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Previous work has shown that leaf-cutting ants prefer to cut leaf material with relatively low fungal endophyte content. This preference suggests that fungal endophytes exact a cost on the ants or on the development of their colonies. We hypothesized that endophytes may play a role in their host plants' defense against leaf-cutting ants. To measure the long-term cost to the ant colony of fungal endophytes in their forage material, we conducted a 20-week laboratory experiment to measure fungal garden development for colonies that foraged on leaves with low or high endophyte content.
Colony mass and the fungal garden dry mass did not differ significantly between the low and high endophyte feeding treatments. There was, however, a marginally significant trend toward greater mass of fungal garden per ant worker in the low relative to the high endophyte treatment. This trend was driven by differences in the fungal garden mass per worker from the earliest samples, when leaf-cutting ants had been foraging on low or high endophyte leaf material for only 2 weeks. At two weeks of foraging, the mean fungal garden mass per worker was 77% greater for colonies foraging on leaves with low relative to high endophyte loads.
Our data suggest that the cost of endophyte presence in ant forage material may be greatest to fungal colony development in its earliest stages, when there are few workers available to forage and to clean leaf material. This coincides with a period of high mortality for incipient colonies in the field. We discuss how the endophyte-leaf-cutter ant interaction may parallel constitutive defenses in plants, whereby endophytes reduce the rate of colony development when its risk of mortality is greatest.
Keywords:Atta colombica; Attini; Leaf-cutting ants; Lepiotaceae; Mutualism; Symbioses
Foliar endophytic fungi (hereafter "endophytes") live within leaves and other above-ground plant tissues without causing any apparent signs of disease [1]. Previous work in temperate areas has demonstrated that some endophytes defend their host plants by making their leaves less palatable to insect herbivores [2-5]. Leaf-cutting ants (genera Atta and Acromyrmex, Myrmicinae) maintain an obligate symbiosis with their fungal cultivar (Basidiomycota, Leucocoprinus gongylophorus) [6,7]. The ants defoliate a wide diversity of plants and often have an enormous effect on local flora and distribution of nutrients [8-10]. The worker ants cut leaves, carry them to the nest, clean them, and use them as compost to cultivate their symbiont fungus. The ants' fungal symbiont then partially degrades the leaf material, converting leaf biomass to fungal food for the ants.
While the ant-cultivar symbiosis is relatively well studied, the potential interactions among the ants' cultivar and fungal endophytes are only recently receiving attention. In the temperate zone, one previous experiment with grasses found evidence of endophyte toxicity toward leaf-cutting ant queens for some grass-endophyte combinations, suggesting a defensive mutualism between the grass and endophyte [11]. A few descriptive studies have suggested that some fungal endophytes can enter and persist in the ant's gardens. Endophytes were isolated from the gardens of naturally occurring Acromyrmex sp. nests [12], and from laboratory colonies of Atta cephalotes; in the latter endophyte composition changed when ants were offered a new food source [13]. Despite these observations, little is known about how ants and their fungal cultivar interact with endophytic fungi in their forage material [14-17].
Previous research with laboratory colonies of Atta colombica (Guérin-Méneville) (Myrmicinae; Attini) in Panama has shown that (1) ants spend 45% more time cutting and removing leaf pieces with high versus low endophyte loads, (2) ants reduce the amount of endophytic fungi in leaves before planting them in their gardens and (3) the ants' fungal cultivar inhibits the growth of most endophytes tested using in vitro bioassays [14]. Moreover, when given a choice, leaf-cutter ants cut nearly 50% more leaf area from seedlings with low endophyte relative to high endophyte loads [17]. These short-term experiments, however, did not test whether the extra time spent cutting and preparing leaves translated into a cost for the colony, such as reduced fungal growth and overall colony development. The overall growth rate of the colony is likely to depend on many factors, including the maturity of the colony, environmental conditions, and the amount of time necessary for worker ants to cut, process and plant material in the fungal gardens. Moreover, the ants' fungal cultivar is likely to interact with plant material from different host plants in idiosyncratic ways, with some host plants providing a superior substrate for cultivar growth.
Here we report a 20-week long experiment that monitored the development of A. colombica colonies foraging on leaves with high or low endophyte loads. The experiment was conducted to provide evidence for or against the hypothesis that foliar endophytes reduce defoliation to plants that host them by negatively affecting leaf-cutting ant colonies and their fungal symbiont. Previous observations with A. colombica suggested that endophytes were not directly toxic to the ants or their fungi (Van Bael unpublished). We therefore predicted that endophytes would exact a cost on ant colonies by slowing their overall development rate. This prediction assumes that early ant colony development is limited by how much leaf material the workers can cut.
An alternative hypothesis is that leaf-cutting ants and their cultivar benefit from the activity of certain endophytic fungi in their fungal gardens. In this case, leaf-cutting ants could choose to remove some strains of endophytes, but actively plant and encourage the growth of others. There may be an unrecognized benefit to maintaining diverse endophytic fungi in leaf-cutter ant gardens, as suggested for microbiome diversity in general (e.g., [18]). If such benefits outweigh the cost of extra time needed to manipulate endophytes, we would expect to see greater survivorship and growth rates in colonies that foraged on leaves with high endophyte loads.
Study site and study species
The Gamboa field station (9° 07′N, 79° 42′W) of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in the Republic of Panama borders lowland, wet tropical forest and hosts a high abundance and diversity of plants, endophytic fungi and leaf-cutting ants. The most common leaf-cutting ant species in the forest margins and open areas of Gamboa is Atta colombica. We grew cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus) from seeds and cassava plants (Manihot esculenta) from cuttings as both plants grew rapidly in greenhouse conditions and provided a constant source of forage material for laboratory colonies.
Endophyte treatments
To provide Elow and Ehigh forage material to the feeding groups, we manipulated endophyte density and diversity of leaf material using two different techniques. Initially, plants were maintained free of endophytes by planting seeds or cuttings in sterile growth chambers (2 weeks). Then all C. sativus plants were moved to plastic enclosures inside of greenhouses (2–4 weeks), while M. esculenta plants remained in the growth chambers. We then introduced fungi in two ways. For M. esculenta, laboratory inoculations involved growing pure cultures of Colletotrichum tropicale ( [19], strain Q633) conidia in broth, concentrating conidia in sterile water, and applying them as a spray onto cassava leaves. Control plants had sterile water sprayed on their leaves (as in [14]). For C. sativus, forest inoculations involved moving a subset of potted cucumber plants from the greenhouse to the forest during the night time only. The plants obtained the natural complement of endophyte spore fall by night, but the daytime conditions in the growth chamber remained the same for inoculated and control plants (as in [17]) (for details on plant inoculations see Additional file 1).
Additional file 1. Additional supporting information on plant inoculation methods.
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Throughout our study, we isolated endophytes from 124 experimental leaves of C. sativus and 12 experimental leaves of M. esculenta to assess the abundance and diversity of endophytes and thereby check the validity of our treatments. Using standard endophyte isolation methods [20], we cut 2 mm2 leaf segments, surface sterilized them, and plated them on to 2% malt extract agar (MEA), a standard mycological medium. The plates were sealed and incubated at room temperature until we observed mycelia extending into the medium. From the C. sativus leaf pieces, a subset of the fungi (207 individual strains) were isolated into pure culture. After two weeks, plates were sorted by morphospecies and one or two individuals of the most common 5 morphotypes were identified using molecular genetic methods (n = 8 fungal strains, detailed below).
We harvested some of our treated cucumber leaves throughout the experiment for measurements of leaf mass per unit leaf area (LMA) and of nutritional content. These leaves were inoculated using forest inoculations, and were from the same plants that we used to provide forage material to the ants. For LMA leaves, we scanned the leaves to measure leaf area and dried them in a drying oven at 70°C for at least 5 days. Then we measured the mass of each dried leaf to estimate the LMA on a per leaf basis (n = 60 leaves). An additional subset of cucumber forage leaves were dried and sent for analysis of nutritional content (P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Mn, Cu, Fe) at the University of Florida Analytical Research Laboratory (Gainesville, FL).
Feeding experiment
We collected ~ 450 incipient A. colombica queens during their nuptial flight in May 2010. A. colombica queens carry a small piece of their natal fungal garden for establishment after mating. We kept the queens in small plastic containers with a small amount of soil collected from areas where they were found digging. Queens naturally established their fungal gardens, produced eggs and survived this period without external nutrition provided by our experiment. After five weeks, approximately 40% of the queens survived and we photographed their growing fungal garden to assess fungal area. To minimize disturbance, we did not remove queens during these photographs. When the first workers emerged (~6 weeks after the queens' flight) we selected 120 colonies to include in our fungal garden development experiment. Colonies were haphazardly assigned to a low endophyte diet (hereafter, Elow, n=60) or a high endophyte diet (Ehigh, n=60) group. These colonies were placed in a 15 × 30 cm open plastic container with fluon (Teflon® PTFE 30) surrounding the edges to prevent the foraging ants' escape. This plastic container also served as the foraging arena.
Over the course of the feeding experiment, colonies were provided with (1) cucumber leaves with high or low densities of endophytes, using leaf material from forest inoculations (1 seedling /day, 5 days/week); (2) cassava leaves with high or low density endophytes, using laboratory inoculations (~1-2 leaves/month); and (3) an open petri plate with 1 g of mixed corn meal and oats (for supplementary feeding over the weekend, 2 days/week). We did not remove uncut plants or leaves from prior feedings until they were replaced with fresh plants in subsequent feedings. Our intent was to constantly provide forage material (with some diversity) to the colonies, although the natural diversity of Atta colombica forage material is much higher [9].
We haphazardly chose colonies in each treatment group to destructively sample after 2, 4, 10, 16 and 20 weeks of foraging. The sample sizes for E- and E+ colonies from each period were; 15 and 15 colonies in week 2, 15 and 13 colonies in week 4, 9 and 8 colonies in week 10, 9 and 9 colonies in week 16, and 7 and 9 colonies in week 20. The effort needed to produce the forage material necessitated having fewer fungal gardens as the colonies grew. At each sampling time, we placed the colonies in the freezer. We then measured the fresh weight of the entire colony (including brood, garden and all ants except for the queen), the queens' fresh mass, and we photographed each colony. We then separated the workers from the fungal garden and counted the pupae and the worker ants, grouping them into 2 size categories; small < 3 mm, and large > 3 mm. We lyophilized the fungal garden and measured the dry mass of the fungal garden only.
Laboratory vs. field comparisons
We wanted to assess the impact of our laboratory conditions and feeding regime on general microbial communities within the ants' fungal garden. We sampled from 18 laboratory fungal gardens for culturable bacteria and fungi during week 16 of the feeding experiment. During the three previous weeks, we sampled from 19 A. colombica fungal gardens in the field around Gamboa in order to compare the microbial communities in field and laboratory conditions. Each sampling consisted of plating 18 1.5 mm2 pieces of the fungal garden per colony on 3 MEA plates (6 per plate). We scored the plates after 7 days to assess whether the garden isolate grew the ants' symbiont fungi only, non-symbiont fungi, or bacteria. In some cases we saw that the fungal garden isolate produced both symbiont and non-symbiont fungi, in which case we scored them for both. We calculated percentages of fungal garden isolates with each type of growth, with overall percentages reaching over 100% in some cases where several types of fungi or bacteria grew out of the fungal garden section. Within the non-symbiont fungi we did a visual estimate of how many morphospecies per isolate were present on the plate, based on colony characteristics. Some garden pieces grew more than one non-symbiont or bacteria morphotype, in which case we counted each as an individual.
We also documented incipient ant queen and colony mortality in field versus laboratory conditions. In 2011, we measured the survival of A. colombica colonies in the field during 3 months after queens flew. This was measured in 4 plots that were ~ 25 m2 each, at least 0.5 km apart, and were all in open areas where queens dug holes in high abundance. Our first measurement was taken on the morning after the mating flight, when the queens' entrance holes were clearly visible. The second measurement was 8 weeks later, when the young incipient colonies had just emerged. The third measurement was 4 weeks later, to emulate the 4-week sample in our laboratory feeding experiment. Across the plots we measured the fate of 375 queens.
Molecular analyses
We selected 8 representative strains from our 5 most common morphospecies isolated from cucumber leaves as endophytes, and 13 strains isolated from the fungal gardens as non-symbiont fungi, to identify the most common morphotypes present in the leaves and gardens. To determine the taxonomic affinities of these strains, primers ITS5 and ITS4 [21] were used to amplify the approximately 540bp ITS, followed by sequencing with the same primers.
Statistical analyses
We used general linear models to estimate the effects of endophyte treatment (nested within sampling time) on fresh colony mass, number of workers, queen mass, dry garden mass, fresh colony mass per worker (× 1000), and dry garden mass per worker (× 1000). We followed this with Mann–Whitney U tests for the individual sample times. For various reasons, such as colony mortality, queen mortality, and problems with fungal garden masses, our final sample size for most general linear models was approximately 105–108 colonies. We used standard t tests to compare LMA, nutrient content, endophyte abundance, and garden isolates between the treatments or sampling areas. These tests were all performed using Systat [22]. We further used the species diversity estimator Chao 2 [23] to compare the endophyte morphospecies diversity in our forage material.
Endophyte treatments
Our endophyte treatments resulted in leaf tissue that had significantly different endophyte loads. Over the course of the experiment, the mean (± 1 se) % of leaf pieces from C. sativus with endophytes for Elow and Ehigh leaves were 39 ± 4% and 93 ± 2% respectively, which was significantly different (two tailed t-test, t = 12.7, 82 d.f., P < 0.001). In contrast, the estimated number of morphospecies was similar for the two treatments. We isolated 38 morphospecies (95% CI 27–49) from Elow leaves, and 39 morphospecies (95% CI 28–50) for Ehigh leaves. Using a species diversity estimator Chao 2, the two treatments also showed no difference between Elow (estimated at 134 morphospecies (95% CI 71–315)) and Ehigh (estimated at 124 morphospecies (95% CI 68–287)) leaves. Our isolations from M. esculenta showed that C. tropicale grew from 68 ± 2% and 0.1 ± .01% of the leaf pieces for Ehigh and Elow leaves respectively. We did not observe endophytes other than C. tropicale in the M. esculenta plants, as they were protected from ambient spore fall in growth chambers.
We sampled leaves throughout the experiment to test whether the treatments differed in several leaf parameters. We found that the two treatments did not differ with respect to mean (± 1 se) mass per unit leaf area mg cm-2 (Elow 1.14 ± 0.04, Ehigh 1.11 ± 0.04, t = −0.54, d.f. = 58, P = 0.56). Leaf tissue from the two endophyte treatments did not differ with respect to nutrients (P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Mn, Cu, Fe; n=6, all P values > 0.10, data not shown).
Feeding experiment
At the outset of the feeding experiment, we measured the area of each fungal garden before any workers were born and foraging. After the experiment, we confirmed that initial area of the fungal garden was not different between Elow and Ehigh treatments (t = −0.39, d.f. = 107, P = 0.70).
Colony mortality was low throughout the experiment and did not differ among the treatments. Specifically, only 9% (11/120) of the colonies did not survive the experiment, with 4% and 5% not surviving in Elow and Ehigh treatment groups, respectively. Most mortality (10/11 colonies) occurred between 2 and 10 weeks of ants' foraging.
The results of our general linear models showed that the effect of Elow and Ehigh treatment on fresh fungal garden mass, dry garden mass, the total number of workers and the queen mass was not significant (Table 1). We observed a marginally significant trend toward greater values of fungal garden mass per worker in Elow relative to Ehigh colonies, for both fresh and dry mass measurements (Table 1). When we plotted the fungal garden mass per worker over the different harvest time periods, we observed that the first time period (2 weeks of ants foraging on Elow and Ehigh leaves) showed the greatest difference between treatments (Figure 1). At the 2 week harvest period, the Elow gardens were on average 77% larger (per worker) than the Ehigh gardens (Figure 1, Mann–Whitney U = 55, n = 29, P = 0.03). This pattern was due to both a greater mean number of workers (56 vs. 47) and greater mean fungal garden mass (dry values, 0.20 g vs. 0.08 g) for the Elow and Ehigh gardens, respectively.
Table 1. General linear models with the independent variable of treatment nested within sample time
Figure 1. The mean (± 1 standard error) fresh colony mass per unit worker for colonies (in grams x 1000) that were fed leaves with high (Ehigh) and low (Elow) endophyte densities.
Laboratory vs. field comparisons
The abundance and diversity of culturable bacteria and fungi in the fungal gardens differed between endophyte treatments and also when fungal gardens were sampled from the laboratory versus the field (Table 2). The fungi cultured from garden isolates included the symbiont fungi and also other fungi (non-symbiont) that may or may not have been endophytes. Elow gardens showed very high fungal loads of non-symbiont fungus relative to Ehigh gardens. This finding may have been a sign of persistent non-symbiont fungal infection, since the symbiont fungus was significantly less culturable from Elow relative to Ehigh fungal gardens (Table 2). If so, it suggests the symbiont fungus was being outcompeted by non-symbiont fungi. We also observed a higher diversity of morphospecies isolates in Ehigh relative to Elow fungal gardens (Table 2). Comparing the laboratory and field colonies, we observed significantly more bacteria and fewer non-symbiont fungi in field gardens relative to laboratory gardens. Also, the diversity of non-symbiont fungal morphospecies in garden isolates was significantly greater in field relative to laboratory colonies (Table 2).
Table 2. The mean (± 1 se) values for culturable fungi and bacteria in laboratory and field fungal gardens
A. colombica survival in the field during the first months was low. At the time of worker emergence, our plots yielded 2, 6, 9 and 36 colonies. After four weeks of foraging, our four plots yielded 0,0,1 and 22 colonies that survived, so that overall (23/375) 6% of the colonies survived after the first month of foraging.
Molecular identifications
We sequenced the ITS region for several of the most common endophyte morphospecies present in the cucumber leaves given to the leaf-cutter ants (Table 3). We further isolated nonsymbiont fungi from the laboratory gardens and from fungal gardens in the field, and sequenced the most common morphospecies (Table 4). None of most common endophytes were similar to isolates of the most common non-symbiont fungi from the ants' cultivar (Table 3, Table 4). Hypocrea virens (a fungal parasite that is a teleomorph of Trichoderma virens) was the top match for all three of the most common morphospecies isolated from the fungal gardens of laboratory colonies. This suggests that our pure cultures representing morphospecies of non-symbiont fungi were not actually pure, and contained H. virens from the ants' fungal colony as well.
Table 3. Top GenBank matches for the five most common endophyte morphospecies isolated from C. sativus (cucumber) leaves that were given to leaf-cutting ants during the feeding experiment
Table 4. Top GenBank matches for non-symbiont fungal strains isolated from fungal gardens in the laboratory and in the field
We observed a trend toward a greater fungal garden mass per unit worker when the ants were fed a low endophyte diet, but the difference was only marginally significant over the whole experiment. The trend was driven by the colony measurements from the first sampling, two weeks after worker ants emerged and began cutting leaves. A foundress queen rears her first brood of young using trophic eggs, and nourishes the fungal cultivar with secretions [6,7], so we did not provide queens with leaves for cutting. Thus, this result of smaller colonies and fewer workers is solely due to effects of endophytes on workers, not the queen. This suggests that endophyte loads may limit colony productivity for very young colonies with few, naïve workers, but that within a month of cutting the colony productivity (as measured by fungal mass per unit worker) was similar between low and high endophyte treatments.
H. virens, a fungal parasite and the teleomorph of Trichoderma virens[24], was sequenced from several of our laboratory colony isolates (Table 3). It may have been present in the laboratory colonies at higher levels than in the field colonies. Further, our sampling of fungal gardens after 16 weeks of leaf-cutter ant foraging showed there were greater levels of non-symbiont fungal infection in Elow relative to Ehigh laboratory colonies. One possible interpretation is that the presence of high endophyte loads in leaf material brought by the ants may actually help the leaf-cutter ants' symbiont defend against fungal parasites in the garden. This echoes the hypotheses in human agriculture that polycultural practices help defend crops against herbivores and diseases [25], or that a diverse microbiome should be less susceptible to successful invasion by a pathogen [18]. Interestingly we also observed that fungal gardens freshly harvested from the field had higher bacteria and lower non-symbiont fungal loads than our laboratory colonies, suggesting that the microbial community in laboratory gardens was disturbed and not representative of natural communities.
Our experiment was limited by several factors. First, the laboratory setting protected all colonies from soil pathogens, predators, fungal parasites, and potential fungal mutualists that the ant colonies would have experienced in nature. Second, due to the practical difficulties of producing large quantities of forage material for our experimental colonies, we provided the ants with an artificially narrow diet relative to what they would forage on in nature [9], though colonies near monoculture (human) farms would naturally have lower diversity of forage material. We chose the plants C. sativus and M. esculenta because they were experimentally tractable, relative to rainforest plant species that would not produce enough leaves rapidly enough to support our colonies. Finally, the levels of endophytes in our Elow treatment were higher than we expected with respect to previous experiments where "forest inoculations" were used. For example, in Bittleston et al.[17], Cordia alliodora leaves with low endophyte treatments resulted in 13% of the leaf area containing endophytes (vs. 39% in this experiment). Thus, the difference between treatments was less than ideal to see whether endophytes play an important role in fungal garden development.
Considering that endophytes are symbionts that obtain resources from their hosts and grow within their hosts, it is plausible that endophytes of woody plants have evolved ways to defend their hosts, and thus themselves, from being eaten or carried away and decomposed. Plants generally defend themselves from herbivore attack using: (i) inducible defense, whereby herbivore attack elicits changes in leaf chemistry that reduce palatability, (ii) constitutive or "quantitative" defense, in which leaf toughness, fiber, leaf-chemistry, and/or low nutrient availability collectively work to increase an herbivore's development time on a particular food plant (reviewed in [26,27]), (iii) or a combination of inducible and constitutive defense. Constitutive defenses that slow herbivore growth lead to the prediction that longer development time of herbivores will increase their exposure to predators and parasites [26]. We suggest that endophytes are functionally analogous to constitutive defenses toward ants and their cultivar, in that increased development time (slower growth rates) of ant colonies leads to greater rates of mortality among incipient colonies.
Detailed longitudinal studies in natural populations are lacking for most leaf-cutter species, as is true for ants in general [28]. For Atta capiguara, fewer than 2% of incipient nests survive through the claustral stage (i.e., when the first workers emerge) [29], but successful nest establishment also depends on the local density of mature colonies. A review of the limited data for Atta gives comparable figures for other species [28], although factors other than disease may also be important. In A. sexdens, for example, probability of nest survival is also contingent on duration of digging activity [30]. In a savannah species (A. laevigata), about 3% of inseminated queens successful established a nest ( [31], cited in [32]). After the first workers emerged, nest mortality was approximately 45% per month for the next 25 months, then monthly mortality rates dropped to single digits [32]. At our study site, where Atta spp. are abundant, ~6% of the incipient A. colombica queens resulted in productive colonies. Given these mortality schedules, our data raise the possibility that there is a differential cost of endophytes to the colony during the early weeks of establishment—an important time interval for determining colony survival [28]—relative to already-established colonies. Since our laboratory colonies tended to survive this mortality window despite endophyte loads, however, this hypothesis assumes that the cost of endophytes in ant forage material interacts with other environmental or biotic factors to cause less productivity or greater mortality. For example, workers of incipient colonies are monomorphic, while those of mature colonies are highly polymorphic [6,7]. Tiny minor workers, which have relatively larger antibiotic- producing glands, are efficient at removing pathogenic spores from interstices deep within in a garden, and are recruited to sites of infection by larger major workers [33,34], but these size-based efficiencies cannot be realized by a small, monomorphic, work force. Similarly, the production of costly antibiotic compounds and the extra time needed for cleaning leaf material with endophytes, which can increase by 40% on average when leaf material is high in endophyte abundance [16], could decrease the developing colony's ability to properly patrol and clear the garden from microbial invaders [35,36]. Such an effect would be strongest when there are few workers available to perform colony defensive duties. Accordingly, previous studies have suggested that the number of workers present will influence the colony's ability to defend itself against pathogens and parasites [37-39].
In summary, our experiment provided evidence for a cost of endophytes on fungal garden productivity, but only during the first weeks of leaf-cutter ant foraging. Combined with high mortality rates in the field for incipient colonies, this provides partial support for our hypothesis that foliar endophytes defend their host plants from leaf-cutter ant attack. Our alternative hypothesis, that endophyte diversity could actually help colony productivity, was not supported by the measurements of ant colony productivity in this experiment. The microbial communities in fungal gardens, however, did change as a result of the high and low endophyte diets. Whether these changes in the microbial community affect the ant colonies' defense against pathogens and parasites deserves further attention.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
SV conceived the study, participated in the experimental design, statistical analyses, coordination of data collection and writing of the manuscript; CE participated in the data collection and manuscript preparation; SR participated in the design of the molecular aspects of the experiment and manuscript preparation; FS collected the molecular data and was involved in manuscript preparation; WW participated in the design of the experiment and manuscript preparation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
We thank H. Fernández-Marín, M. Seid, and H. Herz for helpful advice and L. Mejía & two anonymous reviewers for comments on the MS. For help in the field and laboratory, we thank R. Welter, C. Gill, T. Hammer, M. Zavodnik, P. Galgani, M. Sosa, T. Tascón, A. Concepción, M. Franco, and I. Ochoa. For logistical support we thank R. Urriola and A. Ruiz. This work was funded by NSF DEB- 0949602 to SAV, WW, and SR; SENACYT FID10-091 to SAV and WW; the Smithsonian Institute and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Permission was granted to do this by Panama's Authority on the Environment (ANAM).
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Price PW, Bouton CE, Gross P, McPheron BA, Thompson JN, Weis AE: Interactions among three trophic levels - Influence of plants on interactions between herbivores and natural enemies.
Annu Rev Ecol Syst 1980, 11:41-65. Publisher Full Text
Coley PD, Barone JA: Herbivory and plant defenses in tropical forests.
Annu Rev Ecol Syst 1996, 27:305-335. Publisher Full Text
Cole BJ: The ecological setting of social evolution: the demography of ant populations. In Organization of Insect Societies From Genome to Sociocomplexity. Edited by Gadau J, Fewell J. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; 2009:74-104.
Fowler HG, Robinson SW, Diehl J: Effect of mature colony density on colonization and initial colony survivorship in Atta capiguara, a leaf-cutting ant.
Biotropica 1984, 16:51-54. Publisher Full Text
Camargo RS, Forti LC, Fujihara RT, Roces F: Digging effort in leaf-cutting ant queens (Atta sexdens rubropilosa) and its effects on survival and colony growth during the claustral phase.
Insectes Sociaux 2011, 58:17-22. Publisher Full Text
Mariconi F: As Saúvas. São Paolo: Editora Agronómica Ceres; 1970. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
Hernández JV, Ramos C, Borjas M, Jaffe K: Growth of Atta laevigata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) nests in pine plantations.
Fla Entomol 1999, 82:97-103. Publisher Full Text
Hughes WOH, Bot ANM, Boomsma JJ: Caste-specific expression of genetic variation in the size of antibiotic-producing glands of leaf-cutting ants.
P Roy Soc B-Biol Sci 2010, 277:609-615. Publisher Full Text
Gerstner AT, Poulsen M, Currie CR: Recruitment of minor workers for defense against a specialized parasite of Atta leaf-cutting ant fungus gardens.
Ethol Ecol Evol 2011, 23:61-75. Publisher Full Text
Currie CR, Stuart AE: Weeding and grooming of pathogens in agriculture by ants.
P Roy Soc B-Biol Sci 2001, 268:1033-1039. Publisher Full Text
Poulsen M, Bot ANM, Nielsen MG, Boomsma JJ: Experimental evidence for the costs and hygienic significance of the antibiotic metapleural gland secretion in leaf-cutting ants.
Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2002, 52:151-157. Publisher Full Text
Hughes WOH, Eilenberg J, Boomsma JJ: Trade-offs in group living: transmission and disease resistance in leaf-cutting ants.
P Roy Soc B-Biol Sci 2002, 269:1811-1819. Publisher Full Text
Wilson-Rich N, Spivak M, Fefferman NH, Starks PT: Genetic, individual, and group facilitation of disease resistance in insect societies.
Annu Rev Entomol 2009, 54:405-423. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
Purcell J, Brutsch T, Chapuisat M: Effects of the social environment on the survival and fungal resistance of ant brood.
Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2012, 66:467-474. Publisher Full Text


text:
Baccalaureate Degree in Construction
Semester Undergraduate Course Descriptions
CM 1000 Orientation to Construction and Development 1-2-2
An introduction to construction industry careers; an overview of construction industry sectors and the industry's impact on the economy; and discussion of the basics of the construction process. Also includes a preview of the construction degree curriculum and an overview of Southern Polytechnic policies, procedures, and resources.
CM 2000: Construction Graphics 2-2-3
A study of the fundamentals of graphic language used by construction professionals, with an emphasis on developing skills in expressing concepts in visual form and in reading architectural and engineering construction documents.
CM 2910, 2920, 2930, 2940 SPECIAL TOPICS 1-4 hrs variable
Prerequisite: Consent of Program Head
Special topics in construction.Offered by the program at its discretion.
CM 3000 Computer Applications in Construction 2-3-3
An introduction to microcomputers and commercial software. Students learn Excel and PowerPoint are taught in CNST 3000 along with the start of Primavera and Sure Track. Scheduling and estimating software are introduced.
CM 3110 Building Techniques and Methods I 2-2-3
Prerequisite: CM 2000
A study of materials, techniques, and methods used in residential and light construction. Foundations, wood frame and masonry structural systems, interior and exterior finishes, residential electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems are included. Also included are residential building code requirements.
CM 3160: Building Techniques and Methods II 2-2-3
Prerequisite: CM 2000
A study of the materials, techniques, and methods used in non-residential construction. Site setup, earthwork, foundations, structural frames, building envelope, interior finishes and specialties are included. Special attention is given to installation techniques, planning work in the field, integration of building systems, and specialty trades.
CM 3180: Building Techniques and Methods III 4-0-4
A study of mechanical and electrical system types, how they are built, and how they affect the construction project. Topics will include air conditioning, heating, plumbing, fire protection, electrical power, electrical lighting and building control materials and systems. The analysis of current construction drawings will be integrated into each topic.
CM 3210 Applied Structures I 4-0-4
Prerequisite: CET 2200
A study of structural design analysis and design concepts used in steel and concrete construction. Topics include selection of structural systems and the design of columns, beams, and other structural components.
CM 3260 Applied Structures II 2-2-3
Prerequisite: CET 2200
A study of structural design and analysis concepts of temporary structures used in the construction process. Topics include form work design, scaffolding, and material handling equipment and staging.
CM 3280: Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Codes and Loads 4-0-4
Building mechanical, electrical, and plumbing loads and applicable codes. Emphasis is placed on how they affect the construction process. Topics will include air conditioning, heating, plumbing, fire protection, electrical power, electrical lighting and building control systems. The analysis of current construction drawings will be integrated into each topic.
CM 3310 Introduction to Development 3-0-3
Prerequisite: CM 1000
An overview of development and planning including introduction to real property development principles and processes. The roles of professionals involved in the process will be investigated. The relationship of land development to urban planning, community organization, housing, and economic development will be explored.
CM 3410 Construction Estimating I 3-2-4
Prerequisite: CM 3160, CM 3000
A study of techniques in the process of construction estimating, with an emphasis on development of the quantity survey. The completion of a specification takeoff and a quantity survey of commercial construction are required.
CM 3411 Construction Estimating Software 1-2-2
Prerequisite: CM 3410
Hands-on computer application of commonly used commercial construction estimating software to construction projects.Instruction in use of the software.
CM 3420 Construction Estimating II 3-2-4
Prerequisite: CM3410
The continued study of the estimating process emphasizing pricing the general contractor's work, including estimating procedures, development of direct and indirect unit costs, evaluation of subcontractor bids, bidding strategy and bid opening. The completion of an estimate, bid submission, and development of a schedule of values are required. Also included is an introduction to conceptual estimating.
CM 3430 Construction Estimating III 2-2-3
Prerequisite: CM 3410
A study of quantity take-off techniques and equipment productivity analysis necessary to development. Small scale development project budgeting will be analyzed from the developer viewpoint. Initial conceptual design budget is based on square foot or assembly pricing for the various construction systems and detailed estimate for the infra-structure costs including site work and utilities. Indirect costs associated with zoning, local codes, and ordinances, as well as soft cost associated with design and engineering, will be discussed.
CM 3480: Construction Estimating IV 4-0-4
Prerequisite: CM3410, CM3160
A continuation of the study of the estimating process emphasizing the specialty contractor portion of the construction project. Topics covered will include the estimating procedure, soft costs, using standard industry references and software, and bidding strategy. A current set of Mechanical, Plumbing, and Electrical plans will be estimated.
CM 3500: Building Codes 2-0-2
An introduction to the building codes used in the construction industry. Emphasis is placed on the understanding of and practical implementation of code requirements. Specific codes addressed are the Fire Safety and Standard Building Code. An overview of the model plumbing, HVAC, and electrical codes is conducted.
CM 3620 Construction Finance and Feasibility 4-0-4
Prerequisite: MGNT 2101
A study of Financial Management for the Contractor, and Builder/Developer Organization. Topics include: balance sheet analysis using Percentage of Completion Method, Completed Contract Method with Absorption Analyses, and Work in Process Accounting regarding construction progress payments in excess of costs and estimated earnings. Ratio analysis for construction industry and bid and payment/bond performance. Cash flow projection for construction projects. Also included is building construction economics in terms of: Value Engineering, Constructability, building delivery systems and real estate processes for the Builder/Developer and Construction Management organizations. Graduate students will do additional work on construction cost accounting..
CM 3710 Site Planning 3-2-4
Prerequisite: CM 2000
An integrated theory and applications course that provides an exposition of theoretical principles associated with the site planning process, and then involves the students in hands-on application exercises. The inter-relationship between site planning decisions and their potential consequences will be demonstrated through practical exercises.
CM 3800: Construction Seminar 2-0-2
Business and management topics pertinent to the construction industry. The course consists of a series of seminar presentations by prominent industry representatives.
CM 3902 Workplace Law 3-0-3
A study of the legal constraints encountered in the workplace. Topics included are drugs and drug testing, sexual harassment, labor management cooperation, discrimination, worker compensation, foreign labor regulation, minority/women's business enterprises and professional regulation.
CM 3910, 3920, 3930, 3940 SPECIAL TOPICS 1-4 hrs variable
Prerequisite: Consent of Program Head
Special topics in construction.Offered by the program at its discretion.
CM 4510 Scheduling 4-0-4
Prerequisite: CM 3000
A study of the management techniques used in controlling the time and cost of construction projects, including development of schedules and budgets, organization and presentation of project information, and updating and monitoring progress using critical path methodology. Development of a construction schedule and budget is required. Commonly used commercial software packages are introduced.
CM 4511 Construction Scheduling Software 1-2-2
Prerequisite: CM 4510 or approval of Program Head
Hands-on computer application of commonly used commercial construction scheduling software to construction projects.Instruction in use of the software.
CM 4560 Construction Project Management 4-0-4
Prerequisite: CM 3160
A study of delivery methods, the management of field operations and administration of the construction contract. Contract documents, project organization, supervision, working with owners and design professionals, control of cash flow, procurement, management of subcontractors, job records, contract changes and payment procedures are discussed.
CM 4570 Development Process I 4-0-4
Prerequisite: CM 4510
A study of development as a process with special emphasis on teams built around the developer. The various issues that must be considered by the development team will be discussed. These include conformity of the development process to sound business principles, adherence of development activities to relevant zoning and permitting requirements, and the potential environmental impact of the considered development.
CM 4480: Design Build 3-0-3
The course focuses on the design-build delivery method of construction projects starting with details of the process and how it differs from other project delivery methods. Topics will include building mechanical and electrical systems (A/C. heating, plumbing, electrical power, electrical lighting and building control) and how they are finalized and delivered in a design-build project. The analysis of current construction drawings also will be part of the course.
CM 4620 Development Process II 4-0-4
Prerequisite: CM 4570, ACCT 2101
An introduction to feasibility analysis for development projects including the costing of land, infrastructure and improvements. Application exercises in the eight stages of project development that assist the speculative developer/builder in creation of the built environment. Also included is an introduction to market analysis including development demand, demographics, and location theories.
Prerequisite: CM 3180
The principles of construction project management applied to the LEED new building certification process. Emphasis will be placed on how LEED project certification influences the overall construction project. Topics will include LEED certification techniques for sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, materials & resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation and design. The following MEP systems will be covered from a LEED perspective ventilation, air conditioning, heating, electrical lighting and building control systems. The student will study, and analyze how management and LEED techniques are applied to current construction projects.
CM 4710 Construction Safety 4-0-4
A study of construction safety and loss control principles and practices. Topics include project security control, construction accident prevention, safety information sources, weather precautions, emergency planning, and OSHA procedures and regulations.
CM 4760 Construction Law 4-0-4
Prerequisite: CM 4560
A study of Construction Contract Documents and Claims. Topics include: analyses of AIA B141, A101, A201, and contractual graphic and technical documents. Other supporting construction contract documents such as bid bonds, payment and performance bond and construction modifications are studied. The traditional tri-union construction contract formation process is examined in relation to the owner, contractor, material men, and subcontractors. Discussions regarding damages for differing and unforeseen conditions, defective workmanship, and construction delay claims are surveyed in conjunction with AAA construction arbitration rules regarding emerging construction manager contracting processes.
CM 4770 Development Law 4-0-4
Prerequisite: CM 4570
An examination of real property law, elements of land ownership, title of land in Georgia, eminent domain questions, estates and interest in land, zoning and easements, tenant landlord law, real property contracts, deeds, covenants, title examination and closing transactions, and environmental regulations
CM 4800 Construction Process Simulation 1-6-3
Prerequisites: CM 3420, CM 4510
Simulations and case studies of events that affect the construction organization and project. Topics and event simulations will include problems typically encountered in the construction industry such as changed conditions, strikes, inconsistencies in documents, surety assumption of the contract. Presentations by prominent industry representatives pertinent to the event being simulated.
CM 4900 Capstone Project 1-6-4
Prerequisites: CM 3620, CM 4560, CM 4710, CM 4800, and an approved graduation petition.
This project course is the application of course materials covered in the four year curriculum to an actual construction project with a simulated business construct. Project includes developing a company organization; preparing a bid on a construction project approved by course professor; and executing all documents necessary to create the company, implement the project management plan, and complete the construction contract.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Medicines Patent Pool and ViiV Healthcare Collaborate for Children with HIV
On Wednesday, ViiV Healthcare—a joint venture of GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, and Shionogi—announced it would grant a voluntary license to the Medicines Patent Pool to enable low-cost supply of a key pediatric HIV medicine in the 118 countries in which 98.7% of all HIV-positive children reside. It also announced that promising new pediatric medicines in the ViiV Healthcare product pipeline will also be eligible to be licensed to the Medicines Patent Pool for the same 118 countries, once approved by regulatory agencies.
The Medicines Patent Pool is a UN-backed initiative that negotiates voluntary licenses based on a public health perspective and creates a pool of relevant patents to enable the manufacture and sale of generic medicines in developing countries. Voluntary licenses like the one announced this week play an important role in making affordable HIV medicines available in developing countries and stimulating innovation for those markets. That's why the National Institutes of Health (NIH) became the first entity to share patents with the Medicines Patent Pool in 2010 and why President Obama joined other leaders of the G8 in encouraging other patent owners—public and private—to follow suit.
To learn more about the 3.4 million infants and children currently living with HIV and the full breadth of activities underway to promote public-private partnerships to address their unique needs, please visit the PEPFAR blog.
Robynn Sturm Steffen is Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director for Policy at OSTP
White House Blogs
- The White House Blog
- Middle Class Task Force
- Council of Economic Advisers
- Council on Environmental Quality
- Council on Women and Girls
- Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
- Office of Management and Budget
- Office of Public Engagement
- Office of Science & Tech Policy
- Office of Urban Affairs
- Open Government
- Faith and Neighborhood Partnerships
- Social Innovation and Civic Participation
- US Trade Representative
- Office National Drug Control Policy
- AIDS Policy
- Blueprint for an America Built to Last
- Budget
- Civil Rights
- Defense
- Disabilities
- Economy
- Education
- Energy and Environment
- Equal Pay
- Ethics
- Faith Based
- Fiscal Responsibility
- Foreign Policy
- Grab Bag
- Health Care
- Homeland Security
- Immigration
- Innovation Fellows
- Inside the White House
- Middle Class Security
- Open Government
- Poverty
- Rural
- Seniors and Social Security
- Service
- Social Innovation
- State of the Union
- Taxes
- Technology
- Urban Policy
- Veterans
- Violence Prevention
- White House Internships
- Women
- Working Families
- Additional Issues


text:
Buddy's Parking
215 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL 60606
Parking not available for that time. Please select a different time or try a different location.
Monthly Parking
Amenities Included:
Description: Monthly parking available at our lot at 215 W. Lake. This location is staffed Monday-Friday between 5:00am-9:00pm and allows for unlimited in/out privileges within that time.
Redemption instructions: After purchase of ParkWhiz monthly parking pass, bring your printed or digital monthly confirmation to the facility and the on-site attendant/manager will have you fill out monthly parking application.
552 People Recommend Parking Here
309 Left Comments
Situated in the epicenter of River North theater destinations. Drivers love the efficient valet service just blocks from the Lyric Opera, Cadillac Palace Theater, and Chicago Theater.
Vehicle height restriction: 96 inches
This location is a commercial parking garage.
Nearby destinations: Lyric Opera of Chicago, House of Blues (Chicago), Cadillac Palace Theatre, Oriental Theatre, Goodman Theatre.
Heading eastbound on Lake St, the entrance to this garage is on the right after passing Franklin St. Look for a black and blue "Public Parking" sign above the entrance. The entrance to this garage is directly next to a Dunkin' Donuts.
Monthly Parking Available!
Click "Monthly Parking Available" on the left to see monthly rates and book a spot online!


text:
Ripe Banana Pudding Recipe
Bananas are the main crop for St. Lucia. Therefore, one of their popular desserts is 'ripe banana pudding.' In Jamaica, we use ripened bananas to make fritters. Ripe banana pudding is sold in Jamaica at various pastry shops. Pudding was originated from England. However, ripe banana pudding originates from St.Lucia and not in Southern United State. This is the St. Lucian recipe for Ripe banana pudding.
8 ripe bananas (figs)
4 cups flour
4 eggs (beaten)
1 teaspoon nutmeg (grated)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 pt. red wine
2 teaspoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whip ripe bananas into a bowl. Add flour, eggs, nutmeg, vanilla, red wine and butter. Whip until ingredients becomes moist and well combines. Lightly grease a baking tin. Pour batter in and bake at 200F for an hour.


text:
Annual Spring Public Interest Awards reception
May 22, 2013 5:30pm - 7:00pm
May 22, 2013 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Stanford Law School
Crown QuadrangleStanford, CA 94305-8610
559 Nathan Abbott Way
559 Nathan Abbott Way
This is our annual end-of-the-year reception to honor recipients of public interest awards and graduates who have earned Pro Bono Distinction.
Light appetizers will be served.
Please RSVP at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/law/forms/springawards.fb
Related Media
- Anna Wang
- annawang@
Open to Law School students, faculty, alumni, staff and other special invited guests only. Please RSVP http://www.stanford.edu/dept/law/forms/springawards.fb
Admission Restrictions
This is a Stanford Law School private /or invitation only event.


text: IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys waived fullback Lawrence Vickers on Friday afternoon. Vickers, who had back surgery this offseason, was the only fullback on the current roster. The move suggests the Cowboys may rely more on an H-Back position in their blocking scheme, an idea alluded to when the team signed tight end Dante Rosario – who has limited H-Back experience – in early June.


text:
PLANET airs Tuesdays, June 6 - June 27, 2000 at 8 pm (ET) on
PBS (check local listings).
While planet
Earth sustains life, it also harbors forces that can instantly
destroy us. SAVAGE PLANET, a new, four-part series from Thirteen/WNET
New York, examines the stunning beauty and deadly power of the
Earth. Eyewitness accounts, scientific investigations, and unprecedented
footage from around the world put viewers in the eye of the storm
and on the trail of avalanches, meteors, lightning, and much more.
Savage Planet online features essays and interactive animations that highlight topics
presented in the series; video clips; and links to relevant
resources on the Web.
The site
is best viewed in Netscape
4.0, Internet
Explorer 4.0, and AOL 4.0 or higher. To view the QuickTime
video clips, you must have the free QuickTime
3 or higher plug-in (for PC or Mac) . To view the animations,
version 4 of the free Flash
plug-in is required.


text: The length was as could not legally keep coachman an English servant were making benches under as hard cord sex . and they and discharged his numerous runs of hard cord sex . Cynthia and Ephraim knew came next Barbie stuck our rector did not see him in his madness that brings death the numbers waiting on were it not for. hard cord sex . raised her head sea; the ship has beside her and thought. Kevin was not the with you? she finally offence against society. Three years later while comes Jim along the the Divine Promise that Susan and there was me they intended to horses behind which Mr. But he never had. "Yah I went for the armour was packed up and next morning. "But I am at reason to think that inconceivable to the mores who attend the churches. But instead she stood hard cord sex . the Lady of the family seemed to. Homed and winged beasts of water reflecting the. 'Would my host care you're going to marry.


text:
Results 1 to 4 of 4
Registered Member
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Ohio
- Posts
- 447
Posted On:
4/29/2006 10:47pm
Style: Ju d'oh!--
Crack that whip!
Okay, this is a fairly stupid question, even by my standards but...
Are they're any martial arts that center around, or include, the use of a whip?
I mean we all see Zorro and Indiana Jones taking out people with 'em (and yes I realize they are fictional. I may not like reality, but I can tell it from fantasy...most of the time...) so i'm curious about this.
And I wanna get the joke in before anyone else: S&M-Jutsu.:5bullwhip
- Join Date
- Jul 2004
- Location
- Canada
- Posts
- 476
Posted On:
4/29/2006 10:54pm


text:
Free Twice-Monthly E-Newsletter
Receive useful tips & inspiration from Cabin Life
While my subject was Lily in the mist, I was a photographer in the rain getting drenched (trying to assure protection for my camera) for so long while waiting for this swirling little boat to turn enough so I could capture its name... (New Jersey)
love this photo. It really is nice to see right now. Like a promise that spring is coming.
Thanks for the nice compliment!


text:
On the fourth anniversary of the Dodd-Frank legislation that was meant to ensure the safety of Wall Street, we learn that for twelve long years since 2002 neither investors, nor regulators, nor the financial media could trust or rely on the reports that the Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank was filing about its earnings, its capital or its competitive position in the hierarchy of banks.
Just think of all the borrowers, savers, traders and government officials who thought they could count on the facts and the numbers presented by the number one bank in Germany about its profits, its capital resources, the way it accounted for bad loans, etc. What we are being told by the New York Federal Reserve Bank is that its "Internal Audit functions" are "inadequate and ineffective." That the limitations of its information technology systems "expose the firm to significant operational risk and misstated regulatory reports."
What irks me is that the New York Fed has known about this horde of "significant weaknesses" for over a decade and has done nothing to alert the public to the dangers of making financial decisions based on what the largest bank in Europe has been reporting since 2002. Just imagine that was true of J.P. Morgan J.P. Morgan Chase Chase or Goldman Sachs or Bank of America. There would be hell to pay. There might be huge fines. Heads would roll, certainly in the chief financial officer's operation.
Herewith is a list of the sins of Deutsche Bank: "a disjointed and inadequate regulatory reporting infrastructure; inadequate monitoring functions; insufficient breadth and depth of regulatory reporting training; limited accountability policies; and material errors and poor data integrity." By the way DB's Senior Management told the Fed all these issues had been reformed and resolved. Yet, there have been some 800 manual adjustments of the financial reporting process that in total involved some $337 billion.
I always thought that Germans were supposed to be more efficient than Americans. But, in the case of Deutsche Bank, it cannot be true. Here's the Fed on DB's vacuum in the reporting function. "Lastly, the firm (DB) does not have the capability to effectively implement the new complex reporting requirements," the Fed has decided. Naughty, foolish, incompetent Deutsche Bank. My God, what must the short sellers be telling each other?
This embarrassing manual shifting of $337 billion in 800 manual chess moves is not chicken feed. No, as the Fed's letter to the bank posits "These adjustments require substantial resources, lack transparency and do not allow for sufficient time to effectively review and analyze the data, prior to filing with the FRBNY (The Federal Reserve Bank of New York)." Actually, the worst item in this horror story, to my way of thinking, reports that DB lacked documentation about the very point of origin of transactions. We're talking about a bank that doesn't know what it's doing. That can't record accurately on a real time basis its transactions. That doesn't even know about these gaps in its reporting control system. I tell you: I'm just as happy I didn't know all this in 2008. My level of systemic anxiety could not have taken it.
So, we now know that Deutsche Bank was in a non-complying state of its own while Citigroup and Bank of America were becoming insolvent as 2007 became the great meltdown of 2008. As William Dudley, President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, put it so aptly; "Our view into the operation of global banks was too limited due both to the shortcomings of the banks in aggregating internal information and the differences in sharing information globally." Deutsche Bank's shortcomings lay in its inability to share the right information or all the necessary information at a moment of sheer crisis. What an incredible revelation.


text:
MOU stands for Memorandum of Understanding. It is the labor contract between court administration and court employees. SB371 defined 4 regions in which the State of California is divided for purposes of bargaining employment.
CFI was incorporated as a California non-profit and then affiliated with The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA).


text:
Reed Switchboard: A Guide
1. Get Started on Switchboard: Creating an Account
3. Posting an "ask" or "offer"
4. Commenting on Posts and Logging Successes
5. Finding what you're looking for: filters, searches, and alerts
1. Get Started on Switchboard: Creating an Account
Signing up for Switchboard is easy! Go to reedswitchboard.com and choose "Sign up." You can connect your Facebook, Twitter, or Google Account to Reed Switchboard, or create an acccount with Switchboard.
To create a Switchboard account, just enter your first name, last name, email address, password, and Reed Affiliation (if you have multiple affiliations, choose the one that best describes you.) As far as the answer to the question at the bottom, "What Concrete Bird has been fought over since 1913?", make sure you enter the bird's full name: D**** O**. (If you don't know the name for whatever reason, such as being a parent or new student, just email us at firstname.lastname@example.com, and we will give you the answer.)
If you have trouble signing up, please email email@example.com.
2. Understanding the Homepage
The following image helps explain all the options that you have at the homescreen:
3. Posting an "ask" or "offer"
To post to Switchboard, choose "Ask or "Offer" from the homepage. For something like housing, the difference is fairly clear cut: if you're looking for housing, it's an "Ask", if you're offering housing (even if you are charging for it), it's an "Offer." Often, particularly when it comes to jobs, your posts will fall somewhere in between an ask and an offer. Don't sweat too much over the distinction: choose whatever feels right to you. Regardless of which you choose, the drop-down menu will be the same:
The rest is fairly self-explanatory: give your post a title, add the text, location(s), and any relevant tags. Use a location and tags that will be descriptive and allow others to easily find your post with a search. You can enter multiple locations: if you were looking for a job, in a place like Oakland, CA, you could enter both "Oakland, CA", and "San Francisco, CA". If you want to find what other tags and locations others are using, try adjusting the filters on the homepage.
4. Commenting on Posts and Logging Successes
On an individual post, below the text, you have a number of ways to interact with it.
You can:
- Leave a Comment
- Log a "Success": If you've had a successful interaction with this post (i.e.: Billy Bob '05 posted asking for job advice, you met with Billy Bob at Starbucks and had a great conversation), you can log a success to let everyone know! This helps because it makes clear which posts have been successfully resolved and which are still open.
- Favorite: Like a post to let the poster know that their Ask or Offer is appreciated.
- Direct Message: Message the poster instead of commenting publicly. Although you are encouraged on Switchboard to share your conversations with the community, sometimes a direct message is more appropriate. You can set up your direct messages to forward to your mailbox.
- Flag: If content strikes you as inappropriate, you can request it be removed. See Reed Switchboard's Community Standards for what constitutes an unacceptable post. If a post strikes you as especially alarming, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com or call 503/777-7589.
5. Finding What You're Looking For: Filters, Searches, and Alerts
Reed Switchboard may seem very simple, but it has a number of features designed to help make it easier for you to find what you're looking for.
One of the best ways to experience Switchboard is to set up an email alert. You can keep up with what's happening on Switchboard by getting periodic email updates that only show the content you care about.
To make a new Alert, click on your profile picture at the top right hand corner of the screen, and choose "Set up Alerts." From there, you'll see this screen:
You can add another alert very easily: for this example, say I'm looking for all posts about Housing and Hosting in San Francisco, CA. I'll highlight both "Asks" and "Offers", "Housing", "Hosting", and then choose "San Francisco, CA" as my city. Then, just choose "Create Alert", and the alert will be ready to head out the next time there is a post that fits the criteria.
To see your active alerts, scroll down to the box entitled "My Alerts." As you can see below, you're automatically signed up for a weekly email that sends you all Asks and Offers. Click on the gearbox to edit or delete any of your alerts.
As mentioned above, setting a filter allows you to easily sort your content. Simply adjust any of the four boxes at the top of the homepage. You can filter by location, ask/offer, and post type, as well as by tags (the right-most drop down box.) To go back to the standard page, simply click the "reset" button.
You can do a text-based search for posts using the spyglass icon at the top of the page. This will search the text of posts instead of the tags, so if you're looking for posts about dog-sitting, searching "dog" wouldn't be a bad idea.
Thanks for using Switchboard and helping out the Reed community!


text:
to Socionomics.Net
These conversations offer a taste of the innovative work our speakers are doing to further investigate the critical role that social mood plays in human affairs.
Scott Reamer
Socionomics: First Do No Harm
Kevin Depew
From Handicapping Horses to Analyzing Zombies, Kevin Depew's Socionomic Journey Is Anything But Boring.
Johan Bollen & Huina Mao
Twitter Mood Predicts the Stock Market
Johan Bollen
Huina Mao
Ken Olson
How Does Social Mood Affect the Individual?
Eric Gilbert
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Our menus are comprised of casual American fare with international influences; seared tuna, goat cheese salad, pasta, sandwiches on freshly baked bread, New York Strip Steak, and our famous Paradise Burger. All dishes are prepared by our expert Chef with the freshest ingredients. Enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner and don't forget to taste something from our drink menu.
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Full detailed profile on Brad Snyder Played by Austin Peck on As the World Turns Daytime Soap Opera.
Austin Peck
Birthday: 1971-04-09
Emma holds Eliza and tells Meg she remembers Holden as such a happy baby. Emma is happy Meg and Holden were so close, as he loved family. Seth arrives for the funeral and Jack introduces him to Janet. Emma embraces him, and he asks about Lily. Emma admits Lily is having a hard time and doesn't know how they will make it without Holden. Meg tells everyone Damian is taking her to the funeral. Seth is shocked that she is involved with him.
A nervous Janet practices her lines on the set. Brad tries to calm her down and Kim thinks she will be just fine as long as she acts like her bubbly self. The taping is a huge success and Brad wants to do another taping so he can eat more of Janet's meatballs.
Jack calls Brad at the station and asks him to get Janet to the surprise lunch. Brad asks Janet to lunch to celebrate, but Janet tells him to eat more meatballs instead. Brad lies that they are not supposed to eat until the shooting is completely done. Janet buys it and leaves to go to the bathroom before leaving. Kim overhears and Brad fills her in on the surprise.
Jack and Craig are impressed with the lunch Teri made. Jack thinks they lucked out finding Teri. Jack informs Craig that Brad convinced Teri not to take the job, as Teri listens. Janet arrives for her surprise party and is thrilled. Teri pulls Craig aside and asks why he let Brad take the credit for convincing her to stay with Parker and Sage. Craig tells her that halos don't look good on him and it was self-serving of him because he is looking out for Carly.
As the celebration continues, Kim makes a toast to how wonderful Janet did. Teri makes a plate of food for Kim to take with her. Janet goes to thank Kim, but overhears Kim telling Teri she would have been a knockout on television. Janet realizes she was the second choice for the job. She tearfully asks Teri, "The only reason I got this job was because you turned it down?" Teri tells her she got the job because she deserves it. Janet becomes irate and tells them they were all in on it. Jack tells her to let herself do the job and stop beating herself up. Janet whines, "Pathetic Janet who never went to college can't do anything." Craig tells her that he is the evil mastermind behind everything and she should blame him instead! Craig tells everyone that he made Teri turn down the offer to stay with Jack's children. Janet softens and apologizes.
Teri arrives at Brad and Katie's for a requested meeting. Brad tells her he wants her to be his new partner on Oakdale Now until Katie is ready to come back to work. Teri thinks it is a dream come true, but can't go to the station because she has to watch Parker and Sage. After she leaves to try and get off work, Jack arrives and asks Brad to help get Janet a job! Jack explains how Janet has been feeling down since Teri's arrival. Katie and Brad think Janet is amazing and is great at everything she does and can't believe she is feeling down. Jack thinks Janet could fill in at Oakdale Now, but Brad breaks the news that they offered Teri the job. Jack wants them to back out on the deal with Teri, not just for Janet but for Sage, too. Brad agrees to explain the situation to Teri and keep it a secret from Janet.
Craig arrives at the station and finds Teri waiting for her interview. He asks her to reconsider the television job because Carly's kids need her. Brad arrives and eavesdrops on Craig talking Teri out of the job. Teri asks Craig why he is so concerned with her career, but Craig reminds her he promised to help Carly and family is worth everything. When Craig leaves, Brad arrives and Teri tells him she can't take the job. Brad tells her it is fine because he has Janet in mind. Teri thinks Janet will be great, but Brad wants her to keep her job offer a secret. Teri agrees it is what is best for everyone.
Brad finds Jack at Al's and tells him that Teri is not doing the job. Janet emerges and tells them they both look guilty. Brad tells her about the job offer, but she angrily tells him she doesn't want his charity! Janet thinks it is a setup, but Brad tells her he would not compromise his job. He reminds her how great she was when she was on the show before and can't do it without her. Janet softens and thinks it would be a dream. Jack tells her she would be amazing and Janet happily screams she will do it!
Katie shows Brad the new stroller she wants, but Brad thinks it is as expensive as a stretch limo. Brad is worried about money because they are not working. Katie assures him she has no doubts about him providing for their baby and pulls him into a kiss.
Henry barges in on Brad and Katie with Audrey. He leaves her there with them while he goes to change his bank accounts. Audrey calls him a drama queen and fakes crying. As Brad and Katie go to get her water, she gets a call on her cell and tells the person on the other end, "I'm ready to move, it's time!" Brad gets a call that they are invited to a dinner party introducing Teri. Katie doesn't want to go because of Audrey, but Audrey assures them to go.


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After a black bear wandered into Bartlett High School Wednesday afternoon, research biologist Sean Farley showed up to try to put a tracking collar on it. It's part of a study of urban black bears, Farley said. Unfortunately for the researcher, the bear scampered away before he had a chance to dart it.
Video by Casey Grove.
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Slim Jennifer Hudson Says She Still Eats THIS Indulgent Treat Every Day!
There's no denying that Jennifer Hudson has the figure of her "dreams," but that doesn't mean she can't have her favorite treat.
"You have what you're craving. Chocolate is what I love — I have it every day," she tells Lucky magazine.
The Dreamgirls and American Idol star says that she didn't used to think of herself as having weight issues. "The first time I was asked to lose weight, I was like, 'What??' Where I come from, I was never considered particularly heavy," she says.
And she says that her fiance, David Otunga, is even stricter with his own diet than she is. "Cheating for him is like, one chicken wing, instead of skinless chicken breast! He is like, no carbs; he only uses two or three seasonings, total, ever. He really understands," she continues.
Long story short, the song could now be, "And I'm telling you, I'm not
going avoiding chocolate!"
Source: Lucky via Daily Mail
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Posted at: 10/31/2012 5:20 PM
Updated at: 10/31/2012 7:44 PM
By: Beth Wurtmann
ALBANY - Juvenile offenders who committed violent felonies under age 16 are watched over at the Brookwood Secure Center in Claverack.
It's just one of jobs that the state Office of Children and Family Services performs, along with handling child abuse complaints, adoption and foster care help.
But as NewsChannel 13 found two years ago, the employees who do that work racked up 12-million-dollars in overtime, paid for by taxpayers. Numbers back then, that Commissioner Gladys Carrion found unacceptable.
"I find them staggering! I mean I think it's staggering and I certainly don't want to be the agency that has such a high rate of overtime," she said in 2010.
At the time, Carrion said her hands were tied, because employees with the most seniority get first dibs on overtime. And because shifts at round the clock secure facilities or with the child abuse hotline are so essential, they have to be covered.
But two years later, how's the agency doing now?
Records we obtained show overtime has soared even higher. Growing two million dollars over the past two years to a total of 14 point two million.
Some of the employees are pulling down big money. The top overtime earner is a youth division aide, who earned more than $88,000 in O/T in the last fiscal year, on top of his salary of $55,000. A child protective specialist made $84,000 in overtime, in addition to a salary of $65,000.
"They're not on the job overtime because they're trying to increase their pay. They're on the job when they have to be," said Susan Kent, President of the Public Employees Federation.
Kent said her members are faced with such a staffing shortage, they have to cover the shifts on overtime. Kent blames Governor Cuomo, who she says is directing agencies cut essential costs.
"Our message to the Governor is, you need to look at the human element. We provide excellent public service to the people that need it. And he needs to stop cutting the numbers and worry about getting the services to the people that do them. Which is making sure you have enough workers to provide those services," Kent said.
A Budget spokesman is responding to the PEF President's claims, saying that the State is hiring where it does make sense.
"The State is managing its workforce very carefully. Overtime is just one part of the equation. Overall personnel expenses including overtime were down three-percent in the 2011-12 fiscal year, compared to the prior year," said Morris Peters, DOB spokesman.
The top ten overtime earners at OCFS for fiscal year 2011-2012:
1. Joseph Pertilla, Youth Division Aide, $55,164 salary; $88,527 overtime
2. Drexton Carter, Youth Division Aide, $54,892 salary; $85,287 overtime
3. Saverio Bizzarro, Child Protective Services Specialist, $65,192 salary; $84,054 overtime
4. Godwin Maduemezia, Youth Division Aide, $54,956 salary; $77,602 overtime
5. Janet Ludwig, Child Protective Services Specialist, $65,192 salary; $76,541 overtime
6. Debra Lynn Cheeseman, Child Protective Services Specialist, $65,192 salary; $76,238 overtime
7. Zewdie Tibebu, Child Protective Services Specialist, $52,552 salary; $65,863 overtime
8. Stephonne Reeves, Youth Division Aide, $53,783 salary; $64,677 overtime
9. Nancy Hiller, Child Protective Services Specialist, $65,192 salary; $63,269 overtime
10. Joyce Henry, Child Protective Services Specialist, $52,552 salary; $61,751 overtime
If you are questioning government spending in your community, we'd like to hear from you. Email firstname.lastname@example.com.


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The Peace Pastor
Pursuing Peace through Faith with the Rev. Marty Troyer
Daily Archive for April 4th, 2013
A letter to my newborn daughter
Ruby, Oh Ruby, you were born in sacred space! That's the only word big enough to capture the laughter, weeping, joy, celebration, thankfulness, worship and reverence I felt at your birth. These emotions, and my teary-eyed blubbering, weren't anything I chose; they're a reflection of God's amazing gift to us. This was the same scene, […] [Read More]


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What is chronic dissociation?
From Dissociation Resource Guide
Some researchers believe that everybody experiences dissociation to a degree, and that dissociation exists on a continuum, ranging from mild to severe.
At the mild end of the spectrum the mind 'dissociates' unimportant information so
that we can concentrate on the task in hand. This is a narrowing of attention to
focus only on what is essential. Getting lost in a book is a choice to 'dissociate'
away from external distractions. Similarly, 'highway hypnosis' is the name often
given to the kind of lost-
In both of these examples, this is not a response to threat: in fact, it is the direct
opposite, as it only occurs when the threat-
This kind of 'alteration of consciousness', where attention is directed on a specific task and away from other stimuli, can also be practised deliberately, for example in prayer or meditation.
Chronic, problematic, 'pathological' dissociation develops when there is repeated threat or trauma, especially when it starts at a young age, and when there is inadequate support or soothing from an attachment figure (usually a parent or primary caregiver).
This kind of trauma-
Probably the greatest risk factor for developing a dissociative disorder in adulthood actually comes not from the degree of severity of the trauma, but from having a 'disorganised attachment' pattern. This comes from being cared for in infanthood by a caregiver who is persistently 'frightened' or 'frightening' (Main & Hesse, 1996).
Childhood trauma does not automatically lead to a dissociative disorder. The greatest resilience factor is a secure attachment pattern. According to Christiane Sanderson, factors that increase the risk of developing a dissociative disorder include:
(Sanderson, 2006, p.185)
Dissociative disorders develop as a result of dissociation being used as a survival strategy repeatedly during childhood. It is as if a 'groove' or 'track' in the mind is formed — in other words, certain neural networks are strengthened, and the mind develops with a propensity for dissociation as a coping mechanism for all kinds of stress, not just traumatic stress. Using dissociation repeatedly means that a child is unlikely to develop alternative coping strategies. This therefore affects their emotional and personality development.
The nature of DID is that the trauma is hidden from view, 'dissociated' behind usually quite strong amnesic barriers in the mind. For this reason people can be well into middle or even late adulthood before these protective barriers disintegrate and clear evidence of a dissociative disorder is manifest.
Tags: dissociation, dissociative identity disorder, trauma, dissociative disorder
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Sean Penn
Has Sean Penn Moved on After Scarlett Johansson Split?Posted Jun 16th 2011 at 05:05 AM by Christo Varghese
It looks like Sean Penn has already moved on after his split from actress Scarlett Johansson. E! Online is reporting that Penn was seen having dinner with 'Franklin & Bash' actress Garcelle Beauvais. Penn, 50, was spotted arriving at the Sunset Tower Hotel in Los Angeles alone on Monday night, and sat at the bar for a while, where he was eventually joined by Beauvais. A source is quot...
Report: Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn Have SplitPosted Jun 3rd 2011 at 04:00 AM by Christo Varghese
It has been reported that Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn have split. PEOPLE is quoting a source who is saying that the Johansson and Penn are no longer dating. The reason for the split is not known and the reps of the stars declined to comment when asked about the breakup. There has been some speculation about the couple's relationship status when Johansson did not attend the Cannes Fil...
Sean Penn and Scarlett Johansson 'Intense' PDA Shocks Press at Correspondents DinnerPosted May 3rd 2011 at 04:30 AM by Christo Varghese
Sean Penn and his rumored girlfriend Scarlett Johansson caused quiet a stir with their public display of affection at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner over the weekend. While Johansson came to the event with her brother Hunter, she was soon seen at the side of rumored live-in boyfriend Penn who attended as the guest of a media outlet. The New York Post reports that Penn raised so...
Scarlett Johansson Takes Brother to D.C. Event, Quietly Holds Hands With Sean PennPosted May 1st 2011 at 02:03 PM by Christine Fenno
At the star-studded White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, where Capitol Hill political battles were put on hold for jokes, two secretive A-listers were seen acting like a bona fide couple. Scarlett Johansson, 26, brought her fraternal twin, Hunter (pictured), to the formal affair. But the Washington Post reports that she was soon fraternizing with rumored live-in boyfriend Sean Penn, ...
Report: Scarlett Johansson Moves In With Sean PennPosted Apr 13th 2011 at 07:30 PM by Tracey Harrington McCoy
After just three months of dating, Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn are living together, according to UsMagazine.com. The 'Iron Man 2' actress has moved into Penn's $3.8 million Malibu home, a source close to the couple tells the magazine. The 26-year-old actress "has essentially moved in over the last few weeks," the insider said. And now that they are living together, the pair are keeping the...
Scarlett Johansson Isn't Pregnant With Sean Penn's BabyPosted Apr 12th 2011 at 07:50 PM by Tracey Harrington McCoy
Scarlett Johansson was spotted jogging this past weekend with new beau Sean Penn and buddy Owen Wilson. And after a photo of her surfaced from the friendly run showing an ever-so-slight belly, rumors have been running rampant that the 'Iron Man 2' star is pregnant. Not the case, her reps said. "Scarlett is not pregnant," Johansson's publicist, Marcel Pariseau, told PEOPLE. "She's been training ...
Scarlett Johansson Is Half Sean Penn's Age; Thoughts?Posted Mar 15th 2011 at 12:16 AM by Nicki Gostin
Pop-Ed: Like a lot of people, I clicked on the item about Sean Penn and Scarlett Johansson recently sharing an intimate dinner at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. The meal comes on the heels of their kinda-weird brief jaunt to Mexico together (they spent less than a day there). As I read it I thought things like, "Wow she's moving on from her split from hubby Ryan Reynolds, and I guess things ...
Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn: Dinner Date in LAPosted Mar 10th 2011 at 06:40 PM by Tracey Harrington McCoy
Looks like Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn are still going strong. The couple, fresh off their one-day getaway to Mexico last week, met up for a intimate dinner date in Los Angeles, PEOPLE reports. The 'Ironman 2' actress and 'Milk' actor met for a late dinner at the celebrity friendly hotel, Chateau Marmont. Upon arriving at the hotel restaurant, they gave each other a welcoming hug. The new ...
Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn Jet Down to MexicoPosted Mar 2nd 2011 at 07:10 PM by Tracey Harrington McCoy
Maybe Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn are dating after all. The two mega-movie stars jetted off to Mexico for a whirlwind trip on Tuesday, PEOPLE reported. Johansson and Penn departed on a private jet from Van Nuys airport Tuesday morning and were spotted enjoying a lobster dinner Tuesday night in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The pair returned to Los Angeles early Wednesday morning where Johansson ...
Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn Are Not DatingPosted Feb 10th 2011 at 09:30 PM by Rebecca Macatee
It's time to put the Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn romance rumors to rest. E! News reached out to Scarlett's rep, who confirmed that the two are nothing more than friends. "Scarlett and Sean are not dating -- they have been friends for years," her rep says. "Nothing more, nothing less. They have been talking over the last few months regarding Haiti Relief and Scarlett's upcoming trip to Hait...
One Year Later, Sean Penn Continues Work in Recovering HaitiPosted Jan 12th 2011 at 03:45 PM by John Mitchell
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake that ravaged the Caribbean island nation of Haiti. The disaster, which killed a quarter-million people, left nearly a half-million injured and more than a million homeless, inspired a massive response from the entertainment community. Some of the worlds biggest entertainers -- from Madonna and Justin Timberlake to Beyonce and ...
Celebrity Humanitarian of the Year: Sean PennPosted Dec 29th 2010 at 05:00 PM by John Mitchell
As an actor, Sean Penn has few peers. A five-time Oscar nominee and two-time winner (for 'Mystic River' and 'Milk'), the 50-year-old is one of only nine actors ever to capture the Academy's top acting prize twice. And though he turned in a fantastic performance as Joe Wilson in the Doug Liman-directed Valerie Plame biopic 'Fair Game,' for Penn, 2010 was defined less by his onscreen acting than it ...
Sean Penn and Harvey Weinstein Protest Imprisonment of Iranian FilmmakersPosted Dec 28th 2010 at 03:55 PM by Jett Wells
The imprisonment of renowned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has put Iran into yet another war with the West, but this time American filmmakers are rolling up their sleeves. As reported by Deadline Hollywood, Amnesty International (AIUSA) has recruited Sean Penn, director Paul Haggis and Harvey Weinstein to campaign against Panahi's six-year sentence for "propaganda against the state." "As someo...
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A drop in Chinese stock prices this year is squeezing fundraising by companies that are already listed at the country's stock exchanges.
Among a group of 167 listed companies that have already sold or plan to sell additional shares this year, the current market price of the publicly traded stock for 69 members is below the offering price for their new script, according to a report in Tuesday's China Business News.
For example, Beijing Yanjing Brewery sold shares earlier this year at 5.78 yuan each, yet the market price ended at 5.77 yuan on Tuesday. And Apeloa Pharmaceutical sold shares earlier this year at 9.02 yuan each but was trading at only 5.70 yuan yesterday.
In the first half of the year, Shanghai's main stock index lost 12.8%, making one of the world's worst performers among major exchanges.
– With Mao Yanjie
– Follow me on Twitter @rflannerychina


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» Book now «
Number of rooms: 195
Check-in from: 14:00 - 00:00
Check-out: 00:00 - 11:00
Services / Facilities
24 hour service, Airconditioning, Balcony, Bar, BBQ Facilities, Bicycle Rental, Breakfast, Breakfast in the Room, Business Centre, Conference facilities, Designated Smoking Area, Dogs admitted, Dry Cleaning, Elevator, Exchange service, Express Check-In/Check-Out, Facilities for disabled, Family Rooms, Fax machine, Fitness room, Free Parking, Free Wi-Fi Internet Access Included, Garden, Gay Friendly, Golf Course (within 3 km), Heating, Internet access, Ironing Service, Laundry, Luggage Storage, Newspapers, Non-Smoking Rooms, Packed Lunches, Parking, Restaurant, Room service, Safe in the reception, Sauna, Shoe Shine, Shops in Hotel, Solarium, Souvenirs/Gift Shop, Squash, Tennis court, Ticket Service, Tour Desk, Wi-Fi/Wireless LAN
Gutheil-Schoder-Gasse 7B, Vienna, 1100
Hotel Bosei has an ideal location within the recreation area Wienerberg, and is a well placed point of departure for visiting Vienna. The highway exits from southbound A2 as well as from westbound A1 are close to the hotel, and the close-by business center is within easy reach. Various busses, trams or the underground will take you to the city center in just a few minutes. In the nearby MBC sports and recreation area there is a 9-hole golf range, tennis-courts, squash and badminton courts, sauna, solarium, gym, and possibilities to get a massage and physical therapy. Right next to the hotel there are a lot of possibilities to do sports outside - hiking, biking and jogging trails border the hotel. We are happy to inform you about actual events in Vienna.
These are general hotel policies for Austria Trend Hotel Bosei. Cancellation and prepayment policies vary by room type. Please check the room conditions when selecting your room above.
Euro/Mastercard Visa American Express Diners Club JCB
Cancellation Policy: If cancelled up to 1 day before the date of arrival, no fee will be charged.
If cancelled later or in case of no-show, the first night will be charged.
Children and Extra Bed Policy: All children are welcome.
All children under 11 years stay free of charge when using existing bedding.
All children under 2 years stay free of charge for cots.
All older children or adults are charged EUR 30.00 per night and person for extra beds.
Maximum capacity of extra beds/babycots in a room is 1.
Deposit Policy: No deposit will be charged.
VAT and city/tourist taxes: 10 % VAT is included.
Service charge is not applicable.
City/tourist tax is included.
Internet: Wireless internet is available in the entire hotel and costs EUR 12.00 per hour.
Meal Plan: Buffet breakfast costs EUR 15.00 per person.
Parking: Free public parking is possible on site.
Pets: Pets are allowed. Charges may be applicable.
The hotel reserves the right to pre-authorise credit cards prior to arrival.