text:
|Left to right, top to bottom:
1. crown of small tree.
2. top of sapling, showing sheathing stipule and internodes.
3. trichilium with muellerian bodies.
4. prostoma on internode.
5. founding queen of Azteca constructor inside internode, at prostoma.
Click on images for larger views.
The most conspicuous ant-plant association in the wet neotropics is that of Azteca ants and Cecropia trees. In most low-elevation, wet regions of the neotropics, Cecropia trees are ubiquitous and important invaders of man-made clearings (Uhl et al. 1981; Brokaw 1987). Their open, candelabra-shaped crowns often appear as the sole emergents over dense vine tangles in abandoned fields. The hollow internodes of these trees are almost always occupied by biting ants in the genus Azteca, each tree typically containing a single colony (Bequaert 1922; Wheeler 1942; Benson 1985).
The genus Cecropia is a highly distinctive lineage of dioecious trees, placed variously in the Cecropiaceae, Moraceae, or Urticaceae (Burger 1977, Berg 1978, Judd et al. 1994). On cladistic grounds, a broadly defined Urticaceae contains Cecropiaceae and Moraceae (Judd et al. 1994). It is native to the Neotropics, and occurs as an introduced exotic elsewhere (Ake Assi 1980; Putz and Holbrook 1988).
The basic unit of stem elongation is the internode, a cylinder bearing a single, long-petioled, palmately-lobed, peltate leaf. The internode center is filled initially with a soft pith. The pith is surrounded by a thin layer of extremely hard sclerenchyma, which is continuous across the two ends of the internode, and thus forms durable septa between the internodes (Bailey 1922). The cambium, and hence all wood growth, is external to this capsule of horny tissue.
In most of the more than 100 Cecropia species there is a suite of characters which relate to ant association (Mueller 1876, 1880-1881, Eidmann 1945). First, the internode pith splits and retracts during internode development, leaving a hollow internode with a thin layer of spongy pith on the walls. The hollow internodes form the domatia which ants inhabit. Second, each internode has a preformed thin spot, the prostoma (plural prostomata), which lacks latex ducts (Bailey 1922). The prostoma is often a well-defined oval depression in the wall, and is typically excavated and used as an entrance hole by both founding ant queens and workers of established colonies. Third, the base of each petiole bears a trichilium (plural trichilia), a pad of densely packed trichomes, from which sprout 1-2mm long glycogen-containing beads (Rickson 1971) called muellerian bodies. In Costa Rica, only the terminal two or three trichilia on leafy branches of mature trees produce muellerian bodies; production abruptly ceases on more proximal leaves. Most ant inhabitants of Cecropia harvest muellerian bodies as their primary food source.
The dominant ants associated with Cecropia are several species of Azteca (Longino 1989b, 1991b and included references). The genus Azteca is neotropical, with many species, all of which are arboreal (Emery 1893, 1896, 1912, Forel 1929, Carroll 1983). They exhibit a wide variety of arboreal nesting habits, including being obligate inhabitants of a variety of myrmecophytes. Those inhabiting Cecropia represent at least two and perhaps as many as four independent evolutionary colonizations of Cecropia (Longino 1991b, Ayala et al. 1996). Other obligate inhabitants of Cecropia include several species of Pachycondyla (Ponerinae). Although never as abundant as the dominant Azteca specialists, they are widespread in the Neotropics, and almost certainly represent multiple independent colonizations of Cecropia from within the genus Pachycondyla (pers. obs.).
Following nuptial flights, newly mated queens search out Cecropia saplings in which to initiate colonies. They chew a hole in the prostoma and enter, and plug the hole with scrapings from the internode wall. In a short time it grows in with callous tissue, sealing the queen inside. The queen founds claustrally, rearing a first brood of workers without leaving the internode.
Prior to the establishment of a colony large enough to occupy all internodes, Cecropia saplings are stacks of semi-autonomous nest sites for ants. Saplings frequently contain numerous incipient colonies in separate internodes (Longino 1989a, Davidson et al. 1991, Choe and Perlman 1997). Incipient or mature colonies of a variety of arboreal ant species may be found inhabiting lower internodes. The species list is large and includes the genera Gnamptogenys, Heteroponera, Pachycondyla, Pseudomyrmex, Crematogaster, Solenopsis, Pheidole, Wasmannia, Zacryptocerus, Procryptocerus, Camponotus, and Myrmelachista. The uppermost internodes typically contain live queens of the local species of Azteca that are obligate inhabitants of Cecropia. Internodes below those housing live queens routinely contain dead Azteca queens, evidence of repeated colony failures. These failures occur inside sealed internodes, and thus are not due to interactions with other colonies. Queens are sometimes killed by hymenopteran parasitoids (Conoaxima: Eurytomidae, see Wheeler 1942), and these may be locally abundant.
In some areas, pleometrosis (multiple-queen founding) is common, and anywhere from one to 20 or more queens, often of more than one Azteca species, may be found in the same internode (Choe and Perlman 1997).
At some point during sapling growth colonies begin to survive, producing workers that chew back out through the prostoma and begin gathering muellerian bodies from trichilia. Reduction of number of colonies occurs, such that one Azteca colony comes to dominate the sapling (Choe and Perlman 1997).
Workers restrict their movement to the host tree itself; they do not forage off the host tree. Colonies appear to derive all sustenance from the muellerian bodies, with perhaps some additional nutrition derived from scattered coccoid Homoptera on the interior stem walls.
There is debate regarding whether or not the relationship between Azteca and Cecropia is a mutualism. Workers have been observed trimming vines from the trees (Janzen 1969). One experiment demonstrated mutualism (Schupp 1986). Vasconcelos and Casimiro (1997) report that Azteca presence inhibits herbivory by Atta. Other reports question the benefit of ants for plants (Wheeler 1942, Andrade and Carauta 1982). The question should perhaps be rephrased to when and where is it a mutualism, since the species of ant occupants vary greatly in their behavior toward intruders and their use of the plant (Longino 1991a, b; species accounts below). Thus, the status of mutualism probably depends on which species of ant occupies the plant.
If not appreciated, these interspecific differences in ant behavior can also confound studies of demography (e.g. Ferguson et al. 1995). Given the strong behavioral differences, I hypothesize that the composition of the local Azteca community at the time of sapling establishment will have a profound influence on the demography of a Cecropia cohort. Demographic studies of this important component of Neotropical successional systems (e.g. Alvarez-Buylla and Martinez-Ramos 1992, Clark and Clark 1993) should also consider the role of the ants.
(most of this section is taken directly from Longino 1991b.)
Local regions support two to five Cecropia-inhabiting Azteca species. Competition appears to be intense, with multiple queens and multiple species initiating colonies in individual saplings and vying for dominance (Longino 1989a, Davidson et al. 1989, 1991, Yu and Davidson 1997). What mechanisms might lead to coexistence of species in the face of competition for the same limited resource? The answer is probably some form of niche partitioning based on preference for particular habitats and/or Cecropia species.
Azteca species are not randomly distributed with respect to habitat or Cecropia species. In at least three regions, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Peru (Davidson, et al., 1991; Davidson and Fisher 1991, Yu and Davidson 1997), there are three-way correlations between habitat, Azteca species, and Cecropia species. Davidson and Fisher discussed possible adaptive explanations for the correlations, relying on plant defense theory. Here I discuss possible proximate mechanisms. The following causes could generate the observed patterns: 1) habitat characteristics could determine Azteca distribution, 2) habitat characteristics could determine Cecropia distribution, 3) Azteca species could influence Cecropia distribution, and 4) Cecropia species could influence Azteca distribution.
1) Habitat effect on Azteca
Habitat features include temperature, rainfall, seasonality, and disturbance regime, all of which probably influence distributions of Azteca and Cecropia. Cold, wet conditions may determine the upper elevational limit for many Azteca species. The diversity and abundance of the genus as a whole drops quickly with increasing elevation, but certain Cecropia ants are exceptional in attaining elevations of 2000m. In elevational transects, Cecropia ants always far exceed all other members of the genus. Differential tolerance of cold, wet conditions among obligate Cecropia ants could result in elevational habitat partioning based on climate alone. Examples where high elevation tolerance may promote coexistence are A. salti vs. A. constructor in Colombia, A. aragua or A. merida vs. A. lattke vs. A. constructor in Venezuela, and A. petalomyrmex vs. A. australis in Bolivia (Longino 1991b).
The long seasonal drought of tropical dry forest may have adverse affects on Cecropia ants by decreasing host-tree muellerian body production, and by decreasing internode humidity to damaging levels. Azteca coeruleipennis may be a tropical dry forest specialist, with adaptations for tolerating prolonged drought (see under A. coeruleipennis below).
Disturbance regime is probably a major factor affecting Azteca - Cecropia communities. Frequent disturbance may favor an Azteca species that reproduces early at the expense of tree defense, while infrequent disturbance may favor species with greater investment in tree defense and consequent delayed reproduction. Widely-spaced disturbances may favor the production of many small queens for long-distance dispersal. Closely-spaced disturbances may favor the production of fewer, larger queens for greater competitive ability.
I think a major pattern in Cecropia-ant communities is caused by disturbance regime. Throughout the Neotropics, A. alfari dominates Cecropia trees on frequently chopped roadsides and agricultural land, while other Azteca species dominate Cecropia trees in primary forest or very old second growth forest. Three characteristics of A. alfari favor its dominance in areas of frequent and large disturbance: early reproduction in small trees, small queen size (the smallest of the Cecropia ants), and weak defense of host tree. In contrast, most of the other species (where known) reproduce only in the boles of large trees, have larger queens, and are strong defenders of their host trees.
Azteca ovaticeps, a close relative of A. alfari, is enigmatic. It shares behavioral features and size with A. alfari, but tends to occur in areas of frequent disturbance which are embedded in primary forest: river margins in Brazil and Peru, new roadcuts or new clearings in otherwise forested areas of Costa Rica and Venezuela (Longino 1989b). Azteca ovaticeps is also more geographically variable than A. alfari. The following historical scenario would explain the current distribution and character of A. alfari and A. ovaticeps. The A. alfari group initially may have been a set of allopatric populations, each confined to small areas of high natural disturbance. One of these populations may have been particularly well-suited to a very high disturbance regime, expanding in concert with human habitat alteration in the Neotropics, and, through secondary contact, becoming sympatric with the other populations. This expanding population, now called A. alfari, would be very uniform over a large range. The remaining populations, now collectively called A. ovaticeps, would exhibit the ancestral pattern of allopatry and geographic variation.
2) Habitat effect on Cecropia
The same habitat factors which potentially influence ant distribution are likely to influence Cecropia distribution through their actions on fruit dispersal, germination, and survivorship. Cecropia species often show pronounced elevational zonation, perhaps due to climatic effects. Cecropia are probably affected by disturbance regime, some species being clearly "weedy," invading large man-made disturbances, others being "forest" species, occurring more often in gaps in primary forest.
Given that the same habitat features might influence the distribution (and segregation) of Azteca species and Cecropia species, the observed ecological "preference" (meaning correlation) of certain Azteca species for certain Cecropia species could result from independent but similar responses to these habitat features. Alternatively, biotic interactions between trees and ants might cause the species sorting and association.
3) Azteca effect on Cecropia
An ecological correlation between Azteca species and Cecropia species could result from ant effects on their host trees, in which interspecific variation in ant defensive behavior has demographic consequences for the Cecropia population. At La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica, a strong pattern of host association is observed. Populations of small C. obtusifolia trees in young second growth vegetation, at the edge of the station property, contain the four Azteca species A. xanthochroa, A. constructor, A. alfari, and A. ovaticeps, each of them common. In contrast, large C. obtusifolia trees in old second growth forest contain only A. xanthochroa and A. constructor. This pattern may result from differential mortality of trees during succession, the relatively undefended trees inhabited by A. alfari and A. ovaticeps succumbing to herbivory and vine encroachment.
4) Cecropia effect on Azteca
Finally, correlations between tree species and ant species could result from tree effects on ants. Chemical or anatomical features of Cecropia trees could influence Azteca distribution, independent of habitat effects. Tree effects on Azteca could manifest themselves as host-specific searching by founding queens, or differential mortality of Azteca species following colonization. If either of these processes occur, they are not absolute. Founding queens are generalists with respect to species of Cecropia sapling, and will even colonize saplings of non-myrmecophytic species. Mature colonies of a single species of Azteca may be found inhabiting several Cecropia species in a region. However, tree species could still have differential effects on Azteca in a non-absolute way. Founding queens may exhibit a preference for certain tree species that is a function of motivation, such that failure to find a suitable host tree within a particular time results in addition of species to their search profile. Even if queens are absolutely generalized in their search for Cecropia saplings, fitness effects could produce patterns. Two Azteca species might have reversed competitive relationships in two Cecropia species. Each Azteca species would dominate in areas dominated by its preferred tree species, but abutting distributions or mixed populations of the two tree species would be indeterminate with respect to species of ant occupant. Elevational zonation of Azteca species could result from such a process.
At La Selva Biological Station, another feature of the pattern of host association may be explained by interspecific variation in Cecropia characteristics. In primary forest and old second growth, large C. obtusifolia trees are dominated by A. xanthochroa or A. constructor, while the intermingled population of large C. insignis trees is dominated by A. ovaticeps. Cecropia insignis appears to rely less on ant protection than C. obtusifolia. Relative to C. obtusifolia, its trichilia are more irregular and they appear later on saplings. In contrast to C. obtusifolia, young trees occupied by A. alfari and A. ovaticeps do not appear more herbivore damaged or vine-covered than those occupied by A. xanthochroa or A. constructor. Azteca ovaticeps may be favored in C. insignis because 1) C. insignis does not require strong ant defense to survive, and 2) A. ovaticeps is somehow competitively superior at colonizing C. insignis. Cecropia obtusifolia may be dominated by A. xanthochroa and A. constructor because it requires aggressive ant defense to survive, regardless of competitive relationships among ant species at colonization.
Line drawings of Costa Rican Cecropia species (from Burger 1977): 63k gif file or 189k gif file.
The Cecropia species known from mainland Costa Rica are (following Burger 1977):
Leaf surface scabrous (rough) above; usually with 9-11 lobes; longest vein of leaf with 14 to 20 pairs of major secondary veins; inflorescence spikes less than 10cm long; male spikes much thinner (2-4mm) than female spikes (5-10mm). Cecropia peltata is the species most tolerant of dry conditions in Costa Rica. It is common throughout the Pacific lowlands. Near Monteverde, C. peltata is the most common species along the road from the Pan American highway, dropping out where deciduous vegetation changes to evergreen vegetation (about 1000m elevation).
Leaf surface scabrous above; usually with 10-13 lobes; longest vein of leaf with about 30 pairs of major secondary veins; inflorescence spikes 8-22cm long in males, 18-50cm long in females; male spikes much thinner (about 1mm) than female spikes (3-5mm). Cecropia obtusifolia is common in disturbed areas and along rivers in lowland wet habitats throughout Costa Rica. Near Monteverde, C. obtusifolia is common in a narrow band on the Pacific slope, filling the lower portion of the evergreen zone (1000-1400m elevation). Below the evergreen zone C. obtusifolia is restricted to stream margins, and becomes increasingly rare at lower elevations. On the Atlantic slope east of Monteverde there is a broad gap in the distribution, with no C. obtusifolia known from at least as far down as 800m in the Penas Blancas valley. In Monteverde, C. obtusifolia intergrades with C. angustifolia (see below).
Leaf surface smooth above; leaves usually with 8-10 lobes; longest vein of leaf with 18 to 30 pairs of major secondary veins; inflorescence spikes 6-12cm long and about 1cm thick in both sexes; spikes suberect (as opposed to pendant in other species). Cecropia insignis occurs in lowland wet sites throughout Costa Rica. It is the dominant and sole Cecropia species in the very wet mid-elevation Atlantic slope forests. At lower elevations it appears restricted to older second growth forests, and is replaced by C. obtusifolia in highly disturbed areas. The trees persist to become large, long-term components of old growth forests. Near Monteverde, C. insignis begins to appear at about 1100m on the Atlantic slope, and quickly increases in abundance at lower elevations. It is essentially the only Cecropia species along the Penas Blancas river from 900m to below 800m elevation (an isolated C. angustifolia sapling was observed once near Eladio's).
Leaf surface scabrous above; usually with 10-11 lobes; longest vein of leaf with 30 to 40 pairs of major secondary veins; inflorescence spikes less than 6cm long; male spikes slightly thinner (5-8mm) than female spikes (7-16mm). Cecropia angustifolia occurs in cloud forest habitats throughout Costa Rica. Near Monteverde it is the dominant Cecropia in the cloud forest itself, being common from about 1400m on the Pacific side to 1100m on the Atlantic side. On the Pacific side it intergrades with C. obtusifolia (see below).
Cecropia peltata, C. obtusifolia, and C. insignis are conspicuously myrmecophytic. Cecropia angustifolia is non-myrmecophytic, with what appear to be vestiges of myrmecophytic characters (as though derived from a myrmecophytic ancestor; Janzen 1973). The trichilia are poorly defined and covered with long hairs. Mullerian bodies are produced, but at a very low rate. The internodes are filled with corky brown pith. Mature trees are never inhabited by Azteca (although Myrmelachista, Procryptocerus, and Camponotus may be found nesting opportunistically in the stems). Saplings frequently contain founding Azteca queens (presumably having flown up from lower elevations), even though they never survive to establish colonies. Azteca queens apparently do not perceive C. angustifolia as an unsuitable host.
Cecropia obtusifolia and C. angustifolia appear to intergrade in Monteverde. "Typical" C. obtusifolia occurs in the upper San Luis valley and the steep slopes just below the Monteverde community. "Typical" C. angustifolia occurs at the upper edge of the community and in the Reserve. In between is a continuous gradation in leaf shape, shape of male and female reproductive structures, and development of myrmecophytic characters. Obligate plant ants drop out in this transition zone, at the level of the Monteverde meeting house. This same gradation between C. obtusifolia and C. angustifolia occurs in the Las Alturas area in the Talamanca range in southern Costa Rica (pers. obs.).
Earlier reports refer to Costa Rican populations of this species as C. polyphlebia. Berg and Franco Rosselli (2005) synonymized C. polyphlebia under C. angustifolia.
Scapes and tibiae with abundant conspicuous setae; queen orange or mottled orange brown; workers generally brown, largest workers approaching queen in color, with orange laterally on face; head width of largest workers approaching 1.4mm.
Azteca xanthochroa is common in wet zones throughout Costa Rica. It is usually abundant in or near old second growth vegetation, where Cecropia trees are allowed to grow to large size. In the Atlantic lowlands, it is common in mature C. obtusifolia trees. At higher elevations on the Atlantic slope, such as the Penas Blancas Valley, it is common in mature C. insignis trees. It is the most common species in the band of C. obtusifolia that is found in and just below Monteverde on the Pacific slope. Descending westward from Monteverde, its abundance declines abruptly, corresponding to the abrupt transition from dominance of C. obtusifolia to dominance of C. peltata (Longino 1989a), and from wet conditions to dry conditions. Although its distribution correlates with C. obtusifolia, it is not due to a strict host specificity: colonies can be found in C. peltata at the transition from wet to dry habitats (Longino 1989a).
Colonies have a single cylindrical carton nest in the bole of the tree, and the colony queen, all larvae, and any alate sexuals are concentrated in this single nest. All the septa between the nest and the branch tips are perforated, so that there are continuous internal passages between nest and branch tips. Unlike all other Cecropia ants, A. xanthochroa workers maintain a vertical fissure near the base of the tree, well below the carton nest, and they do not maintain fissures near the nest itself. The fissure is usually less than two or three meters from the ground, even in large trees. When the tree is disturbed, large workers emerge from the fissure, and many workers pour out of holes at the branch tips. The workers are aggressive and rapidly attack intruders on the foliage (Longino 1991a).
Scapes and tibiae with abundant, conspicuous setae; queen black with dense brush of setae on head and mesosomal dorsum; workers brown, difficult to distinguish from small workers of A. xanthochroa; head width of largest workers approaching 1.4mm.
Azteca constructor occurs throughout Costa Rica, wherever myrmecophytic Cecropia occur. It is similar to A. xanthochroa in favoring old second growth vegetation where Cecropia trees attain large size. It has a broader tolerance of moisture conditions, being found commonly in both wet and dry forest. It can be found regularly in all three of the myrmecophytic Cecropia species in Costa Rica. It is common in the Monteverde area, on both slopes and in the community area.
Mature colonies occupy a single carton nest in the bole of the tree, where brood and reproduction are concentrated. The nest is spindle-shaped and often causes a deformation of the trunk. Many entrance holes and fissures are maintained near the carton nest itself, and internal passages are maintained to all the branch tips. Workers of this species are extremely aggressive, and respond to any disturbance by pouring out of large fissures near the carton nest and blackening the trunk surface (Longino 1991a).
Scapes and tibiae with abundant but inconspicuous setae; queen shiny black, without the conspicuous brush of setae of A. constructor; workers uniformly light yellow orange; head width of largest workers less than 1.05mm; rear part of mesosoma flattened and shelf-like.
Azteca coeruleipennis is common in dry forest areas of Costa Rica and exhibits abrupt declines at habitat boundaries (Longino 1989a). It occurs throughout the Guanacaste lowlands south to the central valley and adjacent Pacific coastal areas. It usually inhabits C. peltata but may occur in C. obtusifolia and C. insignis at habitat boundaries where these species become more abundant. Near Monteverde, A. coeruleipennis is common along the road from the PanAmerican highway and in the San Luis valley, abruptly dropping out at about 900m elevation.
Mature colonies have a dispersed colony structure. There is no central carton nest. Brood and any alate sexuals are in branch tips. Older parts of the tree are gradually abandoned, and internal passages are not maintained among occupied branches. When a tree is molested bright yellow workers of rather uniform small size issue forth and descend the trunk, where they aggressively attack the intruder.
Azteca coeruleipennis may be a tropical dry forest specialist, with adaptations for tolerating prolonged drought. During the dry season, leafy branch tips are perforated by one or two active entrances, often 10 or more internodes back from the terminal sheathing stipule. In contrast, other Azteca species typically maintain five or more active entrances in the terminal 10 internodes (pers. obs.). Occupied branch sections which contain alate queens have active entrances which are only large enough for workers. Larger tunnels are excavated in the internode walls, but these end blindly within a millimeter of surface, as though the final perforation is suspended until wet season and/or the time of flight of new queens. Reduction of the number and size of entrances may be an adaptation for reducing water loss (Longino 1991a).
Scapes and tibiae devoid of setae; queen black to variously red brown and smaller than any of the above species.
Members of the A. alfari complex occur throughout Costa Rica, and will inhabit any of the myrmecophytic Cecropia species. They generally prefer open and highly disturbed habitats, and may reproduce in relatively small and short-lived trees. In the Monteverde area, they parallel the distribution of A. coeruleipennis. They are extremely rare in the Penas Blancas valley and in the community area, and they increase in abundance as one descends the Pacific slope. They are very common in Cecropia trees along the lower San Luis River.
Mature colonies of the A. alfari complex have a dispersed structure like that of A. coeruleipennis. Unlike the above species, workers are relatively timid and will not defend a mature tree (small saplings are more aggressively defended). When a tree is disturbed, workers usually remain in the branches. Only when a branch is broken open will workers rush out to attack. Trees occupied by members of the A. alfari complex often appear somewhat decrepid, with abundant leaf damage and frequently burdened with vines. The foliage of these trees often hosts a diverse insect fauna, including foraging ants of other species.
In many parts of the Neotropics there are two locally sympatric forms in the A. alfari complex, one of which is less setose than the other. Longino (1989b) treated them as two species, with the less setose species being A. alfari and the more setose species being A. ovaticeps. The difference in pilosity can be quantified on queens by counting the number of setae on the second tergite (top half of the segment) of the gaster (abdomen beyond petiole), not including the row of setae on the posterior border. Azteca alfari has 0-3 setae, and A. ovaticeps has more than 10. The distinction is often clear when members of the A. alfari complex are locally abundant. For example, in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica, A. ovaticeps queens have a dense brush of setae on the abdomen, and are conspicuously distinct from A. alfari in the same area. However, in some areas the distinction is not as clear. Monteverde is one of those areas. Some colonies are identical to standard A. alfari s.s. from elsewhere in Costa Rica. Other colonies show a range of seta abundances, but are not as densely setose as the Atlantic lowland A. ovaticeps.
Pachycondyla insignis (Brown manuscript name) is an undescribed species known only from Cecropia saplings. This large ponerine is similar to the widespread and generalized P. villosa, but has transverse rugae on the clypeus. Pachycondyla villosa has the clypeus smooth or with longitudinal rugae. Pachycondyla insignis makes specialized use of Cecropia, chewing large circular entrance holes through the prostomata, and foraging on mullerian bodies (pers. obs.). They have never been collected away from a Cecropia sapling. The species is known from various sites throughout the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica. Occurrences near Monteverde include several collections from C. insignis saplings in the Penas Blancas valley, and one collection from a C. obtusifolia sapling between Santa Elena and Monteverde.
In addition to these obligate Cecropia ants, the weak plant ant Azteca beltii has been observed once in a Cecropia tree below Santa Elena.
Ake Assi, L. 1980. Cecropia peltata Linne (Moracees): ses origines, introduction et expansion dans l'est de la Cote d'Ivoire. Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire. Bulletin. Serie A. Sciences Naturelles 42:96-102.
Alvarez-Buylla, E. R., and M. Martinez-Ramos 1992. Demography and allometry of Cecropia obtusifolia, a neotropical pioneer tree - an evaluation of the climax-pioneer paradigm for tropical rain forests. Journal of Ecology 80:275-290.
Andrade, J. C. de, and J. P. P. Carauta. 1982. The Cecropia-Azteca association: a case of mutualism? Biotropica 14:15.
Ayala, F. J., J. K. Wetterer, J. T. Longino, and D. L. Hartl. 1996. Molecular phylogeny of Azteca ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and the colonization of Cecropia trees. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 5:423-428.
Bailey, I. W. 1922. Notes on neotropical ant-plants I. Cecropia angulata, sp. nov. Botanical Gazette 74:369-391.
Benson, W. W. 1985. Amazon ant-plants. in Amazonia, eds. G. T. Prance and T. E. Lovejoy, 239-266. Oxford, England: Pergamon.
Bequaert, J. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. IV. Ants in their diverse relations to the plant world. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45:333-583.
Berg, C. C. 1978. Cecropiaceae, a new family of Urticales. Taxon 27:39-44.
Berg, C. C., and P. Franco Rosselli. 2005. Cecropia. New York Botanical Garden Press, New York, USA.
Brokaw, N. V. L. 1987. Gap-phase regeneration of three pioneer tree species in a tropical forest. Journal of Ecology 75:9-19.
Burger, W. 1977. Flora Costaricensis, Family #52, Moraceae. Fieldiana, Botany 40:94-215.
Carroll, C. R. 1983. Azteca (hormiga Azteca, Azteca ants, Cecropia ants). Pages 691-693 in D. H. Janzen, editor. Costa Rican natural history. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Choe, J. C., and D. L. Perlman. 1997. Social conflict and cooperation among founding queens in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Pp. 392-406 in J. C. Choe and J. Crespi, eds. The evolution of social behavior in insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.
Clark, D. B., and D. A. Clark. 1993. Comparative analysis of microhabitat utilization by saplings of nine tree species in neotropical rain forest. Biotropica 25:397-407.
Davidson, D. E., Snelling, R. R., and Longino, J. T., 1989. Competition among ants for myrmecophytes and the significance of plant trichomes. Biotropica 21: 64-73.
Davidson, D. E., and B. L. Fisher. 1991. Symbiosis of ants with Cecropia as a function of light regime. Pages 289-309 in C. R. Huxley and D. F. Cutler, editors. Ant-plant interactions. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.
Davidson, D. W., R. B. Foster, R. R. Snelling, and P. W. Lozada. 1991. Variable composition of some tropical ant-plant symbioses. Pages 145-162 in P. W. Price, T. M. Lewinsohn, G. W. Fernandes, and W. W. Benson, editors. Plant-Animal interactions: evolutionary ecology in tropical and temperate regions. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
Eidmann, H. 1945. Zur Kenntnis der Okologie von Azteca muelleri Em. (Hym. Formicidae), ein Beitrag zum Problem der Myrmecophyten. Zoologische Jahrbuecher, Abteilung fuer Systematik, Okologie und Geographie der Tiere 77:1-48, 3 tables.
Emery, C. 1893. Studio monografico sul genere Azteca Forel. Memorie della Royal Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna (5)3:119-152.
Emery, C. 1896. Alcune forme nouve del genere Azteca For. e note biologiche. Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia comparata della R. Universita di Torino 11(230):1-7.
Emery, C. 1912. Subfam. Dolichoderinae. Genera Insectorum Fasc. 137:1-50.
Ferguson, B. G., D. H. Boucher, M. Pizzi, and C. Rivera. 1995. Recruitment and decay of a pulse of Cecropia in Nicaraguan rain forest damaged by Hurricane Joan: relation to mutualism with Azteca ants. Biotropica 27:455-460.
Forel, A. 1929. The social world of the ants (C. K. Ogden, Trans.). Albert and Charles Boni, New York.
Janzen, D. H. 1969. Allelopathy by myrmecophytes: the ant Azteca as an allelopathic agent of Cecropia. Ecology 50:147-153.
Janzen, D. H. 1973. Dissolution of mutualism between Cecropia and its Azteca ants. Biotropica 5:15-28.
Judd, W. S., R. W. Sanders, and M. J. Donoghue. 1994. Angiosperm family pairs: preliminary phylogenetic analyses. Harvard papers in Botany 5:1-51.
Longino, J. T. 1989a. Geographic variation and community structure in an ant-plant mutualism: Azteca and Cecropia in Costa Rica. Biotropica 21:126-132.
Longino, J. T. 1989b. Taxonomy of the Cecropia-inhabiting ants in the Azteca alfari species group: evidence for two broadly sympatric species. Contributions in Science (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County) 412:1-16.
Longino, J. T. 1991a. Azteca ants in Cecropia trees: taxonomy, colony structure, and behavior. Pages 271-288 in C. Huxley and D. Cutler, editors. Ant-plant interactions. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.
Longino, J. T. 1991b. Taxonomy of the Cecropia-inhabiting Azteca ants. Journal of Natural History 25:1571-1602.
Mueller, F. 1876. Ueber das Haarkissen am Blattstiel der Imbauba (Cecropia), das Gemuesebeet der Imbauba-Ameise. Jenaische Zeitschrift fur Medizin und Naturwissenschaft 10:281-286.
Mueller, F. 1880-1881. Die Imbauba und ihre Beschuetzer. Kosmos 8:109-116.
Putz, F. E., and N. M. Holbrook. 1988. Further observations on the dissolution of mutualism between Cecropia and its ants: the Malaysian case. Oikos 53:121-125.
Rickson, F. R. 1971. Glycogen plastids in Mullerian body cells of Cecropia peltata - a higher green plant. Science 173:344-347.
Schupp, E. W. 1986. Azteca protection of Cecropia: ant occupation benefits juvenile trees. Oecologia 70:379-385.
Uhl, C., K. Clark, H. Clark, and P. Murphy. 1981. Early plant succession after cutting and burning in the upper Rio Negro region of the Amazon basin. Journal of Ecology 69:631-649.
Vasconcelos, H. L., and A. B. Casimiro. 1997. Influence of Azteca alfari ants on the exploitation of Cecropia trees by a leaf-cutting ant. Biotropica 29:84-92.
Wheeler, W. M. 1942. Studies of neotropical ant-plants and their ants. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 90:1-262.
Yu, D. W., and D. W. Davidson. 1997. Experimental studies of species-specificity in Cecropia-ant symbioses. Ecological monographs 67:273-294.
Longino, J. T. 1989a. Geographic variation and community structure in an ant-plant mutualism: Azteca and Cecropia in Costa Rica. Biotropica 21:126-132. (PDF)
Longino, J. T. 1989. Taxonomy of the Cecropia-inhabiting ants in the Azteca alfari species group: evidence for two broadly sympatric species. Contributions in Science (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County) 412:1-16. (PDF)
Longino, J. T. 1991a. Azteca ants in Cecropia trees: taxonomy, colony structure, and behavior. Pages 271-288 in C. Huxley and D. Cutler, editors. Ant-Plant Interactions. Oxford University Press, Oxford. (PDF)
Longino, J. T. 1991b. Taxonomy of the Cecropia-inhabiting Azteca ants. Journal of Natural History 25:1571-1602. (PDF)
Longino, J. T. 1996. Taxonomic characterization of some live-stem inhabiting Azteca (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Costa Rica, with special reference to the ants of Cordia (Boraginaceae) and Triplaris (Polygonaceae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 5:131-156. (PDF)
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA. email@example.com


text:
South Hills Country Club honors county's police officers
One-by-one, they extended their hands and said "hello" to a friend, then chatted about the day, life and the job.
"I don't get to see these guys all the time. I appreciate them," said Jim Kuzak Jr., as police officers from across the region stopped by to catch-up.
More than 140 police officers from 20 departments across the Allegheny County gathered at the South Hills Country Club on Monday for a day of unlimited food, beverages and a free round of golf. The country club's sixth annual Police Appreciation Day served as a "fun-raiser" to show thanks to those in law enforcement for putting their lives on the line every day, organizers said.
"They deal with a lot of bad people, and even if it's just one day a year, to show them that there are people who really support them, that's why we do this," appreciation day coordinator Tim Veith said.
The event began after the tragic events of April 4, 2009, when Pittsburgh police officers Paul Sciullo II, Stephen Mayhle and Eric Kelly were fatally shot in the line of duty, Veith said. Club members sought a way to show appreciation for police officers across the region while they are still living — and so it began. Each year, the event has honored the life of an officer killed or injured in the line of duty. In 2010, it was held in recognition of fallen Penn Hills police Officer Michael Crawshaw and state Trooper Paul G. Richey.
The next year, it was in honor of Kuzak, 42, of Rostraver, who was shot numerous times on April 4, 2011, while responding to a home invasion call as a Clairton police officer. He was paralyzed from the waist down and remains in physical therapy.
This year's event recognized K9 officer Rocco, who died in the line of duty while protecting his partner earlier this year.
Family members of some of those who lost their lives return to the golf course each year for a day with their "one big family of law enforcement," as Max Sciullo, Paul Sciullo's father, referred to the officers.
"It's an honor for me to be here," Sciullo said.
Max Sciullo spent the day golfing with his two grandsons and godson. On the golf course, though, he isn't as good as his son Paul always was, Sciullo noted.
"He was an intellectual young man," Sciullo said. "He loved to golf."
Paul Sciullo was always happy, his dad said, but he wanted to make a difference in the world, that's why he became a police officer.
"Hopefully he did," Max Sciullo said.
For Kuzak, who grew up on the South Hills Country Club course, where his father works as the superintendent, Police Appreciation Day is something to look forward to each year.
Kuzak, even, worked at the Whitehall golf course for five years in the late 1980s to early 1990s.
"Just to be here every year over the last five years on the course where I grew up, it makes everything good," Kuzak said. "You can't have a bad day when people show this much appreciation for what you do."
More than 70 volunteers, up from 20 that consisted mostly of Veith family members the first year, help to make the event possible, said Trish Veith Ivy, volunteer coordinator. The volunteers are all club members who donate their time to assist the officers throughout the day.
"The importance of today's event is community," Whitehall police Chief Donald Dolfi said. "This is about an organization, the South Hills Country Club, made up of members from various walks of life that have embraced the police officers. They have this drive to continue it, to show their thanks for what we do."
Stephanie Hacke is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-388-5818 or firstname.lastname@example.com.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
now straight off the bat I know how noobish this post is, but there would be a lot of starters up who would be thinking the same thing - perhaps without even realising it ----- but they are still wondering the same thing ----- Don't know how since they realise it but they are :D but I digress:D
Ok so I can update with the metasploit auto update but if theres a particular exploit I want and I goto http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/121
there is an exploit I want to use for my Ubuntu box and I goto the exploit tab and then I find the code - Wonderful
but how do I compile it? for starters it is I think in C ---- please do correct me if i'm wrong
Am I lookin in the wrong place? is there a repository with pre made exploits?
I am very ignorant and have spent alot of time trying to do this without sucess
so any help - from the basics e.g find the down to compiling it would be wonderful
And Also --- I notice with these exploits that some of them require additional information like service name or other obscure details ---- where do you learn about these things?
I am currently begining to learn ruby is this a good place to start as far as learning code goes?


text:
|XFS + LVM + Software RAID5 on Debian testing
|Charles Steinkuehler <charles@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
|Tue, 22 Jun 2004 13:40:45 -0500
|Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113
I'm trying to run XFS on top of LVM, with an ~430G software RAID5 PV
divided into several LVs (smallish volumes for usr, var, and tmp, plus a
400G /home volume). Root and /boot are on standard software RAID1
I'm seeing *LOTS* of filesystem corruption on the /home partition, even when it's pretty much idle. If I start reading heavily from /home (trying to rsync to a seperate ext3 drive), I get kernel errors:
Filesystem "device-mapper(254,4)": XFS internal error xfs_iformat(6) at line 546 of file xfs_inode.c. Caller 0xe08dd7c0
Filesystem "device-mapper(254,4)": XFS internal error xfs_da_do_buf(1) at line 2176 of file xfs_da_btree.c. Caller 0xe08c3c57
Full details are in the attached dmesg.txt and oops.txt (result of passing dmesg.txt through ksymoops). Note all the messages about RAID devices failing are due to me breaking the RAID5 to free a disk to backup the contents of /home before everything gets totally wacked and I have to download 130+ gig again <ugh!>.
While trying to rsync from the XFS-on-LVM-on-RAID5 /home to a simple ext3-on-hdk1, I continued to have XFS filesystem errors that would prevent rsync from working until I unmounted /home, ran xfs_repair, and re-mounted /home read-only (running xfs_repair and remounting rw just caused immediate fs corruption when starting up rsync again!?!).
- I created the xfs filesystems on the LVM using the -ssize=4k option, but I still see notices about the RAID5: cachebuffer switching sizes (between 0, 512, and 4096), mainly when running xfs_repair. I'm running kernel 2.4.26, and had thought the md problems with the cachebuffer size were fixed back around 2.4.18?!?
- I generally know my way around low-level RAID/LVM stuff pretty well, so I don't think I've futzed anything there (I've installed several debian-stable systems to root-on-RAID-on-LVM, provided extentions to the mkinitrd scripts to allow kernel installs via dpkg to work properly with lvm on root in debian, and submitted patches to grub-install to work on RAID devices). It's possible I messed up something specific to RAID5 (ie: stride or similar) since I normally work with RAID1, but this feels like a problem with XFS (or an odd interaction between XFS, LVM, and software RAID5).
- My RAID5 array is built on 4 Seagate 160G SATA drives
I'm running: debian testing (installed from 2004-05-26 netinst daily build) kernel 2.4.26-1-k7 xfsprogs-2.6.11
dmesg output attached (dmesg.txt), along with the result of passing it through ksymoops (oops.txt).
Is anyone else running a similar system and having problems (or got everything working well)?
Anyone got any ideas what might be wrong with my setup? Would running a 2.6 kernel possibly help?
-- Charles Steinkuehler charles@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
|<Prev in Thread]
|Current Thread
|[Next in Thread>
|Previous by Date:
|Re: xfs oops (CVS-2004-05-15_05:00_UTC), Krzysztof Rusocki
|Next by Date:
|PARTIAL TAKE 915623 - Permit buffered writes to the real-time subvolume., Glen Overby
|Previous by Thread:
|Fw: [Bugme-new] [Bug 2929] New: nfsd: page allocation failure., Andrew Morton
|Next by Thread:
|Re: XFS + LVM + Software RAID5 on Debian testing, Charles Steinkuehler
|[Date] [Thread] [Top] [All Lists]


text:
DUESSELDORF, GERMANY – Japan's Cyberdyne Inc. plans to launch operations using its medical robot suit, Hybrid Assistive Limb, in Germany.
The company, established by a University of Tsukuba professor, made the announcement at a news conference in Duesseldorf on Tuesday.
It will be the first time that HAL, aimed at helping people with physical disabilities walk and make other movements, will be used overseas.
The suit detects nerve signals emitted by the wearer when attempting to move, using sensors attached to the user's skin. Based on the signals, the joints of the suit move in unison with the wearer's muscle movements.
Cyberdyne will set up a company in Bochum, western Germany, in cooperation with a local industrial injury insurance association. The new firm will lease the suit to hospitals, mainly for the rehabilitation of patients who have suffered damage to their nerve signal transmission systems.
All medical fees paid to hospitals will be covered by insurance.
Cyberdyne plans to launch similar operations in Austria and Switzerland.


text:
Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
On 2/22/2011 my son was riding home on his scooter, he was in the parking lot of Mimi's restaurant when he jumped a planter box and fell, he had an open compound fracture to his arm and a lacerated chin! I just got paperwork from a law firm who I found out works for my employers insurance. They are requesting alot of personal information and for me to fill out and sign a reimbursement form? Why? Do I need a lawyer of my own I am confused!
Experienced Mesothelioma Attorneys - SEG Law
Simon, Eddins & Greenstone, LLP, (SEG Law) is one of the country's most prominent trial law firms specializing in representing victims of cancer caused from exposure to hazardous substances such as asbestos. The firm was built on a shared passion to diligently and compassionately serve each client through every step of the legal process.For more information visit us at SEGlaw.com
2 Answers from Attorneys
I would need to know more information to answer your question fully and correctly; however, it may be that your health insurance through your employer believes that a claim is being made by you on behalf of your son against Mimi's or some other potential defendant. In such a situation, the insurance company might have the right to be reimbursed from any compensation provided for your son.
Feel free to give me a call to discuss without obligation.
Kind regards,
Ben Glen
If you did not sue, but the health insurer paid for medical coverage, they may have exercised what is known as "subrogation" and may be pursuing Mimi's as a third party to recover the expenses for your son's care. I would have to review the paperwork to be sure.


text:
Python1.com down?
I don't know what the problem is but I cant connect to my account on Python1 and their site is also down.
I did a ping and it see... | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1650428&goto=newpost
Top News
Web Hosting| PHP Selector | FREE SSL FOR ALL WEBSITES| Softaculous
About tranzmedia.com Tranzmedia is a privately-owned company founded in year 2005 and located in India-Austria. Tranzmedia was born out of a...
█ $13 VPS *INCLUDING* cPanel! LIMITED STOCK! ★ Los Angeles ★ Miami ★ New York █ █ ENDING SOON! █
Hello! Ethernet Servers Ltd. are specialists in providing rock-solid Linux hosting solution... | Read the rest of...
[ RapidVPS ] - Linux VPS from $9 / mo, cPanel, SSD Disk"
*** LIMITED TIME OFFER *** Use coupon code "WHT0113" for 20% OFF RECURRING! Follow us on Twitt... | Read the rest of...
[CH/DE/US/NZ/ZA/SG/HK] VPSNine - Global Linux VPS Hosting, 59 second setup
Founded in 2011, VPSNINE has grown from a single data center in Germany to provide...
[Hostens] 2.40GHz:768MB:15GB:1TB from 0.99 EUR/mo. | Instant Setup
Why us? Fast and helpful support A 30-day money-back guarantee Clean IP addresses 24/7 off-site data backup SLA 99.95%...
█ █ $5 PER YEAR!! cPanel w/ LiteSpeed, MariaDB, CloudLinux & SSD Storage!! █ █ LIMITED STOCK █ █
Hello! Ethernet Servers Ltd's cPanel Web Hosting plans are perfect for beginn... | Read the rest of...
Dedicated Servers Limited Offer Xeon E3-1230 | 8GB RAM | 120GB SSD - $69.99/mo
[B]Netstackservers has some Quality & low prices on dedicated servers. Our servers are available with or without management, and most will...
[EU/NL] NEW VDS PLANS | Pure SSD Storage | High Availability | Starting at €20,00 p/m
[CENTER][B][SIZE=2]Weservit [COLOR=ForestGreen]- Highly reliable, affordable VDS servers with incredible performance! [/... | Read the rest of...
10% OFF: KVM & VPS Roots + Traffic Flat + Multiple IP + DDoS Protection + Bitcoin, Credit Card
Our new attractive KVM root server tariffs give you full serverpower at a small price. Thr... | Read the rest of...
Business Hosting with 25% off
Master your Online Business with Business Hosting. Scopehosts Enterprise Based Business hosting plans are Suitable to meet all type of Business...


text:
|From: Shriram Krishnamurthi (sk at cs.brown.edu)
Date: Sun Aug 28 21:38:42 EDT 2011
I'm in DrRacket 5.1.3 on Windows 7. I don't know how to report a precise time - is there a way? Absent that I've been going by wall clock and feel. I can't think of anything I've done that ought to cause my zo's to be outdated. If you don't see the same effect, I can install a vanilla version tomorrow or so and see whether its the fault of my configuration. (Can't do it tonight - Irene knocked out Internet access.) (And until I confirm that, I shouldn't have called it a ux bug. Sorry.) -- Pardon terseness and mistakes -- sent from phone. On Aug 28, 2011 8:25 PM, "Robby Findler" <robby at eecs.northwestern.edu> wrote: > FWIW, this is a way to time what you're saying (I believe -- assuming > you have all your .zos built and you're using a fresh drracket) and > the difference is not as great as that. Unless maybe there's some > reason why that test is different? > > Last login: Sun Aug 28 11:50:09 on ttys001 > [robby at gaoping] ~$ time racket -l racket > > real 0m0.660s > user 0m0.368s > sys 0m0.118s > [robby at gaoping] ~$ time racket -l typed/racket > > real 0m1.031s > user 0m0.719s > sys 0m0.168s > [robby at gaoping] ~$ > > > On Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 7:20 PM, Shriram Krishnamurthi <sk at cs.brown.edu> wrote: >> In a blank #lang racket buffer, if I hit F5, I get a repl cursor almost >> instantaneously. If I do the same in typed/racket, it takes roughly three >> seconds every time. This can't be blamed on parse time since the buffer is >> empty! What gives? (And Sam, do you regard this as a ux bug?) >> >> -- >> Pardon terseness and mistakes -- sent from phone. >> >> _________________________________________________ >> For list-related administrative tasks: >> http://lists.racket-lang.org/listinfo/users >> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.racket-lang.org/users/archive/attachments/20110828/7275cb26/attachment.html>
|Posted on the users mailing list.


text:
Category: Education
April 13, 2010
It's Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Let me begin by saying that without exception, every woman I know has either experienced or knows someone who has experienced rape on college campuses. But even for its frequency, and its traumatizing consequences, sexual assault at college – especially date rape – is often met with a shrug, or (who hasn't heard this) that the woman in question was asking for it. This calm-down-feminists-it's-just-your-bodies-and-humanity-at-stake attitude is distilled perfectly, and enragingly, in a recent opinion column from American University by AU sophomore Alex Knepper, which decries date rape as an "incoherent concept," and claims that consent is an ineffective measure because it can be "very blurry." Acknowledging that sexual situations can be ambiguous is not news. Denying that men hold any responsibility in these situations is not only cowardly but dangerous. Victim-blaming persists – and women are shamed out of reporting assault – because of just this kind of reasoning. Men Can Stop Rape, an organization dedicated to mobilizing male youth to prevent men's violence against women, has provided a list of five things college men can do to prevent date rape. In its name and its work, Men Can Stop Rape counters standard ideas of how to prevent sexual assault: that women should be more careful (the underlying message being: if they're not, men can't be held responsible). "We build young men's capacity to challenge harmful aspects of traditional masculinity," their mission reads, "to value alternative visions of male strength, and to embrace their vital role as allies with women and girls in fostering healthy relationships and gender equity." That's what I call sexual revolution. They've also provided a downloadable Student Toolkit for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Check it out, and please: forward it to the college students you know. Courtesy of Men Can Stop Rape, here are five things college men can do to prevent date rape: 1. Does kissing mean that a person wants to have sex? How do you know? When a situation is unclear, asking before you act will ensure safe and healthy sex for everyone. 2. Accept when consent is withdrawn. Even after a person has given their consent, that person can withdraw it at any time. We all deserve the right to change our minds. 3. If a person is drunk or high and can't give consent, back off and wait until you both are sober. 4. You've heard of designated drivers. Now use the same principle to prevent rape. At a party, designate someone among your group of friends to keep an eye on a guy that might be behaving in ways that could lead to sexual violence. 5. You probably will never see a rape in progress, but you will hear attitudes and see behaviors that degrade women and promote a culture of violence. When your friend tells a rape joke, let him know it's not funny.


text:
This past weekend I purchased a scanner at Staples for less than $3. No, that is not a misprint. Literally, I spent less than $3 out of pocket for a brand-new scanner that I will be using in my home office. Considering that this scanner's listed retail price at Staples was $99, that's some extreme couponing to be able to get a scanner for under $3.
How did I do it? Well, I was able to stack free shipping, coupons, and rewards points onto a single transaction that brought my purchase down to barely nothing. I almost didn't save this much, though, so let me back up a bit and explain how I was able to target my savings and save 98% on office supplies.
As you know one of my goals for 2012 is to educate myself more on extreme couponing so that I can save as much money as possible across the board. In addition, one of my business goals is to get all of my magazine clips–that's nearly 20 years' worth of articles I've written for national magazines–out of the multiple file cabinets I have in my home office, and get digital versions saved onto an external hard drive. The scanner I currently own doesn't do a great job of handling multiple page PDFs scans, so a few weeks ago I started researching scanners. It didn't take long to identify the make and model I wanted.
Once I knew what I wanted, I need to find the best price. After searching various electronics' sites, I ended up on Staples.com. The price that Staples was offering–$99–was no better or no worse than what I'd seen elsewhere. However, when I was on the Staples site, I noticed something about Staples Rewards. Well, I've had a Staples Rewards card for years, and I have the cashier scan it every time I'm in the store. But I got to wondering: had I ever synched my Staples.com account with my Staples Rewards account?
Turns out I hadn't, and that's how I discovered that I had $72 in Staples Rewards. You see, Staples used to mail rewards checks on a monthly basis, and I'd bring those rewards checks into the store to apply against any purchase. But I guess somewhere along the way Staples decided to post those rewards online only–I missed that announcement–and I'm so glad that I thought to check my account online, or I never would have discovered that I had so much money waiting for me to spend.
Add to that the fact that I'd recently received a coupon in the mail from Staples that I could get $25 off any purchase of $75 or more. And, on the Staples.com site, if you spend over $45, you get free shipping.
So taken together I was able to apply $72 in awards to my purchase, knock $25 off the purchase price by using that coupon, qualify for free shipping, and in the end only have to pay a small amount plus tax on my purchase–or $2.64.
This isn't the first time I've been able to extreme coupon at Staples:
- This past summer I'd earned Staples Rewards from paper purchases–you got a free ream of paper–as well as back to school supplies
- During December Staples was offering 100% rewards back when you bought batteries–I'd included this deal in a Freebie Friday roundup, because, in essence, the batteries ended up being free. So I spent $25.98 on two packages of batteries and got that much in rewards.
What do I hope is your takeaway message from this post? Simple: if you have a rewards card at Staples or any other store where you buy office supplies, make sure you are getting the full value of any rewards you've earned. If you used to get checks and don't anymore, log on and see if those rewards are available online. Then redeem them for any office supplies you need, and hopefully you can save 98% like I did on my new scanner.
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from Leah.


text:
|You are in: Football
Friday, 25 October, 2002, 11:58 GMT 12:58 UK
Which clubs are in crisis?
While the Premiership continues to prosper, clubs in the Nationwide League are feeling the pinch.
Leicester are in financial meltdown while Coventry and Watford are the latest to ask their players to take a pay cut, as they struggle to adapt to life away from the gravy train.
We look at the prospects for six clubs who are finding life tough outside the top.
The debt: £30m
The problem: The club have applied to go into administration in order to deal with their debts.
Their problems stem from relegation from the top flight, the £35m they spent on a new stadium - for which they took out a £28m loan - and players' wages.
The final straw came after being handed a £1.5m tax bill.
The solution: Players rejected a 20% pay cut, but agreed to defer signing-on fees.
Leicester have off-loaded several of their highest earning players but due to the collapse of the market, they fetched only £8.5m.
Club chairman Greg Clarke said: "While this is a severe setback, (administration) does not mean the end of Leicester.
The future: The share price dropped from 110p to 7.75p before trading was suspended.
BBC presenter Gary Lineker is behind a consortium to take control of the club. Beyond that, their future is uncertain.
The debt: £3m
The problem: Relegation from Division One and the loss of the ITV Digital money have left Barnsley with a payroll of £5m a year, other costs of £2m - and income of only £4.5m.
A fortnight ago, a consortium intending to take over the club failed to secure sufficient bank funding and last week Barnsley called the administrators in.
They have been given a deadline of just eight weeks to bring a buyer in.
The solution: Administrator Matthew Dunham, who on Tuesday axed Tykes boss Steve Parkin, says, "This club needs investors to take on the expected shortfall, and we have had several expressions of interest.
"I am looking for the fans to rally round and provide the money to keep the club going, and try to avoid job cuts or renegotiations with players."
The future: "If we improve results then attendances will improve and, with that, the financial position of the club," says Dunham.
"What we are looking for is someone who will concentrate on refinancing the existing loans or take them over."
The debt: £59.6m - at the last AGM.
The problem: High wages and a spending spree backed by previous chairman Bryan Richardson was followed by relegation.
The solution: The club have asked the players to take a 12% wage cut over the next two years that will be repayable if their financial situation improves.
The future: The board have a business plan that has been accepted by the bank and they hope the latest accounts will show the debt is down to £30m - £15m of which is in directors' loans.
The debt: £20m
The problem: Relegation from the Premiership proved a disaster due to the number of players on high wages and long-term deals. The club was late in paying the players' wages in August.
The solution: Two takeover bids by former directors of the club have failed to materialise. Mart Poom and Malcolm Christie were both subject to big-money offers but the club decided not to sell.
The future: The club appear to have got the bank on their side and have no intention of going down the administration route.
Sheffield Wednesday
The debt: £20m
The problem: The club invested heavily to stay in the Premiership and paid too many players too high wages.
The solution: The board has enough funds at its disposal to keep the club afloat until the end of the season, when many of the bigger player contracts come to an end.
They are also hoping to sell their training ground, which should raise £5-10m.
The future: The club believe they can keep a tight rein on the debt until the end of the season when they can dramatically slash their wage bill. Chief executive Alan Sykes has ruled out administration as an option.
The debt: Cleared
The problem: The club say they need to raise a £9.5m shortfall in revenue after the collapse of the ITV Digital deal.
The board backed former manager Gianluca Vialli with money in the hope of a quick return to the Premiership which never came.
The solution: The board will provide £6.3m, but they still need to find another £3.2m.
The players agreed to a 12% pay cut which is expected to save the club £1.3m.
The club are also hoping to release some more shares and hope to raise more money through shares and donations.
The future: The club are over the worst but administration remains a "spectre looming", according to a club spokesman.
Top Football stories now:
Links to more Football stories are at the foot of the page.
|E-mail this story to a friend
Links to more Football stories
BBC News >> | BBC Weather >>
© MMIII | News Sources | Privacy


text:
Lux by Starck
Leave it to Phillipe Starck to solve the problem of what to do with your glass at a picnic with futuristic aplomb. The spike can be used to secure a champagne flute, a bowl, or a glass. The plates are available in round or square styles and the entire kit is washable.
Playfully straddles the line between tradition and modernism, what's corporeal and what's unsubstantial...Added 9 Years Ago from MoMA Store


text:
As a business customer at Alpine Bank, you'll enjoy all the benefits of our Online Banking services along with our time-saving, easy-to-use Cash Management suite. Providing more in-depth financial management, the Cash Management suite offers additional solutions to help streamline commercial business systems.
With Alpine Bank's Online Banking you'll be able to:
Monitor Your Accounts
Account Info & Activity
Mobile Banking
With Cash Management...
You can set up multiple users within your organization with restricted or full access to Cash Management functions and accounts. Each user can be set up according to your specifications, allowing them to access only what is authorized by you.
Manage Your Finances
Bill Pay
Reorder Checks
Cash Management
Wire Transfers
Stop by any Alpine Bank branch to enroll in Business Online Banking. To save time, you may fill out and print the application here.


text:
- 31Mar
Gordon Keith Family Photo
He's a family man29Jan
Greggo & Rhynes Talk13Mar
George Dunham Facebook Profile Pic31Jan
More Rhynes Photobombs
Today Dan was tweeting pictures of Mike Rhyner photobombing during media day for the Super Bowl. I found some other…4 comments Read more29Dec
Norm's Photo Journal
A picture taken out of Norm's photo journal. (thx to Human, Internets for this image)


text:
Lee County arrests 3/3/11
Most Popular Stories
NBC2 Investigators: Danger hidden behind Facebook personality quizzes
Those personality quizzes you take on Facebook seem fun and harmless, but the NBC2 Investigators have uncovered there's a darker side.
Death toll rises to 9 in 'horrific' TX human trafficking case
A phone call from a Wal-Mart employee led to the discovery of eight bodies and 30 people severely injured in the back of a tractor-trailer in Texas early Sunday, authorities said.
Snooty, world's oldest known manatee, dies in Bradenton
The South Florida Museum says Snooty, the world's oldest known manatee, has died just one day after celebrating his 69th birthday.
Ground worker struck by lightning at RSW
A ground worker at Southwest Florida International Airport was taken to the hospital Saturday after a lightning strike.
2 killed in Cape Coral crash
Two people were killed in a crash Friday afternoon on Pine Island Road in Cape Coral.
Naples mother jailed on child neglect charge
A 29-year-old Naples mother was charged with child neglect after deputies said her infant's injuries went unchecked.
1 killed in North Port I-75 crash
Troopers said a northbound car drifted off the road, across the median, hit a guardrail and overturned into the southbound lanes.
Man stabbed to death in Fort Myers; suspect sought
Fort Myers police are looking for a man who stabbed another man to death Friday evening along Grove Avenue.
Fort Myers man charged with DUI manslaughter
An arrest has been made in a fatal crash that happened last month in Fort Myers.
Man sues California Lottery for not honoring $5M ticket
He alleges he was wrongfully denied a $5 million Scratchers ticket prize because his 16-year-old son bought the winning ticket.


text:
Get an overview of this hotelHotel in Melksham with free breakfast and restaurant
Popular property highlights
Situated in Melksham, this hotel is within 6 mi (10 km) of Lacock Abbey, Great Chalfield Manor, and Corsham Court. The Courts Garden and Westwood Manor are also within 9 mi (15 km).
Hotel Features
A restaurant, 24-hour room service, and a meeting room are available at this hotel. Free English breakfast, free WiFi in public areas, and free self parking are also provided.
Room Amenities
All 13 rooms provide free WiFi, 24-hour room service, and TVs. Coffee makers and showers are among the other amenities available to guests.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us!Opens in a new window
The Shaw Country Hotel
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
The hotel offers a restaurant. Guests can enjoy a complimentary breakfast each morning. Wireless Internet access is complimentary. Event facilities measuring 689 square feet (64 square meters) include a meeting room. Onsite self parking is complimentary.
- Total number of rooms - 13
- Number of floors - 2
- Free breakfast
- Free WiFi
- Restaurant
- Free self parking
- Conference space size (feet) - 689
- Number of buildings/towers - 1
- One meeting room
- Conference space size (meters) - 64
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Free self parking
Room Amenities
- Shower only
- Coffee/tea maker
- Free WiFi
- Private bathroom
- Room service (24 hours)
- Cribs/infant beds (surcharge)
- Rollaway/extra beds (surcharge)
- Television
- Dial-up Internet access (surcharge)
Where to Eat
Guests are offered a complimentary English breakfast each morning.
The Shaw Country Hotel has a restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
24-hour room service is available.
Hotel Policies
Check-in time ends at 9 PM
Special check-in instructions:
Check-out time is 11 AM
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Rollaway/extra beds are available.
- Cribs (infant beds) are available for GBP 10 per stay.
- Pets allowed
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
No rollaway/extra beds available
Optional extras
- Crib (infant bed) fee: GBP 10 per stay
- Rollaway beds are available for an additional fee
Hotel Name
- Shaw Country Hotel
- Shaw Country Hotel Melksham
- Shaw Country Melksham
National Rating
This establishment has received its official star rating from VisitEngland, the National Tourist Board for England.


text: Posted March 4, 2013 said not a single billionaire This year Forbes has uncovered a record 1,426 billionaires. That is 200 more than we found in 2012, another record breaking year. It's also nearly ten times as many as Forbes pinned down in 1987, the year we began tracking fortunes around the world. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-world%E2%80%99s-billionaires-210233113.html?desktop_view_default=true Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


text:
Their first goal would be to force the university endowments to divest themselves of shares in these banks.
Mitt Romney has tried politically to divest himself of the health-care reform bill he signed into law as Massachusetts governor.
The Presbyterians decided to divest in 2004, and the reaction from establishment Jewish organizations was swift.
And a movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel is gaining force around the world.
Waters has become a regular of the various campaigns to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel.
Anyway, under the scheme recommended, the Government cannot divest itself of the fullest responsibility in the matter.
No, no, he could not divest himself of that gown which clung so tightly to his flesh.
She could not divest herself of a vague presentiment that something would happen to keep Betty until to-morrow.
It is difficult to divest the mind of facts with which it is most familiar.
I divest myself of the little superiority which age may have given me.
1560s, devest (modern spelling is c.1600), from Middle French devester "strip of possessions," from Old French desvestir, from des- "away" (see dis-) + vestir "to clothe" (see vest (v.)).
The figurative sense of "strip of possessions" is earliest in English; reflexive sense of "to strip oneself of" is from c.1600. Economic sense (implied in divestment) is from 1955. Related: Divested; divesting.


text:
Menez Hom rankings
Difficulty ranking world: 12554 (all)
Ranking France: 2642 (all)
Difficulty score: 14.66 what?
Menez Hom ratings
(rate it)
The Menez Hom is situated in Finistère.
Starting from Coathérel,
the Menez Hom ascent is 4.41 km long. Over this distance, you climb 135 heightmeters.
The average percentage thus is 3 %.
Look for other sides to climb the Menez Hom.
Click here to open big profile.
Click here to open detailed route.
Find climbs close to the Menez Hom: within 10 km - within 20 km - within 50 km
Find all climbs and cols in Finistère on a map.
No stories submitted yet. Did you climb this mountain?
Did you climb the Menez Hom? Please send your cycling story, description or comments. You can also send us video's or send us pictures on the Menez Hom.
© climbbybike™ All rights reserved 2005 -


text:
by Staff Writers
Kolkata (AFP) Nov 04, 2014
India's navy on Tuesday withdrew two warships from Kolkata's port, a spokesman said, as the eastern city was placed on high alert for a possible "terror" attack.
The navy said the ships had withdrawn for "prior operational reasons", although a port official indicated they had been due to take part in an exhibition on Wednesday.
"They had come there as part of preparations for the navy week exercise and moved out of the port for some prior operational reasons," spokesman D.K. Sharma told AFP.
"Like every year, the ships will return as and when the opportunity exists."
The move came as police and the Indian Coast Guard said the city and port had been placed on high alert for a possible attack.
"We have received a fax on Tuesday afternoon from central intelligence agencies warning of the possibility of a terror attack in Kolkata, especially in the port area," senior Indian Coast Guard official B.N. Mahato told AFP.
"We have deployed hovercraft to intensify (a) night-long vigil in the Bay of Bengal."
Kolkata Police Commissioner Surojit Karpurakayastha said security had been stepped up in the port area and parts of the city.
Police were "acting on the basis of the central intelligence agencies' alert," he said.
No further details about the alert were immediately available, but it came days after a suicide bomb attack near the Pakistani side of the border with India that killed 55 people and wounded more than 120.
India placed several states on alert in September, when Al-Qaeda announced it was launching a new branch to "wage jihad" in South Asia.
Related Links
The Long War - Doctrine and Application
|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.


text:
With 1.7 million freelancers, we'll match you with the perfect talent.
I am working as freelance programmer, expert in web crawling.
I have completed many projects related to web crawling and data scraping.I love to make my clients happy by providing:
1. Excellent Customer Care. I reply to Email as soon as I see them.
2. I keep my timeline such that I can deliver before time.
3. i always will give you more than you want... something thats useful for you.
4. I believe NOBODY KNOWS EVERYTHING.. AND.. LEARNING NEVER ENDS... So I love to learn...
5. I am flexible... So don't worry if you want any change in the...


text:
The LiquidCrystal library allows you to control an LCD displays that is compatible with the Hitachi HD44780 driver.
This sketch example prints "Hello, Arduino.org!" to the LCD and shows the time in seconds since the Arduino has started (or has been reset).
The LCD uses a microcontroller to control the display.
The communicating interface between Arduino and the LCD is made by the following PINs:
- Register Select (RS): this PIN controls the LCD's memory where you are writing. You can write on the data register (which contains what goes on the screen) or on the instruction register (which is where the LCD's controller looks for instructions on what to do next)
- Read/Write (R/W): this PIN selects reading mode or writing mode
- Enable: this PIN enables writing to the LCD's registers
- 8 Data PINs(D0 -D7): the states of these PINs (high or low) are the bits that you're writing to a register when you write, or the values you're reading when you read.
- Constrast PIN (Vo): this PIN is used to control the display contrast
- +5V and Gnd PINs: these are used to power up the LCD
- LED Backlight PINs (Bklt+ and BKlt-): used to turn on and off the LED backlight
Controlling the display implies to write what you want to display into the data and instruction registers.
The LiquidCrystal library allows you to control the display without using low level instructions.
Hitachi-compatible LCDs can be controlled in 4-bit or 8-bit mode. The 4-bit mode requires 7 PINs while the 8-PIN mode requires 11 PINs. The example shown in this guide shows how to control a 2x16 LCD using 4-bit mode.
Hardware Required
- Arduino Board
- LCD Screen (compatible with Hitachi HD44780 driver)
- 10k Potentiometer
- Breadboard
- a bunch of wires
Before wiring the LCD screen to your Arduino we suggest to solder a PIN header strip to the 14 (or 16) PIN count connector of the LCD screen, as you can see in the image above.
Wire your LCD screen to your Arduino, connect the following PINs:
- LCD RS PIN to digital PIN 12
- LCD Enable PIN to digital PIN 11
- LCD D4 PIN to digital PIN 5
- LCD D5 PIN to digital PIN 4
- LCD D6 PIN to digital PIN 3
- LCD D7 PIN to digital PIN 2
Additionally, connect a 10K Ohm potentiometer.
The potentiometer has three pins. Connect the first pin to 5V, the middle pin to VO PIN (PIN3) of the LCD and finally the third pin to GND .
// Include the LiquidCrystal Library
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
// Setup LCD PINs in order to use it
LiquidCrystal lcd_display(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2);
void setup() {
// Tell to the lcd object the LCD's number of columns and rows
lcd_display.begin(16, 2);
// Print a message to the LCD
lcd_display.print("Hello, Arduino.org!");
void loop() {
// Move the cursor to column 0, line 1
// (remember that counting rows start from 0
// so line 1 is the 2nd row)
lcd_display.setCursor(0, 1);
// Print the number of seconds since start (or reset)


text:
Economics and its role in strategy formation in the mining industry
Yerbury, Graham (1993) Economics and its role in strategy formation in the mining industry. Masters by Research thesis, Queensland University of Technology.
Available via Document Delivery only – contact your library to place a request
If you are the author of this thesis, please contact email@example.com
Impact and interest:
Citation counts are sourced monthly from Scopus and Web of Science® citation databases.
These databases contain citations from different subsets of available publications and different time periods and thus the citation count from each is usually different. Some works are not in either database and no count is displayed. Scopus includes citations from articles published in 1996 onwards, and Web of Science® generally from 1980 onwards.
Citations counts from the Google Scholar™ indexing service can be viewed at the linked Google Scholar™ search.
|ID Code:
|Item Type:
|QUT Thesis (Masters by Research)
|Additional Information:
|Presented to the School of Economics and Public Policy, Queensland University of Technology.
|Mine management, Mineral industries Finance, thesis, masters
|Queensland University of Technology
|Copyright Owner:
|Copyright Graham Yerbury
|Deposited On:
|22 Sep 2010 13:05
|Last Modified:
|09 Feb 2011 13:56
Export: EndNote | Dublin Core | BibTeX
Repository Staff Only: item control page


text:
Business Law
Ask a Business Lawyer. Get Business Law Questions Answered ASAP.
The best way to protect yourself and to protect the company is to have them sign the same Confidentiality and Inventions Assignment Agreement that I sent to you for use with the web designer you are using.
Although they are offering "gratuitous advice," by having them sign the agreement before discussing the company with you they cannot make a claim to ownership of the ideas that you have used with the company.
You may want to shorten the agreement and distill it down to its essence for informal discussions such as this, but it would be to your benefit to do so.
Good luck to you. I wish you all the best.


text:
Well Played: Eva Longoria's The Perfect Lady In Red
Both Winona and I agree: Whoever's been styling Eva Longoria of late has been doing a bang up job. Here she is leaving Beso Restaurant in L.A. (of which she's an owner) looking totally smoking in red. Maybe she saw our rad red shopping guide?


text:
Earning the Eagle Scout badge, the Boy Scouts of America's highest honor, is a dream millions of young men have pursued during the more than a century-long tradition of the organization.
For Eric Allen, son of Thora and the late Pete Allen, the day he earned the badge from his local Milaca troop in the late 1970s was one he remembers with pride.
"I loved my participation in Scouts," Allen said from his California office last week. "That was my first big goal in life — earning my Eagle Scout."
But after hearing that the national Boy Scouts of America council, consisting of 11 members based in Texas, decided after a two-year review to reinforce a policy that prohibits gays and lesbians from leadership positions as well as participation in the organization, Allen is reconsidering his views.
As a gay man Allen said he found the decision disappointing and sad.
"I'm just surprised that an organization that does so much good is taking a stance to actively extricate leaders and kids from participating," he said. "When I was in Scouts, I don't think I had any idea of my sexuality."
The recent announcement also has Allen asking himself if he should speak out.
"I'm not really an activist kind of person. But this doesn't make sense," he said. "What do I do now? My Eagle Scout badge is in my mom's jewelry box and I'm seriously thinking about sending it back."
His mother also fondly remembers the times each of her sons were honored by the organization.
"Our family has worked with Scouts for years and years," she said. "To me, it's not fair. I think whomever wants to participate should be allowed to participate."
The conundrum inspired Allen to post the query as to what he should do with the badge to his Facebook page. The question — should he return it? — generated more than 60 responses, nearly half of which came from friends and family still living in his hometown of Milaca. Some encouraged him to publicly return the badge in show of protest. Most of the comments encouraged Allen to keep the badge — he'd earned it — and if the Boy Scouts of America didn't recognize his contributions, that was their loss.
"Most people are saying don't turn in your badge," Allen said. "They're saying keep your badge, but speak out."
For the full story, see the Thursday, July 26 print edition of the Times.


text:
Kabul (AFP) Jan 15, 2009
An Afghan working for NATO-led troops in eastern Afghanistan was abducted and found shot and hanging from a tree three days later, the force said Thursday, blaming the murder on insurgents.
The body of the abducted contractor, who had been working on a road project, was found last Friday in Kapisa province which borders the capital Kabul, the International Security Assistance Force said, condemning the killing.
"A local-national contractor who worked on road construction projects for ISAF forces was found murdered three days after being kidnapped by insurgents in Kapisa province last week," he said.
"During his captivity, he was shot three times and killed," it said.
A brutal insurgency in Afghanistan, led by Islamic extremists, has picked up pace in the past few years with attacks most often targeted at Afghan and international troops.
Insurgents have also warned ordinary Afghans not to work for the forces.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links
News From Across The Stans
Pakistan army 'fully prepared' for 'challenges': army chief
Islamabad (AFP) Jan 15, 2009
Pakistan's powerful military chief Thursday vowed that his forces were "fully prepared" to meet any challenges, one day after his Indian counterpart said all options remained on the table.
|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement


text:
Short Stems
Adolph V. Lombardi, Jr., MD, FACS
While the use of short stem designs in total hip arthroplasty (THA) is not a new concept,1 interest in such designs has surged recently with the increasing popularity of less invasive surgical techniques. Design styles can be categorized into four groups: those influenced by the Mayo Conservative stem (Zimmer) introduced by Morrey in 1988, short and bulky but not neck sparing (e.g. Proxima; DePuy), neck-sparing curved designs (e.g. CFP; Link), and shortened tapered stems (e.g. TaperLoc Microplasty; Biomet). Our practice has had extensive experience with a tapered titanium porous plasma-sprayed stem of standard length (Mallory-Head Porous; Biomet) in primary THA. We recently reported our results with 2000 primary THA performed using this device from August 1984 through July 2001, noting 39 stem revisions at an average follow-up of 10 years yielding 98% survivorship with an endpoint of stem revision for any reason and 99% survivorship with stem revision for aseptic loosening.2 These results have been corroborated in several studies.3-7 Likewise, a number of studies report excellent results at intermediate and long-term follow-up with the TaperLoc (Biomet) stem, which is also a standard length tapered titanium porous plasma-sprayed design.8-12 Given the success of these traditional stems, why would anybody consider short stems? Several reasons exist.
What truly is the optimal length of a tapered femoral component? A survey of tapered and short femoral prostheses currently available for primary THA reveals a wide variety of diameters and corresponding lengths. If the goal of the tapered stem is to load preferentially proximally, why do we need a stem at all? Perhaps the only reason to use a tapered, long stem is to prevent varus. However, studies have shown that varus malalignment of a tapered stem does not affect results.3,13 In an effort to prevent distal off-loading, the TaperLoc stem is available with a reduced profile option. McLaughlin and Lee have reported excellent results using this reduced profile option in several published studies.8-11 Their results raise two questions: what function is the stem serving and do we need a long stem? The philosophy of a tapered design is to load the femur proximally, to achieve a tight fit and deliver the stresses into the proximal bone.
Short stems are easier to insert, especially when using an anterior approach to the hip, such as the anterior supine intermuscular approach in which the proximal femur is elevated anteriorly from the wound during stem insertion. Femoral preparation can be accomplished with straightforward broaching of the canal, without the use of reamers. Short stems are bone conserving. They violate less femoral bone stock, providing more favorable conditions should a revision be required.
However, ease of insertion and conservation of bone matter little if not supported by clinical results. Thus, we review our early experience with 1800 primary THA cases using short, tapered titanium, porous plasma spray-coated femoral components. Since its introduction in January 2006 through March 2011, 1563 patients (1800 hips) have undergone THA at our center with the TaperLoc Microplasty stem. Patient age averaged 63.4 years (range, 27-96 years). There were 701 males (45%) and 862 females (55%). A lateralized stem option was used in 1415 hips (79%). The surgical approach was less invasive direct lateral (LIDL) in 898 THA (50%), anterior supine intermuscular (ASI) in 807 (45%), and standard direct lateral (Std) in 95 (5%).
Follow-up averaged 12.5 months (range 0.2 – 60 months). To date, 17 stems (1.1%) have been revised: 4 due to infection treated with 2-stage radical debridement and reimplantation (4- 19 months, all LIDL approach), 1 same day revision due to intraoperative femoral shaft perforation (LIDL), 1 due to patellar dislocation (3 days, Std), 2 due to subsidence (1 LIDL at 1.4 months, 1 ASI at 4.6 months), and 9 due to periprosthetic fracture (1.4-4.6 months, 1 Std, 8 ASI). There have been no failures from aseptic loosening.
What are the lessons we've learned? First, we usually require one or two diameter sizes larger with short porous tapered stem versus the standard length version of the same design. The surgeon should be aggressive with sizing, pushing to the largest size possible. Use the broach like a rasp. Drive the component in valgus during insertion. Upon seating the component, do a trial reduction using the shortest available neck length. The component will generally sit slightly prouder than the broach and may require additional effort to seat completely.
Conservation of existing bone stock, compatibility with soft-tissue sparing surgery, more physiologic loading of the proximal femur, and versatility with varying femoral anatomy make the short taper an attractive implant option. The tapered wedge short stem represents the natural evolution of joint arthroplasty to a smaller, less-invasive, and more efficient implant. Our early results reveal 99% survival at up to 5 years follow-up.
1. Morrey BF. Short-stemmed uncemented femoral component for primary hip arthroplasty. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1989 Dec;249:169-75.
2. Lombardi AV Jr, Berend KR, Mallory TH, Skeels MD, Adams JB. Survivorship of 2000 tapered titanium porous plasma-sprayed femoral components. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2009 Jan;467(1):146- 54.
3. Berend KR, Mallory TH, Lombardi AV Jr, Dodds KL, Adams JB. Tapered cementless femoral stem: difficult to place in varus but performs well in those rare cases. Orthopedics. 2007 Apr;30(4):295-7.
4. Ellison B, Berend KR, Lombardi AV Jr, Mallory TH. Tapered titanium porous plasma-sprayed femoral component in patients aged 40 years and younger. J Arthroplasty. 2006 Sep;21(6 Suppl 2):32-7.
5. Marshall AD, Mokris JG, Reitman RD, Dandar A, Mauerhan DR. Cementless titanium tapered- wedge femoral stem: 10- to 15-year follow-up. J Arthroplasty. 2004 Aug;19(5):546-52.
6. Reitman RD, Emerson R, Higgins L, Head W. Thirteen year results of total hip arthroplasty using a tapered titanium femoral component inserted without cement in patients with type C bone. J Arthroplasty. 2003 Oct;18(7 Suppl 1):116-21.
7. Park MS, Choi BW, Kim SJ, Park JH. Plasma spray-coated Ti femoral component for cementless total hip arthroplasty. J Arthroplasty. 2003 Aug;18(5):626-30.
8. McLaughlin JR, Lee KR. Total hip arthroplasty with an uncemented tapered femoral component. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2008 Jun;90(6):1290-6.
9. McLaughlin JR, Lee KR. The outcome of total hip replacement in obese and non-obese patients at 10- to 18-years. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2006 Oct;88(10):1286-92.
10. McLaughlin JR, Lee KR. Total hip arthroplasty in young patients. 8- to 13-year results using an uncemented stem. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2000 Apr;373:153-63.
11. McLaughlin JR, Lee KR. Total hip arthroplasty with an uncemented femoral component. Excellent results at ten-year follow-up. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1997 Nov;79(6):900-7.
12. Parvizi J, Keisu KS, Hozack WJ, Sharkey PF, Rothman RH. Primary total hip arthroplasty with an uncemented femoral component: a long-term study of the Taperloc stem. J Arthroplasty. 2004 Feb;19(2):151-6.
13. Khalily C, Lester DK. Results of a tapered cementless femoral stem implanted in varus. J Arthroplasty. 2002 Jun;17(4):463-6.


text:
{happy first day of spring}
Thursday 20th March, 2008
by Roséline
Late afternoon e-mail from Lee at Pieces, with good news of sunny new arrivals, including a pair of vintage yellow glass lamps {above, one shown}, and this amazing yellow pendant with original paint {below}.
I love all the yellow in your posts. Beautiful finds and great daily inspirations!
Oh I love these yellow pieces!!!!
Oh, that is a very Spring Post! I love it!
Happy Weekend, BFF!
Love the color and shine of the yellow lamp!
Happy first day of Spring to you too! Here everything was Spring like and beautiful, but since yesterday we've got 20 cm of snow 🙁 Ugh!! I love Pieces! So many gorgeous items!!
Oh, that yellow light fixture just took my breath away!
Just a few things:
Comments are moderated for spam. Please be certain to include your website url in the space provided, and not in the body of your comment. xo


text:
Chevrolet Repair Questions? Ask a Chevy Mechanic for Answers ASAP
Thanks for the question.
The parts will not be hard to get. Any local auto parts store should have all you need, including....
- fuel filter ($10-$30)
- spark plugs ($3.00-$7.00 each)
- wires ($30.00-$50.00)
- cap ($27.00)
- rotor button ($12.00)
- pcv valve ($2.00)
- air filter ($12.00-$40.00)
* All prices based on AutoZone.com, may change.
Labor will depend on whatever shop does the repair, but most, if not all of these things you can do yourself.
Sure, if you have some mechanical know-how and a decent tool set, you should be able to perform the repairs.
All the parts I have listed above are typically for a regular tune-up, minus any fluid changes, like oil, trans, rear axle, etc.
As well, all parts listed are available for purchase at most local parts stores, or even a GM dealer (GM prices are usually higher). If the parts stores do not have one of the items, the can order it and usually have it the next day.
If your check engine lamp was one, then a scan would be needed. As far as anything else, I cannot be sure about since I do not know what brand parts they used. Also, you have to figure in the labor time since a shop performed the repair. This weekend, I spent $300 in tune-up parts for my own car, but I didn't pay for labor. To be honest, I do not think you got "taken for a ride".
Thank you,
Thank you, XXXXX XXXXX it. Glad to help.
Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.
Thanks again,