
FGF2 was previously reported to promote neurogenesis and improve survival in a study of a transgenic mouse model of Huntington's disease (see Jin et al., 2005). FGF2 is elevated in the AD brain (see Cummings et al., 1993), possibly as a reaction to neuron damage. How this relates to pathology is unclear, but some studies suggest that FGF2 inhibits the maturation of new neurons in vitro (see Chen et al., 2007). "One of the leading opinions is that cell proliferation is increased in Alzheimer's disease, but its maturation is impaired," Ikezu told ARF. "Since FGF2 is upregulated in the Alzheimer's disease brain, [some scientists] argue that it drives neuronal stem cell proliferation, which may be antagonistic to cell differentiation."
FGF2 occurs in four isoforms—a low-molecular-weight form found in the cytoplasm that is also secreted from the cell, and three high-molecular-weight varieties that reside primarily in the nucleus and are not secreted. The various forms appear to have different biological activities. Many previous studies of FGF2 were done by bathing cells with the low-molecular-weight form, said Ikezu. In this study, he and his team wanted to know how boosting the larger, intracellular forms would affect mouse models of AD.
First author Tomomi Kiyota and colleagues generated APP/PS1 double-transgenics by crossing Tg2576 mice carrying the Swedish APP mutation with mice harboring the M146V presenilin 1 (PS1) mutation. The team bilaterally injected adeno-associated virus carrying the FGF2 gene—the gene for green fluorescent protein as a control—into mouse hippocampi either at four months of age or at seven to eight months, before and after symptoms began, respectively. Three to four months after the treatment, they tested mice for spatial memory using a radial arm water maze. They followed up with neuropathological analysis one month later.
Mice treated with AAV-FGF2 pre-symptomatically did not develop memory deficits, unlike controls, while deficits were reversed in post-symptomatically treated mice. The results suggest that FGF2 expression "can protect from, and reverse, memory acquisition and recall impairments commonly seen in the APP+PS1 mice," the authors wrote. To figure out which underlying cell processes led to the benefits, the team examined brain tissue. Staining for doublecortin, a marker of newly born neurons, told the researchers that FGF2-treated transgenic mice had significantly more premature neurons in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus relative to AAV-GFP-injected controls. In that layer of the hippocampus, FGF2-injected APP+PS1 mice also took up more BrdU, a marker of cell proliferation. Older, symptomatic animals activated the transcription factor C-fos when injected with the FGF2 vector, suggesting that growth factor encouraged synaptic gene expression. The team then looked at long-term potentiation (LTP) in the J20 mouse, which has known LTP deficits. Pre-treating those mice with AAV-FGF2 preserved synaptic plasticity. Together, the data suggest that injected FGF2 restores cell proliferation, maturation, and LTP.
What about Aβ pathology? FGF2 promoted Aβ clearance and reduced its production. Mice treated pre-symptomatically produced less total Aβ in the hippocampus, while the number of compact plaques were fewer than in controls. Post-symptomatic treatment reduced plaques as well. Tests of cultured mouse primary microglia demonstrated that low-molecular-weight FGF2—the secreted kind—enhanced microglial uptake of Aβ in a dose-dependent manner. Further, expression of high-molecular-weight FGF2 in mouse primary cortical neurons reduced Aβ production.
The results indicate that in mice, FGF2 treatment reduces Aβ pathology and rescues neuronal function after symptoms have begun. "That is important because most patients are symptomatic," said Ikezu. Whether this particular strategy could ever work in AD patients is unknown, but other growth factors such as GDNF (see ARF related news story on Love et al., 2005) and NGF (see ARF related news story on Tuszynski et al., 2005) have shown some efficacy in clinical trials.
"I think the study adds evidence that stimulating neurogenesis might be a promising clinical strategy for Alzheimer's disease," said David Greenberg, Buck Institute, Novato, California. He does caution, however, that since the authors did not test the effect of knocking down neurogenesis in this study, they could not provide a definitive link between the cognitive improvement and neurogenesis.
In terms of future treatment for disease, a gene therapy may not be the best treatment option for people because it is so invasive, said Ikezu. But there are other ways of enhancing neurotrophic factor production and neurogenesis in the brain. For instance, Fahnestock, Cotman, and colleagues have found that enriched diet and environment enhance BDNF production in dogs (see Fahnestock et al., 2010). Exercise has also been reported to increase FGF2 production in the rodent hippocampus (see Gómez-Pinilla et al., 1997). And pharmaceuticals, such as antidepressants, have been shown to stimulate neurogenesis in animals and are already approved for use in people, said Greenberg, though the link between antidepressants and neurogenesis is controversial (for a review see Hanson et al., 2011). "The simplest thing to do would be to study drugs that are already approved and known to be safe in people and try them in some of these neurodegenerative disorders," suggested Greenberg.—Gwyneth Dickey Zakaib
This study on fibroblast growth factor effects in neurodegeneration is most interesting. The effects shown on neuroprotection, reduction of amyloid levels, and stem cell proliferation are indeed what other growth factors (GFs) such as BDNF or NGF have shown in the past. There are other beneficial effects of GFs, for example, enhanced synaptogenesis and a reduction of inflammation. We found very similar effects with GLP-1 analogues (a growth factor-like hormone). We also saw an increase in neurogenesis and a decrease of APP synthesis (McClean et al., 2011).
The drawback is that most growth factors do not cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Gene therapy or implantation of cells that release the GFs do not appeal as a treatment for millions of AD sufferers.
The advantage of GLP-1 analogues are that they do cross the BBB, and can be injected peripherally. A clinical trial on the GLP-1 analogue exendin-4 is currently ongoing at the NIH/NIA. We are also planning a trial testing liraglutide, another GLP-1 analogue. The additional bonus is that both drugs are already on the market as a treatment for type 2 diabetes (drug names Byetta and Victoza).
McClean PL, Parthsarathy V, Faivre E, Hölscher C. The diabetes drug liraglutide prevents degenerative processes in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. J Neurosci. 2011 Apr 27;31(17):6587-94. PubMed.
Make a Comment
News Citations
- GDNF Powers Neuron Sprouting in Human Brain
- Special Delivery: NGF Trial Puts Growth Factor Where It's Needed
Paper Citations
- Jin K, LaFevre-Bernt M, Sun Y, Chen S, Gafni J, Crippen D, Logvinova A, Ross CA, Greenberg DA, Ellerby LM. FGF-2 promotes neurogenesis and neuroprotection and prolongs survival in a transgenic mouse model of Huntington's disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Dec 13;102(50):18189-94. PubMed.
- Cummings BJ, Su JH, Cotman CW. Neuritic involvement within bFGF immunopositive plaques of Alzheimer's disease. Exp Neurol. 1993 Dec;124(2):315-25. PubMed.
- Chen H, Tung YC, Li B, Iqbal K, Grundke-Iqbal I. Trophic factors counteract elevated FGF-2-induced inhibition of adult neurogenesis. Neurobiol Aging. 2007 Aug;28(8):1148-62. PubMed.
- Love S, Plaha P, Patel NK, Hotton GR, Brooks DJ, Gill SS. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor induces neuronal sprouting in human brain. Nat Med. 2005 Jul;11(7):703-4. PubMed.
- Tuszynski MH, Thal L, Pay M, Salmon DP, U HS, Bakay R, Patel P, Blesch A, Vahlsing HL, Ho G, Tong G, Potkin SG, Fallon J, Hansen L, Mufson EJ, Kordower JH, Gall C, Conner J. A phase 1 clinical trial of nerve growth factor gene therapy for Alzheimer disease. Nat Med. 2005 May;11(5):551-5. PubMed.
- Fahnestock M, Marchese M, Head E, Pop V, Michalski B, Milgram WN, Cotman CW. BDNF increases with behavioral enrichment and an antioxidant diet in the aged dog. Neurobiol Aging. 2012 Mar;33(3):546-54. PubMed.
- Gómez-Pinilla F, Dao L, So V. Physical exercise induces FGF-2 and its mRNA in the hippocampus. Brain Res. 1997 Aug 1;764(1-2):1-8. PubMed.
- Hanson ND, Owens MJ, Nemeroff CB. Depression, antidepressants, and neurogenesis: a critical reappraisal. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2011 Dec;36(13):2589-602. PubMed.
Other Citations
Further Reading
Primary Papers
- Kiyota T, Ingraham KL, Jacobsen MT, Xiong H, Ikezu T. FGF2 gene transfer restores hippocampal functions in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease and has therapeutic implications for neurocognitive disorders. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Dec 6;108(49):E1339-48. PubMed.
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Hip-Hop for HIV concert Reliant Center July 31, 2010
2:55 p.m.: Here now. It's crazy packed. The line to get in reaches back, back, back. Good to see. Before we get inside though, we should clear up a few of the plot points for the day:
First, a bit of background info on the event: The Hip-Hop 4 HIV concert concept has been around for four years now. The way it works is simple: First, you get tested for HIV at one of the free testing stations around town. Then you get a free ticket to the show. Pow. Done.
More than 15,000 people got tested this year, according to The Box. It's a great concept that has generated great results, and is apparently due in large part to former Houston politico and current insurance power-player Borris Miles.
By the way, Miles is the most alleged political gangster of all time. Though a bunch of accusations have been laid at his feet, none of them have ever stuck. He's like the J. Prince of Houston politics.
The best Borris Miles story: In 2008, he allegedly stormed into a holiday party uninvited because he was mad at the party host for investing in a rival insurance company. He allegedly had in his possession a bottle of wine and a gun.
He allegedly threatened the host, referred to himself as a "gangster" and a "thug," then kissed said party host on both cheeks and then on his mouth. He then allegedly took out a gun and placed it in said party host's hand. Then Miles allegedly kissed another man's wife. Gangster.
Second, it's hard to discuss anything The Box is doing nowadays without Trae's name getting brought up. Though the lawsuit has been dropped, the two are still at odds with one another. More on this later. For now, to the show...
2:57: Dallas's Party Boyz are standing on stage now. Actually, most of the Party Boyz are standing on stage. One of them is lying on the floor humping it. Is that the type of thing they're doing up in Dallas? Go ahead and add this to the "Reasons We're Glad Houston Isn't Dallas" list.
3:08: Paul Wall is onstage. He opens with "Still Tippin'" and "Chunk Up the Deuce." Nice picks for openers. The crowd is amped. Wall is bouncing around stage very confidently. He's in fine form, very in control.
3:10: Serious Question: Let's say you went to get tested because you wanted to get a ticket to the show. That's the only reason you went. You really, really wanted to see the show. But then you get the results back and find out that you have HIV. (The positivity rate for these tests is 6 to 8 percent.) What then? Do you still go to the show? It seems like maybe that might kind of be a little too close to celebrating. Anyone reading this want to speak on that?
3:16: Are security guards supposed to be taking pictures of the acts that are performing? That doesn't seem proper. For all he knows, all kinds of foul shit could be happening behind him.
3:17: Johnny Dang just came out. He's on a track from Wall's new album. He has never performed before, but he has a mike in his hand. That can only mean...
3:17:30: Yep, Johnny Dang is rapping. Holy Christ. The crowd is going apeshit. The universe is spinning out of control right now. Excellent.
3:19: Wow. Dang is super likeable. He smiles like mad the entire time he's on the stage. Backstage, he shakes hands and takes pictures. He's a rock star now. #OnlyInAmerica
3:20: It's worth mentioning that the piece dangling off of Paul Wall's chain is a diamond-covered, built-to-scale model of a Screw cassette tape. See, now that's classy. That's how you do it. Well done, Mr. Wall.
3:35: The Box's J-Mac and Madd Hatta are backstage. Turns out, they read the Definitive Guide To Which Houston Rappers You Should And Should Not Fight posted here last week. When we introduce ourself to J-Mac, he literally (and playfully) picks us up with one arm, hollers across the room, "Hatta! This is the one that be writing all them articles," then carries us over to Hatta. It's hard to look cool when someone is carrying you around in their arms like an infant.
We all talk for a second about the event, then J-Mac, who has been mentioned in three previous posts in the last two or so weeks, says that he hopes more is written about him. He says it in a manner that implies it'd be nice if it were some nice things, rather than the jabs we've been taking at him. He can probably bench press at least 300 pounds, so...
3:35:04: Did you know that J-Mac doesn't sleep in a bed like the rest of us? Nope. He sleeps inside the carved out belly of a 22-foot-long great white shark that he killed with his bare hands. True story.
3:42: Lloyd Banks is on stage. Why is it that he never really broke big as an artist? He sounds cool. He looks cool. He's tied in with powerful dudes. Something's up.
3:44: Question: Why don't black people crowd-surf at rap concerts? We've been to a ton of shows and never seen it happen once. White people do that shit all the time. They don't even have to be at a concert. They could be in line at Kroger. If there are more than 15 people there, it's going down. #IsThatRacistToSay?
3:46: Banks had previously taken his T-shirt off and thrown it into the crowd. He's now in his undershirt, standing on some speakers near the gate that separates the crowd from the stage. Some girls grasp at his muscle shirt until they've torn it off of him. Ha, ha. Welcome to Houston, Banks.
3:49: There are sectioned off tents backstage for each artist. Through the sheets that wall off the tents you can make out some chairs, a table and a Styrofoam ice chest in each. The ice chest is presumably filled with treats that each artist would enjoy. Wonder what's in Z-Ro's? Rusty nails and horror movies, probably.
3:52: Bun! He's the best. Has he ever not been cool? He could walk on stage with a pork chop on his head and people would be like, "Yo, is Bun wearing a pork chop hat right now? Because that IS FUCKIN' HOT! I gotta get me a pork chop hat."
4:02: Among the songs Bun does, the most well received are "Get Throwed," his verse from "Uptown," "Draped Up," "Big Pimpin'" and "International Player's Anthem." You can never see enough of Bun B live. He's like Trey Songz, but the opposite. #TreySongzLiveShowsAreAwful
4:11: Plies is backstage. He's maybe 5'5", 5'6" at best. Goons are a lot smaller in real life than they make themselves out to be on the radio.
4:15: Bun is milling around backstage, getting pulled this way or that for interviews. He just always seems in control and unfettered. Oh, except for when he was wearing that arm brace a couple of months ago. He looked like a 12-year-old that had fallen out of his tree house then. #ArmBracesAren'tTrill
4:19: Did you know J-Mac once crossed the Atlantic by swimming from California to Hawaii? What's that you say? The Atlantic isn't between California and Hawaii? It is now, because J-Mac picked it up and moved it there.
4:22: Plies is onstage. The place goes bonkers every time he starts a song. It's loud as shit. With the exception of the satirical bombast of "Plenty Money," his appeal is mostly lost on us. Still, this is the third time he's performed at the HH4HIV show, so respect for that.
4:31: Hey, where's the security guard? Shouldn't he be taking pictures to upload to Facebook later? He probably went to take a nap underneath a table or something.
4:46: Oh, look, they're fighting in the crowd again. Probably should've mentioned this before, but a few scuffles have broken out in the crowd over the course of the show today. This makes maybe number three or four. Cool, cool. Somewhere a Trae fan is tweeting about this.
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4:56: Did you know that J-Mac doesn't walk anywhere? Nope. He has these two Asian girls carry him around on their shoulders. He doesn't refer to them by name either. He calls them "Asian Number 1" and "Asian Number 2." True story.
5:17: Rother Vandross is up on stage. He has a Styrofoam cup with him. He hits "Lonely," "Haters Got Me Wrong," "Miss My Dawg," "Drivin' Me Wild" (which is curious choice for this type of event, mostly because of the "...you're pussy's 'bout to get a little greasier" line), "Call My Phone," "Associates," "Mo City Don Freestyle," and then brings Big Pokey out for "Don't Worry Bout Mine." Not bad, not bad.
5:50: All things told, the show was pretty well executed and enjoyable. It was a lot of fun, but more importantly, served a lot of good in the community. Bravo to The Box, the City of Houston and other entities that helped bring this together.
To be continued...


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Body (The)
This is a sex film with a difference. Where have you heard that before? Except that The Body really is unique. In its day it was sold as sexploitation. Certainly it's got more than enough to keep voyeurs satisfied. Plenty of full frontal nudity and even real sex. (Was this the first time the BBFC allowed real sex in a movie? Almost certainly). But the intentions of the film-makers were very different. Producer Tony Garnett worked on The Wednesday Play, the BBC TV series which gave us such classics of social realism as Up the Junction (1965) and Cathy Come Home (1966). Director Roy Battersby had similar inclinations and went on to work on The Wednesday Play's successor, Play For Today. The narration for The Body was written by poet Adrian Mitchell and spoken by theatrical luminaries Vanessa Redgrave and Frank Finlay. Songs are by Pink Floyd's Roger Waters. None of these names was associated with soft porn. Battersby took Richard Smith's 1968 book, also called The Body, as a starting point for a philosophical contemplation of "the incredible journey from birth to death."
Most critics weren't impressed, one dismissing the film as "a montage of arbitrarily related images." But Battersby's editing technique is now more acceptable. And there's the added curiosity of a wide variety of people speaking their minds at the end of the decade which introduced sexual liberation. An admirably disparate, multi-national group (actors like Danny Daniels and Peter Kerrigan, but also students, Northern "characters", an obese man and a blind woman) were gathered in a studio in Staines and encouraged to share their feelings and explore each other's bodies. A famous tableau features one hundred (mostly naked) people aged from birth to 100. The 30-year-old is Richard Neville, soon to be convicted for publishing an obscene magazine (Oz). It's also Neville and his girlfriend who have sex.
Interspersed throughout are huge magnifications of external features of the human body and endoscopic photography of internal organs. (Despite claims, this wasn't unprecedented. A camera was dropped inside a human body in Corps Profond in 1963). Battersby seems a little obsessed about comparing the human condition with the factory assembly line. This is very much a product of the Wednesday Play school of thought, but it now seems trite. Then again the references to ice caps melting and "this wounded planet" appear shockingly topical. The ending, however, where the camera is between a woman's legs as she gives birth, has a captivating timelessness. The moment, magical and yet natural, is quite wonderful. As the baby girl in question is now old enough to be a grandmother, surely the time has come for a film about the human body that uses everything that's been learned since 1970? It's been done. Smith's book was also the basis of The Human Body (1998), a popular, much less idiosyncratic TV series presented by the fearsomely moustachioed Robert Winston.
David McGillivray
Made in 1970, this remarkable study of the human body is neither scientific nor medical; it is, rather, a deeply intimate feature-length film exploring the physical experience of being human.
Narrated by Vanessa Redgrave and Frank Finlay with a commentary by poet and playwright Adrian Mitchell, The Body traces the human life-cycle from conception to death. Photographic techniques never seen by cinema audiences at the time of release – including the use of internal cameras – allow an unprecedented insight into the body's functions; these visuals are beautifully complemented by a soundtrack by Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and pioneering composer Ron Geesin, incorporating the latter's experiments in biomusic – in this case, sounds created by the human body itself.
The Body is presented here uncut, in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio.
[] Original theatrical trailer
[] 38 minute suite of original music
[] Image gallery
[] Promotional material PDF
- Reference
- 7953945
- Barcode
- 5027626394547
- Classification
- Number of Discs
- 1
- Picture
- 1.66:1 / Colour
- Sound
- Mono / English
- Subtitles
- None
- Region
- Time
- 107 mins approx


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By law, the starting point for dispute resolution is that the deposit money belongs to the tenant, not the landlord. To retain all or part of the deposit the landlord must provide evidence for any damage or other costs. When tenancy deposit legislation came into effect, many landlords and agents failed to provide the necessary evidence and consequently lost out in disputes.
As more landlords get to grips with the dispute process some are now turning to video footage, finding it an effective way to prove a property's condition at the beginning and end of tenancy.
Eddie Hooker, Chief Executive, mydeposits.co.uk, said: "It is no bad thing that landlords are trying to provide the most detailed evidence they can.
"A well put together video can really enhance the check in and check out process. It lets both parties know exactly where they stand and helps prevent disputes. However, although video footage may prove useful it isn't a foolproof method. It shouldn't replace other important forms of evidence such as inventories, photographs, receipts and correspondence.
"It is also worth remembering that the overwhelming majority of tenancies end without any problems. Only 0.61% of tenancies protected by mydeposits.co.uk end in dispute – a tiny proportion of the 403,146 deposits currently under protection."
Have your say on this story using the comment section below


text:
It appears to me that Jeremy Stone is confusing two separate balance sheet accounts. It is (probably) true that global cash ("money") was unaffected by the crash. However, the market value of global investments in common stock declined drastically. Although unrealized in accounting terms, global net worth was reduced by this amount and was "all too real," as James Flanigan's column said. The reality of this drop in net worth is painfully obvious even to the smallest investor with equity security holdings.
The writer is a certified public accountant and an assistant controller with an insurance concern.


text:
My name is David Fleming. I am a Ph.D. Computer Scientist and have been a computer geek since I was a kid. For over 30 years, I've been building and repairing computers of all kinds - Windows, Mac, and Linux.
I service computers and networks in the home and workplace in and around Pocahontas County and Elkins, West Virginia. See recent repairs at Fleming Computer on Facebook. I perform virus and malware removal, data backup, hard drive replacement, hardware upgrades, OS reinstallation, and repair of physically broken computers. I also specialize in website design and have brought several area businesses online with easy-to-use websites.
If your computer is broken or acting up, if your office network or printer isn't "talking" anymore, contact me. No job is too small or large — I will fix it.


text:
Latest News
Commentary: Obama finally uses some clout on oil spill
The high point for President Obama last week wasn't when he got BP to agree to put $20 billion aside to pay for damages from the gulf oil spill.
The high point was when an oil-state congressman, Joe L. Barton of Texas, denounced the deal as a Chicago-style "shakedown."
For weeks, Obama had seemed powerless in the face of the blowout. He'd been reduced to telling people all the things he couldn't do. "I can't dive down there and plug the hole," he said. "I can't suck it up with a straw."
But Americans didn't expect him to plug the leak - or, even sillier, to show more emotion when he talked about it. What they wanted was to see him use the federal government's powers effectively.
Last week, Obama finally found a way to do that. He summoned BP's top executives to the White House, told them he needed their help, and nudged them into ponying up.
Obama didn't raise his voice or pound on his desk when he talked to the men from BP. He didn't need to. The lineup on Obama's side of the table included Ken Salazar, the interior secretary who will decide whether BP ever drills in U.S. waters again, and Eric H. Holder Jr., the attorney general who will decide whether to pursue criminal charges against the company.
President Obama had finally embraced the wisdom of his fellow Chicagoan, Al Capone: You get much further with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone.
So was it a shakedown? Sure - although the polite word for it in Washington isn't "shakedown," it's "jawboning." And when the beneficiaries of a shakedown are taxpayers and the Gulf Coast, most Americans don't mind a little strong-arming.
That's something Barton didn't understand. After criticizing the "shakedown," he went on to apologize to BP for the rough treatment it had endured. Then, under pressure from terrified Republican colleagues, he had to apologize for his apology.
Presidents have long used the federal government's clout to press private industries to do their bidding, most often to settle strikes or forestall price increases. They don't always succeed; Bill Clinton summoned baseball owners and players to the White House in 1995 in an attempt to settle a strike, but they blew him off. Obama tried to shame Wall Street into trimming bonuses last year, and got negligible results. But BP, which needs federal permits to drill and has contracts to sell $2.2 billion of fuel to the U.S. military, had more to lose than the ballplayers and investment bankers did.
In fact, the deal Obama gave BP wasn't all that onerous. The president claimed credit for lifting a $75-million ceiling on the company's liability set by a 1990 oil drilling law, but BP had already said it would voluntarily agree to spend beyond that limit. (The company wasn't likely to have much choice; the ceiling is void if the company broke any regulations, and evidence is mounting that BP violated plenty.) Obama also got the company to make a "voluntary" donation of $100 million to a fund for oil workers laid off by his moratorium on deep-water drilling.
But BP benefitted from the deal as well: Obama publicly stated that it was in the United States' interest to keep the company from going bankrupt - something the markets had begun to worry about. After the deal was announced, BP's stock recovered from a low of $29 and closed the week near $32.
The political question now is: Has Obama done enough? Obama's aides acknowledge the president was too slow to recognize the impact of the disaster. It wasn't until five weeks into the crisis that he sent Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen to the gulf to take charge of the containment effort, removed the director of the failed Minerals Management Service and declared a moratorium on deep-water drilling.
A politician who built his career on soaring words was learning that actions spoke louder.
The biggest factor in Obama's favor has been his good luck in adversaries - not only the hapless Rep. Barton, but Republicans in general, who have offered discordant messages on the crisis. Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., and former Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, demanded that the federal government do more even as Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss., and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., criticized federal action as intrusive.
Now, at length, the administration has found some footing on the issue. Aides say they're confident that the public isn't blaming Obama for the crisis, and polls suggest that the president's approval rating, which remains at an anemic 46 percent, hasn't been affected much by the oil spill. With luck, aides say, the containment effort will soon begin to work - and this won't be Obama's Katrina after all.
The events of last week even gave the president and his aides encouragement to renew their pitch for a comprehensive energy bill - one they once hoped could include a "cap and trade" system to reduce the nation's use of petroleum and other polluting fuels. But members of Congress, unlike BP executives, aren't worried about landing on Obama's bad side. They fear hostile voters more than they fear a vengeful White House.
Obama jawboned a giant oil company out of $20 billion, but getting an ambitious energy bill through Congress? Not even the president is that powerful.
Doyle McManus is a columnist for The Los Angeles Times. Readers may send him e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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[Sneak Peek] CHRISTMAS WITH HER BOSS
Meg and her boss, William, have just completed the last job of the year when they learn that his flight has been cancelled and every hotel room in the city is booked. As if she can control the world, he blames her, saying that it's her job as his secretary to sort things out. At wit's end, she invites him to stay at her home, but now she's really in trouble. She's been working so hard not to cross the line of professionalism with William—how on earth will she be able to keep her distance when he's staying under her very roof?
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Appreciate what we have.
Here's all the pictures from the US Navy's homepage as of 1815 CST today. What's wrong with all these pictures?
Where are the freakin' ships? And yes, I know that's an aircraft carrier.
Thanks to all the men and women who now wear, or have ever worn, any of the uniforms of the United States Armed Forces. Your courage, strength, resolve, and sacrifice are what make so many things I value possible.
Reading about Richard Clarke of late, with his firm positioning on both sides of the WoT issues of the day, I was wondering whom his mentor for that particular skill might be? Would it be fair to say he supported the Bush administration's approach to fighting terrorism before he opposed it.
It has been strange watching Big Media swallow Dick's recent assertions hook, line, and sinker, while there is abundant evidence that he is little more than an embittered civil servant with a selective memory, an axe to grind, and a book to sell. Frankly, I don't know which should be considered worse, sacrificing his credibility in a partisan effort to hurt President George W. Bush or inhibiting an effort to investigate and learn from the past for personal financial gain. Of course, it could be both, but I'm trying really hard not to impugn motives and limit my commentary to looking at the evidence objectively. Unfortunately, even discounting any partisan or financial motivations, there is so much contradictory information in Mr. Clarke's statements over the last few years that it is unequivocally true that he has been a bald-faced liar now or in the past, or both. Rather than try and sort out when he was being truthful, it is easier to just dismiss everything he says and hope the commission, and Big Media, will drop the partisanship and try to find out something that will be useful in the future for the WoT. You may say I'm a dreamer...
Taking that snippet from a song that is otherwise utopian tripe reminded me of its hauntingly successful use at the end of The Killing Fields, which I saw again recently. Compare Richard Clarke's apology to the TV cameras, I mean the 9/11 families, with Sydney Schanberg's apology to Dith Pran at the end of that movie. Then contrast Dith Pran's response with the response of some of the 9/11 family members. Incidentally, I wonder if any of these 9/11 family members are the same ones who reacted with such hostility to a couple of seconds of 9/11 footage in the Bush campaign videos. And I wonder if anyone in Big Media even cares to ask that question.
I rarely say anything about charitable acts I do, but I am going to make an exception in this case for a couple of reasons.
This week I took daughter #1 out and we bought supplies and toys to send to the kids and people of Iraq via Chief Wiggles and Operation Give (mad props to Dean Esmay for pushing this relentlessly.). Everybody who reads this has probably already responded to Chief Wiggles drive, but you never know. While it is easiest to send money, and I have no doubt that it is appreciated, involving a young person back here in the whole process helps lay the seeds for future good deeds in ways that a check just can't. If you haven't found the time or opportunity yet to help, maybe today would be a good time to take care of it. You can do it for me since it's my birthday!
Over at Ipse Dixit, Dodd posted an item from a New York paper from a librarian about his son and other soldiers needing books to read in some areas just to pass the time -- and it does look like they are going to be there for a long time. I packed up six hardback Tom Clancy novels, and softcopy versions of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Three Musketeers, to Capt. David Spencer and his fellow soldiers in the 173rd Airborne Brigade, Task Force 1-63 Armor. I think the idea of books arriving from all over our country from people they don't know will help assure them that their efforts are appreciated and that we do think of them frequently.
While shipping the books, I got into a discussion with the woman behind the counter who asked if Capt. Spencer was a friend or relative. When I told her it was neither and explained, she was so impressed that she took all the info necessary and said she was going to do the same thing. (Sowing the seeds of love!) Since Capt. Spencer's was only looking for 200 books or so, he probably is going to have to be building more shelves soon. I'm sure that any overflow they have will find its way to another unit. But if you're concerned about overburdening Capt. Spencer's shelves, there is another site that let's you send books to other soldiers in the armed forces.
So, what are you waiting for?
Should the actions of the United States and the current Bush administration in liberating Iraq and progress made in rebuilding Iraq be judged against a utopian vision (which we don't seem to be able to produce here in the US), or should they be judged against a violent state of chaos, e.g., Mogadishu circa 1993?
This is more than a question of is your glass half empty or half full. It fundamentally gets to the root of whether a commentator/pundit/politician is a serious person who lives in the real world or whether they are nothing more than a cynical player of a game in which winning and maintaining power are all that matter.
I suppose I can be accused of putting forth a false dichotomy in this instance, but I don't really think I have. I did not claim that to live in the real world one must support everything the administration does, nor that we should not view everything they do with a critical eye. But that is not the same thing at all as wearing dung-colored glasses that can only see the negative and taking the phrase, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," to heart, thereby lumping President Bush into the same list of enemies as the terrorists. In my mind, this comes dangerously close to laying a bet that having our enemies win is a short term gamble that some are willing to take to secure their own sinecure.
Politics and Big Media's reporting on politics is rapidly devolving into nothing more than the automatic gainsaying of the other person's position, no matter how ludicrous it sounds or however mendacious one must be to say it. The abdication of responsible opposition to the current administration is beginning to radicalize me. And I don't think that I am alone.
For the first time, soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery were given permission to leave their post at the Tomb of the Unknowns - if Hurricane Isabel became too dangerous.
None left.
"We made the decision we were going to stand where we were," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Fredrick Geary, 37, who is sergeant of the guard at the tomb.
I have nothing to add to this story except that I'm sure the military will bend over backwards to insure he will get a fair trial.
An Army Islamic chaplain, who counseled al Qaeda prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base, has been charged with espionage, aiding the enemy and spying, The Washington Times has learned.
Capt. James J. Yee, a 1990 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was arrested earlier this month by the FBI in Jacksonville, Fla., as he arrived on a military charter flight from Guantanamo, according to a law-enforcement source.
Agents confiscated several classified documents in his possession and interrogated him. He was held for two days in Jacksonville and transferred to a Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., where two Army lawyers have been assigned to his defense.
The Army has charged Capt. Yee with five offenses: sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage and failure to obey a general order. The Army may also charge him later with the more serious charge of treason, which under the Uniform Code of Military Justice could be punished by a maximum sentence of life.
Donald Sensing owns this one.
I mentioned it once or twice, but I think I got away with it. But now, we need to let the healing begin and just move on:
The second anniversary of the September 11 attacks this week looks set to be a low-key affair, reflecting a partial healing of wounds inflicted by the trauma and a switch in focus caused by the war in Iraq.
Short-term thinking and subzero sum partisanship are endemic to our culture, hence headlines like this:
For 7 Days in Iraq, No U.S. Combat Deaths
But where are the headlines that read like this:
For 129 Days in Iraq, No Iraqi's Tortured for Reasons Known Only to Uday Hussein
For 129 Days in Iraq, No Daughters and Wives Raped for Iraqi's Political Beliefs
For 129 Days in Iraq, No Entire Iraqi Families Murdered Because Someone Opposed Saddam Hussein
For 129 Days in Iraq, No More Children's Prisons
For 129 Days In Iraq, No More Mass Graves
Of course, some Iraqis have been killed and wounded in countless small engagements and actions as well in the larger scale terrorist attacks at the Imam Ali Mosque and at the UN Headquarters in Iraq. But these terrorist attacks were a desperate, smaller scale, more generic kind of terror than the personal brand of terrorism inflicted on the people of Iraq by Saddam, Uday, and Qusay on a regular basis. And that, my friends, has come to a complete stop. But that's not front page news, I guess.
As a kid, I can remember being taught that December 7, 1941, was a day that would live in infamy -- and that was some 30 years after the event. Now, only two years after 9/11, some want us to just get over it already. Sorry, but I'm still in the mood for remembrance and righteous anger. The therapeutic approach proffered by Big Media and Big Education to the acts of war committed against the US have me wondering what my grandkids will be taught in school in another 30 years about 9/11, and about December 7, 1941, for that matter.
Click through all the links of Cpl Brian Taylor's photos over at Tim Blair's and let me know if your eyes don't get a little misty.
It makes listening to the angry left without getting violent that much harder.


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Triathlon Australia has announced its National Calendar of events for the 2016-2017 season, unveiling that CHALLENGE SHEPPARTON will be the feature long course race for the state of Victoria.
The National Calendar covers both the Australian National Championship events and the Australian Age Group World Qualifying events. The calendar is designed to span all states with the aim of promoting and creating fair and equal opportunities for Triathlon Australia members to participate.
The National Calendar sets out to showpiece some of the best Triathlon and multisport events Australia has to offer. "Not only are the events a unique experience, but our Race Directors delivering them are world-class," said Triathlon Australia CEO Miles Stewart.
On Friday 1 July, CHALLENGE SHEPPARTON received the exciting news that its long course event – scheduled for 13 November 2016 – was to be the only World Championship Qualification Event taking place in Victoria.
"After three years establishing CHALLENGE SHEPPARTON, this now places our much loved race on the National and International triathlon stage," aded CHALLENGE SHEPPARTON Event Manager Kelvin Maude.
This means that CHALLENGE SHEPPARTON will provide the opportunity for Elite, Under 23 and Age Group triathletes to earn points towards the 2017 ITU (International Triathlon Union) Age Group World Championships to be held in Penticton, Canada. "A chance to win points to secure a place on the Australian Green and Gold Team is a dream of many athletes," noted Mr Maude.


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The Short Works of Mark Twain: A Critical StudyBy: Peter Messent (author)Hardback
Up to 2 WeeksUsually despatched within 2 weeks
DescriptionBetween 1867, when The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches was published, and the appearance in 1906 of The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories, seven major collections of short works appeared under the name Mark Twain. It has long been held that in most cases Twain had little to do with assembling these books, viewing them mainly as moneymaking ventures and leaving the work largely to others. In the first full and sustained study of the collections ever to appear, Peter Messent argues to the contrary. Exploring the publication history of the volumes as well as a wealth of primary documents, Messent demonstrates that Twain's part in the making of these books was, in fact, considerable. Reading the collections of short works as well as individual tales alongside his novels, Messent discusses Twain's development as an artist in terms of the changing emphases that mark his use of different forms and themes, and the changing modes of humor that he employed.
About AuthorPeter Messent is Professor of Modern American Literature at the University of Nottingham.
Product Details
- publication date: 25/07/2001
- Format: Hardback
- Number Of Pages: 280
- translations: Caddo
Delivery Information
- Saver Delivery: Yes
- 1st Class Delivery: Yes
- Courier Delivery: Yes
- Store Delivery: Yes


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Barneys is an upscale and iconic chain of US department stores. The company has flagship stores in New York, Chicago and Beverly Hills and stock fashion, homewares, accessories, and more from some of the world's biggest design houses. While Barney's retail locations don't reach us here in Australia, shoppers from all over the world have access to Barney's products in their online store.
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- Barneys is truly a world leader in luxury shopping. The brands it stocks are among the world's most coveted.
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Barneys does not offer free shipping to Australian addresses. During checkout, you will be prompted to select your country and enter your postcode, at which time your shipping costs will be calculated. International shipping takes 9–20 business days for standard shipping and 5–10 business days for express shipping.
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ARCADIA, Wis. (PRESS RELEASE) -- The Arcadia Professional Police Association stated Tuesday that members of the Arcadia City Council intend to hold a vote during the council meeting on Thursday, August 29, 2013 to disband the city police department.
"The Arcadia City Council has been threatening to disband the police department ever since the officers formed a union in 2003," stated APPA president Dale Marsolek. "We are taking this threat seriously because one of the city aldermen told one of our officers the council intends to put the matter up for a vote at the Thursday meeting, stating they had four votes in favor of disbanding the department."
State law requires that any municipality large enough to be classified as a city must have a police department. "The council believes that they can have the city policed by the county Sheriff's Department, but that is incorrect. What concerns us is that the city has previously passed resolutions contrary to its contract with the union, and simply waited for the union to file a grievance, which is followed by protracted and unnecessary litigation at taxpayer expense. Although this resolution would be contrary to State law, it would not be surprising for the council to pass a resolution to disband the police department and worry about the consequences later. While the matter would be litigated, public safety will be at great risk and tax dollars will be wasted" Marsolek said. The City funded the police department in its 2013 budget for five full time officers and the department currently employs only three full time officers,
Regardless of the underlying reason for the resolution, Marsolek said the APPA is most concerned with the effect such a move would have on public safety. The city is home to 2,925 residents, but with employers such as Ashley Furniture and Gold 'n Plump Poultry, the population of the City is often much higher, which translates into increased traffic, property damage, theft and domestic disturbances occurring at the rate of more populated areas. As Marsolek stated, "If this City loses its police department while this matter is litigated, the citizens will suffer from long response times for dire emergencies, and loss of a 24 hour police presence in the community. Minor traffic accidents, school traffic direction, theft reports, missing children complaints, noise complaints, traffic enforcement, and other minor reports will simply not be taken by anyone without a local police department. Everyone would lose."
When we asked John Kimmel, the Mayor of Arcadia, to comment, he sent us this statement:
"The City of Arcadia Common Council does not have any legislation or resolution that would do what the Police Association's press release states ("disband the city police department"), especially at a meeting that is not nor has ever been scheduled for Thursday, August 29, 2013 as stated. I'm not sure what their goal of misdirecting from fact is, if it is a contract negotiating tactic or what, but trying to strike fear into our community is reckless, and that's troubling as the Mayor, and also as a community member that calls Arcadia home.
I have provided the agenda for an actual meeting for Wednesday August 28, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. in accordance with the Open Meeting's requirements, and also to the media for their viewing and use where there is no such pending action.
Our shared vision is to have a safe community where people can feel confident in the services that we provide, that their families and homes and businesses are safe from crime, and that they may prosper and enjoy a high standard of living.
A further shared community vision is that of each municipal employee discharging their duties in a professional manner, consistent with the sacred trust that the public places with them. Press releases with few or no facts that cause false alarm is not only counter-productive, but reckless and dangerous to our desire for public safety. In a time when most municipals are facing major cuts in shared revenue and other income streams, levy limits, and other limitations, we are forced to do more with less and as a community leader, I do just that and continue to provide the services that our community desires.
I am confident that we have provided above adequate police protection in our community. While the association's release refers to the number of FT police officers, what it fails to truthfully state is that we currently employ enough police officers to provide the 24 hour coverage that Arcadia has had for many many years.
I look forward to sitting down with the union representatives for our actual union contract renegotiation. The City has no desire to engage in contract negotiations via press releases to news outlets. As we progress through these negotiations, I expect our officers to continue to protect our community as they have in the past around the clock, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week."


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AFTER DARK: Censored - Quilting Cotton
Regular price $ 2.50
Sold by the 1/2 yard.
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NOTE: Although we do our best to give continuous yardage, it is sometimes not possible with larger cuts.
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ORIGINAL REPORTING: The Questions To Answer To Get New Energy Right
Demand charges vs. TOU rates: The great Arizona rate design experiment; Rate design experts debate APS's plan to be the first utility with mandatory demand charges for residential customers
Herman K. Trabish, September 26, 2016 (Utility Dive)
Editor's note: Since this story ran, there is a rising trend of pilots and trials of these kinds of rates.
There are big differences in how utilities are planning for the rise of distributed solar and a lot can be learned from a close look at how they plan to integrate it, according to a new study which analyzed 30 integrated resource plans from cooperatives, municipal- and investor-owned utilities and the divergent approaches to integrating distributed solar as penetrations rise in certain service territories. The report also assesses planning by five system operators, along with distribution system analysis in California, New York, Hawaii, and Massachusetts. While the primary planning has zeroed in on customer adoption, planners are already beginning to think about how distributed solar can serve system needs, lead author Andrew Mills said.
Developing a forecast for deployment is key, since it guides planning in other areas. When accurately assessed, it can predict how distributed solar can meet generation needs, variability impact, and value and cost to the transmission and distribution system, according to Mills. The study describes four categories of deployment forecasting. Most planning uses essentially static or linear models based on the assumption that customers will continue to add DPV either to meet mandates or at an assumed rate or an historical rate. Such planning relies on few or no quantifiable predictive factors, according to the paper. But other types of forecasting, specifically customer-adoption planning, recognizes end user decision making hinging on photovoltaic economics and resource potential, among other factors. By using factors independent of mandates or historical trends, planners can generate new, self-consistent DPV adoption forecasts but it does not completely eliminate uncertainty… click here for more


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^ Well Managed Coolant Systems Provide Excellent Cutting & Machine Shop Hygiene (Image Courtesy of Hywit Dimyadi at ShutterStock.com)
Monday Morning Stink!
This is as bad as Monday Morning Blues will ever get. Leaving behind the relaxed euphoria that only weekends can offer, you start your machine shop early on a Monday. A little while later, machine operators report to work and turn on the coolant system left idle over the weekend.
And that is when it hits you. The unbearable, vomit-inspiring stench of rotten eggs! If you ask your operators, they will tell you what they call it (disdainfully of course) – Monday Morning Stink.
Hydrogen Sulphide gas gives the coolant this odor. And this is the surest indicator that your coolant / Metal Working Fluid (MWF) / cutting fluid system needs maintenance. For, the odor is a symptom of the contamination of the MWF with tramp / lubricating oil.
You must manage cutting fluid systems through periodic checks and necessary actions to prevent the buildup of obnoxious elements that make hazardous wastes out of the MWF. Such management also boosts the efficiency and life span of the coolant.
The Troublemakers
Contaminant particles sized between 10 microns and 1/10th of a micron are most lethal for machines, tools, and human health. Because, large particles of around 100 microns are caught in nose hair and throat while those under 1/100th microns are easily breathed in and out.
Problematic elements include:
- Microbes
- Tramp / Lubrication Oil
- Metal Swarfs, Chips, and Fines
- Greases
Machining operations make metal fines, chips, and swarfs harder than the parent material. If not separated, these find their way to the cutting zone to slash tool life and scratch the surface finish. Plus, they erode the tubes and channels of the machine that they pass through.
Cutting Fluid Maintenance
Practices that maintain MWF systems and inspire them for superior performance include:
- Maintaining Excellent Quality of Water
- Proper Concentration & Mixing of the MWF
- Tramp / Lubrication Oil Removal
- Filtration
That apart, you must sensitize shop personnel on the importance of best MWF management practices and train them with it. Management includes:
- Monitoring:
- Checking Concentration with Refractometers or Titration Kits: the former are faster, the latter more accurate
- Measuring Rancidity with pH Meters and/or Dip Slides
- Maintenance:
- Fluid Concentration Adjustments
- pH Adjustment
- Biocide Addition
- Removing Chips and Fines via Sump Cleaning
Water Quality: i.e. the quality of water used to dilute the coolant is critically important because final MWF blends contain over 90% water. And the quality of this water determines the coolant life, stability, tool life, corrosion control, foam properties, and product residue.
As water evaporates from the coolant mix, coolant concentration rises and you have to add water. Dedicated water treatment such as Deionization or Reverse Osmosis (RO) is necessary if such local water:
- Hikes the concentration of Chlorides (above 100ppm) and Sulphates in the final mix. These salts promote corrosion, imbalance, and rancidity while shortening coolant life
- Boosts the Percentage of Magnesium and Calcium Salts that destabilize the coolant
- Is Excessively Conductive and thereby escalates instability and corrosion
- Is of Inappropriate pH
Mixing: When filling the sump, do not pour water first and add the coolant concentrate later. Instead, use a mixing system or proportioner for chemical MWFs and a volumetric pump for soluble oil MWFs.
Dark and humid, the sump can be a great breeding ground for microbes particularly because MWFs serve as nutrients. Operators may, knowingly or otherwise, introduce glass and floor cleaners in the sump that harmfully alter the MWF's stability and pH.
Cutting Fluid Concentration: determines the percentage of active ingredients that endow the necessary properties on the MWF. Incorrect concentrations end up escalating coolant costs, foaming, corrosion, emulsion splitting, and microbial activity while shortening tool life.
Check fluid concentrations every day for single machines and stand alone systems. For other machines and systems, check concentrations at least every week.
Refractometers check the total amount of solubles in aqueous solutions by measuring the bending of light as it passes through the liquid. Although fast, refractometers lose accuracy when confronted with tramp oil-contaminated MWFs.
This is where Titration Kits come into play, for they are immune to contamination. You take a measured volume of the MWF, add an indicator, and then add the titrant drop by drop till you note a color change. The number of titrant drops gives you the MWF's concentration.
pH Value measures the alkalinity / acidity of a substance. The ideal pH range for cutting fluids is between 8.5 and 9.5. Values below 8.5 indicate heightened biological contamination that lowers coolant efficiency and exposes tools and workpieces to rusting.
Low-Cost Test Papers are accurate to ±1 pH unit while medium-cost pH Meters have a precision tolerance of ±0.2 pH unit and high-cost pH Meters are accurate to hundredths of a pH unit. Although highly accurate, the last variant is of little use for us.
Microbial Growth: You can monitor microbial growth with Microbial Growth Dip Slides and add biocides before the issue assumes unmanageable proportions. The problem of microbial contamination is more common with water-based coolants.
Higher, less-frequent biocide doses are more effective than lower, more-frequent doses. Biocides do not reach metal fines and chips that settle at the bottom of the tanks and facilitate microbial growth thereby escalating the MWF's toxicity.
Lubrication / Tramp Oil Removal: Lubricants and spindle oils lower the wear of moving machine parts. Sadly, most tramp oil ends up in the MWF and adds to the MWF's capacity to cause wear.
Tramp oil promotes bacterial growth and dissolves metal chips and fines that turn the MWF into a toxic waste. It also creates oil mist and smoke that pollute the shop ambience and affect the working of sensitive electronic gadgets.
A powerful symptom of tramp oil contamination in MWF is the smell of rotten eggs caused by hydrogen sulphide gas. It is particularly strong on Monday mornings when you turn on the coolant system that is left idle over the weekend.
Equipment for eliminating tramp oil, metal particles, and greases include:
- Settling Tanks: are the simplest instruments of separation. Heavy particles settle at the bottom while oils and greases float at the top of the coolant surface
You can then skim off oils from the top and remove heavier particles with automatic chip conveyors or baskets
Cleaning fabricated sheet metal sumps with rounded corners is far easier as compared to sharp-cornered sumps made through the casting process
- Skimmers: collect tramp oil that floats on top after you allow the coolant to settle. These work best with coolants that do not mix with oil
Types include Belt, Rope, or Disc Type with disc and belt skimmers being economical for small and large operations alike. Most are made of plastic as oils stick to plastic
- Coalescers or Separators: have a porous, polypropylene media that separates tramp oil from water. They cause the oil to collect at the top of the tank that is removed by skimming
Devoid of moving parts, these are self cleaning. Coalescer units cost between $1,000 and $5,000. Use them only for removing tramp oils that do not mix with water. Clean them regularly lest the unclean media turn into a microbe-breeding hotspot
- Centrifuges: spin out free, dispersed, and emulsified tramp oil as well as solid particles. These are however expensive and can occasionally separate out the coolant concentrate from the coolant solution
- Hydroclones: force the coolant into a cone-shaped vessel. Density differences separate out dense particles towards the bottom and the sides. These can however emulsify tramp oil. Use with caution
- Floatation: follows the removal of heavier particles in settling tanks. You aerate the coolant to form bubbles that carry oil and finer particles to the surface where you skim them off
- Magnetic Separators: remove particles of ferrous materials such as iron, cobalt, or nickel. The coolant passes over slow-rotating magnetic cylinders that attract and separate ferrous material particles
Settling tanks remove non-ferrous particles. Separators are good for removing ferrous particles only. With the increasing use of more complex alloys that possess even more convoluted magnetic properties, magnetic separators are losing their applicability
- Absorbent Fabrics, Blankets, or Pillows: absorb hydrocarbons but repeal water. These are effective for small sumps. You do have to undertake the tedious task of disposing these fabrics later
Filtration: Filtration Systems use a media to separate chips and fines from MWFs. Micron Rating is the size of the largest particle that will pass through the filter under specified test conditions.
Oils and greases are filter killers, for they clog filters even causing sudden shut downs. Use filter systems after you separate oil and grease from coolants.
Filtration systems can be:
- Vacuum Filtration Systems: create vacuum / suction to pull the contaminated cutting fluid through the filtration media
- Pressure Filtration Systems: pump the soiled coolant through the filtering media
- Gravity Filtration Systems: involve the vertically downward pouring of the coolant over the filtration media
Required level of surface finish and the machining process dictate the level and type of filtration. Earlier filtration systems were prohibitively expensive, particularly for small shops. But with the rise of costs of MWFs and their disposal, shops are increasingly investing in them.
Ceramic, metal, and plastic media usually make up re-usable filter media. You can clean these through scraping, back-flushing, and ultrasonic cleaning. Increasing volumes of dirt and decreasing particle sizes complicate the operation of re-usable filters
Felt, wound yarns, papers, and loose fibers generally serve as disposable filter media. You get high removal rates for low flow rates and low removal rates for high flow rates.
Fluid Recycling is a great way to boost coolant life while cutting down waste disposal costs. You can directly purchase self-contained, easy-to-operate-and-maintain recycling units for smaller machine shops or individual machines.
Also called Contaminant Removal Systems, recycling systems lower the deleterious effect of tramp oil, dirt, microbes, chips, and fines on coolant life while also readjusting the coolant concentration as needed.
Batch Treatment Systems are portable or non-portable systems that are necessary if you are not using filters. They extract the cutting fluid from a machine's sump using a mobile sump cleaner and recycle it by removing contaminants and adjusting concentration.
You have to batch-treat a MWF for every one-third or half of its expected life. If, for example, a coolant's life is six weeks, batch-treat it:
- every two weeks; or
- (at least) every three weeks
These systems cost between $7,500 and $15,000 for small machine shops. Recycling frequency depends on:
- water quality
- coolant type, age, and control
- contamination levels
- filtration efficiency
- machine usage
While maintenance is a tedious and somewhat expensive task, it is more cost effective over the long run because it extends the life and efficiency of the coolant, machines, tools, and associated systems.
Want more practical tips on best machine shop work practices. Visit our blog. And if you want to witness the execution of such practices, contact Kemplon Engineering for stellar marine fabrication services, marine pipe fitting, and large scale custom metal fabrication.


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[Moon trump from the 16th century Cary Sheet Tarot, with a crayfish in the water.]
"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when it is quite clearly Ocean."
~Arthur C. Clarke~
PURIFICATION: Traditionally eclipses are seen as disruptive, revealing and amplifying heavy energy. This also makes them opportunities for purification.
CHANGE: Contemporary astrology interprets eclipses more neutrally as agents of change, triggering breakthroughs or break downs.
WEAK AND STRONG: The strength of an eclipse depends on the degree of darkness. As only a partial eclipse, this one is interpreted as weaker. However it also makes a grand cross, an alignment of four or more planets in signs 90 degrees from each other. The Sun/Moon combo makes a very tight square to Saturn, a square to Uranus, and an opposition to Pluto. This makes it more challenging.
INNER AND OUTER: Solar eclipses are experienced more in the outer world but Cancer rules everything inner: our emotional and domestic lives, early childhood, and mothers. Those directly influenced may have things outside themselves trigger inner changes.
"Three things cannot be long hidden: the Sun, the Moon, and the truth."
~Shakyamuni Buddha~
July 1st, 2011 at 4:54 a.m. Eastern Time is New Moon Cancer and a partial solar eclipse, the third and finally one this eclipse season. During a solar eclipse the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. This can only happen during a new moon. Although vastly different, the Sun and Moon appear the same size in the sky. The Moon appears to cover the Sun during a solar eclipse. During a partial solar eclipse, the Moon is off center and only covers a part of it. While lunar eclipses are visible to all on the night side of the planet, the visibility of solar eclipses is limited. This one can only be seen in the ocean by Antarctica.
"In a clear and serene sky, the Moon was suddenly eclipsed… To assist the Moon in her labors, the air resounded with the clamor of brazen instruments, with the sound of trumpets, and other warlike music."
~Tacitus, 1st century Roman historian~
Many traditional cultures see eclipses as disruptive. Like the dark of the new moon, they are associated with black magic, death, and disharmony. For example, visible eclipses are seen as sources of impurity in Hinduism, tainting exposed food and spreading disease. Since this spiritual pollution can be spread by touch, all activity stops, tools are set down, and most temples are closed. People fast, chant mantras, or perform charity to counter balance it. In other traditions people make loud noises, shoot off guns, or light fires to scare away the darkness, often imagined as a predator.
Dismissed as superstition, folklore can preserve spiritual technologies. Eclipses tend to reveal and amplify heavy energy. Noise, light, and water are universal cleansing agents. As polluting as Hinduism interprets them, they are also opportunities for purification. Hindus ritually bathe during an eclipse, believing all water is temporarily as pure as the holy river Ganges. While others are closed, some Shiva temples actually stay open. The dark night before every new moon is also sacred to him. People honor the Hindu god of transformation during moments of celestial darkness to overcome negativity, illness, and their own ego. Whatever your spiritual path, eclipses are opportunities to address inner and outer heavy energy. They can be used to amplify clearing and release work, from smudging to healing trauma.
"If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they'd immediately go out."
~William Blake, 18th century English poet and artist ~
Contemporary astrology interprets eclipses more neutrally as agents of change, accelerating events to the point of a conclusion, triggering breakthroughs or break downs, significant endings and beginnings, and unexpected revelations. During a solar eclipse we expect to see these themes more in the outer world but Cancer represents everything inner: our domestic and emotional life, early childhood, and mothers. Those directly influenced may have things outside themselves trigger inner changes.
Eclipses happen because of an alignment of the Sun, Moon, and the lunar nodes about every six months. Each eclipse season there can be up to three eclipses, alternating between solar and lunar. They often come in pairs. This is the third and final one this eclipse season. Events triggered by them tend to be experienced until the next season, six months away.
The strength of an eclipse depends on the degree of darkness. As only a partial eclipse, this one is interpreted as weaker. However it also makes a grand square, an alignment of four or more planets in signs 90 degrees from each other. The Sun/Moon combo makes a very tight square to Saturn (limitation, structure), a square to Uranus (radical change, inspiration) and an opposition to Pluto (breakdown, transformation). Since they weave together squares and oppositions, grand squares are challenging. Frustratingly experienced as obstacles, tension, and a need for action, they can richly reward those who face them.
Not everyone experiences astrological events equally. They may just see the themes around them. This partial solar eclipse takes place at 9 degrees 12 minutes Cancer. Those with planets or points in their charts in the cardinal signs are the most likely influenced (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn). For example:
Sun Sign Aries born around March 31st.
Sun Sign Cancer born around July 2nd.
Sun Sign Libra born around October 3rd.
Sun Sign Capricorn born around December 31st.
For those with a little more astrological knowledge, you should check out a transit chart to see which house the eclipse takes place in and what aspects it is making. This will let you know how you will experience it personally, if at all.
C L Matthews, 2011


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It was overdue. Mr. Georgie boy needed his super shaggy fur maintained. Lucky for me my friend has a pet grooming mobile van up the street. This time I opted to not attend the torture. The look on his face when the water is pouring down into his big eyes is more wounding than a Keane painting.
It's funny when he first returns from the beauty salon. He has a sort of routine, where he is ashamed at first and then prancing around in his naked skin. Did I mention his head resembles a football or the baby from Family Guy?
I often imagine him having that accent, especially when he is attempting to wake me up for meals. Anyway, here's the latest status on his good looks.


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quickly position and size active windows WinSplit Revolution enables you to quickly position and size active desktop windows with the help of keyboard shortcuts, saving you from having to manually drag and size a window. The default configuration makes use of the number pad and logically arranged shortcuts that are easy to remember (e.g. CTRL+ALT+1 moves to the lower left, CTRL+ALT+3 moves to the lower right, etc.), but you can fully customize the shortcut keys, as well as window positions and sizes. You can also use keyboard shortcuts to arrange multiple windows on your desktop (side by side or tiled), change windows transparency, keep a window on top and move windows between 2 or 3 monitors. Copyright Snapfiles.com
Sorry! This program is no longer available for download from our site.
It may have been discontinued or become obsolete.


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Discussion in 'Linux Forums' started by LINWOOD, Aug 24, 2017.
LXer: Krita 3.2.0 Supports Smart Patching Elements In Paintings And 7 New Brushes Presets on Linux ?
Krita replaces Photoshop at Paris 8 University in France!
To me Krita is on-par with Corel Painter & SAI. However I still like GIMP just a tad better for photo editing, others may like DarkTable or RawTherapee which can replace Apple Aperture, Adobe Lightroom.
Separate names with a comma.