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Three Central Texas counties experienced a total of 40 fatal vehicle crashes in 2013, according to data from the Texas Department of Transportation.
The information released by the department included fatal crash statistics for Bell, Coryell and Lampasas counties.
Coryell County had six fatal crashes in 2013, and Lampasas County had three.
Bell County had a total of 31 fatal crashes in the same year. Of cities in Bell County, Killeen had the most fatal crashes — seven — in 2013.
That number includes fatal crashes that killed Michael Skyler-Jones Pegues, 24, in May and Simon Nevarez, 34, in July.
Killeen Police Department spokeswoman Carroll Smith said Friday that speed was often a factor in many of last year's fatal crashes.
"The majority of the fatal accidents that occurred last year involved alcohol or high rates of speed," Smith said.
Killeen Justice of the Peace Bill Cooke agreed.
"Ultimately, speed is often involved in the majority of these types of accidents," he said.
Cooke and other justices of the peace are responsible for acting as a coroner when fatalities occur, pronouncing times of death and ordering autopsies.
They are legally required to order a blood test to check for alcohol or drugs in all fatal vehicle crashes.
Temple reported six fatal crashes in 2013, according to the TxDOT data. Harker Heights and Nolanville had one each.
That same data also shows the number of fatal crashes in Bell County is down from 2012, when TxDOT reported 45 fatal crashes.
Fatal Crashes 2013
Numbers by county
- Bell 31
- Coryell 6
- Lampasas 3
Numbers by city
- Killeen 7
- Temple 6
- Belton 3
- Copperas Cove 2
- Harker Heights 1
- Nolanville 1
- Gatesville 0
Source: Texas Department of Transportation


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The Margarita Boys
perform at Central Florida's most famous venues.
From tropical to rock, top 40 to country hits, this band does it all! The guys have opened for Train, toured the globe with Rounder Records, shared the stage with Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd and perform weekly at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tom LaBonge News
Tom's initiative to preserve the character of Larchmont Village was unanimously approved by the City Council on Wednesday. The new ordinance imposes new limits on the scale of any new development in the Larchmont shopping district, which is often cited as the model urban village in Los Angeles.
Within one day of the home invasion robbery in Windsor Square last Friday, the Los Angeles Police Department had arrested its first suspect in the case. Tom congratulates the LAPD's Olympic Division and the Windsor Square community for working well together to share information that led to the arrest.
Tom convened his third Schools Collaborative this week. These events bring city officials together with LA Unified School District personnel to iron out solutions to problems that affect both. Superintendent Ramon Cortines was among the speakers at yesterday's three-and-a-half hour meeting.


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School of Communication
Undergraduate Degrees
The School of Communication offers programs of study leading to a B.A. degree and minors in Communication and the Entertainment Industry, Interactive Media and the Culture of New Technologies, Global Communication, Health Communication, Professional and Managerial Communication, and Communication Law and Media Policy. Many communication majors pursue, with the school's encouragement, a double major with another discipline or a minor to complement the major. Through careful planning, students can complete these options within four years.
Students must consult with an undergraduate academic advisor at least once each semester to explore course selections within the major, the minor, general education offerings and electives.
AdmissionAdmission to the School of Communication is competitive. Fall 2007 incoming freshmen had an average GPA of 4.10 with an SAT score of (middle 50%) 1920-2130. Transfer students have averaged over a 3.66 GPA.
Students who wish to declare communication as their major may apply in three ways: (1) entering freshmen and transfer students must meet the criteria set by USC and the School of Communication for admission; (2) current USC students need to have 32 units completed at USC with a minimum GPA of 3.0; (3) transfer students need to have 16 units at USC with a minimum 3.0 USC GPA to apply. The 3.0 GPA is a minimum standard and does not guarantee admission.
For current USC students, the application period is the first week of classes each fall and spring semester. No applications will be accepted after the first week of classes.
Students who have not been admitted to the communication major or one of the minors may complete a maximum of 20 communication (COMM) units at USC. No further communication course work may be taken until the student is admitted. Students who complete the maximum number of units without gaining admission to the school will be advised to select another major. Students are encouraged to contact the Annenberg Student Services Office, ASC 140, (213) 740-0900, for advisement on communication admission criteria and major requirements. In certain cases when admission to the Annenberg School is unlikely, students may be referred to the Office of College Advising, CAS 120, (213) 740-2534, to consult with an advisor to select another major.
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
General Education RequirementsThe university's general education program provides a coherent, integrated introduction to the breadth of knowledge you will need to consider yourself (and to be considered by other people) a generally well-educated person. This program requires six courses in different categories, plus writing, foreign language and diversity requirements, which together comprise the USC Core. See here and here for more information.
Course Requirements
|Required courses
|Select four of the following five:
|Communication as a Social Science
|Communication as a Liberal Art
|Introduction to Communication Technology
|Introduction to Mass Communication Theory and Research
|Communication and Culture
|and two of the following three:
|Public Speaking
|Empirical Research in Communication
|Argumentation and Advocacy
|Six 300-400 level COMM courses
Students must maintain a minimum 2.0 overall GPA in their upper division course work. Further, no more than 16 upper division elective units may be taken prior to completion of the entire core. No more than 4 units of COMM 380 may be counted toward the department major. The School of Communication is committed to ensuring that all declared communication majors follow the necessary requirements. Mandatory advisement is required of all communication majors each semester prior to registration. All students taking communication classes are held to the highest academic integrity standards and may be denied admission or have admission revoked as a result of conduct violations.
Qualified non-majors (generally, students with junior/senior status, a minimum 3.0 GPA and a declared major elsewhere at the university) with appropriate academic preparation may be permitted to enroll in communication electives without fulfilling prerequisite requirements. Application for a waiver should be made to an undergraduate advisor.
Academic Integrity PolicyThe School of Communication maintains a commitment to the highest standards of ethical conduct and academic excellence. Any student found responsible for plagiarism, fabrication, cheating on examinations, or purchasing papers or other assignments will be reported to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards and may be dismissed from the School of Communication. There are no exceptions to the school's policy.
Curriculum Areas of StudyBy design, the courses in the curriculum tend to cluster into different areas of study. These areas represent important foci in the communication discipline and are areas in which the school's faculty possess special expertise. Four such areas of study are described below. They are not mutually exclusive, nor do they exhaust the curriculum; rather, they represent partially overlapping areas of unusual depth. Students may specialize in one of these areas or may design individual programs of study by choosing other combinations of electives that best meet their needs and career objectives. Relevant courses for the clusters are posted on the Annenberg School for Communication Web site (ascweb.usc.edu).
Media, Law and Politics Option: This option is designed for students who are interested in careers in government and public service, the law, and political and legal consulting, as well as advanced graduate study. Students examine communication processes in the public sphere and learn how to participate competently in these practices. Courses emphasize: the role of persuasion in the political and legal processes; the techniques used by individuals, institutions and social movements to influence public affairs; the history, design, implementation and evaluation of political campaigns; the role of public opinion; ethical issues in public communication, including the influence of media in the political and justice systems, the role of the First Amendment and the changing nature of freedom of expression in a mass-mediated environment, and problems of public participation.
Organizational and Interpersonal Communication Option: This option is most relevant to students interested in careers in business, management, human resources and development, corporate communication, and consulting, as well as advanced graduate study. Courses emphasize: interpersonal communication processes that affect and reflect personality, motives, beliefs, attitudes and values; communication's role in the development, maintenance and disintegration of social, family and intimate relationships; managing interpersonal conflict; communication between superiors and subordinates and in teams; communication's role in determining organizational culture; managing information in organizations; and the role of information technology in processes of globalization.
Communication and Culture Option: This option will be attractive to a broad range of students whose careers have an international or multicultural dimension, from those interested in foreign service, travel and consult-ing to those seeking careers in the arts. In addition, students taking this option will be well prepared for advanced graduate study. Courses emphasize: communication as an essential component of culture and cultural production; cultural forces that shape communication practices; cultural barriers to communication; gender and diversity issues in human and mass communication and cultural production; media representations of race, ethnicity and gender; the production of meaning in diverse modes such as art, religion, popular culture and technology; and cultural criticism.
Entertainment, Communication and Society Option: This option is for students who wish to pursue careers in the entertainment industry, as well as students interested in the relationship of communication and entertainment to popular culture, globalization, cultural studies, marketing, advertising and ethics. Students taking this option will be well prepared for graduate study; they will also be able to enter the entertainment industry with a grounding in the theory, roles, issues and effects of entertainment. Courses empha-size: the theoretical underpinnings of entertainment studies; the historical context of entertainment; the roles and effects of entertainment concepts in "high art" and popular culture; the impact of entertainment on politics; advertising in an entertainment society; the blurring of marketing and entertainment and the effects of this on culture; the effects of entertainment in general and specifically on constructions of race and childhood; issues in the blurring of fact and fiction; ethical dilemmas; and the globalization of entertainment industries.
Progressive Degree Program in Communication/Master of Communication ManagementThis progressive degree program allows superior students to complete both a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Master of Communication Management in as little as five years. Students with at least a 3.5 overall GPA in all classes taken at the university level and a 3.5 GPA in all undergraduate communication classes may apply for admission to the degree program during their junior year. A 3.5 GPA does not guarantee acceptance.
The School of Communication has a list of approved courses from which students can develop their course plan proposal. The course plan proposal and letters of recommendation from two USC faculty members must be submitted with the application, with at least one of the recommendations coming from a faculty member in the School of Communication. Students must also submit sample essays and research projects for an assessment of their ability to complete graduate level course work and an independent research practicum. Students admitted into the progressive degree program begin taking master's level courses in their senior year and will complete the master's degree in year five. For information on the admission process, see an undergraduate advisor. For further details on progressive degree programs, see here.


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While anti-choicers conducted their annual "March For Life" in Washington Friday, calling for an end to legalized abortion, Roman Catholic leaders and theologians called for the movement to become consistent in their message and demand gun control legislation as well. They specifically directed their comments toward Catholic Congressmen who are in the pockets of the NRA, and they named names: Speaker of the House John Boehner and Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, both Republicans, and Democratic Senators Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.
Catholic Leaders Support Gun Control As Essential To 'Pro-Life' Beliefs
Current Status: Blessed (1)
Seeded on Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:53 AM
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Great Eastern - Embracing a Healthy Digital Future
About This Episode
Great Eastern, was the first company in the world to implement all five digital marketing solutions in one agreement, rolling out Adobe Analytics, Adobe Target, Adobe Experience Manager including Scene7, Adobe Media Optimizer, and Adobe Social. Watch Christopher Wei, Group CEO, talking about Great Eastern embracing the digital future.
Get the latest tutorials, information and more about any Adobe cloud solution on Adobe Learn.


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by Staff Writers
New York (AFP) Aug 02, 2014
Microsoft on Friday fired a legal salvo at longtime partner Samsung, accusing the South Korean giant of breaching a contract over licensing of technology used in the competitive smartphone market.
"After becoming the leading player in the worldwide smartphone market, Samsung decided late last year to stop complying with its agreement with Microsoft," the US technology firm's deputy counsel said in an online post.
The complaint filed in federal court in New York alleges Samsung is balking at making payments for patented Microsoft technology used in smartphones and tablets.
"We will review the complaint in detail and determine appropriate measures in response," Samsung told AFP.
Microsoft contends the South Korean consumer electronics colossus is not adhering to a contract from 2011, and said it filed the court action after months of "painstaking negotiation."
The legal pact involved Samsung paying to use Microsoft intellectual property, according to the post by deputy counsel David Howard.
Samsung's smartphone sales have quadrupled since the contract was signed as the company grew from shipping 82 million Android-powered handsets in 2011 to shipping 314 million three years later, Microsoft maintained.
- Samsung a smartphone star -
Samsung has become a smartphone Goliath, and the biggest maker of handsets powered by Google's free Android software.
"Samsung predicted it would be successful, but no one imagined their Android smartphone sales would increase this much," Howard said.
After Microsoft made a deal last year to buy Nokia's smartphone business, Samsung stopped abiding by the cross-licensing contract, the US company says.
Microsoft said in the filing that Samsung used the Nokia business acquisition as grounds to step away from the licensing deal.
Microsoft closed the deal for Nokia's smartphone business in April with some adjustments from the announced price of $7.52 billion (5.44 billion euros).
Nokia was the world leader in mobile phones before the introduction of Apple's iPhone in 2007 and the onslaught of Android phones, mainly from Samsung.
Microsoft in June opted for the Android operating system from arch-rival Google for its new Nokia smartphone, in a move aimed at regaining momentum in the competitive mobile sector.
Microsoft said the Nokia X2 was "designed to introduce the 'next billion' people to the mobile Internet and cloud services."
The device is an updated version of a phone unveiled by Nokia before Microsoft acquired the handset division of the Finnish giant.
- Samsung baffles -
Microsoft said that Android software incorporates some of its patented technology and the company's practice is to license the intellectual property to handset makers.
Samsung has been a longtime Microsoft partner, making an array of computing devices powered by the US company's software, including a version of Windows for mobile devices.
"Microsoft values and respects our partnership with Samsung and expects it to continue," Howard said.
"We are simply asking the court to settle our disagreement, and we are confident the contract will be enforced."
Microsoft said this was the first time it has sued Samsung and that its intent is to keep getting royalty money due under terms of the contract, along with interest charges for late payments.
"Unless one side or the other screwed up in writing the contract, I don't know what Samsung is thinking," said Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.
"I am at a loss to understand why Samsung stopped paying the money."
Microsoft's track record leaves little doubt it would fight to enforce a legal contract, according to the analyst.
If anything, buying Nokia's smartphone business would strengthen Microsoft's intellectual property portfolio not weaken its position, Enderle reasoned.
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WattStopper has participated in a ground-breaking demonstration of solid-state lighting (SSL) tec...read more
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Italian architect Renzo Piano refers to his $294 million, 264,000-sf Modern Wing of the Art Insti...read more
YKK AP America, the leader in manufacturing high quality architectural products, today announced...read more
The Eisenhower Theater in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.,...read more
The new public library in Champaign, Ill., is drawing 2,100 patrons a day, up from 1,600 in 2007....read more
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The guidelines provide specific guidance for installation commanders, assessment teams, estimator...read more
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Download a PDF of the Entry Form at the bottom of this page.
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Why I Read It: Stainless Steel Droppings was hosting a read along.
Where I Got It: Own it.
Who I Recommend This To: If you like the scary things to be the good guys, then this ghost story is worth your time.
Publisher: HaprerCollins (2008)
Length: 320 pages
This was a re-read for me and I think I enjoyed this book even more the second time around, mostly because the read along forced me to slow down and savor this book.
Nobody (Bod) Owens' family was killed by a knife-wielding man Jack while baby Bod wandered out of the house and up the street to a local ancient graveyard. Being pursued by Jack, the graveyard ghosts grant him the protection and freedom of the graveyard. From there, with each consecutive chapter, we see Bod grow up with his ghostly family (The Owenses) and their neighbors. Silas, who is neither dead nor alive, agrees to be his guardian, providing clothes, food, and books.
Miss Lupescu (shape shifter), Scarlett (Bod's first live friend), and Liza Hempstock (deceased witch) are some of my favorite characters. As Bod ages, he learns about ghouls, school bullies, and eventually the man who killed his first family.
I love this book for many reasons. Neil Gaiman does an excellent job of showing that not all scary things are inherently evil. Each chapter shows yet another facet of the world of the graveyard and those experiences shape Bod as he grows into a young man. I would jump for joy if Gaiman wrote a follow up novel exploring Bod's life after this book.
What I Liked: The novelty of a book based on a graveyard society; the whole idea of life continuing on after this living, breathing one; Bod turns into a fine young man; I easily got attached to these characters and it was hard to say goodbye to some of them; the ghouls (named after famous people like Victor Hugo and a US president).
What I Disliked: I felt the chapter on the Danse Macabre was left a little too open-ended for me. I wanted to know more.
As part of Stainless Steel Droppings' R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event, I am going to count this book as Ghost Story. This event is still going strong until the end of October, so feel free to hop over there and join the fun.


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BREAKING: A Kardashian Enter Rehab
According To Perez Hilton, Rob Kardashian Has Entered Rehab In Arizona For Depression.
This Makes Me So Sad But If It'S True I Am Glad He Is Getting Help! Season After Season On The Keeping Up With The Kardashian'S Show He Has Struggled With His Weight. (If That Is The Reason)
However, He'S Also Reconnected With Khloe'S Ex, Lamar Odom. Hhhhmmm
Another thing That Is Now Unknown, Will Rob Be Attending The Paris Kimye Wedding?


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This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Waveguide-based cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRD) can be used for quantitative measurements of chemical concentrations in small amounts of liquid, in gases or in films. The change in ring-down time can be correlated to analyte concentration when using fiber optic sensing elements that change their attenuation in dependence of either sample absorption or refractive index. Two types of fiber cavities,
Cavity ring-down (CRD) spectroscopy and related cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopic methods have garnered a large following in the past decade [
Most CRD spectrometers are designed for very sensitive gas absorption measurements and have volumes of tens to hundreds of milliliters. Measurements on liquid samples require either filling the entire cavity with liquid [
An alternative approach to mirror-based CRD detection for condensed phase absorption and refractive index measurements was developed by our group and others since 2002. In fiber-cavity ring-down spectroscopy the optical cavity consists of a strand of single-mode or multi-mode fiber optic cable. The light is trapped in the cavity by either using "mirrors" (
Conventional mirror-based CRD spectroscopy achieves remarkable detection limits with minimum detectable absorption losses αmin = 10−11 cm−1 in some cases, whereas fiber-cavity ring-down spectroscopy is by many orders of magnitude less sensitive (αmin = 0.1 cm−1 in the experiments described in section 2.2). We believe that the technique is only advantageous when the sensor head consists of a fiber optic element (described in sections 2.1, 2.3 and 2.4) or when a sample with dimensions comparable to that of the fiber is interrogated, such as the liquid samples in section 2.2. In fiber-CRDS nanoliters or even picoliters of sample are sufficient [
For non-fluorescing liquid samples single-pass absorption spectroscopy is the standard detection and quantification method. Commercial systems offer microliter detection volumes and by using two balanced detectors high sensitivities can be achieved. For example, a modern UV-VIS detector (Agilent 1200 Series multiple wavelength detector) has a short term noise of 0.8 × 10−5 absorption units, corresponding to αmin = εC = 2.4 × 10−5 cm−1 (3σ) when combined with a standard flow cell (1 cm pathlength, 13 μL detection volume). Again, the detection volume in such a detector is three to four orders of magnitude larger compared to fiber-CRDS and is comparable to the entire sample volume used in fiber-based systems. To take advantage of the small detection volumes in fiber-CRD the method is best coupled to separation systems in which the sample volume is restricted to microliters and the detection volume cannot exceed a few tens of nanoliters, such as capillary electrophoresis and microfluidic devices (see section 2.2).
In this review we will first present a brief overview of the theoretical foundations and then discuss different designs of sensor elements for fiber-based CRD devices and their applications.
Cavity ring-down spectroscopy is based on determining the optical losses of a high-finesse cavity by monitoring the lifetime of a photon trapped in the cavity. The photon lifetime is related to absorption and scattering of the light in the cavity but it is independent of intensity fluctuations or detection efficiency. The photon lifetime or ring-down time
The transmission per round trip
In fiber-based CRD setups an optical cavity is made of an optical fiber containing a sensing element that allows the light to interact with the sample. This can be done, for example, by placing the sample in a gap in the fiber, by evanescent wave absorption, or by measuring the losses in a fiber grating that depend on the refractive index of the surrounding material. The ring-down times in fiber cavities are determined by the losses in the sensor element and the absorption coefficient of the fiber
The transmission
Here, the term −ln
In free-space cavities the ring-down event is usually well described with a single exponentially decaying function. Different cavity modes have different ring-down times, but with careful alignment only the fundamental mode may be excited. In fiber cavities, on the other hand, there is light traveling in the core, cladding and sometimes in the buffer jacket leading to biexponential or triexponential decays. Longitudinal cavity mode structure may be easily resolved for short (<1 m) fiber cavities made of single mode fibers [
Each ring-down time
Time-resolved CRD spectroscopy may not be ideal when measurements need to be conducted with a high sampling rate; even for a high repetition rate laser (10 kHz) and a long ring-down trace of 10 μs, the duty cycle is only 10%. An alternative to time-dependent measurements of the ring-down time is the frequency equivalent,
For a multiexponential decay the relationship between the ring-down times
The phase-shift method is particularly suitable for fast measurements in liquid flow samples, since the duty cycle of phase-shift CRD is unity and the data acquisition rate is fundamentally limited only by the ring-down time. Furthermore, the phase-shift method is compatible with very short ring-down times, which may be readily measured using high modulation frequencies. Sinusoidal modulation at 10–100 MHz frequencies allow accurate measurements of (sub-)nanosecond ring-down times and is easily implemented for a variety of light sources including cw-lasers and LEDs. The largest disadvantage of phase-shift CRD is the inability to discriminate multiple exponential decays from a single measurement. Ring-down times for multiexponential decays must therefore be extracted from phase-shift measurements at more than one modulation frequency if needed [
For the purpose of this review we distinguish between two types of fiber cavities: (1) the linear fiber cavity where light is confined by fiber optic "mirrors" such as reflective coatings or fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) and (2) a loop of waveguide material (see
As an example for the linear fiber cavity, von Lerber
A cavity can also be obtained by forming a loop of waveguide,
In contrast to the FBG cavity, the fiber loop is a "broad band" cavity. The transmission of the fiber loop is only limited by the transmission of the fiber-optic material and the components. A multimode silica fiber cavity has a usable transmission from approximately 250 nm to 1,700 nm, depending on the OH content in the silica. At telecom wavelengths (1.3–1.5 μm) a large variety of fibers exist with absorption losses as low as 5 × 10−4 dB/m; at UV-wavelengths the losses are considerably higher even for special UV-fibers (e.g., 0.05 dB/m at 400 nm, 0.3 dB/m at 250 nm), but ring-down experiments are still possible. More so, specialty fibers are available for the mid-infrared region that have absorption losses of less than 0.5–0.2 dB/m and make experiments at wavelength up to 9 μm possible. To date no research group has taken full advantage of the broadband properties of the fiber loop, but it may be expected that multi-wavelength detection will be attempted soon.
The main disadvantage of fiber loop cavities compared to linear cavities lies in the trade-off between high coupling efficiency and high roundtrip loss. The losses in the fiber loop should be kept as low as possible for sensitive ring-down time measurements, but couplers and splices are nevertheless needed to inject sufficient light into the cavity. These components introduce additional losses (fusion splices about 0.02 dB, mechanical splices about 0.23 dB), and in our experience even fiber couplers with a high split ratio of 99:1 may add insertion losses of 2–4% to the roundtrip loss.
For both the linear cavity and the fiber loop cavity the circulating light can interact with a chemical sample (see
Other sensor heads consist of fiber optic components that react to the refractive index of the environment [
In 1982 the diffusion of hydrogen gas into silica waveguides caused unexpected attenuation in the first field-installed optical fibers [
Standard fiber-optic cables have a core diameter between about 8–400 μm,
The dimensions of the sample gap should be similar to those of the flow channel to prevent pressure build-up or turbulences. Also, to achieve a good transmission across the gap, the diameter of the waveguide core needs to be equal to or larger than the width of the sample gap. Capillaries used for CE have inner diameters ranging from 50 to 100 μm, whereas commercial microfluidic devices have flow channel dimensions of typically 30 × 50 μm. Therefore, for these separation systems regular multimode fibers with core diameters of 30 to 100 μm can be used as cavity medium. Emerging nanofluidic separation system use much smaller channels with cross sectional dimensions <1 μm, whereas conventional HPLC uses much larger flow channels with dimensions of millimeters. In the latter case conventional CRD with very small mirrors demonstrated remarkable sensitivity of about αmin = 1.5 × 10−4 cm−1 [
The principle of intersecting a fiber loop with a sample flow appears simple (see
In one of our first fiber loop CRD experiments [
Later our group used a similar system as an online detector for CE of biomolecules [
The above experiments all operated at near-infrared wavelengths, which limits the variety of substances that can be detected. More recently, the fiber loop ring-down method was adapted to shorter wavelengths. For example, Andachi
Our latest system [
Phase-shift cavity ring-down detection was used because of the higher data acquisition rate and because short ring-down times could be compensated by increasing the modulation frequencies (modulation frequency: 1 MHz here, τ = 140 ns, effective absorption path: 550 μm). Measurements of tartrazine (yellow food dye), myoglobin and a pharmaceutical component provided by
A detection limit of 5 μM tartrazine or 1 μM myoglobin is achieved; this corresponds to an extinction of 0.11 cm−1 or 30 femtomoles of tartrazine in the detection volume. At the same time transmission spectroscopy was performed on the sample flowing along the groove (path length: 3 mm). Despite the 15-fold larger absorption path (and sample volume!) for the transmission measurement, the ring-down measurement has a four-fold higher sensitivity and a larger dynamic range. The direct transmission measurement is limited by laser power fluctuation to which CDRS is insensitive. For a more accurate transmission measurement, a second detector would be needed to normalize the laser power.
Instead of leaving a gap in the fiber cavity, which introduces large losses on its own, it is possible to use the evanescent wave of the circulating light for concentration measurements. The evanescent wave can interact with the surrounding medium leading to cavity losses, either by attenuation (absorption and scattering) of the evanescent field, or by dissipation of the energy, if the refractive index of the samples approaches that of the cladding. By measuring the ring-down time the cavity losses due to the evanescent wave interaction can be determined. Usually the evanescent field of the core mode(s) is contained entirely inside the cladding; thus for a measurable interaction with the sample it needs to be extended into the surrounding medium. This can be achieved by tapering, etching or side-polishing the fiber (see
Sigrist's group [
Field access blocks have also been used to extend the evanescent field into the sample. Here, the fiber is side-polished to remove a part of the cladding. Gupta
Tapered fibers are a third method to extend the evanescent wave into the surrounding sample. Tarsa
Another method uses identical pairs of long-period gratings (LPG) to extend the evanescent field by converting the core mode into a specific low-order cladding mode - depending on the period of the grating and the wavelength of the light [
Evanescent wave absorption is limited by the small fraction of the mode volume that has a chance of interacting with the sample. For many evanescent wave sensors shown above no more than a few percent of the light intensity can be attenuated with each roundtrip, even if the evanescent portion of the mode was completely absorbed. On the other hand, the insertion loss for many of these sensors is much lower compared to direct absorption through, for example, a gap in the fiber loop.
Refractive index changes can also be correlated to sample concentrations and fiber-optic based refractive index sensors have a long history. Some of the most sensitive devices are based on interferometry [
The relationship between refractive index changes and concentration changes is given by the Lorentz-Lorenz equation [
In very recent experiments (published in this issue of
In an interesting variation of this theme, Song
There are many examples of refractive index sensors, which exploit the sensitivity of fiber gratings to the refractive index of the environment. Their optical loss can be amplified in a fiber-optic cavity. For example, Liu
The LPG can also be coated with a polymer that changes its refractive index by uptake of chemicals (see
We developed such a sensor with a polymer that is based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer which was functionalized with diphenylsiloxane units to enhance sensitivity to aromatic compounds [
The coated LPG was mounted in a fiber loop cavity with two fiber couplers to couple light in and out of the cavity, and phase-shift CRD was used as the detection method. Measurements of xylene and cyclohexane were performed by adding their vapors to a nitrogen flow with concentrations up to 5,400 ppm for xylene and 62,700 ppm for cyclohexane, corresponding respectively to 50% saturation pressure. Xylene has a refractive index of 1.4802 and therefore causes an increase in the refractive index of the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based coating and thus a shift of the LPG peak to shorter wavelengths. Cyclohexane has a refractive index of 1.4141, which causes the peak to shift to longer wavelengths allowing differentiation of the two substances (see
The same chemical system was used in our group very recently on another fiber sensing platform,
A direct comparison of the fiber loop sensor and the linear fiber cavity sensor shows that the sensitivity is higher and detection limit lower for our linear fiber cavity system. This is likely due to slightly lower round trip losses and a larger light output at the detector. On the other hand, it was difficult to tune the refractive index of the coating in such a way that it would shift the attenuation peak of the coated LPG to align with the FBG cavity reflection spectrum. Calibration measurement of the etched
A tilted FBG may be used instead of the LPG as a refractive index sensing element (see
Chiral liquids are a particularly interesting target for refractive index measurements. When chiral liquids are enriched in one of their two enantiomers, they become optically active,
Almost all sensing elements (micro-optic cells, gratings, tapers,
In this ideal experiment the roundtrip gain,
A light pulse injected into such an optical cavity will decay with a time constant
Erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) operate at wavelengths between 1,520 nm to 1,560 nm and are readily available due to their use in the telecommunications industry. Other less commonly used fiber amplifiers are doped with e.g., thulium to provide gain at 1460–1530 nm or 800–850 nm, with praseodymium for gain near 1.3 μm and with neodymium or ytterbium for gain around 1 μm.
Amplified cavity ring-down spectroscopy in the time domain was first demonstrated in 2001 by Culshaw and coworkers [
The above experiments were complicated by the fact that EDFAs are build for amplification by one to three orders of magnitude and not for gain factors of, say, 1.1999 as needed for loop losses of 20.00%. This problem can be circumvented by setting the gain above the lasing threshold, such that the fiber cavity becomes a free-running fiber laser. The EDFA is then gain-clamped to the laser threshold and ring-down measurements are possible at wavelengths different from the lasing wavelength. With such a setup Culshaw and coworkers [
Thereafter, a digital narrow band-pass filter was used to eliminate the low-frequency distortion due to relaxation oscillations and the high frequency noise [
Our group revisited this experiment proposed by Stewart
In a preliminary phase-shift CRD experiment a 6 cm gas cell, formed using two GRIN lenses, was inserted into the outer loop. By careful adjustment of the variable optical attenuator ring-down times up to 200 μs were achieved (effective roundtrip loss of 0.0163 dB). A spectrum of the P(13) line of the ν1+ν3 combination band of acetylene was obtained and a detection limit of ∼25 ppm was determined. The spectra were obtained at atmospheric pressure resulting in pressure broadened linewidth of ∼3.14 GHz. Future work will be focused on replacing the gas cell with a photonic crystal fiber to obtain a longer interaction path length and smaller sample volumes.
Cavity ring-down spectroscopy using either fiber loops or linear fiber cavities is well suited to amplify losses in fiber optic inline sensors. One can build sensitive, robust and inexpensive sensor systems, when these fiber optic sensors are designed to react to the optical properties associated with a chemical species of interest, such as absorption, refractive index, or birefringence. The large number of sensor head designs that are now incorporated into fiber cavities speak to the wide range of possible applications. The insensitivity to fluctuations in the light source output and detector response is a particularly attractive feature of any CRD method—including fiber-optic CRD—and has the potential to reduce operating costs and calibration for fiber sensor systems.
However, a fiber cavity may not always help increase the sensitivity of the sensor system and one must carefully consider the sensor properties. For example, the insertion loss of the sensor head,
Some fiber optic components are commonly available only for single mode fibers (FBGs, LPGs) whereas others (tapers, direct absorption, field access blocks) are also available for multimode fibers. Amplified fiber loop ring-down may be a powerful (albeit expensive!) option to boost the sensitivity of single mode fiber sensors.
For sensors that may be interrogated at a single wavelength in the telecom region, the linear fiber cavity formed by two FBGs is preferred over the fiber loop, since it achieves a higher finesse and is more compact and easily coupled to the light source or detector. The fiber loop cavity is a better option, when the fiber core needs to be large (e.g., for evanescent field or direct absorption measurements), when wavelengths outside the telecom region need to be used to interrogate the sensor head, or when the light source has a broad emission spectrum. Fiber loops can also be formed from unconventional fibers, such as photonic crystal fibers or hollow core waveguides, liquid core waveguides, or infrared (ZBLAN or chalcogenide) waveguides and it appears as if a number of research groups are exploring these approaches.
Fiber-CRD measurements are still a novel tool and many research groups currently explore its applications in analytical chemistry and biochemistry. Novel applications appear with increasing frequency and it is quite possible that in 5 years the most prominent use of fiber CRD has not even been anticipated in this review.
This work is the result of a collaborative effort that involved three research groups at the Department of Chemistry at Queen's University and we thank Prof. Crudden, Oleschuk and Brown for their invaluable insights into the research presented here. We are grateful to Zhaoguo Tong, Runkai Li, Nick Trefiak, Jun Zhang and Klaus Bescherer for their many contributions to this research. We thank Gianluca Gagliardi for sharing his results prior to publication and for many stimulating discussions.
This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institute for Photonic Innovations, the Ontario Centres of Excellence, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Eli-Lilly Canada (Toronto, ON) and ITF Labs (Montreal, QC).
HW acknowledges a scholarship from the Swiss National Science Foundation, and AC acknowledges financial support from Queen's University.
Different implementations of cavity ring-down measurements
Different types of sensor elements used in fiber-cavity ring-down spectroscopy.
A custom interface is used to direct liquid between the fiber ends and to couple light from the light source into the loop. The delivery fiber irradiates the fiber loop ends so that some of the light enters the loop. The sample is injected through a hole in the top plate in front of the delivery fiber, flows along the groove to the gap between the fiber ends and exits through a hole in the bottom plate [
Measurements of tartrazine at 405 nm with phase-shift CRD (red curve, top) and single pass absorption (black, bottom). Samples (5 μL) of different concentrations were injected into a flow of water (flow rate: 10 μL/min) with a sample injector (Rheodyne) [
Different sensor elements for refractive index change measurements. Refractive index sensitive elements like
Spectra of a long-period grating (period
Fiber cavity ring-down for quantification of xylene and cyclohexane using a polydimethylsiloxane / polymethyloctylsiloxane coated long-period grating as a refractive index sensor.


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Mel's Diner
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- Breakfast, Lunch
- No Alcohol
- Parking Lot Available
- Reservations Accepted, Reservations Not Necessary
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text:
The future of a historic test case seeking equal pay for women working in social and community services rests on who wins the federal election on August 21.
Prime Minister
The case is the first test of the equal remuneration provisions of Labor's Fair Work Act and will have wide-ranging implications for pay equity in other sectors with high numbers of women, such as child care, retail and hospitality.
The Australian Services Union has sought a written commitment from Mr Abbott to support the case, arguing that women accounted for 80 per cent of the community services sector and were earning up to 30 per cent less than counterparts in the public sector.
ASU assistant national secretary Linda White said on Friday that Mr Abbott had been asked to respond by August 11 but he had not replied.
The Liberal Party's federal director,
Federal support for the case is crucial because it is a major source of funding for community services, although this often occurs via state and local governments.
The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations has asked Fair Work Australia to push back the deadline for making written submissions, given the government was in caretaker mode.
It has sought to delay the date for submissions until September to "allow sufficient time for an incoming government to be briefed and for it to consider its position''.
The case calls for wage rises of up to 35 per cent over four years for up to 200,000 community sector workers.
It is based on a decision last year covering workers in Queensland who were underpaid compared with similar public sector roles.
While Ms Gillard has backed the test case, she has not committed to funding any pay rises awarded by Fair Work Australia. The tribunal held a hearing in Melbourne on Friday with a national video hook-up that heard submissions on the future timing of the case.
Catholic Social Services Australia – which provides services to more than a million people through 67 member organisations – supported higher pay but warned that government would have to provide more funding.
"Our sector competes for the same workforce as government and private sectors for skilled and experienced workers but increasingly we are losing,'' said executive director Frank Quinlan.
"For more and more of our workers, their commitment to our work simply doesn't not pay the mortgage."
Tim Longwill, partner in McCullough Robertson Lawyers and head of its Aged Care Group, said wages accounted for 70 per cent of operating costs in aged care and operators could become the "meat in the sandwich".
"While there is merit to the argument that there has been historical underpayment of staff in the aged-care sector, the providers have very limited capacity to pass on higher wage costs and certainly could not accommodate the hikes seen in Queensland," he said.
The Australian Financial Review


text:
2008.83: Pure-injective modules
2008.83: Mike Prest (2008) Pure-injective modules.
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The pure-injective $R$-modules are defined easily enough: as those modules which are injective over all pure embeddings, where an embedding $ A\rightarrow B $ is said to be pure if every finite system of $ R$-linear equations with constants from $ A $ and a solution in $ B $ has a solution in $ A. $ But the definition itself gives no indication of the rich theory around purity and pure-injectivity. The purpose of this survey is to present and illustrate the definitions and a number of the results around pure-injective modules.
|Item Type:
|MIMS Preprint
|Additional Information:
A short survey
|Uncontrolled Keywords:
|pure-injective, algebraically compact, module
|MSC 2000 > 03 Mathematical logic and foundations
MSC 2000 > 16 Associative rings and algebras
|MIMS number:
|Deposited By:
|Professor Mike Prest
|Deposited On:
|27 September 2008
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This star rating is the opinion of the property owner only. A Self-Rated hotel has not been assessed by the AA or Visit Britain, whose official star ratings we use across LateRooms.com.
Lushpads4 Self rated
Pad 1 - 18 /20A Oldham Street, Northern Quarter, M1 1JN, Pad 2 & 5 - No 1 Dale St, Northern Quarter, M1 1JA, Manchester, M1 1JN
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Lushpads is a stunning 4 star fully equipped serviced apartment in the heart of the fashionable Northern Quarter in Manchester city centre. The apartment combines the comfort of a boutique hotel with independence & freedom of your own city centre apartment. Flat 1 is a 3 bedroom apartment sleeping upto 10 people and has access from Oldham street.
Flat 2 is a 1 bedroom apartment sleeping upto 4 and has access from Dale Street. Bathrobes & towels are provided. We are gay friendly. Lushpads is a space conducive to business. The private entrance and ample space makes it ideal to accommodate client & colleague meetings & presentations, providing a creative & inspirational work environment. Whether you're in Manchester for business or pleasure, Lushpads is centrally located between Piccadilly and Victoria train Stations 10mins walk away. The Metrolink & bus Station at Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens are a minute walk away. Close to Manchester ring road giving access to the M60, M62 M56 & M6.
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text:
Hal Leonard Forrest Gump Feather Theme
Hal Leonard Forrest Gump Feather Theme - single sheet music for piano, composed by Alan Silvestri, easy to intermediate level.
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text:
The tarps have been taken off of the new concrete Whittier Street adjacent to the Safeway store. Perhaps soon customers of Safeway will find it easier to get into and out of the parking lot.
Our goal in allowing public comment on our web site is to provide an arena for open discussion on the issues. Following these simple guidlines will ensure that your comments remain posted.
The moderators of sheridanmedia.com reserve the right to monitor and screen all content submitted to the site and may delete content, and block or ban users at our discretion. For a full description see our User Agreement.


text:
Taste of Japan #6 - Instant Japanese Soup Sampler Party Packs (
Miso soup is now the only 'safe' way to indulge in soy apparently: health pundits have now declared that 'Asian people traditionally only eat fermented soy'. (Never mind that tofu is not fermented.) Anywho, for people who can't be bothered to make miso soup from scratch, these pop-into-a-bowl and add hot water packs as convenient as tea bags. And like all good Japanese convenience foods, they don't need refrigeration. (Hint: don't try to open up a pack in a Swiss train compartment if you want to avoid people staring and muttering 'what's that smell??')


text:
Topeka, Kan. • The Rev. Fred Phelps Sr., who founded a Kansas church widely known for its protests at military funerals and anti-gay sentiments, is in a care facility, according to a church spokesman.
Phelps, 84, is being cared for in a Shawnee County facility, Westboro Baptist Church spokesman Steve Drain said Sunday. Drain wouldn't identify the facility.
"I can tell you that Fred Phelps is having some health problems," Drain said. "He's an old man, and old people get health problems."
Members of the Westboro church, based in Topeka, frequently protest at funerals of soldiers with signs containing messages such as "Thank God for dead soldiers," and "Thank God for 9/11," claiming the deaths are God's punishment for American immorality and tolerance of homosexuality and abortion.


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The future development of aerostation is necessarily difficult to forecast.
But, I resumed, you seem to have valuable documents on aerostation?
The Chinese have been beforehand with us in all our inventions—printing, artillery, aerostation, chloroform.
We will conclude our work with a glance at aerostation as applied to warfare.
As we have seen, the triumph of aerostation was sudden and complete.
He closed a life devoted to the pursuit and advancement of aerostation in April, 1864.
The young man had drawn from his great coat a voluminous portfolio; it was a work on aerostation.
However trifling this experiment may appear at first sight, it added a new fact to the science of aerostation.
Charles created all the contrivances, or, in other words, all the ingenious precautions which make up the art of aerostation.
In the earlier days of aerostation, hydrogen presented strong temptations.


text:
Just who is this sophisticated European statesman? Meet David McAllister. He was last week mooted as Merkel's heir apparent at Germany's ruling conservative Christian Democratic Union party conference in Hanover. Bizarrely, however, his supporters at the congress waved banners proclaiming "I'm a Mac!" – for this leader-in-waiting is a not-so-secret Scot. The son of a wartime British Army captain, McAllister is the first dual German-British citizen to hold prominent public office.
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Upgrade the standard input fields to use the correct input types improving usability on mobile and visual improvements with icons. ..
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Korla National Customs Garden is located in the western suburbs of Korla. And it covers an area of 14 acres. All kinds of fruit trees, such as fig trees, fragrant pear trees, pomegranate trees, grapes and other numerous fruit trees were grown in this garden. This is really a wonderful tourist attraction with warm atmosphere and natural beauty. Besides, the national custom dinning hall in the National Customs Garden is capable of seating more than 100 persons at the same time. This is an all-purpose place of entertainment where people can enjoy both the magnificent performance and the wonderful delicacies. Meanwhile, small dinning halls which can hold 20 persons are appropriate for small-sized banquets. What a perfect place for people to enjoy themselves!
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What is a Mom's work Worth?
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text: Actress Deepika Padukone not only carry a title of "classy and leggy beauty", but also deals her personal relationships in style. Talking about Dippys recent break up with Siddharth Mallya, the actress again did it, but in her way.Just like John and Bipasha, Deepika and Sid too did not split on a good note. Their break up wasnt amicable at all, as sources revealed. Deepika, who had faced several heartbreaks, once again did it successfully. Following her own style of dealing with relationships, Deepika vanished for sometime from Siddharths life, got completely disconnected from him and then moved on slowly. Even in a recent event, the ex love birds were seen avoiding each other. In fact, the bitterness between them was so much, that they did not even bother to greet each other at the party. While Deepika share a cordial relationship with her former boyfriends Ranbir Kapoor, Nihar Pandya; Sid seems way too far from the actresss good books.


text:
Posted on August 20, 2014 by: acid stag
UK newcomer New Mantra will put you in a daze with his silky electro/R&B productions
– by Jacqui Wonder
We claim no credit for any images, music and/or videos posted on this site unless otherwise noted. All audio and visual content is copyright to its respectful owners. We are also in no way responsible for, or have control of the content of any external web site links. This website was created as a promotional tool. Please support the artists and purchase their work.


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In the next place, there are few professions which are in themselves so attractive as librarianship.
Library schools in the United States give courses of one and two years in all the branches of librarianship.
Leibniz wished to come to the English court of George I, but was unkindly ordered to attend to the duties of his librarianship.
The practical emphasis in these four bibliographies betrays the training of their authors in librarianship.
But I think I could have made a better success of librarianship if I had had more library training.
It is a commonplace of library history that librarianship has contributed the card catalog idea to commercial life.
In every country there is now some kind of association for the study of librarianship, archives or bibliography.
Kerr, Willis H., "Normal schools and their relation to librarianship," 193-7;mem.
There are one or two other features of librarianship which merit passing mention.
"Normal schools and their relation to librarianship" (Kerr), 193-7.


text:
Flames NewsFlames Home > Women's Soccer Home > News
Women's Soccer to Open Season Tonight
The contest will begin a new era for the Lady Flames' program, as it will be the first game under first-year head coach Jessica Celi and her assistant coach, Abby Crumpton. Celi, who became the sixth coach in Liberty women's soccer history on July 2, was previously an assistant coach with the W-League's Charlotte Eagles. Meanwhile, Crumpton has been a coach at several schools, including Michigan and Clemson, and had a highly-decorated career at Michigan, where she finished as the Wolverines' all-time leading scorer with 116 points.
The Lady Flames return 15 letterwinners from last season's squad, including 2007 all-conference first team performers Amy Oberlin and Brittany Tyson. Oberlin, a senior, has started all but one contest the past three years for the Lady Flames and has been named an All-Big South first-team member the last two seasons. Last year, she led Liberty in scoring with six goals. Tyson, also a senior, became a leader on defense, starting every game in 2007, on her way to all-conference first team recognition. The defender also scored a goal and added two assists in a 4-1 conference victory over Radford last season.
In goal, the Lady Flames have two keepers who have seen game action. Junior Lauren Kamphuis and sophomore Ashley Nyholt split time in the Liberty net last year. The two returnees are once again competing for time in goal, along with freshman Karen Blocker. Each member of the trio saw playing time in goal on Wednesday in a scrimmage at Lynchburg College.
Besides Tyson, the Lady Flames return several players who have seen playing time on defense. Among the returners are senior Emily House, junior Rachel Wisehart and sophomore Ashley Gibson. House has played in 10 or more contests each of her first three seasons at Liberty. The Lynchburg native saw action in 10 games in 2007, with five starts. Wisehart played in 16 games in 2007, after seeing action in eight contests the year before, while Gibson started 10 contests for the Lady Flames in her first collegiate season.
In the midfield, seniors Hope West and Mallory Neff, along with Oberlin will be among the several veterans on the roster this season. West returned from injury in 2006 to play in all 18 contests last season and finished the year with an assist. Meanwhile, Neff, who was a 2006 Big South All-Tournament team member, netted two goals and dished out five helpers for nine points last season.
Additionally in the midfield, Heather Bowling, Laura Nyholt and Maggie Woody are three other Lady Flame veterans who have seen a significant amount of playing time during their Liberty careers. Bowling, who has also played as a defender, saw action in all 18 contests last season, starting all but one contest. Nyholt, a sophomore whose twin sister Ashley plays goalkeeper for Liberty, played in 12 contests in her first college season in 2007. Woody, whose sister Jordan joins the Lady Flames this season as a freshman, netted two goals and assisted on two others for six points last season. She added five points in her maiden season with Liberty, scoring two goals and tallying an assist.
Junior Ally Erving and redshirt senior Ashley Braam are two of the veterans who come back to play up front for the Lady Flames. Erving scored two goals in 13 games and was named to the Big South All-Tournament team last season. The junior may also see time at midfielder. Braam returns for her senior year, after missing last season due to injury. In 2006, she was selected to the all-conference second team, after tallying four goals and two assists for 10 points through 11 games, before being sidelined due to injury.
Also, sophomores Maria Owen and Caitlyn Riley return at forward. Owen scored four goals and was named to the Big South All-Freshman team during her rookie season in 2007. Riley assisted on a goal and saw action in 11 contests last season.
Celi's club also will have 12 new faces this year. Ranked the No. 1 recruiting class in the Big South by SoccerBuzz.com, the Lady Flames have added several players who could contribute early. Among them is the aforementioned Blocker and freshman Silvia Betancourt, who had an outstanding evening in a scrimmage against Lynchburg College on Wednesday. The midfielder from San Jose, Costa Rica, set up a goal by Oberlin on a corner kick, drew a foul in the penalty area to earn a penalty kick and scored off an assist from another newcomer, sophomore Elia Lake.
Tonight's contest will be the first of 17 games for the Lady Flames in 2008. Liberty will play six home games this year, beginning Sept. 12 against Navy. Including their season opener at Longwood, the Lady Flames will play six out of their first seven contests on the road. The Big South Women's Soccer Championship will be played Nov. 6-9 at Millis Soccer Complex in High Point, N.C.


text:
There are plenty of tragic and inspiring choices, but the most obvious legacy Castro will leave behind is the broken family.
Her daughters had died before they could have children of their own, before they even had a body of work to leave behind.
Clothes are part of the historic record Mrs. Obama will leave behind—regardless of whether her husband is reelected.
"The Hamptons are usually filled with what I had hoped to leave behind in New York City," Mario Batali once said.
James Alan Fox: Yes, they often do leave behind an explanation, or articulate it if they survive.
I'll leave behind a record unblemished by oversight or sloth.
Some of these women had children whom they could not leave behind.
Whom you leave behind in the company of an extremely pretty little dbardeur.
To leave behind me in this bad world, unaided, unprotected, those for whom I die!
John was a married man, and spoke affectionately of his wife and children, whom he had to leave behind at Cross-Roads.


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LISTEN: Pinkunoizu & PRE-Be-UN Remixes
Laurie Tuffrey
, August 30th, 2013 06:02
Fellow Danes give each other the rework treatment
Pinkunoizu, the genre-trouncing Copenhagen four-piece who've released a pair of ace records this year, the Second Amendment EP followed by their brilliant second LP The Drop, have engaged in a bit of a remix swap with their fellow countryman and similarly forward-thinking sonic auteur, PRE-Be-UN.
The latter, the avant-pop guise of Choir Of Young Believers and Oh No Ono keyboardist Nicolai Kleinerman Koch, wheels out a rework of 'I Chi' from Second Amendment, while Pinkunoizu meld together two tracks, 'Mysteriously In Love' and 'Mily Medicin', from PRE-Be-UN's second album on Tambourhinoceros, clean spasms.
Have a listen to the tracks below and read our recent Escape Velocity interview with Pinkunoizu while you're at it:


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This was a birthday cake for a friend who's nickname around our house is "Pants". :) (It went from "Nancy-pants" to simply "Pants".) This is a chai cake with honey-cinnamon buttercream and marshmallow fondant!
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TuneDroid synchronizes iTunes playlists to your Android device. You can select any of your iTunes playlists and TuneDroid will make sure that your music is synchronized to your device. With dynamic playlists you will always have the latest music on your phone without having to care about it.
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After the backup it will continue to synchronize the music on your phone with the iTunes playlists that you have selected. You can select the playlists on your phone or on your PC with our TuneDroid desktop app.
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This rejuvenating treatment mist firms, nourishes and hydrates normal, dry and mature skin. Its unique blend of botanicals and pure essential oils revives your complexion, revealing a healthy radiant glow. Soothing aloe vera and natural humectants promote optimal skin moisture.
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Ingredients are subject to change at the manufacturer's discretion. For the most complete and up-to-date list of ingredients, refer to the product packaging.


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The owner of a Langley, B.C., mushroom farm where three workers were killed, told their weeping family members at a coroners' inquest that he was also a victim.
Ha Quan Truong spent most of his testimony Wednesday blaming his manager, engineering consultants, and the Township of Langley for not fixing the problems on his farm that led to the release of gas that killed three workers and injured two more.
"Don't consider me as an enemy, I'm a victim, too," he said through an interpreter, when the lawyer for the family members asked if he had anything to say to them.
Mr. Ha Quan said that after 30 years of working in Canada, he has now lost everything.
The legal fees resulting from the horrific accident on Sept. 5, 2008, have taken all of his money and he is not sure whether he will be able to keep his property, he said.
He felt suicidal for months after the accident, he told the inquest.
Mr. Ha Quan also considered suing the Township of Langley and said he would have tried if he wasn't bankrupt.
"They did not work with me, they did not help me solve the problem," he said. "They tried to sabotage me and the workers."
The inquest learned that the farmer's composting facility had been operating without an occupancy permit and the Township of Langley had been trying to shut down the composting facilities for two years before the accident.
The township obtained a B.C. Supreme Court order on June 12, 2007, to have the composting facilities cease operation until the facility passed a final inspection.
But after Mr. Ha Quan temporarily closed the operation for repairs, he resumed operating without obtaining a permit, leading to a second court action by the township.
The inquiry heard that an agreement had been reached between Mr. Ha Quan's lawyers and the township to have the composting facilities cease operating on Sept. 6, 2008, the day after the gas leak.
But despite the agreement for the closing the next day, the facilities were still operating as usual on Sept. 5 and a repair crew was even called in for a clogged pipe.
While workers were waiting for McRae's Septic Tank Services to arrive, they attempted to unclog the pipe themselves, which lead to the fatal release of gas.
Scott Neilson, counsel for the province's workers compensation board, asked why.
"What I don't understand is, why were those men in the shed trying to unclog the pipe?"
Mr. Ha Quan testified that he did not know.
Earlier this week, the inquiry heard that the workers had cut rusty bolts off a pipe and used a screwdriver to try to dislodge a clot of straw and manure from the pipe.
The lead WorkSafeBC investigator told the inquest Tuesday the resulting release of hydrogen sulfide could have killed or injured dozens of people, both workers and residents in the area, if the pipe had been completely unclogged.
Mr. Ha Quan testified that he left it up to the facility's manager to ensure safety procedures were being followed.
He said he hired D'Arcy Ashe away from Moneys Mushrooms, a leading mushroom supplier in the province, to look after his composing facility in 2005.
"I had the assumption that when I hired a manager … he would take care of everything."
It was the responsibility of Mr. Ashe and other consultants to help with writing the necessary permits and documents, the owner told the inquest.
"These people are all experts in the field, they have so much experience. I don't have experience in making compost."
Mr. Ha Quan said he didn't know why there wasn't an overflow alarm on the brown water tank used in the composting process or why there was no system for venting excess gas.
"This was the first time I've heard about it."
Mr. Ashe is scheduled to testify at the inquest Thursday.
Last November, a judge imposed fines of $350,000 on two companies, A1 Mushrooms and HV Truong, and their three owners, including Mr. Ha Quan, who pleaded guilty in 2011.
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Oil sets Virgin Blue on slippery slope
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Virgin Blue's dismal outlook shows no signs of improving as the oil price hovers around $US67 a barrel.
There is mounting concern that the airline, which has so far failed to live up to the hype of its December 2003 sharemarket listing, may plunge to a second-half loss, given that it has not hedged against rising aviation fuel costs.
With a list of brokers whittling down profit forecasts for the airline in recent weeks, Goldman Sachs JBWere has become the first to forecast it will report a loss of $11 million for the six months to September 30.
That would translate into a 58 per cent slump in full-year net profit to $65.5 million.
This spells bad news for Patrick Corp, which this year lifted its stake in the airline to 62 per cent. Shares in the Chris Corrigan-controlled transport group have fallen 12 per cent this year.
And the signs for next financial year are not good. Goldman Sachs tipped that if oil prices remained at current levels, the airline would make a full-year profit of just $17 million.
Goldman Sachs has a $1.35 price target on Virgin shares, which fell 1¢ yesterday to $1.665.
Virgin Blue's problems have been exacerbated by a softening domestic airline market. This has made it more difficult for the airline to lift its $19 one-way fuel surcharge.
The airline's recent delivery of its 50th Boeing from Seattle could make matters worse. According to the airline's latest traffic data, Virgin filled 73.7 per cent of its seats in June, compared with 76.2 per cent a year earlier. This was when the airline had 49 aircraft, up from 46 in the previous year.
Virgin Blue's headaches will be compounded this week when Qantas lifts its international one-way fuel surcharge from $60 to $70 but leaves its $20 domestic fuel levy unchanged.
Qantas has 90 per cent of its fuel hedged around $US49 a barrel until December 31.
Virgin Blue also has to contend with Qantas budget offshoot Jetstar's aggressive growth plans.
Qantas is tipped to report a record $700 million-plus profit on Thursday.
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Browsing by Author "Hackett, C. A."
Now showing items 1-1 of 1
Identification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from bacteria and yeast causing growth inhibition of sapstain fungi Bruce, Alan; Verrall, S.; Hackett, C. A.; Wheatley, R. E. (Walter de Gruyter, 2004-03)This paper describes an experiment to identify volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from a range of three bacteria and one yeast strain that had previously been shown to be inhibitory to selected sapstain fungi. The bacteria ...


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The Samaritan guidelines are written around the assumption that suicide is a purely irrational act, an act spurred by illness.
At least it should prevent the loading of the memory of the Samaritan theurgist with a resemblance which may be only accidental.
The man who smokes, thinks like a sage and acts like a Samaritan.
And he was a Samaritan, but another name to Jewish ears, for infamy and contempt.
There were none that returned to give thanks save this Samaritan.
Would to Heaven that some good Samaritan could afford me a little brandy-and-water from his canteen.
He next proceeded to learn the Chaldee, Syriac, and Samaritan dialects.
The Samaritan Free Hospital, for diseases peculiar to women, occupies the place of ten numbers, 161 to 171.
The testimony of a Samaritan could not be heard before a Jewish tribunal.
Persis felt that she had done an honest day's work of Samaritan wisdom, and ordered the cab to make haste to her dressmaker.
Old English, "inhabitant of Samaria," a district of Palestine, from Late Latin Samaritanus, from Greek Samareia (see Samaria). A non-Hebrew race was settled in its cities by the king of Assyria after the removal of the Israelites from the country. They later adopted some Jewish ways, but largely remained apart. Figurative use with reference to the good Samaritan is first recorded 1630s, from Luke x:33. Related: Samaritanism.


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One on One with... Ron Evans
Ron Evans, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and a Salk professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory, is credited for the discovery of nuclear hormone receptors, which have since led to more than a half-dozen drugs for cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Earlier this year, he reached two major milestones: his 60th birthday and the 30th anniversary of his laboratory at the Institute – both were celebrated with a one-day symposium and a party that drew 145 of his former students. Throughout his career, Evans has received some of medical science's most coveted awards and has published more than 250 papers, many of which are among the most cited in the world.
It must have been an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia to see so many of your former students gathered at the same time.
Having them all come back together was like being whole again. Seeing everyone and reliving the work and the camaraderie ... it's not just about the science. The science is born out of the intensity and the hard work. While the paper represents hard and cold facts, it's the product of people who are putting in 100 percent effort for weeks, months and years at a time. So getting back together after all this time was just so enriching and moving for me – really one of the best days of my life.
It must have been a joy to see how the progression of your lab's discoveries was represented in each of the people who were there to celebrate with you since each of them contributed their part to the research.
In a way, they each had a small part and a big part in the evolution and progression of the lab. People joined my lab to work with me and advance their own aspirations. While they changed and evolved, I changed and evolved both as a lab head and as an individual. The lab environment was and continues to be an ever-dynamic process. We are solving problems that by finishing one it illuminates the next. That dynamic of change and challenge and having people at your side to pick up that gauntlet and run with it is such a wonderful part of science.
In your career so far, what has been the discovery that has fascinated you most?
The growing realization that so much of body physiology, endocrinology and behavior is really about the control of gene networks. My initial interests in the early '80s were to study the mechanics and logic of how the genome is controlled. Our interests in cloning hormone receptors ultimately provided us with a key to unlock the secrets of the genome. In the beginning, science is about overcoming technical challenges, which in the end open new avenues of approaching complex problems.
The thing for me is that Salk is an amazing environment where people ask bold questions and being able to bask in the glow of people like Francis Crick, Roger Guillemin, Renato and Sydney Brenner. I think all of us here aspire to not only carry on that legacy but to take Salk to the next level. It takes that kind of imagination that they have to learn from it and pass it along to the next generation.
Is that what keeps you passionate about science?
Science to me is like the ultimate chess game where the opponent is Mother Nature. You're trying to win secrets in a never-ending duel. There's nothing that is more thrilling than pitting yourself against problems that are not yet solved. It's fun, it's challenging, it's often competitive and it's one of the ultimate things that I think you can do as an individual because it's curiosity driven. The process of science tells us about the process of life and that was really brought home by seeing the cadre of people who have been with me over the years and who have gone on to become leaders in their own right. We are one golden age that dissolves into the next. The people who have come through the lab really reflect what can be done by individuals. Science is driven forward by the imagination, and the people that come through the lab bring in the spirit and energy to power discovery.
I know you play guitar. What do you get out of playing that science doesn't provide?
Research is intense and it's frustrating because it's hard to solves the unknown problems for which you're seeking answers. So you have to have a way to pull away from it and often times the only thing that dissolves one intensity is something that you're passionate about in another part of your life. So for me it's the guitar. I love the guitar and I can lose myself in it. It refreshes the spirit.
Any particular genre you enjoy playing?
Guitar for me is a little bit like science. It's ever evolving. In my early days, it was finger picking and folk music. That progressed to blues, then to jazz then that progressed to classical. I like guitars themselves. I like the artistry of the craftsmanship in the wood.
You're a sports fan, right? And you recently received an honorary degree from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine along with Earvin "Magic" Johnson. What was that like?
He is just like he is on television, which is that he seemed just like a big 6-foot 10-inch, 300-pound Teddy bear. You know what I mean? He's a very engaging, interactive and interesting guy.
In what way?
Firstly, Magic is very friendly. He extended his hand to me and congratulated me for receiving my honorary degree. I congratulated him and told him now he can be the real "Dr. J," which he liked (laughs). He was completely accessible which is nice because he's a celebrity and celebrities are often not that way. He's done a lot in his career, he's overcome a lot and he's a leader. He's done just as much off the court as he's done on the court. In addition to the honor of meeting him, I love the Lakers so it was a double bonus.
Your lab drew worldwide media coverage last summer with the "Exercise in a Pill" study. While the research was conducted on mice, how plausible is the idea that one day those who cannot physically exercise because of disease, frailty or obesity will be able to get the benefits of physical activity by taking a pill?
I think the work clearly demonstrates, that in mice, it is possible to develop drugs that have the capacity to enhance muscle performance with out actually exercising. That is a major advance. It also identifies two key drug targets for which the next generation of more effective muscle-enhancing drugs can be produced for people. In fact, the drugs that we used have already been in people. So now I would say it's going to take a large pharmaceutical company to develop the right type of program in muscle biology.
You never really know, but my guess is that probably within four to five years we'll see the next generation of drugs, while the current generation of compounds is being explored for this purpose. The challenge in bringing this forward is getting the FDA to agree that frailty and obesity can be treated with muscle-enhancing drugs. You have to cure disease to get a drug approved. We think we can make people a lot more healthy. But making people healthy is not an FDA approval end point. We need to educate the public and the medical community to move the FDA toward accepting the benefits that can be achieved by this kind of program.
What's the one scientific question in your field you'd like answer in your lifetime?
Since we are in the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth, I would like to know the origin and evolution of physiology. Understanding the origin would give us a much deeper insight into how general physiology goes bad. When physiology itself is not controlled, it's highly destructive to the body. When it is controlled, it's everything that we call life. We want to get a handle on that. We would like to exploit all of that for the purpose of developing a new generation of drugs that control metabolic disease. That includes diabetes, heart disease and using our understanding of genomics and genomic control to develop muscle-enhancing drugs.


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Abra Line
Morphs [Oak Catalog #]
- Abra [#064]
- Kadabra [#065]
- Alakazam [#066]
Physical Descriptions
Abra is a small humanoid Pokémon averaging 0.9 meters in height. Possessing two small, short, foxlike pointed ears on the top of its head, its chest is covered in a leather-like material similar appearance of armor, while it possesses a fairly thick tail roughly half its height. Both its hands and feet possess three fingers each that can all be used to grasp objects. Abra's eyes are rarely open. Kadabra is a humanoid Pokémon averaging 1.3 meters tall. Its tail is significantly thicker then Abra's, its shoulders have gotten much broader, and claws have grown on the ends of its fingers. Its ears are much longer, and the entire head has elongated. The feet can no longer be used for grasping, the fingers having shortened and the feet grown thicker. Long tufts of hair grow out of the sides of its face, resembling a mustache. Alakazam is significantly taller than previous morphs, averaging at 1.5 meters. Its ears have elongated further, while the tail has atrophied away. Its limbs are longer and thinner then a Kadabra's, and the mustache has grown larger as well. There were once rumors that a religious star was visible on the head of an Alakazam, though this soon would be revealed as an elaborate hoax. It should be noted that the females of this species have much shorter mustaches.
Notable BiologyThe Abra line is well known for being one of the most powerful Psychic Pokémon in the world. Even the best human psychics pale in comparison to the potent abilities they display. Probably the most interesting fact about Abra biology is that, unlike most species, the brain will never stop growing. This constant growth means an Abra, already intelligent, merely becomes more so as it evolves as it gains more and more neural pathways. Researchers are currently researching this property to see if the method can be used to allow damaged parts of human or other Pokémon brains to regenerate, curing brain damage. As an Abra, they spend most of their time awake eating, and spend the majority of the day (usually 18 hours) resting in a sleep-like trance as its powers become a strain. Any threats or predators results in the Abra simply teleporting away, even when it's asleep as they have an innate sense of danger. An Abra's tail is in fact a store of fat and nutrients, usable in times when food is scarce. Upon evolution to a Kadabra, the Pokémon will find a stone and use their psychic powers to carve a tool shaped like a spoon (Trained Kadabra are often given a spoon by their Trainer). This spoon serves as a focus for its psychic powers. Taking away a Kadabra's spoon has been confirmed to reduce its power. After years of use, a Kadabra will discard its spoon and craft a new one. These twisted spoon remnants still serve as potent psychic lenses, and many psychics, both human and Pokémon, seek out these discarded tools.
It is rare for a Kadabra to evolve into an Alakazam in the wild, though the process can be induced artificially for trained ones. The process of evolution consumes the nutrient reserves in the tail, and the remains of it fall off shortly. An Alakazam will then acquire a second spoon, its abilities being so powerful it simply can't control them without two lenses. An Alakazam's body is so atrophied that it, in fact, can not stand on its own. Its head and brain have grown so large that its neck would snap trying to support it. An Alakazam instead uses its psychic powers to support its body at all times. The entire line is incredibly intelligent, but Alakazam is most so. Possessing intelligence easily on par with humans and surpassing a supercomputer, they are capable of understanding human speech and can easily telepathically communicate with their Trainers. They are often joked of possessing an IQ of at least 5000, with some of the more extreme ones placing it over 9000, though there is no doubt that Alakazam's intelligence could far surpass any human genius.