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Many thanks to Mark Fisher for organising Wednesday's Militant Dysphoria event at Goldsmiths, in conjunction with the release of Dominic Fox's excellent new book Cold World. The quality of other papers was such that I hope they are made available online, but for the meantime here is Nick Srnicek's on Dysphoria, Actor Network Theory, and slow motion revolution. My own paper, which is fairly inconclusive unfortunately, is below:
Dysphoria & Unworlding
Firstly let us consider the particular political-theoretical ecology from which the need for "the cold world" of militant dysphoria appears to arise. Most obviously, there is the collapse of the familiar paradigms of leftist politics, be they democratic parliamentarian, or street-protest based. Though neo-liberalism as reality principle might well appear to have imploded following the economic crisis of 2008, in the West we have pointedly not seen a serious renaissance of the left. The impasse of the contemporary political moment is never better dramatised than in this Spring's G20 protests in London. Here the limits of a certain form of praxis were plain, where protest seemed little more than a kind of feel-good feel-bad activity, a pious but clearly inevitable defeat. Thirty years of triumphant post-Fordist neoliberalism seem to have critically weakened the usual avenues for left politics, to have driven those who keep faith with the truths of Marxism or Socialism to either an in-denial fervour for the theatrical acting-out of a party in the street, or a kind of numb remove, an immisrated state. So the left is trapped in a sort of depression, in a dysphoric state itself. Here "militant dysphoria" means the dysphoria of the militant. The hope arises that it is through a radicalisation of this very negative state that a future emancipatory politics might be born. A radicalisation in what sense though?
For perhaps what the cold world of militant dysphoria threatens is a similar utopian twist to a dystopian analysis as the Italian post-Marxist Autonomist's notion of the Multitude. For the Autonomists, most notably of course Hardt and Negri, there exists on the one hand an ever deeper encroachment and subsumption of the human lifeworld by post-Fordist capital, and the destruction of workerist subjectivity. But on the other there is an expansion in the power of living labour (as fixed capital becomes ever more composed of cognitive and affective-communicational components), and the formation of a new kind of subject, the Multitude. Somehow what appears to be an absolute dystopia nurtures the very conditions from which utopia might emerge, and from the state of utmost despair arises ultimate salvation. We might agree with the negative dimension of their analysis, delineating the fundamental shift from Fordist to post-Fordist modes of production, and the concomitant erasure of a certain form of political subject, without accepting their thesis of what will replace it. Can the notion of a militant Dysphoria escape such a fate, a pseudo-Hegelian teleological fantasy of determinate negation?
In terms of theory, we have seen a parallel swing from euphoria to dysphoria, from affirmation to negation. As Ben Noys has diagnosed, this shift is most firmly marked by a swing in the balance of power from affirmationists, or accelerationists, paradigmatically Deleuze and Guattari, to a qualified return to the negative (or at least, the subtractive) in the form of Badiou. Affirmationist politics proceeds from a primary positivity- be that difference-in-itself, Desire, Life – and from there towards an acceleration of the innate processes which Capital utilises but which must always limit in order to maintain its consistency, in other words to undo capitalism from within by accentuating its deepest tendencies. Against this, Badiou stands markedly more opposed to the logics of capital, seeking to think a subject divorced from the determinations of the situation, working to construct truths which are subtracted from the democratic materialism of bodies and languages. Though continuing to root the political closely to the ontological, the political here is not an acceleration of the fundamental tendencies of a world, but rather a subtraction from it, and a torsion upon it.
Finally we might see the cold world as sitting intriguingly at the juncture between two emerging trends within contemporary post-continental philosophy, between Speculative Realism, and a less well defined but equally powerful strand which might be termed "subjectivationism". Speculative Realism, though it consists of a series of distinct elements marks a shift away from a correlationist conception of philosophy, a breaking of the necessary co-implication of human subject and world. In so doing it has been accused of jettisoning concerns for the political altogether, although this is perhaps a premature judgment. The second school of thought is probably even more loose, and aims instead towards a rethinking of the conditions for radical political subjectivity. The notion of the cold world and militant dysphoria serves as a meeting point between the two, for whilst on the one hand it seeks to uncover the subjective conditions for new forms of politics through the gesture of scission in a post-Badiouian fashion, the removal of the subject from the world, it also opens the door to the beginnings for the beginnings of a post-speculative realist politics.
One interpretation of a militant dysphoria would hold that dysphoria acts to separate the subject from their world, and that then once suitably energised by this negative relation, they might act to change it. In this sense of "militant dysphoria" dysphoria is a necessary stage of subjective transformation, a making strange of the everyday world of life and the vital, a subtraction apart from its quotidian ensnarement and the first step on the path towards its transformation. Here then, militant dysphoria breaks down into first dysphoria, then militancy, in that order. We might even conceive this in Latourian terms- to change the world from a "closed black box" which is simply taken as a given, effectively invisible, to an opened black box revealing its components and working parts, coming newly into focus as the dysphoric subject finds themselves freshly alienated from its processes. The primary difficulty here is to think the transition from the moment of refusal, of separation, of scission, and the conversion of this negative energy into action, the shift from rejection and dejection to engagement. Here we would certainly need the supplement of a form or vessel into which this negative energy might be poured, a structure, a party, a battle group, some degree of institutionalisation of negativity which would serve to give form to the otherwise potentially solipsistic tendencies of the dysphoric.
One interpretation of a militant dysphoria would hold that dysphoria acts to separate the subject from their world, and that then once suitably energised by this negative relation, they might act to change it. In this sense of "militant dysphoria" dysphoria is a necessary stage of subjective transformation, a making strange of the everyday world of life and the vital, a subtraction apart from its quotidian ensnarement and the first step on the path towards its transformation. Here then, militant dysphoria breaks down into first dysphoria, then militancy, in that order. We might even conceive this in Latourian terms- to change the world from a "closed black box" which is simply taken as a given, effectively invisible, to an opened black box revealing its components and working parts, coming newly into focus as the dysphoric subject finds themselves freshly alienated from its processes. The primary difficulty here is to think the transition from the moment of refusal, of separation, of scission, and the conversion of this negative energy into action, the shift from rejection and dejection to engagement. Here we would certainly need the supplement of a form or vessel into which this negative energy might be poured, a structure, a party, a battle group, some degree of institutionalisation of negativity which would serve to give form to the otherwise potentially solipsistic tendencies of the dysphoric.
Moreover the politics of this form of militant dysphoria is deeply paradoxical, and seemingly always in danger of either sliding back into the logic of the vital or its dark inverted doppelganger, a reification of dysphoria itself. There is always something approaching a paradox in the disavowal of the vital. Take for example the writings of the ontological horror writer Thomas Ligotti. At the level of content there is a radical denial of the vital, and yet this very disavowal enables the works to pulse with certain inhuman vitality. Within the libidinal economy of the depressive mind, whilst life itself is refused, the life of the depressive economy, of the inverted libido, becomes omnipresent, becomes a new kind of life. Ligotti, for example, whilst claiming an absolute anhedonia, a freezing up of the machinery of desire and enjoyment into a crystallised, timeless, ice-like tableaux, at the level of productivity remains motivated. Fundamentally of course, Ligotti still writes. Instead of a refusal of the vital, of enjoyment, the dysphoric libidinal economy seemingly learns to enjoy displeasure, to metabolise disenchantment itself as a new kind of alternative energy source. Again this leads us back either to the vital, back to the world which seemingly the dysphoric appears to be escaping, but are in fact simply reconfiguring their internal relation to. Or, alternatively, towards a genuine absence of energy, which would preclude any political activity whatsoever. Problematically, if the dark libidinal economy takes hold, it serves only to perpetuate itself, and therefore will never rise to risk the elimination of the very things which enable its perpetuation. In a political context the refusal to enjoy, to take the apparent fruits of consumerist late capital and receive pleasure from them, comes to take on its own negative enjoyment, to become an inverted pleasure all of its own. At best a malign energy distinguishes the militant dysphoric from the merely dysphoric.
In his book Dominic singles out a line from one of Gerard Manley Hopkins "Terrible Sonnets", which runs "no worst, there is none". This indicates something of the paradox of the dark libidinal economy. That there is no worst means that there is no halting point to the process of disenchantment of which dysphoria is the primary affect, and that a radicalised dysphoria's only aim is towards its own self-expansion. To think politically, the amassing of negativity within a social-economic system at the affective and economic levels might trigger the calling into question of the coherency of such a system, and the emergence of the truth of it, a new world born from its ashes. But if there is no worst, that we can advance ever worstward ho without limiting point, the necessary dialectical grip or friction for a conventionally oppositional change is absent. The very point of sublation which might imply the alteration of the world of life from which the militant dysphoric has fled is absent, and instead a non-dialectical form of negativity rages without end.
But what I would clarify as the necessarily militant moment is perhaps the point of subjective decision, to, ironically, affirm this withdrawal, or perhaps, to identify with it. If the distinction between the merely dysphoric and the militantly dysphoric can be drawn, it is at precisely this moment. Discontent can always be cathected, or indeed stored and then released. But might there be another interpretation of the term, rather than the sadness of the defeated militant at the end of the end of history, or the dysphoria which leads somehow towards militant engagement? Rather perhaps a dysphoria which is itself militant. If the paradox of militant dysphoria is its tendency towards inertia without some kind of vessel into which it might be employed, then perhaps one way through this impasse is via dysphoria itself, not to escape, to employ this negative affect to remake the existing world, but rather to see in it a new world altogether.
What is most fascinating about the militant of the cold world is precisely what Dominic has located in the field of Black Metal, in the ability of the genre to present aestheticised dysphoria as a kind of telepathy with the dead, an ability of the subject to reach a point of anti-subjectivation, to commune with that which is not a subject, to become possessed by the inhuman. What is most radical about this notion is, for all its influence by Badiou, it is an inversion of its master's doctrines, a generic mis-anthropy or generic inhumanity rather than a generic humanity. Here then dysphoria acts as a path not towards militant engagement with the world, but rather a making strange of the human-world relation, to the extent that the human subject identifies no longer with their own ostensible interests, but instead with those outside of itself. In other circumstances a similar kind of politicisation might occur so that the self-interested individual takes on a willingness to live and perhaps die for an idea or a cause. But here rather than an identification with humanity as a generic concept, or even the vital as such (as in perhaps communism or radical environmentalism, with a willingness to make ones own interests subservient to those of the greater cause) here the abjuring of the vital indicates instead a form of communion with sub-vital or non-vital processes.
To systematise briefly: a world protects its consistency by rendering itself a black box, invincible and invisible, taken for granted. The human world is one determined by vitalistic principles, and it is these which are undone in dysphoria, hence undoing the world which they construct. If capital has subsumed the world of life, has exploited and manipulated its processes to such an extent that it becomes synonymous with life, and indeed a form of life itself, then perhaps the way of death, of non-life, of the freezing over of the vital offers a way out of its particular strictures. It is certainly true to say that capitalism as it stands now requires a degree of acquiescence with the "big other"- to at least pay lip service to the affirmationist common sense. This means that at the level of microeconomics, we must "enjoy" or at least pretend to do so, and at the level of macroeconomics that the dogma of growth of gross domestic product as strictly equivalent to the common good and the elevation of the general standard of living of humanity must be maintained. So in identifying with the state of dysphoria itself and hence to subtract from this world, the militant dysphoric effectively abandons a world already made cold by capital's alien life, and then perhaps, undoes it. Perhaps.
But there are clearly uneasy isomorphisms between the self-expanding activities of capital and the accumulative logic of dysphoria itself. Unlinked from the necessary dialectical purchase to transform the world of life in the name of life, the libido of the terrorist or Black Metallist, can think of no greater horror than the ending of horror itself, no greater misfortune than the ceasing of the cold world, of being drawn back into the rhythms of the vital, to, as Dominic puts it most succinctly, love and to work. As such the dysphoric libidinal economy appears to depend upon the very thing which induces it, leading this reified, fetishised dysphoria to appear to be intimately imbricated with contemporary Capitalism. A truly militant dysphoria is analogous to capital-as-cancer or as-virus, (ie- without dialectical purchase or friction, a slippery self expanding negativity) but this itself must be grasped and pushed to an aggravated conclusion, since as with Nick Land's phantasmic re-imagining of neoliberalism, we can clearly risk overestimating the dissolutory forces involved, and to ignore the ever-present conservatism of the form. For Capital this is the need to preserve its own consistency through restraint upon production, and for dysphoria it is its unwillingness to dissolve itself or the grounds for itself. In this sense the militant dysphoric asserts both the unending dissolution of worlds, and the construction of a singularly new world consisting of such endless dissolutions, the world defiled and the world of the process of such defilements.


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SAWS CEO gets $72,000 bonus
By Colin McDonald : July 22, 2013 : Updated: July 25, 2013 11:08am
Robert Puente is president/CEO of the San Antonio Water System.
Photo By San Antonio Express-NewsSan Antonio Water System Presdient/CEO, Robert Puente, center, speaks as SAWS officials meet with the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board. Mayor Julian Castro is at right and Doug Evanson, SAWS CFO, is at left. Friday, Jan. 11, 2013
Photo By San Antonio Express-NewsSan Antonio Water System officials, Doug Evanson, CFO, left, shares information with Robert Puente, Presdient/CEO, during a meeting with the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board. Friday, Jan. 11, 2013
More Information
San Antonio Water System CEO Robert Puente received a $72,225.71 performance award Monday from the utility's board of trustees.
It is the only executive bonus to be awarded this year at SAWS, which is under pressure by the San Antonio City Council to become more efficient.
The utility has proposed rate increases every year for the next four years to pay for new water projects and improving the city's sewer system, but still has some of the lowest water and sewer rates in the state.
Board Chairman Heriberto Guerra thanked Puente for overseeing the integration of the Bexar Metropolitan Water District, completion of the 2012 water management plan and revising of the city's drought ordinance.
Go to ExpressNews.com to read the full version of this story

subset: commoncrawl


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Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is yet to receive any formal offers to leave the German club despite rumours of a move to Italy or England in January, according to Sky Sports News.
The Dutchman's agent Arnold Oosterveer, has revealed that he has had no concrete offers from any clubs regarding his client and he feels that the rumours need to stop.
"As far as I know the rumours are to be catalogued as rumours and have to stop," Oosterveer told calciomercato.it.
"There has been nothing concrete from anyone.
"As yet, we have not decided whether to renew with Schalke, but we have not talked to any other clubs either."
Huntelaar has been linked with Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus over the past few months and could have a big decision to make come January when the transfer window reopens.
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Photo by Kristof Ramon
A: It felt like I'm trying to survive and there's a life raft and I can stop treading water and hoist myself up on that. I don't know about transfusions; I never transfused, but EPO is subtle, it comes in slowly. You're riding faster after three weeks but you might not notice the effect. You can see it in your SRM data that there's a trend. There are still some days your legs feel like shit and you can't get out of your own way and others where you have super great legs. Your body still has an up-down erratic function, but the ups are higher and the downs aren't as low.
Was the decision hard for you? Did you ever think, "Maybe I should just leave the sport?"
Of course. But that decision had been occurring to me every race day for two and a half years. I was still in college at this point, part time in fall semester. So it was very difficult, because it was like 'Why don't I just go back [home]?' But what can I say? I was stubborn. I wanted my dream. And I didn't understand that there was no reason I had to do it, but I was able to rationalize it. When I was back in the U.S., racing here, I was the one guy who could be competitive with the dominant Coors Light team. I won Tour of the Gila at 21. My VO2 max scores were some of the highest they'd seen at the Olympic Training Center. So I was thinking, 'Why should I give up the dream that I'm talented at? I'm good at this? Why should being the good guy cause me to lose my dream?'
So then it became…let me put it to you this way: I had a salary of about $15,000 a year and for the 1995 season I began using an SRM which at that point in time cost about $4,000. So I spent like a third of my salary on an SRM and the reason I did that is I thought 'If I train with these scientific methods I can overcome the doping.' And what I learned—I have so many years of SRM data—is that you actually can overcome quite a bit of that advantage with marginal gains and correct training. But there's a limit.
That's why I believe today that clean racing is possible, as long as anti-doping efforts are keeping everything in a box and keeping it controlled. Because at that point in time, you could increase your hematocrit say, from 39 to 60. That represents a 40-percent increase in red blood cell carrying mass. That's not a 50-percent increase in oxygen carrying capacity. It can be 1:1 in the 40s and then it goes to half that and then two, so it's not a linear relationship. But let's imagine it's 20-percent improvement, back in 'the 60s' as we call them (named for the hematocrit some riders were reaching). A 20-percent power gain! Good climbers in the peloton produced 5.5 and 6 watts per kilogram at threshold. That's the same as today. The guy at 5.5—the worst climber of this group—takes EPO and goes up 20 percent—he's now at 6.3, 6.4 watts per kilo. So he's leapfrogged the most talented climber. And the guy at six goes to seven, and all of a sudden the mediocre climber's at 6.25 and the good one's at 7, well, where's the guy who was at 5.5 who didn't use EPO? Who's actually a damn talented athlete. He's in the grupetto. So when the gains are that huge, all of a sudden marginal gains become irrelevant.
There's only so much you can do with better training and equipment.
Yeah. So people today look at that and say 'There could still be doping.' And yes, there could be. And is the biological passport flawless? No, it's not. But what it does effectively do is tie things down so that the gains that can be made doping today are so small that you actually can overcome it with marginal gains—with better skinsuits and nutrition and this, that and the other. That was ludicrous in the '90s! You have a better skinsuit. Great. Good job. You got 1 percent. That guy got 20. Bravo.
Still, there are some pretty interesting rationalizations you go through to convince yourself this is OK.
Imagine what Nunez went through. This guy basically had to talk to God every two hours and somehow rationalized it. That was shocking to me. He was the most idealistic person ever and somehow he did it.
Do you still talk to him?
No. When that team ended that year he was such a broken man. He literally disappeared. I don't know how to get in touch with him. I would love to say, 'Thank you for giving me the part to carry forward your dream.' I wanted the same dream. But I feel bad because he, I think just imploded.
One of the rationalizations made for doping is that if everyone's doing it, it's a level playing field. People use that to argue that doping should be legal. Should it? Would that actually make a level field?
No. There are a few arguments on that. I'll start with physiological and we'll go to psychological. Physiologically, let's go with oxygen vector doping. Humans have a variety of natural red blood cell counts. Some people have a hematocrit of 36 naturally, some people have a 52. Me, in an untrained state, riding 100k a week, I'm more—I'm like 53.
You needed a TUE [therapuetic use exemption—a certificate the UCI uses to allow something that would otherwise result in a positive test or health flag] to compete once they put in the [maximum hematocrit] 50-percent rule, right? Yeah, I submitted blood records back to my pediatric days. But for EPO, the person who's at 36, whether there's a 50 percent limit or not is irrelevant because the biggest improvement is in the low end, that thin blood range. That person, when they're out training every day, their body is starved for oxygen and becomes extremely efficient at pulling oxygen from not very much hemoglobin. So you dump a big amount of red cells in that person who's already very efficient and whoa! Are they going to go fast. Conversely you take a person at 47 and do the same thing. And let's go to 60, say the limit isn't 50 but that the limit is that you don't stroke out and die. That person is not going to experience anywhere close to the difference. So people say, 'Yeah, but that's equalizing it out.' But imagine the guys at 36 and 47 have exactly the same VO2 at threshold and they are neck-and-neck competitors their whole life, and one chooses to dope and the other says, 'Well then I'll dope too.' Then one guy is going to go a lot faster and the other guy will go a little faster. And so you have guys that train the same, are very disciplined athletes and physiologically the same but one has a quirk that's very adaptable to the drug du jour, then all of a sudden your race winner is determined not by who's the best, some kind of Darwinian selection of who is the strongest and fittest, but whose physiology happened to be compatible with the drug, or to having 50 things in him.
Testosterone, it's the same thing. Even broader, talking oxygen vector doping in general, it's the same. If you have one rider who has small muscles and one who has very big muscles, the rider with big muscles can produce a lot of torque and power, but he can't sustain it because the muscles don't get enough oxygen. The guy with small muscles, he can't produce as much torque but he can ride a long time. If EPO is detectable and steroids aren't, the little skinny guy might make greater gains by doping than the big muscular guy. But if EPO is undetectable and steroids are, the little guy is screwed. So whatever is going on, you never end up where it's a level playing field—it's just whatever your physiology happens to be adapted to. So you make everything legal; you can do whatever. There's only so many drugs invented, so the winner is whose physiology is most adaptable to having 50 things in them. It never ends up that who the best athlete is wins if you just let everyone do it.
Second, what about people who, even if it is legal, have health or moral concerns about it. So you say, 'Hey guys, this is legal.' And someone asks, "Wait, what are the long-term health consequences?' 'Well you could grow a horn out of your head, but if you want to do this, you have to dope.' So you eliminate a lot of talented athletes who don't want to do that. Because if you do make everything legal, believe me, some people are going to push things way beyond where they are now. So some people will say no to what is essentially suicide. So is the winner then the best athlete? No, it's the guy who's willing to risk his health more than anyone else. So how do you ever end up with parity in the playing field on that route? It's not that my holier-than-thou position leads me to believe that pureness is the way forward; it's that logic leads me to that conclusion. If you're looking to find the best athlete who can win because he works the hardest and is the most talented and has good tactics and all that, then the path of opening the sport to doping is not a plausible one to end up at that objective.
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48 CFR 9904.407-20 - Purpose.
(a) The purpose of this Cost Accounting Standard is to provide criteria under which standard costs may be used for estimating, accumulating, and reporting costs of direct material and direct labor; and to provide criteria relating to the establishment of standards, accumulation of standard costs, and accumulation and disposition of variances from standard costs. Consistent application of these criteria where standard costs are in use will improve cost measurement and cost assignment.
Title 48 published on 2014-10-01
no entries appear in the Federal Register after this date.


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Was a good show -- you can give it a listen at any of the links below, or just subscribe to us in iTunes to get the show automagically every Monday. We'll be back live on the air next Saturday, and we're climbing ever closer to a few big goals: in just 14 weeks, we're set to hit our 100th show, which will definitely be a nice anniversary for us, and we're only 600 followers away from hitting our goal of over 9000 followers on our Twitter account. So join up there if you haven't yet, and I'll get the tux out to the cleaners in anticipation.
Enjoy the show this week and we'll see you next time!
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"Like the Sabbath, the week originated at creation, and it has been preserved and brought down to us through Bible history. God Himself measured off the first week as a sample for successive weeks to the close of time. Like every other, it consisted of seven literal days. Six days were employed in the work of creation; upon the seventh, God rested, and He then blessed this day and set it apart as a day of rest for man." Lift Him Up, p. 52.
I believe not to accept this is to diminish the Spirit of Prophecy and to deny its effectiveness. "Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." 2 Chronicles 20:20.
Sister White also wrote, "When men leave the Word of God in regard to the history of Creation, and seek to account for God's creative works upon natural principles, they are upon a boundless ocean of uncertainty. Just how God accomplished the work of Creation in six literal days He has never revealed to mortals. His creative works are just as incomprehensible as His existence." By Colin Standish, President, Hartland Institute | Hartland Ministry Report – February/March 2005


text: So bitter, I mean whats wrong about posting about the best player in the world? Yeah I mean posting about every win he makes may be getting carried away a bit, but so what, whats so bad about gloating a bit, As long as you are not hating on another player its ok. Nonetheless I do believe its quite impressive and a good sign for Federer for beating Rochus so convingcingly, Rochus is a very tricky player, hes given Safin quite a few nightmares, hes got a very solid game even for his size hes quite a good player. Yes maybe Fed had an edge since he knew his ex doubles partners game quite well one would suppose but still a good sign for this tournie, at least I hope he makes at least the semis.


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Here you will find a quick synopsis of all news from Microsoft's Cloud Platform organization as it is released with links to additional information.
The Official SBS BlogThe System Center Team BlogSQL Server Team BlogWindows Azure Team BlogVirtualization Team BlogWindows Server DivisionSQL Azure Team Blog
by STB Blogger
Today, Microsoft announced integration of Git, today's most popular distributed version control system, into Visual Studio, Team Foundation Server, and Team Foundation Service giving developers more choice with its version control and ALM solutions. Additionally, Microsoft is releasing a preview of an extension for Visual Studio 2012 Update 2, which facilitates connecting to Git repositories on any Git host, including Team Foundation Service and other 3rd party services.
For more information, you can view Brian Harry, technical fellow, Team Foundation Server, making these announcements on stage at the Microsoft ALM Summit.


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Earlier this weekend it was reported that the rap diva had gone missing after boarding a flight to London on June 29th. Apparently her family and friends were freaking out that Foxy, real name Inga (WTF?), was long gone, lost amongst the Brits with only her entourage in tow. This occurred only days after she was apparently the target of a Brooklyn robbery and beatdown at the hands of some crazed lady friends that resulted in the destruction of her hair weave. You can mess with a girl's Louis Vuitton purse, but please - not the hair!
But a PerezHilton reader spotted Foxy on Friday, July 7th, hosting the Urban Music Awards in NYC – and there are pics to prove it. Thank goodness she's not lost somewhere in the Chunnel! But the question remains – did Foxy really head overseas or was it all just a stunt to attract attention to her floundering hip hop career? Maybe she was just going to get her weave fixed up in the UK – we hear Amy Winehouse is really good at styling hair.


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The Medical University of South Carolina will hold the first annual Women's Health Research Day on Thursday, featuring experts from across campus who will speak on topics ranging from postpartum depression to gender differences in drug abuse.
It will run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday at the Institute of Psychiatry.
Women's Health Research Day is free and open to the public.
More information about the event is available on MUSC's website.
Reach Lauren Sausser at 937-5598.
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I'm a learning Digital Artist, who uses GIMP as my primary editing program.
Give me a Llama and I'll give one back! (And usually I'll fav-spam your gallery and watch too! ^U^)
Please, don't tag me on anything. I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm fairly lazy & find myself often being distracted by other things, and I usually don't get around to it, even if I want to.
NOTE: if you wanna talk serious about any story, let's talk about that story. if you wanna talk about FanFiction, we'll talk about FanFiction. All I ask is that you not bring FanFiction into the serious story talk, and I won't do the same.
Favourite style of art: Manga/Anime. Although, does computer re-drawing a picture count as a different art style?
Operating System: This computer comes with Win7. WOW, I really needed to update this...
MP3 player of choice: A Walkman.
Personal Quote: "In which state was the Kolndike Bar-- I mean Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890's?"


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The One Question Test
Their result for The One Question Test ...
You scored 100 Libido!
Their Analysis (Vertical line = Average)
They scored 100% on Libido, higher than 55% of your peers.
All possible test results
HAHAHAHAHA! You're such a liar..... Read more
Well sex IS good!!! Read more
Recent Results
Kontemp17 / m / Straight
GracefulArch54 / f / Straight
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State energy people getting a little nervous that all this hot weather could put a strain on our power supply. They're not predicting black outs, but, they are asking that you try to cut down on power use, put the thermostat at 78 and take shorter showers. We are close to setting a record for power use with A/C's running round the clock. The public service commission put out a list of things you can do to save power.
Consumers are encouraged to do some of the following:
Close drapes, windows and doors on your home's sunny side to reduce solar heat buildup.
Turn off air conditioners, lights and other appliances when not at home and use a timer to turn on your air conditioner about a half-hour before arriving home. Use advanced power strips to centrally "turn off" all appliances and save energy.
If purchasing an air conditioner, look for an ENERGY STAR qualified model. ENERGY STAR air conditioners use up to 25 percent less energy than a standard model.
Fans can make rooms feel five to 10 degrees cooler and use 80 percent less energy than air conditioners.
Set your air conditioner at 78 degrees or higher to save on your cooling costs. Place your air conditioner in a central window, rather than a corner window, to allow for better air movement.
Consider placing the unit on the north, east or the best-shaded side of your home. Your air conditioner will have to work harder and use more energy if it is exposed to direct sunlight.
Seal spaces around the air conditioner with caulking to prevent cool air from escaping.
Clean the cooling and condenser fans plus the coils to keep your air conditioner operating efficiently and check the filter every month and replace as needed.
Use appliances such as washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and ovens early in the morning or late at night. This will also help reduce humidity and heat in the home.
Use energy-efficient, ENERGY STAR qualified light bulbs instead of standard incandescent light bulbs, and you can use 75 percent less energy.
Microwave food when possible. Microwaves use approximately 50 percent less energy than conventional ovens.
Dry clothes on a clothes line. If using a clothes dryer, remember to clean the dryer's lint trap before every load.
Instead of using 30 to 40 gallons of water to take a bath, install a low-flow showerhead, which uses less than 3 gallons a minute.
Additional tips on how to conserve energy can be found on the Commission's at www.AskPSC.com and www.NYSERDA.ny.gov.


text:
Filed under: Events, Our favourite things, Staff picks, Things We Love!, Travelling Man Newcastle
Don't miss this very special day of manga fun! Just pop to Travelling Man Newcastle on Saturday 13th Feb at 12pm to take part in cosplay and art competitions, watch animes and learn how to draw manga with the amazing Yishan Li.
To sign up for Yishan's workshop, please leave your name in the comment box below or just pop in to your local Travelling Man to sign up!
Don't forget to dig out your cosplay costumes for thre chance to win some cool prizes!
87 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Question about the Manga Art competition, does it have to be your own creative work or can it be Manga art that already exsists like Death Note or NARUTO?
Whooo!!! I live Newcastle so Im coming along to this ^^
this sounds great
how do i sign up? im not sure when i can get to newcastle next
I'd love to come. Though does it cost anything?
Hii! Wear cosplay? Like, any? Hahaha cool! Im not skilled at drawing manga at all…But i do like to create fan-made manga!
Where do I sign up?!
Hi Becky! I'll sign up up now, can't wait to see your costume! x
I really want to go! im trying to get me sister to take me, but we live in liverpool… she said she might try to take me :)
Hiya sign me up please…. Is it any cosplay…. i'd love to come as sesshomaru… Thanks
Hello… Is it any cosplay??? And Sign me up…If this comment is doubled then… Sorry My mistake…Sure i'd love to bring my drawings to be judged…
Would I need to sign up, if I'm bringing my own art?
cool i will bet there
i will be there yay!!
Woop, this sounds great count me in =] i always wanted to learn to draw Manga. But one question is there a age rating? i am nearly 16, but if you need to be like 18+ just message me please.
Thanks Karl!
hey me again, with the art competition are 3D art pieces still okay
Yeah! Sounds ace! Will we need the specs? x
kool see ya there
I'll be there ^^
Hey there! ^-^ Just wondering – could I please sign up for the art workshop? My name is Elly-Kate and I'm planning a Tifa cosplay for the day (might not be in Tifa costume after all depending on the weather, but just so you know ^-^') Anyhow, I look forward to the day greatly! Thanks for organizing another great day!
Hey, would it be opssible to be signed up for the workshop please? Thanks!
i live in newcastle but how do i sign up??
Can I sign up?
i wanna go learn how to make my manga better
Can I ask peoples, Vampire knight night class cosplay /Bleach cosplay?! Which one!?!! x
Vampire Knight! :D x
Hi its me again, if you havent already can you sign me up for the workshop =]
Thanks Karl.
P.s, If i've already sent a message like this i am sorry for spamming lol =/ but i dont think it updated the message onto the website so only making sure lol.
where do i sign up for the workshop?? as i want to learn how to draw better manga.
I'll be there, could I try the drawing competition? How many pictures could I enter in?
And I will be cosplaying as either Hinamori amu or Mashiro Rima from Shugo chara ^^ see you peoples there…!
I'll be there, could I try the drawing competition? How many pictures could I enter in?
And I will be cosplaying as either Hinamori amu or Mashiro Rima from Shugo chara ^^ see you peoples there…!
am so coming gonna cosplay yay
I nearly forgot, could you sign me up for drawing and cosplay competitions please :) thanks x
Hi there, my daughter loves manga and would like to come along on saturday. As she is only 9 will it be ok for her to come along? I'll be there with her but I'm no good at drawing so I'll have to sit in a corner!
I love how Amy is my twin sister and yet I had no idea she was planning on wearing my cosplay outfit… Meh, Sign me up please.. and well my mam is weirdly interested so sign her up too! Under the name ethel! :P I will bring in my art work too :P
Thanks! x
And if you dont mind, Can I just be there for 1pm?
heey would just like to put me and my friend Kelsey down for the manga workshop,, thanks :)
im new to the whole manga scene but want to get involved and signe up for the workshop is there a deadline and how do i singh up??
im new to the whole manga scene is there a deadline to sine up for the workshop and how do i sighn up?
WAAAAAH please tell me that you have sign me up??? for the work shop I mean… Thanks (its becky's twin by the way :D)
Please sign me up if Im not signed up yet. Thank you :)
Hehehe yep we've signed you up Becky ^_^ x
are you doing cosplay photos whenever people arrive or all together at a certain time?
also do you have naruto 47 in the newcastle store? if you do could I reserve a copy?)
Hi Matthew, we do have Naruto 47 and we have saved you a copy for Saturday.
In terms of pictures, we will probably take some group pictures at the end and some of the winners. Depending on how many people there are we would like pictures of everyone but it may be too hard.
Thanks Lisa :)
hi thanks for reserving the book for me but I didn't check the comments between posting the comment and the event, I managed to get it from the store though. thanks again
hi whats the actually is the workshop? And can I put my name down along with my friends because they're coming aswell or will they have to do it themselves?
How can i sign up???
just in case you havnt already can i put my name down please and my friend Gary Surtees in case he forgets
cool i will be there 2 marra 4 that work shop with my m8 heidi!! byeee
Hey My Name Is Gary Surtees can u sign me up please!? thanks!!! :)
Hey My name Is Gary Surtees! Can You Sign Me Up Please!? :)
ooos :D will be there sounds fun uhoh bit l8 better start gettin ready haha ^‿^
Hiya xxx when will photo's be posted…for some reason my mam would like to see Thanks
Hiya when will the photo's be put up?
Oh my god -_- I cant believe amy won 2nd place wearing MY cosplay xD
was that the vampire knight costume…it was really good if it was yours xxx xd
Hi this was great, lots of brilliant cosplayers, really looking forward to the next one. although I didn't talk much at the event I would like to get to know more cosplayers, (no matter how many times I read that back it still sounds weird.) heres my facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=524238116
(I apologise if this isn't allowed.) if you add me, please say your adding me from here or I'm likely to ignore it. thanks again.
Hiya… will the photos be posted soon… its been nearly three weeks since the cosplay…. Thanks
Sorry if i sound…demanding
hey, so are there gonna be any asians? well you see im asian and at these events there ARE no asians whatsoever


text:
Professor John Walton Featured on "Jay Leno's Garage" for Invention
Jay Leno (left) with Professor John Walton on the set of "Jay Leno's Garage."
Professor John Walton was featured on a recent episode of Jay Leno's Garage to demonstrate his patented invention of a new universal jack stand. Walton commented that meeting Leno was "the best Spring Break ever." One point he found interesting was Jay's comment near the end of the video that it took a law professor to come up with a simple solution to an automotive problem.
To Walton, that is the essence and value of a legal education. "Lawyers solve problems," he said. "Every business and profession needs problem solvers. That's why I believe the value of a legal education is not confined to practicing law." Walton believes the legal training students receive at NIU Law prepares them for law practice and many other careers where people are valued for their ability to create solutions.
The lower tuition burden at NIU College of Law allows graduates a broad spectrum of practice alternatives as well as many emerging entrepreneurial options. Named a "Tuition Winner" in 2012 by prelaw magazine, NIU Law was recognized as one of the top schools in the nation for minimizing tuition inflation.
For more information, contact:
Melody Mitchell
Alumni Events & Public Relations
(815) 753-9655 or


text:
many thanks for this thread can now play my wiiware games on my sd card ^^
its wont let me do step 2
i try to press A to delete iso222 but it doesnt work
please help
many thanks for this thread can now play my wiiware games on my sd card ^^
Thank you very much! this worked! now I can finally play my burned games! You Rock!
-PS, Installed this on a Virgin LU65, v4.2U.....USB Loader and Burned DVD's work!
-PS, I did have HB allready installed using the Banner Hack.
I followed every step and i get a 1101 error neogamma and usb loader freezes
Most likely a media error or bad iso. Make sure you're using a good iso and burning at low speeds on high quality DVD-R.
Thank you my men!!
You helped me very much and now wii is free!!!
Thanks again for this helpful post!!!
Ok I can tell you now that this installs on the new Limited edition black Wii's without failure but I think there is some sort of hardware block on them as soon as you try to load any backup DVD-R good copys that work on my white Wii, wont boot on this console I'm going to test out a few more loaders I have yet to try the usb loader.
Seems to me that the black wiis come with the new D3-2 Board which prevents DVD Backup Loading, you must use a USB Loader.
Thanks for the guide!
THANKS MAN!! it worked


text:
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UT Concludes Season At Number Two In National Poll
Published: Dec 9, 2010
After advancing to the national championship match, The University of Tampa volleyball team earned a No. 2 ranking in the final AVCA Division II Top 25 poll.
UT, follows four-time national champion Concordia University of St. Paul, who received all 32 first-place votes. Tampa's national semifinal opponent Central Missouri, Cal State-San Bernardino and Nebraska-Kearney round out the top-five.
Tampa is joined by NCAA South Region opponent West Florida in the top-25, with the Argonauts holding down the No. 19 spot. Sunshine State Conference foes Lynn and Florida Southern each received votes.
Tampa finished the season with an overall record of 31-4 and won 21 of its final 22 matches.
After breezing through the NCAA South Regional with three-set sweeps of Kentucky State, Lynn and West Florida, UT then swept Grand Valley State and Central Missouri in the NCAA quarterfinals and semifinals.
The lone SSC school in the top-25, the Spartans played 12 matches versus teams that appear in the final top-25. With a 9-3 record versus ranked opponents, Tampa defeated Concordia, Central Missouri, Nebraska-Kearney, Grand Valley State (twice), Lewis and West Florida (three times) in the 2010 season.
The 2006 national champions have now been represented in 203 consecutive polls, marking the nation's second longest active streak (Central Missouri). Head coach Chris Catanach's squad is no stranger to the top of the polls, spending a total of 23 weeks at No. 1. UT previously held the top spot in the 2007 preseason poll and has been in the top-10 every week since 2004.
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text:
MILWAUKEE — When Jared Loughner shot Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others in 2011, Heidi Yocum focused on the look in his eyes.
"You could see he was manic," Yocum said.
Yocum knows that look. Her son, Ron, has been suffering from bipolar disorder for years. Once known as "manic depression," it is a mental illness marked by dramatic mood swings and erratic behavior.
As a series of mass shootings continued to unfold throughout 2012, Heidi Yocum became increasingly concerned about her own son and how his struggles exemplify serious shortcomings in America's mental healthcare system. So she decided it was time to tell her son's story.
She wasn't the only one. Ron wanted to talk about it, too.
"Riding bikes was my passion as a child," he recalls.
Most kids ride bicycles, but Ron Yocum practically lived on one. He is a BMX trick rider with friends who are professional freestyle stunt riders. Ron's fearless and aggressive style once landed him on the pages of Ride BMX Magazine, with a caption that describes him as a "madman."
But lately, Ron's passion for riding has waned as he battles a mental illness that first manifested itself in 2006.
"I thought I was being awarded $93 billion to help the Katrina victims," he says.
So Ron got in his car and started driving. West. Even though New Orleans, of course, is south.
"I had no compass. I had my moral compass, but I had no compass to guide me," he explains.
"He just drove till he ran out of gas," his mom says.
Ron ended up near Monroe, Wisconsin, where he walked into a stranger's house. He says he was searching for the Holy Grail.
"There was a girl inside and she ran away and she hid," Ron recalls. "And I left the house and was walking down the driveway and I was like,'Oh my god,' and realized, kind of, what I was doing. I just entered someone's house and I scared a girl," he says.
"I had a call from that sheriff," Ron's mom recalls. "He said, 'We have your son here. He is in Green County.' I am like, 'What?'"
The Green County sheriff recommended that Ron be placed on a Chapter 51 Commitment. It was his first ever stay in a mental hospital.
"It was as if someone either took a fist or a giant club and just smacked me right in the chest," Heidi says.
Ron was given a powerful cocktail of anti-psychotic medications, but after he was released, he stopped taking them. One year later, he tried to kill himself with a butcher knife.
"I took a knife to my throat and did it three times, just like this," Ron says, as he motions with his hands wrapped around an imaginary cleaver, jabbing it toward his neck.
"I mean it was like a horror movie," his mom recalls.
Once again, Ron was committed, medicated and released.
"It is like a revolving door with the hospital and court," Heidi says. "Back out, back in, back
out, and uh, that is what is so exhausting."
Heidi says the mental healthcare system is confusing and alienating, especially to parents of an adult.
"It's fine if we can keep him here and we go 'Hey Ron, here are your meds,' and he is going along like a little soldier doing what he should. But no, he is saying he feels okay," Heidi says.
Ron admits he didn't like the medications, because of how they made him feel.
"Most of the time when they gave them to me I stopped right away, because I was either a zombie or zonked out the entire time or just super tired," Ron said.
"That is really tough," says Peter Hoeffel, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Greater Milwaukee. "How do you get somebody treatment if they don't want it?"
Hoeffel says treatment is crucial to managing an illness of the brain.
"Heart disease untreated, that is a bad outcome," Hoeffel says. "Diabetes untreated, bad outcome. Cancer untreated, bad outcome. Mental illness untreated, it's going to be a bad outcome.'"
But Hoeffel says one of the greatest barriers to voluntary treatment is the stigma.
"Who wants to be considered crazy, psycho, a lunatic, a nut-job?" Hoeffel asks.
"It's just not regarded as a real illness," Heidi says. "They are treated like they are criminal, they have some control over this."
In fact, Heidi says the only time she's ever been able to get her son treatment is after something bad happens.
In 2009, Ron drove circles around his parents yard in Kewskum, honking the horn and demanding to be let inside.
"I just heard a loud bang and I just thought, 'Oh, my god.' I thought he took the car through the front of the house," Heidi recalls.
Ron had kicked down the front door.
"For me to knock down that door was like taking down a kingdom," Ron says.
He was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, then later found not guilty by reason of mental disease.
"I feel like that is the only time he has ever gotten into the hospital would be because of the police," Heidi says.
She does not necessarily think her son is a threat to the public. But he has been deemed a "substantial risk" before. And he is currently living, unsupervised, in a south side apartment.
"Who doesn't want to be independent?" Ron asks.
Heidi says the whole reason she is coming forward is to alert the public that there are always warning signs. She's just concerned the system isn't doing enough to treat the mentally ill before something goes wrong.
"We need to investigate what is happening with the mentally ill. How effective their treatment is, if they are being treated," Heidi said.
From the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords to the theater shootings in Colorado, the Sikh Temple shooting in Oak Creek and the massacre of children of Connecticut, mental illness is finally on America's priority list.
"I am glad people are talking about mental health care," Hoeffel says.
But the increased attention is a double-edged sword.
"When you correlate [mass shootings] with mental illness then everyone that has a mental health diagnosis has people thinking they are a potential threat or a danger. That's just not the case," Hoeffel says.
In fact, Hoeffel and Heidi Yocum have opposing views about why these mass shootings are occurring.
"The only common denominator in these school shootings – I mean mass shootings – is a gun," Hoeffel insists.
'It's not guns. That's not the problem. It is the person behind the gun," Heidi Yocum says.
But they both agree that the mental healthcare system needs improvement. And, incidentally, so does Ron.
"When you have people shooting up schools, our mental health system is not good enough," Ron declares. "That right there tells you that our mental health situation in this country and around the world is not good enough."
Earlier this month, Governor Walker pledged nearly $30 million to improve mental healthcare in the Badger state. That includes more than $10 million to expand community-based care programs for people just like Ron Yocum, who do not need to be held in a mental institution, but do need support to keep them on track as they transition back into community life.


text:
Enterprise -> Technology
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Released: 17th June 2013
Publisher: Qumu
June 17, 2013 - Rimage Corporation (NASDAQ: RIMG), the leader in secure multimedia content management and delivery solutions, today announced that it will change its name to Qumu Corporation. The change will take effect in the third quarter of 2013.
The name change reflects the company's ongoing commitment to the growing multi-billion dollar market for enterprise video and rich content. Rimage's Qumu business is demonstrating success in this market, and has been recognized by Forrester Research, Inc., as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Video Platforms for the Enterprise, Q1 2013 report. Revenue for the Qumu enterprise software business is expected to grow by more than 50% in 2013.
Social business trends are driving increased use of video for enterprise communication and collaboration. Qumu provides the tools, infrastructure and service enterprises require to better create, distribute, secure and measure video. The company's innovative solutions release the power in video to fully engage and empower employees, partners, clients and their customers.
"Video is a catalyst for richer business communication," said Sherman Black, CEO of Rimage. "We are focused on helping enterprises use video to get the most from their social business investments."
Rimage will remain a product brand for the company's industry-leading CD/DVD/Blu-ray Disc™ publishing equipment. "We remain committed to our Rimage Disc Publishing business," said Mr. Black. "Our Rimage product line is anticipated to continue generating cash to fuel our overall company growth."
The name change will take effect in Q3 2013. Rimage will work with its customers, partners and suppliers to ensure a smooth transition of its operations to implement this change.
Further information (external website)
Related Links:
Published by: electronicdawn Ltd.


text:
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Building upon its work on a DARPA program, AeroVironment said on Tuesday that it intends to release an unmanned vertical takeoff and landing system in the next three or four years.
Tom Herring, senior vice president and general manager of UAS for AeroVironment, said the only information presently available is that it will be a battery-powered quadrotor that will have a "longer duration than anything out there today."
The aircraft is currently referred to as Shrike, the name of the DARPA program that seeks a perch-and-stare-capable quadrotor that can transmit data back via a digital data link.
The DARPA program is similar to the Nano Air Vehicle, another DARPA program that AeroVironment carried though to Phase 2, the prototype stage. Matthew Keennon, AV's head on the project, says the company is still looking for either Phase 3 funding from DARPA or money from another government agency.
"We'll build whatever they want," says Keennon. "Currently we're trying to figure out exactly what they want."
Possible changes to the system could include improved electronics and a customized battery, since many of the features of the Hummingbird are off the shelf.
"We could actually make it better if we did some custom stuff," says Keennon. "But we were tasked with making a whole system with a somewhat limited budget."
The system currently can fly for 11 minutes, a large improvement over the initial 20-second flight in 2009, which at the time made AeroVironment ecstatic, despite its deafening din that Keennon says "sounded like an Uzi."
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Free Consultation for a Custom Project
DyLight 488™ Goat anti-Rabbit IgG used in confocal microscopy shows detection of changes in AKTpS473 localization in EGF treated A431 cells. A Leica TCS SP5 was used to detect tubulin (cyan) stained with Rockland's DyLight 488™ Goat anti-Rabbit IgG, and AKT (red) stained with Rockland's MAb anti-AKT pS473 p/n 200-301-268. The images show a weak diffuse staining of AKT in serum starved resting cells (''No treatment''), and a marked activation and migration of AKT to the periphery of the cells upon stimulation with the mitogen EGF (''+ EGF 15 min'').
DyLight™ dyes can be used for multi-color immunofluorescence microscopy with uniform fluorescence intensity throughout the image. DyLight™ dyes are exceptionally bright and photostable and are optimized for microscopy and microarray detection methods. This image shows anti-histone detection using a DyLight™ 488 conjugate (green). Anti-Tubulin was detected using a DyLight™ 549 conjugate (red). Nuclei were counter-stained using DAPI (blue). The image was captured using an Axio Imager.Z1 (Zeiss Micro Imaging Inc).
Properties of DyLight™ Fluorescent Dyes.
Rockland Immunochemicals Inc.Limerick, PA 19468E-mail: email@example.com: 800.656.7625
Fax: 484.369.8654


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An improved tip for use with a device for disintegrating tissue located in a predominantly liquid environment. The tip is connected to an oscillation generator, which results in ultrasonic oscillating movement along the tip axis. When placed within the posterior capsule of an eye, the tip causes the tissue of the natural lens in close proximity to disintegrate. The tip has an elongated curved portion having a convex front surface, a concave rear surface and a rear-facing end surface. The elongated curve of the tip and the rear facing end surface allow easy access to all areas of the capsular bag, some of which were relatively unreachable with known ultrasonic tips.
1. A device for disintegrating tissue located in a predominantly liquid environment, said device including an oscillation generator providing an oscillation movement along a first axis at an ultrasonic frequency, a cutting tip having a proximal end and a distal end and operatively connected to said oscillation generator to be drawn and advanced in oscillating movement along said first axis, said cutting tip being positioned in proximity to said tissue wherein said oscillation of said cutting tip causes said tissue to disintegrate, said cutting tip being tubular and
having a curved section intermediate said distal end and said proximal end, and terminating at said distal end in an exposed opening said opening facing in the general direction of said proximal end of said cutting tip and having a peripheral edge around said opening, said opening lying in a plane generally transverse to said first axis, said edge defining a surface generally transverse to said first axis of movement.
2. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 1, wherein said plane is substantially perpendicular to said first axis.
3. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 1, wherein said distal end oscillates along a second axis of movement, said second axis of movement being substantially parallel to and offset from said first axis.
4. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 1, wherein said curved section defines a convex region facing in a direction away from said proximal end and a oppositely facing concave region.
5. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 1, wherein said tube is hollow such that fluid may pass between said proximal end and said distal end.
6. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 4, wherein said convex and said concave regions are alternately create and subsequently collapse cavitation bubbles thereby assisting in the disintegration of the adjacent tissue.
7. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 4, further comprising a source of vacuum connected to said tube for causing fluid and disintegrated tissue to be drawn into said tip such that tissue adjacent said convex region will be drawn away from said convex region toward said opening once said tissue is disintegrated.
8. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 1, wherein said curved section is bent between 160 and 180 arc-degrees.
9. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 1, wherein said tip has a medial portion between said distal and said proximal ends, further comprising:
a sleeve surrounding at least said medial portion of said tip, said curved section and said distal end extending beyond said sleeve.
10. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 1, wherein said surface is shaped and constructed to form cavitation bubbles for disintegrating tissue in the region of said opening.
11. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 10, wherein said rearwardly opening extends rearwardly along a second axis spaced from said first axis.
12. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 11, wherein said first and second axes are substantially parallel.
13. A device for disintegrating tissue according to claim 12, wherein said first and second axes are spaced between approximately 1 mm to 1.8 mm apart.
14. A device for disintegrating tissue, said device including a handle and a cutting tip having a proximal end and a distal end and operatively connected to said handle, said cutting tip comprising:
a tube having a curved section near said distal end, said curve covering between 160 and 180 arc-degrees such that said distal end terminates in a surface lying in a plane generally transverse to said first axis.
The present invention relates to a device for use in the medical field for assisting in the disintegration and removal of tissue, and more particularly to an improved tip element of such a device which is specifically designed for extracting the cataracted natural lens from the eye of either a human or an animal.
A now common medical procedure in eye surgery involves the complete removal of a cataracted lens from a human eye to be later replaced with an intraocular artificial lens. The known procedure includes making an incision in the cornea. To minimize patient trauma and unnecessary tissue damage, this incision is kept very small. The entire operation of disintegrating and removing the damaged natural lens tissue is performed using instruments placed through the small incision. A small vibratory instrument is used to assist in the lens tissue disintegration. The cutting tip is generally tubular and is oscillated by the instrument along its axis at a very high frequency. The cutting tip is inserted into the incision and maneuvered by the surgeon throughout accessible portions of the capsular bag containing the natural lens. The movement of the vibrating cutting tip causes the lens tissue to disintegrate. As the lens breaks apart, the resulting loose lens particles are aspirated from the capsular bag under vacuum by way a first conduit in the tubular cutting tip of the vibrating instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,363 to Banko and Kelman discloses such a hand held instrument for breaking apart and removing tissue from a body site, such as cataracted lens tissue from a human eye. The content of U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,363 hereby incorporated by reference.
There are several problems encountered by surgeons using the above procedure. A first problem is that in addition to the incision in the cornea a substantial portion of the anterior wall of the capsular bag must be removed, in order for the straight end of the tip to have at least some maneuverability in the capsular bag, since an intermediate portion of the tip is essentially fixed in space by its extending through the small corneal incision spaced from the capsular bag. Even after such removal, however, of the anterior capsular wall the geometry of the eye and the location of the incision restrict the accessibility of the surgeon's operating instruments within the capsular bag. In other words, the typically straight cutting tips of the vibratory instrument cannot easily be maneuvered within the capsular bag to effectively reach all parts of the lens to be removed. The straight tips may be angled slightly from side to side, but cannot be angled sufficiently to allow the working end of the tip to reach the areas at the peripheral interior regions of the capsular bag, at least not without removal of a substantial portion of the anterior capsular wall.
To overcome this accessibility problem with the known cutting tips, cutting tips have been made with varying bends, up to 90 arc-degree bends, so that the cutting tip may be maneuvered to reach additional parts of the posterior cavity while operating through the pair of spaced incisions. This bent cutting tip feature is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,694, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other improvements to cutting tips with less than 90 arc-degree bends are shown in my co-pending applications, Ser. No. 07/958,651, filed Oct. 8, 1992, entitled CAVITATION-GENERATING TIP FOR DISINTEGRATING TISSUE, and Ser. No. 08/055,213, filed Apr. 28, 1993, entitled BENT PHACO-TIP WITH SAFETY EDGES.
Even with these bent tips, however, the regions at the outermost peripheral portion at the interior of the capsular bag are not readily accessible to the tip without substantial opening of the anterior capsular wall. Where it is desired to minimize the opening in the anterior capsular wall, a further improved cutting tip is required.
It has been determined by the applicant that the disintegration of tissue in the immediate vicinity of the cutting tip is enhanced by the cavitation effect resulting from the ultrasonic oscillation of the cutting tip within the liquid filled environment of the capsular bag, i.e., posterior capsule.
Whenever any object having a distinct frontal surface area, with respect to the direction of movement, moves relatively quickly within a fluid, a low pressure region (i.e., negative pressure relative to the surrounding fluid) is developed just behind, or adjacent to, such frontal surface. If the magnitude of the negative pressure developed within the low pressure region becomes greater than the negative pressure required to vaporize the particular fluid, the fluid will be vaporized, creating bubbles called cavitation bubbles.
Thus, when the cutting tip of the above-described vibratory instrument moves in a direction away from the surface of the tissue to be disintegrated, a sudden low pressure region is developed within the adjacent fluid resulting in the formation of cavitation bubbles, It is believed that during each ultrasonic oscillation, as the cutting tip continues to move away from the tissue surface, the pressure in the expanding newly formed cavitation bubbles decreases. It is further believed that when the point is reached, during the cycle, where the fluid pressure outside the bubble exceeds the pressure in the expanding cavitation bubbles, there results a collapse of the cavitation bubbles and they are quickly re-absorbed into the fluid. The pressure waves in the fluid resulting from the substantially simultaneous collapsing of thousands of such tiny bubbles, operate on the nearby tissue to help disintegrate it. The rate of "collapse" of the cavitation bubbles determines the degree of assistance to disintegrating the nearby tissue. The greater the number of cavitation bubbles formed and the quicker the rate of collapse of the bubbles, the greater will be the desired damage to the nearby tissue.
It is an object of the invention to provide a cutting tip for use with a vibratory instrument which will provide even greater accessibility to previously inaccessible tissue and to provide at least one additional surface to produce the cavitation bubbles.
It is another object of the invention to provide a cutting tip that causes the disintegrated material to be drawn to the tip end, thus exposing the remaining tissue ultrasonic disintegration.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a cutting tip which will provide the maximum cavitation bubbles to more effectively disintegrate the tissue.
It is a concomitant object of the invention to provide a cutting tip which is so shaped that forwardly and rearwardly facing portions will generate cavitation bubbles for softening or for disintegration of tissue lying forwardly and rearwardly of the tip while the tip end also generates cavitation bubbles for disintegrating tissue lying rearwardly of the tip.
An improved tip for use with a device for disintegrating tissue located in a predominantly liquid environment. The device includes an oscillation generator which provides ultrasonic reciprocating movement along the axis of the device. When placed within the posterior cavity, the tip causes the tissue in close proximity to disintegrate. The tip has an elongated curve that forms a curved frontal surface, a rear surface and a rear-facing end surface. All three of these surfaces create cavitation bubbles within the liquid during the reciprocating strokes of the entire tip. Since the tip is curved, the curve is elongated and the end surface faces rearwardly, it provides easy access to all areas of the posterior capsule, some of which were relatively unreachable with known ultrasonic tips. The tip may also include a vacuum inlet opening at its rear-facing surface. Since the opening is away from the front surface, disintegrated tissue is drawn away from the front surface.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, in conjunction with a review of the appended drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a front schematic view of an eye under treatment with an oscillating straight tip according to the prior art, but with only a small incision made in the anterior wall of the posterior capsule;
FIG. 2 is a front schematic view of an eye under treatment with an oscillating tip according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is an overall cross-sectional side view of a vibratory instrument showing a tip in accordance with the present invention attached thereto;
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional side view of an eye showing the vibratory instrument including the cutting tip in an operational position in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 5 is a front view of the eye of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a partial, sectional side view of a cutting tip assembly in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.
Referring to prior art FIG. 1, a vibratory instrument according to the prior art is shown. The instrument is inserted through small incisions in the cornea and in the anterior wall of the posterior capsule containing the cataracted natural lens. As seen in FIG. 1, while being able to angle the instrument to some degree, it is impossible to have the working end of the straight tip (where the disintegration takes place) come into proximity with any cataracted material that is to the immediate sides of the capsular incision (areas Z, FIG, 1) except by making the incision 28 nearly as large as the entire capsular bag.
Other known tips include bends that provide slightly more access than the tip shown in FIG. 1. For example, there are tips that include an approximately 20° bend with an end surface perpendicular to the axis of the instrument. This can increase the surface area of the end surface, but only minimally increases the access afforded by the tip. For example, areas Z in FIG. 1 would still be inaccessible. Known tips with a 90° bend afford much greater access to the cataracted material, but are still unable to easily reach material that is located behind and to the side of the incision in the bag (see, for example, areas Y in FIG. 5).
Thus, referring to FIGS. 2-6, a vibratory instrument 10 is shown having a curved elongated tip 18. The instrument includes a housing 12, an internal ultrasonic oscillation generator 14, a sleeve 16 and a tubular cutting tip 18. The protective sleeve 16 is tubular and is attached to the housing 12. The protective sleeve 16 is stationary with respect to the housing 12 and, once inserted in the eye, is also stationary with respect to the eye. The cutting tip 18 is positioned within the tubular protective sleeve 16 and is attached to a forward end of the oscillation generator 14. The oscillation generator 14 reciprocates the cutting tip 18 along an axis A at a predetermined ultrasonic oscillation rate. The instrument 10 also preferably includes an irrigation fluid inlet line 20 which is in fluid communication with the tubular protective sleeve 16 and an aspirating fluid outlet line 22 which communicates in a well known manner with an internal passage in the tubular cutting tip.
As described above, a small incision 24 is made in the cornea 26 and an opening 28 is made in the anterior wall of the capsular bag 30 using a scalpel or similar cutting instrument. Together, these two openings provide access to the interior of the capsular bag 30 through which the cutting tip of the vibratory instrument 10 is inserted by a surgeon, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5. The protective sleeve 16 contacts the tissue of the cornea 26 adjacent the small incision 24. The purpose of the protective sleeve 16 is to protect the healthy tissue (i.e., the tissue lying adjacent the incision 24) from the oscillating cutting tip 18 positioned therein. The protective sleeve 16 also provides one-way isolated fluid communication directly with the posterior capsule 30 for providing irrigation fluid to the surgical site.
The cutting tip 18 is also positioned through incision 24 but operates within the protective sleeve 16. A forwardmost portion 32 of the cutting tip 18 extends past the protective sleeve 16 and into contact with the cataracted natural lens 34. As the generator 14 oscillates the cutting tip 18 back and forth along axis A, the surfaces of the tip 18 that are transverse to the axis will cause cavitation bubbles to be formed in the regions extending from those surfaces. The bend of the tip forms a front surface 50 and a rear surface 52, both of which will form cavitation bubbles to disintegrate the cataracted tissue. The front edge (i.e., rearwardly facing surface) 54 of the tip end will also form cavitation bubbles to disintegrate the cataracted tissue facing it. The exact curvature of the tip bend is not critical, although curves having a larger or smaller radius will affect the size of the cavitation-forming surfaces, and so will affect the effectiveness of the tip. The bend of the tip is preferably 180 degrees, although any bend between approximately 160 degrees and 180 degrees is sufficient.
As seen in FIG. 2, the front surface 50 will tend to soften or disintegrate material ahead of the tip 18 along the axis A. Preferably, the area affected by the front surface 50 will act on half of the lens material 56a in the capsular bag 30 at a time. The rear surface 52 will tend to disintegrate material immediately adjacent the sleeve 16 and the tip 18. Once the first half of the lens material 56a in the capsular bag 30 is disintegrated and aspirated (described more fully below), the tip may be rotated 90 degrees along axis A to disintegrate the other half of the lens material 56b in the bag 30.
The rate of oscillation of the generator 14 is preferably in the range between 10 kHz and 60 kHz, more preferably between 40 kHz and 60 kHz. The exact frequency used depends on several factors, including the precise shape of the tip 18, the type of tissue being disintegrated and the degree of disintegration desired. The tip is preferably formed of a titanium alloy, although any medically inert material capable of withstanding the ultrasonic oscillations without melting, fragmenting or otherwise being damaged may be used similarly.
Referring to FIG. 6, a cutting tip 18 in accordance with the invention is shown having a tip shaft or tube 36 positioned along an axis A, a connection end 38, a securing flange 40 and a tip end 42. The tip end 42 includes a tip opening 44 and the front edge 54. As the cutting tip 18 oscillates along the longitudinal axis A, the opening 44 moves along an axis B that is parallel to but displaced from axis A.
To break up the cataracted lens, the surgeon first inserts the tip 18 into the capsular bag 30 by placing the tip end against the incision 28 and then twisting the tip 18 into the bag 30 as though threading a hook into the incision. Once inserted, the surgeon uses the vibrating cutting tip 18 to make a shallow groove 60 generally along the axis of the oscillation and near the center of the lens 34. The surgeon then elongates and deepens the groove until it extends across the lens 34 and almost completely therethrough. The groove 60 is made deeper by removing small amounts of cataracted tissue along the groove 60 until the lens 34 cracks into two more manageable half sections 56a,56b.
In carving out the groove 60, the lens 34 has now become somewhat smaller in volume. However, the complete removal of the lens now requires that each of the two half sections 56a,56b be disintegrated. To disintegrate a half section in a controlled manner, the surgeon positions the cutting tip 18 against the section. The surgeon uses the cavitation effects at the front surface 50, rear surface 52 and rear-facing front edge 54 of the oscillating tip 18, together with the suction of the aspiration fluid moving through the tube 36 to effectively and quickly disintegrate the half section.
As the front surface 50 moves away from the tissue of the half section 56a during one half of each reciprocation cycle, a negative pressure is generated in the fluid between the front surface 50 and the tissue surface. This negative pressure causes cavitation bubbles to form both on and adjacent the surface of the tissue and within the cells making up the tissue. As the pressure increases, the cavitation bubbles collapse as they are absorbed back into the surrounding fluid. It is believed that this collapse of cavitation bubbles causes cell walls to burst apart to thereby disintegrate the tissue. The same effect occurs at the rear surface 52 acting on lens material adjacent that surface and at the front edge 54 on material ahead of the tip end. Thus, significant disintegration occurs at the tip end 42 as well as at the surfaces 50, 52.
As the cavitation-assisted disintegration of tissue of the half section 56a continues, the vacuum from the aspiration of fluid continuously pulls the small particles of natural lens tissue around to the tip end 42 in a rotation-like motion (see arrow C, FIG. 2). This has the effect of drawing fragmented portions of the lens that are farther away from the front surface 50 of the tip 18 toward the front surface 50 and the front edge 54 to be more effectively disintegrated at those surfaces. As the surgeon moves the tip 18 around the half section 56a of the lens, all of the disintegrated material is eventually removed. The surgeon can then rotate and angle the tip 18 to disintegrate the opposite half 56b of the cataracted natural lens in the same manner.
In the above-described preferred embodiment of the invention, the outside diameter of the tip is preferably in the range of 0.5 mm to 0.9 mm and the wall thickness is about 0.05 mm to 0.15 mm. The diameter of the opening 44 is preferably 0.4 mm to 0.8 mm. The elongated curved portion of the tip is approximately 1 mm to 1.8 mm wide, i.e. the distance between parallel axes A and B (FIG. 6).
It will be appreciated that the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings are set forth by way of illustration and not limitation of the present invention, and that various modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention which is to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.
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Lyons Den is wall-to-wall fandom delight
Kelly and Leonard Lyons have a different retirement plan than most. Instead of counting on Social Security, Kelly, a high school teacher, and Leonard, who works at Autozone, own and run the Lyons Den, a comic book and gaming store right off Main Street in Vidor. The store sells trading cards, comic books, role-playing games, […] [Read More]


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Thanks go to Harold for this find…
Here are the 10 worst charities in America from the list compiled by the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Tampa Bay Times, along with the percentage of money raised that went to the supposed cause:
The charities were ranked based on how much money they spent on solicitors. Kids Wish Network paid about $110 million of $128 million raised to fundraisers, the report said.
Groups like these tend to rely on telephone solicitations to collect donations. Some are little more than fronts for the companies that raise the money. Every time a consumer makes a donation to the "charity," the bulk of it stays with the company that made the pitch.
Here are some tips to avoid donating to for-profit telephone solicitation operation when your intention was to support charity:
Yes, well, you didn't give … to begin with … so?
Fact is persons who identify as conservatives or far more likely to be charitable than those who are on your side Libs, so don't be so smug about it. You point a finger at us and you got 4 more pointing back at yourself.