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April 8, 2013
Pebble Hunting
Shelby Miller Gets the Best of Buster Posey
On Saturday, one of the most electric young arms in baseball faced one of the best in-his-prime hitters in baseball. Shelby Miller's Cardinals came out of it with a win over Buster Posey's Giants, but the matchups between Posey and Miller were more interesting than just an outcome.
Pre-existing narratives
Miller, the 16th-best prospect in baseball, won the fifth spot in the Cardinals rotation in the spring after a dominant late-season stretch in September and the postseason. There are still question marks about him within the organization, though. "There were those in the Cardinals clubhouse who classified him as 'a pitching Rasmus,' not a compliment." In particular, Miller has a reputation for falling in love with his fastball at the expense of his breaking pitches, especially a plus curveball.
Previous history
In the second confrontation of the 2012 postseason, Miller jumped ahead with a curveball in the zone, then worked Posey with fastballs up and away until Posey grounded out to shortstop.
Well, you can certainly appreciate why Miller reportedly leans so heavily on his fastball. Just as he did the first time the two met, Miller struck out Posey, looking, on heat. This time, Posey didn't even get a swing off.
Miller's fastballs—94, 93, 94, 95—are a bit slower than they were when he faced Posey in the postseason. Of course, that makes sense, as Miller was relieving at the time. But Cardinals fans have been anxious about Miller and velocity, after his fastball slowed last year and briefly showed high-80s/low-90s in the majors. This from a pitcher who used to work mid- to high-90s, with staying power: "Sits in the mid 90s with mechanics that are the definition of free and easy," Kevin Goldstein wrote in 2010. "Only went deep into game once, but was still sitting at 94 mph in the seventh after throwing 90+ pitches with no signs of fatigue."
If he's a tick lower now, it's still a fantastic pitch, with about as much oomph as he had in his non-postseason relief appearances in 2012. Even at 92 or 93, it looks like a mid-90s heater, according to Jason Parks: "He has excellent extension, so the 92-94 looks more like 94-96; he throws it downhill on a steep plane and it features good late life. The combo makes it a monster pitch that is difficult to square up."
Which means you can imagine what a true 95 looks like coming from Miller. The on-screen graphic displays 94, but PITCHf/x calls the final pitch 94.95 mph, the hardest ball Shelby Miller will throw all day. The combination of the third and fourth pitch is really nasty: The pitches were thrown from an almost identical release point—there's typically more variation from pitch to pitch than you might realize, but in the case of these two pitches just three-hundredths of an inch differentiated Miller's release point vertically, and one-thousandth of an inch vertically. Pitch 4 started slightly closer to the plate than Pitch 3 did, but it also had about a half-inch more movement toward the plate than Pitch 3 did. That half inch might have made all the difference; we generally measure the outside corner as 10 inches from the center of the plate, and this one was 10.5. Had it been 11, Miller might not have received the call.
Which is just to say that, from Posey's perspective, Miller threw a pitch very, very similar to the pitch that had just been called ball one. But it was harder, and it moved into the strike zone late. Posey moves his hands a bit late, the only time in the at-bat that he even contemplated a swing, but by that point it was too late.
Second at-bat
Miller goes back at Posey with a first-pitch fastball that catches a ton of the plate. Posey, seemingly ready for it, is still tardy, though at least he fouls it off. Small victories, says the orange-clad fan on the left,
should be celebrated. Posey hadn't shown he could catch up to the fastball yet, but Yadier Molina went to the curveball anyway and got Posey to buckle slightly. Considering Posey's reaction to the pitch his first time seeing it in the game, you wonder whether Molina should have saved it for two strikes, but then maybe Posey wouldn't have been surprised to see it on two strikes. As it was, Posey was unprepared for it even though it stayed up in the zone. The next two weren't up in the zone, and on Pitch 4 Posey got caught in between on a pitch that was probably a few inches low.
It's a bit amusing that so much was made of Miller's overreliance on his fastball. There are situations where you can imagine that turning into a problem, if he's really stubborn about it. But Miller has basically said he's just going to throw whatever Molina asks for. It's Yadier Molina, after all.
Third at-bat
The first three pitches were a spectacular sequence from Miller. The first pitch was basically the same first pitch that he threw in the first at-bat—except now it's four inches farther from the center of the plate, right on the black. The second pitch was basically the same second pitch that he threw in the first at-bat—except now it's four inches farther from the center of the plate, with the difference coming entirely from extra tailing movement. Considering that, it's fairly impressive that Posey laid off, though laying off fastballs (even strikes! even on two-strike counts!) is basically what Posey did all day. The third pitch was basically the same third pitch (a ball) that he threw in the first plate appearance, except this one was three inches closer to the center of the plate. It's not in the strike zone, but it splits the difference between the ball he threw to Posey in the first at-bat and the called third strike against Posey in the third at-bat. (Posey argued the call this time.)
So, to summarize, Miller threw Posey the same outside-inside-outside combo that he got him with in the first, but each pitch was located to be slightly harder to hit or slightly harder to take. The command—watch Molina's glove; no movement on any of the three—is encouraging, as Miller has by this point dropped 1-2 mph with his fastball velocity. That might suggest fatigue, but the command suggests the opposite.
He finally deviated from the first at-bat with a curve, and Posey waited on it much better than he did when he saw the pitch earlier in the game. Posey did what he very often does when he's behind in a two-strike count,
and lined it to right field. But it was an out, and Miller won the third of three battles between the two.
Miller didn't throw a changeup to Posey—he threw only three all day, all to lefties—but he didn't need to, using the breaking ball as a de facto changeup to get Posey on his front foot. It's worth wondering how long Miller could have gone with nothing but fastballs to Posey. There aren't many heaters Posey can't catch up to. But Miller threw eight to Posey, six of them in the zone, and Posey managed to get a swing off on only one of them. That swing produced a pop-up into the right field stands. Posey was either very selective or, for an afternoon, perhaps overmatched.
Here's how Miller's start looked from the Cardinals' clubhouse:
And from the Giants' clubhouse:
Sam Miller is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @SamMillerBB
5 comments have been left for this article.
BP Comment Quick Links
He seemed to be hitting most of his locations. Potentially bright future here. One of my favorites.
Apr 08, 2013 07:55 AM
This was a fantastic piece. It was fun finally watching Based Shelby get to do his thing.
Apr 08, 2013 07:59 AM
I would love to see more of these articles, pitcher - hitter matchups with gifs of each pitch and analysis. Great article Sam
Apr 08, 2013 09:48 AM
The quote about Miller being another Rasmus was from a St. Louis Post-Dispatch column by Joe Strauss, who lives to stir things up, and it referenced Miller's behavior (from earlier in his career) when he didn't take coaching - full article, "'Joe Cool' may be turning into 'Joe Mature'," at http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/joe-strauss/strauss-joe-cool-may-be-turning-into-joe-mature/article_5086c058-96cc-5eae-a134-3029ea96fc65.html
Apr 09, 2013 11:45 AM
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Arian Guzman and her husband will be two of the estimated 4.4 million Californians traveling by car for Thanksgiving this week, but the Bay Area couple is doing it right. They'll be leaving Tuesday for Chandler, Ariz., and returning early Saturday -- missing the worst travel times on both trips.
Smart folks, said Joe McConnell, the traffic reporter at KQED.
"If you're traveling Wednesday, it's not enough to say leave early," McConnell said. "Early doesn't mean 1 or 2 p.m., which might work on a typical afternoon. It's 10 or 11 at the latest. The window of opportunity is minuscule if you hope to escape the Bay Area before everyone else."
It's also wise to avoid traveling on Thanksgiving Day, especially from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. -- "it can be horrendous," McConnell warns -- as well as on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
Another reason to avoid getting into the car Wednesday is safety on the road. Traffic officials call it Black Wednesday, and a survey by Progressive Insurance reported that parking and rear-end accidents go up 24 percent, collision claims jump 17 percent and property damage claims increase 14 percent on that day.
The California Highway Patrol will be out in force through Dec. 1. Already freeway signs have been warning drivers against driving while using a cellphone. Numerous drunken-driving checkpoints will be set up, and you'd better buckle up. Of the 25 people killed on state roads over the Thanksgiving holiday last year, 10 were not wearing a seat belt.
"Buckle up, stay off your cellphone and don't drink and drive," said Russia Chavis of the California Office of Traffic Safety.
Out of 5.1 million Californians expected to travel 50 miles or more during the four-day holiday, 4.4 million will drive, 500,000 will fly and 193,000 will travel in some other way, according to the AAA.
Overall, travel is predicted to be down less than 4 percent from last year.
But there are pluses to this holiday. Gas prices have fallen nearly 50 cents a gallon since early September, the weather should be clear and passengers 12 and younger and 75 and older no longer have to remove their shoes to go through airport security.
The drive to Lake Tahoe should be the smoothest in years. Caltrans early this year completed a decade-long repaving of Interstate 80 from the Bay Area to the Nevada state line.
"I don't think I saw one pothole," marveled Tracy Diaz, of Hayward, who drove it recently. "What a positive change."
Travel experts advise planning ahead, whether going by SUV or 747.
That means making sure your plane is going to depart on time, arriving at least 90 minutes early for a domestic flight and two hours for an international departure.
"The season is already stressful enough," said Jamie Holter, a traffic analyst with INRIX. "A little knowledge and a little preplanning can help drivers get the most out of their holiday season. No one likes to be late to parties or dinner because they are stuck in traffic."
Officials at San Jose International project a 5 percent increase in passengers from this time last year, while those at the San Francisco and Oakland airports forecast up to a 2 percent increase.
Parking lots could fill up by early Wednesday, so consider being dropped off by someone or waiting at a cellphone lot to pick someone up.
For Guzman, the main worry is whether to take I-5 (shorter) or Highway 101 (less traffic).
"I'd like to try 101, but 5 seems faster," she said. "The traffic is so bad on 5, could it be better on 101?"
Could be, but of course there's another way to beat the Thanksgiving traveling blues.
"Not going anywhere," said Bryan Grunwald, of Oakland. "I am not crazy."
Contact Gary Richards at 408-920-5335.

subset: commoncrawl


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text: Holgorsen not settled on QB By Dave Hickman October 8, 2013 Story Share MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Dana Holgorsen watched with a certain sense of nostalgia Monday night while Geno Smith was throwing for three touchdowns and leading the New York Jets on a game-ending field goal drive to beat Atlanta, 30-28."Yeah, it would be nice to have him,'' the West Virginia coach said of the quarterback who was his starter the last two seasons. "It would be nice to have any of the last six [starting quarterbacks] I've had.''He doesn't, of course. What Holgorsen has now instead are three quarterbacks, none of whom have really taken command and proven they are clearly the best even to run West Virginia's offense, much less do so at the level of Smith or any of the other elite quarterbacks Holgorsen has coached over the last decade.As the Mountaineers go through their bye week, however, Holgorsen is far from conceding that none of them can reach that level."Who knows which one of these guys that are on our team right now can end up improving to the point where they can be the next guy,'' Holgorsen said. "They've just got to keep playing.''For the time being, junior Clint Trickett seems to remain the frontrunner. He's started the last two games, but with staggeringly different results - a 30-21 upset of then-No. 11 Oklahoma State two weeks ago and a 73-42 trouncing at now-No. 15 Baylor last Saturday.At his weekly press conference Tuesday, Holgorsen sounded at times alternately committed to Trickett in the job and remaining open-minded about it.As for the committed part, Holgorsen said that during the off week Trickett would be held out of practice in order to allow his injured throwing shoulder - as well as other sore body parts - to heal before the Mountaineers host Texas Tech a week from Saturday."We'll give him the whole week to rehab and strengthen it so he's a hundred percent next week,'' Holgorsen said of the Florida State transfer. "I don't know if that's going to happen for sure, but we'll give him this week off and let him rest and let him strengthen that shoulder to get him back on Monday.'' When asked, though, if Trickett was entrenched as his starter, Holgorsen flatly said that he wasn't. He didn't mention Paul Millard, who was the starter in the first two games and relieved Trickett several times at Baylor, but he did point to redshirt freshman Ford Childress."I'm not prepared to say [that the job is absolutely Trickett's] because I don't think Ford did anything to flat-out lose the job,'' Holgorsen said.Childress was the starter in WVU's third and fourth games, a rout of Georgia Tech and a humbling 37-0 loss to Maryland in Baltimore. He might have started the next week against Oklahoma State, but was injured in the loss to Maryland and replaced by Trickett."I've liked Ford's mentality. The guy just tore his [pectoral] muscle,'' Holgorsen said. "It's not anybody's fault. He just has to let it heal and get him back on the practice field and see how he continues to progress.''Both Trickett and Childress have had their ups and downs, although it's difficult to compare the two. Childress threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns in the first college football game he played, but the opposition was the worst team in college football, Georgia State. A week later he threw for just 62 yards and threw interceptions that handed Maryland two touchdowns. Trickett made all kinds of clutch plays in sparking the win over Oklahoma State, but then was at the controls for the rout at Baylor. He is completing an awful 41.2 percent of his passes, but has been the only quarterback to provide a real spark. Millard, meanwhile, has the best completion percentage and quarterback rating, has thrown only one interception (the others have three each) and is the only truly healthy one. But he also has failed to move the offense except for a couple of drives against Baylor's reserves when the game was long out of hand.To listen to Holgorsen, any quarterback decisions in the short term will be between Trickett and Childress."You look at Clint and Ford, they've played two games in a Mountaineer uniform. They've got to continue to get better,'' Holgorsen said. "It's unfortunate that both those guys are dealing with injuries, but they have to continue to improve. And I have all the confidence in the world in those two guys that they will continue to improve.''Until or unless that happens, however, it's not doing West Virginia's offense any good."It's a dynamic I don't like and it' a dynamic that is not beneficial to your football team, beneficial to your offense when you have an offense that has so many new parts, so many inexperienced players,'' Holgorsen said. "It's not the way I want it to be, but the reality is that we've played six games and we've had three quarterbacks start two games each. They're all guys that just haven't played very much and for whatever reasons, whether it's injuries or how they've practiced or how they've played in games, we've got to keep evaluating them.''Again, though, Holgorsen sounded like Trickett was still his choice. "Clint played really well against Oklahoma State and played very average against Baylor. Whether it was his shoulder or whether it wasn't his shoulder, I don't know. I haven't coached him long enough to figure it out,'' Holgorsen said. "I do like his grit and I do like how he's toughed it out. He played through it in a challenging environment and a challenging situation and he didn't just turn it down. We're really happy to see that.''Happy, but apparently not convinced. Assuming both Trickett and Childress emerge from the off week in good shape physically, they could still go into next week competing.Maybe."I'll go with Clint unless Ford does something in practice,'' Holgorsen said. "And then we'll go from there.''Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or email@example.com or follow him at Twitter.com/dphickman1. Story Share Story Share Trending Now 1 Deer in 8 WV counties found dead from EHD 2 New company planning $73M synthetic fuel plant in Greenbrier County 3 St. Albans rallies to beat Riverside, 21-17 4 Judge denies motion to recuse himself in WV heroin trafficking case 5 WVU law professor announces run for Congress WVU basketball: Holton's eligibility still up in the air Previous Story Roundup: WVGA's 100th anniversary celebration set for Nov. 1-2 Next Story


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AFC Wimbledon could be deducted points by the Football League after fielding an ineligible player, the club has announced.
The club has been called to appear before a Football Disciplinary Committee (FDC) on 28 April in relation to fielding an ineligible player, Jake Nicholson, against Cheltenham Town in March.
In a statement, the club said: "The FDC has discretion whether or not to deduct points.
"We will be represented at the hearing by Jim Sturman QC and he has advised us that it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this time.
"As soon as the outcome of the hearing has been determined we will publish the background to this charge."
Dons chief executive Erik Samuelson praised the side's management team in the light of the potential points deduction.
Samuelson said: "The management team have known about the issue since just after the Cheltenham game, while the players were only told on Monday."
He added: "This was not an issue from the pitch, but from elsewhere.
"Neal [Ardley, the manager] and his team have been magnificent in how they have handled it."
The League Two club made the Football League aware of a potential issue, and could face a points deduction, fine or both.


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"Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket."
If you want to put criminals away before they commit crimes, you need to know the future. For that, you need precogs. Dickian precogs see just a short way into the future - "a week or two ahead at the very most."
H. Beam Piper used the word "precog" as a verb (maybe the first); Philip K. Dick used it as a noun to describe a precognitive person. See the other entry for precog (v).
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is trying to sort out a wrenching adoption case involving a Native American child, a biological father who first renounced any interest in her and adoptive parents who were eventually ordered to hand her over to the father.
The justices were hearing an appeal from the South Carolina couple who wanted to adopt the girl, named Veronica. The outcome of the case was unclear after arguments Tuesday that included an unusually emotional appeal from the couple's lawyer.
The case turns on the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, enacted in 1978 because Indian children were being removed from their homes and typically placed with non-Indian adoptive or foster parents.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.


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Starts looking beneath the kilts and tables....Just curious - what percentage of members here are men? Anyone know?
SarathW wrote:As Buddhist we all understand the meaning of the fetter "Mana". Thought that someone is higher , lower, or equal is due to not understanding Anatta. We all are different aggregates. So we can't compare each other. Even two atoms are not identical. As far as we understand that we all are different, there is no problem. We should not promote any suggestions to separate, based on creed, color, sex, ethnic back ground religion or any of those discriminations.Buddha Dhamma has only one taste - the taste of freedom. Thats all we talk, nothing else.
SDC wrote:We shouldn't make any changes that perpetuate our differences.
Our differences don't mean anything, and shouldn't mean anything.
Let's all agree on this - certain topics are touchy. No matter how clever you think you're being, no matter how righteous your intention, it is likely your words may not be accepted by all involved. Be ready for the consequences or, dare I say, DON'T POST.
Aloka wrote:Annapurna wrote:
How about having more female mods here?
Right now, women are underrepresented...
And how about getting a protected area for women here, like in E Sangha, however small, an area where female members cnas share some women issues in an atmosphere that we decide, perhaps we self-moderate sisterly, an area where men and male mods are heartily invited guests, to read and participate, but not welcome to domineer any discussions, as it is can happen now?
Sensitive topics would certainly benefit.
As a woman myself I'm wondering why women would need a "protected area" ? If women have to have a special area why not have similar areas for lesbian, gay and transgendered members as well ----and also for teenagers and....perhaps for vegetarians?
I think women can be just as domineering in discussions as men if they want to be - and personally its no problem for me to interact with others on a forum whatever their sexuality happens to be.
Just a personal opinion though.
with metta
Kim O'Hara wrote:pilgrim wrote:How about one for Asian Buddhists? and one for Youths? Unless it serves a clearly identifiable purpose, I don't see good reason to divide and subdivide ourselves.
I agree.
I will go a step further: if something can't be said to everyone, it is possibly (probably?) not Right Speech.pilgrim wrote:When posting here, I don't even notice the gender behind the monikers used.
Notice? A lot of the time you can't even know unless the member has mentioned it.
Just quickly - no checking or anything - can you tell me the gender of skydancer, catmoon, Ayu, songhill, Astus, Chris, seekeroftruth, termite, jrh001, pink_trike, fig tree? They are all good DW usernames.
My own username is gender-ambiguous and some of you may remember that I posted regularly to e-Sangha for a year before anyone knew my gender. I suggest that means it can't be terribly important.
Finally, even when the member gives the information, you (sadly) can't be sure they are telling the truth - and a rule or policy that can't be monitored or policed is a waste of time and energy, IMHO.
AN 5.200 wrote:"Furthermore, there is the case where the mind of a monk, when attending to self-identity, doesn't leap up at self-identity, doesn't grow confident, steadfast, or released in self-identity. But when attending to the cessation of self-identity, his mind leaps up at the cessation of self-identity, grows confident, steadfast, & released in the cessation of self-identity. When his mind is rightly-gone, rightly developed, has rightly risen above, gained release, and become disjoined from self-identity, then whatever fermentations, torments, & fevers there are that arise in dependence on self-identity, he is released from them. He does not experience that feeling. This is expounded as the escape from self-identity.
Mr Man wrote:I think it is worth remembering the context that originally brought this thread about. If a member of some length of time who has made a fair contribution, feels uncomfortable or as if they feel they have been treated without sensitivity or whatever, I think we should reflect on the situation and see if there is a need or possibility for change.
Dan74 wrote:I think while it's definitely worthwhile to examine how we form identity around gender and cling to it (a lifelong pursuit?) in the meantime, some measures may help make a place comfortable for both genders. So encouraging female members and having more female mods may be some of them. .
Aloka wrote:Dan74 wrote:I think while it's definitely worthwhile to examine how we form identity around gender and cling to it (a lifelong pursuit?) in the meantime, some measures may help make a place comfortable for both genders. So encouraging female members and having more female mods may be some of them. .
As a female member myself, I haven't noticed women generally being discouraged here, so I don't really understand why they need to be encouraged any more than men are. I also think that if a woman is able to take part in a robust debate she doesn't need to be treated differently, or like fluffy pink candy-floss just because she's female ! .
Regarding mods, my personal opinion is that they should be chosen not for their gender but for their calm and reasoned communication skills, ability to take a neutral rather than an emotional stance in disputes - and also have a good knowledge of the Dhamma.
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The David Talbott Cox Scholarship was established to recognize outstanding junior- and senior-level Theatre Directing students.
The David Talbott Cox Scholarship is open to:
Go to the College-Wide Undergraduate Scholarship Application available online through your OASIS portal to apply for the David Talbott Cox Scholarship program. Only complete scholarship applications submitted by the deadline will be reviewed by the scholarship committee. Please follow all directions carefully. Students must submit the following materials to make a complete David Talbott Cox Scholarship application - there are three parts to the application:
In a two- to three-page essay, please address the following:
Your essay must be double-spaced, and include your name and OASIS ID number in the upper right-hand corner of each page. Please upload your response in .pdf, .doc, or .docx format.
This application requires two letters of recommendation from professionals and/or academic faculty/staff members at Columbia College or another institution of higher learning. Note: Remember to contact your recommenders directly before providing their information on the application. Since this application is part of the larger College-Wide Undergraduate Scholarship application, also note the specific scholarships for which they will be recommending you. Be sure to give recommenders as much time as possible to write letters. Requests made at the last minute are often difficult to fulfill by the deadline.
PART 3: STUDENT AID REPORTA current Student Aid Report (SAR) must be on file. To receive an SAR, students must complete a financial aid application (FAFSA), available after January 1st of each year.
Access online Theatre Department Scholarship application through the "Scholarships" tab in your OASIS portal.
David Talbott Cox was highly respected for his talent as both actor and director. Born in Hyde Park community of Chicago, Mr Cox began his theater career as a child working in education films for Coronet Films. He established several small theater groups in Chicago during the 1960's, producing and directing several critically acclaimed productions. Among the best known were Rolf Hochuth's "The Deputy"; and Sam Shepard's "Forensic and the Navigators." In the 1970's Mr. Cox was instrumental in launching a play-reading group in the Michigan City area of Indiana which is still thriving.
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Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
How To Get A Pipeline Built (tutorial)
Jerome a Paris, The Oil Drum: Europe
There are regularly stories in the media or in the blogosphere about various pipeline projects that are announced with much publicity, and are seen to have major strategic consequences, or conversely about projects that are more discreet but are seen as the "real" justification for various military or diplomatic acts. For instance, the announcement last month of an agreement between Russia and several central Asian republics about a new pipeline was widely interpreted as a major move against European energy security. Similarly, the war in Afghanistan has often been blamed on a long mooted Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline.
These analyses (which are absurd to anyone with a basic knowledge of the oil&gas industry) completely ignore the dynamics of what it takes to actually get a pipeline deal done, and what it means for relations between the parties involved. Therefore they fail to understand the significance (or lack thereof) of announcements by energy companies or governments and wrongly interpret the geopolitical implications of both pipelines, and announcements of pipelines.
So, in order to help oildrummers better interpret pipeline news, here's a primer on why and how pipelines get built – which essentially means how they get financed.
(29 August 2007)
Running out of Roughnecks
Toni Johnson, Council on Foreign Relations
The prospect of a work stoppage by more than twenty-thousand construction workers in Canada's oil-rich province of Alberta has sent tremors far beyond North America. "Unions know they have oil companies by the neck," writes the Financial Post's Claudia Cattaneo, pointing out Alberta's labor shortage, which gives workers the clout to reject a 24 percent pay increase over four years that would make most Canadians "cringe with envy." Some of the workers consider a four-year contract too long (Global Investor) and say they are "simply fighting for the best deal as employers book record profits."
The possible strike highlights a growing international trend-the shortage of oil industry workers and the increasing cost to retain them. Alberta's labor problems could disrupt some of the world's largest construction projects involving the conversion of giant fields of oil sands into crude oil.
(28 August 2007)
Big Oil Sees GoM as Pricey But Accessible
Brian Baskin, Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires via Rigzone
As geopolitical turmoil makes Big Oil's portfolio more risky, the Gulf of Mexico is fast becoming the energy world's savings bonds. While it's unlikely to match expanding production in West Africa or the Middle East, the area is immune to sudden shocks that come from working under unpredictable governments that control most reserves world-wide.
Companies are snapping up drilling rights in the Gulf on a scale not seen since the late '90s, when heavy bidding was fueled by the first hard evidence of deep water's oil-drilling potential and a lower tax rate. The hope of discovering the next half-billion-barrel oil field is still a big lure. But for the international oil companies that rule the Gulf, the new oil rush has as much to do with the lack of options elsewhere as the size of undiscovered reserves.
The deep-water Gulf is one of the last places where independent oil companies can get first crack at untapped oil — relatively free of competition from national oil companies backed by increasingly aggressive host governments. And that sort of security is enough to trump skyrocketing development costs, bureaucratic hurdles and mounting evidence that the Gulf's oil will prove far more difficult to extract than expected.
(27 August 2007)
Carnegie Mellon researchers question investing in LNG
Carnegie Mellon University (press release)
PITTSBURGH-A team of Carnegie Mellon University researchers report that the choices U.S. officials make today could limit how the nation's future energy needs are met and could cost consumers billions in idle power plants and associated infrastructure systems.
In the upcoming Sept. 1 edition of the journal Environmental Science and Technology, Carnegie Mellon researchers Paulina Jaramillo, W. Michael Griffin and H. Scott Matthews show that liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported from foreign countries and used for electricity generation could have 35 percent higher lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than coal used in advanced power plant technologies.
"Investing in LNG infrastructure today could make sense if it helps moderate natural gas prices and keeps existing natural gas power plants running. But making this investment ultimately locks us into certain technologies that make it harder for us to change paths in an increasingly carbon-constrained world," said Matthews, an associate professor in Carnegie Mellon's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
The 1990s saw a surge in construction of natural gas power plants, fueled by cheap natural gas, low investment requirements and the idea that natural gas was less carbon-intensive than coal. Since these plants were constructed, natural gas prices have skyrocketed as the North American natural gas supply has become more limited. These gas plants are now operating at a very low capacity, fueling the energy industry's interest in increasing gas supply by using LNG.
Those decisions are complicated by the fact that natural gas prices may stay high because of maturing North American gas fields. Natural gas production in North America has been flat or down in each of the past six years, according to the federal government's Energy Information Administration. Increasingly, domestic natural gas will be drawn from nontraditional and more expensive sources that require the development of more complex networks to extract and deliver it to the U.S. market.
However, the increased imports of LNG and all of its indirect impacts could eliminate the environmental benefits of natural gas over coal when future carbon mitigation technologies are adopted.
The researchers point out that LNG has many indirect impacts compared to domestic gas. LNG is extracted in a foreign country, liquefied, put into a tanker to cross oceans, and then regasified and put into pipelines when it reaches the U.S. Each of these steps leads to indirect environmental impacts, such as carbon dioxide emissions from changing from gas to liquid and back. In addition, the facilities and tankers necessary to liquefy, move and regasify the natural gas expected are not plentiful and those in the works will not be up-and-running for several years.
"We continue to see that all emerging energy choices have indirect impacts," said Jaramillo, a graduate researcher in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
The Carnegie Mellon research team also argues that the U.S. shouldn't rush to invest large amounts in a new infrastructure, such as the LNG infrastructure, without analyzing all the indirect implications of those investments compared to alternative supply options. In addition, utilities and the government should put more effort into conservation and energy efficiency that could help reduce the need for large investments. "As the options grow more complicated, the choices become harder and harder," said Griffin. "We just want to make certain that all the choices – and their impacts – are understood."
(22 August 2007)
A New Method of Extracting Heavy Oil: Toe to Heel Air Injection (THAI)
Gail the Actuary and "1observer", The Oil Drum: Canada
This post reflects collaboration between Don, also known as 1observer, and myself. Don is an arms-length investor in Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd., the company that patented THAI. Otherwise, he has no ties with the company. This post is based on an analysis of publicly available documents. I want to thank Don for all of his hard work that went into this.
1. What is toe to heel air injection technology?
Toe to heel air injection (THAI) is a new method of extracting oil from heavy oil deposits which may have significant advantages over existing methods. The method was developed by Malcolm Greaves of the University of Bath and has been patented by Petrobank. According to the Petrobank website:
THAIâ"¢ is a evolutionary new combustion process, that combines a vertical air injection well with a horizontal production well. During the process a combustion front is created where part of the oil in the reservoir is burned, generating heat which reduces the viscosity of the oil allowing it to flow by gravity to the horizontal production well. The combustion front sweeps the oil from the toe to the heel of the horizontal producing well recovering an estimated 80 percent of the original oil-in-place while partially upgrading the crude oil in-situ.
(27 August 2007)
Contributor David Beach writes:
Article posted yesterday on The Oil Drum on a technology for producing and upgrading tarsands insitu that is moving to the commercial phase. Introduction a few weeks back are at The Oil Drum: Canada (my introductory comments and a discussion.
As THAI is accepted by the industry, I believe it will have the effect of extending the global production "plateau".


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DUDLEY Town chairman Steve Austin says the club will not be rushing to replace Andy Wyton.
Town were granted permission by the West Midlands League to postpone last Saturday's scheduled fixture at Ellesmere Rangers after Wyton's departure along with his assistant Jason Tonk for Midland Alliance neighbours Gornal Athletic, along with a number of Dudley players.
Now Austin says Town's main emphasis will be on youth, with under-18s managers Neil Evans and Lee Glasby along with under-21s manager Mark Phillips taking charge on an interim basis.
"We are in a position where we have enough points that we won't be relegated and so we won't be rushing into appointing a new manager," said Austin.
"We are, though, taking applications for the post and have received some already, but whoever does take over it will be on the basis that the future of the club is the youth.
"We need to ensure a progression each year of players from our youth system into the first team.
"For now we will be using a mixture of existing players, loan players and players from the youth set-up and we will be fulfilling our fixture at Bilston (on Wednesday)."
Town are due to travel to Malvern Town on Saturday.
l Meanwhile, Lye manager Martin Thomas has insisted there is no pressure on his players despite admitting his table-toppers are not firing on all cylinders.
Thomas was left to rue missed opportunities from his dwindling forward line as they dropped more points when drawing 1-1 against second-from-bottom Wolverhampton Sporting Community on Tuesday after losing 1-0 to Pegasus on Saturday.
Lye have also been hit with the news that striker Kevin Nickle will be out for around a month with a hamstring injury.
Andy Mitchell is sidelined with a knee strain and top marksman Ricky Anslow moved to Chasetown last week.
"The last few games have been a tale of missed opportunities for us," said Thomas. "Tuesday's game was disappointing because we could have scored four or five if we had some ice in our veins in front of goal."
Lye entertain Black Country Rangers on Saturday and Wellington Amateurs on Tuesday.


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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Cancer Genetics
What Makes a Good Geneticist?
Hello, I am currently a senior in high school, and I`m really interested in genetics and possibly going to pursue higher education in that field. Since you are no doubt a busy and important man, I am just going to ask you one question: What types of character traits can make a good geneticist, and which character traits can prevent someone from being a good geneticist?
Thank you for your time.
There are a variety of people who work in the field of genetics; some are basic researchers who work at universities teaching and doing basic research on genetics; some work in clinical laboratories supervising clinical testing; some work in biotech industries; and some are clinical medical geneticists who work primarily with genetics as it influences human health. Each will have slightly different qualities that fit best with their professions. Some will require strict attention to detail, some will require the ability to work with people in challenging health situations, and some will require the ability to think about things in new ways. All will require a basic curiosity about why biological processes happen the way they do, and what other intrinsic factors influence these processes. Listed below are some websites that you might find helpful in learning more about genetics.
Duane D Culler, PhD, MS
Clinical Instructor of Genetics
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University


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Max Payne 2
Rockstar Steam sale has various titles for 50-75% off
Rockstar games are on sale through Steam this weekend.
Max Payne 2 headlines
Max Payne 2 latest GFW title to go to 99c
There was a time before Alan Wake for Remedy. A time where we had Max Payne.
Hurry - Max Payne bundle is just $3.74 on Steam
Those wanting some Max Payne cheap, but not wanting the full Rockstar Collection up on Steam are in luck today, as there's a bundle for the flawed hero on sale until 2.00pm today.
Max Payne 1 and 2 on XBLA now
The first two Max Payne games are now up on XBLA for 1,200 MS Points each. These have to be worth a punt, if only to laugh at Max's wank-face as he dives through the air in slow motion. Off you go.
30% off all Rockstar games this weekend
Due to our shameful lack of update yesterday, you now only have a half a weekend to take advantage of the fact all Rockstar games have been reduced by 30 percent on Steam until tomorrow. A string of classics – such as GTA IV, Bully: Scholarship Edition, Max Payne 2 and Vice City – are […]


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Micronutrients and Enteric Infections in African Children
This study has been completed.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Information provided by:
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: August 19, 2005
Last updated: August 26, 2010
Last verified: March 2007
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Detailed Description:
The purpose of the study is to see if giving vitamin and mineral supplements helps to protect infants and children from diarrhea, which vitamins and minerals help to improve a child's weight and growth, and if the same results occur in infants and children with HIV. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. Study participants will include 516 infants aged 4-6 months. Participants will include: (1) HIV-infected children, (2) HIV-uninfected children with HIV-infected mothers, and (3) HIV-uninfected children with HIV-uninfected mothers. Subjects will have an equal chance of receiving one of three different vitamin and/or mineral supplements during the study. Study procedures will include up to 7 blood samples and stool samples every 3 months and body composition every 6 months. Participants will be involved in the study for up to 18 months.
|Enteric Infections
|Drug: Vitamin + Zinc + micronutrient mixture Drug: Vitamin A Drug: Vitamin A + Zinc
|Phase 2
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|The Effect of Prophylactic Micronutrient Supplementation of Morbidity and Growth in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected Children in South Africa
Resource links provided by NLM:
MedlinePlus related topics: HIV/AIDSU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):
|Estimated Enrollment:
|Estimated Study Completion Date:
|January 2006
A major initiative to reduce the impact of enteric infections on health and nutrition has been micronutrient supplementation. Measures for routine vitamin A and zinc supplementation are gaining increasing support from international agencies, including UNICEF and the WHO. The primary objective of this study is to compare the effect of 3 micronutrient supplements (vitamin A only, vitamin A and zinc, and a micronutrient mixture containing vitamins A, B, C, D, E, K, and calcium, copper, folate, iodine, iron, magnesium and zinc) on prevalent days of diarrhea in 3 groups of children (HIV-infected children, HIV-uninfected children born to HIV-infected women, and HIV-uninfected children born to women without HIV infection). The secondary objectives of the study are: (1) to describe the pathogen-specific pattern of enteric infections in both HIV-infected and uninfected children during ages 6-24 months, with a focus on infection with C. parvum and other protozoan pathogens and (2) to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of micronutrient supplementation in children aged 6-24 months. The tertiary objectives of the study are: (1) to assess whether either zinc alone or a micronutrient mixture containing zinc affects linear growth and body composition and (2) to determine if infection with specific enteric pathogens is associated with the development of persistent diarrhea lasting > 14 days. The proposed study will be conducted through the African Centre for Health and Population Studies located in Hlabisa Health District, in northern KwaZulu Natal (KZN), South Africa. The study is a randomized, double blind, clinical controlled trial with 3 arms in a study population of infants stratified by HIV status and the HIV status of their mothers. Study participants will include a total of 516 infants aged 4-6 months. The following evaluations will be made throughout the study: (1) blood samples, (2) stool sampling-routine (collected at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age), (3) stool sampling-during diarrheal episodes, and (3) lean body mass and anthropometry (assessed at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age). Study participants will be involved in study related procedures for up to 18 months.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|4 Months to 6 Months (Child)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
4-6 months of age (stratified by HIV status) Infant able to take oral preparations Consent of parent/guardian HIV status obtained from mother and child
Exclusion Criteria:
Documented micronutrient supplementation other than vitamin A in the preceding month Less than 60% of mean weight for age by NCHS guidelines (micronutrient intervention obligatory according to WHO guidelines for management of severely malnourished children) Persistent diarrhea (>=7 days) at the time of study enrollment Exclusive breastfeeding Infants in whom a second confirmatory HIV test cannot be obtained (when required) Co-enrollment of the infant in other clinical intervention trials e.g. antibiotic or vaccine trials
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below. For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00133419
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00133419
|South Africa
|Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies
|Mtubatuba, South Africa, 3935
Sponsors and Collaborators
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
More Information
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
Keywords provided by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 25, 2017
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
Chhagan MK, Van den Broeck J, Luabeya KK, Mpontshane N, Tomkins A, Bennish ML. Effect on longitudinal growth and anemia of zinc or multiple micronutrients added to vitamin A: a randomized controlled trial in children aged 6-24 months. BMC Public Health. 2010 Mar 18;10:145. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-145.
Chhagan MK, Van den Broeck J, Luabeya KK, Mpontshane N, Tucker KL, Bennish ML. Effect of micronutrient supplementation on diarrhoeal disease among stunted children in rural South Africa. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jul;63(7):850-7. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2008.78. Epub 2009 Jan 28.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00133419 History of Changes
|Obsolete Identifiers:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|August 19, 2005
|Last Updated:
|August 26, 2010
Keywords provided by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):
micronutrient, supplementation, Africa, children, HIV
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Vitamin A
Trace Elements
Retinol palmitate
Growth Substances
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action
Protective Agents
Anticarcinogenic Agents
Antineoplastic Agents
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 25, 2017


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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first of four profiles of the candidates running for the 4th state Senate District seat: Mickey Harrington, Dan Levine, Jim Nielsen and Jann Reed. Their 30-minute interviews with this newspaper's editorial board can be heard online at ChicoER.com.
Mickey Harrington is no newcomer to statewide elections. He's run for the Assembly three times. But he had to scramble to get his hat in the ring to run for the 4th District state Senate seat that was vacated by Doug LaMalfa.
Harrington said he had just six days to become a candidate, after LaMalfa announced he was giving up his two final two years in the Senate to run for the congressional seat of retiring Wally Herger.
Harrington said he had planned to run for the Senate seat, but hadn't expected the race until 2013, so he had to scramble to get his paperwork to Sacramento.
"(Jim) Nielsen's signs were up before the open date," Harrington said. "It was kind of a fix."
Harrington said he is in favor of Proposition 37, which requires labels for genetically modified foods in California, and he accused his opponent Jim Nielsen of "drawing money from Monsanto" (a company that works in genetically modified crops).
He supports Proposition 30, the governor's tax increase, and opposes Proposition 32, which prohibits unions from using payroll deducted funds for political purposes.
When asked about the state's budget, Harrington said there are many people working "underground jobs" that could bring in billions of dollars if taxed.
Harrington said he was a strong supporter of the (defeated) Proposition 19. "I never smoked marijuana, but it needs to be legalized ... so we don't have police and sheriff departments chasing down" people, he said. Just like with alcohol prohibition, "gangsters have moved in," he said.
On business regulations, Harrington said regulations occur because someone "is doing something really wrong." It's too bad, but "a lot of people have no ethics."
Currently, pension reform is a hot topic. Harrington said the majority of people with public pensions work for less than $20 an hour, and take less knowing a pension is included.
Having a 401(k) investment option isn't the same because a person can lose half their money overnight, he said.
When asked how Republicans and Democrats could work together, Harrington said he is a "professional negotiator." In bargaining, "you ask for something and explain why you need it," he said. And then you figure out the things you can live with and live without, he said.


text: By John Matthews, founder of Gray Cat Enterprises Inc. It was the situation that everyone dreads. Out of the blue, the anxiety-filled request was made—the CEO had summoned me to his office. Thoughts raced through my head—mostly bad thoughts, mind you—of why I was being asked to join him and the COO in an impromptu


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eBay and the Bears
It's all about banks this week. At least that's how it feels. I'm not going to toss my hat in the ring on any more of those trades, though. Wells Fargo (WFC) was painful enough, and I have to say the reactions in those stocks are driven by much more than top- and bottom-line beats or misses. If a tech stock posted a beat like Goldman Sachs (GS), we'd probably be looking at a 24% gain rather than a 4% gain. I realize this may be a bit of an exaggeration sprinkled with sarcasm, but I am going to pass on the long list of banks directly in front of us.
eBay (EBAY) heads into earnings with a similar technical feel as it did last time around, when the chart appeared bearish and the initial blink-of-the-eye reaction in the stock was bearish. Then EBAY turned and marched higher, blowing bears out of the water. I wonder, though, how many times EBAY can dance with a bearish technical entry into earnings. If I wanted to go with a lottery ticket on EBAY, it would be long January $50-$48-$47 skip strike put butterflies at $0.26. I could just buy the January $50-$48 put spread, but I can buy 1.3x as many of the put combinations, which would put me in a better position on any move below $50 while staying over $47.75....166 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
There's no substitute for a trading floor to get great ideas, so Jim Cramer created a better one at Real Money and blogs there exclusively. We then added legendary hedge fund manager, Doug Kass, with his exclusive Daily Diary and best investing ideas. Staffed with more than 4 dozen investing pros, money managers, journalists and analysts, Real Money Pro gives you a flood of opinions, analysis and actionable trading advice found nowhere else, and allows you to interact directly with each expert.
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Topic: Immunotherapy for Cancer (from Smithsonian online article)
Take that, cancer!: The War on Cancer has been going on a long time, with its share of false hopes, but a growing number of experts suggest that the fight may have turned a corner with a treatment known as cancer immunotherapy. Last month, for instance, Science magazine named it the "Breakthrough of the Year."
So what exactly is cancer immunotherapy? Put simply, it is using drugs that spur the body's immune system to battle tumor cells directly. The reason this doesn't happen naturally, as researchers discovered a few years ago, is that tumor cells are able to wrap themselves in a protective shield. But new drugs are being tested that have been able to empower the immune system to break through that protection and allow the body to do its job in fighting cancer cells on its own. The number of cases where immunotherapy has been tested is still relatively small, but the results have been encouraging. And, as Jennifer Couzin-Frankel wrote in Science, "Immunotherapy marks an entirely different way of treating cancer—by targeting the immune system, not the tumor itself."
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovatio … z2qigGCijE
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12!: http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter


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Being Bill Murray
From Caddyshack to Lost in Translation, Midwestern-born Bill Murray has created some of Hollywood's most idiosyncratic characters.
Sophistication. It's not an adjective one expects to append to the man who played Dr. Peter Venkman, the parapsychologist, apparition chaser and—more importantly—canny operator in the Ghostbusters movie: "You're more like a game show host," notes one of his clients, as he snoops through her apartment like a gamy version of an appraiser on "Antiques Roadshow."
Yet complexity, and an intriguing working-class elegance, are defining undercurrents in the acting career of 54-year-old Wilmette, Illinois, native Bill Murray. With a wry twinkle and a flick of the wrist, he's flung a number of notable performances into the cultural mainstream, acting that indicates there are at least two eras of Murray.
The first epoch starts with the punch-the-clock greatness rendered during his tenure on the original late-'70s run of "Saturday Night Live" and covers the addled Carl, the groundskeeper with a wayward lower lip who seemed to be drifting towards magnetic north, a streak of violence and a taste for Zen mastery in Caddyshack. The second period allows for vehicles that show his emotional intelligence as an actor, films like Groundhog Day, in which he is forced to relive a 24-hour stretch for what seems like forever to the self-loving—and eventually self-loathing—weatherman he plays.
Groundhog Day heralded an eventual move to deeply felt turns in more personal projects like writer-director Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, for which his portrayal of the yearning, slightly frayed stranger in a strange land netted him a Best Actor Oscar nomination. His maturation as an actor can also be glimpsed in his collaborations with writer-director Wes Anderson on Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and their newest, upcoming film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. In Aquatic, Murray plays a dedicated -- and faded -- oceanographer who finds complications thicker than the weave in Anderson's handmade tweed suits, including physical threats to his well-being and a cocky rival (played by Owen Wilson) who may be his son.
As Murray relaxes with a Cuban Punch Churchill, he talks amiably about what draws him to his work. Smoke curls lazily into the air of his sprawling upstate New York compound perched above the Hudson River, where he lives with his lively wife, Jenny, and their energetic, curious sons. The family environment has echoes of his own childhood. He was the fifth of nine children of Edward and Lucille Murray, who raised their brood in the Chicago suburbs. He went to a nearby Catholic high school, paying for some of his schooling by caddying at local golf courses. After dropping out of Regis College in Denver where he'd been a premed student, he broke into show business, eventually joining his older brother Brian at The Second City comedy troupe in Chicago.
Sitting in Murray's private world today, however, another word comes to mind: curiosity. It's what attracted him to Paris in the mid-1980s, where he lived, took classes at the Sorbonne and immersed himself in the culture. Writer-director and friend Tom Schiller once described Murray's restlessness as an "itinerant monk thing."
"It's the gypsy mentality, which is one of the things I love about making movies," Murray reflects, exhaling a plume of Havana smoke. "Imagine a group of people who are thrown together, without their loved ones. They don't have that familial thing. All you have are the people you work with, so you lean on each other because that's all you know. And that oddness is compounded by the fact that you're in this new place and you don't know the city."
He's been on the road quite a bit in the last year, having been stationed in Rome and filming the highly anticipated Aquatic with Anderson. "I think he may still be over there shooting it," Murray says with a laugh. While in Rome, Murray would wander the streets around the apartment he rented near St. Peter's Cathedral, taking in the area as if he were inhaling it.
"I loved that time I spent [in Rome]," he says. "Sure, there was great food and a beautiful landscape. But locations always offer that kind of thing, and you can live in it or hide out in your trailer. What I really like about the movies I do is, we have to become our village for a while. The movie business is the only place where communes still exist, and maybe that system works because it's temporary and none of the political complications of communes come into play. And if everyone accepts that, that I'm gonna be taken care of by the state and also that I'm gonna take care of this movie when it needs me, then the movie becomes greater than the sum of its parts. That's what Wes does, and it's what happened with Sofia. And the movies reflect that. But I'm not sure that's so common on movies anymore. It sounds strange to say it, but I think communism—that is, communal living—starts at the top. That means if the person at the top—the stars, or the director—is willing to live with less and say, 'Whatever the movie needs, I'm gonna do,' then everyone benefits."
That kind of constancy is evident going back to Murray's performance in the 1982 inside-the-Actor's-Studio-neuroses comedy Tootsie, in which he played the dazed but intense playwright roommate of Dustin Hoffman's title character, who becomes a huge and inadvertent success pretending to be a woman. Initially hired for two scenes, Murray's offhanded intensity supplied balance and clarity. And he improvised every single line. "He was so good, we kept adding scenes for him. I not only wanted to see more of him, but it was a fight to keep the cameras from jiggling when he was on because we were all laughing," Toostie director Sydney Pollack recently said in Toronto. "Bill had only done those comedies like Stripes and Meatballs. I had no idea what an actor he was. But he is the real thing."
"I think I learned how to act on Meatballs," Murray says. But he doesn't mean understanding how to perform. He's referring to his own comportment. "I could be the guy who hides out in his trailer, or the guy who acts up, or the guy who has an emotional investment in the whole thing. That's something I learned being on stage in Second City. That's really my solace. If I work hard to make you look good—even if it's one in the morning and there are more people onstage than in the theater—you'll do the same for me. It's a matter of responsibility, even for people who aren't in the performing departments. To me, it's not just the actors who are responsible for that environment, or even the director. It's the whole crew that creates the environment. It's why when an outsider walks on the set, everyone knows. You can feel it."
He's most engaged when the demands he makes of himself are matched by his coworkers, as he found when he starred with Sigourney Weaver in the 2002 Off-Off Broadway stage play The Guys, in which he played a fire chief trying to come to grips with the aftermath of the 9/11 atrocities and honor the lives of the men he lost. "It was just something that had to be done. It was so hard going out there night after night with a situation that was so raw. She never lost sight of the moment onstage, because she kept focus, and that kept things going right. It helped me keep on track, too. John Belushi, who I've been thinking about a lot lately, was like that, too. It's been over twenty years since he died. He was just incredible on the stage. You couldn't take your eyes off him. He knew what you wanted from him, too, and he could do it."
Devotion to craft is a code that Murray adores. "Seeing my older brother Brian and all of his pals onstage at Second City is what made me wanna act. But until you start doing it, you don't realize how good somebody is. Y'know, you see someone on stage making people laugh, like Brian did, and you just think he's being funny up there. Then, you get up there and learn how tough it is."
Brian Doyle Murray cowrote and appeared with his younger brother in Caddyshack—which, like Groundhog Day, was directed by Harold Ramis—and Bill still marvels at the final result. "It's incredible to me that Harold took four different acting styles—me, Chevy [Chase] Ted [Knight] and [Rodney] Dangerfield—and blended all into one movie, instead of it seeming like four different movies. And I was reaching with it, too. People can feel all of those things just meshing on it.
"I think more people bring that one up to me more than anything else I've done, and it seems to mean more to people as time goes on," Murray observes. When asked about the mini-remake of "Caddy Shack" starring Tiger Woods—the recent American Express ad—Murray chuckles and says, "You gotta say, he committed to it. I was impressed."
Though he doesn't take himself seriously, Murray is serious about the magnitude of a film production and what's required to keep the momentum going. "It is like a military operation, and people have to work as many hours as it takes to get the job done—more hours than there are on the clock sometimes. Even on the worst movies, people work hard, and nobody sets out to make a bad one. Well," he smiles, "almost no one.
"But anyway, on Larger Than Life [a comedy in which he plays a motivational speaker who inherits an elephant], we were shooting this one scene on the Colorado River, and there wasn't much to do except go to the motel since it was kind of an impoverished situation—no restaurants or places to hang out. But it was this crazy place that was so incredibly beautiful. So I hired this raft-charter company to raft us up and down the river all day long. Someone said, 'How are you gonna do that?' And I said, 'Let's take one person from each department so everyone gets a turn.' "But no one wanted to go first, because it was one of those productions where everyone was determined to be much more professional than the guy next to him—because no one wanted to be less professional than the elephant. So I forced the head of every department—the director, the cinematographer—to take the first ride with me, while things were getting set up. It was only a twenty-five-minute trip, and afterwards, we all rushed back to work soaking. But by having the key person in every department go first, that made it cool for everyone else to relax and take their turn.
"To me, it was like this: I shot a movie on the Colorado River, and if I didn't experience it, just walk to work every day, it's like it never happened. You might as well fly over it."
It's important to Murray that his coworkers feel that they have a stake in the production. "Otherwise, you might as well just be washing cars in Manitoba," he shrugs. The recent death of singer Rick James reminds Murray of another instance in which he lobbed a cherry bomb at potential movie-set torpor. "When I was on What About Bob? [a comedy in which he plays a self-absorbed obsessive compulsive who undermines his rigid psychiatrist, who is played by Richard Dreyfuss], we were in the boondocks. On this man-made lake with nothing to do, and I mean, the middle of nowhere—not even much television. We were an hour from Roanoke [Virginia]; now, that may not mean much to you, but people in Roanoke know what I mean. And MC Hammer was coming to Roanoke. You have to remember what that was like when Hammer came on the scene, because that was a great song. Well, Rick James's 'Super Freak,' the song he sampled, was a great song, and when 'U Can't Touch This' played, you got up and danced. That was some groove."
He stands to demonstrate, humming the "Super Freak" bass line—doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo—and wiggling his hips, while maintaining a smiling concentration. "It got you sort of excited. So I chartered this old bus, and we went right from the set to the Hammer concert. We had a boom box playing all that music, and I think some moonshine, and made it a party all the way to the concert. I called my then agents and said, Get me tickets because I'm bringing a bunch of people to the show. And we get there, and [Hammer and his crew] were excited because they can't believe someone they know is coming, because they'd been playing all the smaller spots, like Allentown. And he says, 'C'mon backstage—how many are with you?' "
Murray shakes his head and laughs: "'All of them,' and I pointed to this line of people as far as the eye can see. They happened to have fifty-five extra seats on the side of the stage and we took 'em. I ended up joining Hammer on stage—this incredible, elevated stage that was filled with dancers and all of these musicians who weren't playing their instruments—and I did the dance. That's right, the Hammer dance. Surprisingly, I knew all the steps. But I learned why he wore those weird chef's pants, because I split my pants right up the back. And since it was the end of the month off on a remote location, all I had was my pants. I was going commando, if you know what I mean. I was working without a net, and stumbled to the side of the stage, and the costumer—who's now my wife—had these giant safety pins. She fixed me up, and I went out and finished the number. Later [Hammer] told me that professional athletes would come up and not be able to finish the number. I wondered if it was because of the pants, and he said, no, they didn't have the stamina."
"I know that 'U Can't Touch This' took on a new definition that night," he says, finishing his smoke.
It's that spirit of keeping himself open to things that led to his joining indie-filmmaking legend Jim Jarmusch, with whom Murray is working in pre-production for a film with an imminent start date. They met while taping a talk show in Manhattan and got together over dinner afterwards at Balthazar. To add to the synchronicity, Sofia Coppola's agent was dining at the same restaurant that evening; she called Coppola, who had been chasing the elusive Murray for months trying to get him to star in Lost in Translation, and alerted her to the sighting. Coppola viewed his meeting with Jarmusch as a good sign and she was proved right since he did eventually contact her.
Murray's nose for adventure made him want to work with Wes Anderson. "My agents kept sending me copies of Bottle Rocket, his first movie, and I never watched 'em. Still haven't seen it. Don't tell him. But I read the script and it was obvious to me he knew what he wanted, and that sureness, that precision, would pull in the right kinds of people."
It could be said that the actor is at the point in his career where he shifts from big studio enterprises like Charlie's Angels to independent-minded films that keep his pilot light blazing. But that wouldn't explain why, much earlier in his career, he followed his freshman film success Meatballs with a triumphant assault on the screen as the doomsayer/bon vivant Hunter S. Thompson in the otherwise forgettable Where the Buffalo Roam. "Oh my God," he says, laughing as he fires up an Opus X, "that part was a hard one to get out of my system; Hunter insinuates his way into your soul. I warned Johnny Depp that would happen to him [Depp played a Thompson-like character named Raoul Duke in Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas] and he learned the hard way."
Murray has just returned from the Dominican Republic with first-time director Andy Garcia, who was there making an autobiographical film about growing up in '50s Cuba. "He's a gent, Andy, a real gentleman who's devoted to his family, though he's one of the slowest golfers on God's green Earth. He called after Aquatic, when I didn't think I ever wanted to work again. What made the Andy movie happen is my wife likes Andy: 'That's OK. Go work with him. He's a gentleman.'
Murray happens to be a gentleman as well—the kind of fella who actually stands when a woman joins him at a dinner table; the only other person I've ever met besides my father and myself to do so. "Yeah, I noticed that about you. Isn't it always so funny when a woman says, 'Oh, you're such a gentleman'? And you're just doing the respectful thing?" he says. "It's not like I'm tossing a camel hair coat over a puddle," he muses, rolling his eyes, " though now, I suppose I'll have to. But, it's just something to do to show that you're not unconscious, and it makes people feel good."
Murray and Garcia have become fixtures at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament on the PGA Tour every year. Murray is as well-known for his antics on the course, as for his golf. "The first time I went to Pebble Beach, I went with George Pepper, the guy who got me to go," says Murray. "He was the editor of Golf magazine. I'd been asked to go before, but I was always working—you know, back in the day when all I did was work. George called me up and said, 'Do you wanna go to Pebble Beach? Because they'll invite me if you come.' 'Oh, OK.' That was a good enough reason to go. I played with a guy named John Adams. Big John. Big hitter, longtime tour player who never won a tournament but played on the tour a long time and made a very nice life of that. Laid back guy—very quiet."
Taking a break from the White Plains, New York, location of the new film he's shooting with Jarmusch, Murray smiles slyly and takes an amused pause before answering a question. "Am I a laid-back golfer?
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- Releases
- White papers
- Bulletin
- USB-IF to host USB Developer Days in Taipei
- Programmable color sequence RGB LED driver for IoT applications
- Gorilla deploys next-generation video analytics with AI-based recognition technology for smarter surveillance
- ISSI introduces AEC-Q100 qualified SLC NAND Flash for automotive and industrial markets
- Taiwan ETC wins WITSA's Private Sector Excellence Award
- Unisys IT Implementation of Unisys Stealth Solution for Data Center Segmentation
- AccuTouch Five Wire Resistive Touchscreens
- Getting the Most Out Of Your Next Generation Digital Security Surveillance System
- Embracing the New Generation Intel Atom Family with DDR3 Memory Support
- Got The Message? Ensuring efficient and reliable delivery of content across a mission critical digital signage network
- Perforce Software Wins Develop Industry Excellence Award for the Second Year in a Row
- Perforce Teams with Leading Git Client Developer fournova
- Perforce Introduces Helix GitSwarm: Flexible Git Ecosystem Mirrored to a Powerful Mainline Repository
- Perforce Helix Distributed Version Control System Brings Greater Flexibility While Maintaining Enterprise-class Security, Auditability and Control
- Perforce Powers Development of Legacy Quest for iOS and Android
- Digitimes Research: Apple outraces Google for on-device AI development
- Mikro Mesa, ITRI developing micro LED panels
- Foxconn chairman to visit Wisconsin in early October
- IoT applications may take root in Indonesia in 5 years: Q&A with Advantech executive Ramdhani Gumilar
- SMIC to build new plant in Ningbo
- Asustek expects China gaming notebook market to reach 3 million units in 2018, says paper
- MEMS sensor demand for smartphones, automotive surging
- ITC ruling raises Section 201 concern
- Aemulus rolls out 5G test solutions
- China August mobile communication users grows to 1.382 billion
- Wearable brands releasing new devices
- Samsung ready to mass produce MRAM chips using 28nm FD-SOI process
- Sigurd to enter board of Winstek
- PlayNitride chairman upbeat about micro LED
- Young Fast shifting focus to niche touch panel market
- Corning keen to expand Gorilla presence in auto glass market
- iPhone X component suppliers told to slow down delivery, say sources
- Motech PV module alliance plan faces challenges
- Taiwan solar cell makers reportedly to form alliance to better competitiveness
- CPT reports tight supply for all-screen smartphone panels
- Panel makers look to mini LED backlighting
- China PV installations reach 3.36GWp in August
- Valeo joins ISELED Alliance
- Taiwan sets tentative 2018 feed-in tariffs for renewable energy
- China makes 820 million smartphones in January-July, says MIIT
26-Sep-2017 markets closed
|TSE electronic
|OTC electronic
- Imagination sale set to test UK government over China deals (Sep 24) - The Financial Times
- Bitcoin is a fraud which will 'blow up' according to JPMorgan Chase CEO (Sep 13) - Neowin.net
- Trump blocks China-backed bid to buy US chipmaker (Sep 13) - New York Times
- Yen may strengthen to 100 against the dollar by year end, HSBC says (Sep 14) - Bloomberg
- Reactions to Apple iPhone X (Sep 13) - BBC News
- Apple suffers 'major iPhone X leak' (Sep 11) - BBC News
- South Korean court rejects Qualcomm's request to suspend antitrust body's order (Sep 5) - Reuters
- Apple and Accenture partner to create iOS business solutions (Aug 29) - Company release
- Digitimes Research: Top-5 notebook brand and top-3 ODMs see shipments slide on month in July
- Micron executive skeptical about UFS
- Enterprise board choices with new AMD and Intel CPU platforms: Whom to support?
- Frankfurt ISC 2017 post-show European high end computing adventure: a place in Taiwan for it?
- Taiwan market: Paypal enhances service by disabling domestic payment processing
- AMD launches Zen-based datacenter processors and new GPU accelerators for servers
- Apple announces two new iPad Pros
- Computex 2017: Acer Predator Triton 700 gaming notebook to Ship with Nvidia GTX 1080 GPUs
- Computex 2017: Asustek shows new members for its ZenBook and VivoBook
- AMD unveils Radeon Pro Duo graphics card
IoT applications may take root in Indonesia in 5 years: Q&A with Advantech executive Ramdhani Gumilar
While the global development of smart manufacturing, smart medicine and smart cities is gaining momentum...
Machine vision will gradually expand into consumer applications: Q&A with Arbor CTO Karl Chen
Taiwan-based Arbor Technology has been in the industrial PC (IPC) secor for over 20 years and has always...
5G brings new business opportunities: Q&A with Alpha Networks chairman John Lee
Taiwan-based networking device maker Alpha Networks has expanded its product lines from mainly Ethernet...
Solar passenger planes a reality soon: Q&A with Si2 co-pilot Bertrand Piccard and Covestro CEO Patrick Thomas
At the 2017 World Congress on Information Industry (WCIT) held September 11-13 in Taipei, there were...
- Smartphone and tablet industry: The view from Taiwan - May 2012
Taiwan-based companies have a long and successful history of involvement in the supply chain for mobile devices, which for the purposes of this article consist...
- Taiwan motherboard industry overview - May 2012
The year 2011 saw the motherboard industry reverse its trend of declining shipments year-on-year, to post a slight 0.2% growth. This upturn in fortunes was expected...
- Notebook market overview - Jun 2011
The notebook industry in 2010 experienced several major events that significantly changed the industry's ecosystem for the year and the industry is also believed...
- LCD TV overview - Jun 2011
Growth of the global LCD TV market was not as strong as expected in 2010 as the market continued to feel the aftershocks of the economic recession that had hit...
- China AMOLED panel capacity expansion forecast, 2016-2020
This Digitimes Research Special Report examines the China AMOLED industry, focusing on the expansion capacity of the makers, the current implementation plans of major smartphone vendors in the market and the technological hurdles faced by the China makers.
- Global AP demand forecast, 2017-2020
Digitimes Research expects global AP shipments to surpass the 1.9 billion mark in 2017, with smartphones remaining the main application. Qualcomm will be leading the market in 2017, as other players continue playing catch up and scramble for funds to invest in more diverse applications.
- Global notebook shipment forecast, 2017 and beyond
This Digitimes Special Report examines key factors in the notebook industry, including products, vendors and ODMs, that will affect total shipments in 2017 and through 2021.


text: Politics 23 April 2012 RORO: Risk on, risk off Assets are moving in lockstep with each other, which is making life very hard for traders indeed. Sign up for our weekly email * Print HTML The phenomenon of RORO – risk on, risk off – is nicely illustrated in two graphs from HSBC, via alphaville: What you are seeing is two maps of correlations between various assets, in 2005 and 2012. Dark red means the two assets are strongly positively correlated, dark blue means they are strongly negatively correlated, and turquoise, green and yellow means no real correlation either way. In 2005, most assets were roughly uncorrelated. Some, like the NASDAQ, S&P500 and Dow Jones, moved in tandem, as did the four key European markets, and the key sovereign and investment-grade bonds. But for the most part, different assets gained and lost value in an uncorrelated manner. Come 2012, and everything changed. In the top left are all the assets which get stronger in the good times – mostly indexes like the FTSE, but also a few currencies and copper. In the bottom right, there are the assets used to hedge bets when times are rough: the sovereign bonds, the Yen, and right down at the bottom, the US Dollar. The former class are the risk-on assets; those investors buy when they want to take on risk to make money. The latter are the risk-off assets; those which they buy to get themselves some stability. The simplified reason for the change is the bimodal nature of responses to crises. When things go wrong, one of two things happen: Governments step in and save the day, or they don't. Quantitative easing is one example of this, but so are bank bailouts, expansions of the "firewall", and so on. If they happen, every risk-on asset rises; if they don't, everything falls. For those interested, a deeper examination of what RORO means for markets is given by Bryce Elder over at the FT, but the overall problem with the phenomenon is that it reduces trading to a bet on up or down. As a result, traders hate it. As Elder writes, instead of being able to do their job well, by focusing on the fundamentals of each asset they buy (asking questions like "is copper going to be in demand because of growing infrastructure demands"), "each day's profit or loss is determined to a large degree by results of a sovereign bond auction or comments by a central banker". Until the crisis is over, though, RORO is sticking around, so investors had better learn to live with it. › Ken narrows Boris's lead to two points Risk on: A trader at the New York Stock Exchange. Photograph: Getty Images Alex Hern is a technology reporter for the Guardian. He was formerly staff writer at the New Statesman. You should follow Alex on Twitter. Subscribe from just £1 per issue More Related articles How US states are fighting inequality with a "millionaire tax" Laying the foundations for conflict-free construction Lowland: small and mid-caps for…income? Subscription offer 12 issues for £12 + FREE book LEARN MORE Close This week's magazine


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Cars have changed since the days of adjusting carburetors and gapping points; they have gotten much, much better, with less required maintenance and more reliability. But when the mysterious Check Engine light comes on, what do you do? Lifting the hood and looking at the plastic cover sitting over the engine will not tell you much. CarMD seeks to give drivers a little more information about what is going on with their rides.
All post-1996 cars come with an OBD port somewhere in the cabin. Sometimes referred to as an OBD-II, this port accesses a standard Onboard Diagnostics system, with data from the engine computer and components. The CarMD Vehicle Health System plugs into this port and reads the car's data, then, when plugged into a PC, should show any issues on the CarMD Web site.
The CarMD box holds the port scanner, a plastic handheld device, along with a USB cable, installation CD, and user manual. The port scanner takes two triple-A batteries. A small monochrome LCD is mounted on the scanner, which can show a car's error codes, and color LEDs indicate its status when reading a car's data.
Plug it in
To test out the CarMD, I plugged it into a 1999 BMW Z3 Coupe, which, at the time, had an airbag warning lit up on the dashboard, but no other warning lights.
Following the instructions, I plugged the CarMD scanner into the car's OBD port, then turned on the car without starting the engine. The scanner beeped twice to indicate it had a good connection, and I had to wait until it finished downloading the car's data. In this car, the port was very accessible on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel, but it was angled in such a way that the scanner's LEDs and screen were not easily visible.
After about a minute, the scanner beeped four times to indicate it had successfully downloaded the car's data. With the software already installed on a PC, I plugged the CarMD into the PC's USB port and it automatically launched the CarMD Web site. After registering a free account on the site, I entered the car's VIN and it brought up the correct make, model, and year.
What Check Engine light?
And now to the car's health report. The site indicated that the car's Check Engine light was on, which it was not. At the same time, the site reported no primary or secondary engine error codes. It showed that there were 618 technical bulletins available for the car, and three safety recall notices. Probably the most useful part of the health report was a box showing whether the car was ready for a smog check. This indicator does not mean it would pass a smog check, just serving to show if all systems were operating as they should be. For this car, the site showed it was not ready for a smog check because it thought the Check Engine light was on.


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Dreams Are Real 011: Tales Of A Gypsy
While traveling through London, I had the pleasure of working with Jeff Mead. There are a few photographers that once you get into that space, you just click. Every shot comes out better than the last and by the time the session is over, you know you have more than just one great shot. Below are two photographs of two aspects of my life. The Gypsy in my fortune teller shrug by Voodoo Lounge and dress by Stop Staring and the pinup Queen. For more of Jeff's photos please take a look at my modeling page.
Every once in a while the wind will blow a certain way and I'm brought back to another time. Last night as the rain broke the heat of the summer, I was reminded of a time back in Massachusettes. Summers in MA can vary from hot and humid to cool and breezy. It just so happened there was a full moon that particular night and quite possibly a chance of rain. Holly and I crept out late with bowls of water and sponges. It has been said if you bathe outside in the light of a full moon, and no cloud passes beauty will come to you. As an ackward overweight thirteen year old with buck teeth, frizzy red hair, and freckles, this was a dream. We took our bowls out and began to wash in the back yard beneath the moonlight. I prayed to the moon and sky that the clouds would not pass over it. I needed this. The next morning we woke early before the sun could dry the fresh dew on the ground. There is an old spell that states if you wash your face with the dew of the morning, your skin will radiate with the beauty of nature and will always stay youthful. Holly and I spent a lot of time doing these spells. But spells have a way of working on their own time, or maybe I just grew into my features or maybe I just grew into me. As we grow older and begin to define ourselves as individuals, the things that make us feel good are what brings the beauty to our lives. I come from a long line of Mystics and Gamblers. My heritage makes me feel rich, wearing charms, and feeling the wind rush through my hair makes me feel immortal.
Last night I took out a deck my rep had sent me. I don't normally use this one but it seemed apprpriate. One card kept falling out over and over.
This chakra is located two fingers below your navel. It relates to your desires, emotions, and creativity. The great message of this card is to embrace yourself, your sexuality, creativity, and to alway remember you do matter.
This card is from the The Psychic Tarot Oracle Deck by John Holland


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Can anyone explain why Britannic sank to only a depth of 400ft where the Titanic is 12,000+ ft down?
Why such a HUGE difference? They were pretty much the same specs in terms of weight and length.
Just curious if anyone knows the answer. Are different areas of the world more deeper than others? That's about all I can think of.


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Bilateral hydronephrosis is the enlargement of the parts of the kidney that collect urine. Bilateral means both sides.
Hydronephrosis - bilateral
Bilateral hydronephrosis occurs when urine is unable to drain from the kidney into the bladder. Hydronephrosis is not itself a disease. It occurs as a result of a problem that prevents urine from draining out of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder.
Disorders linked with bilateral hydronephrosis include:
Signs of a problem are often found in a baby before birth during a pregnancy ultrasound.
A urinary tract infection in a newborn baby can signal a blockage in the kidney. An older child who gets repeat urinary tract infections should also be checked for blockage.
A higher than normal number of urinary tract infections is often the only symptom of the problem.
Common symptoms in adults may include:
The following tests can show bilateral hydronephrosis:
Placing a tube into the bladder (Foley catheter) may open the blockage. Other treatments include:
The underlying cause of the blockage needs to be found and treated once the buildup of urine is relieved.
Surgery performed while the baby is in the womb or shortly after birth can have good results in improving kidney function.
Return of renal function can vary, depending on the length of obstruction.
Kidney damage may result from conditions that cause hydronephrosis.
This problem is often found by the health care provider.
An ultrasound during pregnancy can show a blockage in the baby's urinary tract. This allows the problem to be treated with early surgery.
Other causes of blockage, such as kidney stones, can be detected early if people notice warning signs of kidney problems.
It is important to pay attention to general problems with urination.
Elder JS. Obstruction of the urinary tract. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 19th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2011:chap 534.
Frokiaer J, Zeidel ML. Urinary tract obstruction. In: Taal MW, Chertow GM, Marsden PA et al, eds. Brenner and Rector's The Kidney. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2011:chap 37.
Hsu THS, Nakada SY. Management of upper urinary tract obstruction In: Wein AJ, ed. Campbell-Walsh Urology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2011:chap 41.
Singh I, Strandhopy JW, Assimos DG. Pathophysiology of urinary tract obstruction. In: Wein AJ, ed. Campbell-Walsh Urology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2011:chap 40.
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