text:
Junior Member
Posts: 4
Karma: 10
Join Date: Sep 2012
Device: sony ereader
Help to debug and download pages from the web
Hi I am new to Calibre and I am trying to set up a recipe to download the headlines from a news site but my recipe is not working for me and i am at a loss as to how to debug it.
The logic I am using in my code is to open a webpage and get the headlines and their links using beautifulsoup then use calibre to get the content form these headline pages.
It seems to be nearly working but the output is a bit funny. The text on some of the pages of the generate ebook is cut and when I transfer it to my ebook all the articles are blank, it just shows the table of contents.
In terms of debugging I dont know how to debug the output. If I use the --test option I get output but I dont understand whats wrong still. Any help would be appreciated. My code is the following, and I have pasted the output from the command prompt below also:
from BeautifulSoup import BeautifulSoup import urllib2 from calibre.web.feeds.news import BasicNewsRecipe global recipeUrl recipeUrl = [] global startUrl startUrl = [] class RTE(BasicNewsRecipe): title = 'RTE links in Ebook Format' description = 'Headlines from Ireland and International' __author__ = 'Edward Roche' language = 'en' startUrl = [('http://www.rte.ie/news')] for link in startUrl: soup = BeautifulSoup(urllib2.urlopen(link).read()) address= soup.find('div', {'id' : "more-headlines"}) while address.findNext('dd'): address = address.findNext('dd') if not address.text == 'Full News Index': recipeUrl.append( (address.text , 'http://www.rte.ie' + address.a['href'])) def parse_index(self): feeds = [] articles = self.RTE_parse_section('') feeds.append(('News headlines', articles)) return feeds def RTE_parse_section(self, link): current_articles = [] for file in recipeUrl: current_articles.append({'title': file[0], 'url': file[1], 'description':'', 'date':''}) return current_articles
D:\My Python Sample Code\Calibre Recipes>ebook-convert rte2.recipe rte.epub --te st 1% Converting input to HTML... InputFormatPlugin: Recipe Input running 1% Fetching feeds... 1% Got feeds from index page 1% Trying to download cover... 1% Generating masthead... Synthesizing mastheadImage 1% Starting download [4 thread(s)]... Traceback (most recent call last): Traceback (most recent call last): File "site-packages\calibre\web\fetch\simple.py", line 371, in process_images File "site-packages\calibre\web\fetch\simple.py", line 371, in process_images File "site-packages\PIL\Image.py", line 1982, in open File "site-packages\PIL\Image.py", line 1982, in open IOError: cannot identify image file IOError: cannot identify image file 17% Article downloaded: Taoiseach congratulates Paralympic winners 34% Article downloaded: Daly leaves Socialist Party after Wallace row 34% Feeds downloaded to C:\Users\Edward\AppData\Local\Temp\calibre_0.8.50_tmp_rk z6ug\dkga2y_plumber\index.html 34% Download finished Parsing all content... Forcing index.html into XHTML namespace CSSStyleDeclaration: Unexpected token, ignoring upto u'*font-size:small;'. [6:2: *] CSSStyleDeclaration: Unexpected token, ignoring upto u'*font:x-small;'. [8:2: *] CSSStyleDeclaration: Unexpected token, ignoring upto u'*font-size:108%;'. [34:2: *] Forcing feed_0/index.html into XHTML namespace CSSStyleDeclaration: Unexpected token, ignoring upto u'*font-size:small;'. [6:2: *] CSSStyleDeclaration: Unexpected token, ignoring upto u'*font:x-small;'. [8:2: *] CSSStyleDeclaration: Unexpected token, ignoring upto u'*font-size:108%;'. [34:2: *] Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/bg_article_tab_group.jpg' not foun d Referenced file '/rtejr' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/sprite_main.png' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/bg_subhead_presidential_election_2 011.png' not found Referenced file '/lifestyle/fashion' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/recommend' not found Referenced file '/news/ireland.html' not found Referenced file '/about/en/policies-and-reports/policies-guidelines/2012/0417/31 7412-rte-data-protection-' not found Referenced file u'feed_1/index.html' not found Referenced file '/live' not found Referenced file '/news/2012/0901/paralympics-gold.html' not found Referenced file '/lotto' not found Referenced file '/news/politics.html' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/bg_audio_list_item.jpg' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/bg_subhead_vote_2011.png' not foun d Referenced file '/news/business.html' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/header_frontline.jpg' not found Referenced file u'/news/images2010/news-top-referendum.png' not found Referenced file '/lifestyle/motors' not found Referenced file '/news/2012/0901/missing-sisters.html' not found Referenced file '/about/en/information-and-feedback/contact-rte' not found Referenced file '/about/en/information-and-feedback/complaints' not found Referenced file '/news/election2011' not found Referenced file '/ten/guide.html' not found Referenced file '/news/player_live.html' not found Referenced file '/player' not found Referenced file '/aertel' not found Referenced file '/lifestyle/food' not found Referenced file '/shop' not found Referenced file '/news/2012/0901/clare-daly-socialist-party.html' not found Referenced file '/lifestyle' not found Referenced file '/lifestyle/homes' not found Referenced file '/news' not found Referenced file '/news/index.html' not found Referenced file '/dating' not found Referenced file '/about/en/serving-our-audience/2012/0815/333706-terms-and-condi tions-for-rte-ie' not found Referenced file '/news/player.html' not found Referenced file '/news/fiscal-treaty.html' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/article_video_thumbnail_overlay.pn g' not found Referenced file '/news/2012/0901/mary-coughlan-husband-death.html' not found Referenced file '/' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/header_frontline.jpg' not found Referenced file u'/news/images2010/sprite_main.png' not found Referenced file '/business' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/recommend' not found Referenced file '/ten' not found Referenced file u'/news/images2010/bg_video_container.gif' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/article_audio_thumbnail_overlay.pn g' not found Referenced file '/sport' not found Referenced file '/news/911' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/bg_subhead_presidential_election_2 011.png' not found Referenced file '/about/en/working-with-rte/vacancies' not found Referenced file '/news/presidentialelection.html' not found Referenced file '/about/en/policies-and-reports/policies-guidelines/2012/0417/31 7440-rte-privacy-statement' not found Referenced file '/news/galleries.html' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/stylesheets/bg_filter_icon_l.gif' not found Referenced file '/about/en/how-rte-is-run/2012/0221/291618-the-license-fee' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/bg_audio_list_item.jpg' not found Referenced file u'/news/images2010/player-loader.gif' not found Referenced file '/news/vote2011' not found Referenced file '/newsnow' not found Referenced file '/extra/apps.html' not found Referenced file '/archives' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/sprite_main.png' not found Referenced file '/about' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/bg_breaking_news.jpg' not found Referenced file '/news/2012/0901/american-football-tourists.html' not found Referenced file '/tv' not found Referenced file '/news/search_results.html%3fquery%3d%22clare%20daly%22' not fou nd Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/september_11th_bg.png' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/sprite_subscribe.png' not found Referenced file '/jobs' not found Referenced file '/about/en/working-with-rte/2012/0727/330809-advertisers' not fo und Referenced file '/news/world.html' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/article_video_thumbnail_overlay.pn g' not found Referenced file '/about/en/policies-and-reports/annual-reports' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/bg_nav_current.jpg' not found Referenced file '/news/2012/0901/man-appears-before-special-sitting-of-dundalk-c t.html' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/bg_photo_count.png' not found Referenced file '/news/2012/0901/croke-park-agreement.html' not found Referenced file '/news/money/index.html' not found Referenced file u'/news/election2011/images/masthead1.png' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/bg_photo_count.png' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/bg_nav_current.jpg' not found Referenced file '/lifestyle/travel' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/bg_subhead_vote_2011.png' not foun d Referenced file '/weather' not found Referenced file '/news/business' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/bg_header.jpg' not found Referenced file u'/images/ajax-loader.gif' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/images2010/september_11th_bg.png' not found Referenced file '/emails' not found Referenced file '/news/search_results.html%3fquery%3d%22paralympics%22' not foun d Referenced file '/radio' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/bg_header.jpg' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/article_audio_thumbnail_overlay.pn g' not found Referenced file '/news/special-reports.html' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/sprite_subscribe.png' not found Referenced file '/about/en/policies-and-reports/policies-guidelines/2012/0815/33 3711-user-comments-terms-of-use' not found Referenced file '/trte' not found Referenced file '/news/2012/0902/former-leaders-should-face-charges-over-iraq-tu tu.html' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/bg_article_tab_group.jpg' not foun d Referenced file u'feed_0/article_1/images2010/bg_breaking_news.jpg' not found Referenced file '/performinggroups' not found Referenced file u'feed_0/article_0/stylesheets/bg_filter_icon_l.gif' not found Referenced file '/news/search_results.html%3fquery%3d%22enda%20kenny%22' not fou nd 34% Running transforms on ebook... Merging user specified metadata... Detecting structure... Flattening CSS and remapping font sizes... Source base font size is 8.70480pt Removing fake margins... Removing level div_1 left margin of: auto Removing level div_1 right margin of: auto Removing level div_2 left margin of: 7px Removing level div_2 right margin of: 7px Cleaning up manifest... Trimming unused files from manifest... Trimming u'feed_0/article_0/images/img22.jpg' from manifest Trimming u'feed_0/article_0/images/img1.jpg' from manifest Trimming u'feed_0/article_0/images/img21.jpg' from manifest Trimming u'feed_0/article_1/images/img11.jpg' from manifest Trimming u'feed_0/article_1/images/img1.jpg' from manifest Trimming u'feed_0/article_1/images/img31.jpg' from manifest Trimming u'feed_0/article_0/images/img2.jpg' from manifest Trimming u'feed_0/article_1/images/img32.jpg' from manifest Trimming u'feed_0/article_1/images/img2.jpg' from manifest Trimming u'feed_0/article_0/images/img4.jpg' from manifest Creating EPUB Output... 67% Creating EPUB Output Found non-unique filenames, renaming to support broken EPUB readers like FBReade r, Aldiko and Stanza... Splitting markup on page breaks and flow limits, if any... Looking for large trees in feed_0/article_0/index.html... No large trees found Looking for large trees in index_u2.html... No large trees found Looking for large trees in feed_0/index_u3.html... No large trees found Looking for large trees in feed_0/article_1/index_u1.html... No large trees found The cover image has an id != "cover". Renaming to work around bug in Nook Color EPUB output written to D:\My Python Sample Code\Calibre Recipes\rte.epub Output saved to D:\My Python Sample Code\Calibre Recipes\rte.epub
Junior Member
Posts: 4
Karma: 10
Join Date: Sep 2012
Device: sony ereader
I figured out what was wrong. The links were actually downloading the whole page and this was causing problems when converting to the epub format form html. It looked fine in the html debugging session but all the extra junk was causing it a problem on my reader. I added some keep_only_tags and remove_tags to my recipe to get it working. i will continue to work on the recipe and when its in good shape I will post the working version here.
Posts: 232
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Device: prs300, kindle keyboard 3g
That seems like a lot of hard work when calibre produces a pretty good output with
class AdvancedUserRecipe1346865225(BasicNewsRecipe): title = u'RTE News' max_articles_per_feed = 20 oldest_article = 1 remove_empty_feeds = True remove_javascript = True #auto_cleanup = True auto_cleanup_keep = '//div[@id="photography"]|//span[@class="side-content"]' remove_tags=[ dict(attrs={'id' : 'header-print'}) ] feeds = [u'News', u'http://www.rte.ie/rss/news.xml']
Junior Member
Posts: 4
Karma: 10
Join Date: Sep 2012
Device: sony ereader
Thanks Scissors, I know it does I guess its my way of learning how calibre works. I wanted to parse the links myself from the webpage so that I can do some testing for duplicates etc (when I combine multiple rss feeds) and manually identify which ones I want to include. My latest version for the RTE website is:
#The following recipe extracts the text from all the RSS articles that are linked. The photos on the RTE website do not lend themselves to being included in a recipe
from BeautifulSoup import BeautifulSoup
import urllib2
from calibre.web.feeds.news import BasicNewsRecipe
from calibre.web.feeds.feedparser import parse
#import sys
global newsUrl
newsUrl = []
global sportUrl
sportUrl = []
global businessUrl
businessUrl = []
global masterUrl
masterUrl = []
class RTE(BasicNewsRecipe):
title = 'RTE (Ireland)'
description = 'Morning Newspaper from Ireland'
__author__ = 'Edward Roche'
language = 'en'
oldest_article = 1.0
#Start by getting the rss feeds and saving them in lists by section
#News Headlines
entries = parse('http://www.rte.ie/rss/news.xml').entries
for i, item in enumerate(entries):
feedtitle = item.get('title')
link = item.get('link')
description = item.get('description')
author = item.get('author')
date = item.get('date')
newsUrl.append( ( feedtitle , link, date))
#Business Headlines
entries = parse('http://www.rte.ie/rss/business.xml').entries
for i, item in enumerate(entries):
feedtitle = item.get('title')
link = item.get('link')
description = item.get('description')
author = item.get('author')
date = item.get('date')
duplicateInd = False
for i in masterUrl:
if link == i:
duplicateInd = True
print "duplicate found =, ", link
if duplicateInd == False:
businessUrl.append( ( feedtitle , link, date))
#Sports Headlines
entries = parse('http://www.rte.ie/rss/sport.xml').entries
for i, item in enumerate(entries):
feedtitle = item.get('title')
link = item.get('link')
description = item.get('description')
author = item.get('author')
date = item.get('date')
duplicateInd = False
for i in masterUrl:
if link == i:
duplicateInd = True
print "duplicate found =, ", link
if duplicateInd == False:
sportUrl.append( ( feedtitle , link, date))
#The saved lists will each make up an article group in the ebook. For each article group add the headins to the TOC
def parse_index(self):
feeds = []
articles = self.RTE_parse_section(newsUrl)
feeds.append(('News Headlines', articles))
articles = self.RTE_parse_section(businessUrl)
feeds.append(('Business Headlines', articles))
articles = self.RTE_parse_section(sportUrl)
feeds.append(('Sport Headlines', articles))
return feeds
#Each article group will be made up of articles, set up the articles based on the URLS that we have already gotten
def RTE_parse_section(self, link):
current_articles = []
for file in link:
current_articles.append({'title': file[0], 'url': file[1], 'description':'', 'date':file[2]})
return current_articles
#Clean up the output
keep_only_tags = [
dict(name='div',attrs={'id': ['news-article-container']})
#,dict(name='article',attrs={'class': ['rte-sport-article']})
,dict(name='div',attrs={'class': ['rte_gr_8']})
remove_tags_after = [
dict(name='ul',attrs={'class': 'keywords'})
,dict(name='p',attrs={'class': 'sticky-footer-leadin'})
,dict(name='div',attrs={'id': 'storyBody'})
remove_tags = [
dict(name='ul',attrs={'class': 'keywords'})
,dict(name='div',attrs={'id': ['user-options-top','tab-group','related','photography','user-options-bottom']})
,dict(name='div',attrs={'class': ['clear','photo-count','thumbnails','news-gallery-regular','side-content multimedia video','side-content multimedia audio']})
,dict(name='a',attrs={'class': ['photo-prev','photo-next']})
, dict(name='meta')
, dict(name='link')
, dict(name='script')
,dict(name='p',attrs={'class': 'sticky-footer-leadin'})
,dict(name='section',attrs={'id': 'article-media-box'})
,dict(name='footer',attrs={'class': 'clearfix'})
,dict(name='nav',attrs={'id': 'breadcrumb'})
no_stylesheets = True
extra_css = '''
body {
#color: rgb(0,0,0);
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
p {
list-style: none
li {
list-style: none
img {
def preprocess_html(self, soup):
#outputFile = 'D:\My Python Sample Code\Calibre Recipes\RTE\RawSoup\output'+soup.title.string+'.ht ml'
#print "out " +outputFile
#if 'Final Countdown' in soup.title.string:
# sys.exit()
#f = open(outputFile,"w")
for alink in soup.findAll('a'):
if alink.string is not None:
tstr = alink.string
return soup
def get_cover_url(self):
url = 'http://dramafestival.ie/index.php_files/images/RTE%20logo.gif'
return url
This recipe extracts all the text from the news, business and sport rss feeds. It ignores the pictures as they are difficult to handle from this site.
Last edited by eroche; 09-07-2012 at 06:03 AM.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Issue No. 03 - September (1989 vol. 1)
pp: 293-309
DOI Bookmark: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/69.87976

Research has been conducted to determine how distributed computations can be mapped to multiprocessors to minimize execution time. The approach described here, known as post-game analysis, incrementally changes the program partitioning in between program execution time in subsequent runs. Post-game analysis differs from conventional iterative refinement or controlled opportunistic perturbation in that no abstract program models or any single objective function are employed to determine the relative merits of two alternative mappings. Multiple optimization subgoals are formulated, based on actual timing data gathered during program execution. Heuristics, based on various optimization subgoals, are then applied to propose changes to the current mapping. Finally, a mapping generation process which prioritizes and resolves conflicting proposals is applied. Results obtained from simulations show that post-game analysis consistently out-performs random placement, load-balancing, and clustering algorithms by 15%. Few iterations are required for simulations involving more than 200 processes and 64 sites. A rule-based architecture enables incremental strategy refinement, thus making post-game analysis easily tailorable to programs written in many concurrent programming paradigms and multiprocessor architectures.

post-game analysis framework; resource management strategies; concurrent systems; distributed computations; multiprocessors; execution time; program partitioning; optimization subgoals; timing data; simulations; rule-based architecture; concurrent programming paradigms; multiprocessor architectures; operations research; parallel processing; performance evaluation
S.F. Lundstrom, Y.C. Yan, "The Post-Game Analysis Framework-Developing Resource Management Strategies for Concurrent Systems", IEEE Transactions on Knowledge & Data Engineering, vol. 1, no. , pp. 293-309, September 1989, doi:10.1109/69.87976


text:
Former Sky Sports F1 presenter Georgie Thompson speaks exclusively to Crash.net's Dan Connor about her new role at Lotus, the 2013 season and the upcoming race at Silverstone.
- Home
- MotoGP
- Championships
- Forums
- CrashTV
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Georgie Thompson speaks exclusively to Crash.net's Dan Connor about her new role at Lotus, the 2013 season and the upcoming British Grand Prix at Silverstone...
Explain a little about your new role with Lotus and what exactly it involves.
Georgie Thompson:
It's very exciting actually. Lotus F1 Team and Suremen have partnered up and are giving fans an opportunity to do something no-one has offered before. Basically, they are taking the winner to the South of France to drive the single-seated Lotus F1 Team car. I've only ever been a passenger in a converted car at Silverstone with Nigel Mansell a few years ago. But I don't think anyone from outside the world of F1 has ever had this opportunity before, so it's very exciting. It's the fans chance to get to be a Kimi Raikkonen for the day.
A very different role from the one you're used to, how do you feel you have adapted?
Georgie Thompson:
Well it's totally different. There's no comparison with this and what I have done in TV in the past. For me it's a really great opportunity to stay rigid in Formula One because it is a world I've been involved in and grown really fond of in the last year or so. It's great to be involved in some way even though I'm no longer presenting with Sky.
Have you been getting to Grand Prix's regularly this season?
Georgie Thompson:
No I've not been to one yet because most of them have been fly-away races with the exception of Barcelona and Monaco. But I will be going to Texas. I loved Austin last year; it was a fantastic Grand Prix. It had been a while since Formula One had been to America, but the Americans welcomed it with open arms and it was the most fantastic thing. It'd be great to go back there again because they made quite a spectacle of it.
And how about Silverstone in a few weeks' time, will you be attending?
Georgie Thompson:
Unfortunately I'm not around for that, but my main memories of that are fairly mud-filled. Because of the weather it can be one of those races ideal for sitting back in your armchair and watching from home!
From what you have gathered in your short time with the team, what would you say the British Grand Prix means to Lotus?
Georgie Thompson:
It means a lot. Silverstone is the home of motorsport, so it means a lot to every team. I think it's something like eight out of the twelve teams that compete in Formula One are based there, including Lotus. So it's a huge deal to win it because it is effectively a home circuit. It always brings out the best fans, it is steeped in history, the drivers' love it, the media love it. It has so much to offer. It would mean an awful lot to a driver to win it and especially to a team who are based in the UK like Lotus.
Let's talk a little bit about events on the track so far this year, not quite seven different winners in as many races this time, but still an interesting season. What have you made of it?
Georgie Thompson:
Yeah it's still been very interesting; a lot of storylines have continued to develop. Lotus were very quick off the mark with Kimi and took that early opportunity. It's good to see that they've built on that and not faded away. It showed that the win in Abu Dhabi last year wasn't a fluke and that the success they had there has been built upon this year.
It's good to see Lewis has had a good start with Mercedes. Everyone was speculating how that would go in the early part of the season and it seems to have gone quite well. That's been an interesting story to watch develop. Also with what's going on at McLaren, we can't be sure what's going on there really. It's an interesting one. It's a case of how quickly can they get back on track and we hope that Jenson can do that at Silverstone. I don't know what upgrades they are taking to Silverstone so whether that represents a better opportunity for improvement or not, we'll have to wait and see. It'll definitely be the place where all eyes will be on Jenson and on McLaren to see what they can do.
Force India, quite literally, have been a force to be reckoned with so far. And Fernando (Alonso) as ever has been up there; he's sitting nicely in second in the championship and may be able to spring a surprise.
It's still very early in the season, but would you go as far as mentioning a championship winner yet?
Georgie Thompson:
I think it's hard to look past Red Bull and Vettel again. I think it's probably the most viable choice at this point.
From a British point of view, Hamilton has done surprisingly well in the Mercedes, Button not so in his McLaren. Is there any chance of a shock win from either of them at Silverstone?
Georgie Thompson:
It'll be interesting to see. Lewis could spring a surprise, but I don't see it at this stage of the season. With McLaren, it's hard to say but I think it'll more likely be a battle on track between Paul Di Resta and Jenson than Lewis and Jenson.
With regard to Lotus, it's been a tough few races for the team. Can they rediscover some form at the British Grand Prix?
Georgie Thompson:
Yeah I hope so. They did well there last season, with Romain Grosjean doing particularly well. He managed to get himself well up the grid after starting further down. It'd be nice to see him get some confidence back and finish somewhere decent.
And finally, will we be seeing you back on our TV screens anytime soon?
Georgie Thompson:
Watch this space. All will become clear in due time.
Georgie Thompson is the face of the Suremen official partnership with the Lotus F1(R) Team. To discover what lies behind the perfect lap of an F1 track and for the chance to drive the official Lotus F1(R) Team car, visit the Suremen YouTube Channel
Georgie was speaking exclusively to Crash.net's Dan Connor.


text:
Canada has detained a suspect involved in the assassination of a senior Hamas leader in Dubai at the outset of this year, said the emirate's police chief on Tuesday, slamming Ottawa's lack of transparency on the matter. Canada actually informed UAE officials of the arrest in June, but requested that they not announce it, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television.
"I am astonished. Why this attempt to cover up on this issue? We must act transparent, reliably and quickly in such cases," he said. Speaking to the local Al-Ittihad newspaper, Khalfan did not say why Canada had called for secrecy. According to him, he went public after the news was reported in the Canadian media.
Khalfan received the information from the Canadian ambassador, Al-Ittihad said. The suspect arrested "was among the preparatory group which arrived in the country and left it before the crime" was committed, Khalfan was quoted as saying in Al-Ittihad.
The daily said the suspect was among a number of people for which international red notices had been issued by Interpol on behalf of the UAE.
[1] http://www.albawaba.com


text:
Question: I am setting up a home theater. I would like to go wireless for the surround speakers so I can avoid running wires in the attic and fishing them through the exterior walls. Is there a piece of equipment you recommend? - T.T., Martinez, Calif.
Answer: An important thing to remember when considering wireless speakers for surround sound is there will still be wires involved. You need to plug the speaker into the wall to power it, or connect speaker wires to a separate receiving and amplifying unit located at the same end of the room.
Outlaw Audio, an audiophile-oriented company, is known for making high performance audio components at affordable prices. Outlaw's OAWA3 Amplified Wireless Audio System includes a wireless transmitter that connects to your receiver's surround preamplifier outputs and a receiver/amplifier unit with speaker terminals. Simply connect the transmitter to your receiver and connect the receiver/
amplifier to your surround speakers with ordinary speaker wire. You now have surround sound without running wires across the room. The OAWA3 has 20 watts per channel, which should be adequate for most uses since the surround speakers typically do not need nearly as much power as the front array. A complete outfit with transmitter and receiver lists for $319. You can see it at outlawaudio.com
There is another solution available for anyone looking to run wires as unobtrusively as possible. Since your concern is fishing wires through walls and the attic, it may work for you.
Sewell Ghost Wire Super Flat Adhesive Speaker Wire comes on a spool and when you look at the roll, it looks like white plastic tape. It is about the same width as duct tape, and probably is not much thicker although Sewell Ghost Wire contains two-conductor 16-gauge speaker wire and is insulated on both sides. By making the wire elements wide and thin, Sewell has managed to make speaker wire of seemingly impossible thinness.
The comparison to tape does not end there. The top side of Ghost Wire is white. The bottom is transparent, displaying the two-conductor copper wire. The transparent side has a strong, sticky adhesive that adheres to walls and floors, but does not leave residue if you peel it up. You can run Ghost Wire across a ceiling or wall and paint over it, rendering it almost invisible, or run it under carpets. Once the wire has been run, you attach special terminal blocks to the ends. The blocks that provide connections for traditional speaker wire.
I tested Ghost Wire in my home a month ago, running it on the floor when I carpeted a game room. Once the carpet and pad were installed it was impossible to tell where the wire was located under the carpet, even feeling with my fingers over the area I knew had the wire.
Sewell makes HDMI Ghost cables as well, although I have not yet tested them. You can see Ghost Wire and Ghost HDMI at sewelldirect.com.
Contact Don Lindich at soundadviceblog.com and use the "submit question" link on that site.


text: On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 10:12, Steve Schmerler <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote: > Hi all > > Since I'm currently in the need to store and read binary data a lot, > I choose npfile. Since [1] didn't mention it, I attempted to > update the doc here. I added scipy.io.npfile, numpy.load, numpy.save > and numpy.savez. At work, I still use 0.6.0. However, I found that in > the current svn HEAD, the scipy.io.npfile docstring says that it is > deprecated and I should use ndarray.tofile() and numpy.fromfile() > instead. But with the latter, I can't control byteorder, row- or > column-major order etc. That's a bit puzzling. > > I admitt that I haven't followed the development of the new numpy file > format very closely (since npfile worked nicely so far). So, is the > .npy/.npz way the current standard to store platform-independent binary > arrays with all metainfo? Yup. -- Robert Kern "I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth." -- Umberto Eco


text:
This May, Parks Canada turns 100. To celebrate, Globe Travel is visiting all 42 national parks and because our unrivalled park system belongs to all of us, we want you to tell your stories, too.
Send us your memories and pictures of Canada's national parks - in the coming months, we'll be featuring favourites in print and online throughout our series.
Have a great story but no photo? Share your memories via the comments (log-in required) or e-mail us.
IMPORTANT - Please note when submitting photos:
- Which national park the photo was taken in (Not sure if the park you visited is a national or provincial park? Check this list of all 42 national parks.)
- Date photo was taken (can be approximate).
- Any other details or the story behind the photo in the caption field.
There are two ways to share photos with The Globe and Mail.
The preferable option is through our Flickr group.
If you're not on Flickr, you can upload an image with our custom tool.


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STARmeterSEE RANK
Down 780 this week
Kent Williams (I)
Kent Williams was born on October 11, 1964 in Commerce, Texas, USA as James Kent Rice Williams. He is known for his work on Dragon Ball Z (1996), Hagane no renkinjutsushi (2009) and Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files (1992). See full bio »
Born:in Commerce, Texas, USA
More at IMDbPro » Contact Info: View agent


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I wasn't sure if this belonged in another thread, but I know that some people even want to avoid speculation, so I thought it might be safer to just put it in it's own thread and the mods can move it if they want to.
Jeff Probst was on one of the CBS affiliates last night and was discussing a few of the minor points of last night's episode. The anchor then asked him how the tribes are going to get fire. I'm doing this by memory, so forgive me a wrong word or two, but the gist was that they would have to
1)Build a Fire
2)Earn the Fire or
3)Trade something of value for the fire
Now 1 and 3 are self-explanatory, but I thought #2 was interesting. Do you all think it was just a weird word choice on his part or will they have to complete a task of some sort? We know that they aren't earning it through the challenges, so it would have to be something else.


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About Draper Studios
Aaron Draper, a certified professional wedding photographer based in Modesto, California has the skill and personality t... Read MoreRead More o preserve your wedding the way you want to remember it, with stunning imagery, reflecting what you as a couple value most. Working closely with you before and during the day's activities, Aaron captures the moments that define your special day. As an award-winning and experienced wedding, fashion and commercial photographer, Aaron combines finely honed skill and an eye for detail to create stunning images of the weddings he photographs.Request A Quote


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Implement it as a Store Solution or as a complete Retail ERP
The choice is yours. Either way, the Openbravo Commerce Suite offers excellent value for money and adoption flexibility for mid-size to large retailers looking for a solution to support their omnichannel strategy.
A modern multi-store management solution capable of seamlessly integrating legacy systems.
An all-in-one Retail ERP solution providing end-to-end integration from the check-out counter to the back office at the headquarters.


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Lynn's newest music venue will host a wealth of talent tomorrow night for round three of Twisted Melon's Battle of the Bands competition.
With a collection of incredible prizes up for grabs, including the opportunity to perform in front of thousands at Festival Too this summer, the pressure is on for all the acts.
Organiser Triston Finnis said: "We continue our recent trend of giving new venues a chance to sample some of the best acts making up our fantastic local music scene.
"Heat 3 is at The Rathskeller Bar at Hanse House, on the South Quay. This is Lynn's newest music venue and promises to offer something slightly different to the regular town centre pubs."
He added: "I can't wait to put on a gig at this über cool little venue. It has a very good feel and I'm sure it will be another packed heat."
Competing for the chance to make it through to the semi-finals is The Mojo Slide, a group of musicians united in their passion for blues-inspired alternative music. The Cambridge band write all their own music and play a mixture of classic rock 'n' roll, blues and blues-rooted alternative with a handful of covers.
Another Cambridge-based band are four-piece original rock act Finding Ana. Andrew Girling, Andy Webster and Dan Barnes have recently been joined by drummer Holly Myhill, and the new-look line-up are ready to impress with their trademark catchy, original tunes.
Lewis Murphy is a singer/songwriter based in Lynn and hailing from the non-stop musical conveyor belt of Springwood High School. Lewis has chosen to do things slightly differently, performing with his new full band ahead of his very own six-date solo UK tour.
Elvira Stitt is a singer/songwriter originally from Glasgow, who at the tender age of 18 has released two EPs - one with her band Evora and the other, most notably, her debut solo EP The Transparent Man.
The Battle of the Bands starts at 8pm on Saturday and entry is free.


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Give us a call to get our secret deals 1-800-468-3578
Property Location
Located in Puebla, La Quinta Puebla is close to Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdán and Cuauhtemoc Stadium. This hotel is within close proximity of Centro Expositor and Fort Guadalupe.
Stay in one of 20 guestrooms featuring flat-screen televisions. Complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected, and cable programming is available for your entertainment. Private bathrooms with showers feature complimentary toiletries and hair dryers. Conveniences include safes and complimentary bottled water, and housekeeping is provided daily.
Enjoy a bite to eat at a coffee shop/café, or stay in and take advantage of the hotel's room service (during limited hours).
Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include a business center, a 24-hour front desk, and coffee/tea in a common area. Free self parking is available onsite.


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Mofaz beats Livni for Kadima leadership
Shaul Mofaz decisively defeated Tzipi Livni to become the new leader of Israel's Kadima Party. More ▸
Shaul Mofaz decisively defeated Tzipi Livni to become the new leader of Israel's Kadima Party. More ▸
A collection of national Jewish organizations has joined a get-out-the-vote campaign for the 2012 election. More ▸
Publisher and real estate mogul Mortimer Zuckerman is considering a run for the U.S. Senate, The New York Times reported. More ▸
The debate about a proposal to allow Israelis to vote overseas is about the legitimacy of Israelis spending time abroad. More ▸
The PLO extended the term of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. More ▸
The Palestinian Authority's election commission recommended postponing January elections. More ▸
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced he would not run for re-election. More ▸
Jewish Republicans are hailing Tuesday's results in the New Jersey and Virginia governors' elections. More ▸
The Council of Europe called on the major Hungarian political parties to keep racist hate speech out of an upcoming election campaign. More ▸
Eighteen Jewish organizations asked the Iowa Democratic and Republican parties to change the 2010 Iowa caucus to avoid Shabbat. More ▸


text: Hi All, I had a custom application coded that you may find useful. Most are familiar with subscribing to a thread to be notified on updates to that thread. I have now added a "subscribe to user's posts" option. For example let's say you want to know when Simon at Ilford posts anything on APUG, you can now subscribe to his posts and be notified everytime he posts. This will also come in handy for myself and moderators. If we have someone stirring up trouble we can subscribe to their posts and follow what they are posting. You will be notified by email so ensure you are able to receive emails from the apug.org domain. Here is a screen shot: To subscribe click the persons name: To unsubscribe click the persons name: *update- The link to subscribe/unsubscribe now appears on the users main profile page as well. If you have any problems please let me know. This is the first release, there is another coming soon to add the option to your profile page. Thanks! Sean


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The July/August/September Issue of The La.-Miss.-W.Tenn. News is now available...more
Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time. Kiwanis International serves children and communities worldwide with nearly 600,000 adult and youth members in more than 80 nations and geographic areas.
The Louisiana-Mississippi District was organized in January, 1920. In November, 1938, the western part of Tennessee was added to create the Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District. The nearly 4,500 members of the District, and their 120 clubs are committed to developing future generations of leaders through guidance and example. They are ordinary people, performing extraordinary work in their communities every day.
Click here for the latest issue of The La.-Miss.-W.Tenn. Newsletter
Message from the District Governor
As Governor of this great district, I welcome you to the Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee web site and hope you find this site easy to use. There is a lot of information contained about the workings of this great district.
Serving as Governor of LAMSTN District for 2016-2017 is an honor. I look forward to visiting our great clubs and seeing the many wonderful projects being done to improve the lives of our kids, one child and community at a time.
Like any organization or business today, we as a district need to grow our membership numbers as well as our clubs. Our tool for doing this is called The I-Plan that we have asked every Kiwanis club to complete by December 31, 2016.
The I-Plan consists of 4 major areas:
Each Kiwanis Club will first evaluate where they are in these areas now, and develop a five-year plan to accomplish their goals in each category.
Through the I-Plan, Kiwanis International is laying out the plan, which ensures Kiwanis will continue serving the kids of our communities for the next 100 years.
If you are not a Kiwanian and reading this, then I invite you to find a Kiwanis club near you and become part of this great organization as we serve the needs of the kids of our community.
Thank you for taking time to read this, and hope to see you in a Kiwanis meeting in 2016-2017.
R. Fred Pitts


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Dr. Gumprecht provides a wide range of general ear, nose, and throat services. He combines long experience with the latest technical advances in diagnosis and surgical procedures. He interviews and examines every patient — you talk to the doctor not a nurse practitioner. His office and personable staff make patients at ease and comfortable.
Dr. Gumprecht sees patients at our Redmond ENT office.
To schedule an appointment with Dr. Gumprecht, call (425) 869-4855.
2014 Top Doctors of Seattle by SeattleMet Magazine more info
2011 Seattle Super Doctors
Clinical Interests
Sinusitis — acute and chronic
Nasal obstruction
Sleep apnea
Ear infections
Hearing loss
Tonsil and adenoid issues
Voice problems
Hospital Affiliations
Overlake Hospital
Evergreen Hospital
Outpatient Surgery Center Affiliations
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Professional Affiliations
Fellow, American Academy of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery
Member, Northwest Academy of Otolaryngology
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Member, Washington State Medical Association
Board Certification
Diplomate, American Board of Otolaryngology — 1981
Diplomate, American Board of Internal Medicine — 1980
Medical School
Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society — 1974


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Maine son of Titanic survivor speaks of disaster
SCARBOROUGH, Maine—The son of a survivor of the Titanic's sinking says his mother would be overwhelmed and baffled by all the attention the Titanic is getting 100 years after it went down in the North Atlantic.
Eighty-year-old Bradford Wellman of Scarborough tells Maine Today Media ( http://bit.ly/Hoq6Wx) that his mother, Mary Lines Wellman, didn't dwell on the tragedy.
Wellman's mother was 16 and living in Paris when she and her mother took the sea journey to attend her brother's graduation from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. She was never clear on how she learned that the Titanic had hit an iceberg and was sinking.
The Titanic Centennial Remembrance Committee and Maine Irish Heritage Center in Portland will hold a commemorative service, dinner and presentation April 14 to mark the anniversary of the disaster.
Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com


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ROME (Sep. 24)
A two-day conference on the Palestinian issue which will involve Israelis and Palestine Liberation Organization representatives is scheduled to take place here this week. The international conference, which will also include representatives from the West and East European nations that participated in the Helsinki human rights conference, is being sponsored by the Italian Committee for Solidarity With the Palestinian People.
Among the Israelis scheduled to participate are Mattityahu Peled, Uri Avneri of Sheli, Tewfiq Toubi of Rakah, Amnon Elon and Prof. Daniel Amit of Hebrew University. Dr. Nahum Goldmann, former president of the World Jewish Congress, is also due to take part in the conference. A report that Goldmann would meet here with PLO chief east Arafat has been officially denied by Nemer Hammad, the PLO representative in Rome.
Hommad made it clear in a press conference today that Arafat would come to Rome only upon an official invitation from the government and with the prospect of holding personal talks with Premier Francesco Cossiga. Forouk Kaddoumi, the PLO's head of foreign information, will lead the PLO delegation. Several West Bank and Gaza Sttip personalities who had sought to participate in the conference were not given visas by Israel to attend.
Hammad, in his press conference, said "it is our desire that 1979 not slip by without official relations being established between Italy and the PLO." The time is also "ripe for Europe and the European Economic Community to take a courageous step toward the PLO, a step which it is not now possible to expect from the United States." Hammad was apparently referring to Arafat's success in Austria last July and in Spain last week as a breakthrough in achieving similar success in London and Paris.
Meanwhile, members of the Rakah and the PLO sat side by side at a national festival of the Italian Communist Party newspaper, L'Unita in Milan last Sunday. The occasion marked the first time that representatives of the embassies of Great Britain, Canada, Greece and Belgium participated at a Communist Party function.


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Seo In Guk is celebratin' because his current drama, 'Shopping King Louie,' has now hit the double digits in viewer ratings! On October 14, he wrote via Instagram, "This is all thanks to you all."
SEE ALSO: [OP-ED] Tiger JK's Experience with Racism and Racism in the Entertainment industry
The drama started off with 5.6% viewer ratings in its first episode, but has steadily increased to mark its highest viewer ratings yet through the 7th episode that aired on October 13! And previously, during the press conference, he had said, "If the viewer ratings come out to be in double digits, I think I'd really be happy. I want to recommend a promise [for viewer ratings] that all of us could fulfill meaningfully rather than doing something personally."
Regarding this, his agency Jellyfish Entertainment stated, "Double digit viewer ratings came out just today in the afternoon, so we have now begun discussing what to do as our thanks. We're going to consult with the production crew to do something special with all of the actors for an enjoyable event."
Congrats on hitting the big 1-0 in viewer ratings!


text: Back again :) I feel as if I have been on the hunt for the most *perfect* name. My husband thinks I'm nuts...ha. Originally, we chose to use Phoebe for a girl. He absolutely loves it...but I cannot tell you how many family members and friends I have had that have made remarks such as "Oh, Phoebe like friends? With the stinky cat?" Yes, I know, there are just as many other names people choose based off TV shows, books etc. I just got drawn away from the name and couldn't see us having a "Phoebe" as much as we both originally loved it. I saw the name Georgia and fell in love with it almost instantly. I'm having a little bit of difficulty as to choosing a middle name. I adore Charlotte and Grace. Any other suggestions you can think of?


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COMMONWEALTH Games Secretary Shona Robison has launched a robust defence of the outfits Scottish athletes will wear at the Glasgow 2014 opening ceremony after their unveiling sparked widespread ridicule.
A petition urging the Government to prevent the use of the uniforms designed by Jilli Blackwood had attracted almost 22,000 signatures by last night.
Blackwood herself has insisted that she "didn't expect everyone to like" the outfits, which include a turquoise, fuchsia, navy blue and caramel tartan kilt with a blue shirt for men and a wrap-around dress, said to be inspired by the Saltire flag, for women. A shawl-like wrap and a stone-coloured leather bag complete the women's uniform.
Loading article content
But Ms Robison insisted last night it was the ideal parade outfit.
"It is what it is," she said. "It's bright, it's colourful and it will stand out on the telly. It's not something we are expecting people to wear on a night out, it's a parade uniform.
"It's something that's going to be very visual and bright when those athletes come out and it certainly ticks those boxes.
"No matter what your view, the time is right to get behind the team."
Asked whether she would be happy to wear the uniform, Ms Robison replied: "I would love to wear the tartan. The tartan is absolutely fantastic.
"I think it's vibrant, it looks great and here's hoping we might get a wee snippet of it after. Although, it's very coveted, it's only the athletes that are allowed to wear it. So whether I get the chance to is probably unlikely."
Athletes and organisers are said to have given a favourable reaction to the design, but a growing number of people have signed a petition on change.org which describes them as "truly horrendous".
Richard Brown, who started the petition, said last night: "I think it's fairly safe to say that the vast majority of signatories support the athletes wholeheartedly. Finding this uniform horrific is an entirely separate issue, and the two shouldn't be clouded together as politicians often try to do.
"'It's bright, it's visual - it'll stand out!' - I don't think many on either side are disagreeing with that. As for 'it's only a parade uniform!' - that's one of the most important uniforms to get right.
"Try to imagine any other kind of group marching around in this uniform: marines? Queen's guard? Police officers? NHS staff? ... politicians?
"Would MSPs be willing wear this uniform for the opening/closing ceremonies? Sharing such a smart-looking uniform with our athletes would be an incredible show of support."
One signatory, Ross Laidlaw, said: "These costumes are wrong in so many different ways.
"Apart from the fact they look terrible and are an embarrassment for the people who have to wear them and the people of Scotland they also bring into question the credibility of the people who allowed them to go from design to full production to being imposed on the athletes and their supporters.
"A complete waste of money and the only thing more ridiculous than the 'fancy dress costumes' themselves is the refusal to accept there has been a huge mistake in the face of unprecedented levels of condemnation."
Maureen McClelland wrote: "Our athletes will be a laughing stock if they're forced to strut about in these.
"Scotland will be a laughing stock - and no amount of Games success will divert attention from our folly. In the name of God, scrap this mega-minging outfit before we become an international joke."


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Headed by Louisville, with a quota of $45,000, seventeen drives for the Allied Jewish Campaign are being held this week. The second largest quota on this week's list is that of Savannah, Georgia, for $20,000. Next comes Mobile, Alabama with $10,000; Tampa, Florida has undertaken to raise $7,500; and Augusta, Georgia, and Pontiac, Michigan $5,000 each. Niagara Falls, New York, has a quota of $4,000 and Coatesville and Braddock, Pennsylvania, $3,000 each.
The other communities holding drives this week are Willimantic, Conn.; La Crosse, Wisconsin; Muscatine, Iowa; Iowa City, Iowa; Vineland, New Jersey; Bridgeton, New Jersey; and Jamestown and Ellenville, New York.


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I'm wondering if ears can be raised vertically? Lets say the top of the ear reaches the lower eyelid level. Can both ears be raised so that the top of the ear meets eyebrow level? If this can be done how is it done? Would it leave a big scar?
Otoplasty Ear Surgery - Can Ears Be Raised Vertically?
Doctor Answers 8
Vertical repositioning of ears
The top of an average ear is typically aligned with the tail of the eyebrow. Vertical repositioning of the ears is not a commonly requested procedure nationwide, but it has been performed with high reliability and low revision rates in my practice and involves an incision hidden in the crease behind the ear. The typical imitations of an upward vertical auricular repositioning is around 1.5 to.1.75 cm, which should be enough to match the top of your ears more closely to the tail of your eyebrow if you say that your starting point is at the the level of the lower eyelid. Consideration must first be given to whether your overall ear size is dimunitive, which means you could benefit from an auricular enlargment or vertical height increasing procedure rather than a vertical repositioning. An in-person consultation with comprehensive examination is necessary to determine what options and mechanics are best for you.
Learn more: http://www.bwfacialplasticsurgery.com
Changing Position of Ears Possible?
Thank you for the question.
Although possible to "lift" the ears to a minimal degree, I would not suggest this operation given the potential risk/complications associated with this type of maneuver. The potential for asymmetry, recurrence of the current position of the years, distortion of the external auditory canal... would make the risks associated with this operation outweigh the potential benefits. Sometimes it is better to leave things alone than to risk causing other "problems".
Best wishes.
Learn more: http://www.poustiplasticsurgery.com/Procedures/Procedure_ear.htm
Raising the ears with otoplasty
To a limited degree this may be possible but it really depends on your anatomy and exam. The approach, incision, technique, etc. would be comparable to traditional otoplasty. Without a photo or exam I can't help much with this question, sorry. However, atypical techniques are used at time to raise components of the ear and so on. See this video.
Chase Lay MD
Learn more: http://www.chaselaymd.com
You might also like...
In general, ears are not moved vertically during Otoplasty, ear-reshaping surgery.
I read your concern:
The best candidates for Otoplasty Surgery are those with ears that stick out too far from their head. Surgery typically involves placing 3-6 permanent sutures on the back surface of the ears to accomplish this, and the scar in inconspicuous in the crease behind your ear. I am not aware of otoplasty techniques designed to lift the top of your ear to a higher position.
Hope this helps you.
Dr. Joseph
Learn more: http://ericmjoseph.com/index.cfm/PageID/4243
Can ears be moved vertically during otoplasty
Some degree of vertical movement can be achieved by placing setback sutures in more vertical orientation. There is only so much movement possible, as the ear canal is a fixed structure within the bone.
Vertical Ear Elevation
Ears can be vertically raised but not to the degree that you have described. They can likely be moved about half that distance. This is done by an incision on the back of the ear in the crease.
Learn more: http://www.eppleyotoplasty.com
Repositioning Ears in A Vertical Plane
Repositioning ears can be performed in otoplasty. However, it is much more difficult to reliably change this dimension in ears over a long period of time. Often times, repositioning ears into a more vertical location involves changing the angle of orientation of the ear with the head, which can also contribute to the appearance of low set ears.
Otoplasty Ear Surgery - Can Ears Be Raised Vertically?
Your question is very insightful in that the esthetically ideal position of the top of the ear is level with the outer part of the eyebrow. However, vertical elevation of the ears is far more complicated and unreliable than reshaping or setting back the ears. The ability to "lift" the ears is limited and over time any vertical movement tends to diminish during healing.
Stephen Weber MD, FACS
Learn more: http://weberfacialplasticsurgery.com/otoplasty/
These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.


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Welcome to the St. Joseph Trailblazer's Store!
The PSO online store is an easy way to sign up and pay for St. Joseph PSO activities, events and spirit wear.
Use the links to purchase your items:
Information about Sign-up Parties!
2017 Oktoberfest >> Antiques Market Dealers >>> Get Early Bird Pricing here.
Flexible payment options through PayPal. Pay with your Credit card OR your PayPal account.
If you would like to pay with check, please send your check to PSO Treasurer via backpack express with a note indicating items you wish to purchase.
Need to be reimbursed for expenses incurred on a PSO event...get form EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT FORM HERE.
More items will become available so watch future PSO communications for advertisements and information.
Questions about Trailblazers Store? Contact email@example.com OR your current treasurers, Elizabeth Vukovich, email@example.com or Legia Uhm, firstname.lastname@example.com
Question about an event or activity? Please contact the event Co-Chair directly.


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Posted June 26th, 2013Bob Riter
It's important to have someone with you at doctor's appointments when you're dealing with a cancer diagnosis.
Posted August 17th, 2012Bob Riter
I'm always struck that some people diagnosed with cancer want to know absolutely everything about their disease while others just want to be told when to show up for treatment. Some people complain that their doctors give them too much information while others complain that their doctors give them too little. Every doctor I've known […]


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ST. PETERSBURG, FL – 9-month-old Jaelyn Anderson desperately needs a new heart.
Four months ago, she was diagnosed with an infection in her heart.
She's now in intensive care awaiting a heart transplant.
Jaelyn's family had been collecting donations for her treatment. But on Valentine's Day, Jaelyn's grandfather was robbed of $3,000 in donations.
Although devastated by the theft, the family isn't letting it get them down.
They're focusing on Jaelyn and patiently hoping she'll get a new heart soon.


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Here at Review Centre we work hard to make sure we are the best place on the internet for honest, unbiased consumer reviews - we are grateful for your help in keeping us that way!
Written on: 24/03/2010
I have another case of having to go to paypal resolution centre to getting a refund.
cell-unlock-shop.com say they will refund your money, but appears will only do so after you complain. Terrible customer service.


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I Think I BelievePosted by on October 19, 2011 – 5:14 pm
Again, in honor of Lance McLaRussa and Peter The King, Things I Think I Believe, The Carson Edition.
I Think I Believe Tuesday was a very weird day in Bengaldom. It's a happy day with the Church of Paul Brown's bells pealing and the pundits singing and the team resting at 4-2.
And let's lift a glass to a first-round pick in 2012 and at least a second-round pick in 2013. Right guard Bobbie Williams heard the compensation for Carson Palmer and his eyes went wider than Shayne Graham against the Steelers.
"The gift," Bobbie said, "that keeps on giving."
But there should be some sadness here. Palmer is one of the great all-time Bengals and even though he's been good and gone nine months now in the hearts and minds of Bengaldom, the trade closes a significant chapter in its history.
What's that you say? He's a quitter, a coward, a wimp?
If that's how you see it. I see it that he's a good guy and a hell of a quarterback who made a mistake when he let the frustration and competitiveness get the better of him and would any of us be any better?
Even if I disagree with how he went about it at the end or wish at times he could have been a more passionate leader or more engaged in the community, that doesn't change the fact he was one of the more courageous, talented and nicest guys to play here. He remained true to himself. Not warm and fuzzy. But private, polite, laid-back, resolute.
I Think I Believe so did Mike Brown stay true to himself. Tough, patient, trying to fit today into the big picture. Not as inflexible as you think.
And that says something for both guys in this age of TwitterFacebookNFLNetworkTeamCamsTeaPartyOccupationWallStreet with the world screaming at you at 235 miles per hour red, angry and mean like some boil on the neck to be just like them.
I Think I Believe I'm biased. Not 15 minutes after Palmer walked out of his first Raiders news conference he was on the horn Tuesday night. Not with SI or PFT or PTI or Shefty or Mort or the Dannetes or Rome, but with Bengals.com. Given what has transpired since his Mobile Manifesto at the Senior Bowl back in January, you wouldn't exactly figure that would be an outlet on his list.
But it says something about him. It says everything about him. He's a classy guy. Always has been. He didn't say why he wanted out. We've all got guesses and we're all probably a little right. Demanding a trade with the retirement card and four years left on a contract wasn't the best thing to do, but this league, heck this team, has seen a lot worse. It could have got ugly. Palmer could have reported to force Brown's hand. Brown could have offered to ship him to Washington. Tuesday could have been a two time-zone Jerry Springer, but you have to credit the civility of both guys.
I Think I Believe I disagree with Doc, although I'm assuming the "Mike Brown's Finest Hour" column is largely tongue in cheek.
If you ask me, deciding to keep the Bengals in Cincinnati back in 1995 when everyone was telling him the smart money was in Baltimore was his finest hour. Published reports now put the Ravens revenue at $25 million more per year than the Bengals.
Other hours that trump the Palmer trade: Convincing Paul Brown to get back into pro football and doing it in Cincinnati, scouting and pushing the draft selections of Ken Anderson and Boomer Esiason, building two Super Bowl teams in the '80s, hiring the AFC North's first African-American head coach in Marvin Lewis.
I Think I Believe I liked Lewis' answer when I asked about the consideration given to the same 4-2 records of the Bengals and Raiders. Say the Chargers win the AFC West and say the Bengals are trying to be one of two wild card teams that come out of the AFC North. Well, Cincinnati has beaten Buffalo head-to-head to win a tiebreaker. And if they had let Hue Jackson struggle with Kyle Boller for a while, you wouldn't have had the Raiders to worry about for very long. Now you've given them air with a guy who has been to the Pro Bowl and won divisions.
But as Lewis said, "Once you make the choice and the decision, you can't worry what happens on the other side. If you go through life that way, where are you going? You'd chase your tail all of the time and you're not moving forward. Anytime a guy leaves this place and has put himself on the line for me like they have, I'm going to wish them well every chance I get. We love the chance to compete against people we've had here before. That's part of it. That's what any sport is about."
I Think I Believe Palmer was worth the No. 1 pick in 2003. In the six seasons before he became the starter, the Bengals were 14-36 in division games. In his six seasons he didn't miss a division game, they were 22-14. Enough said. And they had a shot every time he strapped it up after a decade of getting blown out and for eight years he said all the right things.
I Think I Believe I've said before that Palmer has a chance to be the Jim Plunkett of the early 21st century. A former Heisman Trophy winner and overall No. 1 pick; a battle-scarred veteran thought to be washed up leading another franchise to a Super Bowl title. Add now that both are returning to their native California for Al Davis' team.
From 2004-06, only Brady and Manning were better than Palmer. And in '09 he might not have had great stats, but he had the ultimate year for a quarterback with seven last drives at the end of a game or overtime that either won it, tied it, or gave the Bengals the lead. If he had performed that season in the NFC East there would be a statue of him.
Does he have anything left? I'd like to see him in an offense where the receivers don't make it up as they go and the system doesn't ask him to always drop back seven steps and make a great throw just to get eight yards. Then we'll know.
I Think I Believe I disagree with Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated when he says that there is a double standard in granting Palmer a trade and not one to Chad Ochocinco when he demanded a trade in 2008. Which worries me because Trotter is one of the smartest guys out there and is very good at his craft.
But they are two different situations. The major thing is Ocho had a prohibitive salary cap hit of about $5-6 million if the Bengals traded him before the '08 draft. Palmer had none. The Ocho reported to mandatory minicamp and training camp, Palmer didn't report to anything.
And The Ocho went very public with his rant (he kept NFL Network on the air by himself that spring) that began at the Super Bowl and didn't stop, really, until he got sent home in November the night before the Steelers game for insubordination. Palmer didn't surface until Tuesday's news conference.
Tags: Carson Palmer, Marvin Lewis, Mike Brown
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Studies evaluating the efficacy of treatments for recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) in children have used a wide range of methods, causing difficulty in the comparison of results. An expert panel on functional gastrointestinal disorders recently made recommendations regarding the standardization of study methods for childhood RAP, but many of their recommendations remain untested or lack supportive evidence.
During completion of a pilot study and randomized controlled trial for childhood RAP, baseline data were collected regarding the child and parent reports of abdominal pain frequency and intensity, type of abdominal pain, missed activities due to abdominal pain, psychological factors for the parent and child, parenting styles, and referral source (pediatric gastroenterologist vs general pediatrician).
Children and parent pain reports showed good agreement in children younger than 13 years (weighted κ, 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.71-0.84), but only marginal agreement in children 13 years or older (weighted κ, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.30-0.45). We found no significant differences in pain characteristics or psychological factors between children referred by pediatric gastroenterologists in a tertiary care center and those referred by community-based primary care pediatricians. However, children with symptoms consistent with nonspecific functional abdominal pain were reported by their parents to have less frequent pain (P= .003) and fewer missed activities (P= .003) than children with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome or functional dyspepsia.
Subjects referred by gastroenterologists and general pediatricians were similar, but the subtype of functional gastrointestinal disorder might be an important baseline characteristic of subjects in future RAP studies. We suggest that future interventional studies of childhood RAP measure 2 outcomes with pain reports obtained directly from children. Any child with fewer days of pain and missed activities due to pain after therapy would be considered improved, and those with no missed activities and 4 or fewer days of pain per month at follow-up would be considered healed.
ALTHOUGH PHYSICIANS frequently evaluate recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) in children, no sound evidence exists to guide the therapeutic approach to these patients. Recent systematic reviews of the literature pertaining to therapies for RAP found methodological concerns with many of the published investigations.1- 3 Studies have recruited subjects using multiple strategies from various referral sources and measured many different outcomes at various times before and after interventions. Such a lack of standardization has made it difficult to compare the efficacy of interventions between studies. In addition, although psychological factors have been shown to vary among healthy control subjects and children with RAP and their parents, these factors have rarely been measured or considered as potential confounders.4- 6 Although some interventional studies have excluded children with psychiatric illness, they have not described the methods used to accurately diagnose such disorders.7,8
Because of these methodological variances within the medical literature, a group of international experts in functional gastrointestinal disorders met for a second time in Rome, Italy, and recently published their recommendations for the standardization of research methodology for interventional studies for RAP.9 The Rome II consensus group recommended that pain evaluations should be based on patient reports rather than those of clinicians or researchers; that efficacy evaluation should be based on the percentage of children meeting a predefined clinical outcome rather than the statistical significance of differences between groups or periods of time; and that psychological measures should be performed at baseline for possible use as covariates in the analysis. In addition to these recommendations, others have suggested that the primary outcome should measure the amount of pain and the level of disability,10 because the original definition of RAP by Apley and Naish11 required at least 3 bouts of pain severe enough to affect the child's normal activities within the preceding 3 months.
Fertile research areas were also identified by the Rome II group where there was a lack of sufficient evidence available to allow for consensus. It is not known if disease severity or the presence of comorbidities varies depending on whether subjects are recruited from primary or tertiary care settings.9 Regarding studies in children, it is unclear whether pain reports are best obtained from the children or their parents. Although there was agreement that the primary efficacy evaluation should be based on the percentage of subjects meeting a predetermined clinical outcome, there was no agreement as to what that outcome measurement should be.9 It was also suggested that children with RAP be subdivided into subgroups of abdominal pain, such as functional dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, functional abdominal pain, abdominal migraine, and aerophagia.12 However, fewer data are available to suggest whether children with these different subtypes actually vary in their severity of pain, psychological factors, referral source, or likelihood of achieving predefined clinical outcomes.
We analyzed baseline data after the completion of a pilot study and a randomized controlled trial of the therapeutic effect of guided imagery for childhood RAP in an effort to clarify some of these methodological issues. This report seeks to test the following 3 hypotheses and explore a related research question:
Children's self-reports of abdominal pain will be greater than their parents' report. In addition, the agreement of abdominal pain reports between children and their parents will vary by the child's age.
Children referred to these studies from pediatric gastroenterologists in a tertiary care center will report greater abdominal pain, have more psychological comorbidities, and suffer more from irritable bowel syndrome or functional dyspepsia than those referred from community primary care pediatricians.
Children with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome or functional dyspepsia will have greater pain and more frequent psychological comorbidities than those with nonspecific functional abdominal pain.
What, if any, definition(s) of clinical responder can be proposed for future research on childhood RAP?
From October 14, 1998, through June 30, 2002, 46 children were recruited using identical methods for a pilot study (n = 15) and then a randomized controlled trial (n = 31) investigating the use of guided imagery for the treatment of RAP. Recruitment letters explaining the study and an enrollment form were sent to all licensed pediatricians and pediatric gastroenterologists in Pima County, Arizona. Enrollment criteria for the studies were children aged 5 to 18 years, with 3 or more episodes of abdominal pain during the previous 3 months that interrupted normal daily activities and who did not have evidence of an underlying disease to explain their symptoms. All children underwent a complete history and physical examination performed by their pediatrician or pediatric gastroenterologist and a minimal laboratory evaluation, including a complete blood cell count, measurement of erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and urinalysis. All other diagnostic tests were performed at the discretion of the treating physician. Children were recruited from pediatric gastroenterologists within the Department of Pediatrics, University of Arizona, Tucson, and general pediatricians throughout the greater Tucson metropolitan area. The studies were approved by the institutional review board of the University of Arizona. Depending on the child's age, all children signed an assent form, in which case 1 parent also signed an informed consent, or co-signed an informed consent form with 1 of their parents.
After enrollment into 1 of the studies, children and parents were required to complete pain diaries for a minimum of 2 weeks before beginning the intervention. Children were instructed to complete their diary each day using the Faces Pain Scale13 to rate the intensity of any abdominal pain on a scale from 0 to 6 at 7 AM, 2 PM, and 6 PM. Parents were instructed to use the same scale to rate the intensity of the worst stomach pain they had observed in their child during the day and to document whether the child was unable to participate in normal activities (ie, school, friends, and others) that day because of stomach pain. Parents were instructed to grade the child's pain through the use of verbal and behavioral cues (eg, crying, grimacing, and sighing) at 7 AM, 2 PM, and 6 PM on each day.
At enrollment, all children completed a bowel-symptom questionnaire, which was adapted for children from the survey instrument validated by Talley et al.14 Parents assisted those children too young to complete the questionnaire independently. Using this survey, children were classified by the hierarchal approach of the Rome II criteria12 into 1 of the following 3 diagnostic categories: irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, or functional abdominal pain. Children classified as having irritable bowel syndrome answered yes to 2 or more of the following questions: (1) "Is the pain often made better by having a bowel movement?" (2) "Do you often have more bowel movements when this pain begins?" and (3) "Do you often have looser bowel movements (stools) when this pain begins?" All children not classified as having irritable bowel syndrome and who reported "pain as usually occurring above the navel that is in the upper belly" were classified as having functional dyspepsia. In addition, children who reported pain as occurring in both the upper and lower belly and answered yes to 1 or more of the following questions were also classified as having functional dyspepsia: (1) "Is this pain often made better (relieved) by burping (bringing up air through the mouth)?" (2) "Do you often feel bloated and actually see your belly swell up?" and (3) "How many times have you actually thrown up (vomited) in the last year?" (Children answering "about once a week" or more were considered to have the condition.) All children not classified as having irritable bowel syndrome or functional dyspepsia were classified as having functional abdominal pain.
On enrollment into 1 of the studies, children and parents completed a number of standard and valid psychological questionnaires, including the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children, Childhood Depression Inventory, and the Symptom Checklist-90.15- 17 The Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children was completed by the child and assesses anxiety symptoms across clinically significant symptom domains. For the purposes of this study, we used the following subscales (the range of possible scores are given parenthetically): somatic symptoms (0-18), anxious coping (0-15), perfectionism (0-12), and separation/panic (0-27). The Childhood Depression Inventory was completed by the child and assesses the degree of depression in children. It has a possible score of 0 to 54. The Symptom Checklist-90 was completed by the parent as a self-assessment and is a brief, multidimensional inventory designed to screen for a broad range of psychological problems and symptoms of psychopathology. For the purposes of this study, we used the following symptom subscales (the range of possible scores are given parenthetically): somatization (0-48), depression (0-52), and anxiety (0-40).
Because review of previous studies demonstrated differences between children with RAP and healthy controls without abdominal pain, the following child psychological factors were included in this analysis4: anxiety, depression, somatization, separation anxiety, and perfectionism. Parent psychological factors regarding the parent attending the initial enrollment session included anxiety, depression, and somatization. Parenting styles for mothers and fathers were also assessed using the Parent Bonding Instrument.18 The Parent Bonding Instrument is used to measure dimensions of parent-child bonding and has scores for caring (possible score, 0-36) and overprotectiveness (possible score, 0-39).
Analyses were completed using appropriate parametric tests after transformation of nonnormally distributed continuous variables when appropriate. An α of less than .05 was considered statistically significant. The agreement between parent and child reports of abdominal pain was tested with the κ statistic for dichotomous categories and a weighted κ for pain intensity scores with 7 possible scores (0-6). Because families were asked to continue to complete pain diaries until they received the intervention, the number of actual days of completed diaries varied among subjects, ranging from 14 to 60 days. Therefore, the number of days of pain and number of days with missed activities were standardized to 30 days, allowing the presentation of the number of days during the previous month.
A total of 46 children were enrolled in the 2 studies. However, 4 subjects withdrew from the study after initially consenting owing to family illness (n = 2) or unwillingness of the child to continue participation (n = 2). In addition, data were not complete for 3 children who did not complete the baseline psychological questionnaires or the bowel-symptom questionnaire. The characteristics of the final study population are summarized in Table 1.
We first hypothesized that children's self-reports of abdominal pain will be greater than their parents' report of their pain, and that the agreement of abdominal pain reports between children and their parents will vary by the child's age. The reported number of days with pain and the intensity of pain varied between children and their parents (P<.001 and P = .04, respectively), with children reporting many more days of more intense pain than their parents (Table 1). Regardless of whether the parents used verbal complaints of pain or behavioral cues such as crying, grimacing, or sighing to judge their child's pain, the reports were virtually identical. When matching daily pain reports from the child and parent were analyzed dichotomously (pain vs no pain), the agreement was good (κ, 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69-0.81). However, these results varied significantly by the child's age. The agreement was excellent in children younger than 10 years (n = 10) (κ, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.76-0.95) and in children 10 years or older but younger than 13 years (n = 19) (κ, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.77-0.97), but only marginal in children 13 years and older (n = 13) (κ, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.16-0.40). A similar effect was noted when the child and parent pain reports were analyzed using the daily maximum pain intensity reports, which ranged from 0 to 6. Overall, agreement between parent and child reports were good (weighted κ, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.64-0.72). However, in children younger than 13 years, the agreement was excellent (weighted κ, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.71-0.84), whereas it was only marginal in children 13 years or older (weighted κ, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.30-0.45).
The maximum intensity of abdominal pain reported by the children and parents during each day was compared with the likelihood of missing an activity the same day (Figure 1). Although the risk for missing a normal activity was very low for child-reported pain intensities of 0 or 1, it increased with a rating of 2 (relative risk [RR], 11.5; 95% CI, 6.5-20.5) to 4 (RR, 15.9; 95% CI, 9.2-27.7) and again increased with ratings of 5 (RR, 20.6; 95% CI, 11.3-37.6) or 6 (RR, 19.3; 95% CI, 10.1-36.6). A similar but more marked trend was seen with parent ratings of intensity, with an increased risk for missing an activity seen with a rating of 2 (RR, 35.0; 95% CI, 11.0-111.7) to 4 (RR, 48.1; 95% CI, 14.9-155.0) and with ratings of 5 (RR, 87.1; 95% CI, 27.1-280.0) to 6 (RR, 104.2; 95% CI, 33.0-329.7) compared with ratings of 0. Nevertheless, even on days when children reported a pain episode of the maximal intensity of 6, they missed a normal activity only 26.7% of the time; when parents reported their child as having an episode of the maximal intensity, the child missed a normal activity 56.1% of the time.
Risk for a missed activity by the maximum daily intensity of abdominal pain episodes. Asterisk indicates differences were significant (P<.001, χ2 test for trend).
Our second hypothesis was that children referred to these studies from pediatric gastroenterologists in a tertiary care center will report greater abdominal pain, have more psychological comorbidities, and suffer more from irritable bowel syndrome or functional dyspepsia than those referred from community primary care pediatricians. There were no apparent differences between children and parents by their referral source except for the parents' ethnicity (P<.001) (Table 2). The more diverse ethnic breakdown of the patients referred by community primary care practices is more reflective of the entire referral community in Tucson, rather than that seen by the tertiary care center. Children referred by pediatric gastroenterologists had a higher anxiety score of borderline significance than those referred by general pediatricians (P = .08). However, the statistical significance of this finding must be interpreted cautiously because of the large number of comparisons completed in Table 2.
Third, we hypothesized that children with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome or functional dyspepsia will have greater pain and more frequent psychological comorbidities than those with nonspecific functional abdominal pain. We found few differences among children presenting with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, or functional abdominal pain (Table 3). However, children with functional abdominal pain had fewer days of pain by parental report using behavioral and verbal cues (P = .003 for both) and fewer missed activities (P = .003) than children with irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia. Individual comparisons between specific abdominal pain subtypes were completed using the Bonferroni multiple-comparison test. These findings were confirmed, as children presenting with symptoms consistent with functional abdominal pain had fewer days of abdominal pain by parent report using verbal cues than children with functional dyspepsia (P = .004) or irritable bowel syndrome (P = .03). The differences were similar when parents reported the child's pain using behavioral cues; ie, children presenting with symptoms consistent with functional abdominal pain had fewer days of abdominal pain than children with functional dyspepsia (P = .005) or irritable bowel syndrome (P = .02). Children with functional abdominal pain were also reported to have fewer days with missed activities due to abdominal pain than children with functional dyspepsia (P = .004) or irritable bowel syndrome (P = .02).
What, if any, definition of clinical responder can be proposed for future research on childhood RAP? Since a suitable outcome measure should include information regarding the frequency of pain and the associated disability, further analyses were completed to evaluate the likelihood of such measures at entry into these studies. During the baseline period, 32 children (76%) missed 1 or more activity due to abdominal pain. Overall, 1 enrollee (<5%) reported fewer than 4 days of pain during the previous month. There were no children enrolled into the study with 4 or fewer days of pain who had not missed an activity due to abdominal pain during the preceding month.
The primary finding of this study was that agreement between child and parent reports of childhood abdominal pain was inversely related to the age of the child. In addition, we found little difference between children referred to our studies by tertiary or primary care physicians. In contrast, children referred with symptoms consistent with nonspecific functional abdominal pain were reported by parents to have fewer days of pain and fewer missed activities than children with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome or functional dyspepsia.
Most investigations of childhood RAP report both child and parent measures of pain episodes. Although some have recommended using reports from both children and parents, it adds to the multiple outcomes already reported in studies of childhood RAP.10 For example, 1 systematic review of the literature found that 39 treatment outcomes were reported in 10 randomized controlled trials of childhood RAP.1 In addition, those who support using reports from both sources have not discussed how discordant reports from children and parents should be analyzed. Although it seems intuitive that the Rome II consensus recommendation that self-reports of pain obtained directly from subjects be extended to adolescents, it is not clear whether this should be done for younger children. Our findings suggest that pain outcomes may be reported directly from subjects as young as 5 years of age, in conjunction with their parents. Parents' and children's reports showed good agreement in younger children, an age at which researchers might be concerned about the accuracy of children's reports. However, the greatest disagreement between parent and child reports occurred during adolescence, when reports directly from the patient would be most consistent with the Rome II recommendations. Nevertheless, inferences about accuracy based on the κ statistic are difficult to draw, especially since errors between the child and parent might not have been independent, and therefore the most important conclusion from our data is that reports over time should be obtained from the same person.19 Our findings are consistent with other studies that also found that parent ratings tend to underestimate their child's level of pain.20,21 However, unlike these previous studies, which had parents and children complete their assessments independently, we encouraged parents of younger children to help their child in the completion of the diaries. Therefore, it is unclear whether the relationship between the child and parent reports of pain and age is explained by parents of younger children being more in touch with their child's daily events or simply by their presence with their child at the time of diary completion. Although we gathered information about specific episodes of pain, we preferred to report the number of days with pain, because it is difficult to compare the relative clinical importance of a daily report of, eg, 2 short episodes of abdominal pain with 1 long episode.
The consensus of the Rome II recommendations was that the primary efficacy evaluation should be based on the percentage of children meeting a predetermined clinical outcome. A recent review of childhood RAP therapies found that although virtually all of the 10 studies reviewed used the number of pain episodes as a primary outcome, only 1 measured missed activities due to pain.1 In addition, this study only measured missed activities due to school absences, which are insufficient for use much of the time.22 Instead, most studies reported the pain severity or intensity. Although our findings showed a clear association between pain intensity and risk for missing a normal activity, only 27% of the most painful episodes reported by the children and 56% of the most painful episodes reported by the parents resulted in a missed activity. Therefore, the reliance on the number and intensity of abdominal pain episodes is clearly not consistent with the original description by Apley and Naish11 of childhood RAP that has been used for more than 40 years. We suggest the use of 2 outcomes that will be practical, clinically important, and consistent with the initial description of RAP11 and will allow comparisons across interventional studies. The first outcome would define a child as improved if he or she had fewer days of abdominal pain and fewer missed activities after the intervention than at baseline. This would seem to be a pragmatic approach to detecting any minimal, clinically significant, therapeutic effect. The second outcome would define a child as healed if they experienced no missed activities and 4 or fewer days of abdominal pain within a given month during or after the intervention. This outcome can easily be measured within the study design supported by the Rome II panel, which recommended a minimal treatment duration of 8 to 12 weeks with follow-up at 6 to 12 months for those therapies found to be successful in the short term.9 The numbers of days with pain and missed activities are important baseline descriptive measures of study populations. Although the strict use of 4 or fewer days of abdominal pain per month is open to debate, the creation of new scores from categories with arbitrary values, which are not previously validated, is unnecessary, confusing, and difficult to interpret clinically.8,23
It was somewhat surprising that the children referred by pediatric gastroenterologists in a tertiary care center did not differ significantly from those referred by community primary care pediatricians with respect to the amount and type of abdominal pain, psychological factors, their parents' psychological factors, and parenting styles. All study subjects were referred by physicians only, and no recruitment messages were directed to the community as has been done in some previous studies.22 It is unknown whether subjects recruited with such strategies and not undergoing evaluation by pediatricians would vary from our 2 study populations.
The Rome II panel also recommended classifying subtypes of RAP.12 At the same time, they recommended not to subclassify subjects during interventional studies because symptoms can fluctuate within individuals over time. Although the clinical significance of the recommended classification scheme has not been validated, we believed it was important to evaluate for potential differences between these subtypes. The primary difference noted was that parents perceived children with functional abdominal pain to have less pain and fewer missed activities than children with irritable bowel syndrome or functional dyspepsia. The children's reports of pain did not differ between these groups; therefore, the significance of this finding is unclear. Although the use of the bowel-symptom questionnaire has not been validated as a tool to classify these subtypes of RAP, our preliminary findings suggest that this might be important for the baseline description of future populations of research subjects.
Although we have attempted to add clarity to some of the conundrums faced by researchers in this field, there are 2 possibly important weaknesses of this study. The moderate sample size limited the power of the subgroup analyses, ie, between RAP subtypes. Although we sought referrals from all community pediatricians, we were unable to ensure communitywide sampling. We do not know how many families were offered enrollment into the study and to what extent enrollment into a trial of relaxation techniques might have led to adverse selection of our sample.
Since the initial description of RAP in children by Apley and Naish,11 our understanding of functional bowel disorders has grown substantially. Recent findings have suggested that although many children with RAP respond well to reassurance, a significant number may continue to suffer into adulthood.24 The paucity of efficacious evidence-based treatments noted in recent systematic reviews of RAP therapies emphasizes the need for continued research in this area.1- 3 However, as noted in those same reviews, the methods must be standardized and allow for comparisons across trials. This is especially critical because the biopsychosocial model has been adopted to guide the therapeutic approach to children with these disorders, and it is therefore likely that effective therapies will need to be explored from various disciplines, such as psychology and nutrition, as well as pharmacy.25,26 This integrated approach to therapy will necessitate a common evidence-based methodology across a number of disciplines if we are to alter the course of these potentially long-term disabling illnesses.
Corresponding author: Thomas M. Ball, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, University of Arizona College of Medicine, 1501 N Campbell Ave, PO Box 245073, Tucson, AZ 85724-5073 (e-mail: email@example.com).
Accepted for publication March 6, 2003.
This study was supported by National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine grant 5 P50-AT00008 from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
We would like to acknowledge the participation of the study families and the work of the research associates, Patricia K. Brown and Kathryn S. Chavez, and of Russell P. Roberge for his assistance with data analysis. In addition, we acknowledge Sari Acra, MD, and Patrick Burke, MD, PhD, for their initiation of this project.
Recent reviews of therapies for RAP in children have reported a paucity of methodologically sound studies. In addition, an international panel of experts has recently published their recommendations in an effort to improve the standardization of research in this field. The present study reports findings pertinent to a number of unresolved issues in the study of treatments for childhood RAP. We found that we were able to obtain accurate abdominal pain reports from the children, that measuring the intensity of abdominal pain episodes is not a sufficient substitute for the measurement of missed activities due to pain, and that children referred for enrollment to an investigation by pediatric gastroenterologists in a tertiary care center did not differ from those referred by community primary care pediatricians. However, children with functional abdominal pain were reported by their parents to have fewer episodes of pain and missed activities than children with irritable bowel syndrome or functional dyspepsia.
Ball TM, Weydert JA. Methodological Challenges to Treatment Trials for Recurrent Abdominal Pain in Children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2003;157(11):1121–1127. doi:10.1001/archpedi.157.11.1121
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Colton Green to compete for Chapman University
- Written by Submitted by Bruce McDowell
Cedarcrest High School senior Colton Green has recently finalized plans to attend and compete for Chapman University, located in Orange, California.
Colton is interested in studying business and psychology. He will run cross country and track and field for the Panthers.
The 2015 season will be the first season in which Chapman will have a men's track and field program.
Chapman University participates as a member of the NCAA Division III, a level of collegiate athletics where athletic scholarships are not awarded to prospective students.
As a member of the CXC squad, Colton was a member of two state qualifying cross country teams, including the 2013 season where the squad placed 3rd at the state meet.
As a member of the CHS T&F squad, Colton is having a breakout senior season. He is now on all on three of the team top ten lists for distance events.
Colton is one of only five boys in school history to run sub 4:25 for the 1600m as well as one of only five boys in school history to run sub 10:00 for the 1600m.


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Novo Nordisk Posts 29% Surge In Q2 Profit, Lifts Forecast
Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) reported a 29% rise in its second-quarter net profit and lifted its full-year forecast.
Novo Nordisk's quarterly net profit surged to DKK5.35 billion, versus DKK4.13 billion, in the year-ago period. However, analysts were expecting a net profit of DKK4.87 billion.
Its sales climbed 22% to DKK19.47 billion from DKK16 billion, versus analysts' estimates of DKK18.73 billion. Novo Nordisk's EBIT jumped 45% to DKK7.65 billion, versus DKK5.27 billion.
Novo Nordisk shares closed at $154.41 yesterday.
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