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By Jinesh Varia, Amazon Web Services
Cloud Architectures are designs of software applications that use Internet-accessible on-demand services. Applications built on Cloud Architectures are such that the underlying computing infrastructure is used only when it is needed (for example to process a user request), draw the necessary resources on-demand (like compute servers or storage), perform a specific job, then relinquish the unneeded resources and often dispose themselves after the job is done. While in operation the application scales up or down elastically based on resource needs.
In the first section, we describe an example of an application that is currently in production using the on-demand infrastructure provided by Amazon Web Services. This application allows a developer to do pattern-matching across millions of web documents. The application brings up hundreds of virtual servers on-demand, runs a parallel computation on them using an open source distributed processing framework called Hadoop, then shuts down all the virtual servers releasing all its resources back to the cloud, all with low programming effort and at a very reasonable cost for the caller.
In the second section, we discuss some best practices for using each Amazon Web Service - Amazon S3, Amazon SQS, Amazon SimpleDB and Amazon EC2 - to build an industrial-strength scalable application.
Why Cloud Architectures?
Cloud Architectures address key difficulties surrounding large-scale data processing. In traditional data processing it is difficult to get as many machines as an application needs. Second, it is difficult to get the machines when one needs them. Third, it is difficult to distribute and co-ordinate a large-scale job on different machines, run processes on them, and provision another machine to recover if one machine fails. Fourth, it is difficult to auto-scale up and down based on dynamic workloads. Fifth, it is difficult to get rid of all those machines when the job is done. Cloud Architectures solve such difficulties.
Applications built on Cloud Architectures run in-the-cloud where the physical location of the infrastructure is determined by the provider. They take advantage of simple APIs of Internet-accessible services that scale on-demand, that are industrial-strength, where the complex reliability and scalability logic of the underlying services remains implemented and hidden inside-the-cloud. The usage of resources in Cloud Architectures is as needed, sometimes ephemeral or seasonal, thereby providing the highest utilization and optimum bang for the buck.
Business Benefits of Cloud Architectures
There are some clear business benefits to building applications using Cloud Architectures. A few of these are listed here:
- Almost zero upfront infrastructure investment: If you have to build a large-scale system it may cost a fortune to invest in real estate, hardware (racks, machines, routers, backup power supplies), hardware management (power management, cooling), and operations personnel. Because of the upfront costs, it would typically need several rounds of management approvals before the project could even get started. Now, with utility-style computing, there is no fixed cost or startup cost.
- Just-in-time Infrastructure: In the past, if you got famous and your systems or your infrastructure did not scale you became a victim of your own success. Conversely, if you invested heavily and did not get famous, you became a victim of your failure. By deploying applications in-the-cloud with dynamic capacity management software architects do not have to worry about pre-procuring capacity for large-scale systems. The solutions are low risk because you scale only as you grow. Cloud Architectures can relinquish infrastructure as quickly as you got them in the first place (in minutes).
- More efficient resource utilization: System administrators usually worry about hardware procuring (when they run out of capacity) and better infrastructure utilization (when they have excess and idle capacity). With Cloud Architectures they can manage resources more effectively and efficiently by having the applications request and relinquish resources only what they need (on-demand).
- Usage-based costing: Utility-style pricing allows billing the customer only for the infrastructure that has been used. The customer is not liable for the entire infrastructure that may be in place. This is a subtle difference between desktop applications and web applications. A desktop application or a traditional client-server application runs on customer's own infrastructure (PC or server), whereas in a Cloud Architectures application, the customer uses a third party infrastructure and gets billed only for the fraction of it that was used.
- Potential for shrinking the processing time: Parallelization is the one of the great ways to speed up processing. If one compute-intensive or data-intensive job that can be run in parallel takes 500 hours to process on one machine, with Cloud Architectures, it would be possible to spawn and launch 500 instances and process the same job in 1 hour. Having available an elastic infrastructure provides the application with the ability to exploit parallelization in a cost-effective manner reducing the total processing time.
Examples of Cloud Architectures
There are plenty of examples of applications that could utilize the power of Cloud Architectures. These range from back-office bulk processing systems to web applications. Some are listed below:
- Processing Pipelines
- Document processing pipelines convert hundreds of thousands of documents from Microsoft Word to PDF, OCR millions of pages/images into raw searchable text
- Image processing pipelines create thumbnails or low resolution variants of an image, resize millions of images
- Video transcoding pipelines transcode AVI to MPEG movies
- Indexing create an index of web crawl data
- Data mining perform search over millions of records
- Batch Processing Systems
- Back-office applications (in financial, insurance or retail sectors)
- Log analysis analyze and generate daily/weekly reports
- Nightly builds perform nightly automated builds of source code repository every night in parallel
- Automated Unit Testing and Deployment Testing Test and deploy and perform automated unit testing (functional, load, quality) on different deployment configurations every night
- Websites
- Websites that "sleep" at night and auto-scale during the day
- Instant Websites websites for conferences or events (Super Bowl, sports tournaments)
- Promotion websites
- "Seasonal Websites" - websites that only run during the tax season or the holiday season ("Black Friday" or Christmas)
In this paper, we will discuss one application example in detail - code-named as "GrepTheWeb".
Cloud Architecture Example: GrepTheWeb
The Alexa Web Search web service allows developers to build customized search engines against the massive data that Alexa crawls every night. One of the features of their web service allows users to query the Alexa search index and get Million Search Results (MSR) back as output. Developers can run queries that return up to 10 million results.
The resulting set, which represents a small subset of all the documents on the web, can then be processed further using a regular expression language. This allows developers to filter their search results using criteria that are not indexed by Alexa (Alexa indexes documents based on fifty different document attributes) thereby giving the developer power to do more sophisticated searches. Developers can run regular expressions against the actual documents, even when there are millions of them, to search for patterns and retrieve the subset of documents that matched that regular expression.
This application is currently in production at Amazon.com and is code-named GrepTheWeb because it can "grep" (a popular Unix command-line utility to search patterns) the actual web documents. GrepTheWeb allows developers to do some pretty specialized searches like selecting documents that have a particular HTML tag or META tag or finding documents with particular punctuations ("Hey!", he said. "Why Wait?"), or searching for mathematical equations ("f(x) = Σx + W"), source code, e-mail addresses or other patterns such as "(dis)integration of life".
While the functionality is impressive, for us the way it was built is even more so. In the next section, we will zoom in to see different levels of the architecture of GrepTheWeb.
Figure 1 shows a high-level depiction of the architecture. The output of the Million Search Results Service, which is a sorted list of links and gzipped (compressed using the Unix gzip utility) in a single file, is given to GrepTheWeb as input. It takes a regular expression as a second input. It then returns a filtered subset of document links sorted and gzipped into a single file. Since the overall process is asynchronous, developers can get the status of their jobs by calling GetStatus() to see whether the execution is completed.
Performing a regular expression against millions of documents is not trivial. Different factors could combine to cause the processing to take lot of time:
- Regular expressions could be complex
- Dataset could be large, even hundreds of terabytes
- Unknown request patterns, e.g., any number of people can access the application at any given point in time
Hence, the design goals of GrepTheWeb included to scale in all dimensions (more powerful pattern-matching languages, more concurrent users of common datasets, larger datasets, better result qualities) while keeping the costs of processing down.
The approach was to build an application that not only scales with demand, but also without a heavy upfront investment and without the cost of maintaining idle machines ("downbottom"). To get a response in a reasonable amount of time, it was important to distribute the job into multiple tasks and to perform a Distributed Grep operation that runs those tasks on multiple nodes in parallel.
Figure 1 : GrepTheWeb Architecture - Zoom Level 1
Figure 2: GrepTheWeb Architecture - Zoom Level 2
Zooming in further, GrepTheWeb architecture looks like as shown in Figure 2 (above). It uses the following AWS components:
- Amazon S3 for retrieving input datasets and for storing the output dataset
- Amazon SQS for durably buffering requests acting as a "glue" between controllers
- Amazon SimpleDB for storing intermediate status, log, and for user data about tasks
- Amazon EC2 for running a large distributed processing Hadoop cluster on-demand
- Hadoop for distributed processing, automatic parallelization, and job scheduling
GrepTheWeb is modular. It does its processing in four phases as shown in figure 3. The launch phase is responsible for validating and initiating the processing of a GrepTheWeb request, instantiating Amazon EC2 instances, launching the Hadoop cluster on them and starting all the job processes. The monitor phase is responsible for monitoring the EC2 cluster, maps, reduces, and checking for success and failure. The shutdown phase is responsible for billing and shutting down all Hadoop processes and Amazon EC2 instances, while the cleanup phase deletes Amazon SimpleDB transient data.
Figure 3: Phases of GrepTheWeb Architecture
Figure 4: GrepTheWeb Architecture - Zoom Level 3
Detailed Workflow for Figure 4:
- On application start, queues are created if not already created and all the controller threads are started. Each controller thread starts polling their respective queues for any messages.
- When a StartGrep user request is received, a launch message is enqueued in the launch queue.
- Launch phase: The launch controller thread picks up the launch message, and executes the launch task, updates the status and timestamps in the Amazon SimpleDB domain, enqueues a new message in the monitor queue and deletes the message from the launch queue after processing.
- The launch task starts Amazon EC2 instances using a JRE pre-installed AMI , deploys required Hadoop libraries and starts a Hadoop Job (run Map/Reduce tasks).
- Hadoop runs map tasks on Amazon EC2 slave nodes in parallel. Each map task takes files (multithreaded in background) from Amazon S3, runs a regular expression (Queue Message Attribute) against the file from Amazon S3 and writes the match results along with a description of up to 5 matches locally and then the combine/reduce task combines and sorts the results and consolidates the output.
- The final results are stored on Amazon S3 in the output bucket
- Monitor phase:The monitor controller thread picks up this message, validates the status/error in Amazon SimpleDB and executes the monitor task, updates the status in the Amazon SimpleDB domain, enqueues a new message in the shutdown queue and billing queue and deletes the message from monitor queue after processing.
- The monitor task checks for the Hadoop status (JobTracker success/failure) in regular intervals, updates the SimpleDB items with status/error and Amazon S3 output file.
- Shutdown phase: The shutdown controller thread picks up this message from the shutdown queue, and executes the shutdown task, updates the status and timestamps in Amazon SimpleDB domain, deletes the message from the shutdown queue after processing.
- The shutdown task kills the Hadoop processes, terminates the EC2 instances after getting EC2 topology information from Amazon SimpleDB and disposes of the infrastructure.
- The billing task gets EC2 topology information, Simple DB Box Usage, Amazon S3 file and query input and calculates the billing and passes it to the billing service.
- Cleanup phase: Archives the SimpleDB data with user info.
Users can execute GetStatus on the service endpoint to get the status of the overall system (all controllers and Hadoop) and download the filtered results from Amazon S3 after completion.
The Use of Amazon Web Services
In the next four subsections we present rationales of use and describe how GrepTheWeb uses AWS services.
How Amazon S3 Was Used
In GrepTheWeb, Amazon S3 acts as an input as well as an output data store. The input to GrepTheWeb is the web itself (compressed form of Alexa's Web Crawl), stored on Amazon S3 as objects and updated frequently. Because the web crawl dataset can be huge (usually in terabytes) and always growing, there was a need for a distributed, bottomless persistent storage. Amazon S3 proved to be a perfect fit.
How Amazon SQS Was Used
Amazon SQS was used as message-passing mechanism between components. It acts as "glue" that wired different functional components together. This not only helped in making the different components loosely coupled, but also helped in building an overall more failure resilient system.
If one component is receiving and processing requests faster than other components (an unbalanced producer consumer situation), buffering will help make the overall system more resilient to bursts of traffic (or load). Amazon SQS acts as a transient buffer between two components (controllers) of the GrepTheWeb system. If a message is sent directly to a component, the receiver will need to consume it at a rate dictated by the sender. For example, if the billing system was slow or if the launch time of the Hadoop cluster was more than expected, the overall system would slow down, as it would just have to wait. With message queues, sender and receiver are decoupled and the queue service smoothens out any "spiky" message traffic.
Interaction between any two controllers in GrepTheWeb is through messages in the queue and no controller directly calls any other controller. All communication and interaction happens by storing messages in the queue (en-queue) and retrieving messages from the queue (de-queue). This makes the entire system loosely coupled and the interfaces simple and clean. Amazon SQS provided a uniform way of transferring information between the different application components. Each controller's function is to retrieve the message, process the message (execute the function) and store the message in other queue while they are completely isolated from others.
As it was difficult to know how much time each phase would take to execute (e.g., the launch phase decides dynamically how many instances need to start based on the request and hence execution time is unknown) Amazon SQS helped in building asynchronous systems. Now, if the launch phase takes more time to process or the monitor phase fails, the other components of the system are not affected and the overall system is more stable and highly available.
How Amazon SimpleDB Was Used
One use for a database in Cloud Architectures is to track statuses. Since the components of the system are asynchronous, there is a need to obtain the status of the system at any given point in time. Moreover, since all components are autonomous and discrete there is a need for a query-able datastore that captures the state of the system.
Because Amazon SimpleDB is schema-less, there is no need to define the structure of a record beforehand. Every controller can define its own structure and append data to a "job" item. For example: For a given job, "run email address regex over 10 million documents", the launch controller will add/update the "launch_status" attribute along with the "launch_starttime", while the monitor controller will add/update the "monitor_status" and "hadoop_status" attributes with enumeration values (running, completed, error, none). A GetStatus() call will query Amazon SimpleDB and return the state of each controller and also the overall status of the system.
Component services can query Amazon SimpleDB anytime because controllers independently store their statesone more nice way to create asynchronous highly-available services. Although, a simplistic approach was used in implementing the use of Amazon SimpleDB in GrepTheWeb, a more sophisticated approach, where there was complete, almost real-time monitoring would also be possible. For example, storing the Hadoop JobTracker status to show how many maps have been performed at a given moment.
Amazon SimpleDB is also used to store active Request IDs for historical and auditing/billing purposes.
In summary, Amazon SimpleDB is used as a status database to store the different states of the components and a historical/log database for querying high performance data.
How Amazon EC2 Was Used
In GrepTheWeb, all the controller code runs on Amazon EC2 Instances. The launch controller spawns master and slave instances using a pre-configured Amazon Machine Image (AMI). Since the dynamic provisioning and decommissioning happens using simple web service calls, GrepTheWeb knows how many master and slave instances needs to be launched.
The launch controller makes an educated guess, based on reservation logic, of how many slaves are needed to perform a particular job. The reservation logic is based on the complexity of the query (number of predicates etc) and the size of the input dataset (number of documents to be searched). This was also kept configurable so that we can reduce the processing time by simply specifying the number of instances to launch.
After launching the instances and starting the Hadoop cluster on those instances, Hadoop will appoint a master and slaves, handles the negotiating, handshaking and file distribution (SSH keys, certificates) and runs the grep job.
Hadoop Map Reduce
Hadoop is an open source distributed processing framework that allows computation of large datasets by splitting the dataset into manageable chunks, spreading it across a fleet of machines and managing the overall process by launching jobs, processing the job no matter where the data is physically located and, at the end, aggregating the job output into a final result.
It typically works in three phases. A map phase transforms the input into an intermediate representation of key value pairs, a combine phase (handled by Hadoop itself) combines and sorts by the keys and a reduce phase recombines the intermediate representation into the final output. Developers implement two interfaces, Mapper and Reducer, while Hadoop takes care of all the distributed processing (automatic parallelization, job scheduling, job monitoring, and result aggregation).
In Hadoop, there's a master process running on one node to oversee a pool of slave processes (also called workers) running on separate nodes. Hadoop splits the input into chunks. These chunks are assigned to slaves, each slave performs the map task (logic specified by user) on each pair found in the chunk and writes the results locally and informs the master of the completed status. Hadoop combines all the results and sorts the results by the keys. The master then assigns keys to the reducers. The reducer pulls the results using an iterator, runs the reduce task (logic specified by user), and sends the "final" output back to distributed file system.
Figure 5: Map Reduce Operation (in GrepTheWeb)
GrepTheWeb Hadoop Implementation
Hadoop suits well the GrepTheWeb application. As each grep task can be run in parallel independently of other grep tasks using the parallel approach embodied in Hadoop is a perfect fit.
For GrepTheWeb, the actual documents (the web) are crawled ahead of time and stored on Amazon S3. Each user starts a grep job by calling the StartGrep function at the service endpoint. When triggered, masters and slave nodes (Hadoop cluster) are started on Amazon EC2 instances. Hadoop splits the input (document with pointers to Amazon S3 objects) into multiple manageable chunks of 100 lines each and assign the chunk to a slave node to run the map task. The map task reads these lines and is responsible for fetching the files from Amazon S3, running the regular expression on them and writing the results locally. If there is no match, there is no output. The map tasks then passes the results to the reduce phase which is an identity function (pass through) to aggregate all the outputs. The "final" output is written back to Amazon S3.
Regular Expression
Format of the line in the Input dataset
Mapper Implementation
Reducer Implementation - Pass-through (Built-in Identity Function) and write the results back to S3.
Tips for Designing a Cloud Architecture Application
- Ensure that your application is scalable by designing each component to be scalable on its own. If every component implements a service interface, responsible for its own scalability in all appropriate dimensions, then the overall system will have a scalable base.
- For better manageability and high-availability, make sure that your components are loosely coupled. The key is to build components without having tight dependencies between each other, so that if one component were to die (fail), sleep (not respond) or remain busy (slow to respond) for some reason, the other components in the system are built so as to continue to work as if no failure is happening.
- Implement parallelization for better use of the infrastructure and for performance. Distributing the tasks on multiple machines, multithreading your requests and effective aggregation of results obtained in parallel are some of the techniques that help exploit the infrastructure.
- After designing the basic functionality, ask the question "What if this fails?" Use techniques and approaches that will ensure resilience. If any component fails (and failures happen all the time), the system should automatically alert, failover, and re-sync back to the "last known state" as if nothing had failed.
- Don't forget the cost factor. The key to building a cost-effective application is using on-demand resources in your design. It's wasteful to pay for infrastructure that is sitting idle.
Each of these points is discussed further in the context of GrepTheWeb.
Use Scalable Ingredients
The GrepTheWeb application uses highly-scalable components of the Amazon Web Services infrastructure that not only scale on-demand, but also are charged for on-demand.
All components of GrepTheWeb expose a service interface that defines the functions and can be called using HTTP requests and get back XML responses. For programming convenience small client libraries wrap and abstract the service specific code.
Each component is independent from the others and scales in all dimensions. For example, if thousands of requests hit Amazon SimpleDB, it can handle the demand because it is designed to handle massive parallel requests.
Likewise, distributed processing frameworks like Hadoop are designed to scale. Hadoop automatically distributes jobs, resumes failed jobs, and runs on multiple nodes to process terabytes of data.
Have Loosely Coupled Systems
The GrepTheWeb team built a loosely coupled system using messaging queues. If a queue/buffer is used to "wire" any two components together, it can support concurrency, high availability and load spikes. As a result, the overall system continues to perform even if parts of components become unavailable. If one component dies or becomes temporarily unavailable, the system will buffer the messages and get them processed when the component comes back up.
Figure 6: Loose Coupling Independent Phases
In GrepTheWeb, for example, if lots of requests suddenly reach the server (an Internet-induced overload situation) or the processing of regular expressions takes a longer time than the median (slow response rate of a component), the Amazon SQS queues buffer the requests durably so those delays do not affect other components.
As in a multi-tenant system is important to get statuses of message/request, GrepTheWeb supports it. It does it by storing and updating the status of your each request in a separate query-able data store. This is achieved using Amazon SimpleDB. This combination of Amazon SQS for queuing and Amazon SimpleDB for state management helps achieve higher resilience by loose coupling.
Think Parallel
In this "era of tera" and multi-core processors, when programming we ought to think multi-threaded processes.
In GrepTheWeb, wherever possible, the processes were made thread-safe through a share-nothing philosophy and were multi-threaded to improve performance. For example, objects are fetched from Amazon S3 by multiple concurrent threads as such access is faster than fetching objects sequentially one at the time.
If multi-threading is not sufficient, think multi-node. Until now, parallel computing across large cluster of machines was not only expensive but also difficult to achieve. First, it was difficult to get the funding to acquire a large cluster of machines and then once acquired, it was difficult to manage and maintain them. Secondly, after it was acquired and managed, there were technical problems. It was difficult to run massively distributed tasks on the machines, store and access large datasets. Parallelization was not easy and job scheduling was error-prone. Moreover, if nodes failed, detecting them was difficult and recovery was very expensive. Tracking jobs and status was often ignored because it quickly became complicated as number of machines in cluster increased.
But now, computing has changed. With the advent of Amazon EC2, provisioning a large number of compute instances is easy. A cluster of compute instances can be provisioned within minutes with just a few API calls and decommissioned as easily. With the arrival of distributed processing frameworks like Hadoop, there is no need for high-caliber, parallel computing consultants to deploy a parallel application. Developers with no prior experience in parallel computing can implement a few interfaces in few lines of code, and parallelize the job without worrying about job scheduling, monitoring or aggregation.
Utilize On-Demand Requisition and Relinquishment
In GrepTheWeb each building-block component is accessible via the Internet using web services, reliably hosted in Amazon's datacenters and available on-demand. This means that the application can request more resources (servers, storage, databases, queues) or relinquish them whenever needed.
A beauty of GrepTheWeb is its almost-zero-infrastructure before and after the execution. The entire infrastructure is instantiated in the cloud triggered by a job request (grep) and then is returned back to the cloud, when the job is done. Moreover, during execution, it scales on-demand; i.e. the application scales elastically based on number of messages and the size of the input dataset, complexity of regular expression and so-forth.
For GrepTheWeb, there is reservation logic that decides how many Hadoop slave instances to launch based on the complexity of the regex and the input dataset. For example, if the regular expression does not have many predicates, or if the input dataset has just 500 documents, it will only spawn 2 instances. However, if the input dataset is 10 million documents, it will spawn up to 100 instances.
Use Designs that Are Resilient to Reboot and Re-Launch
Rule of thumb: Be a pessimist when using Cloud Architectures; assume things will fail. In other words, always design, implement and deploy for automated recovery from failure.
In particular, assume that your hardware will fail. Assume that outages will occur. Assume that some disaster will strike your application. Assume that you will be slammed with more requests per second some day. By being pessimist, you end up thinking about recovery strategies during design time, which helps in designing an overall system better. For example, the following strategies can help in event of adversity:
- Have a coherent backup and restore strategy for your data
- Build process threads that resume on reboot
- Allow the state of the system to re-sync by reloading messages from queues
- Keep pre-configured and pre-optimized virtual images to support (2) and (3) on launch/boot
Good cloud architectures should be impervious to reboots and re-launches. In GrepTheWeb, by using a combination of Amazon SQS and Amazon SimpleDB, the overall controller architecture is more resilient. For instance, if the instance on which controller thread was running dies, it can be brought up and resume the previous state as if nothing had happened. This was accomplished by creating a pre-configured Amazon Machine Image, which when launched dequeues all the messages from the Amazon SQS queue and their states from the Amazon SimpleDB domain item on reboot.
If a task tracker (slave) node dies due to hardware failure, Hadoop reschedules the task on another node automatically. This fault-tolerance enables Hadoop to run on large commodity server clusters overcoming hardware failures.
Results and Costs
We ran several tests. Email Address Regular Expression was ran against 10 million documents. While 48 concurrent instances took 21 minutes to process, 92 concurrent instances took less than 6 min to process. This time includes instance launch time and start time of the Hadoop cluster. The total cost for 48 instances was around $5 and 92 instances was less than $10.
Instead of building your applications on fixed and rigid infrastructures, Cloud Architectures provide a new way to build applications on on-demand infrastructures.
GrepTheWeb demonstrates how such applications can be built.
Without having any upfront investment, we were able to run a job massively distributed on multiple nodes in parallel and scale incrementally based on the demand (users, size of the input dataset). With no idle time, the application infrastructure was never underutilized.
In the next section, we will learn how each of the Amazon Infrastructure Service (Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, Amazon SimpleDB and Amazon SQS) was used and we will share with you some of the lessons learned and some of the best practices.
Special Thanks to Kenji Matsuoka and Tinou Bao the core team that developed the GrepTheWeb Architecture.
Further Reading
Amazon SimpleDB White Papers
Amazon SQS White paper
Hadoop Wiki
Hadoop Website
Distributed Grep Examples
Map Reduce Paper
Blog: Taking Massive Distributed Computing to the Common man Hadoop on Amazon EC2/S3


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General Hawk reporting for duty...
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Sideshow Collectibles reveals that their next 12-inch GI Joe figure will be Major General Clayton M. Abernathy, code name: HAWK. The Joe leader will be available for pre-order on Thursday, March 17th.

subset: commoncrawl


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Andrew Dice Clay Joins Growing Ranks of Comedian Podcasters With New Weekly Show
Here's a podcast that will embrace its "adult content" warning with pride. The original bad boy of comedy Andrew Dice Clay is launching a new weekly podcast May 11 with Michael Wheels Parise, called "Rollin With Dice and Wheels." The one-hour-plus show promises to be "uncensored, filthy, raw, and opinionated," and feature guests who are celebrities, musicians, comedians, writers, and strippers. You can listen to it here.
Dice promises that his legendary rawness will separate him from the rest of the comedy podcast pack, because in recent years comedians have made a major, major move to the Internet. As audiences in general take free web content more and more for granted, comedy fans are much less likely to pay for comedy albums or pay-per-view specials. That's a big opportunity for up-and-coming comics who don't have to worry about trying to part their potential audience from their money, but a challenge to veteran comics as to how they will continue to monetize their content.
Today it's all about cultivating a personal brand by connecting directly to your audience via social media or free downloadable content like podcasts — about creating awareness and hoping that leads to monetary compensation in other ways, especially through live gigs, which still remain a comic's bread and butter. Dice has no problem with that. This is the guy who once sold out Madison Square Garden two nights in a row. But it's really smart that he's launching a podcast, because, unlike live gigs, which usually attract already-converted fans, a podcast can attract new fans and expand the size of his audience altogether.
Other comedians have realized this as well. Ricky Gervais' podcast holds the Guinness World Record for the most downloaded podcast of all time. Adam Carolla, Marc Maron, Jimmy Pardo, and Chris Hardwick also have very successful podcasts. In fact, you could argue that comedy podcasts now fulfill the function that comedy albums once did, by bringing the jokes directly to the headphones of the listener. Except that now this audio content is the most shareable and portable it's ever been. You could really listen to Andrew Dice Clay wherever you want. Which is why a podcast also makes more sense than having a radio series — you never need to worry about receiving a signal.
Of his new show Dice says, "I never felt there was one podcast that captured everything for me. Rather than wait around for someone else to do it, I said 'F**k It! Let me do it.' So I teamed up with one of the funniest guys I know and think we're going to have a podcast like no one else has."
If anyone can stand out in the growing landscape of comedy podcasts, it'll be Dice.
Will you be listening?
Follow Christian Blauvelt on Twitter @Ctblauvelt
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Ricky Gervais' New 'Office' Episode Is Here and David Brent Still Doesn't Get It
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ryan12 5 years ago
the bears forced 2 fumbles in yesterday's game against minnesota, but i was only giving the points for 1 of them. will i be given the points for the other forced fumble?
rangerdave 5 years ago
The Bears did not force two fumbles, just one. One of Minnesota's fumbles came on a botched handoff where no contact was made.
ryan12 5 years ago
that's ridiculous, if its in the box score as a fumble you should receive points for it. earlier this season in the game against baltimore brady was charged with a fumble when the center snapped it early while in shot gun and no contact was made. that -1 point against him ended up costing me the game that week too. how does that work?
rangerdave 5 years ago
The NFL is crediting only one forced fumble for the Bears. Flea is not making that decision.
In your NE example, if the NFL decided to credit Brady with a fumble, the Flea software properly penalized you. Flea updates their stats on either Thursday or Friday each week after the Elias Sports Bureau verifies all stats for the NFL.
rangerdave 5 years ago
In that Week 3 game versus the Ravens, the NFL charged Brady with a fumble, but the Ravens were not credited with a foorced fumble.


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AN ELDERLY man has been injured after a burglar smashed the front window of his bungalow in Breightmet.
Police say the thief fled with a "quantity of jewellery" after the break-in at about 8.20am in Foster Lane this morning.
The 83-year-old man was taken to hospital with a hand injury.
His 80-year-old wife was also in the house during the burglary and made the call to police.
No arrests have been made and police are still carrying out door-to-door inquiries in the area.
A police spokesperson said: "Our inquiries into this incident are ongoing."


text: Mountaineers getting summer playing time in Pittsburgh pro-am league By Dave Hickman June 25, 2013 Story Share MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- There's not much in the way of game-planning or organization and even less in terms of coaching, but there is still plenty of benefit from West Virginia's basketball players participating in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro-Am Summer League."You play against the same guys every day, all summer [on campus],'' Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins said. "It just gives them an opportunity to go up there and [play against] Pitt's players and Duquesne's and Robert Morris. It gives them an opportunity to play against different guys with different skill sets.''For the next three weeks, a collection of WVU players will participate in games at the Greentree Sportsplex. The games began Monday night and continue through July 17. There are six teams in the league that are made up primarily of players from Pitt, WVU, Duquesne and Robert Morris, along with others from smaller area colleges. There is also a team made up of former college players now playing in various professional leagues.West Virginia's players are split among two teams, with Terry Henderson, Kevin Noreen and incoming freshmen Brandon Watkins and Nathan Adrian on one team and Eron Harris and freshmen Devin Williams and Elijah Macon listed on another. Walk-ons Chase Connors, Richard Romeo, Brett Morris and James Long are also playing.While Macon is listed on one of the rosters, though, he's not yet eligible to compete. The league is sanctioned by the NCAA and players must be enrolled in order to participate. Macon has yet to enroll.While being introduced to college competition is obviously good for the incoming freshmen, the summer league is also a time for veterans like Harris and Henderson to experiment. Both played last year as shooting guards for the Mountaineers, but Huggins would like to see both of them be able to play as point guards, too.Harris did just that Monday night in his first summer league game and scored 14 points. "We recruited him as a combo [guard] and we had a couple of guys last year that were primarily point guards, so we didn't play him all that much there,'' Huggins said of Harris, who wound up as the team's leading scorer in Big 12 play. "But I think he gives us another guy on the floor who can score. I think it's great to have a guy on the point who can score, and obviously Eron can do that."And he gives you length from a defensive standpoint, too. He gives you some athleticism at that position.''The Mountaineers have two point guards returning in Juwan Staten and Gary Browne, but Harris provides far more in the way of an outside scoring threat than those two and is also a taller guard.Perhaps just as significantly, the summer league provides an opportunity for both Harris and Henderson to develop some leadership skills. Both are just sophomores, but on a team that lost more than half its roster to graduation or transfer and will have new faces almost across the board, they now stand as two of the most experienced players. "I think both of those guys understand that we lacked a little bit of veteran leadership a year ago,'' Huggins said. "And after all the minutes those guys played that year, they both feel like they're ready and willing and capable of leading.''Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or firstname.lastname@example.com or follow him at Twitter.com/dphickman1. Story Share Story Share Trending Now 1 Congressional opioid investigation targets drug wholesaler Miami-Luken 2 Facebook founder visits Cabin Creek Health Systems 3 WVU hopes to get injured defenders back for TCU 4 Safety shutoff disabled prior to June coal-mining death, report says 5 Rhode Island bank claims Justice companies owe $4.2M on helicopter loan Big 12 hoops coaches all have NCAA tournament in common Previous Story Schools have fun with social media craze Next Story


text:
- We have received the Government Finance Officers Association's Certificate of Achievement
for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award annually since 1990.
Accounting Division
Finance Department
Columbus Consolidated Government
P.O. Box 1340
Columbus, GA 31902-1340
Telephone: 706-653-4087
Fax: 706-653-4086
Our Mission
To maintain financial stability by providing financial services that include financial and capital asset reporting, payroll and accounts payable to our internal and external customers in a manner that accomplishes the overall mission of the Finance Department.
Division Profile
The Accounting Division of the Department of Finance is responsible for maintenance of the general ledger and all subsidiary ledgers; processing and recording all disbursements; verifying and recording all revenues; processing and recording capital assets and maintaining capital assets inventory; processing and recording all payroll transactions to include remittance of all withholdings and preparation and disbursement of W2's and 1099R's; preparation of basic financial statements and note disclosures, Management Discussion and Analysis and Statistical Section of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) in compliance with standards established by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), and the legal requirements of the State of Georgia.
Our Fiscal Year
Our fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on the following June 30th. The Accounting Division Manager and the Accountants prepare the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and submits the document to GFOA (Government Finance Officers Association) for evaluation for the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by December 31st.
Our Goals
To provide accounting oversight and guidance to departments to ensure that generally accepted accounting principles, legal requirements, policies and procedures are consistently applied to maintain the integrity of the financial records and to fully meet reporting requirements.
Accounting Management:
The Accounting Manager reports directly to the Director of Finance, thus
ensuring financial resources are consistent with stated management plans and directives of city officials
and the director's office.
Contact Information
Division Head:
Jody Davis
Accounting Manager
Financial Reporting:
Karen Thompson, Senior Accountant
Randy King, Grant Accountant
Debra Sellers, Payroll Supervisor
Francesca Dye , Payroll Coordinator
Accounts Payable Technicians:
Billie Campbell, Accounts Payable Technician
Billie is responsible for vendor payments A - I
Pam Wynn, Accounts Payable Technician
Pam is responsible for vendor payments J - Z
Kelli Parker, Accounts Payable Technician
Kelli is responsible for capital assets
Please direct specific Accounting inquiries to:
Jody Davis, Accounting Manager Accounting Division P.O. Box 1340 Columbus, GA 31902-1340 Telephone: 706.653.4087 Fax: 706.653.4086 Please direct specific Payroll inquiries to: Debra Sellers, Payroll Supervisor Accounting Division P.O. Box 1340 Columbus, GA 31902-1340 Telephone: 706.653.4087 Fax: 706.653.4086
Contact Information


text:
Shabazz Muhammad will be a one-and-done player for UCLA, but the Bruins' other prized freshmen likely will return for a second season.
The father of forward Kyle Anderson, the No. 3 recruit in the Class of '12, says his son top-30 center Tony Parker and top-75 guard Jordan Adams all plan to return for the 2013-14 season.
"Kyle has already spoken to me about coming back, and him, Jordan and Tony Parker are going to work their butts off and get an apartment, and all that stuff," Kyle Anderson Sr. told the Orange County Register. "I do think he's leaning towards coming back, but with that said, the way he's playing right now, the mock drafts might not see it or write it, but I think his draft status is moving up with his offensive aggressiveness lately.
"Mentally, he's prepared to come back."
UCLA coach Ben Howland confirmed Saturday night that Muhammad would leave for the 2013 NBA Draft, something most every analyst expected. Muhammad has an NBA body and a matured game.
It doesn't appear as if any of the other Bruins are ready to play in the NBA. But that could be great news of Howland. As it stands, UCLA will lose only Muhammad and point guard Larry Drew II.
That would make Anderson, Adams and Parker the centerpieces of a club that would welcome incoming top-60 recruits Zach LaVine and Allerik Freeman.
"I think if (Kyle) comes back a year, I think he's an All-American, and I think he's top five, I really do," Anderson Sr. said.
"A year from now, provided that Kyle's back, which I obviously hope ... Kyle having the ball in his hands more is even going to make him stand out more," Howland told reporters. "A year from now, I'm not going to be playing him at the 4 on defense. He's strictly going to be guarding a 3 with a one on offense. I think that's going to help prepare him.
"He's still got to get better at chasing guys around and trailing guys -- that's what you have to do in the NBA. You're not going to play, unless you're can defend your position."


text:
WITH only one Welsh Point to Point left, the 2014 season seems to have been and gone before it's even begun, and the curtain falls at Trecoed this Bank Holiday Sunday, with first race off at 2pm, writes Maria Evans.
Over the last few weeks trainers have felt that their horses are at their best, having been able to give them a couple of runs. This means that connections must travel afield to get to the weekends meetings, and last weekend many a West Walian horse made it's way East, with the Gelligaer Hunt hosting their annual meeting on Saturday.
In the opening race on that card, Gallaflynn was a convincing winner of the Hunt Race, with Haverfordwest based trainer Mathew Barber also doing the steering for owner John Miles. That was the horse' second win of the season after disappointing on his seasonal reappearance, and he'll now be looking to repeat his late season treble of last year.
Barber then went on to finish second in the Men's Open behind the enigmatic Findlay's Find, who seems to have really gelled with new partner Dave Mansell. Midnight Diamond was a 20 length second, managing to pip the prolific Rosie's Peacock in the final few strides.
Colley Row came out the easy winner in the Restricted Race under James Tudor, for owner Chris Williams. Trainer Dean Coleman, who himself rode point to pointing before riding under rules for Tim Vaughan, has now switched disciplines, and trains a handful of horses in Pembrokeshire.
Although coming away empty handed this weekend, jockey Sean Bowen still leads the Male Novice Riders title race for the whole of the UK, with nine wins – three more than his rivals. That title race will go until the end of the season, which ends on June 14 at Umberleigh.


text:
Director of rugby Conor O'Shea insisted Harlequins will learn from their Heineken Cup defeat to Clermont Auvergne and will continue to live and die by their attacking style.
A moment of brilliance from scrum half Danny Care lit up the Stoop on Saturday as Clermont all but extinguished the club's interest in Europe's premier competition at the group stages with a 16-13 triumph.
Care's outrageous inside pass set up Matt Hopper to help give Quins a 13-3 advantage at the break, but they could not withstand the Clermont onslaught after half time as tries from Naipolioni Nalaga and Sitiventi Sivivatu, plus a late Brock James penalty, booked the Frenchmen a place in the last eight.
Critics might say Quins tried to play too much rugby in the second half, but O'Shea insisted Care's individual brilliance was an example of why his men will stick to their guns.
"His piece of skill was exceptional," said O'Shea, who rued the moment the 27-year-old limped off with an ankle problem 10 minutes after half-time.
"He is just one of those players. People will ask did we over play in the second half?
"But what got us back into the game was Danny Care tapping and going 25 yards from his own line and getting us a bit of momentum.
"He is a match winner, a game changer. The way he controls the game is utterly exceptional."
And O'Shea has urged the sport's powers that be to ensure a tournament of the Heineken Cup's calibre continues next term to ensure a fitting stage for such moments of magic.
"You want days like this to get better and the younger players to get better and the older players to keep learning," he added.
"I hope we still have a tournament like this to play in next year. It is a brilliant competition.
"Whatever solution can be reached that will bring the likes of Racing Metro, Clermont and Scarlets back here, we want.
"We'll focus on trying to get in the Amlin Cup if we can, but then it is the Premiership in February and it is all in our hands."
It was a sentiment echoed by second row George Robson, who insisted Quins could bounce back from their European heartache in the same way their conquerors have.
The Frenchmen missed out on lifting the cup last season thanks to an agonising 16-15 defeat to Jonny Wilkinson's Toulon and have responded to sit top of the Top 14 table in France and seem set for the final again this term.
And Robson insisted their's is the example Quins must follow with a trip to Scarlets on Sunday and the return of Premiership action on February 9.
"Clermont have had disappointments in the past and learnt from them. We are going through that process now," he said.
"We're devastated to be out, but there is not a lot we can do about it.
"We go from a setback to another challenge. We've got to go to the Scarlets, put some pride back in the shirt and take it from there."
He added: "We have to be more clinical. We weren't playing a shoddy side.
"But when we get the chances we have to take them. In games like this it is small margins and if you don't take your chances then you come up short."


text:
Rocker Switch, DPDT, 6 Connections
POWER FIRST| Zoro #: G0267251| Mfr #: 2LNG1
Zoro #: G0267251Mfr. Part #: 2LNG1
$11.78 /ea
Orders over $50.00 ship free. DetailsStandard ground shipping
Technical Specifications
|Zoro #: G0267251 Mfr #: 2LNG1
|Operating Temp. Range: 32 Degrees to 104 Degrees F
|Body Color: Black
|Standards: UL, CUL, TUV, CE
|Switch Color: Black
|Number of Connections: 6
|Item: Rocker Switch
|AC Contact Rating: 20A @ 125V, 15A @ 250V
|Mounting Hole: 0.830" x 1.450"
|Terminals: 0.250" Quick Connect Tab
|Switch Function: On/Off/On
|Contact Form: DPDT
|Country of Origin (subject to change): China
Product Description
Rocker Switch, Contact Form DPDT, Number of Connections 6, Switch Function On/Off/On, Terminals 0.250 In. Quick Connect Tab, Mounting Hole 0.830 In. x 1.450 In., AC Contact Rating 20A @ 125V, 15A @ 250V, HP 2, Body Color Black, Switch Color Black, Operating Temp. Range 32 Degrees to 104 Degrees F, Standards UL, CUL, TUV, CE
Restrictions and Compliance
- *1 : California Proposition 65 : This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.
- *2 : California Proposition 65 : This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer.


text:
Rosario available off bench against D-backs
PHOENIX -- Rockies manager Walt Weiss said that Wilin Rosario would be available for Tuesday night's second game of a three-game series against the D-backs at Chase Field a day after he learned that the injury to the catcher's left hand was a contusion rather than a fracture.
For the second consecutive night, Jordan Pacheco started behind the plate.
On Monday, Weiss said it was doubtful that Rosario could swing a bat, but he could be used in a pinch as a defensive replacement. That changed a bit on Tuesday.
"Today, he's swung the bat. He hasn't taken batting practice or anything, but he's taken some dry swings," Weiss said. "He's getting better."
When asked whether Rosario would be able to hit in the game, Weiss said, "He'd have to if we put him in there to catch. Yeah, he's OK. He's available to use in the game if we need him."
Rosario injured the hand swinging the bat this past weekend in Los Angeles. He's batting .244 with three homers and 13 RBIs in 22 games.
Charlie Culberson remains Weiss' emergency option behind the plate.
Barry M. Bloom is national reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, Boomskie on Baseball. Follow @boomskie on Twitter. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
ISSAQUAH, Wash. — A larger-than-expected inventory charge may have dinged Costco's third quarter earnings per share, but strong membership upgrade numbers and a dozen fourth quarter openings bode well for the company's future performance.
Third-quarter sales at Costco surged 16% to $20.2 billion and were aided by higher gas prices and foreign exchange benefits. Total company same-store sales increased 12%, but that number fell to 7% if gas and currency benefits were excluded. Same-store sales at the company's U.S. operations increased 10%, or 6% excluding gas and currency benefits, while international comps were 18%, or 11% if gas and currency factors are excluded.
About 3% of the 16% total sales increase stemmed from inclusion of results from a 50% owned Mexican joint venture that were not included in the prior year reporting period.
Costco enjoyed strong growth in membership income with the addition of new members and upgrades of existing members. Total membership income increased 10.1% to $435 million as the company said it grew its $100 executive membership level to 11.3 million members with about 29,000 new sign ups weekly.
The company's online business was a bright spot with sales up 11%, profits up 31% and site traffic up 17%, according to CFO Richard Galanti.
The sales growth translated to net income growth of 5.9% to $324 million and earnings per share that grew 7.4% to 73 cents from 68 cents. That figure fell short of analysts' consensus estimate of 77 cents in large part because the company took a $49 million dollar inventory related charged caused by product inflation that reduced earnings per share by 7 cents.
Galanti said the company opened one new club during the third quarter in Tucson, Ariz., but note that the fourth quarter will be much busier from an expansion standpoint. A total of 12 clubs are planned for the fourth quarter which will give the company a net increase of 20 units for a year end total of 592 units.
Looking ahead to the coming fiscal year, Galanti said the company has 30 active projects underway and will probably be looking at about 25 or more new openings with about half of those openings outside of the United States.


text:
The Power of the LGBT Market
October 12, 2011
Matt Tumminello, president, Target 10, discussed key insights into the LGBT market and how marketers have leveraged these insights effectively.
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text:
A HEALTH leadership programme will be rolled out as part of a regional pilot course.
Health Education West Midlands, the body responsible for educating and training health and public health workers, has asked West Midlands Ambulance Service to extend its Engaging Leaders Programme from March.
The aim of the programme, which was set up and is run by the service's head of organisational development Barbara Kozlowska in May 2010, is to develop emerging healthcare leaders at Band 6 level to release the full potential of healthcare organisations.
This is done by role-modelling the future behaviours of the NHS so patients and wider stakeholders experience staff who are enthusiastic, motivated and professional.
Once enrolled on the 12-month programme, participants will work through a number of modules which include being effective at work, improving performance at work, leading change and improvement, and managing and monitoring service delivery.
This will be done across 10 one-day development days as well as through participants' own time with the use of a virtual learning system.


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Quality of Life of HIV-infected Participants Switched to Raltegravir Versus Other Antiretroviral Regimens (MK-0518-266)
This study has been terminated.
(The trial was terminated early due to slow recruitment.)
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: March 18, 2013
Last updated: March 23, 2017
Last verified: March 2017
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- Study Results
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
This is a multi-center, longitudinal observational study of adult human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) participants at academic and community-based practices in the United States who are switching from first-line to second-line therapy. The study's primary hypothesis is that HIV participants switching to raltegravir-based regimens will have better Medical Outcomes Study-HIV (MOS-HIV) Health Survey scores than participants switched to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based or protease inhibitor (PI)-based regimens.
|Human Immunodeficiency Virus
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Observational Model: Cohort
Time Perspective: Prospective
|Official Title:
|Quality of Life of HIV-infected Patients Switched to Raltegravir Versus Other Antiretroviral Regimens
Resource links provided by NLM:
MedlinePlus related topics: HIV/AIDS
Drug Information available for: Raltegravir Raltegravir potassiumU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.:
Primary Outcome Measures:
- Medical Outcomes Study-HIV (MOS-HIV) Health Survey Scores [ Time Frame: Week 4 Follow-up ]The MOS-HIV scale is a 35-item measure of health related quality of life (QOL) questionnaire which assesses 10 dimensions of health (general health perceptions, pain, physical functioning, role functioning, social functioning, mental health, energy/fatifue, cognitive function, health distress and QOL), as well as a single item to assess health transition. In addition to these subscales, a Physical Health Summary score (PHS) and a Mental Health Summary score (MHS) is calculated using a method where the summary scores are transformed to a standardized scale with a norm of 50 and a standard deviation of 10 in the sample in which the summary scores were developed. The subscales of the MOS-HIV are scored as summed rating scales ranging from a minimum of 0, to a maximum of 100, where higher scores indicate better health.
Secondary Outcome Measures:
- Change From Baseline in Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) [ Time Frame: Baseline and Week 4 Follow-up ]DASS-21 is comprised of questionnaires for three separate scales measuring Depression, Anxiety and Stress. The depression scale is scored by summing the responses of each question, multiplying by 2 and then scoring on a scale ranging from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 28+, with higher scores indicating greater severity. The anxiety scale is scored by summing the responses of each question, multiplying by 2 and then scoring on a scale ranging from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 20+, with higher scores indicating greater severity. The stress scale is scored by summing the responses of each question, multiplying by 2 and then scoring on a scale ranging from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 37+, with higher scores indicating greater severity.
- Change From Baseline in HIV Symptom Index (HIV-SI) [ Time Frame: Baseline and Week 4 Follow-up ]HIV-SI measures the frequency and level of bothersome HIV and HIV treatment-related symptoms, including nervous symptoms (dizziness, somnolence, trouble remembering), gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, gas/bloating, diarrhea) and pain (hand/foot, muscle/joint). The 20-item questionnaire asks whether respondents experienced any one of these symptoms within the past 4 weeks, and if they did, what the relative level of bother for each symptom was, based on a 5-point Likert scale. The maximum sum of scores is 80; the minimum is 0; with a higher score indicating greater symptom distress.
- Change From Baseline in Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) [ Time Frame: Baseline and Week 4 Follow-up ]DLQI is a 10-question dermatology-specific QOL questionnaire, which is calculated by summing the score of each question, resulting in a maximum of 30, and a minimum of 0. Higher scores mean the QOL is more impaired.
|Actual Study Start Date:
|November 9, 2012
|Study Completion Date:
|October 31, 2013
|Primary Completion Date:
|October 31, 2013 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Raltegravir + 2 NRTIs
Raltegravir is an integrase inhibitor. Two Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor (NRTIs)
NNRTI + 2 NRTIs
Non-nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor (NNRTI) could include: delavirdine, efavirenz, etravirine, rilpivirine, nevirapine; and two NRTIs.
PI + 2 NRTIs
Protease inhibitors (PI) could include: nelfinavir, lopinavir, saquinavir, tipranavir, atazanavir and darunavir; and two NRTIs.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Senior)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
|Sampling Method:
|Non-Probability Sample
Study Population
HIV patients at academic and community-based practices in the United States
Inclusion Criteria:
- Clinical diagnosis of HIV
- Switching antiretroviral regimen(s) for the first time at the start of the study
Exclusion Criteria:
- Currently pregnant
- Presence of active tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, and/or Hepatitis C and receiving treatment for the condition(s) during the study period
- Presence of active pneumonia or other signs of opportunistic infections at the start of the study
- Currently participating in a clinical trial
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: NCT01814722
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01814722
Sponsors and Collaborators
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.
|Study Director:
|Medical Director
|Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.
More Information
Study Data/Documents: CSR Synopsis
Keywords provided by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.:
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017
Study Data/Documents: CSR Synopsis
|Responsible Party:
|Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01814722 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|March 18, 2013
|Results First Received:
|October 6, 2014
|Last Updated:
|March 23, 2017
Keywords provided by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.:
HIV Infections
Anti-HIV Agents
Anti-Retroviral Agents
Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors
Non-nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor
Protease inhibitors
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
HIV Infections
Immune System Diseases
Lentivirus Infections
Retroviridae Infections
RNA Virus Infections
Virus Diseases
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Slow Virus Diseases
Raltegravir Potassium
Protease Inhibitors
Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors
Anti-HIV Agents
Anti-Retroviral Agents
Antiviral Agents
Anti-Infective Agents
HIV Integrase Inhibitors
Integrase Inhibitors
Enzyme Inhibitors
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action
Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


text:
A place that fosters success
Giving back to the community is in Graye Wolfe's blood. Graye and his father, Duane Wolfe, both have served as trustees for The College of Idaho, and The College's student-athletes now and in the years to come will benefit from Graye's recent gift that made possible the construction of Wolfe Field. The new, state-of-the-art baseball facility has brought an exciting new flavor to the national pastime in Caldwell while honoring the Wolfe family's longstanding support for The College and a number of Caldwell interests.
Graye is especially pleased that his lead gift for the project served to acknowledge the many contributions of his father to The College, including the Golden Rule Shoot-Out, one of the premier men's small college basketball tournaments in the West. "He always spoke about this school and what it meant to him," Graye said. "One of the things he instilled in me is that it's important to work hard and give back to your community."
Wolfe Field is located at the corner of Griffiths Parkway and Linden Streets in Caldwell. The Coyote baseball team began playing there during the 2009 season, and the new facility also will be the home of the Caldwell Bobcats and the Caldwell Silver Steaks American Legion teams. The infield and basepaths are Field Turf, making Wolfe Field the first ballpark in Idaho with an artificial surface. The outfield is natural grass.
Science faculty need state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment. Scholars in the humanities need access to current publications in their disciplines. Researchers must have the resources to pursue their scholarly interests and helping their students acquire the skills needed to carry out their own investigations. Student-athletes need up-to-date facilities for training and competition as they build their capacities for leadership and teamwork. Ensuring that our students have the opportunity to excel in the classroom, lab and on the field or court is a clear priority for Advance The Legacy.
Watch a video below in which Wolfe discusses his efforts to build the College's new baseball facility.


text:
For release: IMMEDIATELY
Release Date: 03/30/2006
Homeland Security Grant Funds Security CanopyBATON ROUGE, LA – March 30th 2006 – Mayor-President Melvin L. "Kip" Holden today announced a significant milestone in the increased security of Baton Rouge – a video security canopy to view critical infrastructure and Homeland Security targets and speed up emergency response in these areas. "The safety of the public and businesses of Baton Rouge is a top priority of our administration," said Mayor Holden. "The bottom line is Baton Rouge just got a lot safer." The Mayor said East Baton Rouge Parish Homeland Security Director JoAnne Moreau has been working closely with the DHS to increase the security of critical infrastructure within the parish. Sites which will be monitored include water treatment facilities, electric substations, the natural gas delivery system, railroads, Municipal, Parish and Federal buildings, Department of Public Works facilities, essential transportation routes and the Port of Baton Rouge, among others.The city will install fifty-eight video cameras throughout the parish, concentrated around infrastructure and sites requiring increased security. The cameras are connected to a central monitoring facility through a wireless system saving significant time and cost in deployment. Authorized agents from the local police departments and homeland security will have mobile access to these live video."Through this technology, we can make our parish safer for the public and industry," Mayor Holden said. "Keeping Baton Rouge secure is critical to the economic stability of Louisiana. As our Capitol City and home to two major universities and many large industries, it's important that we pursue homeland security funds for East Baton Rouge Parish." Moreau stated "[F]irst responders will now have access to critical information prior to arriving on scene, allowing for efficient, quicker and more accurate deployment in serving our citizens."Holden commended Moreau for her success in securing the grants to bring the innovative technology to East Baton Rouge Parish. "This is exactly the type of initiative I have encouraged our professional staff to undertake," Holden said. "The key to making Baton Rouge safer lies in our ability to secure new technology for law enforcement and public works," Holden said.# # #


text:
This is how I described her in 2008 – "Devyn Bisson was the kind of 15-year-old that we want all 15-year-olds to be — bright, athletic, enthusiastic, a bundle of bounce."
She's 21 now, and the letter I received from her in August is one giant exclamation point. Instead of beginning with the traditional "Dear Keith," she started like this: "Keith!!" Her zest for life drips off the pages.
I met Devyn when she was in the midst of an incredible journey. She had been a Junior Lifeguard in Huntington Beach and a water polo player at Huntington Beach High, and she had applied to become a volunteer in the program Life Rolls On, a foundation that supports children with spinal cord injuries.
Days after she sent that volunteer application, she was surfing when a wave-tossed surfboard hit her in the neck. She suffered a partial tear of her spinal cord between her C-3 and C-4 vertebrae. Luckily, the tear wasn't severe enough to require surgery. She wore a neck brace for three months. But her days in the ocean or in the pool seemed to be over.
She started a fundraising club for Life Rolls On at her high school.
That was 2008.
Since then, Devyn wrote, life didn't always go as she planned. Financial trouble forced her to temporarily scrap her plans for a four-year university. She was depressed. "I was lost as to what to do next, and quite frankly had lost a bit of the spirit and purpose my soul has always carried," she wrote.
That's when she met Violet Cowden at a luncheon for The Ninety-Nines, a women's flying organization. Vi, who was 91 at the time (and a "firecracker," Devyn wrote), had been a pilot. Vi knew she wanted to fly before she knew what planes were, Devyn wrote. She scratched her phone number onto a Sweet-N-Low packet and told Devyn to give her a call.
It took two years for Devyn, a top-notch procrastinator, to call her back. But when she did, Vi invited her over for tea.
Devyn remembers the frail Vi asking her a specific question. "What is it you want?"
"I exclaimed I couldn't live without completing my full circle at the beach," Devyn wrote. "Ever since that day, Violet Cowden has forever been marked in my life as the woman who told me to say YES to my dreams, to the truth of my desires, and to all that I could be."
Devyn wanted to be a Junior Lifeguard Instructor (she always capitalizes that title).
After a couple of years of trying, Devyn finally got her college situation settled. She was accepted into film school at Chapman University. She just recently finished filming a documentary in Africa. She would call Vi and tell her of every success. But shortly after starting at Chapman, Violet Cowden died at the age of 94. Since then, Devyn said Vi's influence impacts her every day.
Devyn was sad this summer when she couldn't tell Vi about her most recent success. After 180 hours spent at the beach qualifying, the girl who nearly broke her neck in the water five years ago was named Junior Lifeguard Instructor in Huntington Beach.
She completed the summer session in August. One of her students told her, "Thank you for pushing me to do my best in everything I accomplish in life."
Devyn had a quote from Vi (and others) hanging in her dorm room, "We've come a long way baby."
Here's the thing about Devyn: After spending a few hours with her years ago, I knew she'd conquer whatever she felt needed conquering. I'm the dad of teenagers, and I know them well. This kid was special.
All she needed was a little guidance from Vi.
Now I've got to write back to Devyn and find out more about her filmmaking career.
I'm sure I'll get a letter full of exclamation points.
Contact the writer: firstname.lastname@example.com


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ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions are taking steps to build off last year's 10-6 record this offseason.
Many players have shown up for weekly voluntary workouts. Detroit will have organized team activities in two weeks. The team's mandatory mini-camp will be held June 12-14.
As preparations continue toward Detroit's season opener against St. Louis on September 9th, here are five Lions players poised for breakout seasons in 2012:
1. Titus Young, WR - Young was forced to play catchup due to last years lockout. He struggled early last season while learning on the job, but Young showed his potential after learning Detroit's playbook. Young had four touchdown receptions in Detroit's final four regular season games. He finished the regular season with 68 receptions for 607 yards and six touchdowns. With a full offseason under Young's belt, he could become a reliable No.2 receiver for the Lions.
2. Nick Fairley, DT - Fairley was slowed by foot injuries most of last season. He injured his foot during training camp last season and never really had an impact in 2011. Fairley showed his potential to dominate during the first quarter of Detroit's regular season game against the New Orleans Saints before reinjuring his foot again. If Fairley is able to successfully rehabilitate his ankle this offseason, expect great things out of him in 2012.
3. Ndamukong Suh, DT - Why is Suh on this list? Suh finished with 36 tackles, four sacks and one pass defense last season. As a rookie in 2010, Suh had 66 tackles and a team-high 10.0 sacks, three pass defenses, one interception, one fumble recovery (returned for a 17-yard touchdown) and a forced fumble. Suh was double-and-triple teamed at times, which resulted in his stat decrease. He was also criticized this offseason by former NFL defensive tackle Warren Sapp for not having enough moves in his arsenal. Suh is too smart - and proud - not to find a way to regain the statistical impact he had as a rookie.
4. Amari Spievey, S - Detroit went after cornerbacks in this year's draft. The Lions picked up a left tackle (Reily Reiff) to protect Matthew Stafford for years. Detroit added a few extra pieces in free agency. What area has Detroit avoided? Safety. That is because coaches and front office personnel are expecting big things from Spievey this season. He struggled in 2011, switching from cornerback to safety. Coaches believe he can excel with a full offseason of work under his belt, which gives Spievey a chance to improve in 2012.
5. Lawrence Jackson DE - As Cliff Avril continues to wait for a long-term contract, Jackson benefits greatly. Jackson will receive first-team reps during OTAs and mini-camp, assuming Avril does not sign soon. Coaches will likely want to see if Jackson can handle Avril's duties this offseason. If he shows enough potential, Detroit could let Avril walk during free agency in 2013. Jackson missed significant time last year with a deep thigh bruise, but could become a bruiser this year with the extra reps this offseason.


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i sorta read a bit of complex jargon on this i didnt quite understand, but i figure i get how people do it. say i take the neighbourhood of a voxel and weight the final normal direction by the count of 90 degree faces in each direction.
how successful is this, and is there an example of it i could see somewhere?
im in a debate whether i should do this, or keep a floating position inside the voxel to compute normals, the latter being difficult enough for me to think twice about doing it.
I fear that this might lead to some very concentrade normals along the edges , have you thought to compute the voxel normals, like ordinary small cubes and then averaging if they share an adjacent cube ?
Rouncer, Since a voxel can stand on its own, or be out on a peninsula, and is a 3d object, not a surface, a voxel really must have a vector for each face, even if it is part of a "surface". v71's suggestion sounds good, per face.
edit, you might also start by drawing difference configurations of nearest neighborhood configuration (in 2d) and figuring out what kind of normals make sense for each situation. Then, see if you can generalized (much better than writing out 2\\^9th cases manually).
points taken, yeh maybe youd lose detail. im just colouring per cube, i dont have enough memory already.
my plan is i super sample the voxels and get a floating position inside the voxel (extra 3 bytes per voxel), then i can make proper directions, and might improve editing tools too.


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Alumni chapters promote, through cooperation with the Ball State Alumni Association, the advancement of Ball State, provide opportunities for closer fellowship among alumni, aid in the recruitment of outstanding students for Ball State, and enhance the stature of Ball State University in local areas.
Alumni chapters observe an established set of by-laws, elect officers, and hold regular meetings. Examples of gatherings hosted by alumni chapters include attending sports and cultural events, hosting bowling and golf outings, casino nights, and much more.
For more information on our alumni chapters, follow the links below. Want to establish a chapter in your area? Check out our guidelines.


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Topic: The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation and patient advocacy
We are an advocacy group trying to raise public awareness about important cancer issues. These issues are needed in the area of services, education, and research. Groups like ours help bring about changes that will help cancer patients and their families.
I would like to share with you my role as task force patient advocate:
Patient advocates serving on the NCI's Scientific Steering Committee or NCI Scientific Task Force are to support the development of important clinical trials by presenting the patient perspective during concept evaluation and related activities.
Advocates are selected to serve on either committee through votes of the membership of Steering Committees or Task Forces.
Patient advocates on disease specific task forces discuss concepts and when appropriate, provide input into the design and implementation of clinical trials. On behalf of the patient we are to assure that the committee focuses on the relevance of research questions. It is our goal to insure that a patient-friendly protocol is established and that other practical issues such as accrual, barriers, and communication are achieved.
We are to determine how each concept fits into the overall strategy for the disease. (In may case: Cholangiocarcinoma and Liver cancer.)
Additionally we are to assure that each clinical trial discussions include a special focus on access for minority and the underserved population.
Task Force Advocates are in communication with Steering Committee advocates, the NCI Office of Advocacy Relations http://advocacy.cancer.gov/, and the NCI Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials: http://ccct.cancer.gov/


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Southern State Parkway to exit 36N, make a right onto Straight Path. Make a left at the second traffic light onto Edison Ave. Make a right at the fifth block onto Lamar St.
Before leaving the shelter dogs are heartworm tested, current on parasite prevention, altered, microchipped and vaccinated for the following: Rabies, DAPPV, K9 Influenza, and Bordatella.
Before leaving the shelter cats are FELV/FIV tested tested, current on parasite prevention, altered, microchipped, and vaccinated for the following: Rabies, HCP, and Bordatella.
Adoption Fees: CASH ONLY
Dog/Puppy Adoption
Residents will receive a dog license
Resident $90
Non-resident $85
60 and over
Dog/Puppy Adoption
Resident $50
Non-resident $45
Compatibility Check
Bring your pet to see if they get along with a new friend. They can meet on leash in our BAARC in the Park.
Cat/Kitten Adoption $65
60 and over $35
Thank You!
Your message has been sent to Babylon Animal Shelter.
You'll receive a copy, too, at to help you keep track of which pets you've inquired about, and which shelters and rescues you've emailed.
NOTE: Some shelters have physical locations you can visit; some of these shelters may only have pets for a limited time, so please do not wait for a reply—just go visit the shelter! Other organizations are rescue groups run by busy volunteers who may take a while to reply. You can find information about the shelter or rescue group caring for this pet, and their adoption procedures, on the pet's details page on Adopt-a-Pet.com.


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Rimmel London Lasting Finish Soft Colour Mono Blush Reviews
Good blush, bad container.Good blush, but the container does not seal. The lid just sits on top. if you try to move it, or take it with you it falls off. The blush lasted for about half a day (4 hours) the price was great, but I need a more sturdy container as I have 4 kids. — 6 years, 5 months agoMissPurple | 611 reviews
Not the best quality, you get what you pay forMy headline says it all...LOL but it's good if you're in a pinch — 7 years, 9 months agoTBjunkie | 692 reviews
LOVE itThis blush is the perfect pink/peachy color. It goes on smoothly, it blends really easily, and lasts all day. A plus is that when you apply a little bit it looks natural, but it also looks great when you apply more for the dramatic going out look. — 8 years agoGlitzGlamBudget | 135 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 1 of 1 people said helpful
Fades...Colors are pretty, but I find it fades by the middle of the day. — 7 years, 7 months agoSwoldierGirl72 | 342 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 1 of 1 people said helpful
Nothing negative to sayThese are great! Small, perfect sized for my blush brush, and delivers perfect blush color! I have this in "berry" and "peach". LOVE THEM! I use these to top off my bronzer to give a more realistic finish. A teensy little amount of shimmer makes the color not flat or matte, but believeable and glowy. These are travel friendly, not messy, all around a great blush product!! — 8 years, 4 months agoleelu | 354 reviews
Great Product!!Love this blush. I go through blush quickly. I think my skin absorbs it! This lasts and goes on smooth! Good price too! — 9 years, 9 months agomvap47 | 345 reviews
Great BlushAt such a cheap price, this blush is a great deal. I wish the packaging were a little larger (I feel like I'm just sweeping blush off into my hand), but I appreciate the amount of product. I find that for a pressed powder blush, it's pretty great. On moisturized skin, it will sweep on just right. — 7 years, 10 months agoThePastyHarlot | 173 reviews
Great drugstore blushI have this blush in the color "santa rose" and it's a subtle peachy tan (that actually works on my fair skin). A big plus to this product is the packaging. I hate blushes that are a weird shape (like covergirl's blushes) and make it hard to get my brush coated evenly. This is plain-looking, but very practical. The powder isn't too fine or too grainy, and goes on smoothly and evenly. The...read more color payoff isn't amazing, but is very buildable, which helps me not accidentally put on too much. I only wish there were more colors! Will definitely repurchase in the future. — 7 years, 7 months agoj_orestano | 221 reviews
Oh my gosh!(It seems that the product may have changed to Lasting Finish Blendable Powder Blush, by Rimmel) I love this blush. I can't believe that this inexpensive blush is comparable to and better than many department store brands. The colors look very natural and you are able to build color intensity through just a couple of applications. I purchased 3 out of the 4 colors, I liked them so much (Pink So...read morerbet, Pink Rose, Santa Rose). The consistency is somewhat dry but not overly powdery. If you're looking for a great, natural looking blush, try this brand first! — 6 years, 7 months agoPsy1ocke | 155 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 2 of 2 people said helpful
Poor packaging But blends niceA great blush for beginners who don't have a light hand when it comes to blush. Shade 004 tickled pink is a lovely natural flush of a youthful pink cheek. lasts a long time. Sheer, glowy and slightly peralecent. I would buy more shades. Lasts a long time, i'm not burning thorugh and hitting pan like the others. the lid is a piece of nothing, but they don't sell this packaging anymore, now they sell the swivel top like the blush/highlighter duo. and that is a much more durable design. — 5 years, 4 months agoMrsBrunetteBeauty | 89 reviews
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My Reasons for Reporting This


text: 6 Yes, the title of this article references US history, but watching the Thunder play this year will be nothing like reading a boring 8th grade text book. There may not be a single team in the entire minors with more top 100 prospects. The most amazing part of it all […] 2013 Trenton Thunder Preview: Four stars and seven more with hope22 Feb, 2013 in BBDP / Editorial by Greg Corcoran


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It's official – Harrison Ford is joining the "Expendables."
The star will join the cast of the upcoming "Expendables 3," his rep confirmed to Access Hollywood on Tuesday.
While Ford is in, Bruce Willis will not be returning to the action franchise, according to one of his co-stars.
WATCH: 'Expenables 2' Cast Reveals Their Softer Side
Sylvester Stallone Tweeted the announcement on Tuesday, writing, "WILLIS OUT… HARRISON FORD IN !!!! GREAT NEWS !!!!! Been waiting years for this!!!!"
Moments after posting the Tweet, Stallone posted another message, stating, "GREEDY AND LAZY …… A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE," with no further explanation.
WATCH: Harrison Ford's Bizarre Comic-Con Interview
In speaking with Access, Ford's rep clarified that the "Star Wars" star will not be taking over Willis' same role.
The casting rumors around the film's third installment have been flying.
Besides Ford, other notable names to have been mentioned as potentially joining the cast include Clint Eastwood and Wesley Snipes. Producer Avi Lerner previously announced Nicolas Cage was also on board.
No word yet if any other past/current cast members are out for the upcoming film.
WATCH: Will Chuck Norris Be Back For 'Expendables 3'?
"Expendables 2" starred Stallone, Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Terry Crews, Randy Couture and Liam Hemsworth.
The first "Expendables" film grossed over $274 million at the worldwide box office. The sequel trumped its predecessor, with a $300 million global haul.


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Expanding Horizons makes the case for integrating global literacy—international knowledge, skills, and perspectives—into afterschool and summer programs. (14 min., 36 sec.)
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Asia Society takes no institutional position on policy issues and has no affiliation with any government. All views expressed in its publications and on its website are the sole responsibility of the author or authors.


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Also, why has Castro been stealing at-bats from Larkin all season long? I doubt Castro takes a pay cut to stay in Cincy. If 29 other teams don't make an offer to Castro, then what does that say about Castro? Is Castro a playoff caliber SS? I doubt it.
What are you talking about?


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And, of course, the fine print:
Get free shipping on your next order when you spend over $100. The discount will be automatically applied to your purchase; no promo code required. The subtotal of your purchase must be $100.01 or greater after any promotional discounts have been applied. Additional fees such as tax or shipping and handling do not apply toward your minimum subtotal requirement of $100.01. Offer applies to standard shipping only. Certain items that require additional shipping and handling are excluded from this promotion and do not apply towards your $100.01 subtotal minimum. Offer subject to change.
This handsome flask has an air of rebelliousness, and we're not just saying that because it's great at booze-holdin'. The premium 6 oz. flask is carefully wrapped with hand-finished and stitched leather, making it even more awesome than the moonshine it's carrying.
- Premium 6 oz. stainless steel flask
- Real cowhide leather
- Wrapped and stitched by hand
- Finished in Austin, Texas
This product ships from the maker within 14 days, via USPS
If you're not happy with this item for any reason, you may return it for a full refund within 14 days.


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Of course the Boilers celebrated. You had Saturday night's 20-17 victory at Illinois that positioned them for a second straight bowl bid if they can beat arch-rival Indiana in next Saturday's regular season finale.
You had tailback Ralph Bolden, he of the three torn ACL's, hobbling his way for a 63-yard run, a 93-yard night (giving him 195 in the last two games) and, ultimately, the game ball.
You had a defense that stuffed Illinois when it mattered most, an offensive coordinator (Gary Nord) who made the trip despite a back injury so severe he couldn't get off the team bus to join in Friday night's team meal at the Beef House in western Indiana, and a running resolve that wound up producing 207 rushing yards, the second straight game of more than 200.
"We'll have a lot of fun on the ride home," Hope said. "They know what's at stake (next Saturday). It will be a great game with IU. Having them at home, with postseason play on the line, there's a lot to be excited about. I'm happy for our team. We're gaining momentum and energy."
Two weeks ago Purdue was 3-6, 0-5 in the Big Ten and wondering how a season that began with such promise could be falling apart. Now, with three-point victories at Iowa and at Illinois, bowl eligibility will come with an Old Oaken Bucket win over Indiana.
"That will be a huge game," quarterback Robert Marve said. "It's a must-win game that we have to fight for. We have to have the same mindset with had here — scratch, fight and win. Scratch, fight and win.
"When your backs are against the wall, you have to keep swinging. We're not done by any means. We know how good IU can be. We have to step up on offense. I know that's what I can control. We have to score more and keep fighting. The defense is playing phenomenal."
Start with cornerback Josh Johnson, who forced two fumbles and broke up two passes. Safety Landon Feichter, a former Bishop Dwenger standout, had a game-high 10 tackles. Linebacker Robert Maci had eight tackles and a fumble recovery. Defensive tackle Kawann short had one sack and a fumble recovery.
In all the Boilers forced three turnovers and never let Illinois (2-9) get in a groove.
"It was great play by our defense to get the takeaways," Hope said.
Purdue overcame a sluggish first quarter to win its second straight game. Bolden (93 yards) and Akeem Shavers (99 yards) sparked the running game.
Marve was 18-for-26 for 173 yards and a touchdown.
Illinois was led by quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase's 22-for-38, 160-yard effort.
Purdue forced two turnovers in the first quarter and got nothing out of them. It had just eight total yards in nine plays in the quarter.
The Boilers picked up the offensive pace and got a 31-yard field goal from Sam McCartney for a 3-0 second quarter lead. It added a 29-yard field from McCartney to negate a 54-yarder from Illinois' Taylor Zalewski.
Purdue forced another fumble in the second quarter and, again, failed to score. The result was a 6-3 halftime lead. The Boilers totaled 156 yards on 36 plays. Marve was 13-for-17 for 79 yards.
Everything changed in one stunning third-quarter play. Marve rolled to his right, then threw back to his left to Hunt on a screen pass. The entire Illinois defense was fooled and Hunt bolted 63 yards for a touchdown to make it 13-3.
"We had a busted coverage on that one," Illinois coach Tim Beckman said. "One of our linebackers just lost his man."
Illinois came back on Dami Ayoola's 16-yard TD run to cut the lead to three.
Then Bolden, coming off his third ACL surgery, bolted for a 63-yard run. It would have been a 78-yard touchdown, but he began limping because of a slight hamstring injury and went out of bounds at the Illinois' 15-yard line. Two plays later, Hunt scored on a 6-yard run for a 20-10 score.
Scheelhaase scored on a 2-yard run to cap a 95-yard drive with 3:29 left to make it 20-17. The Boilers recovered the on-side kick to clinch the win.
"We cannot turn the ball over and win," Beckman said. "That was the difference."
Nord's appearance with the team ( receivers coach Patrick Higgins was the main play caller) was more for morale than for actual coaching, Hope said.
"Gary is really having a tough time," Hope said. "His role was to be with us as part of the family. I think it's a boost for our players and a boost for Coach Nord."
As for the players, Hope said, "(Our guys) work and want to win and have fun. They want to be successful. They have paid a heck of a price. They paid the price to win. We had a tough spot in the season. We fell behind from a manpower standpoint. We lost to some great teams.
"We're healthier now and playing well."
More InformationKickoff: Indiana at Purdue, noon Saturday
Online: For more on Purdue athletics, follow Pete DiPrimio via Twitter at pdiprimio.