text:
Chapter One
Warm summer air drifted into Lynn's bedroom, where she lay silently on her bed, admiring a very strange ring. Her hand hovered above her face, her sea-green eyes mesmerized by the gem winking down at her. It appeared to be a diamond, but somehow pure white and deep black swirled inside of it together without blending. It was odd, but beautiful. She turned her hand at different angles, allowing the light from her bedside lamp make it shine. When Stanley had given it to her that day, she had acted aloof, not wanting things to become awkward between them. But secretly, she was happy he'd given it to her.
Lynn couldn't let Stanley know how she really felt about him. They'd been best friends for nearly ten years, and she wasn't about to risk losing him completely by telling him she loved him. He meant too much to her. It made her heart ache not being as close to him as she wanted, but she knew if things became weird between them, she'd lose him forever. The idea made her sick to her stomach.
Struggling to toss the notion out of her mind, she stretched and yawned, letting her hand fall back onto her pillow. She had pushed the blankets to the foot of the bed, because it was so hot in her room. She lay in short jeans shorts and a white t-shirt, her strawberry blond hair jumbled over her head on the pillow. A long day in the summer sun had exhausted her completely. She and Stanley had been at Lake Delight for most of the day, swimming for hours, and then walking through the nature surrounding the water. They'd found the ring under an uprooted tree.
"Whoa, what's that?" Stanley had said, running over to where the glinting light came from. Because of his height, he chose to lay flat on the ground to get to it. Lynn laughed. When he picked it up, he rubbed the grime off of it and, seeing that it looked like an engagement ring, a mischievous grin took over his face.
"What?" said Lynn, the laugh still in her voice.
"Look at it," he told her, holding it out for her to see.
Her eyes widened. "Wow," she breathed.
Then, with her distracted by the ring, Stanley sunk down onto one knee.
"Lynn Marie Stone," he proclaimed jokingly, waving the ring in front of her face. "Will you marry me?"
Lynn glanced around in embarrassment, her heart fluttering at the sight of him down on one knee in front of her. He laughed, because no one was there to see the scene. His dark hair had dried funny, and was standing up in all directions, and his blue eyes gleamed with mirth as he held the ring up for her to see again.
She smiled then, shaking her head. He pretended to be disappointed.
"No?" he asked, bowing his head. "Okay."
It took her a moment, but she became amused and decided to play along. "Fine! I'll marry you."
Smirking, he grabbed her hand and put the ring on her finger. As the band slid into place, the sun caught the gem again, flashing brightly on their faces. Stanley let go of her hand, but remained on the ground for a moment, looking up at her. Lynn stared back, her stomach aching. This joke was too close to home. She forced herself to laugh, breaking eye contact and looking down at the ring. Stanley cleared his throat, waving her hand away as she went to take it off.
"You should keep it," he told her. "It's pretty."
Lynn hesitated, chewing the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. "Yeah, it is." she agreed, dropping both hands to her sides. "I guess I will."
He got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Lets keep walking."
So they continued their walk, and Lynn tried to suppress her desire to daydream about them being married. She put her hands in her pockets and jogged to catch up with him. They walked around for a while longer, talking about nothing, and then he drove her home.
Lynn sighed, tucking her arm under her hair and closing her eyes to sleep.
The ring really was beautiful.
That night, Lynn dreamt more vividly of Stanley than she had ever dreamed. She felt his warm body and uneven breath on her skin. Her world turned over and became filled with endless groans and gasps, hot air and strange passion, and a stinging feeling--like her whole body was on fire. They twisted together in a dimly lit room, tucked somewhere in a warm corner of her mind. They were fully clothed, but aching for more. Lynn arched up into him and gripped his hair almost painfully, holding him to her as they kissed. Their sighs permeated the atmosphere. Candle light danced on the walls around them, and on their bodies as they pulled at each others clothes. Lynn knew it was pointless, but was unable to lift herself from these dreams.
.. .. ..
Marlow couldn't believe it. He had passed through the portal into the human world, his robes transformed into horrible human clothes, and now stood alone in the daylight of their woods. But not for long. Spiro's arrival behind him sent them both tumbling to the ground. They bickered for a while and rolled away from each other, and Marlow felt himself over, glad to find he still had his knife on him, and a vile of red liquid to return in his pocket. Spiro had a vile too, and his pipe, which had never left his hand. He too wore human clothes. They did not belong here, and they had to find the ring and get out as quickly as possible. Marlow dropped to his knees, frantically searching.
But it was nowhere to be found.
"What should we do?" Marlow asked Spiro, an hour later. They'd searched the tree from top to bottom, and the surrounding area countless times.
"Let's just stay here and keep our heads," said Spiro, trying to appear calm as white smoke swirled from his nose.
Marlow sat on the ground, his head in his hands. "This is a disaster."
.. .. ..
Lynn woke with a start to find Stanley standing over her bed, the morning sun blazing through the window onto his concerned face.
Her mind was full of images from her dream, her face blushing red and warm as she struggled to pull herself into the real world.
"Lynn?" he asked worriedly. "You okay? It sounded like you were crying."
"Um…I'm okay," she smiled to cover her embarrassment. "How did you get in here?"
"Your mom let me in," he answered, poking her shoulder. "It's almost two PM. She figured you'd get up if I came up here to bug you."
Lynn reached to grab his arm to help herself up. But as her skin made contact with his, a wild shock went through her body. She let out a yelp, tears springing to her eyes. In shock, he slapped his hand over hers, and the pain suddenly fell away, leaving her breathless. She tore her hand away from his.
"What's wrong?" he exclaimed, confused and panicked.
"What was that?" Lynn demanded. She held her hand to her face, examining it closely. It appeared unharmed, but throbbed painfully.
Stanley's dark eyebrows met in the middle as he frowned, reaching for Lynn again with anxious eyes. Lynn leaned away from his touch, seriously disturbed at what had occurred. Her normally happy freckled face was slashed with fear. She considered him warily, as if wondering whether or not he'd burst into flames. The light morning breeze blew in through the window, unsettling her hair. They stared at each other in silence for a long time.
"I don't know," he said finally, lowering his hand and glaring. "I didn't feel anything."
"It's not…" Lynn stopped herself before she could say "normal."
She was probably over-thinking this; it was just an aftermath of dreaming. Lynn shook her head and forced a smile for Stanley. "I'm sorry," she told him. "Crazy static electricity, I guess. I still feel like I'm dreaming."
Her last sentence made her blush again, but she was sure he didn't read into it that well.
"Yeah," he agreed, smiling and seeming relieved that she was no longer mad at him.
Lynn lay back down on the bed and looked out the window, relaxing and yawning. The sun was high, the sky painted a beautiful blue. The leaves on all the trees screened light into her room and lit up every corner. The air was warm, and dust shimmered magically all around them.
. . .
Stanley sat next to Lynn on her bed and sighed, pretending to take in the view with her.
She was beautiful. Her body curved perfectly. She wore short jean shorts and a rumpled white t-shirt. He could tell that the swim suit she'd worn under it the previous day was no longer there. Her hair was glowing its own kind of light against the sun. Her skin the same; pale, clean, and soft looking as she stretched out again, using her feet to push the blankets to the end of the bed. She reached her hands above her head and arched her back, unconsciously making the curves of her body more obvious to Stanley's suddenly hungry eyes. He imagined himself laying on top of her, feeling her body against his own. An aching want simmered within him.
She was more than beautiful.
Lynn sighed heavily, her eyes sleepy again as she looked up at Stanley.
Realizing how ridiculous he was being, Stanley got off the bed and went looking for a different shirt for her to wear. As he plucked a red one off the floor he said, "Wanna go back to the lake today?"
He heard the bed creak as Lynn sat up enthusiastically. "Yeah!"
He smiled to himself. "Okay, lets go." He threw the shirt at her, and it fell over her head. She was grinning at him when she took it off.
"Okay," she answered. She hopped up off the bed and rushed past him to get to the bathroom.
As she passed by him, he had a sudden irrational desire for her to touch him. He leaned sideways, and as she moved her hand brushed against his, and they both slowed their pace for a moment, meeting eyes. Stanley felt his heart falter. Lynn drew in a shaky breath and let it out slowly, smiling sheepishly at him and leaving the room. He stared after her, feeling a strange sense off loss, even though she was only a few feet away from him in the next room.
This wasn't normal for him. Usually he was able to hide his feelings from Lynn, but all of a sudden he wanted to act on them. This was crazy. He had to get a hold of himself before she caught on.
. . .
In the bathroom, Lynn sat down on the toilet without lifting the seat, crossing her legs and wrapping her arms around herself. She frowned at the floor, trying to make sense of the weird feeling she had--like she needed to get back in the room with Stanley as soon as possible, or something bad would happen. This was stupid. It was just a stupid dream. She and Stanley were friends, best friends.
And they would never be anything more.
Once she was fresh and clean and changed, wearing her swimsuit underneath her clothes, Lynn went downstairs where Stanley was waiting for her. He was sitting on the bench by the back door, basking in the sun. As she walked towards him, she suddenly felt her breath catch in her body. She quieted her steps so he couldn't hear her approaching.
His dark hair was being blown away from his face by the wind through the open door, and his eyes were closed. He wore his favorite green t-shirt and a pair of black swimming trunks. His tan legs were outstretched to catch more of the sun from outside; his arms crossed over his chest. He almost looked like he was napping. Lynn felt her feelings for him swelling in her chest, and something inside her willed her to sneak up to him. Though she knew it was foolish to play this game with herself, her feet moved her forward. She found herself standing over him, her hands clasped tightly to her elbows to stop herself from touching him. A powerful desire for him had taken over her mind. She wanted to make him know.
This was the bravest, and also the dumbest thing she'd ever done. All this did was make her feel farther away from him, and it was creepy of her to stand over him this way. Still, she didn't move, and he didn't notice her. What was happening today? That dream she had last night was weighing too powerfully on her mind. She needed to face reality: Stanley wasn't hers to have. This couldn't happen. She had to stop herself from being so weird before he opened his eyes and caught her. Her heart was the only sound she could hear.
The same thing that willed her to walk over to him willed her to lean down and kiss him. His mouth was open slightly, tempting her without him meaning to tempt her. She reached up, and after a long breathless moment, she let her fingertip graze his chin. The moment her skin made contact with his, an electrical zap flew through her fingers, tingling all the way up her arm. She gasped, stumbling away from him. Was she still dreaming?
Her gasp startled him into opening his eyes, and he jumped when he saw how close to him she was. He appeared not to have felt her touching him, or the zap resulting, at all. He laughed. "Whoa. I didn't notice you walking up," he said. "You scared me."
She laughed too, deeply embarrassed and confused. "Sorry," she said, trying not to let him catch on. "I'm ready to go when you're ready to go."
"Alright," he got to his feet, swinging his keys around and walking out the door.
Lynn lingered for a moment in the doorway, watching Stanley walk to his car. She was afraid. She felt as if something that wasn't even part of her was trying to control her. She bit her lip, hard, and the pain made her believe she wasn't dreaming. She was just being risky and dumb. She let out a long sigh. That was a one time slip up. It would never, ever happen again.
"Let it go," she whispered to herself. "It's just a stupid dream."
Then she quickly followed Stanley outside.
. . .
Stanley walked next to Lynn in silence, along the same path at Lake Delight as the day before. They had decided to skip swimming until later. The wall of trees broke every once in a while to show them the rippling lake water, but otherwise hid the outside world from them. They were trapped in a soft, silent world of their own. The silence was only broken by the sound of tree branches creaking together in the wind, an occasional bird skimming the surface of the lake, and their own footsteps, further compressing the earth.
Stanley felt strange. Whenever he felt Lynn looking in the opposite direction, he found himself staring at her. His heart burned with the desire he had to touch her and tell her all the things he'd been hiding. Ever since he put the ring on her yesterday, he couldn't shake the feeling that he should act on his emotions. Their friendship would go straight down the toilet if he did that though. He couldn't. Maybe it was stupid of him to pretend to propose in the first place. This joke had gone too far in his mind.
Overwhelmed, he let out a huff of frustration at himself. Lynn turned to look at him, frowning. She must be noticing how he was acting. Stanley tried to shake it off.
"I'm just tired," he assured her with a smile. "Guess I can't fully wake up today."
She let out a little laugh. "I feel that way too."
They were passing the twisted tree where they had found the ring the day before. Stanley glared. There was a pair of young men kneeling by it, and something about them seemed out of place from the usual unknown passerby; something dangerous. They had a dark air about them. As they approached the men, Stanley moved closer to Lynn protectively. The men saw them and stood, serious expressions on their sharp-featured faces. The shorter of the two had long black hair, and skin that was unnaturally pale. His eyes were strange and solid green, matching the foliage that surrounded him. He wore ripped jeans and a black t-shirt; his feet bare. The man looked to be in his late twenties. The taller of the two had sandy brown hair and brown eyes, and wore the same as his companion. They appeared to be brothers. Stanley noticed that they had both glued fake points onto their ears. Why the heck would anyone do that?
The shorter man nodded to Stanley and Lynn as they passed, and Lynn politely raised her hand and waved.
The man's eyes widened in alarm as he spotted the ring on Lynn's finger.
"Stop!" he called after them, throwing up his arms.
. . .
Lynn found herself being pushed behind Stanley as he whirled around to look at the man, his face stiff and angry. The man stepped up to him, his hands held up in surrender to any harm.
"My name is Marlow," he said. "I need that ring."
"You can't be that forward Marlow, they're only humans!" the other man snapped at him, pushing him aside.
"We apologize for scaring you," the taller man said slowly. "Did you happen to find that ring you're wearing here on the ground yesterday? My brother and I have been looking for one like it."
"It's--" Lynn started to say, shrinking back in fear as Marlow turned his cold eyes on her. "Mine," she finished quietly.
"Yeah, we found it yesterday, man." Stanley told the tall man firmly.
Marlow's face crumpled in disapproval.
"Man?" he repeated, shaking his head dismissively. He held out his hand to Lynn. "May I please have the ring back, girl? It belongs to someone I love."
His face had taken on a serious kind of tenderness as he said those last words. The man was being polite and patient with them. Lynn smiled apologetically.
"I'm sorry," she said. "We didn't know it belonged to anyone. Here."
She stepped around Stanley and tried to take the ring off. Frowning, she looked down at her hand. It was stuck there.
"Hmm…" Lynn hummed thoughtfully. She twisted it and yanked on it, and it didn't budge.
"Stanley?" she asked, looking back at him. "I need help. It's stuck…"
The two men met eyes, and seemed to realize something at the same time. Their faces took on horrified expressions, and the taller one slapped the short one called Marlow on the back of the head angrily. "We're TOO LATE!" he shouted at his brother. "They're bonded! Are you happy now? This entire situation is nothing but disaster!"
"No!" Marlow shouted, rubbing the back of his head and glaring at his brother. "This can't be happening! There must be some mistake. It might not be the ring."
He turned away from them and started pacing around in circles, muttering to himself. "Humans….humans…" He stopped and took a breath, closing his eyes. "This can't be happening."
The taller brother stepped up to Lynn, his eyes crazed, but his expression forced calm. "May I see the ring a moment please?" he asked her. "Marlow!" he called to his brother. "Come look and see."
Marlow strode over quickly and peered at Lynn's outstretched hand. He made a strangled sound in the back of his throat and nodded, turning away to pace again. The taller brother's face had turned, if possible, more pale, and he pulled a pipe out of his pants pocket and put it in his mouth. He had nothing to light it, but he chewed the end as if it were the only thing keeping him from having a mental break down. These men were scaring Lynn. She had no idea what they meant about she and Stanley being 'bonded,' and felt bad that this ring meant so much to these men. She wished she and Stanley had left it where they'd found it.
"Um…Marlow?" she stepped forward, shrugging Stanley off as he made to reach for her. She waved to catch Marlow's attention, and he stopped pacing and stared at her with wide, cautious eyes.
"What are you doing?" he asked, reaching behind himself.
Lynn frowned in confusion, her hand still stretched out to comfort him. She took another step, and without warning he pulled a knife out and slashed it through the air.
Lynn screamed, and Stanley gave a loud yelp and pulled her back roughly, throwing her behind him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he shouted at Marlow. "Get away from us!"
The taller brother put himself between his brother and them, shouting, "Marlow, you idiot! Put that away!"
Marlow held still, the knife poised in front of himself defensively.
"Spiro, she'll have to come with us," he said to the taller brother shakily. "I need that ring off of her. If Katrina finds out it was on a human, she'll never forgive me."
Spiro nodded understanding, and Lynn gasped, wondering what they planned to do. "Stanley," she whispered urgently, grabbing the back of his shirt.
Stanley glared at the men incredulously. They scurried around him and reached for Lynn, who gasped and backed away from him.
"Leave me alone!" she cried hysterically.
"We really only need the girl," Marlow said to Stanley, who had put himself in his path. "You can stay here--the less humans in our world, the better."
Stanley shoved against Marlow as he tried to push him out of the way to get to Lynn, sending him backwards onto the ground. Marlow froze where he was, and he and Stanley met eyes for a moment. Spiro had his hands in the air in surrender.
Lynn was terrified. Stanley didn't have any defense against this man! What was he doing? She wanted to run away, but she couldn't move, couldn't even speak.
There was a long silence, and then Marlow suddenly sounded sad.
"I don't want to cause conflict in this world," he said. "I'm sorry. I overreacted when you advanced on me."
Lynn swallowed, her heart pounding, but made herself lean around Stanley to look at Marlow. Marlow kept his eyes on Stanley, but slowly put his knife back from where he'd retrieved it, then he met eyes with Lynn. "If you'll forgive me, I'll explain," he said.
"Explain what, Marlow?" Spiro shot at this brother. "We can't tell them a thing!"
"We have to!"
"Whatever man!" Stanley cut in angrily. "I don't wanna hear it. We're leaving!" He backed away from the men quickly, reaching back to grab Lynn's arm. Marlow got to his feet and took a step to follow them, but then stopped, one hand twitching to reach for them.
"Please," he said. "You have no idea how important that ring is. There isn't another one like it in the world. Please."
Lynn stopped, pulling Stanley to a halt and looking back at Marlow. Her heart told her that she should listen to Marlow. It wouldn't take that long to get the ring off, if they pulled on it hard enough. This was just a huge misunderstanding.
"We should at least listen to him," she said. "He put the knife away."
"The point is that he has a knife in the first place Lynn," Stanley whispered fiercely to her. "He's crazy. And who knows what that other guy has hidden in his jeans? He could have a gun. We need to get out of here and call the cops--make sure they don't try to hurt anyone else."
Lynn shook her head at Stanley, her eyes still locked on Marlow's saddened face. "I don't think they're dangerous. They just want their ring."
She tried to pull it off her finger again, but it wouldn't budge. She couldn't even turn it in a circle. It seemed to be glued to her skin. She sighed hopelessly.
. . .
Stanley looked from Lynn to Marlow, knowing that Lynn wouldn't drop it if he made her leave. He huffed angrily and turned them back around to face Marlow. It would take two seconds for Lynn to realize that this was a hopeless situation, and they needed to get out of here fast.
Stanley glared at Marlow and waited for him to speak.
Marlow's face melted with relief. He smiled at them, clasping his hands together to show he meant no harm. Spiro put a hand on his brother's shoulder to keep him where he was.
"I realize that humans have a hard time believing that elves exist," Marlow began. "But under this circumstance, I'm afraid you'll have to. I come from the light side of the Elvin land," he said. "I mean you no harm, as you are mere humans and cannot help yourselves from stumbling into our rather scattered world."
Stanley's eyebrows rose high on his forehead, and he glanced at Lynn to see how she was taking this. To his shock and irritation, she was biting her lip, thinking it over. Was she crazy too? This guy was out of his mind. He could hurt them at any moment; they needed to leave.
"Lynn!" Stanley snapped at her, glaring.
She chewed her lip a moment longer, studying Marlow. "Look at him, Stanley." she said. "I know it's stupid, but he's not…normal. And..." she paused, seeming afraid to go on.
Marlow's face lapsed into gratitude for her.
"I had that ring welded for my partner," he said, speaking only to Lynn now. "Once I ask her to bond herself to me and she accepts me, the ring will be hers. But by some clumsy mistake, I lost it. It fell out of my pocket while I was making my way--" he stopped, glancing around and then lowering his voice so that they had to lean in to hear him. "While I was making my way to the house I built for her," he finished in a whisper, his face suddenly turning red. He drew close to them though, bending and speaking near Lynn's face. "That ring will bond us. But it appears that by putting that ring on, you and this human male are bonded, and that is a very dangerous thing."
"Bonded?" Lynn whispered back to him.
Marlow nodded, his face grim. Spiro was chewing on his pipe anxiously again, shaking his head. Stanley put his arm around Lynn's shoulders, drawing her into his side and frowning at Marlow. Stanley could tell that Lynn believed Marlow, and he couldn't believe the way she was acting. He was still painfully aware of the knife that glinted on Marlow's back. This was crazy. He had to get Lynn to see that these guys were dangerous and that they needed to leave.
"Prove it," he demanded.


text:
Despite improvements in recent years, gaps remain in the quality of some of the risk models in use in Asia, George Attard, head of Aon Benfield Asia-Pacific, told SIRC Today. As such, the industry must look to continually improve these, he said.
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George Attard, Aon Benfield Asia Pacific, Asia-Pacific

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(1932-2009) a US poet and writer of novels and short stories about the hopes, worries and fears of modern middle-class Americans. He is best known for his four novels about a former basketball player, Harry 'Rabbit' Angstrom. They are Rabbit, Run (1960), Rabbit Redux (1971), Rabbit is Rich (1981) and Rabbit at Rest (1990). The last two each won the Pulitzer Prize. His other novels include The Witches of Eastwick (1984), Toward the End of Time (1997), Seek my Face (2002) and Villages (2005).jump to other results
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"Viral hepatitis â" a group of infectious diseases known as hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E- affects almost 400 million people worldwide, causing both acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) liver disease and killing more than 1.4 million peop"...
Dosage And Schedule
Children/Adolescents (12 Months Through 18 Years Of Age)
The vaccination schedule consists of a primary 0.5-mL dose administered intramuscularly, and a 0.5-mL booster dose administered intramuscularly 6 to 18 months later.
Adults ( ≥ 19 Years Of Age)
The vaccination schedule consists of a primary 1-mL dose administered intramuscularly, and a 1-mL booster dose administered intramuscularly 6 to 18 months later.
Booster Immunization Following Another Manufacturer's Hepatitis A Vaccine
A booster dose of VAQTA may be given at 6 to 12 months following a primary dose of HAVRIX [see Clinical Studies].
Preparation And Administration
Shake the single-dose vial or single-dose prefilled syringe well to obtain a slightly opaque, white suspension before withdrawal and use. Parenteral drug products should be inspected visually for particulate matter and discoloration prior to administration, whenever solution and container permit.
Discard if the suspension does not appear homogenous or if extraneous particulate matter remains or discoloration is observed.
For single-dose vials, withdraw and administer entire dose of VAQTA intramuscularly using a sterile needle and syringe.
For single-dose prefilled syringes, securely attach a needle by twisting in a clockwise direction and administer dose of VAQTA intramuscularly.
For adults, adolescents, and children older than 2 years of age, the deltoid muscle is the preferred site for intramuscular injection. For children 12 through 23 months of age, the anterolateral area of the thigh is the preferred site for intramuscular injection.
Dosage Forms And Strengths
Suspension for injection available in four presentations:
- 0.5-mL pediatric dose in single-dose vials and prefilled syringes
- 1-mL adult dose in single-dose vials and prefilled syringes
[See DESCRIPTION for listing of vaccine components and Storage and Handling]
Storage And Handling
VAQTA is available in single-dose vials and prefilled Luer Lock syringes.
Pediatric/Adolescent Formulations
25U/0.5 mL in single-dose vials and prefilled Luer Lock syringes.
NDC 0006-4831-41 – box of ten 0.5-mL single dose vials.
NDC 0006-4095-09 – carton of six 0.5-mL prefilled single-dose Luer Lock syringes with tip caps.
Adult Formulations
50U/1-mL in single-dose vials and prefilled Luer Lock syringes.
NDC 0006-4841-00 – 1-mL single dose vial.
NDC 0006-4841-41 – box of ten 1-mL single dose vials.
NDC 0006-4096-09 – carton of six 1-mL prefilled single-dose Luer Lock syringes with tip caps.
Store vaccine at 2-8°C (36-46°F).
DO NOT FREEZE since freezing destroys potency.
Manuf. and Dist. by : Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of MERCK & CO., INC., Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889, USAThis monograph has been modified to include the generic and brand name in many instances.
Last reviewed on RxList: 12/1/2016
Vaqta FDA Prescribing Information
Additional Vaqta Information
Report Problems to the Food and Drug Administration
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit the FDA MedWatch website or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
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Bobby Cox began his restaurant career in 1961 by owning and operating a small snack bar in Odessa, Texas. Cox has built many successful businesses including Taco Villa, Rosa's Caf
World, Meet Bobby Cox.
December 13, 2004 By David Burn
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About David Burn
I wrote my first ad for a political candidate when I was 17 years old. She won her race and I felt the seductive power of advertising for the first time. Today—after working for seven agencies in five states—I am head of brand strategy and creative at Bonehook in Portland, Oregon.


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I pull up my black skirt and I am wearing no panties. I need to go to the bathroom badly since I have been holding my Goddess shit, so you may watch me go poop, and worship all that comes out of my ass! I bend over and allow you to see my big round ass then push out a creamy load. I pick it up and show you the poop that just came out of my ass. I wish you could cum all over my creamy load!
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Stamped leather belt featuring ornate baroque style buckle. This belt adds a little drama to any outfit!
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School-age children with disabilities are entitled to receive special education services, at no cost to the family, through the public school system beginning on the day of the child's 3rd birthday and ending at the age of 22. Understanding how special education works, and what your rights are, is important during your child's school years.
In addition to learning about special education, be sure to explore "Supports & Services" to learn about other local, state and federal programs that can provide services and supports to your child and family.
Planning ahead for the time your child will leave school is also important It is never too early start planning for the future. Visit Future Planning to find helpful resources, including information on guardianship and creating a special needs trust such as The Arc Master Trust.
Perhaps the best thing you can do for yourself and your child is to connect with other families. Visit Helpful Resources & Links to find local, state, and national organizations, including The Arc, that can offer you information, support and friendship; as well as other resources.
Special Education Eligibility, Instruction and Services, Resources
A child must be referred for an initial evaluation and found eligible for services before special education services can be provided. No matter what age your child is, or what grade he or she is in, if you have any concerns, or know that your child has a disability, ask that your child be evaluated for special education services.
A child is eligible for special education if he or she has one or more of the following disabilities:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Cognitive Disability
- Developmental Delay
- Deaf-Blind
- Emotional Disability
- Hearing Impairment
- Language or Speech Impairment
- Learning Disability
- Multiple Disabilities
- Other Health Impairment
- Orthopedic Impairment
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Visual Impairment
Instruction and Services
Special education refers to individualized educational and related services for children with disabilities. To determine what educational and related services a child will receive, a case conference committee will develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
A case conference committee is a group of people, including school personnel and parents, who decides if a student is eligible for special education and what special education and related services will be provided to an eligible student, based on his or her needs.
An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a written document developed by the case conference committee that describes accommodations, modifications, special education and related services that will be provided to the student. The IEP must be reviewed and updated by the case conference committee every 12 months.
Services that may be included in an IEP include:
- Educational instruction that is adapted to meet the child's needs.
- "Related services" such as therapy provided by a licensed therapist.
- Other services a child might need to benefit from public education.
All special education services must be provided in the least restrictive environment (LRE). LRE means educating a child with disabilities alongside children who do not have disabilities, for all or part of the school day, or as much as possible.
Article 7 – Indiana's Special Education Regulation
Indiana's state regulation for special education, which has the effect of law, is known as "Article 7." Article 7 is based on federal law known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA '04) and the federal regulations for IDEA.
Indiana Department of Education, Office of Special Education
- Special Education Laws, Rules and Interpretations
- Due Process – Complaints, Mediations, Hearings
- School Based Medicaid
- State Advisory Council
- Publications and Resources
About Special Kids (ASK)
Family Voices Indiana
Indiana Institute on Disability and Community
Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services (IPAS)
Instructional videos on special education laws and rights, presented by Alexandra M. Curlin, Curlin and Clay Law, Association of Attorneys
- Special Ed 101 (43-min)
- Legal Issues Pertaining to Transition (44-min)
- Discipline and the IDEA (48-min)


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Category: Music
Tools for use in music classrooms
Going Google! An Introduction to G Suite for Education
WHO: Teachers that are interested in getting started with G Suite for Education (formally known as Google Apps for Education).
HOW: This tutorial video is under 20 minutes in length and is a simple introduction into the icons and options inside of Google Drive, Team Drives, Docs, and Forms. Viewers will learn how to navigate, organize, and utilize a small variety of G Suite For Education products.
WHEN: This video gives examples of how you could use G Suite in the classroom, as well as in School Administration.
Tutorial – How to Create a QR Code
WHO: Teachers that would like to use QR Codes in their classroom.
HOW: The video below takes teachers through the step-by-step process of creating a QR Code to use in their classroom.
WHEN: QR Codes are useful for directing students to specific websites you would like them to use, for hiding clues in a scavenger hunt, and many other things in the classroom.
Vizia – Make Online Videos Interactive and Replace Worksheets!
WHO: Teachers that use videos in class and would like to add in checks for understanding while making the assignment more interactive.
HOW: Create an account on https://vizia.co/, add in a link to a video, then start adding questions! Teachers have the option to include Multiple Choice (called quiz), Polls, Response (user types short answer or extended response), and Call to Action (button with external link to visit). If teachers select the Gate Video option, it will prompt the viewer to enter their name and e-mail address. When all of the questions are added, the teacher simply copies the link in the top right corner and directs the students to visit. This link could be posted to the classroom website, LMS, or create a QR code for the tablet classroom to utilize. After the assignment has been completed, the question results are loaded into a Google Sheet allowing the teacher to collect data, and grade if they wish. When coupled with the Google Add-On Flubaroo, these assignments could be automatically graded.
WHEN: Vizia is a great option for the flipped classroom and teachers that regularly use videos in class. Vizia allows the teacher to capture student understanding while the videos are being watched. Vizia videos could be useful for bell-ringers, exit tickets, or assignments or inclement weather as well.
Here is an example of a Vizia video:
Google Cast for Education – Free Screen Mirror Tool
WHO: Teachers that need an easy way to share student screens with the class.
HOW: Teachers install Google Cast for Education to their Chrome browser from the Chrome Web Store. Once installed, teachers then set up a name and sharing capabilities. Students can be added via GAFE e-mails, groups, or classes. Using a future version of Chrome, students will be able to select the cast feature and show the class their work.
WHEN: Most commonly, this can be used to display student projects. However, teachers can use it as a "show me how you solved this" moment. It is also useful for getting feedback from the class on a difficult problem. It could even be used for digital show and tell.
There are many options out there to mirror student displays. The difference here is that no additional hardware (e.g. AppleTV) or paid software (e.g. Reflector 2) is needed to purchase. The system administrator simply adds the chrome app to the teacher computer that is connected to the classroom presentation system, and the student devices have an up-to-date version of Chrome when it is released.
Using Google Apps For Education in the past has allowed students to click the share button and have the teacher show the work from the front of the classroom. Google Cast for Education now allows the student to control the screen from their seat. The added benefit is that the teacher can now walk around the classroom. Educators will be able to help students while the work is being displayed.
Here is a video from Google Apps for Education:
Flat.io: Collaborative Sheet Music – Compose Music With Others In Real-time
WHO: Music teachers interested in students composing music together, online, in real-time.
HOW: Sign up for an account at www.flat.io, or log in with your Google account. Users can manually create song sheets or connect via MIDI controller. There are 70 instruments to choose from. When creating a masterpiece, students can collaborate with others by clicking on the add icon by their account, adding others via flat username or e-mail address. Using the school version, there is also an option for teachers to share to Google Classroom. Teachers can also create assignments from scores they have created.
WHEN: Music teachers would find this useful for lessons on music notation, creating quizzes, tests, and projects. The real-time collaborative aspect gives a great opportunity for group work creating musical scores.
By no means am I a musically inclined person, but immediately after selecting to start a new score, I found myself engaged. I play guitar some, so for my first project I created a score for an acoustic guitar. As I put in notes, flat.io played the music for me and created tabs, which I found really useful. There are many different selections to choose from when creating your music. When you are finished composing, you have the option to export to: .pdf, MusicXML, .mp3, .wav, and .mid.
Wheel Decide: Spin the Wheel to Pick a Random Topic
WHO: Teachers looking for a fun and fair way to let students pick topics at random for class work.
HOW: Visit http://wheeldecide.com/, click to modify the wheel, add topics, give the wheel a title, and pick advanced options. Choices can removed after they have been landed on, color scheme can be changed, seconds to spin, and more.
WHEN: Wheel Decide is great to have student pick topics for presentations and projects. Teachers could also use it to pick topics for review games in class. Another option would be to randomly call on students during class time. Wheel Decide is also very useful to studying vocabulary or even assigning teams. After creating a wheel, teachers can copy the embed code to their classroom LMS or website.
Below is a wheel for countries involved in World War II.
Google Forms Adds Option For Quizzes
WHO: Teachers looking for an easy way to make digital assessments utilizing Google Apps for Education. If you have used the Flubaroo Add-on in the past, you will enjoy how easy it is to assess student responses using Google Forms now!
HOW: Teachers create a new form in Google Drive, then under the settings tab, there are now three options:
"General" which contains selections regarding restrictions, collecting username, number of responses, editing responses, and viewing summary of responses.
"Presentation" which includes Progress Bar, Question Order, Link for Another Response, and Confirmation Message.
"Quizzes" which allows the creator to make the form a quiz, select when grade is released, and what the respondents can see such as correct answers, missed questions, and point values.
After selecting to make the form a quiz, the user can now add an answer key and point value to Multiple Choice, Check All That Apply, and Dropdown style questions. Simply click the answer key button at the bottom of the new question and there will now be an area to select point value, and also click on the correct answers to create the key (image below).
After creating the key, the teacher can also add an option for answer feedback, both for correct and incorrect answers, including links (image below).
Once the responses to the quiz start coming in, the teacher is given great data. Insights include Mean, Median, and Range of points, a bar graph with total point distribution, frequently missed questions, and graphs for the responses of each question. By clicking over to the "Individual" tab under responses, the teacher can see each students quiz individually.
WHEN: Using Google Forms Quiz selection is great for quizzes, but it could also be used for formative assessment or as an exit ticket. You can even go back and change old forms from before, click on settings, and turn it into a quiz.
Share My Lesson: Online Platform Share Lessons With Other Teachers
WHO: K-12 Teachers looking to share their lessons and resources with others, as well as teachers that are looking for lessons to use in their classroom.
HOW: Teachers need to create an account in order to use ShareMyLesson. After logging in, users can upload lessons, including tagging standards, adding attachments and links, and descriptions.
Teachers looking for lesson ideas, can search by state standards, grade level, topic area and more.
WHEN: During the summer months, teachers can use ShareMyLesson to either upload their lessons to have in one area, or start looking at what other teachers are doing to enhance their own.
ShareMyLesson is great as it allows teachers from anywhere to share ideas with others.
FlipQuiz: Online Review Gameshow
WHO: Teachers looking for an easier way to make gameshow style review games in the classroom.
HOW: Sign up for an account at http://flipquiz.me/, then either start creating your own board, or search for the topic you are covering. After creating an account, the user can choose between the free version or the paid version. Upgrading allows the user to copy other boards, have the game keep score (must do this manually with free account), upload images, create flashcards for students, and more.
WHEN: FlipQuiz is a great option for weekly/semesterly review. Students enjoy playing gameshows, working in teams, and competing with each other. FlipQuiz makes this process much easier, and is saved online for future use.


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Home › Forums › Campfire › Pre-Trip Planning › Skyline to Sea Help
Oct 16, 2013 at 11:23 am #1308808
Sean MonahanBPL Member
@zvolenLocale: CA Central Valley
I was starting the process of planning a few trips for next year and I was looking into the Skyline to Sea Trail. I was looking for some input here if anyone has any experience, my main concern is logistics, planning type stuff and or maps you used or found useful. I know nothing about the trail it just came up on a few searches and looks like a fun trail.
Can anyone offer any personal tips, or has anyone completed it and have advice, time of year, camp locations, etc. ThanksOct 16, 2013 at 12:23 pm #2034702
Ken HelwigBPL Member
@kennyhel77Locale: Scotts Valley CA via San Jose, CA
This is a shuttle trip. So please have this figured out. Time of the year? Basically March to November is fine. I did it in two days, starting at Castle Rock, hiking to Big Basin where we spent the night and then hiking to the coast. We were done by noon. Most of your first day hike is aling Hwy 9 where you cross the road a bunch. Lots of garbage and noise too. One time thing for me. I was not impressed. I'd rather hike Ventanna or more importantly the Sierra NevadaOct 16, 2013 at 12:47 pm #2034711
Sean MonahanBPL Member
@zvolenLocale: CA Central Valley
Thanks for the response, when you say shuttle you mean leaving a car at one location then driving to the trail head, correct? Hmm disappointed to hear it didn't impress. So it easily feasible in two days? I can see its ALL down hill and doesn't appear to be a tough walk, but a weekend trip?
Maybe I will look into some other trips to do, any recommendations for similar 'beach' terrain with hopefully easier transportation logistics. As always, thanks.Oct 16, 2013 at 1:03 pm #2034715
Rex SandersBPL Member
@rexLocale: Central California Coast
I've backpacked S2S variations several times and enjoyed the trip. Some tips:
– Yes, the start is higher than the end. But S2S still has long hills to climb!
– Take mosquito repellent.
– Sunscreen barely needed, you'll be hiking in deep forest most of the time, except on the Chalk Mountain variation (see below).
– Redwood Hikes makes the best maps of the area. S2S is covered by their Big Basin and Castle Rock map, revised 2013. Available at some REIs and local backpacking stores, or order online. Electronic versions available for iOS and Android. Some other maps covering all or parts of S2S are outdated or just plain wrong.
– Key water sources on S2S and variations include: Castle Rock Trail Camp, San Lorenzo River, Waterman Gap Trail Camp, Boulder Creek, Opal Creek, Big Basin Park HQ, Jay Camp, Upper West Waddell Creek, Berry Creek, and the Ranger Station/Horse Camp near Waddell Beach. Boiling, filter, or chemicals highly recommended. The official start of S2S has no water.
– The lower you go along Waddell Creek, the browner the water gets from redwood tannins, so the water tastes yucky. Much of the flow in East Waddell Creek comes from the Big Basin sewage treatment plant, so I don't get water below the confluence.
– The upper several miles of S2S are very close to noisy Highway 9. Better alternate routes are Saratoga Toll Road to Beekhuis Road Trail back up to S2S, or Saratoga Toll Road to the end and cut back up to S2S below Waterman Gap. Even better is to start at Castle Rock, maybe camp first night there, and cut over on the Travertine Springs Trail to Saratoga Toll Road.
– Waterman Gap Trail Camp is very noisy due to Highway 9. Traffic doesn't calm down until after 11 pm, with another burst when the bars close at 2 am, then commuter traffic starts by 5 am. I would skip this camp.
– Nice variation on S2S goes up Basin Trail or China Grade Road to Lane Trail Camp. No water near Lane. Continue on Johansen Road, Whitehouse Canyon Road, maybe stay at Sunset Camp, then Chalk Mountain Road, West Ridge Trail, to Twin Redwoods Camp. Awesome views from Whitehouse, Chalk Mountain, and West Ridge. Good views are scarce in these heavily forested mountains.
– Big Basin Park headquarters camp store has limited hours and a limited selection of junk food.
– Jay Camp can be a little noisy from local park traffic on weekends, usually pretty quiet on weekdays. Coin operated showers!
– Another variation on S2S is to take the Sunset Trail to Sunset Trail Camp, then hike down Berry Creek past the falls. No water at Sunset Trail Camp, Berry Creek usually has water about 1/2 mile below camp.
– A few years ago Alder Camp was closed and completely overgrown. Twin Redwoods was open. Check with the park when you make reservations. You make all campsite reservations by phone, except Castle Rock, which is first-come, first-served.
– Some campsite reservations fill up pretty far in advance during the summer. Most of the trail camps are closed November 1st through April 30th.
– I like May before the crowds get thick but the creeks are still running and the days are long; and September when the weather is pleasant. Summer can be surprisingly hot and humid in the hills, and cool and foggy near the coast.
– What Ken said: work out your shuttle. You can leave a car for several nights at Castle Rock and Waddell Beach with park permission, about 90 minute drive one-way. You can't leave a car at Saratoga Gap. You can't get from one end to the other by public transit. You could hike down and back, or hike a loop. I'm lucky, my wife drops me off and picks me up!
— Rex
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The human Behavioral Pattern Monitor (A) and mouse Behavioral Pattern Monitor (B) and sample x-y tracings.
Patients with bipolar mania (BD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) compared with healthy volunteers (HVs) in the human Behavioral Pattern Monitor. Acceleration (A), entropy h (B), counts (C), spatial d (D), and object interactions (E) are presented. Values represent mean ± SE. *P < .05 when compared with HVs. †P < .05 when compared with SCZ patients as a main effect.
Mouse models in the mouse Behavioral Pattern Monitor: amphetamine (AMP); dopamine transporter knockdown (KD); and GBR12909 (GBR). Activity levels (A), locomotor patterns (B), hole interactions (C), and rearing behaviors (D) are presented. Data are presented as mean ± SE for control (vehicle, DAT wild-type mice, and vehicle) and treatment (AMP at 2.4 mg/kg, DAT KD mice, GBR at 16 mg/kg) groups. *P < .05 compared with respective control group.
The x-y plots of the tracking movements in the human and mouse Behavioral Pattern Monitors. Case examples of a healthy volunteer, a patient with bipolar disorder, a dopamine transporter wild-type (DAT WT) mouse, and a dopamine transporter knockdown (DAT KD) mouse.
Perry W, Minassian A, Paulus MP, Young JW, Kincaid MJ, Ferguson EJ, Henry BL, Zhuang X, Masten VL, Sharp RF, Geyer MA. A Reverse-Translational Study of Dysfunctional Exploration in Psychiatric DisordersFrom Mice to Men. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66(10):1072-1080. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.58
© 2017
Bipolar mania and schizophrenia are recognized as separate disorders but share many commonalities, which raises the question of whether they are the same disorder on different ends of a continuum. The lack of distinct endophenotypes of bipolar mania and schizophrenia has complicated the development of animal models that are specific to these disorders. Exploration is fundamental to survival and is dysregulated in these 2 disorders. Although exploratory behavior in rodents has been widely studied, surprisingly little work has examined this critical function in humans.
To quantify the exploratory behavior of individuals with bipolar mania and schizophrenia and to identify distinctive phenotypes of these illnesses.
Static group comparison by the use of a novel human open field paradigm, the human Behavioral Pattern Monitor (BPM).
Psychiatric hospital.
Fifteen patients with bipolar mania and 16 patients with schizophrenia were compared with 26 healthy volunteers in the human BPM. The effects of amphetamine sulfate, the selective dopamine transporter inhibitor GBR12909, and the genetic knockdown of the dopamine transporter were compared with controls in the mouse BPM.
Main Outcome Measures
The amount of motor activity, spatial patterns of activity, and exploration of novel stimuli were quantified in both the human and mouse BPMs.
Patients with bipolar mania demonstrated a unique exploratory pattern, characterized by high motor activity and increased object exploration. Patients with schizophrenia did not show the expected habituation of motor activity. Selective genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of the dopamine transporter matched the mania phenotype better than the effects of amphetamine, which has been the criterion standard for animal models of mania.
These findings validate the human open field paradigm and identify defining characteristics of bipolar mania that are distinct from those of schizophrenia. This cross-species study of exploration calls into question an accepted animal model of mania and should help to develop more accurate human and animal models, which are essential to the identification of the neurobiological underpinnings of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Traditionally, bipolar mania and schizophrenia were considered unrelated conditions. More recent evidence, however, indicates that these disorders share genetic,1 symptom-related,2 and epidemiologic3 characteristics and that both respond to medications that act via blockade of dopamine receptors.4 These similarities have prompted some to suggest that bipolar mania and schizophrenia are 1 illness that varies along a continuum of mood and psychotic symptoms.5
Animal models are highly useful in the understanding of the neurobiological substrates of psychiatric conditions. The unique features of bipolar mania and schizophrenia have, however, been difficult to model, largely because the symptoms that reflect the cardinal features of these conditions are challenging to produce and measure in laboratory animals. The lack of distinctive animal models of bipolar mania has limited the ability to identify the neurobiological underpinnings and potential treatments for this condition.6 Paradigms that can be used in both humans and animals are essential to the elucidation of the neurobiology of neuropsychiatric diseases. We recently developed and used a reverse-translational7 paradigm to characterize exploratory activity in humans that parallels our work with the rodent Behavioral Pattern Monitor (BPM).
Exploratory behavior is the act of making the unknown known and is a fundamental function found among all living species.8 Measures of exploratory motor activity in rodents in open fields have a rich tradition that has revealed the complexity of the behavior and its use in the fostering of drug discovery efforts.9- 12 The BPM is an elaboration of the traditional rodent open field and provides measures of the 3 fundamental dimensions of exploratory behavior: the amount of motor activity, the sequential structure of this activity, and the exploration of novel stimuli.13- 15 In rodents, the multivariate behavioral profiles assessed in the BPM have enabled us to distinguish and quantify effects of different pharmacologic, neurobiological, and genetic manipulations.16- 18 Multivariate assessment of motor activity has been used to identify optimal doses of medication for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.19 Nevertheless, surprisingly little experimental assessment of human exploratory behavior has been conducted
(but see10,20). This paucity of research is particularly astounding given that abnormal exploratory behavior is characteristic of a number of major neuropsychiatric conditions, such as excessive activity observed in bipolar mania and prominent inactivity and withdrawal as observed in schizophrenia. Furthermore, an increasing amount of literature suggests that overactivity (ie, increased motor behavior) is a core criterion for manic states and is as important as elevated and/or irritable mood for the diagnosis of mania.21,22
The aims of this study were to validate our human BPM (hBPM), to establish quantifiable and distinct endophenotypes of bipolar mania and schizophrenia, and to empirically validate corresponding animal models. Specifically, we tested patients hospitalized with bipolar mania and those with schizophrenia as well as healthy volunteers in the hBPM to determine whether these psychiatric disorders exhibit distinctive signature patterns of exploratory behavior. In parallel, we tested potential candidate rodent models of these disorders in the mouse BPM (mBPM). Because amphetamine sulfate has been the criterion standard animal model of bipolar mania23,24 and has also been used to model aspects of schizophrenia,25- 27 we examined the behavioral profile of mice treated with amphetamine. Furthermore, given that mutations and other abnormalities relevant to the function of the dopamine transporter (DAT) have been linked to both bipolar mania28- 32 and schizophrenia30,31 and that amphetamine preferentially inhibits the norepinephrine transporter,33 we assessed the potential of genetic and selective pharmacologic manipulations of the DAT to mimic the patterns exhibited by patients with mania and/or schizophrenia. Specifically, we assessed the behavioral profiles of mice tested in the mBPM after administration of the selective DAT inhibitor GBR12909 and in DAT knockdown (KD) mice that had 90% reduced expression of the DAT.34
Patients 18 through 55 years of age who were hospitalized with "bipolar disorder, current episode manic"(n = 15; 9 men) or schizophrenia (n = 16; 10 men), as defined by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV35, participated in this study. Healthy volunteers who had never met the criteria for an Axis I disorder as determined by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV were recruited from the community (n = 26; 13 men). Participants were excluded if they had met the DSM-IV criteria for abuse or dependence on alcohol or other substances within the past month, had a positive result on a urine toxicology screen, had a neurologic condition, or had a condition that impaired motor functioning. The Table lists demographic and illness factors.
All patients with bipolar mania and all but 3 patients with schizophrenia were prescribed psychotropic medication during the time of testing; the patients with bipolar mania were typically treated with a combination of mood-stabilizing and atypical antipsychotic medications, whereas those with schizophrenia were prescribed an antipsychotic medication alone. The most common antipsychotic medication prescribed was risperidone, and the most common mood stabilizers prescribed were lithium carbonate and valproate sodium.
After participants consented to the study, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS)36 and the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS)37 were administered to both groups. Participants were then fitted with an ambulatory monitoring device in the form of a wearable upper-body garment that resembles a sleeveless vest (LifeShirt; VivoMetrics, Inc, Ventura, California).38 Electrocardiogram leads were placed on the sternum of the participant and connected to the ambulatory monitoring vest for the measurement of cardiac parameters. A 2-axis accelerometer is embedded in the fabric of the garment. Once the patient was fitted with the ambulatory monitoring vest, he or she was directed into the hBPM and told that he or she would see the experimenter in a short period and was asked to wait in the room. No other instructions were provided.
The hBPM is a 2.7 × 4.3-m room to which the participant has not been previously exposed. It contains several items of furniture placed along the periphery of the room, including a desk, small and large filing cabinets, and 2 sets of bookshelves. There is no chair in the room. Dispersed evenly on items of furniture are 11 small objects. These objects were chosen using the criteria that they be safe, colorful, tactile, manipulable, and likely to invite human exploration.38 Participants were left in the hBPM for 15 minutes. They were monitored continuously by a digital video camera embedded in the ceiling; on 2 occasions a participant approached the door but was immediately met by the research team and asked to remain in the room.
Data in the hBPM reflect 3 sources of measurement: physiologic data, namely motor activity of the torso of the patient, using the accelerometer embedded in the ambulatory monitoring vest; x-y coordinates of the spatial location of the patient in the room, as extracted from digital video recording; and experimenter scoring of the video recordings to count exploratory events, such as interactions with objects, drawers, or window blinds. These measurements are the human analogs to the 3 dimensions of exploratory activity described in the work done with rodents by some of us.13- 15
Accelerometer data from the ambulatory monitoring vest were sampled in digital units at 10 Hz, stored in an on-board PDA during data collection, and extracted and analyzed using Vivologic Software (VivoMetrics, Inc). The number of acceleration movements was assessed for each 5-minute epoch. In addition, the continuous high-frequency sampling of motor activity data enabled the calculation of dynamical entropy (h), which measures the degree to which behavior is observed along a continuum between complete order and disorder.39 To calculate h, a given sequence of activity is compared with similar preceding sequences, and this comparison is conducted for varying sequence lengths. Lower values of h (low entropy) suggest highly predictable or ordered sequences of motor activity across time, whereas higher values (high entropy) suggest a greater variety, or disorder, in the structure of motor activity across time.
To generate x-y coordinates, the digitized video images are stored at 30 frames per second (Figure 1) and subjected to frame-by-frame analysis with proprietary software (TopScan 1.0; Clever Systems Inc, Washington, DC) that generates x-y coordinates of the successive locations of the participant. The x-y coordinates can provide a measure of the amount of motor activity, quantified by counts, which are defined as the number of discrete instances of movement or the smallest measured change in x-y coordinates. From the x-y coordinates, the spatial scaling exponent d is also calculated. Spatial d measures the hierarchical and geometric organization of behavior. Specifically, d is based on the principles of fractal geometry and describes the degree to which the path taken within an enclosure by the participant is 1-dimensional or 2-dimensional. To obtain spatial d, the distance traveled is plotted against the number of counts using a double-logarithmic coordinate system, and a line of fit between these 2 variables is generated.39 Spatial d typically varies between 1 (a straight line) and 2 (a filled plane), with values closer to 1 reflecting straight movements and values closer to 2 reflecting highly circumscribed, local movements. At both ends of this spectrum, the geometric pattern of movement around the BPM is highly predictable but exhibits either an almost straight-line movement or a highly circumscribed geometrical pattern.40
In addition, the digitized video images enable detailed assessments of the interactions of the participant with the 11 objects placed in the room, in analogy to the investigatory behavior of the rodent directed toward the 11 holes placed in the walls and floors of the rodent BPM chambers. The number of discrete interactions with objects, drawers, or window blinds was hand-counted and recorded by experimenters who were masked to group membership. In many cases, several experimenters independently rated video recordings to ensure reliable ratings.
Mean values for acceleration, entropy h, spatial d, counts, and object interactions were calculated for each of the three 5-minute epochs of the 15-minute hBPM session. Group differences on the hBPM measures were tested using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), with epoch as a repeated measure. The MANOVA was followed up by individual analyses of variance (ANOVAs) for each hBPM measure. Age and years of education were used as covariates in the ANOVAs because of group differences in these variables. Pearson r correlation coefficients were used to test for relationships between illness-related factors and hBPM measures and between symptom rating scores and hBPM variables. Items from the BPRS were clustered into 5 domains41: negative symptoms, depression/anxiety, hostility/uncooperativeness, positive symptoms, and mania. These 5 domains, as well as the YMRS total score, were entered into a discriminant function analysis to classify the patients with schizophrenia and bipolar mania according to diagnosis. Another discriminant analysis was then conducted using only hBPM measures.
The DAT KD condition in mice was generated by the insertion of embryonic stem cells of the 129/SvJ mouse strain into C57BL/6J blastocysts. One chimera was mated with 129/SvJ females to generate heterozygous mutants on a 129/SvJ genetic background.34 The DAT KD breeder mice were originally sent to our laboratory from Columbia University. All subsequent mice were derived from the breeding of heterozygous mice at the vivarium at the University of California, San Diego. The DAT KD and wild-type (WT) littermates assessed were from the 11th generation. At the time of first testing, the mice were between 5 and 6 months of age and weighed approximately 20 to 40 g each. To assess the pharmacologic models by the use of amphetamine or GBR12909 to inhibit the DAT, C57BL/6J mice were bought and were tested at approximately 4 months of age and weighed between 20 and 40 g each.
All mice were housed in groups of a maximum of 4 per cage with a reversed day-night cycle (lights on at 8 PM and off at 8 AM) with unlimited access to water and food (Harlan Laboratories; Madison, Wisconsin) except during testing. Before the testing began, all mice were brought to the testing room for an acclimation period of at least 60 minutes. Testing occurred between 9 AM and 6 PM. All procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of California, San Diego. Mice were maintained in an animal facility at the University of California, San Diego, that meets all federal and state requirements for animal care.
D-amphetamine sulfate (Sigma-Aldrich Co; St Louis, Missouri) was dissolved in saline and injected at 5 mL/kg. GBR12909 dihydrochloride (Sigma-Aldrich Co) was dissolved in saline after sonication for 2 to 4 hours at 40°C. Because of the poor solubility of GBR12909 in saline, the injection volume was increased to 10 mL/kg. Drugs were administered by intraperitoneal injection.
Spontaneous locomotor and exploratory behavior was examined for 60 minutes (unless otherwise stated) as described previously using the mBPM17 (Figure 1). The mBPM consists of a 30.5 × 61 × 38-cm plexiglas chamber equipped with 3 floor holes and 8 wall holes that serve as objects that engender frequent investigation by burrowing animals, such as mice (Figure 1). The location of the mouse is monitored by a grid of 12 × 24 infrared photobeams 1 cm above the floor and recorded every 55 milliseconds. Each hole is also equipped with an infrared photobeam to detect hole pokes. Rearing behavior is detected by an array of 16 infrared photobeams placed 2.5 cm above the floor and aligned with the long axis of the chamber. The primary measures of interest were activity (transitions and distance traveled), exploratory behavior (hole poking and rearing), and spatial d.
Data from each experiment were analyzed using 2- or 3-way ANOVAs, with sex, genotype, or treatment as between-subject factors and time as a within-subject factor. When no sex effect or interaction with sex was observed, data were collapsed across sex and reanalyzed. Statistically significant main effects were analyzed using Tukey post hoc analyses. The α level was set to .05. Data were analyzed in 10-minute epochs using the Biomedical Data Programs software (Statistical Solutions Inc, Saugus, Massachusetts).
Naive male DAT KD (n = 21) plus WT littermate mice (n = 16) and female DAT KD (n = 20) plus WT mice (n = 14) were assessed in the mBPM for 40 minutes each. These mice were bred inhouse from heterozygote matings. The amphetamine study was conducted to determine a dose-response effect of D-amphetamine in C57BL/6J male mice at 0 (n = 6), 0.5 (n = 7), 1.25 (n = 7), 2.5 (n = 7), 5 (n = 7), and 10 (n = 7) mg/kg. A dose-response study of GBR12909 was performed on C57BL/6J mice in the mBPM. Eighty male C57BL/6J mice were assessed in the BPM after short-term administration of GBR12909 at 0 (n = 14), 2.85 (n = 14), 5 (n = 13), 9 (n = 13), 16 (n = 13), or 28.5 (n = 13) mg/kg. The mice were drug naive and had had 1 previous mBPM exposure 10 weeks earlier.
Although bipolar mania and schizophrenia groups did not differ on BPRS total scores (t29 = 1.4; P = .16), patients with bipolar mania had higher YMRS scores than schizophrenic patients (t29 = 2.5; P = .02). The overall MANOVA that compared the 3 groups on all of the hBPM measures across all 3 epochs was statistically significant (time × group interaction F4,106 = 3.3; P = .02). Examination of overall activity (acceleration) showed that patients with bipolar mania were more active than schizophrenic patients initially and more active than healthy volunteers throughout the test (F2,52 = 7.6, P < .001; time × group interaction F4,104 = 3.4, P = .02) (Figure 2A). Moreover, the sequential accelerometer patterns of both patients with bipolar mania and those with schizophrenia were less predictable than those of healthy volunteers using a measure of dynamical entropy h39 (F2,52 = 3.2; P = .047) (Figure 2B).
Reconstruction of the 2-dimensional (x-y) movements of each individual, collected by a video-tracking device, confirmed that manic patients moved around more than healthy volunteers early in the test session but also habituated more quickly over time. Healthy volunteers moved around the room at a relatively constant pace throughout the session, whereas patients with schizophrenia slightly increased their activity during the session (time × group interaction F4,104 = 3.4; P = .007) (Figure 2C). Relative to healthy volunteers, the spatial patterns of patients with bipolar mania were characterized by more direct straight paths, as evidenced by a decrease in the spatial scaling exponent d15,42 (F2,52 = 5.1; P = .01) (Figure 2D). Visual inspection and scoring of the video recordings revealed that patients with bipolar mania interacted more with objects in the room than either patients with schizophrenia or healthy volunteers throughout the entire session (F2,52 = 18.5; P < .001) (Figure 2E). Whereas object interactions by patients with bipolar mania decreased as the hBPM session progressed, patients with schizophrenia and healthy volunteers interacted with objects in the room at a relatively constant but low level (time × group interaction F4,104 = 5.2; P < .001) (Figure 2E).
Patients with schizophrenia and higher scores on the BPRS negative symptoms domain engaged in more predictable sequential movement patterns (r = −0.56; P = .03), whereas patients with schizophrenia who had higher scores on the BPRS manic symptoms domain (symptoms of excitability and agitation) engaged in more unpredictable movement patterns (r = 0.69; P= .003). These correlations were not statistically significant for the patients with bipolar mania. Higher YMRS total scores were associated with increased object interactions (r = 0.57; P < .001). No relationships were found between hBPM measures and variables such as age of illness onset, duration of illness, and treatment duration.
To assess the potential impact of medications on the hBPM measures, we divided patients based on whether they were taking or not taking the most commonly prescribed medications: risperidone, valproate, and lithium. Patients taking risperidone did not have statistically significant differences in hBPM measures compared with patients not taking risperidone (for all t29; P = .14 to .90); the same was true for lithium (for all t29;P = .33 to .98). Patients taking valproate had statistically significantly more object interactions than those not taking valproate (t29 = 1.5; P = .02).
Finally, we conducted 2 discriminant function analyses to classify patients with bipolar mania and those with schizophrenia, the first using symptom domain scores from the BPRS and YMRS total scores and the second using the hBPM measures (acceleration, entropy, spatial d, and object interactions). Symptom domain scores correctly classified patients with bipolar mania with a sensitivity of 73% and a specificity of 75% and correctly classified patients with schizophrenia with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 73%. The hBPM measures correctly classified patients with bipolar mania with a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 75% and correctly classified schizophrenic patients with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 80%.
Using the mBPM,17 we tested C57BL/6J mice for 1 hour after administration of various doses of D-amphetamine. As expected,40 amphetamine increased activity (F5,34 = 15.31; P < .001) and decreased spatial d (F5,34 = 4.27; P < .001) but also statistically significantly reduced hole interactions (F5,34 = 11.03; P < .001) and had no effect on rearings (Figure 3A-D). Thus, across a wide dose range, amphetamine treatment failed to mimic the most striking of the 3 dimensions of abnormal exploration seen in bipolar mania: exaggerated investigatory behavior. Because amphetamine acts at multiple monoamine transporters, we conducted an identical study of mice treated with a more specific DAT inhibitor, GBR12909. Across multiple doses, GBR12909 increased activity (F5,67 = 12.68; P < .001) and rearings (F5,67 = 2.73; P =.03) while decreasing spatial d (F5,67 = 6.83; P < .001), with the most consistent effects being observed after the 16 mg/kg dose (Figure 3A, B, and D). Hole interactions were statistically significantly affected (F5,67 = 3.17; P = .013) (Figure 3C) because of a trend increase at 16 mg/kg and a reduction at the highest dose of GBR12909 (28.5 mg/kg) that was similar to the effect of all active doses of amphetamine and may not be selective for DAT over the norepinephrine transporter. This profile of behavior matches that seen in the bipolar group in that corresponding changes were seen in all 3 of the independent dimensions of exploratory behavior. To evaluate whether this profile of behavior seen after an acute inhibition of the DAT could be mimicked in mice that have a genetically determined diminution of DAT, we tested DAT KD mice.34 We previously reported that DAT KD mice exhibit motor hyperactivity in an open field that is attenuated by the mood stabilizer valproic acid.18 Relative to WT littermates, DAT KD mice exhibited increases in activity (F1,65 = 29.31; P < .001), hole interactions (F1,65 = 5.65; P =.02), a non–statistically significant increase in rearings, and robust decreases in spatial d (F1,67 = 9.26; P < .001) (Figure 3A-D).
In the present study, we demonstrate that the hBPM can characterize exploration and motor activity in patients with bipolar mania and can differentiate these patients from those with schizophrenia. In addition, the behavioral patterns exhibited by the patients with bipolar mania or those with schizophrenia in the hBPM paradigm clearly differed from those of healthy volunteers. Furthermore, each patient group exhibited a unique behavioral profile, quantitatively distinct from each other. The hBPM, however, was considerably more effective in the demonstration of behavioral abnormalities in patients with bipolar mania than in those with schizophrenia, relative to healthy volunteers. Motoric hyperactivity is widely expected as a feature of bipolar mania.22,43,44 The present work extends and complements early reports on actigraphy in psychiatric populations45,46 and provides an objective quantification of hyperactivity in patients with bipolar mania. In addition, the hBPM revealed that patients with bipolar mania are characterized by abnormalities in all 3 main dimensions of exploratory behavior that have been described in rodent studies. Factor analyses that converge with extensive pharmacologic studies in rodents demonstrate that exploratory behavior is composed of 3 independent domains: the amount of activity, the structure of the activity, and investigatory behavior.15,42 The present study reveals that patients with bipolar mania exhibit not only increased levels of activity but also abnormally straight and predictable patterns of activity and excessive specific investigatory activity as reflected by object interactions. It appears that such investigatory exploration most sensitively differentiated individuals with bipolar mania from the other groups. Specifically, patients with bipolar mania gathered up multiple objects and most picked up and wore a face mask that was among the objects placed in the room, in contrast to the healthy participants or patients with schizophrenia. Thus, the hBPM provides an objective means to assess overt disinhibition, a hallmark of bipolar disorder, because the act of entering a novel environment and engaging with the belongings of a stranger reflects a failure of behavioral filtering processes that modulate appropriate social conduct. In contrast to this multidimensional profile of abnormalities in patients with bipolar mania, patients with schizophrenia exhibited normal levels of object interactions and differed from healthy volunteers primarily in their failure to exhibit the normal habituation of motor activity across time in the novel environment. This abnormality is consistent with previous reports of failures of habituation in schizophrenia in other behavioral paradigms.47- 49
One criterion for the usefulness of this reverse-translational approach is its ability to classify individuals into different diagnostic groups. The discriminant functional analyses revealed that the hBPM measures correctly classified patients with bipolar mania and those with schizophrenia better than did symptom domain scores. Bipolar mania and schizophrenia share many symptoms, particularly during highly symptomatic states when psychosis is a prominent feature of both illnesses. Still, there are cardinal features that help to differentiate these 2 disorders, namely the hypermotoric behavior of people with bipolar mania and the prominent withdrawal observed among patients with schizophrenia. Surprisingly, this distinction has been understudied. The current data support the position that the disorders share many symptoms, as indicated by the similar BPRS scores, but that patients with bipolar mania have the distinct characteristics of hyperexploration and increased motor activity. It remains unclear whether these features are enduring characteristics of bipolar mania or whether they are specific to the manic state. Therefore, an obvious next question is whether this signature of inhibitory deficits persists during other phases of bipolar disorder (eg, during euthymic, depressed, and hypomanic states).
Because almost all the patients with bipolar mania and schizophrenia in this study were treated with a variety of medications, potential medication effects on the hBPM measures are difficult to quantify, which is a limitation of this investigation. Nevertheless, treatment with antipsychotic medications or mood stabilizers did not appear to reduce activity for patients with either bipolar mania or schizophrenia. The observation that patients taking valproate had increased object interactions is likely because these patients had bipolar mania. The increase in object interactions was not seen in patients taking lithium, which may be cause for some speculation that lithium may have had more of a dampening effect on activity than did valproate. This speculation is tempered, however, by the fact that patients with bipolar mania were tested after an average of 2 days of treatment, before steady-state blood levels of lithium were reached. Medication effects on exploratory behavior can be better addressed in longitudinal studies in which patients are tested in an unmedicated state and retested after several weeks of treatment; such studies are ongoing in our laboratory.
With respect to the candidate mouse models tested, the genetically induced lack of DAT function produced a behavioral profile that matched that seen after pharmacologic inhibition of DAT function in mice. Furthermore, both of these multivariate profiles were consistent with that observed for bipolar mania. In particular, the similarity between bipolar mania and these 2 models in the spatial patterns of locomotion was striking (Figure 4). The shared mechanism of these 2 rodent models therefore suggests possible neurobiological underpinnings of bipolar mania and a putative target for the development of novel therapeutics. It has been suggested that DAT KD mice may be suitable as a model for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.50 On the basis of the present data and their hypersensitivity to stimulants,51 (although see34), DAT KD mice may prove to be more suitable as a model of bipolar mania. These data provide support for studies that have implicated DAT polymorphisms52 and lower levels of DAT binding28 as being important for the bipolar disorder phenotype.
Importantly, the multivariate profile of novel environment exploration that characterized patients with schizophrenia was not reproduced by any of the animal models assessed herein. Although this observation may reflect the complexity and multifactorial origin of schizophrenia, it remains surprising given the widespread use of amphetamine-induced hyperactivity in animal models of schizophrenia.25,27 Nonetheless, it should be recognized that amphetamine-induced motor hyperactivity remains a highly predictive model that identifies existing antipsychotic treatments that act as antagonists at dopamine receptors. When one considers the fact that antipsychotic medications are used to treat both schizophrenia and bipolar mania, the amphetamine hyperactivity model may be seen as more applicable to the study of antipsychotics and less as a mimic of schizophrenia or mania specifically. Hence, this cross-species characterization of exploratory behavior has allowed us to empirically assess and challenge the widely used animal model of amphetamine administration for bipolar mania or schizophrenia; it suggests that more specific genetic or pharmacologic manipulations of the DAT might provide more appropriate models.
In contrast to the typical approach that starts from the human and attempts to model behaviors in animals, we adopted the reverse strategy, which has been fruitful in other contexts, such as the virtual water maze for humans.53 The translation of animal behavior models to humans has allowed us to differentiate groups of patients with neuropsychiatric conditions through the unique signatures of their patterns of exploration. Compared with healthy volunteers and patients with schizophrenia, patients with bipolar mania exhibit hyperexploration but do so in a highly predictable fashion. This finding is not surprising given that, clinically, individuals with bipolar mania do not classically demonstrate aimless overactivity but rather are driven by a persistent and highly focused attraction to novel, often risky situations.22 Furthermore, despite relatively modest sample sizes, the hBPM successfully distinguished between patients with bipolar mania and those with schizophrenia better than the symptom presentation of each of these 2 groups. This distinction between bipolar mania and schizophrenia in humans is consistent with the parallel studies in mice. Consequently, the quantification of behavior in the hBPM provides a behavioral marker of psychiatric disorders that can be directly modeled in animals. These markers may provide quantifiable indicators of the efficacy of putative therapeutic treatments that are likely to be more readily predicted by preclinical rodent screens than are standard clinical measures based on symptom rating scales.54 The present findings also support the use of the hBPM in the identification of differences between patients with bipolar mania and those with schizophrenia. Although these disorders appear to share many commonalities, from risk factors, pathophysiologic features, and genetics to clinical manifestation,55 there are clear behavioral manifestations that have eluded empirical characterization. Thus, future use of the hBPM may assist in the discovery of novel therapeutics via guided research as opposed to current treatments of bipolar disorder, which have been discovered largely via serendipity or by the testing of medications previously approved for other disorders.56
Correspondence: Mark A. Geyer, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, MC 0804, La Jolla, CA 92093-0804 (email@example.com).
Submitted for Publication: August 16, 2008; final revision received January 10, 2009; accepted January 13, 2009.
Financial Disclosure: Dr Minassian has a family-based interest in VivoMetrics. Dr Geyer has an equity interest in San Diego Instruments Inc.
Funding/Support: This study was supported by National Institutes of Health grant R01-MH071916 and by the Veteran's Administration Veterns Integrated Service Network 22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center.
Additional Contributions: Rebecca Wershba, BS, and Andrew Goey, MS, provided research assistance.


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I took part in a trail race at the weekend and have since been experiencing pain on the left side of my left foot and underneath it feels like theres a knot right under my foot and its preventing me from laying my foot out flat and also walking. I have been to A&E and had an X-Ray and i was told that i couldnt exercise or run for a couple of weeks. I have been told to rest and elevate my foot where ever possible. This is quite annoying as iv come into the second week of my 16 week marathon training programme.... im not new to running, iv been doing it for over a year now and have done lots of events, but im worried how this might affect my performance in training and if it will cost me time on the day of the marathon.
If anyone has any kind of experience with this type of injury id be grateful to know the sort of recovery time i should expect and if theres anything i can do in the mean time to keep fitness levels up. Otherwise just any advice would be helpful as this is starting to get to me....just 2 days out of training and im already getting annoyed at the fact that i cant go out and run!


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|"Thomas Peuss (JIRA)" <j...@apache.org>
|[jira] Commented: (LUCENE-1166) A tokenfilter to decompose compound words
|Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:34:50 GMT
[ https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/LUCENE-1166?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=12574418#action_12574418 ] Thomas Peuss commented on LUCENE-1166: -------------------------------------- bq. Thomas, I think that might work for Chinese - going through the "string" of Chinese characters, one at a time, and looking up a dictionary after each additional character. One you find a dictionary match, you look at one more character. If that matches a dictionary entry, keep doing that until you keep matching dictionary entries (in order to grab the longest dictionary-matching string of characters). If the next character does not match, then the previous/last character was the end of the dictionary entry. That would work, no? I have started to look into this. I will add the constructor parameter "onlyLongestMatch" (default is false). bq. As for the license info, I think you could take the approach where the required libraries are not included in the contribution in the ASF repo, but are downloaded on the fly, at build time, much like some other contributions. Could you do that? I pull the grammar files for the tests already. But I don't know if it makes sense to pull them on build time because the end-user can easily download them. I need the XML versions now - so the jar-file from Sourceforge does not help anymore (I have included the needed classes from the FOP project - they use the ASF license as well). > A tokenfilter to decompose compound words > ----------------------------------------- > > Key: LUCENE-1166 > URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/LUCENE-1166 > Project: Lucene - Java > Issue Type: New Feature > Components: Analysis > Reporter: Thomas Peuss > Attachments: CompoundTokenFilter.patch, CompoundTokenFilter.patch, CompoundTokenFilter.patch, de.xml, hyphenation.dtd > > > A tokenfilter to decompose compound words you find in many germanic languages (like German, Swedish, ...) into single tokens. > An example: Donaudampfschiff would be decomposed to Donau, dampf, schiff so that you can find the word even when you only enter "Schiff". > I use the hyphenation code from the Apache XML project FOP (http://xmlgraphics.apache.org/fop/) to do the first step of decomposition. Currently I use the FOP jars directly. I only use a handful of classes from the FOP project. > My question now: > Would it be OK to copy this classes over to the Lucene project (renaming the packages of course) or should I stick with the dependency to the FOP jars? The FOP code uses the ASF V2 license as well. > What do you think? -- This message is automatically generated by JIRA. - You can reply to this email to add a comment to the issue online. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com For additional commands, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
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(The first book in the On the Road to Perdition series)
A Graphic Novel by Max Allan Collins
In the best-selling graphic novel, The Road to Perdition, by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner, readers were introduced to Michael O'Sullivan, the legendary Tri-Cities "Angel of Death" - and his son, Michael Jr. The inspiration for 2002's smash-hit film, both versions of the story captured readers' and viewers' hearts and minds. Now comes a tale from the road, as Michael and his son seek vengeance for the death of Michael's wife and younger son, by robbing banks along the way and disrupting the cash that fuels organised crime. When Michael Jr. contracts a life-threatening illness, the duo are forced to seek refuge. But their oasis of calm is set to be short-lived, as bounty hunters despatched by the Capones are closing in...
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June 2003 : UK Paperback
|Title: On the Road to Perdition: Oasis Bk. 1
Author(s): Max Allan Collins
ISBN: 1-84023-689-2 / 978-1-84023-689-7 (UK edition)
Publisher: Titan Books Ltd
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|Title: On the Road to Perdition: Oasis
Author(s): Max Allan Collins
ISBN: 1-4012-0068-0 / 978-1-4012-0068-8 (USA edition)
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Pattinson fears losing Stewart to Lautner
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It has also been reported that Taylor and Kristen, 19, were "inseparable" during the Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Aug 9. And Kristen"s close relationship with the Taylor has left Pattison scared. "Rob is really nervous that Kristen will fall for Taylor"s charms," the Daily Telegraph quoted a source as saying.
It is being said that Rob has been dishing out a lot of money on presents for Kristen. "He looks for rare, vintage things, which he knows Kristen likes," a source told the National Enquirer. "So far, Rob has found a black-and-white Beatles photo that cost about 300 dollars and a 1970s concert T-shirt that set him back 400 dollars!" the source added.
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Foce di Ortonovo rankings
Difficulty ranking world: 8572 (all)
Ranking Italy: 2372 (all)
Ranking Apennines: 805(all)
Difficulty score: 31 what?
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The Foce di Ortonovo is situated in Tuscany. This climb belongs to the Apennines.
Starting from Carrara,
the Foce di Ortonovo ascent is 6.2 km long. Over this distance, you climb 305 heightmeters.
The average percentage thus is 4.9 %.
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Mumbai, Jan 12 (PTI) Maharashtra would soon have itsfirst urban terror combat training centre for the police atBaramati in Pune district in the wake of persisting terrorthreats in cities.
"The state has no such training centre for the police whowould get advanced training to combat urban terror," DirectorGeneral of Police D Sivanandan today said in a release issuedby the State Home Department.
The decision was taken at a meeting attended by DeputyChief Minister Ajit Pawar, Home Minister R R Patil, Sivanandanand Additional Chief Secretary(Home) Umeshchandra Sarangihere.
Pawar assured Rs 20 crore for the training centre alongwith matching funds from the Centre, the release said.
Maharashtra government has already set up Force One,a counter-terror unit, as the National Security Guard (NSG)had reached Mumbai nine hours late during 26/11. The NSG alsohas a team in Mumbai after the incident.