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CLINT Eastwood's daughter Francesca Eastwood is already planning to end her quickie Las Vegas wedding to Jonah Hill's brother Jordan Feldstein, TMZ reports.
Eastwood 20, is following in Britney Spears and Jason Alexander's footsteps and getting the marriage annulled after just a week, TMZ reports.
The marriage - which took place in a Vegas wedding chapel and featured an Elvis impersonator as a witness- was the result of too much alcohol, reports TMZ.
Feldstein is a music manager who counts Adam Levine, Robin Thicke and Sara Bareilles as clients.
After the surprise nuptials, Eastwood - who was Miss Golden Globe 2013 - was out in Hollywood over the weekend, sans wedding ring.
Model and actress Eastwood, 20, who starred on the reality show Mrs. Eastwood and Company with her stepmother, Dina Eastwood, was previously in a long-term relationship with celeb photographer Tyler Shields.
In an interview earlier this year, she told US Magazine that Shields was "the love of (her) life."
"We've been together two years and met doing a photo shoot together," said Eastwood.
"I have some gifts from Tyler that I always have (with me). My stuffed animal Nino, my bear, is my lucky thing."
Eastwood also revealed she wanted to marry.
"I have a tattoo of a circle on the middle finger of my left hand that I'm getting removed," she said. "I hate it because I want to get married one day and I don't want the tattoo next to my wedding finger."
No word on whether news of the annulment made Clint's day…


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Jet Perry from Stamford Connecticut is a 20 year old artist and emcee. He also is a screenplay writer, director & co founder of his creative agency "Bliss Vision". Bliss Vision is an independent creative collective…Continue
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Check out the latest trailer for the upcoming film, "Suicide Squad," In theaters August 5.…Continue
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Warner Bros. Pictures has rolled out the new trailer for the DC Comics film "Suicide Squad" and it looks…Continue
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Robbie Nova releases the second installment of his Robbie Nova Effect mixtape series. The project contains ten tracks and…Continue
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Robbie Nova drops off of a…Continue
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Filming has wrapped up on Will Smith's upcoming movie, Focus. The crime/comedy/romance was directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. …Continue
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When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know change. Check out the brand new music video from Robbie Nova for "This Whole World." Visuals directed by Shatek.
Singer Robbie Nova teams up with Maino for his new single entitled "Professional Dancer."
Follow Robbie on Twitter…Continue
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As many of you may know AR-AB is doing a short bid at the moment, but he will be home very soon. Today we get a pleasant surprise from The Top Goon of Philly in the form of a new song entitled…Continue
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Fast rising R&B crooner Robbie Nova recently hit the stage a Club Purlieu in New York City. Backed by his live band the singer performed "That Could Be Us."
Other stars in the building included Amina Buddafly and…Continue
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Fast Rising R&B singer Robbie Nova teams up with Reggae/Dancehall icon Beenie Man for his new single…Continue
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Gues medievalbeatz liked my s*** but didn't wanna do a shoutout.. Its cool. Damn.. you couldn't even tag a n****?
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Fast rising singer Robbie Nova releases his new mixtape, The Robbie Nova Effect: In R&B I…Continue
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Robbie Nova makes it three for three with his last few releases. All have been high quality. His latest song is another ballad titled…Continue
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Robbie Nova is on his grind heavy as of late. Just a few days after releasing the stellar ballad "Things Will Get Better,"…Continue
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Singer Robbie Nova keeps the good music coming as he releases his new single titled "Things Will Get Better." This is a very…Continue
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The Robbie Nova Effect (In R&B I Trust) is on…Continue
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subset: commoncrawl


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Huangshan, is a mountain range in southern Anhui province in eastern China. The area is well known for its scenery, sunsets, peculiarly-shaped granite peaks, Huangshan Pine trees, and views of the clouds from above. Huangshan is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature, as well as modern photography.
Physical features for which Huangshan is known include sunrises, pine trees, "strangely jutting granite peaks", and views of clouds touching the mountainsides on more than 200 days out of the year.
The Huangshan mountain range comprises many peaks, some more than 1,000 meters high. The three tallest and best-known peaks are Lotus Peak, Bright Summit Peak, and Celestial Peak. The World Heritage Site covers a core area of 154 square kilometres and a buffer zone of 142 square kilometres. The mountains were formed in the Mesozoic, about 100 million years ago, when an ancient sea disappeared due to uplift. Later, in the Quaternary Period, the landscape was shaped by the influence of glaciers.
The mountains have also appeared in modern work; James Cameron, director of the 2009 film Avatar, cited Huangshan as one of his influences in designing the fictional world of that film.
via: travelvista


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CJM Enterprises Pre-Owned Harley Davidsons
06/04/2016 Hospitals, Clinics
Injuries such as cuts, bruises, punctures and lacerations are common perils that every human being undergoes. These injuries occur due to unforeseen accidents. Road accidents, sport injuries, military accidents, gunshot wounds, home or workplace accidents, falls, cuts by a sharp object and bruises can result in bleeding, which if not properly controlled, can become severe. Stopping bleeding and hemorrhage It is imperative to save lives by controlling severe hemorrhage. Normally, the body's platelets initiate the blood clotting process, which changes liquid blood into a clot, eventually stopping the blood flow. The clotting process activates platelets, followed by adhesion, aggregation and the development of fibrin from fibrinogen. When the wound is large or arteries are ruptured, the platelet action may not be adequate to stop the bleeding in time. The most conventional method is to dress the wound. The dressing applies pressure on the wound resulting to cessation of blood flow. However, conventional dressing and bandages take longer to stop bleeding and blood may percolate through several layers of dressing. New & advanced dressing techniques such as Axiostat®, powered by 'Axio Clotting Technology (a.c.t)' comprises of a biopolymer that initiates the clotting process and stops the bleeding within few minutes after application. Axio Biosolutions Private Limited Corporate Office #541, 5th main, 16th cross, Indiranagar 2nd stage, Bangalore - 560038, Karnataka, India. Phone No: - +91-8040947972 Email id - firstname.lastname@example.com Registered Office 99, Shangrila, 100 ft. Hebatpur Road, Thaltej, Ahmedabad - 380054, Gujarat, India. Phone No:- +91-7965141166 Email id - email@example.com


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Rooms, services The guests of Centrum Bydgoszcz may stay in 15 nicely furnished, comfortable rooms in Bydgoszcz. In case you ever feel like eating in, you may taste delicious local dishes in the restaurant of the hotel. If necessary, parking is available nearby. The café is an ideal place to host a personal meeting or a pleasant evening talk. You can also bring your laptop for the holiday, for there is wireless Internet connection (WiFi) available at the hotel. An exact and detailed list of equipment in the rooms and of the services provided by Centrum Bydgoszcz you will find on the information sheet below, including any applicable additional fees.
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Recently, the smoking cessation therapeutic varenicline, a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) partial agonist, has been shown to reduce alcohol consumption. However, the mechanism and nAChR subtype(s) involved are unknown. Here we demonstrate that varenicline and alcohol exposure, either alone or in combination, selectively activates dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons within the posterior, but not the anterior, ventral tegmental area (VTA). To gain insight into which nAChR subtypes may be involved in the response to alcohol, we analyzed nAChR subunit gene expression in posterior VTA DAergic neurons. Ethanol-activated DAergic neurons expressed higher levels of α4, α6, and β3 subunit genes compared to non-activated neurons. To examine the role of nicotinic receptors containing the α4 subunit (α4* nAChRs) in varenicline-induced reduction of alcohol consumption, we examined the effect of the drug in two complementary mouse models, a knockout line that does not express the α4 subunit (α4 KO) and another line that expresses α4* nAChRs hypersensitive to agonist (Leu9′Ala). While varenicline (0.1 – 0.3 mg/kg, i.p.) reduced 2 % and 20 % alcohol consumption in wildtype (WT) mice, the drug did not significantly reduce consumption in α4 KO animals. Conversely, low doses of varenicline (0.0125 – 0.05 mg/kg, i.p.) that had little effect in WT mice dramatically reduced ethanol intake in Leu9′fAla mice. Infusion of varenicline into the posterior, but not the anterior VTA was sufficient to reduce alcohol consumption. Together, our data indicate that activation of α4* nAChRs is necessary and sufficient for varenicline reduction of alcohol consumption.
Complications from alcoholism are responsible for up to 1.8 million deaths per year making it the third largest cause of preventable mortality in the world (W.H.O., 2004). Despite large costs to society, very few therapeutics that successfully aid in curbing alcohol consumption are available, highlighting the need to identify new molecular targets and treatments for alcoholism. Recently, varenicline, a neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) partial agonist, currently FDA approved as a smoking cessation aid (Coe et al., 2005; Jorenby et al., 2006), was shown to reduce drinking in alcohol preferring rats (Steensland et al., 2007) and in a group of heavy-drinking smokers (McKee et al., 2009), suggesting that nAChRs may represent novel therapeutic targets for reducing alcohol consumption.
Ethanol is reinforcing, at least in part, by its propensity to activate dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons within the ventral tegmental area (VTA) (Brodie and Appel, 1998; Brodie et al., 1999), a key region of the mesocorticolimbic DA system, resulting in DA release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a phenomenon widely associated with drug reinforcement (Soderpalm et al., 2009). Several nAChR subunit genes are expressed throughout the mesocorticolimbic DA system particularly in DAergic neurons of the VTA. Neuronal nAChRs are ligand-gated, pentameric cation channels normally activated by the endogenous neurotransmitter, acetylcholine (ACh). Twelve mammalian genes encoding neuronal nAChR subunits have been identified (α2–α10, β2–β4) which form either hetero- or homomeric receptors yielding a vast array of nAChR subtypes with distinct pharmacological and biophysical properties (Albuquerque et al., 2009). Although ethanol is not a direct agonist of nAChRs, alcohol increases ACh release into the VTA (Ericson et al., 2003) and potentiates the response of high affinity nAChR subtypes to ACh (Zuo et al., 2002). Mecamylamine, a non-selective nAChR antagonist, either directly infused into the VTA or delivered systemically, decreases ethanol mediated DA release in the NAc (Blomqvist et al., 1997; Larsson et al., 2002) and also decreases self-administration in rodents (Ericson et al., 1998; Hendrickson et al., 2009). Thus, nAChR activation modulates alcohol consumption and reinforcement.
While varenicline was designed as a selective α4β2* nAChR partial agonist (Coe et al., 2005; Jorenby et al., 2006), it is also a partial agonist at α3β2* and α6* nAChR subtypes, and a full agonist at α3β4* and α7 nAChR subtypes (Mihalak et al., 2006). Varenicline has also been shown to reduce alcohol consumption in knockout (KO) mice lacking expression of either α7 or β2* nAChRs (Kamens et al., 2010). Thus, the nAChR subtype(s) that varenicline targets to reduce alcohol consumption is unknown. The goal of the present study was to localize and identify nAChR subtypes expressed in the VTA that may be involved in the response to alcohol and to determine if they play a role in the molecular mechanism by which varenicline reduces alcohol consumption.
Adult (8–10 week), male C57BL/6J mice bred in house were used for immunohistochemistry, gene expression, and brain infusion experiments (n = 46). For consumption experiments, adult, male α4 knock-out (α4 KO) mice and their wild type (WT) litter mates (n = 45), as well as heterozygous Leu9′Ala knock-in mice and their WT litter mates (n = 42), all bred on site, were used. The genetic engineering of both α4 KO and Leu9′Ala mouse lines have been described previously (Ross et al., 2000; Tapper et al., 2004). Both lines have been back-crossed to a C57BL/6J background for at least nine generations. C57BL/6J mice were group housed four mice/cage and given food and water ad libitum. For consumption experiments, mice were individually housed on a reversed 12 h light/dark cycle (lights on 10PM, off 10 AM) with ad libitum access to food and water (except during experiments as described below). All experiments were conducted in accordance with the guidelines for care and use of laboratory animals provided by the National Research Council (National Research Council, 1996), as well as with an approved animal protocol from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Ethanol drinking solutions were prepared from 190 proof absolute anhydrous ethanol (Pharmco-Aaper) diluted to 2 % or 20 % ethanol (v/v) using tap water. Sucrose was dissolved in tap water to make a 10 % (w/v) concentration. Varenicline tartrate, a gift from Pfizer, and ethanol were dissolved in 0.9 % saline and administered via intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection at the indicated doses. For infusion of drug into the brain, varenicline was dissolved in artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF containing, in mM: 126 NaCl, 2.5 KCl, 2 CaCl2, 1 MgCl2, 1.25 NaH2 PO4, 26 NaHCO3, 25 D-glucose). For immunohistochemistry and behavioral experiments, varenicline doses were chosen based on previous studies of varenicline effects on nicotine self-administration and DA turnover in addition to predicted therapeutic concentrations achieved in smokers' brains (O'Connor et al., 2010; Rollema et al., 2010). Varenicline concentrations are reported as free base.
Adult (8–10 weeks), male, C57BL/6J mice were i.p. injected with saline for three days prior to the start of the experiment to habituate them to handling and to reduce c-Fos activation due to stress. Four groups of three mice were used in each of the following conditions: an i.p. injection of saline followed by an i.p. injection of saline, an i.p. injection of saline, followed by a 2.0 g/kg ethanol injection, an i.p. injection of 0.3 mg/kg varenicline followed by a saline injection, and 0.3 mg/kg varenicline i.p. injection followed by a 2.0 g/kg ethanol injection. The time between the first and second injections was 15 min. Ninety minutes after the second injection, all mice were deeply anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital (200 mg/kg, i.p.) and perfused transcardially with 10 ml of 0.1 M phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) followed by 10 ml of 4 % paraformaldehyde in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4). Brains were removed and post-fixed for 2 h with the same fixative and cryoprotected in sodium phosphate buffer containing 30 % sucrose until brains sank. VTA serial coronal sections (20 μm) were cut on a microtome (Leica Microsystems Inc.) and collected into a 24-well tissue culture plate containing 1 × PBS. Slices containing VTA were collected between −2.8 mm and −4.04 mm from bregma. After rinsing sections in PBS twice for 5 min, they were treated with 0.2 % Trition X-100 PBS (PBST) for 5 min followed by incubation in 2 % BSA/PBS for 30 min. Sections were washed with PBS once and then incubated in a cocktail of primary antibodies for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH, monoclonal, 1:250 dilution, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) and c-Fos (polyclonal, 1:400 dilution, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) in 2 % BSA/PBS overnight at 4°C. The sections were then washed with PBS three times for 5 min followed by incubation in secondary fluorescent labeled antibodies (goat anti- rabbit Alexa Fluor® 488 and goat anti-mouse Alexa Fluor ®594, 1:300 dilutions, Molecular Probes, Inc.) at room temperature in the dark for 30 min. After washing with PBS 5 times for 5 min/wash, sections were mounted on slides using VECTASHIELD® Mounting Medium (Vector laboratories, Inc.). The number of positive neurons was counted under a fluorescence microscope (Carl Zeiss MicroImaging Inc.) at a magnification of 400×. The intensity of fluorescence was quantified using a computer-associated image analyzer (Axiovision Rel. 4.6). Neurons were counted as signal-positive if intensities were at least 2 times higher than that of the average value of background (sections stained without primary antibodies). Experimenters were blind to drug treatment.
Adult, male C57BL/6J mice were i.p. injected with saline for three days prior to the start of the experiment to habituate them to handling and to reduce c-Fos activation due to stress. On the experiment day, mice were i.p. injected with 2.0 g/kg ethanol and decapitated 90 min later. The brain was removed, snap-frozen in dry ice-cooled 2-methylbutane (−60° C) and stored at −80° C. Coronal serial sections (10 μm) of the VTA were cut using a cryostat (Leica Microsystems Inc.) and mounted on pre-cleaned glass slides (Fisher Scientific). The sections were immediately placed in a slide box on dry ice until completion of sectioning followed by storage at −80°C.
A quick immunofluorescence double-staining protocol for TH and c-Fos was used to identify TH and c-Fos immunopositive neurons. First, frozen sections were allowed to thaw for 30 seconds then immediately fixed in cold acetone for 4 min. Slides were then washed in PBS, incubated with a cocktail of primary antibodies for mouse anti-TH and rabbit anti-c-Fos (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., 1:50 dilutions) for 10 min, washed in PBS once followed by incubation in secondary fluorescent-labeled antibodies (Molecular Probes, Inc., a cocktail of goat anti-mouse Alex Fluor 594® and goat anti-rabbit Alex Fluor 488®, 1:100 dilution) for 10 min. The slides were washed in PBS once, then subsequently dehydrated in a graded ethanol series (for 30 s each in 70 % ethanol, 95 % ethanol, 100 % ethanol, and once for 5 min in xylene). Slides were allowed to dry for 5 min. All antibodies were diluted in DEPC-treated PBS containing 2 % BSA and 0.2 % Triton X-100. All ethanol solutions and xylene were prepared fresh to preserve RNA integrity.
The Veritas™ Microdissection System Model 704 (Arcturus Bioscience, Inc.) was used for LCM. Approximately 800 to 1400 TH-immunopositive neurons (including c-Fos-immunopositive and c-Fos-immunonegative) were cut from the VTA in each animal. Five to seven different mice were used per treatment. Neurons were captured on CapSure® Macro LCM caps (Arcturus Bioscience, Inc.) for mRNA isolation.
Total RNA was extracted from individual replicate samples using a Micro Scale RNA Isolation Kit (Ambion, Inc.). RNA samples extracted from DAergic neurons were reverse-transcribed into cDNA using TaqMan® Gene Expression Cells-to-CT™ Kit (Ambion, Inc.). PCR reactions were set up in 10-μl reaction volumes using TaqMan Gene Expression Assays (ABI, Inc.). GAPDH was used as an internal control gene to normalize gene expression levels. PCR was performed using an ABI PRISM 7500 Sequence Detection System. Negative controls with no reverse transcriptase were performed for all Taqman Assays. All reactions were performed in triplicate. Relative amplicon quantification was calculated as the difference between Ct values of GAPDH and that of the gene of interest. Relative gene expression differences between c-Fos immunopositive neurons and c-Fos immunonegative neurons were calculated using the 2−ΔΔCt method.
Ethanol consumption was measured using a similar Drinking in the Dark (DID) procedure as previously described (Hendrickson et al, 2009). Animals were singly housed in experimental chambers for 1 week prior to the beginning of the DID sessions. The mice received a 15-ml graduated water bottle fitted with a one-hole rubber stopper with a stainless steel double-ball-bearing sipper tube which was sealed with Parafilm to prevent leakage. For the first three nights, two hours after the lights were off, mice were i.p. injected with saline immediately before their water bottle was replaced with the ethanol bottle (2 % or 20 %), and allowed to drink for two hours. This procedure was used to acclimatize the mice to the experimental conditions and allow them to reach a baseline of ethanol intake prior to drug administration. On the fourth night, the mice received their first dose of drug just prior to placement of the ethanol bottle. The amount of ethanol consumed was recorded after each two-hour session and converted to g/kg per each animal's ethanol consumption and body weight. The mice were given 2 days of rest (no injections or ethanol) and then began the saline injection/ethanol consumption assay for two to three days or until a stable ethanol intake was reached. Once the baseline returned, a second, higher dose of drug was administered prior to the ethanol bottle being placed in the cage. In this design, all mice in one group drink a single concentration of ethanol throughout the experiment, but receive two doses of drug, 4–5 days apart, with the lower concentration of drug first. The baseline value immediately prior to the first drug exposure is shown in all figures. There was no significant difference in baseline ethanol intake between doses in any of the experiments (data not shown). For control experiments, mice received 10 % sucrose for two hours instead of ethanol.
C57BL/6J mice were anesthetized with a mixture of ketamine (100 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg) (VEDCO). The surgical area was shaved and disinfected. Mice were placed in a stereotaxic frame (Stoelting Co) with mouse adaptor and a small incision was cut in the scalp to expose the skull. Using bregma and lambda as landmarks, the skull was leveled in the coronal and sagittal planes. For cannula placement, holes were drilled in the skull at the anteroposterior (AP, in reference to bregma) and mediolateral (ML) coordinates that correspond to either the anterior VTA (−2.6 mm AP, ± 0.5 mm ML) or posterior VTA (−3.4 mm AP, ± 0.5 mm ML) based on "The Mouse Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates" (Paxinos and Franklin, 2000). Stainless steel unilateral guide cannulae (−4.0 mm dorsal ventral, ± 0.5 mm ML, Plastics One) with dummy cannulaes in place, were inserted into the brain and secured to the skull with cerebond (Plastics One). Mice were allowed to recover for at least 3 days before behavioral testing.
Two hours after the lights were turned off, mice were anesthetized with 2 % isoflurane via a nose cone adaptor at a flow rate of 800 ml/L. Once anesthetized, an infusion cannula designed to reach −4.5 mm below the skull was inserted into the guide cannula and vehicle, 10 pmol, 100 pmol, or 1000 pmol varenicline was infused at a rate of 1 μl/min for 45 s and a total volume of 0.75 μl. Immediately after infusion, mice were placed back into their home cages and monitored until awake, ~45 s. During this time, the home cage water bottle was removed and replaced with a bottle containing 20 % ethanol, which was left in place for 2 hours as previously described for the DID experiments. Before the start of each experiment, mice were infused with vehicle daily until a stable baseline of ethanol intake was reached. After completion of behavioral experiments, mice were culled and brains were removed and frozen on dry ice. Coronal sections (20 μm) were cut with a cryostat (Leica Microsystems Inc.). Sections were mounted and stained with neutral red (Sigma) to visualize cannula placement. A total of 6 mice were excluded from analysis due to incorrect cannula placement.
Data were analyzed using Two-Way ANOVA with drug treatment and either genotype or brain region as variables as indicated followed by Bonferroni post hoc tests. Data were analyzed using Graphpad software (Graphpad Software, Inc.). Paired T-tests were used to analyze fold expression of qRT-PCR data. Results were considered significant at p < 0.05. All data are expressed as means ± standard errors of means (SEM).
Recent evidence suggests that the VTA is not a homogeneous brain structure but is divided into distinct subregions (Ikemoto, 2007; Shabat-Simon et al., 2008). Thus, using c-Fos expression as a marker of neuronal activation and TH as a marker of DAergic neurons of the VTA, we examined the activating effects of varenicline and ethanol alone and in combination throughout the VTA. The VTA was divided into two distinct regions, anterior and posterior, using known neuroanatomical landmarks and stereotaxic coordinates based on Paxinos and Franklin (Paxinos and Franklin, 2000) and previous publications (Shabat-Simon et al., 2008). C57BL/6J mice were i.p. injected with drug(s) and their brains were examined for c-Fos expression within TH-immunopositive neurons 90 min later. Overall, there was a significant main effect of brain region (F(1, 20) = 166.5, p < 0.001), treatment (F(3, 20) = 49.21, p < 0.001), and a significant brain region × treatment interaction (F(3, 20) = 28.25, p < 0.001). Mice treated with 0.3 mg/kg varenicline followed by a saline injection exhibited an increase in the number of TH-, c-Fos-immunopositive neurons, which were restricted to the posterior VTA (Fig. 1A, 1B). Mice i.p. injected with saline, followed by 2 g/kg ethanol also displayed a dramatic increase in the number of TH-, c-Fos-immunopositive neurons within the posterior but not anterior VTA (Fig. 1A, 1B). Finally, mice i.p. injected with 0.3 mg/kg varenicline followed by 2.0 g/kg ethanol also exhibited a significant increase in the number of TH-, c-Fos-immunopositive neurons restricted to the posterior VTA (Fig. 1A, 1B). Bonferroni post tests revealed that each treatment condition was significantly different from control injections (saline/saline) within the posterior VTA (Fig. 1B, p < 0.001). There were no significant effects of treatment on the number of TH-, c-Fos-immunopositive neurons within the anterior VTA when compared to saline injection. These results are consistent with the finding that the VTA can indeed be divided into distinct regions and that ethanol and varenicline predominantly activate DAergic neurons within the posterior VTA.
To gain insight into potential nicotinic receptor subunits that may be involved in alcohol activation of posterior VTA DAergic neurons, we challenged C57BL/6J mice with 2.0 g/kg ethanol and used LCM and qRT-PCR to analyze nicotinic receptor gene expression in activated, TH-, c-Fos-immunopositive neurons compared to non-activated, TH-immunopositive, c-Fos-immunonegative neurons. mRNA from the two groups of neurons, (Fig. 2A) only within the posterior VTA was isolated and reverse transcribed. Neuronal nAChR subunit gene expression was then analyzed using qRT-PCR. In TH-, c-Fos-immunopositive neurons, the order of expression for nicotinic receptor subunit genes, from highest to lowest expression, was: α4 > α6 > β3 > β2 >α7 > α3 > α5. For TH-immunopositive, c-Fos-immunonegative neurons, the order of expression was: α4 > β3 > β2 > α6 > α7 > α3 > α5 (Table 1). A paired t-test showed significantly higher levels of expression of the α4 (t = 2.24, df = 4, p < 0.05), α6 (t = 4.06, df = 3, p < 0.05), and β3 (t = 4.28, df = 4, p < 0.01) nAChR subunit genes as well as c-Fos (t = 2.69, df = 3, p < 0.05) in the c-Fos-immunopositive neurons compared to c-Fos-immunonegative neurons (Fig. 2B, Table 1). These results indicate specific nAChR subtypes (α4α6β3*) may be important for modulating alcohol activation of posterior VTA DAergic neurons.
Because 1) the specific role of α4* nAChR in alcohol consumption has not been described and 2) α4 gene expression was higher in DAergic neurons activated by ethanol within posterior VTA, we tested the hypothesis that varenicline may reduce alcohol consumption via these receptors. First, we examined the effects of 0.1 mg/kg and 0.3 mg/kg varenicline on 2 % alcohol intake in mice that do not express α4* nAChRs (α4 KO), and their WT litter mates. There was a significant main effect of treatment (F(2, 45) = 8.0, p < 0.001) but not genotype and there was no significant interaction between these two factors. Both doses of varenicline significantly decreased 2 % ethanol consumption in WT mice compared to saline (p < 0.01 for both doses), but did not reduce consumption in α4 KO mice. This experiment was repeated in a separate group of animals with the same doses of varenicline, but using a higher concentration of alcohol, 20 %. Two-way ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of treatment (F(2, 64) = 5.31, p < 0.01), genotype (F(1, 64) = 12.11, p < 0.001), and a significant treatment × genotype interaction (F(2, 64) = 3.19, p < 0.05). Whereas WT and α4 KO mice consumed similar baseline quantities of 2 % alcohol, baseline 20 % alcohol consumption after saline injection was significantly less in α4 KO mice compared to WT (p < 0.01, Fig. 3B). Varenicline significantly decreased 20 % ethanol consumption in WT animals (Fig. 3B) and post hoc tests indicated that alcohol consumption after each varenicline dose was significantly lower compared to consumption after saline injection (p < 0.01 for both doses). In α4 KO mice, alcohol consumption after either varenicline dose was not significantly different compared to consumption after saline. Thus, these data suggest that expression of α4* nAChRs is necessary for varenicline-induced reduction of ethanol consumption.
To determine if activation of α4* nAChRs by varenicline was sufficient to decrease ethanol intake, we analyzed the effect of low doses of drug on alcohol consumption in mice expressing a single point mutation, Leu9′Ala, that renders α4* nAChRs hypersensitive to agonist (Tapper et al., 2004). Leu9′Ala and WT litter mate mice were challenged with i.p. injections of 0.0125 mg/kg and 0.05 mg/kg varenicline prior to receiving a 2 % ethanol bottle. There was a significant main effect of treatment (F(2, 55) = 6.86, p < 0.01) and genotype (F(1, 55) = 6.14, p < 0.05) and a significant treatment × genotype interaction (F(2, 55) = 3.74, p < 0.05). Surprisingly, both low doses of varenicline significantly decreased 2 % ethanol intake in Leu9′Ala (0.0125 mg/kg and 0.05 mg/kg compared to saline, p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively) but not WT mice (Fig. 3C). However, higher doses (0.1 mg/kg and 0.3 mg/kg) of varenicline did significantly reduce consumption in WT mice (Fig. 3C, D, p < 0.05, and p < 0.01 comparing 0.1 mg/kg and 0.3 mg/kg varenicline to saline, respectively). Similar results were obtained when this experiment was repeated and the concentration of alcohol was increased to 20 %. There was a main effect of treatment (F(2, 40) = 6.73, p < 0.01) and genotype (F(1, 40) = 22.65) but no significant interaction. Varenicline significantly decreased ethanol consumption in Leu9′Ala but not WT mice when challenged with low doses of the drug, and each dose of varenicline was significantly different compared to a saline injection (Fig. 3D, p < 0.01 for both doses). Together, these data suggest that selective activation of α4* nAChRs by varenicline is sufficient for reduction of alcohol consumption.
Importantly, varenicline did not significantly reduce 10 % sucrose consumption in any of the genotypes, indicating that the effect of varenicline was specific for alcohol intake (Fig. 3E).
To determine if varenicline reduction of alcohol consumption was mediated by drug action in the posterior VTA, we selectively infused the drug into either the anterior or posterior VTA of C57BL/6J mice and measured alcohol consumption. Guide cannulas were implanted into either brain region (see methods) and vehicle, 10, 100, or 1000 pmol varenicline was infused into the VTA prior to presentation of a 20 % alcohol bottle. Figure 4A and 4B depicts the location of the guide cannula within each mouse brain from the two groups of animals. Two-way ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of treatment (F(3, 47) = 3.13, p < 0.05) and brain region (F(1, 45) = 4.88, p < 0.05) and a significant treatment × brain region interaction (F(3, 47) = 4.39, p < 0.01). When infused into the anterior VTA, varenicline did not significantly reduce alcohol consumption compared to vehicle infusion (Fig. 4C). However, 10, 100, and 1000 pmol varenicline, when infused into the posterior VTA, significantly reduced alcohol consumption (Fig. 4D, p < 0.01, p < 0.05, and p < 0.01 respectively). These data indicate that infusion of varenicline into the posterior VTA is sufficient to reduce alcohol consumption.
Because alcohol is one of the most commonly abused psychoactive drugs in the world resulting in significant health consequences, it is critical to identify novel therapies and molecular targets to treat alcoholism. The nAChR partial agonist varenicline is an FDA approved smoking cessation aid that may hold promise as a treatment for alcoholism (Coe et al., 2005; Gonzales et al., 2006). For example, varenicline reduces alcohol consumption and seeking in rats (Steensland et al., 2007) and also significantly reduces consumption in heavy drinking smokers (McKee et al., 2009). Although much is known about how varenicline may reduce nicotine dependence, much less is known regarding the brain regions and nAChR subtypes that varenicline may target to reduce alcohol consumption.
Our data indicate that varenicline and ethanol interact in the VTA. Indeed, much emphasis has been placed on the VTA because of its central importance in the mesocorticolimbic reward pathway (Funk et al., 2006). Alcohol activates DAergic neurons within this region, ultimately increasing DA release in the NAc driving dependence (Pidoplichko et al., 1997; Brodie and Appel, 1998; Brodie et al., 1999; Mansvelder et al., 2002). Mounting evidence indicates that the VTA is not a homogeneous brain region; rather it can be anatomically and functionally divided into at least two brain regions, the anterior and posterior VTA (Ikemoto, 2007; Shabat-Simon et al., 2008). Although both regions of the VTA contain predominantly two subtypes of neurons, DAergic projection neurons and local GABAergic interneurons, studies have shown that neurons within the anterior and posterior VTA project to distinct regions of striatum and also may respond differently to drugs of abuse (Zangen et al., 2006; Ikemoto, 2007; Shabat-Simon et al., 2008). The predominant VTA subregion that is critical for alcohol's action in the VTA is unclear. Previous studies indicate that the anterior VTA is an important modulator of alcohol intake (Ericson et al., 2008; Moore and Boehm, 2009) while others find a role for the posterior VTA (Linsenbardt and Boehm, 2009). Additionally, local infusion of ethanol into the anterior VTA does not increase NAc DA output (Ericson et al., 2003; Lof et al., 2007a) while local infusion of ethanol to the posterior VTA is sufficient for increased DA release in the NAc (Ding et al., 2009). Our data are in line with previous work highlighting the importance of the posterior VTA in alcohol-mediated activation of DAergic neurons. Injection of 2.0 g/kg alcohol, a dose that conditions a place preference in C57BL/6J mice (i.e., a rewarding dose) activated DAergic neurons predominantly in the posterior VTA. Varenicline also activated DAergic neurons selectively in this region and infusion of varenicline directly into the posterior, but not anterior, VTA reduced alcohol consumption, suggesting that the posterior VTA, specifically, could be a neuroanatomical substrate where both drugs interact. Thus, our data support previous studies indicating that rats will self-administer nicotine or ethanol directly into the posterior, but not anterior, VTA (Rodd-Henricks et al., 2000; Rodd et al., 2004; Ikemoto et al., 2006).
Activation of DAergic neurons by alcohol at least partially mediates the rewarding properties of the drug. Interestingly, varenicline also activates these neurons and this reduces alcohol consumption. Although the precise mechanism of this effect is unknown, one possibility is that activation of DAergic neurons by varenicline precludes further activation by alcohol. At the molecular level varenicline may serve to occupy or desensitize nAChRs necessary for alcohol activation of DAergic neurons thereby reducing DA release in the NAc and decreasing consumption. Supporting this idea, varenicline has been shown to reduce alcohol stimulated NAc DA release in rats (Ericson et al., 2009). This would also be consistent with the mechanism by which varenicline is thought to reduce nicotine reinforcement (Rollema et al., 2007).
Reduction of alcohol consumption by varenicline indicates that nAChRs may play a critical role in the reinforcing properties of ethanol. Several studies have utilized various nicotinic agonists and antagonists to implicate nAChR activation as potentially important for alcohol consumption. The non-specific nAChR antagonist, mecamylamine, either delivered systemically or selectively into the VTA, reduces alcohol intake and blocks alcohol-mediated DA release in NAc (Blomqvist et al., 1993; Blomqvist et al., 1996; Blomqvist et al., 1997; Hendrickson et al., 2009). However, specific nicotinic receptor subtypes involved in alcohol consumption are unclear. Previous studies have demonstrated that the selective α4β2* nAChR competitive antagonist, DHβE, fails to modulate alcohol consumption suggesting that this subtype may not be involved in the response to alcohol (Le et al., 2000; Hendrickson et al., 2009). The α7 selective antagonist, methyllycaconitine, also does not reduce alcohol intake (Hendrickson et al., 2009). To gain insight into nAChR subtypes that may influence alcohol consumption, and be targeted by varenicline, we compared nAChR subunit gene expression between posterior VTA DAergic neurons that were activated by alcohol and posterior VTA DAergic neurons not activated by alcohol. We found that DAergic neurons that were activated by alcohol express higher levels of α4, α6, andβ3 nAChR subunit transcripts. Although this difference in mRNA expression does not necessarily translate into protein and/or assembled receptor expression, these data suggest that α4α6β3* nAChRs may be involved in alcohol consumption. Our results are consistent with previous studies indicating that the α6/β3* nAChR selective antagonist α-conotoxin MII, when infused into the VTA, can reduce alcohol consumption and block alcohol-mediated DA release in NAc (Larsson et al., 2004; Jerlhag et al., 2006; Lof et al., 2007b). Importantly, a significant portion of α6β3* nAChRs also contain the α4 subunit and these receptors represent one of the highest affinity nAChRs identified in the brain thus far (Salminen et al., 2004; Salminen et al., 2007).
The role of α4* nAChRs in varenicline reduction of alcohol consumption has not been examined previously. We used two complementary genetic nAChR mouse models, one lacking the gene encoding the α4 subunit, CHRNA4 (α4 KO) (Ross et al., 2000) and another that has a single point mutation, Leu9′Ala, within the endogenous CHRNA4 exon 5 resulting in α4* nAChRs that are hypersensitive to agonist (Leu9′Ala) (Tapper et al., 2004; Fonck et al., 2005). Varenicline reduced consumption of both a low and high dose of alcohol in WT mice but did not significantly reduce consumption in α4 KO mice indicating that expression of α4* nAChRs is necessary for the effects of the drug. In contrast to the effects of varenicline in the KO animals, low doses of varenicline that had little effect on consumption in WT mice dramatically reduced ethanol intake in Leu9′Ala mice suggesting that activation of α4* nAChRs is also sufficient for varenicline effects on alcohol consumption. Importantly, varenicline did not reduce sucrose intake indicating that the effects the drug were specific for alcohol consumption and did not dampen general reward signaling. Because varenicline may also target α7 as well as other nAChR subtypes in addition to α4β2* nAChRs, the mechanism by which varenicline reduces alcohol consumption is an open question (Mihalak et al., 2006; Papke et al., 2010). A recent study demonstrated that varenicline reduced ethanol consumption in mice lacking either α7 or β2* nAChRs similar to WT (Kamens et al., 2010) indicating that expression of these receptors is not necessary for varenicline's effects. As discussed above, our data suggest that α4α6β3* nAChRs mediate varenicline's effects on alcohol consumption, although it is expected that this subtype should also contain the β2 subunit (Grady et al., 2007). Thus, varenicline reduction of ethanol intake in β2 KO mice may occur because of compensatory mechanisms in nAChR expression or subunit composition. Alternatively, we cannot rule out the possibility that higher doses of varenicline than used in our study may reduce alcohol consumption by a non-α4* nAChR dependent mechanism. However, we expect that the doses we used would result in concentrations of varenicline more selective for high affinity nAChRs. For example, 0.1 mg/kg varenicline is predicted to yield a brain concentration of 38 nM (Rollema et al., 2009). This concentration is predicted to be within the range experienced by smokers taking therapeutic doses of varenicline (Rollema et al., 2010). Similar doses also reduce nicotine self-administration in rats without impacting food reinforcement unlike higher doses (O'Connor et al., 2010). In addition, this range of varenicline dose also increases DA turnover in rat NAc (Rollema et al., 2010) consistent with our data illustrating that 0.3 mg/kg varenicline activates DAergic neurons.
Taken together, our results demonstrate that ethanol and varenicline selectively activate DAergic neurons within the posterior VTA and that activation of α4* nAChRs is necessary and sufficient for varenicline-induced reduction of ethanol consumption. Our data combined with recent clinical studies indicate that varenicline could potentially be a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of alcoholism.
We thank Dr. Hans Rollema for helpful discussions. This study was supported by National Institute On Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism award numbers R01AA017656 (A.R.T.) and F31AA018915 (L.M.H.) and from National Institute On Neurological Disorders and Stroke award number R01NS030243 (P.D.G.). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute On Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute On Neurological Disorders and Stroke, or the National Institutes of Health.
PubMed Central Canada is a service of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) working in partnership with the National Research Council's national science library in cooperation with the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the U.S. National Library of Medicine(NCBI/NLM). It includes content provided to the PubMed Central International archive by participating publishers.


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The picture was taken two years ago and the woman in it, Amy, wants to make one thing very clear. It wasn't staged.
On her blog, Daughter of the Sun Amy calls it "just a simple share of a beautiful captured moment."
Amy and her family were living in Hawaii at the time the shot was taken. She explained she was in the middle of doing her Yoga when the baby saw an opportunity.
"I was just doin' my daily flow when the little sweet pea came to sneak a suckle"
Amy told the blog BabyCenter that a friend had posted the shot and the race was on.
She also used her own blog to explain further.
"When I posted the photo I had no idea it would be shared the way it was. There was no showing off intended, nor did I send this photo out to any websites to gain attention. A few close friends shared it on Facebook as a beautiful photo of a mama connecting with her child.
Amy closed her thoughts on the picture and the response she has gotten to it by saying "I understand our family is not the stereotypical ideal. We might look different to the mainstream world, but the closeness and love we share is beyond ideal."
Amy said she and her family will soon be moving to New Zealand for a few months where her now nearly three year old daughter will continue to do her Yoga alongside.
WARNING: This link will take you to the picture which contains partial nudity and some may find offensive.


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In this hour, biologist and science writer David Bainbridge tells Steve Paulson that a prolonged adolescence is unique to humans and one of our greatest evolutionary advantages. Bainbridge's book is Teenagers: A Natural History.
Next, Frank Warren is the founder of the blog PostSecret and author of the companion books A Lifetime of Secrets and My Secret. He tells Anne Strainchamps how the blog works, and that he treasures the postcards he receives. We also hear a montage of sample postcards.
Then, Rebecca Walker is the daughter of celebrated novelist Alice Walker and a white Jewish father. Rebecca is the author of memoirs called Baby Love and Black, White and Jewish: Autobiography of A Changing Self. She talks with Steve Paulson about her unconventional upbringing and how having a child of her own changed her feelings about it.
After that, Eugene Mirman is an indie comic and the author of an outlandish self-help send-up called The Will to Whatevs. He tells Jim Fleming that school was horrible for him and gave rise to his nerd humor.Finally, Laura Miller is a literary critic at Salon dot com and the author of The Magician's Book. She tells Anne Strainchamps why she thinks Stephanie Meyers' Twilight books are such a phenomenal success with young women, even though the lead female character is so lacking in gifts or accomplishments. [Broadcast Date: January 27, 2010]
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Petition Tag - dictatorship
1. Μohamad Αbdelgawad Must Receive Political Asylum in Greece
Τhis rejection had nothing to do with the merits of his clear cut case, which deserves asylum according to the Geneva Convention of 1951 and other international legal instruments. Refugees cannot be expelled to states where their life or liberty are in danger, and this is definitely the case for Μohamad. But the European Union supports the dictatorship of Sisi in Egypt, and Greece signals to Sisi's opponents that they are not welcome.
Greek authorities decided to expel Μohamad using the infamous EU-Turkey agreement of 2016, condemned by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Save the Children, and many other international organisations. This agreement provides for returning to Turkey refugees arriving at the Aegean islands, on the grounds that Turkey is a safe country for them. Which demonstrably it is not. The United Nations High Committee for Refugees (UNHCR) has stated formally that, lacking unimpeded access to the returned refugees to Turkey, it cannot even effectively monitor the returns. Worse, UNHCR confirms that few of even the Syrian refugees readmitted from Greece acquire temporary protection in Turkey. Most simply disappear. In these conditions Egypt can easily secure the return of Μohamad.
On December 12th, 2016, Μohamad was transferred to the Lesvos Police Headquarters, awaiting to be sent to Turkey, whence he can be extradited to certain torture and death in Egypt. Using the only means left to him, his own life, he started a hunger strike on December 13th. After the inevitable deterioration of his health, he was transferred to a public hospital on January 10th, 2017. Medical personnel protected him from the extradition, which was scheduled for January 13th. The local doctors' union mobilised in his support, demanding from the Greek authorities to cancel his deportation, and also to protect him from the police. The latter did not allow hospital doctors to give him proper care, and even demanded, during his hunger strike, his return from the hospital to police custody.
Mohamad's hunger strike continued for 53 days, till his illegal detention was stopped on the 3rd of February. Having recovered enough to leave the hospital, he now walks free, but his health is still in danger, and his life too. Greek authorities do all in their power to expel him. If his renewed claim for asylum is rejected, he can be rearrested and extradited at any moment. His only protection is a wave of solidarity from Greece and abroad.
On the details of Μohamad Αbdelgawad's case (in English) see: http://musaferat.espivblogs.net/about-the-threat-to-deport-mohamed-a/
The Doctors' Union announcement on Μohamad Αbdelgawad (in Greek): https://www.kar.org.gr/2017/01/23/15012017-e-iatron-esy-lesvou-psifisma-allilengyis-ston-egyptio-apergo-pinas-ergnews-refugeesgr/
List of 22 Greek humanitarian, religious, and political organisations that support Μohamad's struggle (in Greek): http://www.era-aegean.gr/?p=21858
Μohamad Αbdelgawad's letter (in Arabic, English, and Greek): musaferat.espivblogs.net/a-letter-from-the-hunger-striker-mohamed-a-03-01-17/
UNHCR's Lack of access to refugees in Turkey (in English): http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-16-1664_el.htm
These acts are a heinous perversion of the founding fathers' wish to establish a separation of powers where Congress would be in charge of enacting laws and would be the most powerful branch in our government.
What recent presidencies have done is effectively usurp the power of Congress and ignore the principles established by the constitution, thus harming our government and more importantly the people it is supposed to serve.
3. Free Iranian-British Student Roya Saberi Negad Nobakht, Sentenced To 7 YEARS For Criticizing Regime On Facebook
URGENT UPDATE: May 27, 2014--ROYA SABERI NEGAD NOBAKHT HAS BEEN SENTENCED TO TWENTY YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT!
The Tehran Revolutionary Court, in another illegal action, sentenced 8 men and women, active on Facebook to more than 123 years of imprisonment.
Since the authorities have been unable to have any influence on society in trying to ban Facebook, with this action, they seem to be trying to create panic among social network users, and are using this to create and influence an atmosphere of oppression in cyber-space.
According to the opposition site Kaleme, these people who were arrested last year and were interrogated at the IRGC Ward 2-A in Evin prison, were tried and sentenced collectively to more than 123 years of imprisonment in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Moghayeseh,.
The sentences issued by lower court are as follows:
1- Roya Saberinejad Nobakht; 20 years of imprisonment
2- Masoud Ghasem Khani; 19 years and 91 days of imprisonment
3- Fariborz Kardarfar; 18 years and 91 days of imprisonment
4- Sayd Masoud Sayed Talebi; 15 years and one day of imprisonment
5- Amin (Farid) Akramipour; 13 years of imprisonment
6- Naghmeh Shahi Savandi Shirazi; 7 years and 91 days of imprisonment
These 8 people were charged with assembly and collusion against the national security, insulting the Supreme Leader, insulting the authorities, propaganda against the regime, blasphemy, and spreading lies and disturbing the public's peace.
The Revolutionary Court, based on Article 134 of the new Islamic Republic's Penal Code has issued these sentences, giving them more than half of the maximum penalty. But, according to this same Article, only the sentence for the charge with the highest maximum penalty is enforceable. In this case, that would be the charge of assembly and collusion against the national security, which carries 7 1/2 years of imprisonment.
While the issue of free access to the Internet has become one of the main challenges between the hardliner Judiciary and the administration of Hassan Rouhani and considering the inability of the hardliners to influence the cyber space activities of the people, they have resorted to giving these heavy sentences to make an example and to create an atmosphere of fear in order to stop the people from online activities.
Kaleme had previously reported regarding the IRGC's scenario and arresting of cyber activists in the summer and fall of 2013. Those people were arrested in Tehran, Shiraz and Sari. They were all held at IRGC's Ward 2-A in Evin prison where they were interrogated and tortured. Currently they are being held in Evin prison and Gharchak prison for women in Varamin.
Despite the fact that the IRGC interrogators have charged these 8 people with various false charges, that the Court used to convict them, Kaleme's reporter investigations showed that activities of these 8 people were limited to criticism of the ruling establishment's policies, poems and songs of protest, spreading the news of the events of post-2009 presidential election and political-social satires.
These activists, under pressure by the interrogators and with false promises of leniency, gave false confessions on national TV, apologizing for their actions, voicing regret for their Facebook activities, and warned about the ill effects of these social networking sites.
Source (in Farsi): Kaleme http://www.kaleme.com/1393/03/05/klm-185771/
Translation by Persian Banoo: http://persianbanoo.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/unprecedented-123-years-of-imprisonment-for-8-people-active-on-facebook-in-iran/
A student visiting family in Iran has been locked up for five months after writing on Facebook that the country 'was too Islamic' during a family trip.
Roya Saberi Negad Nobakht, from Stockport, was arrested as she stepped off a plane in the provincial city of Shiraz and accused of being a spy, said her husband Daryoush Taghipoor.
Daryoush said his 47-year-old wife has been detained at Evin, a prison in the capital Tehran, on suspicion of plotting to commit crimes against security and insulting Islam.
He claims her arrest was over comments she made on an internet chat forum and to friends on Facebook about the Iranian government being too controlling and 'too Islamic'.
Part-time chef Daryoush and Roya, an English student at Stockport College, have lived in Heald Green for six years and are naturalized British citizens.
Daryoush, 47, said his wife had done nothing wrong and feared for her life.
Speaking from Iran, he added: 'It's a very bad situation. We don't know what's going on.
'Roya is not well at all. She has lost three stone and is frightened. She is scared that the government will kill her.'
Roya travelled to Tehran to see family last October.
About two weeks into the trip, she flew to Shiraz to visit a friend and was arrested at the airport.
It is understood she is being remanded in Evin prison while she awaits a trial.
Family friend Nasser Homayoun-Fekri, from Offerton, has written to his MP Andrew Stunell, asking him to put pressure on our government to intervene.
Mr Fekri said: 'Roya is not a political activist in any way. She is just a normal citizen.
'The authorities don't clarify why she has been arrested and Daryoush insists the charges are based on a confession extracted from Roya under duress.
'The government needs to do all that is feasible to get the release of this innocent British citizen.'
The British Embassy in Tehran is closed but Ajay Sharma, head of the Iran department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), is acting as a diplomat between the two countries.
Mr Stunell, Hazel Grove MP, said: 'I am concerned about this arbitrary arrest and am urgently asking the FCO to make inquiries.'
4. Free Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, Iranian Teacher And Labor Activist
Mr. Shandiz had been previously detained on May 1, 2010 and had spent more than eight months in solitary confinement in the notorious Evin prison before being released on January 26, 2011.
Intelligence Ministry agents have arrested the 51-year-old teacher and labour activist Shandiz numerous times before.
While the ostensible basis for the conviction and prison sentence of Mr. Shandiz remain unclear, the fact that is that he is doubly vulnerable to persecution at the hands of the Islamic Republic regime's war against Iran's civil society by simple virtue of being both a teacher and a labor activist.
As for as labor activists are concerned, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has called for urgent action regarding the arrests of and acts of harassment against several Iranian trade unionists, including Shandiz, Shahrokh Zamani, Mohammad Jarrahi, Nima Pouryaghoub, Sassan Vahebivash, Sheys Amani, Sadiq Karimi, Sharif Sa'ed-Panah, Mozaffar Salehnia, Maysam Nejati-Aref, Ebrahim Madadi, Reza Shahabi, Mohammad Hosseini and Mehdi Farahi Shandiz.
As far as the plight of teachers, Zamaneh has recently reported:
Iran's "Campaign to Support Jailed Teachers" has issued an announcement in protest against the "worrying situation" of teachers in Iran's prisons.
Zamaneh reports that the Campaign made its announcement at the start of the academic year and in the run-up to World Teachers' Day, aiming to be the voice of incarcerated teachers in Iran and rallying the public to demonstrate against how teachers are treated in the country.
The announcement calls on the Islamic Republic to heed the demands of teachers and urges all civil activists to become in every way possible the voice of "jailed teachers" between September 20 and October 5, World Teachers' Day.
While pointing out the arrest of many teachers and the execution of Farzad Kamangar in 2010, the Campaign adds that many teachers are also being subjected to expulsion and exile, and being denied the right to participate in union activities.
In addition to the stated political persecution, the statement also indicates that many teachers in the provinces will be facing cuts to their salaries in the coming year, while nowhere in the country will educators be granted a raise.
Following the 2009 presidential elections, the government began a widespread crackdown on civil and political activists all across the country. Teachers have been one of the chief targets of government pressure including arrests, interrogations and prison sentences.
Names of some of the jailed Iranian teachers are: Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, Rasoul Badaghi, Abdolreza Ghanbari, Mohammad Davari, Abdollah Momeni, Ali Poursoleiman, Hashem Shabaninejad, and Hadi Rashedi.
5. Bring Down the Assad Regime and Stop the Killing in Syria!
We have witnessed the Hama Masacre in 1982, the nonrecognition of the Kurdish Syrian community and since February of 2011, president Bashar Al-Assad has sent out his military to murder thousands of children, young adults and peaceful protestors to silence their cry for human rights!
6. Free Iranian Labor Activist Bahman Ebrahimzadeh
According to a report by the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, Bahman Ebrahimzadeh was initially tried by the Revolutionary Court, Branch 15, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Following his request for appeal and the Supreme Court's approval, he was tried again. It has been reported that Bahman Ebrahimzadeh's attorney is optimistic about the second trial and hopeful that his client will receive a lighter sentence.
Bahman Ebrahimzadeh is also an advocate against child labor and has supported the Society to Defend Child Laborers and Street Children. He was arrested in June 2010 and was locked up in one of the solitary confinements in Evin Prison's ward 2A. Bahman Ebrahimzadeh has been denied furlough since then.
7. Free Iranian Journalist Saam Mahmoodi Sarabi, Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison
Saam Mahmoudi Sarabi, an Iranian journalist, has been sentenced to eight years in jail and a 10-year ban from media activities in Iran.
Nedaye Sabz Azadi's website reports that the sentenced journalist's lawyer has reported that his client was charged with "assembly and collusion against national security, propaganda against the regime, publishing falsehood and insulting the leader."
Mahmoudi Sarabi's sentence has been approved by the appellate court and forwarded to Evin Prison.
Mahmoudi Sarabi was arrested in March of 2011 and released after more than eight months in jail.
The authorities previously had held him in jail for 44 days for writing a poem about the alleged confessions of political prisoners following the 2009 elections protests and for writing an open letter to MirHosein Mousavi, one of the leaders of the opposition.
After the controversial election of 2009, the crackdown on Iranian journalists and reporters has been ratcheted up by the Islamic Republic, and opposition groups report that in the past two years 108 reporters have been arrested, and while some have been released, many still remain behind bars.
Iranian journalist Saam Mahmoodi Sarabi continues to be held in legal limbo at Evin Prison, even as his arrest warrant is renewed after two months.
"While they had told us that they would process his file this month, he remains in an undetermined state in Ward 350 of Evin Prison," his family told the Jaras website. "The security forces also prevent his lawyers from visiting him or even contacting the investigator in his case."
According to his mother, Alieh Jangi, Mahmoodi was arrested for writing poetry and an open letter to opposition leader MirHosein Mousavi, which the investigator has deemed to be "propaganda against the regime, activity against national security and insulting the leadership."
Mahmoodi, a staff member of Shargh newspaper, was arrested last March.
8. Free Iranian Blogger Sakhi Rigi, Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Sakhi Rigi has been exiled to the city of Ahvaz [in Khuzestan Province] to serve his sentence in Karon Prison. Sakhi Rigi is a civil rights activist who was arrested during presidential elections in 2009. On June 18, 2009, while he was driving his car, Sakhi Rigi was stopped on Zahedan University St. by the security forces and subsequently detained.
While he was in the custody of Iran's Intelligence Agency in Zahedan, Sakhi Rigi endured seven months in solitary confinement and was charged with acting against national security and propaganda against the regime. Three months ago, Sakhi Rigi was transferred to Karon Prison to begin serving his twenty year term.
Sakhi Rigi is a 31 year old college student who was studying software development before being arrested and had only two terms left before graduating. It is not clear what other charges have been filed against him to justify issuing such a heavy sentence for this college student. However, it has been said that his blog postings were considered a crime and a threat to national security.
9. An Open letter to Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, Archbishop of Havana -- Una Carta al Cardenal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, Arzobispo de la Habana
Denounced by over one hundred dissidents for these actions, Cardinal Jaime Ortega has responded by condemning those who criticize him and by continuing his defense of the brutal status quo in the name of "pastoral care" and "social harmony."
This petition urges Cardinal Ortega to side with the dissidents and to call for real change in Cuba.
10. 25 July, International Day Against Dictatorship
The participation of thousands of people around the world was not only a triumph for the Iranian people who thus received the backing of the international community in its struggle against dictatorship, but also a victory for men and women of all origins around the world who, thanks to the Internet and new information technologies, managed to mobilize in the defense of the rights of a repressed people in its struggle against a totalitarian regime that had become a danger to the whole of humanity.
In a global world in which the fate of all individuals, peoples and nations is increasingly interconnected, the defence of human rights of a people living under conditions of tyranny is an issue that concerns us all. United we can act more effectively in the struggle against dictatorship and dictators for peace in the world.
11. Remove the corrupt PPP regime
Several ministers have been linked to well known drug lords, public corruption abounds and maybe engendered by the burning down of at least 5 ministry buildings.
Many Afro-Guyanese men have been wrongfully arrested and tortured and in the case of David Leander (Biscuit) poisoned in jailed.
در تاریخ 22 خرداد بسیاری از مردم ایران در پی نارضایتی 4 ساله و امید برای تغییر در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری شرکت کردند، ولی صبح روز بعد از انتخابات ایرانیان با نتایجی مواجه شدند که بسیاری بر این باورند که در آن تقلب شده، و از آن تحت عنوان کودتای دولت احمدی نژاد علیه رای مردم یاد میکنند.
There have been many issues surrounding the elections which have led to these allegations of fraud, including heavy censorship, arrests and repression of the reformists and their supporters, beatings and shootings at demonstrations by government forces which have led to high numbers of causalities and a growing number of deaths.
اتفاقات بسیاری در حول وحوش مساله ی انتخابات افتاده که منجر به ادعای جعلی بودن نتایج آن شده است از جمله سانسور شدید، دستگیری و سرکوب رفرمیست ها و هوادارانشان، ضرب و شتم و گشودن آتش به روی مردم توسط نیروهای دولتی که باعث بالا رفتن تعداد کشته شدگان شده است.
The escalation of censorship of newspapers, websites, TV and radio services around the elections have contributed to the reporting of the events surrounding this event extremely difficult. Many international human rights organizations including Amnesty international, Article 19, Reporters Sans Frontier, and others have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Iranian elections and the events that have followed it since.
اعمال سانسور بر روزنامه ها، وبسایت ها، تلویزیون و رادیو هایی که به پوشش اخبار مربوط به انتخابات ایران میپرداختند به شدت افزایش یافته است. بسیاری از سازمان های بین المللی حقوق بشر از جمله سازمان عفو بین الملل، بند19، گزارشگران خط مقدم و... نارضایتی خود را در باب مساله ی انتخابات و اتفاقات پس از آن ابراز کردند
13. Americans for Democracy & Transparency in Nicaragua
Ortega formed an pact with Arnoldo Aleman, the ex President of Nicaragua and leader of the Liberal Party who serves a criminal sentence under house arrest for corrupt practices. These two strongmen control the legislative branch, the electoral authority, the judicial branch and the national police. Through their control of these institutions, Ortega has postponed elections in the Atlantic coast (afro-decedent and indigenous communities) and canceled the legal standing of two opposition parties (Sandinista Renovation Movement and the Conservative Party).
Ortega intends to change the constitution to solidify his power for longer than currently allowed. With approval rates below 20%, Ortega will have to do so through undemocratic methods.
The U.S. has pledged 175 million dollars for five years since 2005 through the Millennium Challenge Corporation with the condition that Nicaragua fight corruption and strengthen its democracy: Areas that the current Nicaraguan administration is running to the ground.
In the final analysis, a pertinent question should be made: what is the US$175 million offered by the U.S. for five years compared to US$520 million that Hugo Chavez has given to Daniel Ortega and US$250 million that Iran has pledged to Nicaragua. As they say on the street: money talks and "blip blip" walks.
However, far from sending blank checks to Nicaragua, as concerned Americans we should try to be engaged in the process. I propose that you join me in writing to our congresspersons.
You can look up your congresspersons' info here:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/ (enter zip code in left side search box)
This site gives you all your elected reps, state and federal.
I recommend that you write handwritten letters, not emails, because they have far greater impact. Write to the DISTRICT office, not to Washington, so it arrives in time (DC mail is held a month for security). Write to House of Representatives AND Senators.
For background information on Nicaragua, please find the most recent article in The Economist: http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11497005,
the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/world/americas/04nicaragua.html?_r=1&scp=18&sq=nicaragua&st=cse&oref=slogin,
and The Nicaraguan Report: www.nicaraguanreport.com
14. Freedom for Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez)
Posted on Tue, Feb. 19, 2008
A Hobson's choice: Exile or prison
Jorge Luis García Pérez, known as Antúnez, served out his 17-year term, which ended last year (2007). A former sugar-cane cutter, he was sent to prison for standing in a public square and calling for democratic change. Beyond being harassed and beaten, he has been detained eight times since he was freed in April. Although he has arrangements to come to the United States for medical treatment, he insists he will not leave Cuba unless his return is guaranteed by the regime.
The number of political prisoners declines as Cuba tries to improve its image. Yet the repression, like the dictatorship, has not changed.
The international community must continue to press for democratic change in Cuba.
© 2008 Miami Herald Media Company.
Prisoner of Conscience Profile:
Confined to punishment cells. Due to the frequent beatings that he has suffered he has bone fractures, and is suffering from kidney failure caused by hypoglycemia.
Biography: Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez) was born on October 10, 1964. The economic situation of his home and the delicate health of his mother forced him to study at the ESBEC (Basic Secondary Schools in the Fields) and the IPUEC (Pre-university School in the Fields). This is where he first began to question the legitimacy of the dictatorship in Cuba. The process of auto-liberation began when he had the opportunity to read about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
From that moment on he began a process of rejecting all the indoctrination that was taught in the school, and for that reason he was criticized and sanctioned by the school. Because of this, and the desperate need to earn money to alleviate the economic misery his family lived in. Jorge Luis understood that his dream of becoming an attorney was just that a dream. To support his family he worked in jobs that involved heavy manual labor: as a sugar cane cutter, a construction worker and a farm laborer. He was fired from these jobs, simply because he was verbally critical of the dictatorship running his country.
At this point Jorge Luis began to be monitored closely by the Cuban government. After six months working at the Cuban Atomic Plant in Juraguá, Cienfuegos he was fired after being investigated by the Ministry of Labor, which classified him as "disaffected to the revolutionary process" in other words disaffected with the dictatorship.
During the last days of 1983, while chatting with friends at the XX Anniversary Square in the city of Placetas in Cuba Antúnez said that the sole individual responsible for the death of 23 Cubans in combat with the US Army in Grenada was Fidel Castro.
He was immediately beaten down by agents of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR). He was taken from there to the Department of Instruction of the State Security Police in Santa Clara, where he was released after being issued a "warning. " But the intimidation and repression didn't stop Jorge Luis' will to speak his mind as a free man. On March 15, 1990, nearly seven years later at the same XX Anniversary Square listening to an official radio transmission calling for the IV Congress of the Communist Party, he began to raise his voice and shout that "communism is a utopian error " and "we want and we need reforms like those taking place in Eastern Europe". He was immediately physically assaulted by agents of the PNR and State Security Police, who took him again to the headquarters in Santa Clara, where he was charged for "oral enemy propaganda". He was charged with the "crime" of speaking his mind openly and without fear.
That is how Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez) began his long and courageous fight for freedom as a prisoner of conscience. In June of the same year, already imprisoned in the Provincial Prison of Santa Clara, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison. His response to this unjust sentence was to start a hunger strike that lasted 21 days.
This was the first of many occasions that Jorge Luis appealed to this method of protest against the innumerable brutal beatings, being locked away in punishment cells without access to water or sunlight, and the offenses directed against him for being of African descent. Despite all this the dictatorship has failed to break the spirit of this young prisoner of conscience. On February 19, 1991 Antúnez declared himself a "Preso Plantado", which is a political prisoner who refuses to wear the same uniform as non-political prisoners and rejected "Communist Re-education."
Among Antunez's numerous acts of rebellion and protest one stands out above the others. It was his daring escape from Las Grimas prison, in Placetas, on October 17, 1992. Captured later in the larger prison that is Cuba, and returned to prison. In 1995, held in Kilo 8 Maximum Security Prison, known by the nickname of "Se me perdió la llaves" (I have lost my keys), he founded along with other prisoners of conscience, an organization called Pedro Luis Boitel Political Prisoner's Movement, dedicated to denouncing the situation of political prisoners inside the dictatorship's prisons and to promote civil disobedience in response to the brutality of their jailers.
The life of Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez), has been one of a commitment to freedom and the courage to exercise it and defend it. A young man (actually only 32 years old), of African descent and from modest economic origins has faced hatred both racially and politically motivated directed at him with the full force of a totalitarian dictatorship. His sole defenses have been his humanity, his courage, his commitment to defending his fundamental human rights and liberties. Ironically under the tyranny operating Cuba his defense and exercise of his personal freedom has under the perversion of the law there and the denial of justice been held against him by the dictatorship as his only crime.
At the time of this writing Antúnez's health has been steadily deteriorating due to beatings, hunger strikes, and lack of medical attention that he has suffered over the years of his imprisonment since 1991. In addition to the bone fractures he is having difficulty breathing and has a lung tumor which the prison authorities claim is not malignant, but refuse to allow him to see a cancer specialist as his health deteriorates. To protest this medical neglect Antúnez has been on a hunger strike since the beginning of April below is a translation of the story that appeared in the newspaper on April 25 about his deteriorating condition. Please speak up for him and demand his freedom and at the very least adequate medical care while held in the dictatorship's prison.
Provisional Prison Nieves Morejón,
Located in: Sancti Spiritus.
Case # 4 of 1990
Charge: Oral Enemy Propaganda
Case #5 of 1993
Charge: "Enemy Propaganda and Tentative Sabotage"
Concurring Sanctions: 15 years in prison
Age: 37
Home Mailing Address: Séptima del Sur # 3 entre Paseo de Martí y Primera del Este.
Placetas,Villa Clara CUBA
Telphone: (42) 8-3228
Relative: Berta Antúnez (sister)
Profession: Qualified Worker


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I'm a snooper.
One time I lucked up on a boyfriends email password and found evidence of him corresponding with someone he had frequent phone sex with. I wasn't mad though I tried to be because I knew that was the normative response. I was more intrigued and I loved knowing about something that he didn't know I knew.


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Balfruss is a battlemage, sworn to fight and die for a country that fears and despises his kind.
Vargus is a common soldier -- while mages shoot lightning from the walls of the city, he's down in the front lines getting blood on his blade.
Talandra is a princess and spymaster, but the war may force her to risk everything and make the greatest sacrifice of all.
Magic and mayhem collide in this explosive epic fantasy from a major new talent...
Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of *State of Wonder, Run,* and *Bel Canto,* examines her deepest commitments—to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband—creating a resonant portrait of a life in *This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.*
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage takes us into the very real world of Ann Patchett's life. Stretching from her childhood to the present day, from a disastrous early marriage to a later happy one, it covers a multitude of topics, including relationships with family and friends, and charts the hard work and joy of writing, and the unexpected thrill of opening a bookstore...
The Underground Railroad (Pulitzer Prize Winner) (National Book Award Winner) (Oprah's Book Club)
Colson Whitehead
Winner of the 2017 National Book Award for fiction
Jojo is thirteen years old and trying to understand what it means to be a man. He doesn't lack in fathers to study, chief among them his Black grandfather, Pop. But there are other men who complicate his understanding: his absent White father, Michael, who is being released from prison; his absent White grandfather, Big Joseph, who won't acknowledge his existence; and the memories of his dead uncle, Given, who died as a teenager.
His mother, Leonie, is an inconsistent presence in his and his toddler sister's lives. She is an imperfect mother in constant conflict with herself and those around her. She is Black and her children's father is White. She wants to be a better mother but can't put her children above her own needs, especially her drug use. Simultaneously tormented and comforted by visions of her dead brother, which only come to her when she's high, Leonie is embattled in ways that reflect the brutal reality of her circumstances.
When the children's father is released from prison, Leonie packs her kids and a friend into her car and drives north to the heart of Mississippi and Parchman Farm, the State Penitentiary. At Parchman, there is another thirteen-year-old boy, the ghost of a dead inmate who carries all of the ugly history of the South with him in his wandering. He too has something to teach Jojo about fathers and sons, about legacies, about violence, about love.
Louise Erdrich, the New York Times bestselling, National Book Award-winning author of LaRose and The Round House, paints a startling portrait of a young woman fighting for her life and her unborn child against oppressive forces that manifest in the wake of a cataclysmic event...


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One of the administration's excuses for inaction in the face of mass slaughter of some 60,000 Syrians, according to the U.N., is that "everyone" knows Bashar al-Assad is going. This is a non sequitur, but is also wrong.
Our refusal to act in meaningful ways to accelerate his departure (and thereby let the death toll mount) has sullied the U.S. image among Syrians, revealed our fecklessness to Syria's patrons in Iran and left us at a disadvantage in fending off jihadist elements that have drifted into Syria while the war has dragged on and on. (Note the connection between U.S. inertness and the festering of jihadist terrorists in North African, Libya and Syria. You'd think someone would spot the pattern by now.)
But the assumption that Assad is going anyway is also questionable. Reuters reports that the French, who certainly are more on the ball in the region than we, now say "there were no signs that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is about to be overthrown." The report continues:
France, a former colonial ruler of Syria, has been one of the most vocal backers of the rebels trying to topple Assad and was the first to recognize the opposition coalition.
"Things are not moving. The solution that we had hoped for, and by that I mean the fall of Bashar and the arrival of the (opposition) coalition to power, has not happened," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in his annual New Year's address to the press.
Fabius told RFI radio in December "the end is nearing" for Assad. But on Thursday, he said international mediation and discussions about the crisis that began in March 2011 were not getting anywhere. "There are no recent positive signs," he said. . . .
Paris and other Western allies have so far failed to convince Russia and China, who have continued to block stronger U.N. action against Assad, to change their stance.
"France continues, like others, to try find a solution so that Bashar is replaced and that a united Syria that respects all communities is achieved. However, we are far from it," Fabius said.
This is, to put it mildly, a big deal. We have no policy and frankly no real idea what we are doing. (Perhaps France should be — or effectively is — the new superpower.)
The potential that Assad could hang on for months or years longer would be a human rights disaster, ratchet up the refugee outflow and represent a triumph for Iran. The administration and its national security nominees should be confronted about their assumption that Assad is on the verge of collapse (not unlike Spain's Franco who was on the verge of dying for an interminable time). Are we prepared to live with Assad's continued rule, and if not, what are we doing about it?


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God Eater 2 Rage Burst (DLC Included)
Region: EUR
Product ID: PCSB-00875
Genre: Action, RPG
Language: English
Format: VPK
MaiDump: V233.2z2
Size: 2.93 GB
Store: PSN
Release Date: 4 August, 2016
Defy All Gods Three years after the events of GOD EATER: Resurrection, a mysterious red rain sparks a fatal pandemic called the Black Plague. With no established cure, this scourge has a mortality rate of 100% once infected. Members of the Special Unit "Blood", an Affiliate of the Fenrir Organization, are sent to assist and investigate. Take control of their newest recruit as you master incredible weaponry, challenge enormous monsters, and cooperate with an iconic cast of characters fighting for humanity in GOD EATER 2: Rage Burst.
Start your journey in GOD EATER Resurrection as a new member of the GOD EATER elit squad. Your mission is to defeat the Aragami and gather material from them for research, but you come to realize that you are being drawn in to a giant conspiracy that will irreversibly alter the fate of humanity. Three years after the events of GOD EATER Resurrection, a mysterious red rain sparks a fatal pandemic called the Black Plague. Members of the Special Unit "Blood", an affiliate of the Fenrir Organization, are sent to investigate…
– More Than One Way to Slay a Monster – Use "God Arcs", massive weapons created from Oracle Cells, to hack, slash, shoot and devour Aragami, gigantic monsters set on devouring humanity.
– Monstrous Content – Features new and returning heroes, rich character and weapon customization, and over 100 hours of story and gameplay content, fully voiced in English.
– Power of Blood – Learn over 200 different Blood Arts for Melee weapons to enhance your attacks and Blood Bullets to add various attributes. Tap into your Blood Rage to unleash your attack potential.
– Squad Up – Play with up to 3 additional players online to form a cooperative four man cell, perfect for taking on the most difficult of missions.
– Play with anyone, anywhere – Exclusive to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, GOD EATER 2: Rage Burst features both Cross Play and Cross Save functionality.
1. Unrar the Compressed file
2. Install game using MaiDumpTool v233.2z2
3. Done! Play! Enjoy!


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Watch the Video
Officials said the two middle-aged men, age 41 to 60, are from central Iowa.
Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, medical director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, said their deaths are unusual because of how early it is in the season and that the men weren't that old.
"These deaths are an unfortunate reminder the flu virus is circulating in Iowa, and does have the potential to cause severe illness and death," Quinlisk said.
Officials said the flu season typically peaks in February and can last as late as May. Iowa, Oregon and Rhode Island have the highest influenza activity in the U.S.
The approximately 50 Unity Point clinics and urgent care centers in central Iowa have seen a combined 28 cases of influenza since the first of October, which officials say is not a large amount, considering the state sees about 300,000 cases each year.
Flu and its complication of pneumonia cause an average of 1,000 deaths yearly in Iowa, based on CDC estimates.
At the Unity Point Clinic in Norwalk, 300 doses of flu shots are on hand, but no flu mist doses. The clinic manager said they usually have about 500 doses this year and hopes to get another delivery within the week.
Quinlisk said there have been outbreaks in eastern Iowa, but influenza has not been widespread.
"But it's coming. And especially now that we've had deaths in central Iowa, the bottom line is the flu is here, and it's going to get worse. If you haven't got your flu shot yet, now's the time to go get it," she said.
Flu numbers can spike after the holidays begin. Quinlisk said not to wait to get vaccinated. If you get vaccinated in the next few days, you'll have good immunity by Thanksgiving.
Vaccinations are recommend for everyone 6 months of age and older and especially for those who have regular contact with people more vulnerable to the complications of flu, including babies, children with asthma and the elderly.
Symptoms of the flu include fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, and body aches. Illness typically lasts two to seven days. Learn more at http://www.flu.gov
flu shots
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MOVIE SYNOPSIS [ General Audiences ] With direction of Nicholas Gray, this movie in English (original language) was presented in 2008. This film, a creation of Nicholas Gray, was developed in USA. You can watch If You Could Say It in Words online on TV cable or theaters with original audio in English at different dates. This film premiered in theaters in 2008.
Rating: 5 by 50 users./
Runtime: 110 minutes
Marin Ireland, Alvin Keith, Gerry Lehane, Yvonne Woods, Susanna Guzman, PaSean Wilson, Stephen Henderson, Dana Snyder, Douglas Stewart, McDonald Gray Jr., Gregory Marcel, Lewis Korff, Richard Sands, Susan Rosetti, Steph Hayes and Jim Miades.
110-minute film (full movie) directed by Nicholas Gray.
The original audio of If You Could Say It in Words has dialogues in Dolby Digital, it was produced in USA.
It premiered in cinemas or television in 2008.
Screenplay written by Nicholas Gray.
Richard Sands.
Katharine Clark Gray, Keira Fromm, Adam Eisenstein, Gerardine Clark, Ariel Roubinov and Nicholas Gray.
This film was produced and / or financed by A Chip and A Chair Films.
Composed by David Goodrich.
Vanguard Cinema.
Without commercial breaks, the full movie If You Could Say It in Words has a duration of 110 minutes; the official trailer can be watched in streaming on the Internet. You can watch this full movie free in EnglishDolby Digital in movie TV channels, renting the DVD or with VoD services (Video On Demand player, Hulu) and PPV (Pay Per View, Netflix).
See the page of this full movie, If You Could Say It in Words in FULLTV Movies.


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Grand Rapids, MI WW/Press/July 28, 2016 –Jordan C. Hoyer, Attorney with Witte Law PLLC, was selected for inclusion in the forthcoming Top Attorneys of North America 2016 edition of The Who's Who Directories.
The accomplishments and achievements attained by Ms. Jordan Hoyer, in the field of Legal Services, warrants inclusion into the Top Attorneys of North America. Jordan Hoyer has been practicing for five years in the areas of commercial litigation and financial services litigation in state and federal court, including FINRA arbitration, AAA, and mediation. She has represented many corporate clients in the following disputes: ICANN domain name, Lanham Act, trade dress and trade secret misappropriation, non-competition/non-solicitation, and other business tort disputes. Jordan's most notable achievements include being lead counsel representing NJ-based bank with $21 billion in holdings in a securities dispute against a money-center Wall Street bank pending in federal court, winning a unanimous jury verdict for a corporate plaintiff worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars in the 17th Circuit Court Specialized Business Docket, and successfully resolving through mediation an alleged fraud and conversion claim seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ms. Hoyer received her B.A. from Hope College and her J.D. from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
The Who's Who Directories, a New York based biographical publication company, distinguishes and profiles leading professionals who demonstrate recognizable success and leadership in their field. The directory is valued for promoting awareness of individual accomplishments and achievement within the North American community.
Contact: editor as
Phone: 516-809-7221 ext. 100
Email Address: email@example.com


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Justice For All
The members of the Sisterhood always stand together, and that includes aiding and protecting the men in their lives. Yoko's partner Harry Wong has received a phone call from his old schoolmate Jun Yu. Jun Yu resided at the same temple where Harry's daughter Lily was training, but they were all forced to evacuate. Jun Yu's managed to get his son out, but Lily is missing. And now Jun is trusting Harry to guard the most precious things in his life - his wife Ling and their two children, whom he has smuggled to America.
While long-time ally Pearl Barnes whisks Ling and her children to safety via her underground railroad, the Sisters and their allies head to the war room to make plans. Finding Lily is a top priority, and Kathryn's partner, Bert Navarro, comes up with a way for the group to travel to China. They'll go to Macau, nicknamed "the Monte Carlo of the Orient," on the pretext of opening a casino there. The odds are stacked against them, but when the Sisterhood is involved, you can always bet on the underdog....
©2015 Fern Michaels (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
"Fern Michaels's Vigilantes might be able to solve our political debates!"
I think the Vigilantes could have a creative way to get Trump to leave the Presidential nominations, and clear up the thinking of the other candidates about what is important and needed for the American People. Perhaps the plot could include how to get the Sports Business to donate money to feed the poor children and fund real education?
I have amazing appreciation for these plots which are so far focused on victims of violence but these women and men are created with resources
to tackle huge problems, even internationally. I liked it. A lot.
"Enjoy the sisters love this story"
Always love listening to the sisters!!! Miss when I miss them in order!!! Love this story and would love more with Lilly and the Dog!!!
"Least favorite of series"
I have enjoyed this series sometimes listening to book a couple times. I had a hard time connecting to this book.
"Becky from fl"
I love Fernando Michael's and the sisterhood series. this one was as good as all of the others!
"Another winner"
She never let's us down and this one is just as exciting and action packed with the sisterhood coming thru with true justice but what about Bert and Kathryn? Ready for the next one.
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Happy 10th Anniversary
Mag-iisang taon pa lang ako sa LA noon. Sinuwerte din ako sa LA at may nag-sponsor sa akin ng work permit kaya ako nakapag-trabaho doon ng legal. We (my family and I) were happy to get our NZ residency, but we had to make a difficult decision -- whether to stay in the US where I already have a good paying job, or move to Auckland, NZ where I still have to find a job and a place to stay. Tapos wala pa kaming kamag-anak o kakilala sa Auckland.
To help us make an informed decision, nag decide kami na mag-pasyal muna sa Auckland for a few days, just to see the place first hand. Nagpunta nga kami sa Auckland noong 1995 at 10 days lang kami nag-stay.
First glimpse of Auckland, we already fell in love with the place. The place is clean and green with lots of beautiful parks and beaches. The summer weather was perfect. Not hot and humid, but refreshingly cool. But I guess what appealed to us most and made us really decide to move here was the people.
Yung taxi-driver na naghatid sa amin sa hotel, very friendly at matulungin sa pagbigay sa amin ng advice kung saan okay mag-stay. At hindi rin siya tumatanggap ng tip, unlike taxis in Manila or LA.
One time we were walking along Albert Park, looking lost (which you may say is my normal appearance), I was trying to figure out our location on a map, a student approached us and asked "Can I help you?". Sabi ko: "No, thank you, we're fine". Sa isip ko, natuwa ako at meron pa palang mga taong may kusang mag-offer ng tulong.
In another incident, nasa playground kami ng park, at may dalawang bata, ages 5 and 7 years old and dumating at nakipag-laro sa anak ko. Jean asked where their parents are kasi medyo nagtataka lang kami at nandoon sila na walang kasamang adults. We found out that their parents were in one of the nearby houses. It dawned on us that in Auckland pala, it was safe to let kids play by themselves! Kasi sa LA, kahit sa harap ng apartment namin kailangan pang bantayan si Fidez sa paglalaro. Later we got to meet the parents of the 2 kids, Richard and Sharon Jones (no joke!). The Jones's even invited us for dinner the following day and to this day we've remained friends.
Then there was this time I bumped into Jeff, isang Pinoy IT professional din. Nakapila ako sa Immigration at nakapila din siya. Lumapit siya sa akin at tinanong kung Pinoy ako. That broke the ice at nagkwentuhan kami kasi pareho kaming sa IT. The next day sinundo kami ni Jeff sa hotel at pinasyal kami sa Auckland at later nag-dinner sa bahay nila. Sabi ko sa sarili ko, "very accomomdating pala ang mga Pinoy dito".
The impressions on New Zealand we got during those 10 days in Auckland have made us decide to permantly settle in Auckland 12 months later in 1996. To this day we've never regretted that decision. Yung ibang nakikilala namin nagugulat kapag nalalaman nila na galing na kami ng States at lumipat pa sa NZ. Tanong nila kaagad bakit? Di ba mas mataas ang sweldo sa US? Totoo yon, pero isa lang ang sagot ko diyan. LIFESTYLE. Some things in life cannot be measured by how much money you earn. A stroll on the beach, Sunday at the park, the sense of security, being stress-free. All these make up the lifestyle we choose.
Para sa amin, New Zealand is definitely the perfect place to raise a family. Where you can let your kids play and run around like kids. Not afraid of child molesters or kidnappers. Where people around you are friendly and more trusting and not paranoid of one another. Where fellow kababayans are more than willing to approach and assist other kababayans. At importante sa lahat, kapag kinausap mo ang isang Pinoy ng Tagalog, sa Tagalog din siya sasagot. Ewan ko ba, bakit kung minsan may mga kababayan tayo na ilang taon palang sa abroad, nalilimutan na ang mag-tagalog?