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Bruno, Raffaele MD*; Sacchi, Paolo MD*; Puoti, Massimo MD†; Maiocchi, Laura MD*; Patruno, Savino MD*; Carosi, Giampiero MD†; Filice, Gaetano MD*
From the *Division of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Instituto di Ricerca e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), San Matteo Hospital, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; and the †Infectious Diseases Department, Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
Received for publication March 8, 2007; accepted July 3, 2007.
This study was partially supported by a grant from Fondo d'Ateneo per la Ricerca (FAR) dispensed by the University of Pavia.
Correspondence to: Raffaele Bruno, MD, Division of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Hepatology Outpatients Unit, University of Pavia-IRCCS San Matteo Hospital, Via Taramelli, 5-27100 Pavia, Italy (e-mail: email@example.com).
Background: The natural history of initially compensated cirrhosis in patients with HIV and concurrent hepatitis B virus (HBV) and/or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is poorly defined. This study was designed to investigate the incidence and type of liver-related complications and mortality in coinfected cirrhotic patients.
Methods: We retrospectively identified a cohort of patients coinfected with HIV and HCV or HBV and initially compensated viral cirrhosis. Time to decompensation and mortality from liver-related causes were recorded.
Results: Between 1999 and 2004, 392 HIV-infected patients underwent a follow-up of ≥6 months. Sixty-nine patients (17.6%) with initially compensated cirrhosis were identified (7 HBV positive, 59 HCV positive, and 3 positive for both HBV and HCV). The most frequent complication was ascites. The mortality was 71.3 per 1000 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI], 47 to 108) in HIV-infected patients with HBV and/or HCV compensated cirrhosis, 8 (95% CI, 4 to 16) in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients without cirrhosis, and 6.5 (95% CI, 2.7 to 15.5) in HIV-monoinfected patients. After the first event of decompensation, the survival rate was 48% at 1 year and 18.1% at 3 years. Treatment with HAART after the first event of decompensation was associated with an increased survival rate (61.1% and 26.2% at 1 and 3 years, respectively, vs. 26.7% and 0%; P < 0.0001).
Conclusions: These results indicate significant morbidity and mortality during the 6 years after the diagnosis of compensated cirrhosis due to HBV and/or HCV in HIV-infected patients, identifying ascites as the most frequent complication.
Progressive chronic liver disease associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients infected with HIV. As many as one third of all HIV-infected individuals are coinfected with HCV, and 10% to 45% of these patients will die from complications associated with HCV-related liver disease.1,2 Findings from a recent large cohort study involving more than 23,000 HIV-infected patients from North America and Europe indicated that liver disease was the second leading cause of death, after complications of AIDS.3
Numerous studies have shown that infection with HIV exacerbates the natural history of chronic HBV and HCV infection. Increased rates of liver fibrosis and progression to end-stage liver disease (ESLD) have been well documented in HIV-infected individuals coinfected with HBV4,5 and HCV.6-8 In prospective studies, HIV/HCV coinfection is associated with a higher cumulative incidence of ESLD and shorter survival times than is HCV monoinfection.4,9,10 A meta-analysis of studies involving HIV/HCV-coinfected patients reported a correlation between HIV coinfection and an increased risk for the progression of HCV-related liver disease.11 Findings from more recent studies involving patients with decompensated liver disease have further demonstrated that HIV coinfection is associated with a poor prognosis and marked reduction in survival.12
Data regarding the natural history of compensated cirrhosis in HIV patients coinfected with HBV and/or HCV is limited. The management of HIV-coinfected individuals with compensated advanced chronic liver disease is often complicated by a number of factors, including viral interactions, levels of immunodeficiency, and hepatotoxicity associated with antiretroviral therapy. A better understanding of the natural history of HBV- and HCV-related compensated cirrhosis in HIV-infected patients could further improve strategies for surveillance and disease management in this patient population.
In this study we describe the incidence and type of liver-related complications in a cohort of HIV-infected patients with HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated cirrhosis observed over a 6-year period. In addition, we determined the survival of HIV-infected patients with and without HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated cirrhosis and the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on patient outcome after the first decompensation in HIV-infected patients who had HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated cirrhosis.
Data on the morbidity and mortality of liver-related complications from a cohort of HIV-infected patients with initially compensated HBV- and/or HCV-related cirrhosis who attended a single center and who were followed thereafter were analyzed retrospectively in this study. Eligible patients were identified through use of ICD-9 codes for cirrhosis and review of medical records. Data were collected in an electronic database. The minimum follow-up time was 0.96 years for HIV-monoinfected patients, 0.88 years for coinfected patients without cirrhosis, and 0.96 years for those with cirrhosis. All patients coinfected with HBV and or HCV underwent a liver biopsy at the beginning of the follow-up to stage and grade the extent of liver damage.
In this retrospective analysis, HIV-coinfected patients with HBV- or HCV-related compensated cirrhosis were identified and followed from January 1999 to December 2004, provided they fulfilled the following inclusion criteria: (1) >18 years of age; (2) positive serum anti-HCV and/or hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg); (3) detectable plasma levels of HCV RNA or HBV DNA; (4) a histologic or clinical diagnosis of cirrhosis (defined as the presence of irregular margins on ultrasound, portal hypertension with laboratory evidence of advanced chronic liver disease, or a Child-Turcotte-Pugh score of 6 or 7 [Child class A] without clinical deterioration such as variceal bleeding, ascites, or hepatic encephalopathy); and (5) individuals with elevated alpha-fetoprotein levels (>200 ng/mL) without clinical or ultrasonographic evidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
All patients were assessed every 3 months during their regular clinical care for clinical signs and symptoms of liver disease. Assessment included laboratory testing for alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), bilirubin, albumin, and alpha-fetoprotein levels, as well as prothrombin time and complete blood counts including platelet, leukocyte, and hemoglobin levels. An abdominal ultrasound (US) was performed every 6 months after cirrhosis was diagnosed.
The development of major complications of cirrhosis during follow-up was defined according to international guidelines.13 Ascites was identified by examination of the abdomen and confirmed by imaging; gastrointestinal bleeding due to portal hypertension was confirmed by endoscopy in the presence of esophageal or gastric varices or portal hypertensive gastropathy; and hepatic encephalopathy was established by clinical parameters. Worsening of disease with decompensation was defined by the transition from Child class A to Child class B or C cirrhosis. The date when each of these events was observed was recorded.
Complications of cirrhosis were managed according to the current guidelines.14,15 Antiretroviral drugs were interrupted when necessary according to the prescription guidelines for each drug and the clinical condition of each patient.
The Pearson χ2 test was applied to determine differences in categorical variables between groups of patients, while continuous variables were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test. The Kaplan-Meier product-limit method was used to estimate survival curves, and the comparison of survival between different groups of patients was carried out by means of the Gehan-Wilcoxon test. The variables analyzed for influence on overall survival and event-free survival (EFS) in cirrhotic patients were gender, age, albumin concentration, genotype, therapy, and CD4 cell count (<350 vs. ≥350 cells/mm3).
Between 1999 and 2004, 392 HIV-infected patients were followed for ≥6 months. Baseline demographic characteristics among the study groups are shown in Table 1. The study populations were predominately male and had a median age ranging from 35 to 37 years. Among these patients, 140 (36%) infected with HIV alone and 183 (47%) coinfected with HIV and HCV did not have cirrhosis and served as control populations for the purposes of this study. Of the total population, 69 coinfected patients (18% of the total population; 7 who were coinfected with HBV, 59 who were coinfected with HCV, and 3 who were coinfected with both HBV and HCV) were identified as having had initially compensated cirrhosis. A significantly higher proportion of coinfected individuals with HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated liver disease were male (P < 0.0001), had CD4 cell counts of <350 cells/mm3 (P < 0.0001), and were not receiving HAART therapy (P < 0.0001), compared with HIV-infected individuals without HCV infection and HIV/HCV-coinfected individuals without cirrhosis. Among the 69 HIV-infected individuals with HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated liver disease, 23 (33%) had HCV genotype 3. None of these patients received anti-HCV therapy.
A total of 5 patients (3.6%) with HIV monoinfection, 8 patients (4.4%) with HIV/HCV coinfection without cirrhosis, and 22 patients (31.9%) with HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated cirrhosis died during the follow-up period. Liver disease was the cause of death in all-coinfected individuals with HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated cirrhosis. No liver-related deaths were observed among the 140 HIV-monoinfected individuals or the 183 HIV/HCV-coinfected individuals without cirrhosis.
Using the Kaplan-Meier method, a marked difference in the cumulative incidence of liver-related complications in HIV-coinfected patients who had compensated cirrhosis of viral etiology was observed during the 6-year follow-up period (Fig. 1). The most frequently reported complications were ascites, which occurred in 27 (39.1%) patients; jaundice in 27 (39.1%); and hepatic encephalopathy in 15 (21.7%). Occurring at a lower frequency were hepatorenal syndrome in 13 patients (18.8%), HCC in 9 (13%), and gastrointestinal bleeding in 8 (11.6%).
All 3 (33.3%) subjects with triple infection (HIV-HBV-HCV) developed HCC during follow-up.
A marked reduction in survival was observed in HIV-coinfected patients with HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated cirrhosis compared with HIV-monoinfected patients and HIV-coinfected patients without cirrhosis. The 5-year survival rate for coinfected patients with HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated cirrhosis was 71.5%, compared with 97.1% for either HIV-monoinfected patients or HIV/HCV-coinfected patients without cirrhosis (P < 0.0001) (Fig. 2).
The mortality per 1000 person-years was 71.3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 47 to 108) in HIV-infected patients with HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated cirrhosis, 8 (95% CI, 4 to 16) in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients without cirrhosis, and 6.5 (95% CI, 2.7 to 15.5) in HIV-monoinfected patients.
During the follow-up period, the number of cases of decompensated cirrhosis increased from 4 in 1999 to 44 and 53 in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Survival rates after the first event of decompensation were 48% at 1 year and 18.1% at 3 years (Fig. 3).
The median EFS to the first event of decompensation in HIV/HBV- or HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with cirrhosis was 4.3 years (Fig. 4). The median time to the second decompensation event in these patients was 2.3 months (Fig. 5).
In univariate and multivariate analyses, the administration of HAART after the first event of decompensation was associated with improved survival in HIV-infected patients with HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated liver disease. As shown in Figure 6, survival was significantly longer in coinfected patients who were prescribed HAART than in patients who were not. The cumulative probability of survival in coinfected patients receiving HAART was 61.1% at 1 year and 26.2% at 3 years, compared with 26.7% at 1 year and 0% at 3 years in patients not receiving HAART (P < 0.0001). The longest survival time was 4.6 years and 1.7 years in the 2 groups. Other variables, including gender, age, serum albumin concentration, genotype, and baseline CD4 cell count, did not have an effect on survival.
Neither CD4 count nor HIV RNA levels were significantly associated with decompensation or death (P < 0.46). There was no statistical difference in CD4 cell count and HIV RNA level between dead and alive patients at the last observation time point.
The findings of the present study show that HCV/HIV-coinfected individuals have high rates of morbidity and mortality within the first 6 years after the diagnosis of compensated cirrhosis. In fact, approximately 30% of HCV/HIV-coinfected patients with compensated cirrhosis died during the 6-year follow-up period. Disease progression was associated with a marked reduction in survival, with a 3-year survival rate of 18% after the first event of decompensation.
The natural history of compensated cirrhosis in HCV-monoinfected individuals has been described previously.16,17 In long-term studies involving patients with chronic hepatitis C and compensated cirrhosis, the annual rate of disease progression to decompensation was 7%.17 In this patient population, the 5-year survival rate was 91% and the 10-year survival was 79%. The findings of the present study indicate that HIV coinfection significantly shortens the survival of patients with HCV-related compensated cirrhosis, with a 5-year survival rate of only 71.5%.
Our study shows that the median time of EFS to the first and second decompensation was 4.3 years and 2.3 months, respectively. Therefore, clinicians should be encouraged to treat chronic hepatitis early to prevent cirrhosis and decompensation.
In the present study, ascites and jaundice were the most common complications observed among HIV-infected patients with HCV-related compensated cirrhosis. This is in agreement with other studies involving patients with HBV- or HCV-related compensated cirrhosis where ascites was the first complication to occur and marked the progression to decompensated liver disease.18-20 However, studies involving more homogenous cohorts of HCV-infected patients with compensated cirrhosis who were followed for longer duration found that HCC is another major complication to develop during the compensated phase of the cirrhosis. In fact, in a recent study that followed 312 patients with chronic hepatitis C and initially compensated cirrhosis for 10 years, HCC was the most frequent complication (21%), followed by ascites (19.5%), gastrointestinal bleeding (4.5%), and hepatic encephalopathy (1.9%).16
In our study, HCC was not one of the principal causes of decompensation and in 33.3% of cases it seemed to be associated with HIV, HCV, and HBV triple infection.
Coinfection with HIV has been associated with a marked reduction in the survival of patients with HCV-related ESLD.12,21 In a retrospective cohort study that compared the survival of HCV-monoinfected and HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with decompensated cirrhosis, the median survival rate of patients with HIV/HCV coinfection was considerably shorter than that of patients with HCV monoinfection (16% vs. 48%; P < 0.001).21 In this study, nearly half of the coinfected patients died within 1 year of developing decompensated liver disease. In another recent prospective cohort study involving 153 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with ESLD, the cumulative survival at 1 year and at 3 years was 38% and 18%, respectively.12 Similarly, in the present study, the 1-year survival rate after the first event of decompensation was 48% in HIV-infected patients coinfected with HBV and/or HCV.
Findings from recent studies suggest that HAART may reduce liver-related mortality in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients.12,22,23 Merchante and colleagues12 reported that the prognosis of HIV/HCV-coinfected patients was significantly worse in absence of HAART. In this study, the cumulative probability of survival in patients receiving HAART was significantly improved compared with those not treated with HAART (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.5; range 0.3 to 0.9, P = 0.03). In agreement with these findings, we found that patients treated with HAART after the first event of decompensation had significantly improved their survival compared with those who did not receive HAART (HR = 0.19; P < 0.028). These results suggest that HAART-associated immune restoration may positively influence the natural history of liver disease, even in the absence of complete virologic control of HIV. Data analysis in our study may be limited by the potential bias of the retrospective design and small sample size. Another possible bias may be that HAART could be continued in patients with better liver function at the time of decompensation. However, prospective studies require years to complete, and HIV coinfection has been shown to accelerate the progression of HBV- and/or HCV-related liver disease. Thus, the current retrospective analysis allowed for an investigation of survival rates and the incidence of complications in a population of patients with the potential for accelerated mortality. The findings of this study are relevant and useful, although there remains a need for larger prospective studies to be carried out.
In summary, our results indicate that significant morbidity and mortality occurs during the first 5 years after the diagnosis of compensated cirrhosis in HIV-coinfected patients. In contrast to HCV-monoinfected patients, in whom HCC is reported to be the most frequent first complication and a major cause of liver-related death, our findings indicate that ascites and jaundice are the most frequent initial complications in HIV-infected individuals with HBV- and/or HCV-related compensated cirrhosis. In this cohort of patients, the maintenance of HAART therapy after first decompensation was associated with improved survival. These results suggest that strategies for early intervention are needed to prevent disease progression in HIV-infected patients with concurrent HBV and/or HCV infection.
We are indebted to Dr. Cristiana Pascutto for assistance with the statistical analysis.
This article has been cited 1 time(s).
HIV/HCV coinfection; cirrhosis; end-stage liver disease
© 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.
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Package Details:
Fair: Our Internship & Career Fair includes vendors from professional sports teams, minor league sports teams, Universities/colleges, and highly respected organizations/corporations from around the globe. The booths will be open from 1PM-4:30PM
Ticket to the game: All of the packages include a ticket to the game that evening. The game will be at 7PM against the San Antonio Spurs.
Interactive Panel Series: The interactive panel series will run from 12:30PM-1PM on the day of the fair. We have gathered a fantastic group of individuals who represent different departments within the organization. Among the individuals is: Bob Stanke, Director of Interactive Services; Matt Makovec, Manager of Community Relations; Pierre Harris, Fan Experience Specialist; Carley Knox, Director of Lynx Basketball Operations; Sianneh Mulbah, Human Resources Director, and Laura Meyer, Senior Manager of Sales Strategy and Integration. If you select to participate in the interactive panel series you will receive instructions on how to get your questions to us before and during the panel. This is an opportunity to ask any questions you have about working in the sports industry!
Social Networking Mixer: The social networking mixer is an excellent opportunity to mingle and converse with representatives within the Timberwolves/Lynx organization, including Senior Executives. The mixer is from 5:30-7PM.
Meal Deal: A meal package can be purchased in advance for $6.50. This includes: a hotdog, chips and a soda.

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ASP.NET: How Do I: Configure Email Notification for Health Monitoring on an ASP.NET Web Site
In this video Chris Pels shows how to configure email notification for health monitoring in an ASP.NET web site. First, see how to configure the sending of email in an ASP.NET web site through the use of the element in the web.config file. Next, learn how to add the SimpleMailWebEventProvider which sends emails for health monitoring events as a provider. Then see the standard health monitoring events that can be used with email notification by examining the machine level health monitoring configuration. After reviewing the available events see a rule implemented that maps the "All Events" to the email provider. Upon starting the web site several emails are then sent and examined when they are received in Outlook. Finally, some basic principles of which events might be mapped to the health monitoring email provider are discussed.
Presented by Chris Pels
Date: 11 September 2008


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Paris Hilton To Release Album With Cash Money Records
Seven years after releasing her first album, socialite Paris Hilton has signed a new deal with Lil Wayne's record label.
When she released her self-titled album in 2006, the reality star received mixed reviews from critics. But that hasn't stopped her from making a follow-up disc. Hilton has reportedly signed a contract with Cash Money Records to work on a house-themed album.
Lil Wayne's rap mentor and Cash Money co-founder Bryan "Birdman" Williams announced on Twitter: "Welcome @ParisHilton to tha Family. RichgangRichgirl."
Hilton tweeted earlier Thursday morning: "Love all you guys so much! So proud I have been Trending Worldwide all day & night because of you all. I have the best fans in the world! ❤"
Hilton recently made headlines after she was a victim of "swatting" for the second time since March. Over the weekend, a woman claiming to be the socialite called 911 and claimed she was being held at gunpoint in her bedroom. Police swarmed the scene and determiend the call was a hoax.
Hilton became famous after starring in FOX reality show "The Simple Life" in 2003. A leaked sex tape furthered her popularity. She has appeared in a handful of films.


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Lester H. Vincent
Lester H. Vincent, 95, of Parkersburg, W.Va., died June 13, 2013, at Eagle Pointe.
He was born in Philippi, W.Va., a son of the late Brent Vincent.
He worked for the Wood County Board of Education and was a United States Army veteran of World War II, where he served under General George Patton. He was a lifetime member of VFW 5108 in Marietta.
He is survived by several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Juanita (Yoast) Vincent; a brother; and a sister.
Burial will be at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Weirton, W.Va.
Leavitt Funeral Home, Parkersburg, is assisting the family with arrangements.


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In a place like Napa Valley, wowing your audience with a wine program is no easy feat. But Cindy Pawlcyn (perhaps best known for the legendary Mustards Grill, a Napa institution) and managing partner Sean Knight have managed to do that with Brassica Mediterranean Kitchen & Wine Barto, the latest addition to a lively restaurant scene in Napa, including new ventures by celebrity chefs Michael Chiarello, Masaharu Morimoto and Tyler Florence. Locals are abuzz over the St. Helena ...
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Susan is a 40-year old mother of two sons and she is at a loss about how to help her 9 and 7-year olds understand that their father will never play ball with them again. She has to tell them that they will never see him again, because he died suddenly and unexpectedly of a massive heart attack. She is the midst of her own long, dark tunnel of grief but her first instinct is to take care of her children. "I don't know where to begin" she says, "and I don't even know what I don't know. I've never been through this before."
Susan is postponing her own grief work in order to be available for her sons and their needs. We talk about how the children will need support working through the reality of their father's death. The boys will need help understanding the five primary concepts of death. Children have different levels of understanding because of their age, experience, and cognitive development. They will need to understand that death is universal and happens to all living things at unpredictable times; that death is irreversible and Daddy cannot come back; that Daddy's body no longer wroks and is nonfunctional; that there are both external and internal events that bring about death. Children also grapple with the concept of what happens after death, or their personal views and beliefs in an afterlife. Susan will most likely answer similar questions repeatedly as her sons strive to understand and make meaning of their father's death.
Susan cannot make the pain of loss go away; there is no formula that will simplify this painful reconciliation of the most stressful change in their lives. Susan cannot fix this heartache for her children. Her children's grief is complex and unique to each of them in different ways.
Listening deeply to her sons will be the key to helping them in the most profound ways. Though she can not change the reality of their loss, Susan can help the boys find ways to create meaning from their pain. One healthy, significant adult relationship will create the foundation of resiliency. The changes in their lives are significant and everyone must learn to find ways to adjust, and it is the context and the social network that will make a significant difference to how the boys develop resiliency. Susan can locate and enroll the boys in a grief support group where they will find that they are not alone; their feelings and reactions are normal; and children can serve as role models of resiliency.
When her sons are feeling supported, Susan will then turn to her own grief and begin accepting the support from social networks that are helpful to her. She may join a Widow-to-Widow program so that she, like her sons, can learn from others who have coped longer than she. She will discover the strength that comes from sharing feelings and experiences in a group, of sharing about the deceased loved one, and supporting each other by acknowledging their pain and loss. Susan and her sons will find that the grief treatment of choice is peer support.
The most valuable level of support comes from the companionship of those who have had personal experience with loss. That is why peer support and group therapy is the first line of reparation. Children's grief groups utilize play and art as modes of expression; children act out their feelings in a safe environment where other children have similar feelings. Adult support groups provide a place to share stories of their loss, to remember, and to support each other. When grief is problematic, it is often because there is a lack of social support or a frail social network in which the person lives. In cases where a person is having trouble after an extended time, it is often not the death itself that is most troubling, but the context and an inept social system. When a death is not validated or there is judgment against the person, relationship, or mode of death the grief becomes disenfranchised and much more difficult to work through. On the other hand, role models and mentors can make a significant and long-lasting difference in how a person finds their way back into a full experience of their life.
Who in your life has shown you the way back after a loss? What did they model or say that made a difference? What form of support has been most valuable to you, and what has made your grief more painful?


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PricewaterhouseCoopers is one of the accounting firms hoping to address the needs of companies and individuals who are uncertain about the implications of the new health insurance exchanges and marketplaces that opened this week.
Accountants Offer Advice on Health Insurance Exchanges
New York (October 2, 2013)
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Marie Welcomes Ex-The Young And The Restless' Diana DeGarmo.
Former "The Young And The Restless" actress Diana DeGarmo (ex-Angelina) will be appearing on the Hallmark Channel's new talk show "Marie." On Wednesday October 10 DeGarmo, along with her fiancé Ace Young ("American Idol"), will perform a duet.
Others in attendance to talk to host Marie Osmond include the wife of former "Y&R" actor Jerry Douglas (ex-John Abbott) home improvement expert Kym Douglas. Tune in at 12:00 PM and pleased check your local listings.
Watch a video to see what "OLTL's" Tuc Watkins has been up to these days through Soaps.com's One Life To Live Soap Digest. Did you miss "Revenge" last Sunday? If so read our season premiere Revenge Recap: On A New Path.
Join us on Twitter @soapoperafan and Facebook.
Photo Credit: Brian To/WENN.com
Fun fact! Amy Mistretta wrote this story just for you on October 2nd, 2012 |


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Letters and postcards from Corporal Art Harm to Connie (Vernacaleen) Conaway (Haught). Although primarily love letters, the letters and postcards also contain details about Corporal Harm's basic training at Fort Murphy, Florida. The letters begin in May 1943 and end in September 1943. Also included is a photograph of Corporal Harm, inscribed to Connie and dated June 22, 1943; a telegram; and a letter from Cyrus Lounsbury. Connie was born in Oklahoma, but was living in Los Angeles by 1943. She died in Los Angeles in 1998.
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[Box/folder# or item name], Connie Conaway letters, Collection no. 7014, Regional History Collection, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California


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Safe Kids Pee Dee/Coastal Urges Parents to Practice Summer Fire Safety
(7/10/12) - The summer months are a time when families enjoy doing a variety of activities outdoors; however, it's also when barbecue grills can cause devastating residential fires and serious injuries to children. According to the United States Fire Administration, each year almost 5,000 Americans are injured by charcoal/wood-burning and propane grill fires.
Statistics show the majority of grill fires on residential properties occur in the four months of May through August.
Safe Kids Pee Dee/Coastal urges parents to practice these safety tips recommended by the United States Fire Administration to reduce the risk of a residential fire or a trip to the emergency room and ensure this summer is a safe one for your family.
Grilling Safety
• Only use the grill outdoors, positioning the grill well away from siding, deck railings, out from under eaves and overhanging branches.
• Keep children, pets, and lawn games away from the grill area by declaring a three-foot "kid-free zone" around the grill.
• Be careful when using lighter fluid. Do not add fluid to an already lit fire because flames can flashback up into the container and explode.
• Do not wear loose clothing while cooking at a grill.
• When cooking food, use long-handled grilling tools to give plenty of clearance from heat and flames. Periodically remove grease or fat buildup in trays below the grill so it cannot be ignited when the grill is hot.
• Keep all matches and lighters away from children. Teach your children to report any loose matches or lighters to an adult immediately. Supervise children around outdoor grills.
• Dispose of hot coals properly—douse them with plenty of water, and stir them to ensure that the fire is out. Never place them in plastic, paper or wooden containers.
• If you smell gas while cooking on a propane gas grill, immediately get away from the grill and call the fire department. Do not attempt to move the grill.
• Never store propane cylinders in buildings or garages. If you store a gas grill inside during the winter, disconnect the cylinder and leave it outside.
• Sunscreen is flammable. Do not apply aerosol sunscreen near a grill or open flame.
• Never use gas to start a fire.
For more information about summer fire safety, call Safe Kids Pee Dee/Coastal at (843) 777-5021 to speak to an Injury Prevention Specialist or visit www.McLeodSafeKids.org.
Safe Kids Pee Dee/Coastal, led by McLeod Health, works to prevent accidental childhood injury, the leading cause of death in children 14 and under. Safe Kids Pee Dee/ Coastal is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing accidental injury. Safe Kids Pee Dee/Coastal is funded in part by the McLeod Health Foundation.


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Chat-up guru can't help my inner creep
My New Year's resolution this year was to make more effort, to go out more, to be more proactive with regard to meeting women because, let's face it, they don't just turn up unannounced at your front door — unless you count the haggard care-in-the-community type who tried to sell me kitchen appliances before Christmas. So last week I bought some new clothes — well, a woolly hat and a hoodie — and I snapped into action… before deciding it was too cold to leave the house and slumping in front of the telly. Again.
But at least I watched a programme that might be useful in my bid to improve my love life in 2009. VH1's The Pick-up Artist is a reality TV show from America starring a bloke called Mystery — his real name's Erik — who offers masterclasses in the fine art of seduction to a bunch of nebbish losers. What do you mean, ring any bells?! I'll have you know I once convinced a shop assistant in Borehamwood Ryman's to go on a date with me using a skilled blend of begging and pleading.
The Pick-up Artist teaches you how to ditch your inner creep by employing a series of complex strategies and techniques such as "negging", a form of backhanded compliment designed to telegraph a lack of interest and encourage your potential mate (or "target") to prove her worth ("qualify") — for example, "Nice eyelashes. Are they real?" Of course, a Jewish woman, for whom the synthetic is a sign of luxury, will take this as straight praise and this particular tactic won't work.
Other concepts unveiled on The Pick-up Artist include "sets" (a group of two or more women), "peacocking" (dressing outlandishly to attract female attention) and "the three-second rule" (you must boldly approach your target within three seconds otherwise she'll see you staring and assume you're a lecherous sociopath).
After watching two series' worth of this stuff over the holidays I decided to try some of it out. So one afternoon last week, I put on my new hat-and-hoodie affair, wrapped round my neck a black feather boa bought for me by my fellow Pick-up Artist alumnus Darren, got another friend to paint my fingernails black because that's what Mystery does and he's my new hero, and went to my local corner shop.
This is known in the pick-up community as "day-game", a safer option than "night game". Going into "the field" — one of many quasi-military terms used by PUAs — at night takes a higher level of commitment and involves spending money, to which I have a phobic reaction. Besides, if it all went wrong I could pretend I was really only there to get a copy of Disney's Princess magazine for my daughter (all right, I'm lying — I love colouring in. So sue me).
I immediately spied a "two-set" by the cold-meat counter — not kosher, but I wasn't buying. Remembering the three-second rule, I strode over, my feather boa swishing elegantly and my goth-style nails glowing dramatically under the fluorescent strip-lights. Mystery recommends isolating your target, but I didn't have to because at this point the less appealing of the two women, rather older than the other and very possibly her mother, bent down to inspect the bacon.
Mystery recommends more original conversation "openers" than the usual "do you come here often?" so I hit the girl with a mystical poser, apparently a sure-fire way to elicit a positive response and the sort of thing known in the urban lexicon as "chick crack". "Er, what's your star-sign?" I stammered as she turned to look at me, frozen slab of ham in hand. "Aries," she replied, her interest rather less piqued than I might have liked. "Why, what's it to you?" And with a look of utter disdain, she wiped her damp frozen-ham hand on my boa, signalled to her mother, and left. Maybe she was just negging me.
Sartre didn't prepare me for life as an au pair
In the summer before my A levels, I spent a month in France being the world's worst au pair.
Modern Batmitzvahs: How girls are changing shul traditions
When Laura and Alex Gordon recall their daughter Estie's batmitzvah, they kvell with enormous pride.
"Looking after a newborn is like taking charge of a tiny, semi-comatose alcoholic. With great dress sense"
I am writing this article nine months pregnant.
Fine dining at the East Jerusalem Hotel offers guilty pleasures
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William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet
Release Date: November 1st, 1996
PG-13|2 hr. min.
Plot Summary
Baz Luhrmann helped adapt this classic Shakespearean romantic tragedy for the screen, updating the setting to a post-modern city named Verona Beach. In this version, the Capulets and the Montagues are two rival gangs. Juliet (Claire Danes) is attending a costume ball thrown by her parents. Her father Fulgencio Capulet (Paul Sorvino) has arranged her marriage to the boorish Paris (Paul Rudd) as part of a strategic investment plan. Romeo attends the masked ball and he and Juliet fall in love.
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino, Diane Venora, Harold Perrineau
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Distributor: 20th Century Fox


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Active File Sparsing
By user554629 on Aug 22, 2012
Filesystem sparse file usage ( and why you should care).
Most modern unix systems support the notion of a "sparse file". I'll use a core file to demonstrate the principles on HP-UX ia64 11.31. The sample program is taken from the HP How To Get Valid Core Files document, which I used it to understand how HPUX processes core files.
The x.c program simply allocates a large ( > 2GB ) anonymous map file, and aborts creating a core file. The 'core' file will be suppressed or truncated based on a number of conditions this document describes.
- ulimit -c
The number of file blocks for a core file. There are really only two valid values: unlimited or zero.
Anything else will produce a corrupt core file that cannot be analyzed, so what's the point of that.
On my test system, an administrator had set these values:
$ ulimit -c
$ ulimit -Hc
The default core size was (4194303*512*1024) = 2199022731264 ( 2047MB / 2GB )
This is not helpful. But the hard limit is unlimited, so in my login .profile I set "ulimit -c unlimited".
- Not enough space in the filesystem ( use "bdf" to check )
- "LargeFile" option not set in the filesystem ( no verification check provided )
- ulimit -f
This wasn't mentioned, but 'core' is a file and two ulimit values control whether it can be written fully.
- "disk quotas" may also limit what you can write in the filesystem. It wasn't mentioned.
My objective was to determine how much filesystem space was required to write this empty mmap storage.
It's a perfect example of a sparse file, and can be written in a way that consumes very few filesystem blocks. The idea is to write only the non-zero data to a file, and use filesystem seek to skip over areas of the file that are zero. When a sparse file is read by an application, the kernel "materializes" the empty space to give the appearance that it contains zeros.
So the question now is: how many filesystem blocks does this crashing program consume. Does the HPUX kernel write zeros into the filesystem, or does it write a sparse file. Process memory is often dominated by allocated space that has never been touched by the program and uses no "real memory pages". Are the "non-dirty pages" written to a core file?
Here's the test program:
--- Makefile ---
testcore: testcore.c
cc +DD64 testcore.c -o testcore
--- testcore.c ---
#include <errno.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>
int main() {
if (mmap(NULL, 2*1024*1024*1024L, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE,
MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) == NULL) perror("mmap");
else abort();
Here's the test:
$ make
$ ls -l core
-rw------- 1 ddunbar staff 2147728064 Aug 22 21:12 core
$ what core
$ B.11.31 Jun 26 2008 10:06:45 $
92453-07 linker dld HP Itanium(R) B.12.55
92453-07 linker uld HP Itanium(R) B.12.55
$ pax -xpax -wf testcore.pax core
$ rm core
$ gzip testcore.pax
$ gzip -dc testcore.pax.gz | pax -r
$ rm testcore.pax.gz
Here's the analysis:
FS Used
KB Used
|Starting KB used
|testcore ( KB used by 'core')
|pax archive core (KB used by .pax)
|gzip pax archive ( KB used by pax.gz)
|restore core, remove pax.gz (KB used by core)
|Remove core ( back to original filesystem usage)
- The 'core' file written by 'testcore' is written byte-for-byte to the filesystem.
2GB core file consumes 2GB of filesystem space.
- The 'pax' program archives 'core', and consumes slightly more than 2GB of space.
I suspect the standards for a pax archive dictate that sparsing cannot be used; this archive has to be readable by any conforming pax implementation.
- The good news is that strings of binary zeros compress quite nicely with gzip.
Dramatic drop in amount of filesystem blocks consumed to store the compressed pax archive.
- If we now pretend we are the receipent of testcore.pax.gz, we can pipe the gzip decompression into the pax -r (read) to write 'core'. This is where pax "active sparsing" results can be seen. 'core' now consumes dramatically fewer filesystem blocks than the original. Put another way, this filesystem can hold far more 'core' files if they are sparsed to skip strings of zero bytes.
- Removing the 'core' file returns us to the original "Used" filesystem blocks.
Nothing left behind because of this exercise.
- If HPUX used active sparsing logic to write from memory to the file 'core', the process would complete in much less time, use far fewer cpu cycles to accomplish this, and far fewer filesystem blocks.
- If gdb 'packcore' would use pax to create the packcore archive, instead of tar, the receiving filesystem will use far fewer resources. ( Actually, it isn't necessary to create a pax file; just use pax to extract from either tar or pax archive. )
- If gdb "unpackcore" used gzip piping to restore the archive, unnecessary filesystem blocks will also be spared.
2a, 3a. If gdb "unpackcore" used gzip piping through pax, instead of tar, a sparse core file would be written.
Bonusware: A toy program that demonstrates how to write a sparse file. ( 13 years to the day ).
--- Makefile ---
lf: lf.c
cc +DD64 lf.c -o lf
ls -l large.1
{ bdf . ; rm -f large.1 ; bdf . ;} | grep '/'
--- lf.c ---
/* lf: Create a large (sparse) file Dick Dunbar 1999-08-23 */
#define Size 0x800000000ULL /* 2**35 == 0x8,00000000 == 34,359,738,368 == 32GB */
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
int mm_fh;
char filename[] = "large.1";
#define mode664 S_IRUSR|S_IWUSR|S_IRGRP|S_IWGRP|S_IROTH
#define fileRESET O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC|O_DIRECT
unsigned char buf[]={0x0000000000000001};
int main() {
mm_fh = open(filename, fileRESET, mode664, 0);
if ( mm_fh <= 0) { perror("lf: open large.1"); exit(1); }
lseek(mm_fh, Size-8, SEEK_SET);
write(mm_fh, buf, 8);
A 32GB file takes zero space in the filesystem.
$ make lf
cc +DD64 lf.c -o lf
ls -l large.1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 ddunbar dba 34359738368 Aug 23 19:32 large.1
{ bdf . ; rm -f large.1 ; bdf . ;} | grep '/'
/dev/vg01/lvol2 102400000 1575642 94522857 2% /scratch
/dev/vg01/lvol2 102400000 1575642 94522857 2% /scratch
An archive need not be written by pax in order to use active sparsing.
Most unix systems now support the gnu tar '-z' option, which produces a compressed tar file (.tgz).
The option doesn't appear to be available in HP-UX ia64 11.31, but it is common to compress tar files with gzip.
$ tar -cvf testcore.tar core ; gzip -dv testcore.tar
The resulting 'testcore.tar.gz' file is usually extracted by gzip | tar as in:
$ gzip -dc testcore.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
pax didn't "sparse" the file when it wrote the pax archive; it sparses file(s) when the are extracted. Since pax understands tar archive format, it can be used in place of tar.
$ gzip -dc testcore.tar.gz | pax -r
Processing an HP-UX gdb packcore.tar.Z file looks like this:
$ zcat packcore.tar.Z | pax -r
There is another pax trick that is useful. Suppose you receive a tar file that was created with absolute paths:
Sending machine:
$ tar -cvf problem.tar /opt/langtools/bin/gdb
In order to use "tar" to extract the output, you would have to be root and willing to overwrite the /opt/langtools/bin directory.
pax to the rescue:
Receiving machine transforms the absolute path to a relative one.
$ pax -rv -s "'^/'./'" problem.tar


text:
Welcoming your calls and emails WORLDWIDE!We sell specialize and sell vacations to the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Mexico & PanamaCelebrating 26 years in business! Toll-free: 1-877-380-4142
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James E. "Jim" Bennett, Sr., 79, of Lakeside-Marblehead, OH, passed away Saturday, June 1, 2013, at Magruder Hospital in Port Clinton, OH.
He was born Sept. 17, 1933 in Strongstown, the son of A. Smith and Eithel Stephens Bennett. Jim married Carol Fitz and later married Anne Coss. He was a retired from Ford Motor Company. Jim was a member of the First Christian Church in Sandusky, OH, and the United States Power Squadron, Port Clinton, OH, where he was a past commander. He was a social member of the American Legion, Sandusky and he enjoyed boating and hunting.
He is survived by a son, James E. Bennett, Jr. and wife Karen, of Marblehead, OH; a brother, Sam Bennett and wife Barb, of Barberton, OH; two grandchildren: Mandy Hilditch and husband Todd and Cody Lenthe.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Anne Coss.
Friends will be received from 10 a.m. Saturday until the time of the funeral service at 11 a.m. at the Strongstown United Methodist Church with The Rev. Denny Marshall officiating. Interment will be in Pineland Cemetery. Robinson-Lytle, Inc. is in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions may be made to the First Christian Church, 3410 Hayes Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870.
EEO Recruitment Source
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text:
Continued gains in same-store sales and customer traffic helped to boost optimism among foodservice operators and fueled an increase in the National Restaurant Association's monthly Restaurant Performance Index for February. The RPI, a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the foodservice industry, climbed to 100.7 in February, a 0.4-percent increase from its January level. February's results mark the fifth time in the past six months the index stood ...
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A dark comedy about parental authority, teenage rebellion, curry, whiskey, and house music.
Latest News
Newport Beach Film Festival screening
Latest from Twitter
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"This short film packs in drama and social satire that could fill an entire feature. It's fun to be audacious."
Anirudh Bhattacharyya, Columnist,
The Hindustan Times (India's largest-selling daily).
Such a great film…each character was so finely crafted and dead on, art direction, camera, etc etc etc. absolutely beautiful and soo funny too! Many congratulations Bann – keep em coming! And thank you for sharing…..
Meena Nanji
I love this movie
I love this movie
Ruben O'Malley
Well, like my friend Mike said: "not a false note". A terrific short film. I was left wanting much more. Beautifully subtle in story telling and image ! Bravo!! Not to mention that it was a friend's dream and I am a peer as well. Tough audience.
Peter Gamba
Fantastic film
Alex Reed
AMAZING!!! Very Impressed with your TALENTS! So Privileged to be apart of such a Quality piece of Work!!
Cheri Moon
I've watched hundreds of film shorts over the last 10-15 years and this is absolutely one of my top 5 favorites. It features a strong cast of characters dealing with a private dilemma from multiple perspectives that speaks volumes about who we are and how we treat each other.
Most other filmmakers would've stretched this out and diluted the impact that Bann's artistically tight film emotionally executes. Check it out – you will not be disappointed.
Congratulations to everyone involved. This is a terrific short film. Every frame is excellent. All best wishes for success in Film Festivals and future works from this team.
Lee Perry
Excellent and awesome – Art.
Jesse Espersen
Great film: I was blown away!
Dean Robinson
i just watched the first rough cut of Bann Roy's Aashporda twice. It is so kickass – I just LOVED it and laughed out loud – BOTH times. It is rare that a film (that too as a rough cut) can do that. The characters are completely authentic; it's not slapstick but rib ticklingly funny and layered. Reminiscent of Satyajit Ray. The dialogue and performances are superb. Kudos dude. So proud of you.
Shonali Bose


text:
5 Apr 2013 until 7 Apr 2013
Learn to Quilt with Kathy Kuryla and Kay Roberts Class Description
April 5-7, 2013
This is a beginner class where students will learn skills such as accurate piecing and finding the 1/4" seam guide. By the end of the class, students will also become better acquainted with general quilting terminology, technique, and appreciation.
Using the pattern, "Easy Star Tablerunner", instructors Kathy Kuryla and Kay Roberts will teach how to sew four patches, nine patches, and quarter square triangles. These learned skills will complete the table runner. The student will also learn how to square up blocks, set them on point, and finish the project with borders.
Kathy and Kay have been teaching on the national level at ASQ and NQA shows since 2004 and have also judged quilt shows on the national and local levels. They travel to guilds throughout the country to lecture and teach workshops. They've developed a series of patterns for beginning quilters called "It's Sew Easy" that utilize modern methods to make complex-looking patterns very do-able. These have proven to be very popular and it is from this series of patterns that Kay and Kathy will be instructing the retreat.
Kay specializes in teaching the Square in a Square technique for quilts, a revolutionary tool for easy piecing. Besides the actual technique, Kay teaches a series of classes that utilize the approach to make precise, beautiful quilts. Kay's laid-back style of teaching helps students gain confidence in their own creative visions.
Kathy has several special areas of expertise. She loves to introduce beginners to quilting. Through instilling confidence and teaching the skills required, beginners learn the special joys that come with their first quilt. One of Kathy's specialties is teaching students how to machine quilt on home machines. Her combination of precise methods but encouraging and easy-going approach helps quilters learn just how talented and capable they can be.
Kathy's experience has been a perfect complement to Kay's talents. It is this combined teaching style that makes their retreats here at Butterfly Meadows Inn & Farm so successful.
Come join Kay and Kathy February 22 through 24, 2013 to "Learn to Quilt"!


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text:
New Opportunities for Our Alumni
by gwilson on May.04, 2015, under Students
The past few weeks have brought news concerning the next phases of life for three of our Biology Department graduates.
Dr. Gena Jester Nichols. Gena was a Biology major who did her Honors research with Dr. Brian Waters sequencing a gene for iron uptake in plants. She completed her PhD at Wake Forest and a post-doctoral fellowship at Tulane. This fall she will begin as an Assistant Professor in Biology at Averett University in Virginia.
Dr. Andrew Hockert. Andrew was a Biology major who completed his doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Texas Tech University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Lubbock. He has been named the Chair for the Department of Biology at the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky.
Toyosi Adewunmi. Toyosi has been accepted into the South Texas Doctoral Bridge Program. As described the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, "[t]he South Texas Doctoral Bridge Program, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), promotes the participation of individuals from underrepresented groups in the pursuit of advanced degrees in biomedical research by providing financial and academic support, and professional development activities. The program is a partnership between the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Texas State University in San Marcos." At McMurry, Toyosi worked with Dr. Hyunshun Shin in Honors research and was active in campus life. Since graduatiion with her BS in Biomedical Science, Toyosi has been working in a research lab in Houston.
We would like to hear from others! Please contact Dr. Wilson at firstname.lastname@example.com so we can celebrate your achievements with you!
Goodbye to Lauren
by gwilson on Jan.21, 2014, under A Day in the Life..., Students
It has been a long time since the last BIMS page post back in November. Part of the reason is the busyness of the end of the semester, the Holidays, and other diversions at the end of the year (after all, there ARE 35 bowl games!). But a big part of the reason is the tragic and untimely death of someone very important to the early days of the BIMS program. One of our first three BIMS graduates was Lauren Bump, the first recipient of the Danny Cooley Award for the outstanding BIMS student. After graduation in Fall 2010, Lauren was accepted into Physician Assistant programs and entered Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas to begin that journey. She was home visiting her family in her beloved San Antonio when she lost her life on New Years Eve at the hands of an attacker in a park near her home.
Lauren was gentle and kind and encouraging and joyful. She loved science and medicine and she loved Jesus. The kind of young lady you'd love to have as a daughter or daughter-in-law. No vanity, no arrogance, no conceit, no jealousy. There are too few people like her in this world, and losing one of them affected people who knew her (and many who didn't) in profound ways. I found out of her death from one of her McMurry classmates on New Year's Day, and like so many others in Abilene and San Antonio and Arkansas felt an emptiness and sadness that I still carry around. You see, at small Christian colleges like McMurry and Harding, we don't just teach students but we invest in them. We give generously to them everything we've learned for the purpose of growing them as young men and women and future scientists and healthcare providers so that they may one day do far greater things for this world than we have. And when one in whom we've lovingly placed so much of ourselves and our experiences and in whom we find so much hope is taken from us, our sense of loss is great. But in the midst of loss, there is victory for Lauren as she sees her Savior face to face.
Her funeral was attended by over 1,200 and 300 gave their lives to that same Savior, having seen in her life lived for Him the very things missing in their own. Even in the midst of her death, The Redeemer brought new life to others. A life of love and service and faith is never wasted, and so it was with Lauren's. In my church on Sunday we were shown a video that portrayed the truth that our lives touch those of many others we will never know – a sort of "It's a Wonderful Life" truth beyond our understanding. I was reminded of Lauren and reassured that her life of love and service and faith was not wasted – countless others have (and will be) impacted by the life she lived.
So, how do we move forward? Many initiatives have begun in Lauren's memory – fundraising for a variety of things near to the hearts of Lauren and her family. At McMurry, Lauren's club sisters in Gamma Sigma have begun planning for a fitting tribute, one that is not just a memorial with a name but a living memorial that seeks to perpetuate her beautiful spirit so that those who could never know her will learn what it means and what it gains when one seeks to "#livelikelauren". The Biology Department has begun discussions of how we might honor future students whose commitment to a life of healing, hope, faith, and service carries on the legacy of this beautiful child of God. We give thanks for having known her and shared life together during her time in Abilene. Bye, Lauren, until we meet again.
2012 Academic Awards
by gwilson on Apr.01, 2012, under Students
This afternoon, McMurry hosted its 2012 Academic Awards Luncheon, where the outstanding academic performances of the year are celebrated. Here are the recipients for the Biomedical Science Program:
Outstanding First Year Student: Heather Rawls (she also was the outstanding freshman chemistry student!)
Outstanding Second Year Student: Christina Barr
Outstanding Third Year Student: Toyosi Adewunmi
Outstanding Fourth Year Student: Chris Tatum
Danny Cooley Award Winner: Brad Rowland
The Danny Cooley Award is in memory of McMurry alum Dr. Danny Cooley, who as a graduate student in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at TTU discovered the cause of sick building syndrome. Danny was an outstanding student, war veteran, decorated firefighter, and man of great character. The recipient exhibits similar qualities and receives a financial award to help with the cost of their education.
In addition to the BIMS program awards, other BIMS majors also received awards from other areas of campus for their academic achievements.
Recently declared BIMS major Nicole McGunegle was named Outstanding First Year Writer by the Department of English.
Miranda Nguyen received the All-Conference Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Award for Women's Soccer.
Our congratulations to each of these students! BIMS majors are widely acknowledge as among the best students on campus and you make us proud!


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International Edition
December, 8, 2016
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MOE clarifies its standpoint on 12-year education system
By Chi-hao James Lo ,The China Post
August 19, 2014, 12:05 am TWN
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Administrative Deputy Minister Lin Shu-chen (林淑真) of the Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday responded to press questions regarding the unclear deliberation of the new 12-year compulsory education system discussion.
The discussion was held on Sunday between Education Minister Wu Se-hwa (吳思樺), Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and New Taipei Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), with the intentions of establishing a solid program for the 12-year education plan.
As the conclusive decision of the discussion was reported differently by news outlets nationwide, Lin spoke to local media in hopes of clarifying the MOE's standpoint.
Lin stated that the basic execution principle of the MOE remains "legally abiding," and will continue to conduct enrollment in accordance to the current Senior High School Education Act (高級中等教育法), by accepting exam-free applications before conducting examinations for specialty schools.
However, Lin also responded to questions regarding the legal aspects of Taipei City's new proposal in conducting the program in question in reverse, where examinations for specialty schools will predate exam-free applications, stating that it is legal for Taipei to have the final decision in conducting their policy.
MOE to Release Definite Statement Soon
Along with different reports and answers on the new 12-year compulsory education system, relative responses from authorities have also been ambiguous.
During her phone interview with local reporters, Lin was questioned on whether if the ambiguity could be interpreted differently according to different local government and different government agencies. Reporters went on to ask Lin whether if such unclear responses could bring potential chaos with victims being the Taiwanese students and parents.
In response, Lin said that the MOE retains its law abiding stance, but also acknowledges the authority of local governments. As such, and for the sake of clarity, the MOE will conduct further internal discussions, with a final and firm policy that will be presented to the general public and to local governments as well.
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Volume 21, Issue 2, June 2011
Introduction to Focus Issue: Synchronization and Cascading Processes in Complex Networks21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3605467View Description Hide Description
The study of collective dynamics in complex networks has emerged as a next frontier in the science of networks. This Focus Issue presents the latest developments on this exciting front, focusing in particular on synchronous and cascading dynamics, which are ubiquitous forms of networkdynamics found in a wide range of physical, biological, social, and technological systems.
Coordinated scheduling of electricity and natural gas infrastructures with a transient model for natural gas flow21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3600761View Description Hide Description
This paper focuses on transient characteristics of natural gas flow in the coordinated scheduling of security-constrained electricity and natural gas infrastructures. The paper takes into account the slow transient process in the natural gas transmission systems. Considering their transient characteristics, natural gas transmission systems are modeled as a set of partial differential equations(PDEs) and algebraic equations. An implicit finite difference method is applied to approximate PDEs by difference equations. The coordinated scheduling of electricity and natural gas systems is described as a bi-level programming formulation from the independent system operator's viewpoint. The objective of the upper-level problem is to minimize the operating cost of electric power systems while the natural gas scheduling optimization problem is nested within the lower-level problem. Numerical examples are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed solution and to compare the solutions for steady-state and transient models of natural gas transmission systems.
The dynamics of network coupled phase oscillators: An ensemble approach21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3596711View Description Hide Description
We consider the dynamics of many phase oscillators that interact through a coupling network. For a given network connectivity we further consider an ensemble of such systems where, for each ensemble member, the set of oscillator natural frequencies is independently and randomly chosen according to a given distribution function. We then seek a statistical description of the dynamics of this ensemble. Use of this approach allows us to apply the recently developed ansatz of Ott and Antonsen [Chaos 18, 037113 (2008)] to the marginal distribution of the ensemble of states at each node. This, in turn, results in a reduced set of ordinary differential equations determining these marginal distribution functions. The new set facilitates the analysis of network dynamics in several ways: (i) the time evolution of the reduced system of ensemble equations is much smoother, and thus numerical solutions can be obtained much faster by use of longer time steps; (ii) the new set of equations can be used as a basis for obtaining analytical results; and (iii) for a certain type of network, a reduction to a low dimensional description of the entire network dynamics is possible. We illustrate our approach with numerical experiments on a network version of the classical Kuramoto problem, first with a unimodal frequency distribution, and then with a bimodal distribution. In the latter case, the network dynamics is characterized by bifurcations and hysteresis involving a variety of steady and periodic attractors.
Reconstructing phase dynamics of oscillator networks21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3597647View Description Hide Description
We generalize our recent approach to the reconstruction of phase dynamics of coupled oscillators from data [B. Kralemann et al., Phys. Rev. E 77, 066205 (2008)] to cover the case of small networks of coupled periodic units. Starting from a multivariate time series, we first reconstruct genuine phases and then obtain the coupling functions in terms of these phases. Partial norms of these coupling functions quantify directed coupling between oscillators. We illustrate the method by different network motifs for three coupled oscillators and for random networks of five and nine units. We also discuss nonlinear effects in coupling.
Sample-to-sample fluctuations in real-network ensembles21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3602223View Description Hide Description
Networkmodeling based on ensemble averages tacitly assumes that the networks meant to be modeled are typical in the ensemble. Previous research on networkeigenvalues, which govern a range of dynamical phenomena, has shown that this is indeed the case for uncorrelated networks with minimum degree ≥ 3. Here, we focus on real networks, which generally have both structural correlations and low-degree nodes. We show that: (i) the ensemble distribution of the dynamically most important eigenvalues can be not only broad and far apart from the real eigenvalue but also highly structured, often with a multimodal rather than a bell-shaped form; (ii) these interesting properties are found to be due to low-degree nodes, mainly those with degree ≤ 3, and network communities, which is a common form of structural correlation found in real networks. In addition to having implications for ensemble-based approaches, this shows that low-degree nodes may have a stronger influence on collective dynamics than previously anticipated from the study of computer-generated networks.
Synchronization in interdependent networks21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3596698View Description Hide Description
We explore the synchronization behavior in interdependent systems, where the one-dimensional (1D) network (the intranetwork coupling strength ) is ferromagnetically intercoupled (the strength ) to the Watts-Strogatz (WS) small-world network (the intranetwork coupling strength ). In the absence of the internetwork coupling (), the former network is well known not to exhibit the synchronized phase at any finite coupling strength, whereas the latter displays the mean-field transition. Through an analytic approach based on the mean-field approximation, it is found that for the weakly coupled 1D network () the increase of suppresses synchrony, because the nonsynchronized 1D network becomes a heavier burden for the synchronization process of the WS network. As the coupling in the 1D network becomes stronger, it is revealed by the renormalization group (RG) argument that the synchronization is enhanced as is increased, implying that the more enhanced partial synchronization in the 1D network makes the burden lighter. Extensive numerical simulations confirm these expected behaviors, while exhibiting a reentrant behavior in the intermediate range of . The nonmonotonic change of the critical value of is also compared with the result from the numerical RG calculation.
Cascading dynamics in complex quantum networks21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3598453View Description Hide Description
Recently, small-scale quantum communication has been realized by transporting entangled photons, rendering potentially feasible quantum networks on large scales. We propose a class of quantum networks comprising quantum repeaters for long-distance information transport and local networks of fibers and switches. As the transmitting capability is limited by the node bandwidth, photon loss can occur through the dynamical process of cascading when the network is under external perturbations. We obtain results that can be used to guide quantum network design to minimize the photon loss.
Onset of synchronization in weighted complex networks: The effect of weight-degree correlation21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3597646View Description Hide Description
By numerical simulations, we investigate the onset of synchronization of networked phase oscillators under two different weighting schemes. In scheme-I, the link weights are correlated to the product of the degrees of the connected nodes, so this kind of networks is named as the weight-degree correlated (WDC) network. In scheme-II, the link weights are randomly assigned to each link regardless of the node degrees, so this kind of networks is named as the weight-degree uncorrelated (WDU) network. Interestingly, it is found that by increasing a parameter that governs the weight distribution, the onset of synchronization in WDC network is monotonically enhanced, while in WDU network there is a reverse in the synchronization performance. We investigate this phenomenon from the viewpoint of gradient network, and explain the contrary roles of coupling gradient on network synchronization: gradient promotes synchronization in WDC network, while deteriorates synchronization in WDU network. The findings highlight the fact that, besides the link weight, the correlation between the weight and the node degree is also important to the networkdynamics.
Local synchronization in complex networks of coupled oscillators21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3581168View Description Hide Description
We investigate the effects that network topology, natural frequency distribution, and system size have on the path to global synchronization as the overall coupling strength between oscillators is increased in a Kuramoto network. In particular, we study the scenario recently found by Gómez-Gardeñes et al. [Phys. Rev. E73, 056124 (2006)] in which macroscopic global synchronization emerges through a process whereby many small synchronized clusters form, grow, and merge, eventually leading to a macroscopic giant synchronized component. Our main result is that this scenario is robust to an increase in the number of oscillators or a change in the distribution function of the oscillators' natural frequencies, but becomes less prominent as the number of links per oscillator increases.
On the topology of synchrony optimized networks of a Kuramoto-model with non-identical oscillators21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3590855View Description Hide Description
We study synchrony optimized networks. In particular, we focus on the Kuramoto model with non-identical native frequencies on a random graph. In a first step, we generate synchrony optimized networks using a dynamic breeding algorithm, whereby an initial network is successively rewired toward increased synchronization. These networks are characterized by a large anti-correlation between neighbouring frequencies. In a second step, the central part of our paper, we show that synchrony optimized networks can be generated much more cost efficiently by minimization of an energy-like quantity E and subsequent random rewires to control the average path length. We demonstrate that synchrony optimized networks are characterized by a balance between two opposing structural properties: A large number of links between positive and negative frequencies of equal magnitude and a small average path length. Remarkably, these networks show the same synchronization behaviour as those networks generated by the dynamic rewiring process. Interestingly, synchrony-optimized network also exhibit significantly enhanced synchronization behaviour for weak coupling, below the onset of global synchronization, with linear growth of the order parameter with increasing coupling strength. We identify the underlying dynamical and topological structures, which give rise to this atypical local synchronization, and provide a simple analytical argument for its explanation.
Phase clustering in complex networks of delay-coupled oscillators21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3595601View Description Hide Description
We study the clusterization of phase oscillators coupled with delay in complex networks. For the case of diffusive oscillators, we formulate the equations relating the topology of the network and the phases and frequencies of the oscillators (functional response). We solve them exactly in directed networks for the case of perfect synchronization. We also compare the reliability of the solution of the linear system for non-linear couplings. Taking advantage of the form of the solution, we propose a frequency adaptation rule to achieve perfect synchronization. We also propose a mean-fieldtheory for uncorrelated random networks that proves to be pretty accurate to predict phase synchronization in real topologies, as for example, the Caenorhabditis elegans or the autonomous systems connectivity.
Comment on "Long time evolution of phase oscillator systems" [Chaos 19, 023117 (2009)]21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3574931View Description Hide Description
In a recent paper by Ott and Antonsen [Chaos19, 023117 (2009)], it was shown for the case of Lorentzian distributions of oscillator frequencies that the dynamics of a very general class of large systems of coupled phase oscillators time-asymptotes to a particular simplified form given by Ott and Antonsen [Chaos18, 037113 (2008)]. This comment extends this previous result to a broad class of oscillatordistribution functions.
Breakdown of order preservation in symmetric oscillator networks with pulse-coupling21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3589960View Description Hide Description
Symmetric networks of coupled dynamical units exhibit invariant subspaces with two or more units synchronized. In time-continuously coupled systems, these invariant sets constitute barriers for the dynamics. For networks of units with local dynamics defined on the real line, this implies that the units' ordering is preserved and that their winding number is identical. Here, we show that in permutation-symmetric networks with pulse-coupling, the order is often no longer preserved. We analytically study a class of pulse-coupled oscillators (characterizing for instance the dynamics of spiking neural networks) and derive quantitative conditions for the breakdown of order preservation. We find that in general pulse-coupling yields additional dimensions to the state space such that units may change their order by avoiding the invariant sets. We identify a system of two symmetrically pulse-coupled identical oscillators where, contrary to intuition, the oscillators' average frequencies and thus their winding numbers are different.
Multiobjective synchronization of coupled systems21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3595701View Description Hide Description
In this paper, multiobjective synchronization of chaotic systems is investigated by especially simultaneously minimizing optimization of control cost and convergence speed. The coupling form and coupling strength are optimized by an improved multiobjective evolutionary approach that includes a hybrid chromosome representation. The hybrid encoding scheme combines binary representation with real number representation. The constraints on the coupling form are also considered by converting the multiobjective synchronization into a multiobjective constraint problem. In addition, the performances of the adaptive learning method and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II as well as the effectiveness and contributions of the proposed approach are analyzed and validated through the Rössler system in a chaotic or hyperchaotic regime and delayed chaotic neural networks.
Social influencing and associated random walk models: Asymptotic consensus times on the complete graph21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3598450View Description Hide Description
We investigate consensus formation and the asymptotic consensus times in stylized individual- or agent-based models, in which global agreement is achieved through pairwise negotiations with or without a bias. Considering a class of individual-based models on finite complete graphs, we introduce a coarse-graining approach (lumping microscopic variables into macrostates) to analyze the ordering dynamics in an associated random-walk framework. Within this framework, yielding a linear system, we derive general equations for the expected consensus time and the expected time spent in each macro-state. Further, we present the asymptotic solutions of the 2-word naming game and separately discuss its behavior under the influence of an external field and with the introduction of committed agents.
Adaptive bridge control strategy for opinion evolution on social networks21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3602220View Description Hide Description
In this paper, we present an efficient opinion control strategy for complex networks, in particular, for social networks. The proposed adaptive bridge control (ABC) strategy calls for controlling a special kind of nodes named bridge and requires no knowledge of the node degrees or any other global or local knowledge, which are necessary for some other immunization strategies including targeted immunization and acquaintance immunization. We study the efficiency of the proposed ABC strategy on random networks, small-world networks, scale-free networks, and the random networks adjusted by the edge exchanging method. Our results show that the proposed ABC strategy is efficient for all of these four kinds of networks. Through an adjusting clustering coefficient by the edge exchanging method, it is found out that the efficiency of our ABC strategy is closely related with the clustering coefficient. The main contributions of this paper can be listed as follows: (1) A new high-order social network is proposed to describe opinion dynamic. (2) An algorithm, which does not require the knowledge of the nodes' degree and other global/local network structure information, is proposed to control the "bridges" more accurately and further control the opinion dynamics of the social networks. The efficiency of our ABC strategy is illustrated by numerical examples. (3) The numerical results indicate that our ABC strategy is more efficient for networks with higher clustering coefficient.
Effects of network topology, transmission delays, and refractoriness on the response of coupled excitable systems to a stochastic stimulus21(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3600760View Description Hide Description
We study the effects of network topology on the response of networks of coupled discrete excitable systems to an external stochastic stimulus. We extend recent results that characterize the response in terms of spectral properties of the adjacency matrix by allowing distributions in the transmission delays and in the number of refractory states and by developing a nonperturbative approximation to the steady state network response. We confirm our theoretical results with numerical simulations. We find that the steady state response amplitude is inversely proportional to the duration of refractoriness, which reduces the maximum attainable dynamic range. We also find that transmission delays alter the time required to reach steady state. Importantly, neither delays nor refractoriness impact the general prediction that criticality and maximum dynamic range occur when the largest eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix is unity.


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I adore Dana Loesch so there was no way I couldn't write on this issue with Moms on Demand and the view. Please check out my article on waynedupree.com and share your thoughts! Thank you…and make sure you're using the #IStandWithDana hashtag! Add it to your profile pics! The Culture of Intolerance from the Left (via http:/ [...]
Jackie Wellfonder
President at Wellfonder Group
Jackie Wellfonder is a proud conservative activist and strategist. She started blogging in 2012 and spreading a common sense message of fiscal conservatism, limited government, and transparent governance. Because of her passion for supporting right of center candidates, Wellfonder started a consulting firm, Wellfonder Group, to help candidates and small businesses maximize their reach via social media and a strategic communications plan. Visit our contact page to send a message and share your thoughts or find out more information!
Latest posts by Jackie Wellfonder (see all)
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Comcast Cares Day volunteers needed
MARTINSBURG – Volunteers are needed for Comcast Cares Day at the Boys and Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle's three locations in Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties starting at 8 a.m. and going until about noon or a little later April 27.
"We have projects at all three locations for all ages and abilities," Stefani Pierson, executive director, said in a telephone interview Friday, adding that volunteers do not have to stay for the whole morning.
"Give us an hour," Pierson said.
Clubs, organizations, youth groups, church groups, individuals and families are encouraged to donate some time and energy to the Boys and Girls Club.
Pierson said projects include painting, cleaning, outdoor beautification, making improvements to the basketball courts in Charles Town and moving into new club space in Berkeley Springs.
Comcast cable is sponsoring the day of volunteer work. Comcast employees and their families volunteer to work at the clubs and Comcast financially supports the projects.
Volunteers get a T-shirt and breakfast and lunch.
Cosponsored by NBCUniversal, Comcast Cares Day is the nation's largest single-day corporate volunteer effort, according to Comcast's website. Last year, 75,000 volunteers donated 450,000 hours at more than 600 sites, the website states.
Since its inception in 2001, Comcast has contributed 2.6 million hours of work and $12 million, according to the website.
The Berkeley County Boys and Girls Club is at 105 W. John St., Martinsburg. Call 304-263-1832 for more information.
In Jefferson County, the Boys and Girls Club is at 334 N. Lawrence St., Charles Town. Call 304-728-3143 for more information.
The Morgan County Boys and Girls Club is at 187 S. Green St., Berkeley Springs. Call 304-258-6741 for more information.
– Staff writer John McVey can be reached at 304-263-3381, ext. 128.


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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) - Weeks of wind and pounding surf have chewed away at Florida's world-famous beaches in some of the worst erosion in a generation, leaving some sunbathers with a pathetically narrow strip of sand on which to spread a towel.
"For a couple of blocks it's almost like there's no beach," said ophthalmologist Russ Wolfe, who often jogs along the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk. "It is really narrow. It looks like the water is right there."
Experts say much of the sand will gradually return in the spring and summer, as it usually does. But the erosion this year is so extreme, some communities may have to dredge sand offshore to replenish their beaches.
In the meantime, the tourism industry - already reeling from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - is worrying. The sand loss comes at the start of the winter season, when tourists flock to Florida.
"We're going to see the complaints as we get into the season and the snowbirds make their way down to Florida," said Mike Grimme. He said about 30 percent of the sand has washed away from the three beachfront hotels he owns in Fort Lauderdale.
Up and down Florida's Atlantic coast, high winds and surf have wreaked havoc.
The sand used to stretch more than 150 feet in front of New York and Sheridan streets along the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk, a 2-mile promenade lined with gift shops and cafes. Now there is only 15 to 25 feet of beach in some spots at high tide.
The beaches get eroded every fall and winter with the shift in winds. But this year's combination of high tides, northeasterly winds and sharp waves has been particularly brutal, causing more erosion than some major hurricanes have, said Stephen Leatherman, a coastal geologist at Florida International University.
"I haven't seen that much erosion in 20 years," said Leatherman, who is known as Dr. Beach because of his annual Top 10 Beaches list.
In Hollywood, it will cost about $2 million to replace 75,000 cubic yards of sand along a five-mile stretch of beach.
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All Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) information technology systems will be unavailable, Friday, December 2, at 10:00 p.m. to Sunday, December 04, at 11:59 p.m., EDT, while work is being performed on the network. During that time, users will not be able to access any FHWA systems.
If you have any questions or problems, please contact the 5-Help Service Center @ (866) 466-5221 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Greenlee 5882-C Digital/Analog Megohmmeter - Calibrated
List Price: $1,131.58
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Part Number: 50076396 UPC: 783310076391 Weight: 3.42
DescriptionGreenlee 5882-C Specifications:
•Insulation Tests
•Test Voltage: 250, 500, 1000V
•Range 250V: 50k - 2000MOhms
•500V: 100k - 2000MOhms
•1000V: 200k - 2000MOhms
•Automatic Discharge
•Continuity Range: 0-20Ohms
•Resistance Range: 0-400kOhms
•Voltage Test Range: 0-600V AC/DC
•Display: 4000-count, backlit 34-segment analog bar graph
•Measurement Category: Cat II, 300V
Greenlee 5882-C Includes:
•(6) 1.5V AA batteries
•Test leads
Greenlee 5882-C Features:
•Auto-ranging AC/DC default voltmeter with test inhibitor and warnings for enhanced user safety.
•Extra-large digital display with backlight and analog bar graph.
•Weather resistant against dust and water to IP44.
•Multiple test voltage ranges.
•Measure up to 2000MOhms resistance.
•Tests three voltage ranges: 250, 500, and 1000V.
•Timer function for dielectric absorption and polarization index measurements.
•Includes certificate of calibration.


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My 3yr old son is at that age of touching himself. Is it normal for him to ALWAYS be doing it. I mean there are times that I think he's obssesing over it. There are also times that he tells me his penis hurts, when it comes down to my DH trying to look our DS freaks out.
I'm going to have to have his DR look at it on his 4yr appointment this month...Growing up with younger brother's they seemed to touch themselves but it just seem's as though our DS does it all the time.
Natural development with the touching...but if he's having pain I would say check with your drs.
It's normal
Talk to him about it being private. My oldest daughter had a touching issue also. She was obbsessed (spell) About the same age. I spoke with her Dr he told me to have the privacy talk. Good luck
I think it's normal is he circumsized.
Quoting MistressMinerva:It's normal.
It's normal.
Yes he is circumcised
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Company: K9 Cuisine
Contact: Anthony Holloway, president of K9 Cuisine
Location: Paris, IL
Industry: Retail, pet products
Annual revenue: $2,500,000
Number of employees: 10
Quick Read
Launched in May 2007, K9 Cuisine helped fill a void created by the tainted-pet-food crisis of spring 2007 by offering pet owners safe dog-food and cat-food products along with reliable and accountable service.
"It wasn't started to be the biggest dog food business in the world; it was started to solve a problem," said Anthony Holloway, president of K9 Cuisine, referring to the lack of product availability and quality service his family had encountered during the catastrophe. "And it didn't take long at all to figure out we were onto something."
Though armed with only a shoestring budget and limited marketing experience, Holloway rapidly turned K9 Cuisine into a thriving business, mostly by letting its products and service speak for themselves.
In fact, he didn't spend a dime on traditional advertising. Instead, he connected with others on forums and blogs who were equally frustrated with the industry, and he used a very soft approach to highlight the company's values and product quality.
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"The grain is OK but not exceptional," said Richard Niemann, whose family has farmed the Bonnie View area for generations. "If we get rain in a week or 10 days, it will help the cotton."
The outlook for rain is bleak for the county, with the only rainfall predicted coming off the Gulf of Mexico – and even that isn't in the forecast any time soon.
"The grain is coming to a real quick, hard stop if it doesn't rain," said Dr. Dan Fromme, extension agronomist.
With below average yields expected for the grain sorghum, prices are up, with grain at $10.80 per hundred pounds. Cotton prices are up as well.
"Prices are good; that will help," Niemann said.
Representatives of major seed companies said drought-resistant varieties of grain and cotton are holding up well.
With the resignation of Jerry Gray, county extension agent, Stephen Biles of Victoria served as master of ceremonies for the tour.
Colin Downie of VERTEX Helicopters introduced a company that uses a helicopter and a sharpshooter to control feral hogs.
"We've killed 115 hogs in three hours with an AR15, firing 600 rounds," Downie said.
Downie said they hope to set up operations in Refugio County.
"In the last three years, the feral hog population rose from 1.2 million to 4.2 million," Downie said.