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Dear Miriam,
My sister is really pretty and a great person, but I think she dresses terribly. She works in a lab, which is her excuse, and she's a student, so she doesn't have a lot of money to buy new clothes. I want to nominate her for the television show "What Not To Wear," but I'm afraid she'll be really insulted. How can I nominate her so she sees it's for her own good and not just to embarrass her?
How Not To Nominate
Dear Not,
Let me start by saying that I am totally obsessed with "What Not To Wear." I cannot get enough of it. Watching someone go from a schlumpy mess to polished and put together in the span of an hour-long program always seems like a small miracle. (And the schlumpy-turned-polished episodes are far superior to the slutty-turned-reserved episodes). I have teared up more than once. Inevitably, the "contributor" shares how the week-long makeover changed her both inside and out. Her confidence and competence turned out to be linked to her wardrobe, and the makeover has made her a happier, more productive person. (Yes, it's always "her." They used to make over men, but, alas, no more — not that there aren't plenty of eligible candidates out there.) This is a satisfying, humbling and emotional voyeuristic experience.
All that being said, the idea of putting someone you know and love through the associated humiliation isn't necessarily something I can recommend. The secret footage, the elaborate ambush, the crying on national television… The $5,000 the show gives participants to buy a new wardrobe may be adequate compensation, but this episode featuring your sister would be on reruns forever. People would recognize her. It's a far cry from a straightforward path to better clothes.
Here's another option: For your sister's next birthday, recruit all the family and friends who normally give her gifts to go in together to hire her a personal shopper and buy her gift cards to a few professional but affordable stores in her area. Really do your homework and find a personal shopper who understands her student lifestyle and won't try to make her into someone she's not. You could do the same thing with a make-up artist and hair stylist. She could have a "What Not To Wear" experience without it being televised.
If you're truly set on Stacy and Clinton being the key to your plan, then consider asking your sister if you could nominate her. At the very least, she deserves to know that you think her appearance is unacceptable. There have been a handful of episodes over the years where the subject of the makeover either nominates herself or is knowingly nominated by a friend. She still gets the ambush and the full treatment, but she has an inkling that it's coming and may be spared some of the mortification of finding out for the first time what her friends and family think about her on national television.
If you do nominate her and she does get chosen, please remember that both of you will be televised, so anything you say should be considered carefully. If you nominate her and she doesn't get chosen, you can still arrange a home-grown makeover as described above. Whichever way things go, be sure to emphasize that you love and support your sister. Remind her that you want what's best for her, and you know that she has a better shot at a successful career if she looks the part.
Be well,


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More Monterey County 10th-graders are passing the California High School Exit Exam compared with previous generations, a ray of shining light in an otherwise gloomy test scores report.
The California Department of Education on Thursday released state and federal indexes of school achievement. It also released results for the exit exam, which all students must pass in order to graduate from high school.
Students begin taking the exam in 10th grade. This year, 80 percent of them passed both the English and math portions of the test, a 3 percentage point gain in English and 1 percentage point gain in math.
The passing rate is different across districts. In Carmel Unified School District, one of the most affluent districts in the county, 96 percent of students passed both the English and math portions on their first try. In the South Monterey County Joint Union High School District, 69 percent passed English and 65 percent passed math.
Along with the test results, the state released a detailed list of the schools where students posted pictures of the exam on social media sites. Students at Alisal High and Salinas High schools posted photos of the exam cover or answer documents, but not of the actual questions.
The postings appear to be motivated by students trying to get attention from their friends but not to get an advantage on the exam, state officials said.
Salinas Union High School District representatives could not be reached for comment.
Students in 72 schools throughout the state were found to have posted photos, but only eight put up photos of test questions.
Regardless, state officials take the breach of security seriously. Scores were invalidated for the students who posted test questions to social media sites, and all schools found to have any kind of social media posting while students were taking state exams will be excluded from state academic awards programs for the coming year. Three schools, where postings reached more than 5 percent of the students being tested, had their Academic Performance Index scores invalidated.
"We don't take these instances lightly," said Deborah Sigman, deputy superintendent of public instruction, in a telephone conference. "We've implemented security measures, increased monitoring, revised administrators' guidelines to make it clear to schools this is important."
Earlier this month, California Department of Education officials said they found that students at nearly 250 schools posted photos on social media as students were taking Standard Testing and Reporting exams.
Claudia Meléndez Salinas can be reached at 753-6755 or email@example.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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Level Four: Senior Project - The Deconstruction Class Show
About the Show
Level Four dives deep into an advanced form (e.g. Evente, MonoScene, Deconstruction, Sleepover, Harold+, The Movie, Choose Your Own Adventure) and works on that form with the singular focus need to create a great show. The eight class sessions are followed by a four week run of shows, giving students an enhanced opportunity to learn by doing, over time, in front of a real audience. Prerequisite: Magnet Level Three


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Don't Let the Pundits Infect Your Portfolio
A preoccupation with the future not only prevents us from seeing the present as it is but often prompts us to rearrange the past. --Eric Hoffer
In every line of work, people look for a way to distinguish themselves. Most of the time that just means doing a good job. However, if you are a stock-market pundit, the way to stand out is to make big, loud, dramatic market calls -- and then hope you'll be proven correct....530 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
There's no substitute for a trading floor to get great ideas, so Jim Cramer created a better one at Real Money and blogs there exclusively. We then added legendary hedge fund manager, Doug Kass, with his exclusive Daily Diary and best investing ideas. Staffed with more than 4 dozen investing pros, money managers, journalists and analysts, Real Money Pro gives you a flood of opinions, analysis and actionable trading advice found nowhere else, and allows you to interact directly with each expert.
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Steel, I didn't watch the game, so help me out here. How does Vick throw for 232 yards and 4 touchdowns and he confirms how overrated he is?Pittsburgh should be collectively embarrassed by how they handed away a game they were dominating today. And the worst part about it was that it followed Michael Vick's whine-fest on "Inside the NFL" about how he isn't appreciated. Amusing considering that he's possibly the most overrated NFL player ever and did a great job confirming that today.
And how does Pittsburgh dominate somebody when they give up 41 points?
Was the officiating that bad? I'm not being a smart-tail, I just watched the game on stattracker, so I honestly have no idea how things looked.


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Punto headed to DL with right hamstring strain
OAKLAND -- A's infielder Nick Punto sustained a right hamstring strain in the middle of Saturday's 8-3 win over the Royals and is expected to be placed on the disabled list on Sunday.
After singling in the fifth, Punto was rounding third base before retracing his steps on a Jed Lowrie single when he slipped and reached for the ground in pain, bringing manager Bob Melvin and an A's trainer out of the dugout immediately. Eric Sogard replaced him on the bases.
It will be the first DL stint of the season for Punto, who also missed a handful of games in May with a left calf strain.
His replacement is likely to be either Andy Parrino or Nate Freiman, who was scratched from Triple-A Sacramento's lineup on Saturday -- an indicator that he may very well already be heading back to Oakland.
Jane Lee is a reporter for MLB.com. Read her blog, Major Lee-ague, and follow her on Twitter @JaneMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Dental Anesthesia
Loss of taste & dental procedures
I had a crown out on upper jaw and had novocaine and a drug to clot blood in area of the crown. The reaction the same day was tingling up the nose and right side of face then loss of taste (took 4 to 5 hours for the novocaine to wear off. This procedure was done on 06/05/08 and the permanate crown was done on 06/24/08 with taste still not back. Three years ago when an oral surgeon removed a cyst on lower front jaw I lost taste and smell for three months. Any ideas? Thank You
It is not clear to me why you would have taste alteration from dental work on an upper jaw tooth. In the lower jaw, the nerve that caries pain sensation to the tongue and gum on the tongue side of the teeth also caries taste sensation to the front two thirds of the tongue. So, it is possible that during this lower jaw procedure, this may have occurred, at least on one side. Presumably, if smell was somehow altered during an upper jaw procedure, "taste" could be affected as smell makes up a large component of this sense. The distribution of nerves, however, does not seem like it could be affected from standard dental procedures in the upper jaw. I am sorry but I am at a loss to see this connection. If there is a regional taste and smell center in your area, this would be the best place to obtain more information to determine if there is a connection that I am unaware of.
Steven I Ganzberg, SB, DMD, MS
Formerly, Clinical Professor of Dentistry
College of Dentistry
The Ohio State University


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Everyone knows that in order to perform well, you must train hard and train right. What many people forget is that part of the train hard, train right formula is RECOVERY. The best laid plan isn't complete without the proper rest and recovery. It should be part of your routine monthly, weekly and daily. Without attention to recovery, you'll hit the wall sooner than later and all that hard work you've put into your training will come to naught.
If your plan is to race a full season, then the best approach is to sit down with a coach to talk about the season as a whole so you can plan your peaks as well as your recovery weeks. Over the years, one thing I have heard over and over again is how little consideration people give recovery days because they think they'll lose fitness. Rest days ARE training days. They are as important or more than the lung busting, leg burning intervals that everyone thinks are the key to going fast. Even within day-to-day training rest days are important. Do not underestimate the power of complete days off the bike and easy spinning, even if it feels like you're going slower than your grandma. Remember that quality is more important that quantity, and this includes rest days as well.
You've heard it before. Drink water to stay hydrated. It's no secret. But the question during training or racing is water or drink mix? It depends. Under normal conditions water is adequate. However, when you've got a long day on the bike planned or the mercury has risen, ingesting calories through a drink is a good idea. I'm not an expert on prescribing hydration formulas, so I will refer you to the respected scientists who have formulated the "Secret Drink Mix" to get the information you need. I recommend reading the article on Bike Radar to get the low down on the science behind this drink mix. Bottom line…replace the fluid that was lost during exercise.
Don't be afraid to eat carbohydrates! Carbs are the main source of fuel during exercise. You must replace what you use. It's pretty easy. Although carbohydrates are most important, it is a combination of carbs and protein (approx a 4:1 ratio of carbs to proten) that will ensure you get what you need for proper recovery. Sure, there are formulas out there that suggest a certain amount of carbs and protein per body weight, but if you can consume any sort of healthy food (I like foods like peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, chocolate milk, trail mix, and fruit) within the first 30-60 min after exercise, you are on the right track.
For shorter and harder races, you need more warm up. If it's the type of race that will start off hard and fast, then you need to do a few hard efforts in warm up. After a race, especially one that made you dig deep, you'll feel better the next day if you allow yourself 15-20 minutes to cool down by spinning at a slow speed, high cadence.
Stretching is not an activity that is in many cyclists' training programs, but it helps your body stay supple and flexible. When I am home I try to get regular massages (~1/week minimum) to help work out the kinks and soreness. A good massage therapist can help you iron out small problems, help you stretch and help you relax after a hard day of training or racing. Regular massage is not cheap, but it can help you stay on top of any problems you might have or even treat issues before they become a problem.
Naps are my all time favorite thing to do. After a hard day on the bike, I look forward to a little sleepy time on the couch. They help me relax, recover and put my mind at ease for a little while. Most importantly, though, is to get adequate sleep nightly to best prepare mentally and physically for the stresses that lie ahead.


text: +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TPWD News Release 20100510a | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | This page contains only plain text, no HTML formatting codes. | | It is not designed for display in a browser but for copying | | and editing in whatever software you use to lay out pages. | | To copy the text into an editing program: | | --Display this page in your browser. | | --Select all. | | --Copy. | | --Paste in a document in your editing program. | | If you have any suggestions for improving these pages, send | | an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com and mention Plain Text Pages. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [ Note: This item is more than seven years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ] [ Media Contact: TPWD News, firstname.lastname@example.com, 512-389-8030 ] [LH] May 10, 2010 Texas State-Fish Art Contest Winners Announced Student artists invited to participate in "Art's Better Outside" event in July -- Texas State Artist Sam Caldwell to create original artwork with students ATHENS -- Officials at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens have announced the winners in the Texas division of the 2010 Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest. First, second and third-place winners and honorable mentions are awarded in three grade-level divisions: grades 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. The Toyota Texas Bass Classic funds cash prizes for Texas winners: $1,000 for first place, $750 for second place and $500 for third place in the 10-12 division. Prizes in the 4-6 and 7-9 grade levels are $100 for first; $75 for second; $50 for third. First-place winners also receive a travel allowance for themselves and their family to attend the national contest and exposition, which will take place at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens July 16-17, 2010. The 2010 winners for grades 4-6 in the Texas division of the contest are: First place, Nasa Xu, Cinco Ranch Junior High, Katy; second place, Michelle Cho, Nolan Middle School, Killeen; third place, Cain Schoenfeld, Cuero Intermediate School, Cuero. Honorable mentions in grades 4-6 went to: Jousha Torres, Columbus Junior High-Riverside Campus, Columbus; Dakota Miller, Mildred Elementary, Corsicana; Austin Neill, Athens Intermediate School, Athens; Kaylee Chadwick, Cornerstone Christian School, San Angelo; Hannah Wells, Cornerstone Christian School, San Angelo; Kara Langford, Criswell Elementary School, Forney; Alyssa Searcy, Grandview Junior High, Grandview. Winners for grades 7-9 are: First place, Brady King, homeschool, Livingston; second place, Callie Clayton, Highland Park High School, Dallas; third place, John Herndon, Liberty High School, Liberty. Honorable mentions for grades 7-9 were awarded to: Leena Gonzalez, Vanguard Academy Charter School, Pharr; Jocelyn Cantu, Vanguard Academy Charter School, Pharr; Jordan Suarez, Vanguard Academy Charter School, Pharr; Ruvi Villareal, Vanguard Academy Charter School, Pharr; Skye Koehl, Columbus Junior High-Riverside Campus, Columbus; Joseph Wilson, Little Cypress Junior High, Orange; Tyler Freeman, Little Cypress Junior High, Orange. For grades 10-12 the winners in the 2010 Texas division of the State-Fish Art Contest are: First place, Anh Thu Do, Liberty High School, Liberty; second place, Meagan Bishop, Highland Park High School, Dallas; third place, Bonnie Leung, Lake Travis High School, Austin. Honorable mentions in grades 10-12 went to: Stacey Spitz, Robert E. Lee High School, Tyler; Callie Hudson, Phoenix Charter School, Greenville; Lorenzo Leyva, Del Rio High School, Del Rio; Reina Chen, Plano West Senior High, Plano; Hailey Sowden, Highland Park High School, Dallas; Ana Hernandez, Presidio High School, Presidio; Austin Linkinhoker, Cedar Park. The public portion of the State-Fish Art Expo will be held July 17, 2010, and will feature fishing, instructional seminars and demonstrations and a display of all the state and national contest winners. Plans are being made for a day-long schedule of events with food booths and outdoor activities and displays that the public can enjoy in addition to viewing the artwork and voting for the People's Choice Award. The public can also vote for the People's Choice Award online at http://www.wildlifeforever.org/. Public admission to the expo and related activities will be included with paid admission to TFFC. One outstanding piece of artwork each year is selected for the Art of Conservation Award, and a commemorative stamp featuring the artwork is produced for sale. Proceeds from sales of the stamp are used to fund conservation projects. The 2010 winner will be unveiled at the expo. The expo will include an outdoor fair with food and activities. Artists will demonstrate their craft; some will have their artwork available for purchase. Texas State Artist Sam Caldwell will display and sell his work and will also create an original watercolor with student assistance during the day. Sculptor Terry Jones of Jewett will display and sell examples of metal sculptures recycled from used objects. Jones's work has been displayed at the Texas State Fair and is widely collected. Jamie Williams of Meaningful Memories Photography will demonstrate outdoor photography. Potter Brenda Hennesey will demonstrate how to throw pots and let kids get their hands dirty. Members of the Henderson County Art Club will display their work and demonstrate techniques. Also appearing will be members of the Society for Creative Anachronism demonstrating fly-tying and sword-fighting. The U.S. Forest Service Amigos del Bosque will feature reptile displays (touching encouraged) and fire prevention; Smokey the Bear will be available for hugs and photos. The State-Fish Art Contest is a project of Wildlife Forever. Located in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Wildlife Forever is a non-profit multi-species conservation organization dedicated to conserving America's wildlife heritage. Working at the grassroots level, Wildlife Forever has funded conservation projects in all 50 states, committing millions of dollars to "on-the-ground" efforts. Wildlife Forever supports habitat restoration and enhancement, land acquisition, research and management of fish and wildlife populations. For more information on the State-Fish Art expo, visit tpwd.texas.gov/tffc. For information on Athens-area lodging, dining and attractions, visit http://www.athenstx.org/. -30-


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Marvel, Domo and a Troll...
To insure your action figure collection, get in touch with Collectibles Insurance, the official insurance company of the Figures.com network. Say "Figures.com" to get 5% off your first term premiums.
To buy action figures, take a look at BigBadToyStore.com, RedfordFilms.com, Toynk.com, PastGenerationToys.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, and MonkeyDepot.com.
The largest and most highly anticipated pop culture event of the year is right around the corner, and Dark Horse is bringing you the latest and greatest in exclusive products from Dark Horse Deluxe. Make sure to stop by booth #2615 to grab the following exclusives, only available at San Diego Comic-Con 2012.
2" Pirate Domo Qee (Limited Edition of 1,500)
These popular 2" Qee figures have continually sold out, appearing in stores and galleries worldwide. Who wouldn't want a Pirate Domo Qee? Get one while they last!
Marvel Classic Character: Iron Man Gold Variant (Limited Edition of 200)
Iron Man was originally portrayed in a silvery iron suit when he was introduced to the world by Marvel. Very shortly thereafter he transitioned into this gold-colored iron suit. This Comic-Con exclusive limited-edition Syroco-style statuette stands 4 3/4" tall and comes in a litho-printed tin box, with a pin-back button and a booklet.
Marvel Classic Character: The Hulk Green Variant (Limited Edition of 200)
We've turned the original short-lived gray Hulk to his familiar green just for Comic-Con in this very limited-edition Syroco-style statuette. Hulk stands 4 3/4" tall, and comes in a litho-printed tin box, with a pin-back button and a booklet.
2.5" Good Luck Troll: Black-Light Green (Limited Edition of 1,500)
Trolls became one of America's biggest toy fads in the early 1960s, and again over the years in various revivals from many toy manufacturers. They've been off the market for nearly a decade; now Dark Horse is bringing them back with a mystery-box program. However, our San Diego Comic-Con exclusive is no mystery. This green Good Luck Troll with white hair glows under black light and is limited to 1,500 pieces!
San Diego Comic-Con 2012 EXCLUSIVES Check List


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By | November 2, 2012
Cessna has selected Northrop Grumman to provide hybrid inertial navigation systems as core components of the avionics for its Citation Sovereign business jets.
Northrop Grumman said it will supply the LCR-100 Attitude and Heading Reference System as a standard feature on the Cessna business aircraft.
(LCR-100 Attitude and Heading Reference System)
Cessna said it expects the Citation Sovereign to receive certification in early 2013.
"The selection of Northrop Grumman LITEF to provide navigation systems for select Cessna Citation business jets will contribute to long-term cost savings for Citation operators," said Eckehardt Keip, managing director for Northrop Grumman LITEF. "Early flight tests have indicated a smooth integration of our systems with the avionics suite and demonstrated the high-performance capabilities of our products."
Northrop Grumman LITEF is the German subsidiary of Northrop Grumman that manufactures inertial sensors, inertial reference, and inertial navigation systems and computers.
(Cessna Citation Sovereign Flight Deck)


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The 11 Paint Colors That Will Be Hot Next
"I use a lot of blue in decorating, so I can't resist its complementary color: orange. I love this lacquer bar cart from Oomph. It really adds visual punch to the whole color scheme." —Ashley Whittaker
Bar Cart in Knockout Orange, $1,595. oomphonline.com.
"Red is a powerful accent, but you don't need a lot to make a big impact. Try it on a vase, a lamp, or dishes for the table — even just some flowers." —Shelia Bridges
5 Most Popular Pins on Pinterest This Week: A Blue Exotic Kitchen, A Stylish Home Bar, and More


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By Reza Lotun, AWS Community Developer
Modern Web applications often employ a variety of datastores in their design to support different application requirements. This article takes you through a whirlwind tour of setting up an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance with a Django installation, ready to interface with three varieties of datastoresMySQL using Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS), Amazon SimpleDB, and Redis hosted on Amazon EC2 backed by Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS). After reading this article, you should be able to incorporate any or all of these stores into your own application.
So, you want to build a complex Web application? What does that mean, and how is this article different from any other of the thousands of articles that revolve around the time-tested Linux, Apache, MySQL, Python/Perl/PHP/etc. (LAMP) approach? Modern Web applications such as Twitter or Facebook employ "killer features"social networks, support for huge user bases, and real-time elements like chat. Although you may not be looking to build a service operating at the massive scale these sites offer, it is often useful to design your architecture in a way that can incorporate similar concepts. The goal is to maximize flexibility by using the right datastores for the job.
The beauty of using Amazon Web Services (AWS) is that your application does not have to conform to a rigid architecture. You can take what you'd like from the following examples and adapt them to your own needs. The basic mantra you'll be adopting, though, is "why choose one?" You'll be using all three!
The following isn't meant to be a polemic that alternative, nonrelational datastores are the be-all and end-all. On the contrary, this article makes the point that each datastore has specific strengths and weaknesses. This article presents each datastore in an area that highlights its strength and shows you how to leverage it in a Python setting. It also shows that AWS offers all the building blocks you need to incorporate any sort of datastore you need into your architecture. You'll learn about:
- MySQL. Using Amazon RDS, you can have a managed MySQL installation in which you have full control over the machine type and storage it uses. With a few application programming interface (API) calls, you can scale resources up or down as you require. MySQL and other relational databases excel at storing highly structured data that need to be modified in a transactional way. Also, you can take advantage of the plethora of Django applications that exist already to add functionality to your application.
- Amazon SimpleDB. Amazon SimpleDB is an example of a distributed key-value store. It is specifically designed for high scalability and is intended as a store for small pieces of indexable data, or rather meta-data. Unlike MySQL, Amazon SimpleDB is schema-less, and operations on it are eventually consistent. MySQL and Amazon SimpleDB are completely different beaststwo tools that solve very different problems. You'll be using Amazon SimpleDB to store user account information.
- Redis. Another key-value store, Redis is similar to memcached in its ease of use and speed. Unlike memcached, it supports varying levels of persistence and advanced atomic operations on data structures such as lists, sets, and ordered sets. Some applications for Redis include a fast persistent session back end for Django, a real-time statistics tracker, and a URL shortener service. Although Redis is something you would host yourself on Amazon EC2, this article shows you how best to do it by backing its persistence store with an Amazon EBS partition.
Note: Notice that Amazon SimpleDB is "eventually consistent." What does that mean exactly? Without getting into too much detail, it's important to understand one fact about storing data on Amazon SimpleDB: Your data are spread across many machines. The basic problem, then, is this: If you make a write to one machine, does the "knowledge" of that write propogate instantaneously to all other machines? Intuitively, you would say nosome amount of time has to exist before all copies of your data on multiple machines are "consistent" in some way. Although Amazon SimpleDB is eventually consistentthat is, you usually have to wait on the order of seconds for a read immediately issued on changed data to reflect the previous writea new feature on reads has just been introduced, allowing consistent reads. What this means is that you can issue a read, and the result will block until all writes affecting the data that are read propagate. This functionality can be useful in some situations, as you'll see later.
Two Hats, One Head
Okay, enough philosophizingtime for some code. A lot of people who venture into cloud computing platforms such as AWS come from a mixed background of development and operations. The lines between these two areas are blurring, but it's still useful to make a distinction between them.
On the development side, you'll wear your software engineering hats and think in terms of architecture and algorithms, systems, data flow, and requirements and test. At this level of abstraction, you'll be working mostly at the framework level and your architecture.
On the operations side, you often think in terms of deployments, servers, and metrics. You have code that you need to put onto machines. You have tools and other systems that need to monitor those machines. There are issues of maintenance and performance measuring as well as load testing. Another requirement is thinking of failureyou have to plan for it to happen rather than be surprised when it does.
This article touches on both of these areas. As you can imagine, both influence each other in a tight feedback loop. You'll wear two hats and touch on two different toolsets when dealing with the following ideas. The tools in your arsenal will be:
- Development:
- Django. A popular Python-based Web framework
- Operations:
Installation and Setup
This article assumes that you have a working Python and Django environment, with
easy_install or
pip available. If not, please consult the relevant documentation to set up one of these two packages (preferably
pip). installation of Boto and Fabric is simple (if you're using
easy_install, replace
pip install with
$ pip install boto $ pip install fabric
Assume that your AWS access key and secret key are located as environment variables:
$ export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY $ export AWS_SECRET_KEY=YOUR_SECRET
Note: It's important never to give away your secret key. Keep it safetry not to hard-code it into any source files. There are tools to mitigate this risk slightly. Use them: You won't regret it.
This article assumes that you're running on Amazon EC2 to take advantage of lower latency and all the free bandwidth within the cloud. Launch an Amazon EC2 instance on which to run your Django and Redis installation. You'll be using Alestic's Ubuntu 9.10 32-bit Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
ami-bb709dd2, the default security group, and an existing key denoted by "key."
You collect all of your operations steps in a fabfile. A fabfile is Fabric's way of collecting a number of commands. It starts to become really useful when you're executing these commands over many servers, but for now, just stick your Boto commands in there. You might find it useful to adopt the same approach to any of your Python projects on AWS a fabfile with routines to deploy code and manage servers.
To start, save the following code into a file called
import sys import time import boto AMI = 'ami-bb709dd2' def launch_ec2_instance(): c = boto.connect_ec2() # get image corresponding to this AMI image = c.get_image(AMI) print 'Launching EC2 instance ...' # launch an instance using this image, key and security groups # by default this will be an m1.small instance res = image.run(key_name='key', security_groups=['default']) print res.instances[0].update() instance = None while True: print '.', sys.stdout.flush() dns = res.instances[0].dns_name if dns: instance = res.instances[0] break time.sleep(5.0) res.instances[0].update() print 'Instance started. Public DNS: ', instance.dns_name
You've defined a fabric command called
launch_instance, which is simply a function. To run it, use the following code:
$ fab launch_ec2_instance Launching EC2 instance... u'pending' . . . Instance started. Public DNS: ec2-72-44-40-153.z-2.compute-1.amazonaws.com Done.
You now have an Amazon EC2 instance started that you can use SSH to access using your key. Do that using Fabric. Add the following code to your
from fabric.api import env, sudo # this should be a path to your SSH key for the EC2 instance key_path = '/home/me/keys/key' def live(): # DNS entry of our instance env.hosts = ['ec2-72-44-40-153.z-2.compute-1.amazonaws.com'] env.user = 'ubuntu' env.key_filename = key_path def setup_packages(): sudo('apt-get -y update') sudo('apt-get -y dist-upgrade') sudo('apt-get install -y python python-django')
You've now defined two commands: one to define your "live environment" and one to execute a series of commands that update your instance to the newest software and install Django. If you had a development and staging environment, you would add corresponding functions for those, as well. To execute the setup on your live environment, use the code:
$ fab live setup_packages
Fabric runs the list of commands in sequence. The
live command simply defines a list of machines to run subsequent commands over. By adding to your list of instances, you can code one task once and have it executed over many machines.
Throughout the rest of this article, you'll be developing locally and deploying your code to the instance. For example, you can have a code repository with a clone on your instance, and the deployment step could simply be a Fabric command that would update to the latest code on the remote instance and restart your server.
Now that you have your basic environment, you can set up your MySQL database.
Setting Up Amazon RDS
Although you have the option of running MySQL yourself on Amazon EC2 with Amazon EBS, Amazon RDS offers you the ability to let Amazon do all the heavy lifting and management for you. You'll use an Amazon RDS back end for a Django project. An Amazon RDS instance is like an Amazon EC2 instance, except that its sole purpose is to run MySQL.
def initialize_db(): """ Initializes a one-time RDS instance. This should only be a one-time call. """ rds = boto.connect_rds() sg = rds.create_dbsecurity_group('dbsg', 'My database security group.') groups = rds.get_all_dbsecurity_groups() print 'All database security groups: ', groups ec2 = boto.connect_ec2() ec2_groups = ec2.get_all_security_groups(['default']) for g in ec2_groups: sg.authorize(ec2_group=g) pg = rds.create_parameter_group(name='dbparamgrp', description='My DB parameter group.') inst = rds.create_dbinstance(id='dbid', allocated_storage=10, instance_class='db.m1.small', master_username='data_muncher', master_password='mysecretpassword', param_group='dbparamgrp', security_groups=['dbsg']) print 'Launching instance...' time.sleep(5) def db_status(): rds = boto.connect_rds() rs = rds.get_all_dbinstances() if rs: for inst in rs: print 'DB instance %s, status: %s, endpoint: %s' % ( inst.id, inst.status, inst.endpoint) else: print 'No RDS instances.'
The first command spawns a small Amazon RDS instance with 10 GB of disk capacity from scratch. Notice that there are three steps:
- Create a database security group.
Here, your security group has a name and description. These are important concepts and allow you to restrict access to your database instances either to specific IP addresses, IP ranges, or other Amazon EC2 groups. You've decided to allow the default Amazon EC2 group to connect to this instance.
- Create a parameter group.
This is an abstraction of the
- Create an Amazon RDS instance.
Spawn the actual Amazon RDS instance with a given ID, resources, configuration, and user options.
Now, you can run it.
$ fab initialize_db Launching instance... Done.
You've begun the process of launching the instance. It takes a few seconds to a few minutes, although you can check the process manually by running the
status command:
$ fab status DB instance dbid, status: creating, endpoint: None Done. $ fab status DB instance dbid, status: available, endpoint: (u'dbid.cuhbotbit2pb.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com', 3306) Done.
Your Amazon RDS instance has started! You have the full Domain Name System (DNS) entry for it, and it's ready to accept data. Before you can do anything, however, you need to create the actual MySQL databases, which you can do from the MySQL command-line client:
mysql -u root -h dbid.cuhbotbit2pb.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com -p CREATE DATABASE dbname; GRANT ALL ON dbname.* TO 'dbuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mypass';
Now that your MySQL environment has been completely initialized, you can tell Django to start using it by editing your
settings.py file:
DATABASE_ENGINE = 'mysql' DATABASE_NAME = 'dbname' DATABASE_USER = 'dbuser' DATABASE_PASSWORD = 'mypass' DATABASE_HOST = 'dbid.cuhbotbit2pb.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com' DATABASE_PORT = '' # Set to empty string for default.
At this point, you can run a complete Django installation:
$ python manage.py syncdb
Although you have code to reproduce launching your Amazon RDS instance, you can add other tools to your fabfile to aid in administration. One such tool is CloudWatch, Amazon's metrics API that often gets bundled with certain Web services. Luckily, Amazon RDS is one of them. Here's an example plug-in to use CloudWatch and Amazon RDS:
from datetime import datetime def get_cpu_stats(): c = boto.connect_cloudwatch() end = datetime.now() start = end - timedelta(days=4) data = c.get_metric_statistics(60, start, end, 'CPUUtilization', 'AWS/RDS', ['Average']) points = [(d['Average'], d['Timestamp']) for d in sorted(data, key=lambda x: x['Timestamp'])] print '\nCPU utilization on average for each of the past 20 minutes: ' for p in points[-20:]: av, ts = p print '\tCPU: %.2s\t\t%s' % (av, ts)
Running this plug-in would produce:
$ fab get_cpu_stats CPU utilization on average for each of the past 20 minutes: CPU: 10 2010-05-25T23:05:00Z ... CPU: 13 2010-05-25T23:31:00Z Done.
Next, you can integrate a completely different datastore into your Django setup, allowing you to introduce an extra dimension of scalability.
Setting Up Amazon SimpleDB
Amazon SimpleDB is a key-value datastore. It was designed to be scalable and redundantparticularly useful for applications involving heavy writes of small pieces of indexable data. This makes it particularly suited to storing metadata rather than the full data itself. For example, say that you have multiple client implementations of a product that exist on the Web, desktop, and mobile devices. To implement lightweight user accounts, it might be useful to offload authentication data and other lightweight metadata about user accountssuch as user name, password hashes, creation time, and last updated timeonto a system like Amazon SimpleDB. In this example, you'll do just that, allowing you to implement an alternative authentication back end on Django.
One thing to note about Amazon SimpleDB is its terminology and structure. At the top level, you have domains. Think of domains as namespaces with specific limits on size. Users are allowed 100 domains to name and store data as they please. Within these domains, data are stored in items. Items have an item name and attribute-to-value mappings. More than one value can be associated with an attribute. Think of Amazon SimpleDB as a sort of large distributed hash map or dictionary.
One of the limits of Amazon SimpleDB is that domains can only be 10 GB. Also, keep in mind that operations on different domains interact with different servers within the Amazon SimpleDB system. You'll use a trick that those who've used memcached are familiar with: using a set of domains to store data. If you have N domainssay, 16you'll take a hash of the item name to get a 32-bit number, and take the modulus of that by 16 to get the domain for that item.
Look at an example of how Amazon SimpleDB could work by implementing an authentication back end for Django. Although Django comes packaged with a robust model back end intended for use over a relational database like MySQL, you'll do it over Amazon SimpleDB. Why? Perhaps you have a variety of clients, such as mobile devices, desktop applications, and Web users who routinely authenticate into your system or create accounts. That's a lot of writes that you might want to parallelize as much as possible. Also, because this is highly sensitive data, you want it available and redundantly stored.
To begin, create those 16 domains. You can modify this number to suit your needs. Again, stick this initialization code in your fabfile:
NUM_USER_DOMAINS = 16 def create_user_domains(): conn = boto.connect_sdb() domain_name_template = 'user_%s' for i in xrange(NUM_USER_DOMAINS): name = domain_name_template % str(i).zfill(3) dom = conn.create_domain(name) print 'Created ', dom
Domain creation is idempotent, meaning that you can safely run this command as many times as you want without affecting already-created domains. Now that you have your domains, you can implement a Django authentication back end:
""" auth.py Custom authentication backend that delegates authentication to accounts stored in SimpleDB. """ import hashlib import boto from django.conf import settings from django.contrib.auth.models import User NUM_USER_DOMAINS = 16 sdb_conn = boto.connect_sdb() # domain_map will be a map of domain number to domain domain_map = {} for i in xrange(NUM_USER_DOMAINS): domain_name = 'user_%s' % str(i).zfill(3) domain_map[i] = sdb_conn.get_domain(domain_name) def get_domain(username): # prepend username with formatter string user_hash = '!u:%s' % username # use Python hash, since it's fast bucket = hash(user_hash) % NUM_USER_DOMAINS return domain_map[bucket] class SimpleDBBackend(object): def authenticate(self, username=None, password=None): if not username or not password: return None dom = get_domain(username) user_entry = dom.get_item(username) if user_entry is None: # the user doesn't exist return None # you'll probably also want to store a salt with the # password hash phash = hashlib.sha1(password).hexdigest() # assume we have an attribute 'pass' on the item which # maps to password hashes stored_phash = user_entry.get('pass', '') if phash == stored_phash: # valid password try: user = User.objects.get(username=username) except User.DoesNotExist: # create a new user object user = User(username=username, password='empty') user.save() return user else: return None def get_user(self, user_id): try: return User.objects.get(pk=user_id) except: return None
Next, edit your Django
settings.py file:
AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = ('mydjangoproject.auth.SimpleDBBackend', 'django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend', )
This file first uses your Amazon SimpleDB back end to authenticate users, and then falls back on the built in Django
ModelBackend to deal with user permissions. Of course, you can do everything in Amazon SimpleDB as well by expanding the
SimpleDBBackend: It's up to you.
Setting Up Redis on Amazon EBS
Redis is an advanced key-value storebetter thought of as a data structure server. Redis excels at use cases that involve many quick operations where it would also be nice to have some persistence. Though it exists as a separate software package, perhaps the best way to deploy it on Amazon EC2 is to have its persistence layer hosted on Amazon EBS.
Note: For detailed information on setting up and configuring Redis, see Simon Willison's Redis tutorial.
Think of Amazon EBS as a mountable disk partition. The beauty of it is that unlike local Amazon EC2 instance storage, you won't lose the data when the instance is terminated. You can also periodically take snapshots of your Amazon EBS partition and store them on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3).
So, begin by creating a 10-GB Amazon EBS volume and attaching it to
/dev/sdb on your Amazon EC2 instance. You can then mount this volume (under
/volume) and start saving data on it:
def create_ebs_volume(): c = boto.connect_ec2() reservations = c.get_all_instances() # since we only have one instance this will do instance = res.instances[0] # create EBS volue in the same area where our instance lives volume = c.create_volume(10, inst.placement) print volume.attach(inst.id, '/dev/sdh') def mount_ebs_volue(): sudo('mkdir -p /volume') sudo('mount -t ext3 /dev/sdh /volume')
Any time your instance is terminated, the persistent side of Redis will always be available for the next instance you launch. This is especially useful if your Redis instance crashes and needs to be quickly recreated or whether the resources used need to be vertically scaled up to a more powerful instance.
This article demonstrated how you would work with various datastores on AWS. There's a lot of them to choose from, but each has a potential place in your application stack. Using Boto and Fabric, you saw how you could reuse and save your configuration steps, replaying them in the future.
Also, this article showed how a tool like Fabric (combined with Boto) could allow you to manage all your instances on Amazon EC2. Given a Django application, you learned how you can get started using Amazon SimpleDB to implement user accounts. Even using a NoSQL-type datastore like Redis is possible on Amazon EC2, especially when used in conjunction with Amazon EBS.
About the Author
Reza Lotun lives in London and spends his time architecting and developing the back-end systems for TweetDeck as well as contributing code to Boto. You can follow him on Twitter at @rlotun.


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About the Collection
Collection Scope
The Microform & Newspaper Collections has a large current international and domestic newspaper collection, with an emphasis on Slavic, South and Southeast Asian papers and a selection of American and European papers. Current subscriptions are obtained to support classroom needs.
Extensive holdings of national and international newspapers on microfilm are also housed here, with the London Gazette, 1665, being the oldest. A large local newspaper collection is also maintained, as the basis of a cooperative preservation microfilming project with the Washington State Library.
A wide variety of major microform sets are located in this section. Examples include:
- Early American Imprints (Evans; Shaw & Shoemaker)
- Early English Books (Pollard & Redgrave; Wing)
- German Baroque Literature
- Pre-1900 Canadiana
- Dead Sea Scrolls
- Congressional hearings
- Black Literature, 1827-1940
- United Nations Documents
- Landmarks of Science
- Trans-Mississippi West
- American Statistical Index
- Statistical Reference Index
Many microform sets are now available online. Examples include:
- Early English Books ((Pollard & Redgrave; Wing))
- 18th Century Collections
- American Periodical Series
- Digital National Security Archive (Declassified Documents)
Contact Us
Suzzallo Library, Ground floor
Box 352900
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-2900
phone: 206-543-4164
email: email@example.com or use the request form


text:
Sign into our member site to view your information online.Forget your username or password? Not registered? Register here
tacrolimus (generic name)
Prograf (brand name)
It is used to prevent organ rejection after a transplant.
(ta KROE li mus)
Table of Contents
Top Learning Centers(Recursos en Español)
What is this medicine?TACROLIMUS (ta KROE li mus) is used to prevent organ rejection after a transplant.
What should I tell my health care provider before I take this medicine?They need to know if you have any of these conditions:
How should I use this medicine?This medicine is for infusion into a vein. It is given by a health care professional in a hospital or clinic setting.
Talk to your pediatrician regarding the use of this medicine in children. Special care may be needed.
What if I miss a dose?This does not apply.
What may interact with this medicine?Do not take this medicine with any of the following medications:
This medicine may also interact with the following medications:
What should I watch for while using this medicine?Your condition will be monitored carefully while you are receiving this medicine.
Call your doctor or health care professional for advice if you get a fever, chills or sore throat, or other symptoms of a cold or flu. Do not treat yourself. This drug decreases your body's ability to fight infections. Try to avoid being around people who are sick.
This medicine can make you more sensitive to the sun. Keep out of the sun. If you cannot avoid being in the sun, wear protective clothing and use sunscreen. Do not use sun lamps or tanning beds/booths.
Your blood sugar may increase while you are taking this medicine. Call your doctor or health care professional for advice if you have any of the following symptoms: increased thirst, dry mouth, pass urine frequently, notice a fruity odor on your breath, or feel tired and lose your appetite.
Avoid taking products that contain aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, or ketoprofen unless instructed by your doctor. These medicines may hide a fever.
What side effects may I notice from receiving this medicine?Side effects that you should report to your doctor or health care professional as soon as possible:
Side effects that usually do not require medical attention (report to your doctor or health care professional if they continue or are bothersome):
Where should I keep my medicine?This drug is given in a hospital or clinic and will not be stored at home.
Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed.


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There is something for everyone at the 2013 Western Dairy Management Conference, March 6-8, at John Ascuaga's Nugget, Reno, Nev.
Presentations during the conference include:
- Mycoplasma Mastitis: New Trends in an Emerging Disease.
- Euthanasia Techniques in Dairy Cattle.
- Avoiding Residues: More than Meat & Milk.
- Managing Worker Safety, Productivity, & Regulatory Issues.
- Monitoring Negative Energy Balance in Transition Cows for Better Results.
- Don't be so Lame: Time to Implement Solutions to Those Sore Feet.
- Global Dairy Trends & Implications for the US Dairy Industry.
- Understanding Water Requirements on Dairies.
- Dairy Heifer Development Guidelines.
- Economics of Intensive Heifer Rearing Programs.
- Group Housing & Feeding Systems for Calves: Opportunities & Challenges.
- Managing Heat Stress and its Impact on Cow Behavior.
- Animal Care Certifications: What, Who, & Why.
- Integrating New Techniques for an Improved Reproduction Program.
- A Different Look at Feeding Economics.
- Getting the Most Out of Your Silage Storage.
- Feeding Cows Less Protein to Get More Milk.
- You Control Milk Fat Depression - Don't Let it Control You!
In addition, there will be four panel discussions, including:
- Innovative Sources of Labor for Dairies.
- How Innovation & Partnerships Grow Global Dairy Sales.
- New Technologies to Improve Dairy Cattle Reproduction.
- Monitoring and Managing Feeding Programs.


text:
found a new home!
Plenty of my friends are looking
for one too. Find a pet to adopt.
I am already spayed, housetrained, and up to date with shots.
KitsNKats Rescue will be at Petsmart on Wade Hampton in Taylors SC Saturday from 11 am - 4:30 pm
All of our kitties are current on all vaccines including rabies. and have been tested and confirmed negative for feline leukemia and FIV. They are also spayed or neutered.
Our organization offers 24PetWatch microchips, which include free registration into the 24PetWatch pet recovery service. For more information visit www.24petwatch.com or call 1-866-597-2424. This pet also comes with 30 days of pre-paid pet health insurance. For more information please visit www.sheltercare.com or call 1-866-375-PETS.
Molly Sue, a Easley Maine Coon cat was adopted! Here's how you can benefit by looking at adoption as an option to buying a Maine Coon for sale in Easley, or seeking a Maine Coon cat from a breeder in Easley.


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VANDALS armed with spray paint left Brierley Hill looking "a state" when they graffitied walls, telecom boxes and shop shutters.
Yobs sprayed at least a dozen 'tags' around Moor Street, Mill Street and High Street on Monday night.
Mark Edwards, aged 36, of Moor Street, noticed the graffiti on Tuesday morning and said: "It looks a state and it's all brand new. The people that live here are young families and elderly residents looking for a quiet life. We occasionally have graffiti on the High Street but this is moving into a solely residential area."
The father-of-two added: "Nothing like this has happened in the three years I've been here."
Councillor Rachel Harris, who represents the Brierley Hill ward said: "We don't want this in Brierley Hill. The community works hard on projects, like Brierley Hill in Bloom - we've really pulled together, Brierley Hill is moving up and then some vandal comes along. This is not art, it's vandalism. Someone is clearly making a statement."
A Dudley Council spokesman said a team was sent out at 6am this morning (Wednesday) to clean up.


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Understanding how our changing climate will affect our wildlife species and the habitats on which the depend is key to designing and carrying out effective adaptation strategies to counter the impacts of global warming.
Plant and animal species vary widely in how they are likely to respond to change in temperature, precipitation, and other factors brought about by global warming. Vulnerability to climate change refers to the likelihood that these climate-induced shifts will have an adverse impact on a given species, habitat, or ecosystem.
National Wildlife Federation led an effort to provide conservationists and resource managers with guidance and tools to help them conduct vulnerability assessments as part of broader climate change adaptation planning efforts.
This working group, which won the Department of Interior's Partners in Conservation Award for their collaboration, consisted of leading experts from federal and state agencies, universities, and non-profit conservation groups.
The group's efforts resulted in a user's guide to vulnerability assessment and training curriculum. Titled Scanning the Conservation Horizon: A Guide to Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, this guide focuses on the key components of vulnerability--sensitivity and exposure--and reviews best practices for conducting assessments focusing on species, habitats, or ecosystems.
Vulnerability assessments are a key step in adaptation planning by enabling managers to:
Identify those species and systems most likely to be in need of conservation actions as a result of climate change.
Develop adaptation strategies tailored for managing species and habitats in greatest need.
Foster collaboration at statewide and regional scales by providing a shared understanding of impacts and management options.
Allow scarce resources for wildlife conservation to be allocated efficiently in the face of climate change.


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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Spine and Back Health
One Big Mess!!
I have had neck pain off and on for over 20 years. There was never any accident involved. Recently I had a pretty bad bout of it. At the same time my right hip, which also has hurt some in the past, started hurting and at one point I could not put my weight on it. A few frightful moments later it was OK. Now my lower back has started to hurt so badly that I cannot stand to walk for very long at a time and the walking I do is bend over. The pain seems to move from one side of my back to the other and radiates around my groin area. I feel like I have been in a car accident with the neck/hip/back pain going on all at the same time. What kind of specialist should I see to be evaluated?
Hello, thank you for your question. Your options include asking your primary care doctor for a referral, or if your insurance plan allow you to go for a direct referral you could try a physiatrist (otherwise known as "rehab doc" or "PM&R" (which stands for physical medicine and rehabilitation). They aren't necessarily common, so you may not have one in your community. Or, a pain management specialist (usually anesthesiologists). Good luck.
David J Hart, MD
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University


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Every night, as the sun makes its swift departure behind the neighbor's roof, J drops his light saber and comes nosing around me as I get pans moving around in the kitchen.
"What's for dinner?"
If, as happens 6 out of every 7 days, I answer (in my best Mrs. Cleaver voice): "Why, all your favorites, dear; chicken nuggets, scrambled eggs with pickles on top, and a great big pile of French fries".
"Oh, boy, Mom, thanks!" (gives me a big bear hug, and skips off to wash his hands).
HA! No, sillies, that's not what happens.
Basically if the menu consists of anything other than Carbonara, he falls on the floor in a raging, apoplectic fit. Kind of like Jake La Motta during the steak scene in Raging Bull, except he doesn't throw any food at my head (that would merit a time-out, for sure).
I have to admit, that Carbonara is also one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. My husband holds the title of Official Maker of the Carbonara, but lately, I've tinkered with the tried-and-true recipe (because that's what I do), and now have made it even more comfortable and delicious.


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We filled weather-resistant fiberglass planters with hearty seasonal specimens: cedar, juniper, white pine and cryptomeria (cypress) branches, oversize pinecones and silver brunia. Garlands of silvery metal flowers snaked around the door look as pretty as real blossoms, but can withstand unexpected storms. A custom aisle runner—why hide it indoors?—is a festive focal point that defines the area and sets a personal tone.
Location, The Remsenburg Academy, Remsenburg, NY. Planters, Jamali Garden Supplies. Metal garlands, Marie Courant. Runner, The Original Runner Company. Flowers, Claire Bean, Westhampton, NY.
- Featured In: Wedding Ceremony Décor Ideas by Season


text: +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TPWD News Releases About Hunting Dated 2013-08-23 | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | This page contains only plain text, no HTML formatting codes. | | It is not designed for display in a browser but for copying | | and editing in whatever software you use to lay out pages. | | To copy the text into an editing program: | | --Display this page in your browser. | | --Select all. | | --Copy. | | --Paste in a document in your editing program. | | If you have any suggestions for improving these pages, send | | an e-mail to email@example.com and mention Plain Text Pages. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [ Note: This item is more than four years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ] [ Media Contact: TPWD News, email@example.com, 512-389-8030 ] [SL] Aug. 23, 2013 Texas Sets Waterfowl Seasons for 2013-14 Canvasback bag raised for first time since 1964; possession limits increased AUSTIN - For the first time in a half century, Texas waterfowlers can take two canvasbacks daily under migratory game bird seasons approved for the 2013-14 by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. The increase comes with news of healthy waterfowl populations, with all species except pintail and scaup numbering above the long term goals identified in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. "Overall, waterfowl are doing quite well," Kevin Kraai, Waterfowl Program Leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department told commissioners. "We're near record levels and in some instances in the glory days for ducks." The commission also adopted a staggered split between the North and South Zones to allow for the opportunity of an additional week for those waterfowlers who travel between zones. In another change to the season framework that should be welcomed by hunters, the possession limits for all migratory game birds is now three times the daily limit. For ducks, including teal during the early Sept. 14-29 season, the possession limit is 18. The only decrease in bag limit configuration involves scaup, with a reduction to three daily. Following are the adopted season dates and limits: 2013-14 Migratory Game Bird Seasons Ducks --High Plains Mallard Management Unit: Youth: Oct. 19 -- Oct. 20; Regular: Oct. 26 -- Oct. 27 and Nov. 1 -- Jan. 26; "Dusky" Duck: Nov. 4 -- Jan. 26. --South Zone: Youth: Oct. 26 -- Oct. 27; Regular: Nov. 2 -- Dec. 1 and Dec. 14 -- Jan. 26; "Dusky" Duck: Nov. 7 -- Dec. 1 and Dec. 14 -- Jan. 26. --North Zone: Youth: Oct. 26 -- Oct. 27 ; Regular: Nov. 2 -- Dec. 8 and Dec. 21 -- Jan. 26; "Dusky" Duck: Nov. 7 -- Dec. 8 and Dec. 21 -- Jan. 26. Bag Limit: 6/day in the aggregate to include no more than 3 wood ducks, 3 scaup, 5 mallards, of which only 2 may be hens, 2 redheads, 2 pintail , 2 canvasback, 1 "dusky duck" (mottled, black or Mexican-like) after the first 5 days. Mergansers: 5/day with no more than 2 hooded merganser. Coots: 15/day Geese --East Zone: Light Geese Nov. 2 -- Jan. 26, Canada Geese Nov. 2 -- Jan. 26; White-fronted Geese: Nov. 2 -- Jan. 12; Light Geese Conservation Order Jan. 27 -- Mar. 23. --Bag Limit: 3 Canada geese, 2 White-fronted geese, 20 light geese (no possession limit). --West Zone: Light Geese Nov. 2 -- Feb. 2; Dark Geese Nov. 2 -- Feb. 2; Light Geese Conservation Order Feb. 3 -- Mar. 23. Bag Limit: 5 dark geese with no more than one white-fronted goose, 20 light geese (no possession limit). Sandhill Crane --Zone A: Nov. 2- Feb. 2.Bag Limit: 3. --Zone B: Nov. 22-Feb. 2. Bag Limit: 3. --Zone C: Dec. 21 -Jan. 26. Bag Limit: 2. Falconry --North and South Duck Zones: Jan. 27 -- Feb. 10. -30- [ Note: This item is more than four years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ] [ Media Contact: TPWD News, firstname.lastname@example.com, 512-389-8030 ] [SL] Aug. 23, 2013 Use of Dogs Only to Trail Wounded Deer Approved in 12 More Texas Counties AUSTIN - Hunters will be allowed to use up to two dogs only to trail a wounded deer in 12 additional counties in East Texas during the 2013-14 deer season under a rule change approved by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. The rule change does not legalize the use of dogs to hunt, pursue or take deer; that practice remains illegal statewide in Texas. Hunters are allowed to use up to two dogs only for the purpose of trailing a wounded deer in all but 10 Texas counties. Counties where the practice of trailing wounded deer with dogs remains prohibited include: Angelina, Hardin, Jasper, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby and Tyler. -30- [ Note: This item is more than four years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ] [ Media Contact: TPWD News, firstname.lastname@example.com, 512-389-8030 ] Aug. 23, 2013 Streamlined Texas Hunter Education Process Approved AUSTIN - Starting this fall, new hunters who need to complete the state's required hunter education will have expanded options designed to be more convenient, flexible and accessible. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Thursday approved additional options for hunter education certification, including a streamlined, one-day basic course reducing the mandatory hours of classroom instruction from 10 to a maximum of 6 hours and creating an option for anyone 17 years of age or older to take the hunting safety training completely online. The new options should be available by late September. The combination online home study and 4 to 5 hour skills field day course will still be offered, as well as advanced hunter education available as part of high school and college courses across the state. Anyone born after Sept. 1, 1971, must successfully complete a hunter education training course or purchase a one-time deferral good for one license year in order to hunt legally in Texas. Based on 16 pilot classes held earlier this summer to assess new options, the core curriculum of the streamlined course brings an even sharper focus on the key reason behind the training requirement - improved hunter safety. Since mandatory hunter education first started in 1988, the number of hunting accidents and hunting fatalities has steadily declined to less than 3 per 100,000 hunters. Accidents involving those who had completed hunter education training are only in the single digits each year. The basic course will be streamlined to cover only essential skills of safe, legal and ethical hunting. To pass the current course options, students must get 70 percent correct if they take the traditional two-day course or 80 percent if they take the course online. Under the new system, the passing grade for all options will be a minimum score of 75 percent. The certification is valid for life and is honored in all other states and provinces. -30-


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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi recalling childhood experience of World War II:
As a child, I witnessed the dissolution of the smug world in which I had been comfortably ensconced. I noticed with surprise how many of the adults I had known as successful and self-confident became helpless and dispirited once the war removed their social supports. Without jobs, money, or status, they were reduced to empty shells. Yet there were a few who kept their integrity and purpose despite the surrounding chaos. Their serenity was a beacon that kept others from losing hope. And these were not the men and women one would have expected to emerge unscathed: they were not necessarily the most respected, better educated, or more skilled individuals. This experience set me thinking: what sources of strength were these people drawing on?
Now that is a good question, as the unpleasantly squirting shits of a rotgut technoswill society continue to play havoc with smugness in their degenerative storms. Luckily there are quite a few good answers. The second Havens/Walters hypno book I just mentioned last post has an approach to this called psychological hardiness — good term — that comes from some research at the University of Chicago, a subset of the general question of psychological resilience which is as important to individuals as physical resilience is to communities. I'm not saying I particularly like their definition, which is business-orientated, but once you start fooling with it…
(And by the way, the singular lack of psychological resilience in many isn't at all unrelated to the total non-resilience of the culture.)
What I cheer in that book is the encapsulation of hardiness in a hypnosis script. I love occasionally finding someone doing things like that; again, this is how it should work. Maybe as a hypnotherapist I'll offer trance to help with adaptation to peak oil too.
I suspect formless soul isn't part of that theory though. Ronald Havens was and remains a materialist, a very nice and intelligent chap indeed from a couple of interactions I've had with him — loves his motorbikes — but one who works with a "cosmic consciousness" he thinks is in our heads! Yeah. (He did a book on that too BTW, it's very good for what it is.) Catherine Walters of the golden voice has I think gone the more reiki-and-ascension route since co-writing with Havens, and that's hardly me either… But any particular biases don't mean the work won't be generally useful, since it can always be adjusted.
Those in Csikszentmihalyi's example who were only happy with jobs/money/status were empty shells all along anyway. He must have sensed their nature wasn't changed by their fall in circumstance, but revealed. See that is how it works!
Answer to question why develop my own transpersonal application of hypnosis? Because what I've seen is just not very interesting. I look at most of the books and courses around, and it's all blah blah anchoring, blah blah EFT, subpersonalities, addiction, blah blah healing pain relief, spirit release, past lives, blah blah Jungian archetypes. It's good stuff if you've never encountered it, but not what I'd call transpersonal.
I've hardly seen anything in hypnosis (with the possible exception of Bernard Aaronson's famous script for inducing void from 1969 — different era!) that even tries to look at that, and it's not surprising because what's involved is rather different from hypnosis as normally understood. As for something like this, I only hope it's harmless, that's all. This is the problem with a spiritual free market.
What is nice to see is some people resurrecting Mesmer in terms of energy hypnosis…


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Vintage Train Birthday Party Thank You Notes (5x7), Instant Download, Printable, Digital
Product Info
Welcome to Kelly's Cottage Shoppe Designs!
This listing includes a Printable PDF file for our Thank You Notes (5x7) from our Vintage Train Birthday Party Collection. For best results, print the thank you notes on white card stock. The 5 x 7 thank you notes fit in size A7 or A9 envelopes.
INSTANT DOWNLOAD! Upon completed payment you will receive an email with a link to your product downloads. You may also access your downloads, at any time, by viewing your Etsy Purchases page.
A coordinating, custom invitation is also available (2nd photo)
Also available: Cupcake wrappers, water bottle wrappers, napkin wrappers, invitations, and much more!
1. Purchase your design and pay using PayPal or a credit card.
2. File will be sent to email address on Etsy account.
3. I will email you a high resolutionPDF file for you to print at home or upload to the printer of your choice. You can print as many as you want.
PLEASE NOTE: This listing is for a digital file only.
** If you need name and age added to the thank you notes, please do NOT use this link, but use the link below. Please include the product name of the thank you note and the child's name and age to the notes section of the order.
PLEASE NOTE: This file is for personal use only. You may not forward, share, sell or distribute the file. It is for non-commercial use only. The Kelly's Cottage Shoppe retains all rights.
For more party ideas, giveaways, and shop news visit my blog at kcsdesigns.com


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How to raise happy toddlers
Welcome to the happy toddler zone that has everything parents need to know about this oh-so special age group. more
Children who are vomiting and with diarrhoea are two aspects of parenting most of us would happily live without! Unfortunately, tummy bugs like gastroenteritis are very common and can affect an entire family – mum, dad and all the kids – in the blink of an eye.
Gastro is an infection in the bowel that causes runny, watery poo and often vomiting. Sometimes this is also accompanied by tummy pain and a fever.
The best way of treating gastro in a person of any age, is to encourage them to drink small amounts of fluid, often. Some children may refuse to drink because they feel so unwell but it is vital to keep offering fluids – as often as every 15 minutes - even if they are only taking a few sips at a time.
Babies and small children who contract gastro can get very dehydrated very quickly and this can make them even more ill. If you suspect that your child may be dehydrated it is important to see your doctor as quickly as possible.
Signs that you child is suffering from dehydration include:
Current health recommendations advise that infants who are breast/bottle fed should continue to drink their normal milk, despite their illness. Even if it seems that they are vomiting up all of their feeds, giving infants the milk they are used to will help them recover faster.
Babies who are eating solid food should begin eating as soon as they seem interested in food. Dry, starchy foods are the best things to begin with, such as:
Remember not to try any new foods while your baby is sick, in case it upsets their tummy even further.
As with infants, it's important to encourage your older child to drink plenty of fluids, slowly. Even if the drinks are being brought up again, keep offering small amounts of liquid to replace what is being lost.
Allow your child to eat as soon as he feels hungry. Keeping him away from food for more than a couple of days can in itself lead to diarrhoea. To begin with, offer your child plain foods such as:
All children, regardless of age, should be offered extra drinks of clear fluid. Oral rehydration solutions (ORS) are very effective in replacing lost fluids and can be purchased over-the-counter at any pharmacy. ORS are designed to be gentle on the gut and easily absorbed, with the right amount of sugar and salt for a sick tummy. Fruit juice and cordial may also be given, provided that they are well diluted with more water than you would normally add.
If your child is under 4 months of age, it is important to see your doctor or pharmacist before giving extra fluids other than water.
There are some drinks that are not appropriate for either babies or older children with gastro, these include:
Gastroenteritis is highly contagious – so keep sick children as far away from other people as you can. Children with gastro should not go back to school or childcare until they have fully recovered.
To avoid spreading gastro to other members of your family, you should:
This article was written by Jo Harris for Kidspot, Australia's best family health resource. Sources Royal Children's Hospital, Vic, and Child and Youth Health.
Last revised: Monday, 18 July 2011
This article contains general information only and is not intended to replace advice from a qualified health professional.


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Indians reduce spring roster by six
CLEVELAND, OH - The Cleveland Indians today announced the following roster moves relative to the Major League Spring Training roster:
Optioned LHP SCOTT BARNES and LHP NICK HAGADONE to Triple-A Columbus.
Re-assigned RHP TRAVIS BANWART, RHP TYLER CLOYD, RHP J.C. RAMIREZ and LHP MIKE ZAGURSKI to Minor League camp.
The current roster reduction of the spring brings the total number of players in Major League camp to 46.


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Kudos & Kindness: Ski & Snowbard Swap raised $17,000 for the foundation
November 27, 2012
A huge thank you to all who supported the 24th Annual Ski & Snowboard Swap to benefit the Heavenly Ski & Snowboard Foundation. Our event was a huge success and we were able to raise $17,000 to fund the foundation this season. A special thanks to event director Susan Hooper and event accountant Rob Hooper, we couldn't have done it without you guys! Also to John Shearer for his trailer and time, Coach Crawford, Coach Kracht, Coach McClain, Coach Witters, Coach Albino and Coach Rich for all their donated time, and Trudy Matthews and Shannon Shearer for helping with our cash registers. To all the parents and families who donate their time to make this event a success, all the vendors, the community and the shoppers. The local businesses who support with donations, Rude Brothers Bagels, Alpen Sierra, Fat City Pizza, and a huge thank you to MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa for putting up with all of us! Aimi Xistra-RichExecutive directorHeavenly Ski & Snowboard Foundation


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Lamotrigine Monotherapy in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- Study Results
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Bipolar Disorder
|Drug: Lamotrigine
|Phase 2
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|Open Trial of Lamotrigine Monotherapy in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
- Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), [ Time Frame: Weekly during the 8 week lamotrigine dose titration and 6 week full dose phase. ]This measure has 11 items. The purpose of each item is to rate the severity of that abnormality in the patient. A severity rating is assigned to each of the eleven items, based on the patient's subjective report of his or her condition over the previous forty-eight hours and the clinician's behavioral observations during the interview, with the emphasis on the latter. There are four items that are graded on a 0 to 8 scale (irritability, speech, thought content, and disruptive/aggressive behavior), while the remaining seven items are graded on a 0 to 4 scale. Total score of zero to 60 is possible, zero being normal and 60 being severe, 12 serving as a cut off point for illness if equal or above. There are several ways to show change in outcome. The mean and standard deviation at week 0, 8 and 14 will indicate if there is a change in the scores with the treatment.
- Child Depression Rating Scale (CDRS-R) [ Time Frame: weekly at baseline and each week during osing (8 weeks) and dose stabilized phase (6 weeks) ]Response for depressive symptoms was defined as a score less than 40 on the CDRS-R. Range is 18 to 120. Score 18 is normal and higher score signifies depression. The Children's Depression Rating Scale (CDRS) is a 16-item measure used to determine the severity of depression in children 6-18 years of age. Items are measured on 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-point scales. The mean and standard deviation at week 0, 8 and 14 will indicate if there is a change in the scores with the treatment.
|Study Start Date:
|February 2004
|Study Completion Date:
|January 2008
|Primary Completion Date:
|January 2008 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
Experimental: lamotrigine
The dose of lamotrigine will be 12.5 mg per day beginning the first day. It is increased in 12.5 mg increments every week until it reaches 50 mg and 25 mg per week of increment thereafter until maximum dose of 150 mg in those below 50 kg and 200-400 mg depending on clinical response in those above 50 kg. Increasing the medication to final dose will take 8 weeks and the response on full and tolerable dose is further monitored for response over 6 weeks. Therefore, this is a 18-26 week trial (2 to 12 weeks=screening and wash out; 8 weeks=dosing; 6 weeks=acute trial period on full dose).
Drug: Lamotrigine
It is a mood stabilizer that is clinically the first choice if patients present with depression and is effective in adults for mania in maintenance phase. So it is administered to see how effective it is in children and adolescents.
The dose of lamotrigine will be 12.5 mg per day beginning the first day. It is increased in 12.5 mg increments every week until it reaches 50 mg and 25 mg per week of increment thereafter until maximum dose of 150 mg in those below 50 kg and 200-400 mg depending on clinical response in those above 50 kg.
Other Name: Lamictal
Detailed Description:
Procedure Study 1 This study is planned to be conducted over 18 months, with an average recruitment of 2 subjects per month. Each subject is involved in the study for 18 to 26 weeks. While the study medication is dosed over 8 weeks and treated with full dose over 6 weeks, withdrawal of medications that are on board prior to the study drug administration and drug free period post washout required additional time line that is up to 12 weeks over and above the 14 weeks of administering the study drug. Conversely, the range of time is necessary to account for factors such as the child's age, sex, weight, reactions to the medications and side effects. Based on these factors, the time it takes to titrate the medication dose to the optimal amount will vary. Maintaining this flexibility in the protocol is part of good clinical practice where medication is involved. Only children whose medication is not currently improving their symptoms will be recruited. Therefore no children who have been stabilized on a drug will be taken off of it. The initial 2 week screening period includes a diagnostic interview and collection of demographic information. Previous medication will be tapered slowly over 2-12-week period and is based on tolerability and need to keep subjects in drug free state prior to start of study medication. It is an open trial where subjects are aware of the type of medication and the strength (For example, one pill=25 mg strength) of the pill. Research assessment of mood symptoms and side effects will be carried out 5 times over the course of the active trial period. Blood will be collected 3 times: once the subject is washed-out (baseline), once optimal medication dose has been reached, and finally at the end of the 6-week period on full dose.
The dose of lamotrigine will be 12.5 mg per day beginning the first day. It is increased in 12.5 mg increments every week until it reaches 50 mg and 25 mg per week of increment thereafter until maximum dose of 150 mg in those below 50 kg and 200-400 mg depending on clinical response in those above 50 kg. Increasing the medication to final dose will take 8 weeks and the response on full and tolerable dose is further monitored for response over 6 weeks. Therefore, this is a 18-26 week trial (2 to 12 weeks=screening and wash out; 8 weeks=dosing; 6 weeks=acute trial period on full dose).
Study 2 involves adolescent subjects (>10years of age) recruited from the Study 1 sample. This part of the study is a fMRI treatment study to examine how the brain functions before and after receiving lamotrigine medication for bipolar disorder. The goal of study 2 is to understand how and where lamotrigine works in the brain. In order to do this, we will view brain images in a fMRI scanner pre- and post-treatment. This will be done once before subjects begin taking lamotrigine (subjects who require a "wash-out" period, described in study 1, this will occur after the "wash-out.") The second scan will take place after the medication trial (after the 6-week active treatment period). While in the scanner, subjects will complete tasks related to thinking and emotion. Subjects will be shown pictures of faces with varying expressions including happy, neutral and angry and will be asked to identify the emotions of the faces, remember and identify previously seen faces, and determine the age group of various faces (i.e., above or below 30 years). Subjects will also complete tasks that involve processing words that express different emotions (e.g., happy, angry), and respond to different "go" and "no-go" images that flash on a screen. Brain activity will be recorded during these tasks. Each task will take around 5 minutes. Before the actual fMRI scan, subjects practice lying in a simulator, a machine that looks and sounds like a scanner.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|10 Years to 20 Years (Child, Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Ages 10-20
- Must be able to swallow tablets
- Must be diagnosed with bipolar disorder
Exclusion Criteria:
- Children with general medical condition such as head injury, epilepsy, endocrine disorders
- Those who are on mood altering medications such as steroids, and those diagnosed with mental retardation are excluded to avoid confounding and contributing factors to mood swings.
- If we discover during the interview that the parent and/or child does not understand the consent/assent procedures, we will exclude them.
- Girls who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during the study period will also be excluded from the research. There have been no concerns raised in the literature about the need for birth control practices in males treated with lamotrigine. As such, there are no provisions to exclude males from the research who do not practice birth control.
We expect only a small number of children to be excluded from the study due to exclusionary criteria. Selection of the subjects is not based on sex, race, or ethnic group.
For the fMRI study:
- Given the limited size of the magnet bore, individuals with a body weight over two-hundred and fifty pounds will be unable to be tested within the MRI scanner.
- Women in the latter stages of pregnancy may be excluded due to large body size and potential discomfort while in the MRI apparatus. Please note that girls who are taking part in the drug portion of the study (this includes all female subjects except the 5 healthy adult, control women) will be given 3 pregnancy during the drug study. This is to rule out pregnancy since pregnant girls should not be taking the study medications for safety reasons.
- Standard contraindications for fMRI studies include: cardiac pacemaker, aneurysm clip, cochlear implants, shrapnel, history of metal fragments in eyes, claustrophobia
- Participants with an IQ of less than 70 (assessed by WRAT) are likely to be excluded due to difficulties comprehending tasks and procedures
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00176228
|United States, Illinois
|NPI, University of Illinois at Chicago
|Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60612
|Principal Investigator:
|Mani Pavuluri, MD
|University of Illinois at Chicago
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
|Responsible Party:
|Mani Pavuluri, Professor in Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00176228 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|September 13, 2005
|Results First Received:
|June 20, 2013
|Last Updated:
|July 28, 2015
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Bipolar Disorder
Pathologic Processes
Bipolar and Related Disorders
Mental Disorders
Calcium Channel Blockers
Membrane Transport Modulators
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action
Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists
Excitatory Amino Acid Agents
Neurotransmitter Agents
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Blockers
Sodium Channel Blockers
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


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Incidence and Relationship of Positive Preoperative Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Screens and Post-operative Infections (MRSA)
Recruitment status was: Recruiting
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of pre-surgical patients who are MRSA carriers. From an evidence-based practice perspective, findings from this study can be considered in the evaluation of the hospital SOP mandating pre-surgical MRSA screening requirements for patients with scheduled surgeries.
The central hypothesis to be addressed in this study is whether the MRSA colonization and subsequent post-operative infection are the equivalent in these populations.
|Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Infection
|Other: Preoperative MRSA screening
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
|Official Title:
|Evaluation of the Prevalence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Colonization in Pre-Surgical Patients and Post-Operative Infection
- The primary objective of this study is to compare the prevalence of MRSA colonization and its relationship to post-operative infection in patients who are currently pre-operatively MRSA screened per SOP to those who are not. [ Time Frame: 30 days ]
- The secondary objective is to compare medical charges associated with diagnosis and treatment of post-operative infections for these groups using cost-effectiveness analysis. [ Time Frame: 30 days ]
|Estimated Enrollment:
|Study Start Date:
|February 2008
|Estimated Study Completion Date:
|May 2011
|Estimated Primary Completion Date:
|January 2011 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
No Intervention: No MRSA screening, Group b
Standard of care
MRSA screening, Group a
MRSA preoperative screening
Other: Preoperative MRSA screening
MRSA preoperative screening and post operative infection rate, 30 days post operative
Detailed Description:
Design and Methods: Subjects in this study of 975 pre-operative, scheduled surgical patients are in one of the three following groups:
- Group 1 (N=325): Allocation sample of surgical patients required to be MRSA screened per hospital SOP (including patients having a positive MRSA history, orthopedic surgery, undergoing dialysis, or transfer from another hospital, nursing home, skilled nursing facility, or jail).
Group 2 (N=650): Randomized sample (1:1 ratio) of surgical patients not required to be MRSA screened per hospital SOP, to one of the following two groups:
- 2a (N=325): MRSA screening; or
- 2b (N=325): No MRSA screening. All subjects were followed for 30 days post-operatively to determine the incidence of post-operative infection. Treatment, diagnostic, and hospitalization data were collected for patients diagnosed with post-operative infection.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|Child, Adult, Senior
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Pre-surgical out patient at ILH
- Surgical procedure scheduled at least 2 days before surgery
- Surgery being done at ILH operating room
- Provision of signed ICF
Exclusion Criteria:
- Patient 18 years of age or older who is deemed by the hospital incapable of providing Informed Consent
- Inability to communicate in the English language
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01028105
|Contact: Cindy L. Hack, BSN
|Contact: Cynthia Earley, BSN
|United States, Virginia
|Inova Health Care Services
|Falls Church, Virginia, United States, 22042
|Contact: Karen G Speroni, BSN, MHSA, PhD 703-868-9278 firstname.lastname@example.com
|Contact: Lisa Dugan, MSN 703-858-6600 firstname.lastname@example.com
|Inova Loudoun Hospital
|Leesburg, Virginia, United States, 20176
|Contact: Karen G Speroni, BSN, MHSA, PhD 703-868-9278 email@example.com
|Contact: Lisa Dugan, MSN 703 858 6600 email@example.com
|Principal Investigator: Cindy L. Hack, BSN
|Study Director:
|Karen G Speroni, BSN, MHSA, PhD
|Inova Loudoun Hospital
|Responsible Party:
|Karen Gabel Speroni, RN, PhD, Director, Nursing Research, Inova Loudoun Hospital
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01028105 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|December 7, 2009
|Last Updated:
|December 8, 2009
Keywords provided by Inova Health Care Services:
Preoperative screening
Postoperative infection
Preoperative MRSA Screening Incidence
Postoperative MRSA Infection Rate
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Communicable Diseases
Staphylococcal Infections
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections
Bacterial Infections
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Anti-Infective Agents
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


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The National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) is synonymous with some of the baddest heads-up drag racing in the country, and when we heard they were bringing their program to the West Coast, appropriately named the all-new NMCA West series, there was no way we were going to miss it.
If you aren't familiar with the NMCA's True Street class, then let's just say that it's one of the most exciting alternatives to heads-up or bracket-style racing. Unlike class racing, where you typically have a test and tune session on Fridays, three rounds of qualifying on Saturday, followed by eliminations on Sunday, True Street is a bit more laid back, but only in the regard that you can make it as competitive as you want.
Since this is a more street-oriented class, all cars are required to pass tech inspection, which includes showing proof of insurance and current registration. From there a driver's meeting is set, where they showcase the 30-mile cruise that you have to take. Yes, you read that right—a 30-mile cruise. This separates the bogus race cars disguised as pseudo street cars with turn signals and brake lights to those that are truly dedicated street rides.
During the cruise, there's a lead vehicle to follow, including a chase vehicle at the rear of the pack. If you break down or end up getting passed up by the chase vehicle, your day is done—per se. Should the ugly happen, such as overheating, minor breakage, and so on, you're still allowed to run down the dragstrip; it simply means that you aren't in contention for any potential awards.
Once you complete the cruise, you're immediately taken to the staging lanes, where you're required to make three back-to-back runs; all the while keeping the hood closed. Do you get where they're going with this? This eliminates icing down the intake or trying to evacuate any additional heat out of the engine bay. Sounds brutal doesn't it?
To win in True Street, you have several categories that you can compete in. You can go for the gold and try to be become the King of True Street by running the fastest three run average of the entire group or you can win in various tiers. The big guns have run as quick as 7s in the quarter-mile, but the majority of the group can be seen blasting through the traps between 10 and 15 seconds. The idea is to run the closest to the bottom of your tier; say you have a solid 13-second ride, then you'll want to get as close as you can to a 13-second average in order to win. Of course most folks will slow their car down to try and get into the bottom 11s, 12s, 13s, and their respective class or tier.
At the end of your runs, you're finished for the event, allowing you to continue on to other bracket programs, spectate, or whatever your heart desires. It's a quick event that runs incredibly smoothly and a way to participate without having to wait the entire weekend to get a few passes down the dragstrip. Matter of fact, we've had so much fun, we're already looking into transforming one of our rides into a dedicated True Street machine; we'll talk more about that in the issues to come. For the NMCA West in Pomona, California, we took out Project Twitch, our '02 Z06 Corvette, and had a blast doing it. Follow along as we share our first True Street experience.


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My wife really liked the look of the 703W cape, but she said it is too short. I would love to see you bring out a 30" or 32" cape that is lined.


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Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid that can help increase the natural level of carnosine in muscles. Carnosine assists in buffering the overload of hydrogen ions produced from intense resistance training that can make muscles more acidic. Researchers at the college of New Jersey studied the effect of 30 days of beta-alanine supplementation (4.8g per day) on resistance training in eight experienced, resistance-trained men. They performed 6 sets of 12 repetitions of the squat exercise at 70% of their one-rep maximum with 1½ minutes of rest in between sets. At the end of four weeks, those taking beta-alanine showed a 22% improvement compared to placebo, indicating that beta-alanine can significantly improve muscular endurance in experienced resistance-trained athletes.
Reference: International Journal of Sports Medicine; June 11, 2008, electronic pre-publication.


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Topic: What the ???
My dad was diagnosed in April of this year. His cancer involved lymph nodes so no surgery.
His first CT scan showed shrinkage of the tumors...Yeah.
His second CT (3 weeks ago) showed no change....Yeah. The doctors assistant said there was a spot on his bladder that they think is not significant.
Well yesterday my dad got a letter saying they scheduled a cystoscopy to look at the spot. My dad is upset. He called me. He wants to talk to the doctor before doing any of this. I agree. Evidently the spot was there on his first CT scan also. My dad is saying if the bile duct cancer is the thing that is going to do him in he would rather not treat the bladder cancer (if that is what it is). Personally I agree. He is mad that the doctor hasn't met with him. I also agree. I told him to call the doc and tell them he isn't going to do anything until he talks to a doc. I told him that he can also tell them he wants to wait for his next CT scan to see if it gets bigger or stays the same...his next CT scan is in 3 months.
Has anyone ever had this happen where they just schedule something without a consultation? I told him he is doing so well when they thought he had a few months they are now looking at everything! Another thing...since he has lymph node involvement I would think that looking at this other stuff is a mute point.


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A VETERINARY group in Bridgwater is calling on dog owners to help raise cash for a charity which provides trained dogs for ex-servicemen.
Blake Veterinary Group is raising funds to purchase a new puppy for 'Hounds for Heroes' by vaccinating dogs for Kennel Cough.
The charity provides specially trained assistance dogs to injured and disabled men and women of both the UK armed forces and civilian emergency services.
Sue Webster from veterinary group said: "This is a very worthwhile fundraising initiative whereby 25p will be donated for every dog vaccinated for Kennel Cough to raise £20,000 between November 11 2012 and November 11 2013.
"Kennel Cough is a highly contagious disease that is easily spread from dog to dog."
The scheme is part of the vet practice's Pounds for Hounds initiative launched on November 11 2012.
Gulf War Veteran, Allen Parton, founded the charity. He said: "The mental and physical help provided by a trained assistance dog is phenomenal.
"It is initiatives such as Pounds for Hounds that help us get that bit closer to our goal."
Vaccine manufacturer, Pfizer Animal Health, is behind the campaign. Call 01278-451592 or visit www.houndsforheroes.com.