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Ribbed Cowlneck Sweater Dress: Fall's "it" knit! Comfortable sweater knit with warm, cozy cowl neck features a zipper at the hem that you can wear closed or zipped open for a little extra oomph.
Read what customers are saying about this product:
Rating: 4.60 out of 5 votes cast
Item as described / appears
I purchased this in black because purple was no longer available. I got a Medium and it is true to size; if anything a little loose but I figured it might shrink a little in the wash and quite frankly I don't have the body to be wearing something skintight anymore. I like the design details very much. I do have a hard time finessing the cowlneck so that the buckle is visible but I think that's just my own issue with cowlnecks.
Chicago, IL
Sweater Zipper Dress
I received this sweater dress in both the black and purple, and I can't wait until Fall to wear. The dress is true to size and fit fabulously. The purple is a real purple color. I love the sweater dresses I received and cannot wait to wear them this Fall!
Cleveland, Ohio
Ribbed gooseneck knit dress
Order the purple and the black they are very nice not to heavy for our winter weather in Florida.True to size.I would give this a 5.
Tampa Florida
cowneck zipper dress
I really like the material because it soft and machine wash but the dress do run big I got me XL should got large but that ok. If any decide to order this should go one size down do run big.
Great Dress
I got this dress on sale and I am not disappointed. Great sweater dress, great fit at a great price. Got lots of compliments. True to size.
Windsor CT
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Clothes, jewelry, art.
A sign of everything
that is wrong and pure.
94 Saint Marks Pl. New York, NY 212-353-8282
Visit Site
Check out this month's issue of Inked Magazine. Yours truly is featured in the Inked Icon section with a three page interview by Marisa over at Needlesandsins.com. Here's a brief excerpt from the article…
INKED: This interview is for our Icon section-
BRAD FINK: What's up with this "INKED Icon"?
That's what we call the renowned artists we profile who have contributed to tattooing over the years and continue to advance the art.
Wow. I'm flattered, but you're making me feel self-conscious. [Laughs.] Icons are people who are dead or at least old. I only just turned 39.
You're nevertheless internationally known and respected in tattooing. Enjoy it.
I have a hard time with it when, at tattoo conventions, people come up and ooh and aah over me, because I feel like I just started – like I was just one of those kids who went to their first convention and saw Jack Rudy or one of those dudes and was blown away.
You've been tattooing more than twenty years. What do you mean when you say you still feel like you "just started"?
A lot of times I find myself saying how amazed I am at how fast time goes. A couple of weeks ago, a guy who I used to tattoo in my kitchen in high school came into the shop to get another tattoo. Or my grade school art teacher just interviewed me for a local magazine in St. Louis. I ended up tattooing her and she was so happy.
Of course, I'm definitely happy where I'm at and cherishing that I have three successful shops with great partners – Michelle Myles and Mark Andrews-and most recently, partners in a clothing line called Me Against the World. When I started I wasn't thinking about where I'd end up. I just did what I did and never gave it much thought. All of a sudden here I am, an INKED Icon.
Remember, in 1987, people didn't put these fuckers on a pedestal like they do now. None of this reality TV shit. We were just skin mechanics, laborers, blue-collar dudes. I'm from the old mind-set. Tattooing is something I cherish and am protective of. Although I will say that with all the TV shows and media, there is more positive than negative coming from it. People are more educated when they come into the shop.
What do you mean by more educated?
People are putting more thought into their tattoos, getting bigger work. For example when getting a Japanese work, they're not just saying that they want a koi fish or a dragon, but many come in after doing their research and say, "I want this story."
How do you feel about a client coming and saying, "Here is my back, do what you will?"
I like that. It shows the client respects me and my artwork and they're open. All I ask in these situations is to give me a starting point because if you leave it completely up to me, you're gonna get something demented.
How did you get your start in tattooing?
Well, my mother took me to get a tattoo when I was 15. You had to be 18 years old to get tattooed unless you had a parent there, so she came with me. The man who put that tattoo on me, Mitch, ultimately taught me to tattoo.
What did you tell your mother to convince her that you should get tattooed at 15?
My mother has always been open-minded and supportive. As a child I never fit in. I was always an outsider. In eighth grade, I lost my hair and was diagnosed with alopecia; that intensified being ostracized by the kids. It was a traumatic thing for me. I believe everything happens for a reason, and it brought me to this point in life and this business. Back then I was pissed at the world. I get to high school the next year and discover punk rock-and punk rock went hand in hand with tattoos. My mother was willing to do anything to make me feel more comfortable with myself.
In high school, I had a lawn service. I was mowing Mitch's lawn and getting tattooed my him. I decided that I wanted to start tattooing and told Mitch; he then offered to help me out so I'd make fewer mistakes. From there, I practiced a couple months in my kitchen and then started working at his shop. By no means was I at a point that I should have been working at a shop; I was just thrown in there. I didn't have a formal apprenticeship like I am giving my apprentice. Mitch taught me a lot but there was no structure.
[As a young tattoo apprentice] Did you have to clean toilets and all the nasty stuff?I did it but it wasn't Mitch telling me to do all the disgusting things. It was me knowing it needed to be done and doing it myself. This leads to my disdain for the younger generation coming into tattooing today. Back then there were no references or all the information on the Internet that is readily available. Back then, I had to search and search for it. I had to go to the library, seek out Easy Rider tattoo magazines and Ed Hardy's Tattoo Timeseries. Today, there are instructional DVDs and all this crap on how to tattoo. They even have premade needles now. When I started, I had to get to the shop two hours early to make my needles for the day or next two days. Today, people get very good in a short time, and there's this sense of entitlement young people have in the business that everything should be handed to them.
We didn't have a "shop person" back then to wipe people's asses. Today, these kids want to come in, do their tattoos, and leave. Back then, I had to make needles, clean the shop, stock my station, and answer the phones.
Did you also walk miles in the snow to the shop barefoot back in your day? [laughs]
Yes, I did! I wrecked enough cars by 17 years old and my insurance was cancelled, so as a matter of fact, I had to ride a bicycle or walk to the shop. Yes, Marisa, I did have to walk to work in the snow. [laughs]
Now you have a young apprentice. What lessons are you passing down?I teach him life lessons! That there's more to tattooing than actual tattooing. I teach him everything from adapting to every quirky personality that walks through that door without those people you would have nothing. I'm teaching loyalty and respect. I want him to know the history and how tattooing got to this level.
What was the most important lesson that Mitch taught you?
Let your work speak for itself. I never chased media and sort of let people come to me.
You're most known for you Japanese and traditional work. Is that what you tend to do most of the time?
Yes, but I will pretty much do anything unless it's racist or gang-related. I'm fortunate because at this point, the people who come to me trust me and so it's easy to tell them this and that won't work. But I won't be the dude to say, "Oh no, I won't do that!" I do work on an appointment basis, so it may be harder to get into my schedule. We have so many good artists at my shops, though, that I can recommend someone else to get the client in sooner. But I'm not above anything.
Why do you think these people all come to you for that specific "Brad Fink tattoo"?
Nothing I do is really intentional, but throughout the years of drawing I've tried not to be completely influenced by others, and it's just an evolution and many years of doing this that you can't put your finger on. I don't get satisfaction out of making something look similar to something that someone else has done. I do get satisfaction from doing something unique and dynamic. if you saw my house, you'd see thousands upon thousands of books. So much goes into influences of mine, and all these influences acquired over the years have gone into the way I draw.
So your style is more organic through your experience and studies?
Yes. It's important for people to know that there's so much study and preparation that goes into tattooing. When I first started, I would get so frustrated because I was under the impression that the tattooists I admired, like Ed Hardy, would just sit down and it would flow-not thinking that they were actually doing homework and preparing. Some people say, "Oh, it's great that you make so much an hour." And I think Really dude, I make half of that because the amount of time that goes into it beyond actual tattoo time is probably double.
People will go out and pay $150 for a pair of shoes, wear them for a few months, and that's that-but they still have a problem with paying however much an hour for a tattoo. For example, Michelle and I were working the Rome Tattoo convention and it felt like we were tattooing at a flea market because people kept going from booth to booth – not knowing or caring about the tattoo artist they were asking. They just wanted the cheapest price. Meanwhile, they're standing there in Gucci shoes and Dolce & Gabbana shirts. But it's a universal thing; you see it everywhere.
I guess you're not a billionaire yet, hanging with starts and tattooing them on their private jets?
Yeah, I'm definitely hobnobbing with some really big people. You know Sal? I just bought my breakfast from him this morning. And if you don't know him, you're nobody
-Marisa Kakoulas
Tattooist: Lara
Date: 08/19/2014
174 Ludlow St. New York, NY 212.533.8303

subset: commoncrawl


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Water Conservation Announcement
DELAWARE WATER GAP — An announcement for residents in part of Monroe County.
The Delaware Water Gap committee has issued a mandatory water conservation in Delaware Water Gap borough until further notice.
That means residents are asked not to water their lawns or wash their vehicles in the borough in Monroe County.


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- Filed Under
The Fireplaces of Kingwood
The Kingwood Township Historical Society will discuss "The Fireplaces of Kingwood" at their regular monthly meeting on Thursday, October 25th, 2012 @ 7:30 PM.
The discussion will include the fireplace as an architectural feature of our homes and how to cook & bake using a fireplace. Members and guests are asked to bring photographs ...


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|Hierarchical Metal/Semiconductor Nanostructure for Efficient Water Splitting.
MedLine Citation:
|PMID: 23292824 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher
|A hierarchically patterned metal/semiconductor (gold nanoparticles/ZnO nanowires) nanostructure with maximized photon trapping effects is fabricated via interference lithography (IL) for plasmon enhanced photo-electrochemical water splitting in the visible region of light. Compared with unpatterned (plain) gold nanoparticles-coated ZnO NWs (Au NPs/ZnO NWs), the hierarchically patterned Au NPs/ZnO NWs hybrid structures demonstrate higher and wider absorption bands of light leading to increased surface enhanced Raman scattering due to the light trapping effects achieved by the combination of two different nanostructure dimensions; furthermore, pronounced plasmonic enhancement of water splitting is verified in the hierarchically patterned Au NPs/ZnO NWs structures in the visible region. The excellent performance of the hierarchically patterned Au NPs/ZnO NWs indicates that the combination of pre-determined two different dimensions has great potential for application in solar energy conversion, light emitting diodes, as well as SERS substrates and photoelectrodes for water splitting.
|Pradheep Thiyagarajan; Hyo-Jin Ahn; Jung-Soo Lee; Jong-Chul Yoon; Ji-Hyun Jang
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Publication Detail:
|Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE Date: 2013-1-6
Journal Detail:
|Title: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Volume: - ISSN: 1613-6829 ISO Abbreviation: Small Publication Date: 2013 Jan
Date Detail:
|Created Date: 2013-1-7 Completed Date: - Revised Date: -
Medline Journal Info:
|Nlm Unique ID: 101235338 Medline TA: Small Country: -
Other Details:
|Languages: ENG Pagination: - Citation Subset: -
Copyright Information:
|Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
|Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy and Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 100 Banyeon-ri, Ulsan, 689-798, South Korea.
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|APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex
|MeSH Terms
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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Buyers and Sellers are equally advantaged. Homes sell at approximately the same rate at which they are listed. Homes will often sell at the asking price.
Rental property is in high demand and availability is low. Rent prices have not changed over the past 3 months. This is 38% higher than the state average of $1,246 and 100% higher than the country average of $0.
The average home price in 40330 is $118,000, which is 29.7% higher than the average sold price in 40330 ($90,950) . The average home price per square foot in 40330 is $67 and about 1% of all homes in 40330 sold in the last 6 months. For 40330 home values, real estate prices, and city market trends, research the 6,725 property records or search our 96 recently sold or 275 homes for sale listings. The listings and properties in 40330 are only a part of the 1,519,862 properties and 35,213 homes for sale in Kentucky. Because of this, the average home price and average home value of 40330 also influence the average home price $124,500 and average sale price $143,000 of Kentucky. Listing counts, 40330 home prices and home values in 40330 are sourced daily from listing and property data on realtor.com®, which is the most up-to-date and accurate aggregation of real estate listings in the industry and includes approximately 800 regional MLSs and is the official website of the National Association of Realtors®.


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FRIENDS — NBC Series — Season 4: "The One With The Embryos" — Pictured: (l-r) Matt Le Blanc as Joey, Matthew Perry as Chandler, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel, Courtney Cox Arquette as Monica — Photo: Copyright 2004 Warner Bros. Television Production Inc.
These photographs, which are the copyrighted material of Warner Bros. Television Production Inc., are being submitted to you for only the following limited purpose: for publicity, promotion or advertising of the series "Friends". You must obtain all other authorizations, consents and releases (other than copyright permission which we have granted to you as set forth herein) and pay all compensation required by any applicable collective bargaining agreement, any individual agreement or otherwise required by law. These photographs are not transferable, may only be used until May 31, 2004 and may not be used in any "special" or "stand alone" issues of your pulications without prior written permission. Your use of these photos shall constitute acceptance of the above terms.


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Then: The Bad Girl
Michelle Williams started her career as a tween appearing in small television roles. At age 14, she made her feature film debut in "Lassie." The next year, the aspiring actress graduated early from high school and became legally emancipated from her parents as a way of getting around child-labor laws so that she could more fully focus on her career. The hard work at an early age paid off: Michelle booked the part of city girl Jen Lindley.
RELATED: Fashion Don'ts
© 2015 Whalerock Industries


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Asthma and Exercise
What is exercise-induced asthma?
Most people diagnosed with asthma will experience asthma symptoms when exercising. In addition, some who are not diagnosed with asthma will experience asthma symptoms, but only during exercise. This is a condition called exercise-induced asthma. Exercise-induced asthma is different from the typical asthma that is triggered by allergens and/or irritants. Some people have both types of asthma, while others only experience exercise-induced asthma.
Asthma is a chronic, inflammatory lung disease that leads to three airway problems: obstruction, inflammation, and hyper-responsiveness. Unfortunately, the basic cause of asthma is still not known.
How does exercise cause asthma symptoms?
When breathing normally, the air that enters the airways is first warmed and moistened by the nasal passages to prevent injury to the delicate lining of the airways. However, for someone with asthma, the airways may be extremely sensitive to allergens, irritants, infection, weather, and/or exercise. When asthma symptoms begin, the airways' muscles constrict and narrow, the lining of the airways begins to swell, and mucus production may increase. When exercising (especially outside in cold weather), the increased breathing in and breathing out through the mouth may cause the airways to dry and cool, which may irritate them and cause the onset of asthma symptoms. In addition, when breathing through the mouth during exercise, a person will inhale more air-borne particles, including pollen, which can trigger asthma.
What are the symptoms of exercise-induced asthma?
Exercise-induced asthma is characterized by asthma symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, and tightness in the chest within 5 to 20 minutes after starting to exercise. Exercised-induced asthma can also include symptoms such as unusual fatigue and feeling short-of-breath while exercising.
However, exercise should not be avoided because of asthma. In fact, exercise is very beneficial to a person with asthma, improving their airway function by strengthening their breathing muscles. Consult your doctor for more information.
How can exercise-induced asthma be controlled?
Stretching and proper warm-up and cool-down exercises may relieve any chest tightness that occurs with exercising. In addition, breathing through the nose and not the mouth will help warm and humidify the air before it enters the airways, protecting the delicate lining of the airways. Other ways to help prevent an asthma attack due to exercise include the following:
- Your doctor may prescribe an inhaled asthma medication to use before exercise, which may also be used after exercise if symptoms occur.
- Avoid exercising in very low temperatures.
- If exercising during cold weather, wear a scarf over your mouth and nose, so that the air breathed in is warm and easier to inhale.
- Avoid exercising when pollen or air pollution levels are high (if allergy plays a role in the asthma).
- If inhaling air through the mouth, keep the mouth pursed (lips forming a small "O" close together), so that the air is less cold and dry when it enters the airways during exercise.
- Carry an inhaler, just in case of an asthma attack.
- Wear an allergy mask during pollen season.
- Avoid exercise when experiencing a viral infection.
Recommended sports for people with asthma
According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, the recommended sport for people with asthma is swimming, due to the warm, humid environment, the toning of the upper muscles, and the horizontal position (which may actually loosen mucus from the bottom of the lungs). Other recommended activities and sports include:
- Swimming
- Baseball
- Biking leisurely
- Football
- Free downhill skiing
- Golfing
- Gymnastics
- Hiking
- Short-distance track and field
- Surfing
- Walking
- Wrestling
Sports that may aggravate exercise-induced asthma symptoms include:
- Soccer
- Cross-country skiing
- Basketball
- Long-distance running
- Ice hockey
However, with proper management and preparation, most people with asthma can participate in any sport.


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A component in your Mercedes Benz 400e powerplant known as a distributor is in control of transmitting high-voltage electricity to the spark plugs from the ignition coil. Among the distributor's components is a distributor rotor, a turning shaft that travels near contact points where the great voltage permits the electricity to jump the tiny difference. The Mercedes Benz 400e distributor rotor is in control of the appropriate timing of firing the spark plugs and arranging the rate for ignition in the engine.
Continually maintain the excellent shape of the distributor rotor of your Mercedes Benz 400e to hold the ignition mechanisms properly in sync. Wrong ignition time can bring about decline in engine effectiveness and squandering of precious fuel in your Mercedes Benz 400e. Consistent check-ups and tune-up of car parts including the distributor rotor are excellent procedures in correct motor vehicle servicing so as to identify and remedy difficulties earlier. If you put money into a great distributor rotor for your Mercedes Benz 400e, you shall receive the finest value-for-money due to improved toughness and fuel productivity.
Parts Train is the finest Web-based seller of automotive equipment, such as the Mercedes Benz 400e distributor rotor, with the widest supply around and the least expensive prices. Our inventory includes products from great parts Mercedes Benz 400ers all around the world just like Beck Arnley, Omix, and Daiichi.
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Most Transparent President Ever Finally Has a Press Conference
November 14, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Democrats/Leftists, Egypt, Elections, Ethics, Government, Liberals, Libya, President, Progressives, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off on
Most Transparent President Ever Finally Has a Press Conference
-By Warner Todd Huston
Today at 1:30 PM, President Obama has deigned to hold an honest-to-goodness, question-taking press conference. I guess the President took to heart the plaintive plea of ABC's Jake Tapper who asked Obama not to be a stranger as the Prez exited his last presser on August 20.
But that was just a walk on, guest shot, a surprise to the press. Obama's last scheduled, solo press conference was all the way back on March 6.
Despite claiming that he'd be the most open, transparent president ever, Obama hasn't been as forth coming with the Old Media establishment as other presidents. In fact, he's been chided by the media since he first became president for keeping them at arm's length.
The latest scolding Obama took over his shyness was in early in October when Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank looked up the numbers and noted that in the last four years, President Obama "has worked assiduously to avoid being questioned, maintaining a regal detachment from the media and other sources of dissent and skeptical inquiry."
"Towson University political scientist Martha Kumar, who keeps a running tally of Obama's media appearances, tells me he has had 19 solo news conferences in the White House as of Sept. 30. That compares to 26 for Ronald Reagan at the same point in his presidency, 59 for George H.W. Bush, and 31 for Bill Clinton. Obama had more formal news conferences than George W. Bush (13), but Bush engaged in many more informal Q&A sessions with reporters: 340 at this stage in his presidency to Obama's 105. (Clinton had 585 at this point, the elder Bush had 309 and Reagan had 135.)"
This President just does not like to be questioned, even by his sycophantic press corps.
The absurd thing is that this media loves him so unconditionally, one wonders what he's been afraid of these last four years? Who would ever expect a member of the U.S. media to ask a tough question of The Won? Well, besides Jake Tapper, of course.
"The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it."
–Samuel Johnson
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, RightPundits.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, AmericanDaily.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany's Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.
For a full bio, please CLICK HERE.
Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site/blog for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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Subtle floral fun; super-fruity pinkMarks & Spencer Frappato 2012. £7.99
cherryish fruit is light bodied and as fragrant as a roseSiansbury's taste the Difference Greco di Tufo 2012. £10.49
Crisp, peachy refreshment with a subtle exotic twistCuvee Royale Brut Cremant de Limoux NV. £10.99 Waitrose
Snappy, sassy bubbly with flairCotes de Thongue Domaine les Filles de Septembre 2012. £9.95 Yapp
Full of fragrant, dark, summert fruit; joyful romp in a glass
spiced citrus along with fresh orange zest and honeyHermits Hill Botrytis Semillon 2008 Australia (Marks & Spencer, £7.99)
packed with peaches and a touch of butterscotchEstrella Moscatel de Valencia NV (Morrisons, £4.49 for 75cl)
Citrus marmalade and apricots, here, with good acidity
Complex, distinctive and immensely appealingAnciano Gran Reserva Tempranillo 2004. £8.99, Waitrose
real mature depth from oak; distinctive baked fruitsCotes de Provence Rose. £5.99 Aldi
refreshing, slightly spicy, full of fruit flavours
juicy orchard fruit quality; easy-drinking refreshmentLis Neris Pinot Grigio, Friuli 2011 (from £12, vini-italiani; agwine; winebear)
richness, texture, ripe peachy fruit and spic; mineral freshnessVilla Maria Seddon Pinot Gris, Marlborough, 2011 (£16.99, nzhouseofwine; amps)
quince, pear and cinnamon; a standout in their range
made in Chile by an Aussie; belt of lush, ripe (but not over-jammy) fruitPorcupine Ridge Syrah Viognier 2011 (£6.99 Majestic; 14.5% abv)
exuberant, from South AfricaLa Moneda Malbec Reserve 2012 (Asda, £4.50, 13% abv)
super-smooth, from Argentina; a ridiculously good dealFinca Flichman Malbec/Shiraz Rose (£5.99 Waitrose, 13% abv)
intense, dark, fruity; happily drink with steak or sausagesTesco Finest Touriga Nacional Rosé 2012 (13% abv, 2 for £10)
full-on; from Portugal's Alentejo; good with curries2012 Exquisite Collection Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc (Aldi, £4.99, 12% abv)
cracking; Perfect for a beach barbecue
honeyed peach and fragrant lychee flavours2012 Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon, California. 13%. £5.25 Morrisons
smooth softnes; bright, rich and concentrated bramble and cassis fruit
Tangy like preserved lemon; firmer and less quick-silvery than sauvignon blancTerre di Chieti Falabella Bianco 2012 Italy (12.5%, Majestic, £7.99)
very drinkable blend of 60% trebbiano, 30% pecorino and 10% cococciolaFinest* Falanghina 2012 Italy (12.5%, Tesco, £5.99 until July 16)
shines out for its bright clarity


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Can I bring my own food into theme parks and Disney Resort hotels?
Disney Theme Parks & Water Parks – Frequently Asked Questions
Guests are allowed to bring food items—such as snacks or foods that do not require heating—into Disney theme parks. Inform a Security Cast Member of any food items when you enter the park.
If you are concerned that we may not offer foods that you are able to eat, learn how to make Special Dietary Requests.
For your safety and convenience, we ask that you read the Walt Disney World Resort park rules before you arrive.


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aruna sameera wrote:I mean if my password or database name or username change i don't need to recompile my servlet.
so i need to separate my varing things from servlet.
what is the best way to do that?
Mark Williams wrote:An alternative to using properties is to store the values in the web.xml as environment entries and use JNDI to retrieve the values.
The last time I checked, passwords were still stored in plain text with this method as well though. But, since your application already has a deployment descriptor, why not use it to store this info?


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The course features 5,515 yards from the longest tees for a par of 70 . The course rating is 66.0 and it has a slope rating of 100 on Bermuda grass. Designed by Harold Loudermilk, the Cedarcrest golf course opened in 1970.
The many trees and hills could cause some problems in your game.


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Chicago, IL, US
I am an Italian Architect and Interior Designer with an emphasis in artistic interior architectural design for high-end construction and renovation.
I have worked with internationally renowned architect Piero Lissoni. While at Lissoni Associati, my focus was on high-end residences and hospitality projects. One of these projects included the Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem that in January 2011Wallpaper* magazine named the Mamilla Hotel as one of the world's best new hotels.
I earned my Bachelor's degree in Architecture and Master's degree in Interior Architecture and Design at the Politecnico di Milano.
d+acollaborative, Chicago, IL, US, co-founder, principal interior architecture
Luminaire, Chicago, IL, US, Boffi Designer and Sale associate
Lissoni Associati, Milano, IT, Senior Interior Architect
Politecnico di Milano, Milano, IT, MArch, Interior Architecture and Design
Politecnico di Milano, Milano, IT, BArch, Architecture


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During endochondral bone formation, the hypertrophy of chondrocytes is accompanied by selective expression of several genes including type X collagen and alkaline phosphatase. This expression is stimulated by inducers including BMPs and ascorbate. A 316 base pair region of the type X collagen (Col X) promoter has been previously characterized as the site required for BMP regulation. The intent of this study was to examine the role of Mitogen Activated Protein (MAP) and related kinase pathways in the regulation of Col X transcription and alkaline phosphatase activity in pre-hypertrophic chick chondrocytes.
Using a luciferase reporter regulated by the BMP-responsive region of the type X collagen promoter, we show that promoter activity is increased by inhibition of extra-cellular signal regulated kinases 1 or 2 (ERK1/2). In contrast the ability of BMP-2 to induce alkaline phosphatase activity is little affected by ERK1/2 inhibition. The previously demonstrated stimulatory affect of p38 on Col X was shown to act specifically at the BMP responsive region of the promoter. The inhibitory effect of the ERK1/2 pathway and stimulatory effect of the p38 pathway on the Col X promoter were confirmed by the use of mutant kinases. Inhibition of upstream kinases: protein kinase C (PKC) and phosphatidylinositol 3-(PI3) kinase pathways increased basal Col X activity but had no effect on the BMP-2 induced increase. In contrast, ascorbate had no effect on the BMP-2 responsive region of the Col X promoter nor did it alter the increase in promoter activity induced by ERK1/2 inhibition. The previously shown increase in alkaline phosphatase activity induced by ascorbate was not affected by any kinase inhibitors examined. However some reduction in the alkaline phosphatase activity induced by the combination of BMP-2 and ascorbate was observed with ERK1/2 inhibition.
Our results demonstrate that ERK1/2 plays a negative role while p38 plays a positive role in the BMP-2 activated transcription of type X collagen. This regulation occurs specifically at the BMP-2 responsive promoter region of Col X. Ascorbate does not modulate Col X at this region indicating that BMP-2 and ascorbate exert their action on chondrocyte hypertrophy via different transcriptional pathways. MAP kinases seem to have only a modest effect on alkaline phosphatase when activity is induced by the combination of both BMP-2 and ascorbate.
During skeletal development and growth, bone formation occurs either by intramembraneous or endochondral bone formation. In endochondral bone formation, which occurs at the growth plates of long bones, cartilage is formed first, then the chondrocytes undergo a proliferative phase followed by hypertrophy, changes in gene expression, and matrix calcification, after which the cartilage is replaced by bone. Although generally referred to as chondrocyte hypertrophy, cell enlargement is just one manifestation of the more complex process of chondrocyte maturation, which can be considered an end-stage of chondrocyte differentiation. It is important to define the mechanisms that induce chondrocyte maturation, not only to understand bone development, but also to help prevent hypertrophy and ossification during cartilage tissue engineering.
Hypertrophic chondrocytes are characterized by their increased levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), reduced levels of type II and IX collagens, and the emergence of type X collagen (Col X), which is a specific marker of hypertrophy [1,2]. Ascorbate and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are among the factors previously shown to be inducers of ALP gene expression in chondrocytes. Either of these inducers alone will elevate ALP activity in chondrocytes derived from pre-hypertrophic regions of avian cartilage, but the combined effect of BMP and ascorbate is more than additive [3]. In early studies with avian chondrocytes, ascorbate-induced increases in type X collagen expression appeared to parallel increasing alkaline phosphatase activity, suggesting that both Col X and ALP might be controlled by common pathways [4]. However, analyses of BMP-stimulated hypertrophy suggested that ALP activity gradually increased over a 3 day period, while Col X mRNA reached maximal levels within 24 h. Experiments in which pre-hypertrophic chick chondrocytes were transfected with luciferase constructs regulated by sequences from the avian type X collagen gene demonstrated that a "b2" region 2.6-2.0 kilobases upstream of the ColX transcription start site, when joined to 640 base pair (bp) region of the proximal promoter, was transcriptionally activated by BMP-2, -4, and -7 [5]. Northern blot analyses after cyclohexamide treatment showed that new protein synthesis is not required for BMP-induced Col X expression [3]. Additional studies indicated that the mechanism for type X collagen promoter regulation probably involves BMP-activated Smads interacting with a Runx2/Cbfa1 transcription factor [6], and that retinoic acid stimulation of Col X expression is via the same 316 bp region [7,8]. Although long-term (4–7 day) treatment of chondrocytes with ascorbate results in increased levels of type X collagen mRNA [9], there is no data concerning the ability of ascorbate to regulate the type X collagen promoter.
In osteoblastic cells, BMPs and ascorbate have been shown to operate via mechanisms that at least partly involve mitogen activated protein kinases (MAP kinases). For example, ascorbate promotes extracellular matrix production which, in turn, activates the extracellular-signal regulated kinases, (ERK1/2 or p42/ p44) in an osteoblastic cell line [10]. MAP kinases including ERK1/2 [11,12], p38 [13] and PI3 (phosphatidylinositol 3-) kinase [14] have also been reported to be required for BMP-dependent induction of osteoblast differentiation. However, these pathways can act oppositely in certain BMP induced processes such as osteocalcin synthesis by osteoblasts [15].
In general, MAP kinase pathways involving ERK1/2 stimulate proliferation, growth and differentiation, whereas those that stimulate p38 kinase lead to differentiation and apoptosis [16]. In early stages of chondrocyte differentiation, an increase in p38 and decrease in ERK1/2 activity is required for the progression to cartilage nodule formation in chick limb buds [17]. In hypertrophying chondrocytes p38 has been shown to be required for Col X mRNA synthesis [18]. In apoptosis of articular chondrocytes [19] and other cell types [20], ERK1/2 inhibits and p38 stimulates the apoptotic pathway.
Chick sternal chondrocytes are a popular model for the study of chondrocyte maturation because under normal development chondrocytes from the cephalic portion of the sternum undergo hypertrophy followed by mineralization and bone formation, whereas the caudal portion remains as cartilage [3,8]. In this study we investigate the roles of ERK1/2, p38 and two upstream pathways, protein kinase C (PKC) and PI3 kinase, in the maturation of chick prehypertrophic sternal chondrocytes induced by BMP-2 and ascorbate.
ERK signaling inhibits transcription of the BMP-2 responsive type X collagen promoter but is not involved in the regulation of alkaline phosphatase activity
Studies with the ERK1/2 inhibitor U0126 indicated that blocking ERK1/2 signaling increased the activity of the type X collagen promoter but had no effect on alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in chick cephalic sternal chondrocytes (Fig. 1). Cells transfected with luciferase reporter plasmid containing the BMP-responsive b2/640 region of the Col X promoter showed a 3-fold (p < 0.05) increase in luciferase expression, as a ratio to the pRL null control vector, after the addition of 4 μM U0126, both with and without exogenous BMP-2 (Fig 1A). In contrast neither basal nor BMP-stimulated ALP activity were significantly changed in the presence of U0126 (Fig. 1B).
Figure 1. Effects of BMP-2 and the ERK inhibitor, UO126, on the Col X promoter and alkaline phosphatase activity in chick cephalic sternal chondrocytes. A: Activity of the b2/640 type X collagen promoter; 24 hrs after seeding cells were transfected with PGLb2/640 and pRLnull luciferase vectors, 5 hrs after transfection 4 μM U0126 or vehicle (DMSO) was added. BMP-2 was added to selected wells after a further hour. Values are mean ± S.D of the mean ratio of promoter to empty vector fluorescence units, for 6 experiments assayed in triplicate. B: Alkaline phosphatase activity; 24 hrs after seeding, medium was changed and 4 μM U0126 or vehicle was added. BMP-2 was added to selected wells after a further hour. Cell extracts were prepared 72 hrs later. Data was obtained using 5 different isolates of chondrocytes assayed in triplicate. Values are mean ± SEM of 12–15 samples normalized to within experiment controls treated with BMP-2 but no inducers, *:p < 0.01 group differs from non BMP-2 treated group within inhibitor treatment, +: p < 0.05 that group differs from group with no UO126.
ALP activity was highly variable between cell isolates and is expressed here normalized to BMP-2 treated controls for the purpose of combining experiments, typical ALP values ranged from approximately 0.5–2 nmol/min/μg DNA in controls to between 4 and 12 nmol/min/μg DNA in BMP-2 treated cultures.
The effects of altered ERK1/2 signaling on Col X promoter activity in chick sternal chondrocytes was further studied both by transfection with mutant kinases and by treatment with additional kinase inhibitors. Col X promoter activity was increased, both in the presence and absence of BMP-2, when the mitogen-stimulated ERK pathway was suppressed by transfecting chondrocytes with dominant negative ERK-2 (Figs. 2A, 2B). Conversely, stimulating the ERK1/2 pathway by over-expressing constitutively active MEK1, an upstream kinase of ERK1/2, decreased promoter activity by 50% (p < 0.05) and in BMP-2 treated cells it eliminated any BMP response.
Figure 2. Effects of MAP kinase manipulation on b2/640 type X collagen promoter activity, in chick cephalic sternum chondrocytes. A and B: Mutant kinases; 24 hrs after seeding, cells were transfected with luciferase vectors and 0.5–1 μg mutant kinase DNA. After 5 hrs medium was changed (A) or medium changed and BMP-2 added (B). C and D: Inhibitor treatments; 5 hours after transfection with luciferase vectors, medium was changed and kinase inhibitor or vehicle (DMSO) was added as indicated. In D 30 ng/ml BMP-2 was added one hr after medium change. Data obtained using at least 2 independent isolates of chondrocytes, assayed in triplicate. Values are mean ± SEM of luciferase ratios of type X collagen promoter activity to control vector, normalized to BMP-2 treated controls. *:p < 0.05 that luciferase ratio differs from non BMP-2 treated group, +: p < 0.05 that luciferase ratio differs from group with no MAP kinase manipulation.
As seen with the ERK1/2 inhibitor U0126, treatment with the more specific ERK1/2 inhibitor PD098059 increased b2/640 Col X promoter activity, in the presence of BMP-2 (Fig. 2D). Dose response experiments indicated that concentrations of PD98059 as low as 10 μM significantly increased luciferase expression 2-fold (p < 0.001) in BMP-treated cells, but not in the absence of BMP-2 (Fig. 2C). At a higher does, 50 μM, of PD90859 luciferase levels in BMP-2 treated cells were 10–20 fold higher (p < 0.005) than BMP-containing cultures without inhibitor (Fig. 2D), at this dose PD90859 also stimulated the promoter in the absence of BMP-2 (Fig. 2C).
p38 MAP kinase signaling contributes to the response of the type X collagen promoter to BMP-2
Transfection with dominant negative p38 caused a decrease in Col X promoter activity in BMP-2 treated cephalic chondrocytes, reducing activity to half of that seen in BMP-2 treated controls (p < 0.005) and eliminating the BMP-2 response (Figs. 2A and 2B). Similarly, 1 μM SB 203580, an inhibitor of p38, significantly decreased BMP-stimulated promoter activity (Fig. 2D), but had little effect on promoter activity in the absence of BMP-2 (Fig. 2C).
Inhibiting PKC and PI3 kinases increases type X collagen promoter activity
Addition of either PI3 kinase inhibitor or PKC inhibitor resulted in similar stimulation of the collagen type X promoter. Calphostin C, a PKC inhibitor, increased activity in BMP-2 treated cells more than 2-fold, an effect similar to that seen with the ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 at 10 μM (Fig. 2D). Similarly, 50 μM LY294002, a PI3 kinase inhibitor, stimulated the b2/640 promoter approximately 2-fold (Fig. 2D). However, both of these inhibitors also increased transcription of the collagen type X promoter in non-BMP-2 treated cells to levels as high as seen with the combination of BMP-2 and the respective inhibitor treatment (Fig. 2C).
Kinase inhibitor effects on viable cell number
To assess the possible effects of protein kinase inhibitors on cell proliferation and survival, we measured relative numbers of live cells using a tetrazolium (MTS) assay. The results indicated that all cultures treated with inhibitors, with and without BMP-2 and/or ascorbate, had cell numbers within 10% of untreated controls (data not shown).
Ascorbate has no effect on the type X collagen promoter and stimulates alkaline phosphatase activity regardless of kinase inhibitor treatment
We examined the effect of 75 μM ascorbate-2-phosphate on the activity the Col X promoter in cultures treated with kinase inhibitors. Col X promoter activity was unaffected by addition of ascorbate, and 4 μM of the ERK1/2 inhibitor U0126 increased promoter activity to comparable levels both with and without ascorbate (Fig. 3A).
Figure 3. Effects of ascorbate and MAP kinase inhibitors on the Col X promoter and alkaline phosphatase activity in chick cephalic sternal chondrocytes. A: Activity of the b2/640 type X collagen promoter; 24 hrs after seeding cells were transfected with luciferase vectors, 5 hrs after transfection 4 μM U0126 or vehicle were added. Ascorbate was added to selected wells after a further hour. Values are mean ± S.D of the mean ratio of promoter to empty vector fluorescence units, for 3 experiments assayed in triplicate. B: Alkaline phosphatase activity; 24 hrs after seeding, medium was changed and 4 μM U0126 or vehicle was added. Ascorbate or ascorbate with BMP-2 was added to selected wells after a further hour. Cell extracts were prepared 72 hrs later. Data was obtained using 5 different isolates of chondrocytes assayed in triplicate. Values are mean ± SEM of 12–15 samples normalized to within experiment controls treated with BMP-2 but no inducers. *: p < 0.05 that group differs from non-supplemented group within inhibitor treatment. The increase in ALP caused by BMP-2 addition is shown, this increase is significantly smaller in UO126 treated cells, +:p < 0.05.
The increase in alkaline phosphatase activity caused by adding BMP-2 to ascorbate treated cultures is reduced by ERK inhibitors
ALP activity in the absence of exogenous BMP was stimulated at least 2-fold in ascorbate-treated cultures without inhibitors, as previously reported, and this stimulation was not significantly affected by addition of either ERK1/2 or p38 inhibitors (Fig. 3B). In cultures treated with ascorbate and BMP-2 addition of ERK1/2 inhibitors resulted in ALP levels that were <60% of the level seen in cells without inhibitor (Fig. 3B). The increase caused by BMP-2 addition, relative to ascorbate only-treated cultures was significantly reduced by treatment with U0126 (p < 0.05). The p38 inhibitor SB203580 did not cause a statistically significant inhibition of alkaline phosphatase activity. PI3 kinase and PKC inhibitors had no significant effects on ALP activity (data not shown).
The present studies demonstrate that ERK1/2 inhibition increases activity of the BMP responsive region of the type X collagen promoter. This indicates that ERK1/2 signaling interferes with the ability of BMP-induced signals to stimulate type X collagen transcription. Interestingly ERK1/2 has also been shown to inhibit type I collagen expression in an osteoblastic cell line [21] suggesting there may be a common pattern of ERK1/2 inhibition of collagen transcription pathways.
In contrast to the stimulatory effects of inhibiting the ERK pathway, p38 inhibition blocked BMP-stimulated Col X promoter activity. Zhen et al. [18] and Beier and Luvalle [22] also showed that p38 signaling is important for regulation of Col X expression, Beier and Luvalle suggested that the proximal promoter contained a site for p38 action. Here, we have confirmed these results and narrowed the region of p38 responsiveness to within the region of the Col X promoter that is also BMP responsive.
While the classical pathway for BMP signaling is via activation of R-Smads, there is also evidence for BMP signaling via a TGF-activated kinase (TAK1) leading to p38 signaling [23-26]. However, in preliminary experiments Smad1 over-expression increased BMP-stimulated Col X promoter activity even in the presence of DN-TAK1 (data not shown). This suggests that BMP-activated Smad signaling and not TAK1 signaling is the major factor in Col X promoter regulation. Taken together these data suggest that the role of p38 is as a co-activator of Smads or Runx-2 rather than a downstream effector of BMP signaling.
Inhibiting either protein kinase C (PKC) or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3 kinase) increased type X collagen promoter activity both in BMP-2 treated cultures and controls. Both PKC and PI3 kinase have been reported to negatively regulate p38 [18] and positively regulate ERK1/2 [20,27,28]. The complex effects in which these kinases stimulate basal Col X promoter activity but inhibit BMP-2 from stimulating additional activity may be due to their simultaneously affecting both of these pathways.
Although alkaline phosphatase expression, like type X collagen expression, increases during chondrocyte hypertrophy and is stimulated by BMPs, its regulation clearly differs from Col X in several respects. ERK1/2 inhibition has little effect on the ALP activity induced by BMP-2 or ascorbate acting alone and reduces the ability of BMP-2 to further stimulate ALP activity in ascorbate treated cultures. Inhibiting p38 does not have a clear effect on BMP-stimulated alkaline phosphatase activity in this model although it has been shown to reduce ALP activity in long-term (12–15 day) micromass cultures [29].
Preliminary studies with cyclohexamide indicate that new protein synthesis is required for the up-regulation of alkaline phosphatase mRNA in response to BMP-2. We propose that these differences reflect a direct Smad-mediated effect of BMPs on type X collagen expression and an indirect effect on ALP expression.
A mechanism which could account for the observed effects of ERK and p38 signaling on expression of type X collagen and ALP is presented in Fig. 4. The simplest explanation for our observation that a decrease in ERK1/2 signaling causes increased type X collagen promoter activity is that ERK1/2 can phosphorylate the linker region of BMP-activated Smads, preventing nuclear translocation of activated Smads, as suggested by Kretzschmar et al. [30]. Alternatively, products of ERK1/2 signaling may act directly on a silencer within the type X collagen promoter such as the region identified by Beier et al. [31] at 2864-2410 base pairs which would overlap with our b2-containing construct (2649 -2007).
Figure 4. Possible mechanism for kinase involvement in BMP stimulated type X collagen expression. ERK1/2 is proposed to suppress activated Smad translocation to the nucleus as described by Kretschmer et al. [30] and thereby inhibit Col X transcription. ERK-specific Runx2 phosphorylation is required for regulation of typical osteoblastic genes but may not be required for Col X expression. However p38 facilitates Col X transcription, possibly via Runx2 phosphorylation and although was not shown to be involved in short term increases in ALP in our model, has been shown to be involved in long term increases in ALP over 15 days of chondrocyte differentiation in culture (question mark) [29].
Evidence that BMP stimulation of type X collagen requires both activated R-Smads and Runx2 has been previously reported [5,7]. Little is known concerning kinase phosphorylation of Runx2, except for the report that ERK phosphorylates Runx2 and increases its binding to the osteocalcin promoter [32] in osteoblasts. If ERK phosphorylation of Runx2 were required for BMP-stimulated type X collagen transcription, we might expect ERK1/2 inhibition to decrease the activity of the Col X promoter. However, as ERK1/2 inhibition increases Col X promoter activity while partially inhibiting ALP we propose that the Runx2-Smad complex binding to the Col X promoter may not be phosphorylated by ERK1/2, but that ALP expression does require Runx2 phosphorylated by ERK1/2.
As well as its demonstrated role in Col X expression as found here and by [18,31], there are also reports that p38 inhibitors block osteoblast differentiation [33,34]. Because Runx2 plays an important role in both osteogenesis and chondrocyte maturation, we have suggested that p38 may function in Runx2 expression, activation or nuclear translocation. However, there are many other possible roles, including the suggestion that p38 is downstream of BMP-activated Smad signaling [35].
Retinoic acid [7,8], another stimulator of chondrocyte hypertrophy has also been shown to act at the BMP-2 responsive b2 region of the type X collagen promoter, however ascorbate, which does produce an increase in type X collagen mRNA expression [4], does not seem to have any effect on this promoter region. These results, in combination with previous findings that Col X mRNA expression only occurs after 4–9 days stimulation with ascorbate [9], suggest that the effects of ascorbate on regulation of type X collagen expression are via a separate mechanism than BMP stimulation and are probably indirect.
Elucidating the signaling pathways by which chondrocytes are driven to hypertrophy is necessary in order to better understand skeletal development, cartilage disease and improve the design of tissue engineered cartilage. We showed here that the ERK1/2 pathway inhibits type X collagen production by either directly or indirectly acting at the BMP responsive region of the promoter. p38 kinase signaling stimulates type X collagen transcription at the same promoter region, probably in conjunction with BMP-2 activated Smads. The factor upstream of p38 in this stimulatory pathway is unknown. Alkaline phosphatase activity is likely to be regulated in a different way from type X collagen since MAP kinases do not contribute in the same way to this pathway. Although ascorbate and BMPs both induce hypertrophy in chondrocytes ascorbate does not act at the same region of the Col X promoter as BMPs.
Inhibitors and plasmids
The ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059, which blocks the upstream kinase (MEK1) of ERK1/2, the p38 inhibitor SB203580, and the PKC inhibitor Calphostin C were obtained from Sigma (St. Louis, MO). UO126, also a MEK1 inhibitor, was obtained from Biomol (Plymouth Meeting, PA) and LY294002, a phosphatidylinositol 3- (PI3) kinase inhibitor from Cell Signaling Technology (Beverly, MA). Plasmids were kindly donated as follows: constitutively active MEK1 from Michael Webber (University of Virginia); dominant negative p38 [36] from Roger Davis at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School, dominant negative ERK2 [37] from Melanie Cobb at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Cell Culture
Chondrocytes were cultured as previously described [3]. Cephalic and caudal sternal chondrocytes were isolated from 15 day chick embryos and cultured for 5 days. Dissection of chick cartilage was performed under a University of Pennsylvania IACUC exemption. On day 5 non-adherent cells were removed and plated in 12 well plates at 300,000 cells /well in DMEM supplemented with 10% NuSerum, 2 mM L-glutamine, 100 U/ml penn/strep and 4 U/ml hyaluronidase, to promote cell attachment.
Transfection of cephalic (pre-hypertrophic) sternal chondrocytes
On day 1 of secondary culture (24 hrs after plating) the cell layer was washed in HBSS and the media changed to DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS in place of NuSerum. Cells were co-transfected with pGL2 plasmid containing the b2/640 type X collagen promoter region attached to a firefly luciferase reporter (0.2–1 μg/well) (Promega, Madison, WI) and pRL null plasmid attached to a renilla luciferase reporter (0.4 μg/well) (Promega) which served as a transfection control [5]. When appropriate, mutant plasmids were added at 0.5 or 1 μg/well along with the luciferase vectors. Luciferase and mutant kinase plasmids were transfected either using CaPO4 precipitation or Fugene transfection reagent at 6 μl/ml (Promega). Since preliminary experiments using green fluorescent protein showed that Fugene was more effective in terms of numbers of cells transfected, this method was used for the majority of the experiments; however, relative outcomes between controls and treated cells were not affected by the transfection method.
Transfection proceeded for 5 hrs after which the cell layer was rinsed twice in HBSS and cultured with serum free medium (DMEM with 2 mM L-glutamine, 100 U/ml penn/strep, 4 U/ml hyaluronidase, 60 ng/ml insulin, 1 mM cysteine, and 10 pM triiodothyronine). Some wells were supplemented with 75 μM ascorbate-2-phosphate (Wako, Takara, Japan) or 30 ng/ml human recombinant BMP-2 (Wyeth, Cambridge, MA). Where inhibitors were used they were added at this point and cells incubated for 1 hr before the addition of BMP-2. Cells were cultured for a further 48 hours, then lysed and assayed using a dual luciferase assay kit (Promega).
Alkaline Phosphatase Assay
For alkaline phosphatase assays, cells were switched to serum free medium on day 1 of secondary culture, inhibitors were added and cells incubated for 1 hr before the addition of ascorbate or BMP-2, as described for the luciferase assay. Cells were cultured for a further 72 hrs and then rinsed twice in HBSS. Cells numbers were assayed either by DNA quantification (CyQUANT cell proliferation assay kit, Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR) or by MTS tetrazolium salt assay of mitochondrial activity (Cell Titer 96 AQueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay, Promega). When MTS was used, a 1:10 dilution of MTS was applied in phenol red-free media for 30–60 minutes, 200 μl of media plus MTS was transferred to a 96 well plate and assayed in a 'Multiskan ascent' plate reader (Thermolabsystems, Franklin, MA). The cell layer was then washed twice in HBSS and extracted with 0.15 M Tris, pH 9 with 0.1 mM ZnCl2, 0.1 mM MgCl2 and 1% Triton X-100 for 30 mins at 37°C, followed by overnight storage at 4°C. A sample of the cell lysate was reacted with p-nitrophenyl phosphate substrate in 1.5 M Tris buffer pH 9 with 1 mM ZnCl2 and 1 mM MgCl2. Phosphatase activity was measured specrophotometrically at 410 nm with 1 absorbance unit equivalent to 64 nmol of product. For DNA analysis, cells were trypsinized and a subsample of cell suspension centrifuged, the cell pellet lysed with the CyQUANT lysis buffer and the fluorescent DNA dye added. The resulting solution was transferred to a 96 well plate and DNA assayed fluorometrically. The remaining cells were extracted for the alkaline phosphatase assay as above. Alkaline phosphatase enzyme levels were calculated as nmol p-nitrophenol product per minute normalized to MTS units or μg DNA.
Statistical analysis
Statistics were performed using Minitab™ software. After expressing results as a ratio of experimental/control within each experiment, the data from at least 3 experiments were combined. The combined data was tested for normality using the Anderson-Darling test. Normally distributed or non-parametric data were tested for differences between treatments using two-sample Students t-test or the Mann-Whitney test respectively. Where groups of experiment means were compared a paired t-test was used.
List of Abbreviations
ALP – Alkaline Phosphatase
BMP – Bone Morphogenetic Protein
bp – base pairs
CA – constitutively active
cbfa – core binding factor alpha 1
Col X – Collagen type X
DN – dominant negative
ERK – extracellular signal regulated protein kinase
MAP – Mitogen activated protein
MEK – ERK kinase
MTS – 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt
PI3 – phosphhatidylinositol 3
PKC – Protein Kinase C
Runx – Runt associated protein
TAK – Transforming growth factor beta activated kinase
Competing interests
The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
GCR was involved in experimental design, performed 90% of the experiments, analyzed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. EBG isolated chondrocytes, performed preliminary experiments and contributed to trouble-shooting of the methods. GG-K, performed preliminary experiments and developed methodology. PSL was involved in experimental design and data analysis, wrote portions of and edited the whole manuscript and was the project supervisor.
This work was supported by NIH grant DE13800, and BMP-2 was kindly donated by Wyeth/Genetics Institute. We thanks Drs. Hyun-Duck Nah-Cederquist, Hydar Ali and Richard Assoin of the University of Pennsylvania for sharing information and techniques regarding mutant MAP kinase constructs.
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Monzen K, Shiojima I, Hiroi Y, Kudoh S, Oka T, Takimoto E, Hayashi D, Hosoda T, Habara-Ohkubo A, Nakaoka T, et al.: Bone morphogenetic proteins induce cardiomyocyte differentiation through the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase TAK1 and cardiac transcription factors Csx/Nkx-2.5 and GATA-4.
Molecular and Cellular Biology 1999, 19:7096-7105. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text
von Bubnoff A, Cho KWY: Intracellular BMP signaling regulation in vertebrates: Pathway or network?
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Hassel S, Schmitt S, Hartung A, Roth M, Nohe A, Petersen N, Ehrlich M, Henis YI, Sebald W, Knaus P: Initiation of Smad-dependent and Smad-independent signaling via distinct BMP-receptor complexes.
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery-American Volume 2003, 85A:44-51.
Yoon YM, Kim SJ, Oh CD, Ju JW, Song WK, Yoo YJ, Huh TL, Chun JS: Maintenance of differentiated phenotype of articular chondrocytes by protein kinase C and extracellular signal regulated protein kinase.
Journal of Biological Chemistry 2002, 277:8412-8420. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
Chang SH, Oh CD, Yang MS, Kang SS, Lee YS, Sonn JK, Chun JS: Protein kinase C regulates chondrogenesis of mesenchymes via mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling.
Journal of Biological Chemistry 1998, 273:19213-19219. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
Stanton L-A, Sabari S, Sampaio AV, Underhill TM, Beier F: p38 MAP kinase signalling is required for hypertrophic chondrocyte differentiation.
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Kretzschmar M, Doody J, Massague J: Opposing BMP and EGF signalling pathways converge on the TGF- beta family mediator Smad1.
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Beier F, Taylor AC, Luvalle P: Raf signaling stimulates and represses the human collagen X promoter through distinguishable elements.
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November 29, 2015
Jackson, Ky. (WYMT)-- As road crews prepare to clear the state's highways, they plan to do so with three importance levels.
"We determine our priority snow removal routes basically by the amount of traffic on the road and the type of road it is," said H.B. Elkins of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
The Transportation Cabinet calls the levels Priority A, B, and C.
"A route that carries a lot of through traffic in a county or between counties is going to be a priority A route," said Elkins. "A priority B route would be a route of lesser importance within a county, and then priority C are basically the low-traffic routes."
People need to pay attention and be careful if they see a plow out on the road, said Elkins.
"Give it room to do its job," he said. "Slow down. Steer away from it. Don't pass a snow plow. Don't get right up behind one when it is spreading salt."
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Narrow your search
Enhance and organize photos and videos, and create multimedia projects.
The hottest software trends to come out of CTIA 2009: online content management, integrated communications, and mobile VoIP calling.
Yahoo adds third-party functionality such as Wikipedia summaries to its search results, with the help of its SearchMonkey platform.
Alltel subscribers that have a Palm Treo 700wx or UTStarcom PPC6700 can use Sharpcast software to sync and share their pics.
Sync and backup service Sugarsync has a new iPhone app that lets you access and use all the files from your PC or Mac right on your iPhone.
Sharpcast wants to free your data
Microsoft won't do it (yet), but small start-ups are not afraid to build online OSes and app suites.
It syncs, it backs up, it's mobile. Cool.
Alltel adds the HTC Touch smartphone to its lineup.
Tubes, a new app going public Tuesday, is a peer-to-peer file-sharing and -synchronization system that can make it very easy to distribute files among multiple users and computers.


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There's one record in "American Idol" beauty Trenyce Cobbins' past that she doesn't find harmonious -- a criminal record for shoplifting hundreds of dollars worth of clothes from a clothing store!
According to court records obtained by The ENQUIRER, Trenyce -- who was booked under her real name, Lashundra T. Cobbins -- was slapped with two felony offenses: One for theft of property over $500 and another for theft of property worth $500 to $1,000.
The 22-year-old songbird's arrest came in 1999 when she was working at a clothing store in her hometown of Memphis, Tenn.
"Employees at the store told management that she and another friend who worked at the store used to pick out clothes they liked and take them out of the store without paying," said a source.
"Trenyce's co-workers said that sometimes she'd take the stolen clothes out in the trash, then go back later to pick them up, but that most of the time she'd just carry them out in her purse or a large tote bag.
"When clothing and accessories started mysteriously missing while Trenyce was working, some of the store's managers decided to launch a secret investigation.
"They had Trenyce and some of the other employees under surveillance for quite awhile before catching on to their scam."
Finally, when they gathered enough evidence to have Trenyce arrested, police moved in and took her into custody.
"Store management believes that Trenyce was well into her shoplifting spree when she was arrested, and authorities could only prove that she took hundreds of dollars worth of clothes over a long period of time," said the source.
"But employees who worked with her say by their calculations, all the missing items added up to nearly $5,000.
"She was so embarrassed, it turned her life around in a positive direction.
"Lucky for Trenyce, the Court recognized that she was just a teenager and her crime -- although very serious -- was probably just a product of falling in with the wrong crowd and making a bad decision.
"They agreed to erase her criminal record if she would attend a program and stay out of trouble."
According to Shelby County court documents, both felony charges were eventually dropped from Trenyce's record.


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Travelling between Hoi An and Da Nang
Da Nang is Vietnam's fastest growing city, a sprawling metropolis of modern high rise mixed with a sprinkling of French colonial architecture lounging between the Bach Dang river and My Ke, one of the longest stretches of beach in Vietnam. It's very much a Vietnamese city — as bewildering and as it is beguiling, and not for the faint-hearted. If you are one of those travellers who likes to explore, then Da Nang really is worthy of at least a day trip from Hoi An. Here are your options for how to get there.
If you are really confident on a motorbike then it's a good option, and a good way of getting from A to B in the city's manic streets. It's a 30 kilometre drive along the coastal road, giving you the option of a stop at the majestic but rather kitch Marble Mountain. It's certainly worth a stop even if it's just so you can get your bearings of the city from one of the highest viewpoints on the coast. Once you hit coastal Da Nang, take a left by the Furama Resort and go straight across the roundabout and over the bridge to the heart of the action.
If you are comfortable zipping around Ho Chi Minh then you should just about be alright. Be warned that you are not ambling around country roads here; it's fast paced and can be dangerous if you are not sure where you are going. There are also a lot of police checks so dress correctly and always wear your helmet.
Another option is to get the local bus and at 18,000 VND each way it's almost the cheapest one. Buses leave from the station just off Le Hong Phong – a 15-minute walk from town — every half hour or so, and drop you off at the main bus station on the outskirts of Da Nang about 45 minutes later. Return buses run until 18:00 so bear that in mind if you want to get back in a day. A few drivers are known for charging a little more for foreigners, so a good tip is to have the exact money ready, hand it over and take your seat. If you have any problems the price is advertised just inside the door so point that out and you'll be fine.
Free buses leave from various points on the outskirts of town. Ask at your hotel for the nearest one to you. They drop you off right outside Da Nang's Big C, which is well located in the centre of town. These leave around 08:30 and return once the bus is full, so take advantage of it for a one-way if you plan on ambling around the city for the day. Look out for the big green bus with Big C on the side.
To hire an air-conditioned car and driver for a day will set you back about 500-700,000 VND. If you can get enough people together and have some kind of itinerary then this is your best option as Da Nang is a big city that is hard to negotiate. Your driver will happily wait as long as you need, but do remember to give him enough time at some point to grab himself a bowl of noodles along the way.
If you need to get to Da Nang for onward travel by either plane or train, the local bus is doable but you will need to make separate arrangements from the city bus station, which adds on both time and money. One way by car will cost you 200 to 250,000 VND or you could get Go Travel's shuttle bus service, which leaves from town several times a day and costs just 80,000 VND, dropping off at both the train station and airport.
There is a free map that you can pick up at the airport or in town from Go Travel called Tic — do get one as you will use it!
Local bus station, Hoi An
Le Hong Thuong St
Local bus station, Da Nang
Truong Chin St
Go Travel Mini Bus
61A Phan Chau Trinh St, Hoi An
After years of camping in her back garden in the New Forest, Caroline Mills' parents went wild and jetted her off to Morocco where her dream of becoming a traveling belly dancer was born.
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- My Tho, Can Tho & Phu Quoc Island


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Whatever you may think of Greg Smith's resignation from Goldman Sachs – and I happen to think very little of it – you should admire his flair for publicity.
He will now get the 15 minutes of fame that would have forever eluded him as just another mid-level derivatives specialist grinding it out on Wall Street.
Whether or not Mr. Smith gets more than 15 minutes remains to be seen. No doubt the media wants this story to run. No doubt lots of Americans love to hate Goldman Sachs.
But, oddly, and in contradiction to Mr. Smith's own assertions, plenty of those "Muppet" clients have stood loyally with Goldman through some very rough years and rough press. Remember the AIG and Abacus hearings on Capitol Hill? It's hard to get worse PR than that and stay in business.
So, did Mr. Smith reveal in his op-ed some further ugly secrets or double-dealing shenanigans that were till now unknown to Goldman's clients?
No. In fact, almost no one on Wall Street would take issue with Mr. Smith's main contention that Goldman's "clients first" culture has been displaced by a "profits first" culture.
Mean Street's Evan Newmark sits down with former judge Richard Holwell, who presided over the Raj Rajaratnam insider trading trial and is launching his own law firm.
Evan Newmark asks if MF Global is Goldman's latest black eye?
Evan Newmark looks at the difficulty in determining an actual value of an ounce of gold.
Despite the current economic turmoil and risks of default by several countries, Evan Newmark says Europe will prevail.
Evan Newmark looks at the legacy of Morgan Stanley's John Mack, who announced his resignation by the end of the year.
Deal Journal colleague David Weidner stops by Mean Street to make the case that it should.
Mean Street host Evan Newmark explains why Texas Governor Rick Perry might be an attractive candidate.
She never had a chance.
The odds were against newly deposed Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz from the very day she joined in January 2009.
In fact, this company's dismal fate was sealed back in February 2008 when the Yahoo board (the same one that hired and fired Bartz) stupidly turned down Microsoft's $45+ billion acquisition offer.
Squeezed by Google and Apple, Yahoo's business was pretty far gone by 2008. Now with an ascendant Facebook, it's even more far gone, never to return.
The truth is that no CEO could turn around Yahoo–and please spare me the great Steve Jobs Apple comeback story.
Heard on the Street's Martin Peers looks at the issues that may have caused the DOJ to seek to block AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile.
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Content engaging our readers now, with additional prominence accorded if the story is rapidly gaining attention. Our WSJ algorithm comprises 30% page views, 20% Facebook, 20% Twitter, 20% email shares and 10% comments.


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I graduated Bennettsville high school in 1973, 1978 BFA from Coker College, 1979 studied at the Maryland institute of art for a year of a grant for painting from the Greenshields Foundation, 1983 MFA from University of South Carolina. worked for 6 years as an artist in the field of comics. I bought a business which I still own today. In 1995, started painting and teaching art again. Since then I have won numerous awards and have works in many collections in SC, GA and NC.
I work in oils and love to paint the human figure and the local Pee Dee and low country landscapes. I try to paint them in a way that is unique and is the way I see both subjects.
"The Conversation"
oil on canvas


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I have a down GoLite 40 degree quilt. I'm quite happy with it, but I wouldn't trust it at anything below 45 or so.This year I plan on doing some late fall and winter trips, expected temperatures are 10-30 degrees. Quite a spread but... What quilt/bag would you recommend?I'm actually thinking of a quilt to cover 15/20-40 range and a bag to cover anything below that.What do you think? Recommend?
Get a 20-ish degree bag for autumn, and bring both bag and quilt for winter.
I can't speak for them myself, because I haven't gotten mine yet, but the Enlightened Equipment Revelation X quilts come on high recommendation from everyone I talk to. I plan on using a 0 degree Rev X quilt with a warm pad combo in winter, but haven't tested it.Zpacks (I hear) makes nice bags, and even lighter. However, they are roughly $100-$200 more expensive, in my opinion not worth it for a couple ounces saved.I'll soon be getting my UL sleeping bags in the mail (Rev X for winter, Golite Adrenaline for summer), so I'll be able to speak from experience rather than other's recommendation.
I have a 20 degree Zpacks hybrid quilt bag w/2 ounces of overfill that for me is good to about 15 degrees. Joe has now a 10 degree bag. I have a couple synthetic quilts Tim Marshall made me 3 and 4 years ago. Both make nice quilts..
Definitely not a quilt, especially without a bivy.
20F en-rated bag ... youll be good to ~0-10F
I'd push the 40F quilt to 30F with warm clothing/smart site selection and then grab a 15F bag for the winter stuff.
I agree with people above.Use high loft clothing to extend current quilt to just below freezing (when you'll be glad with the warm clothes anyway), use a bivy if in a drafty shelter like a tarp.Then use a 20 degree mummy bag with the warm clothes down to ~0F, then layer your summer quilt over all that for real cold winter days.
Dan and Tjaard have the right idea :)
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Well, now he's doing the same on border enforcement, claiming credit for what he said was an 80% reduction in illegal immigrants, without noting that 24 million American citizens are under- or unemployed. So, illegals actually aren't coming because there are no jobs to come to.
Obama trotted out all the conceivable clichés about virtually every American being tied somehow to immigration, how so many successful citizens came from somewhere else to thrive in a unique American economic environment.
Without mentioning his own uncle, who's overstayed his visa by a quarter-century, Obama reported there are now an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants and accurately noted something needs to be done about them. All of which, he gleefully promised, would engender increasingly emotional debate as legislative discussions progress.
There sure do seem to be a lot of arguments encircling everything this guy touches: ObamaCare and religious freedoms, women in combat, same-sex marriage, a Defense secretary less than a friend of Israel, raising the national debt ceiling, slashing defense spending, etc.
But Obama, now 10 days into his second term, wanted his Nevada crowd to understand that he's adamant about immigration reform today. "Now is the time," he re-added.
The president had a stern, if gratuitous, warning for Congress, the separate branch of government that is farther ahead on reforms than he is:
"If Congress is unable to move forward in a timely fashion, I will send up a bill based on my proposal and insist that they vote on it right away."
Which, of course, Obama could do as king.
RELATED:Joe Biden proud to be president
Neville Obama speaks out on his idea of peace
Obama vows to give every American the chance to pay more taxes
Remember Obama's tax hikes on the rich to pay down debt? He's already spent every cent
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November 29, 2015
A crash in Lincoln County has left a Danville firefighter dead.
It happened around 2 PM Saturday, on U.S. 127 near Hustonville.
State police say Shane King's car traveled across the center line of the road, and struck another car on the driver's side.
Authorities pronounced King dead at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday in Frankfort.
There's no word on the other driver's condition.
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Line judge Sarah Thomas, left, talks with field judge Avery Fields during the second half of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl NCAA college football game between Marshall and Ohio Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009, in Detroit. Thomas is one of five women officiating in major college football, but Pizza Bowl spokesman Tim Moore said she was the first to draw an assignment for a Bowl Subdivision postseason game. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
- Filed Under
This story first appeared in the IndyStar Sports Weekly digital magazine. The app is available for download at the iTunes Store.
Sarah Thomas is a former college basketball player, a mother of three and something you might not guess: A Conference USA football official who is likely to become the first full-time female NFL official, perhaps as early as next season.
"I've always said if the NFL knocks on the door I'm not going to turn them down, believe me," said Thomas, 39, who worked as line judge at the Indianapolis Colts' June minicamp in a training exercise. "I'm honored to be part of the ...


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Mexico, Gulf of, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern coast of North America. It is crossed by the Tropic of Cancer and is almost encircled by the United States, Mexico, and Cuba. The Yucatan Channel links the gulf with the Caribbean Sea; the Straits of Florida lead to the Atlantic Ocean.
The gulf covers some 582,000 square miles (1,500,000 km2) and has a maximum depth of 14,358 feet (4,376 m) in the Mexican Basin. A broad continental shelf, up to 200 miles (320 km) wide, lies at depths of less than 600 feet (180 m) along the edge of the gulf, especially in the vicinity of the United States and the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. Except for the Bay of Campeche, in the south, the gulf has no large extensions.
Relatively small bays and lagoons, however, are numerous along the coast.
The gulf receives water from torrential rains and from many rivers, most notably the Mississippi. In addition, part of the Atlantic's North Equatorial Current enters the gulf through the Yucatán Channel. Issuing from the gulf by way of the Straits of Florida is the Gulf Stream, an enormous current of warm tropical water that veers northeastward across the Atlantic.
Economically, the gulf is probably most important as a source of petroleum, especially in Texas and Louisiana, where offshore wells tap large reserves in the continental shelf. The gulf also yields an abundance of seafood and provides sea routes, including part of the Intracoastal Waterway of the United States. Resorts, recreation areas, and wildlife refuges line some portions of its shore. Principal ports on or near the gulf include New Orleans, Houston, Mobile, and Tampa in the United States; Veracruz and Tampico in Mexico; and Havana in Cuba.
Explorations in the gulf were first made by Spaniards early in the 1500's. In 1513, after discovering Florida, Juan Ponce de Leon sailed the south Florida coast. Five years later, in 1518, most of the Mexican coast, from Yucatán westward, was explored by Juan de Grijalva. The northern coast, from Florida to Mexico, was charted by Alonso Alvarez de Pineda in 1519.


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Named as 'one of the leading conductors of his generation' he has appeared with the greatest orchestras of the world including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra of London and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo to name a few.
Maestro Rizzi is in great demand in the finest opera houses of the world as well and is a frequent conductor at Teatro La Scala Milano, the Metropolitan Opera New York, London's Royal Opera Covent Garden, Theatre de La Monnaie Brussels as well as Zurich Opera, Opera National de France Bastille, and the Netherlands Opera. He is also a regular guest at Houston Grand Opera.
Carlo Rizzi has held the post of Music Director of Welsh National Opera twice – from 2004 to 2008 and from 1992 to 2001.While Music Director in Cardiff, in addition to his mastery of the Italian opera titles, Rizzi's repertoire at Welsh National Opera also included Fidelio, Boris Godunov, Peter Grimes, Tristan und Isolde, The Turn of the Screw, The Rake's Progress, Der Rosenkavalier, Katya Kabanova, Salome, Ariadne auf Naxos, and The Flying Dutchman with Bryn Terfel.
In the 100th season of the BBC Proms he conducted the Orchestra of the WNO in their first symphonic Promenade concert. During his directorship the Orchestra also won many awards including that of the Royal Philharmonic Society. Since 1996, he has been a regular guest in concerts at the Edinburgh International Festival.
Recent and upcoming orchestral appearances include in North America two separate periods with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, debuts with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Utah Symphony; in Asia - the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra; and in Europe, with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre National de Lyon and the Orchestre of La Monnaie Brussels with whom he will also lead the finals for the Queen Elizabeth International Vocal Competition in May 2011. Operatically, Maestro Rizzi has conducted highly acclaimed productions in the past seasons as follows: two productions at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (Rossini's Matilde de Shabran and Verdi's Il Trovatore), Simon Boccanegra, La Boheme and Madama Butterfly at the Zurich Opera, La Juive and Fanciulla del West at Netherlands Opera, Pique Dame at Houston Grand Opera, Aida with the Bregenz Festival, and many others.
Mr. Rizzi maintains an ongoing relationship with the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Residentie Orchestra of the Hague, the Bournemouth Symphony, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic as well.
In 2004/5 Rizzi opened the new opera house in Cardiff (Wales Millennium Centre) with La traviata followed by Cavalleria Rusticana and I pagliacci and made his Austrian debut conducting the new production of La traviata at the Salzburg Festival with Anna Netrebko Rolando Villazon and the Vienna Philharmonic.
In the recording studio he has worked with Teldec conducting Respighi Tone Poems and the complete L'Arlesienne music by Bizet with the London Philharmonic Orchestra among many other projects. He has recorded ten operas including La traviata, Rigoletto, Faust, La Cenerentola and Un ballo in maschera. He has also recorded for EMI, Philips, Sony, Decca and several others. Deutsche Grammophon issued a recording and DVD of his La traviata from the Salzburg Festival in Autumn 2005.


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- Filed Under
Who got to the president?
Who persuaded the president that after standing by while 100,000 Syrians were slaughtered, he had to stake America's prestige and possibly his entire second term on a military response to Bashar Assad's second (or sixth, or is it his tenth?) use of chemical weapons?
I'm reminded of the way George H.W. Bush at first seemed noncommittal in the hours after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990. He and Margaret Thatcher were scheduled to speak at a conference in Aspen the next day, and Bush approached Thatcher the morning after the invasion and (according to an oral ...