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ageing bath time best friend birthday books brushing teeth celebration child play fashion fear fighting with each other goldfish growing up hair happy with looks health holiday how children copy kumon learning new words living with guilt love mealtime with kids morning with kids music play date reading school silly talk with kids sisters sleep habits snow sorry swimming with kids teasers therapy thumb sucking weekend working from home
Tag: sleep habits
Just when I sat down to check my emails at 6:15am (thinking I can actually drink my tea hot for a change) Kit comes into the room with a BOO behind me!
Me: Already? You are awake already? This is even earlier than normal school days!
Kit: I am really cold... but in fact she is so active (Oh dear)
Me: You HAVE to go back to bed. Even Kat is sleeping. Its night time (Alright I lied)
I go back to her room and tuck her in and come back thinking maybe that will work (eyes on the room monitor now instead of screen what a life!)
After a few minutes I hear Can you sleep with me? This has become such a problem since Kit learnt to talk perhaps? Everyone loves their children to sleep with them once in a while but you let them do it once and they want it when you dont! I think its time for Kit to wake up now and its only 6:30am on school days, shes sometimes difficult to wake up at 6:45am now we did well, didnt we?
Last night was classic: when the school announced the closure Kit was almost asleep and I told her: Your school is closed tomorrow
Kit looked at me with half closed eyes, sucking thumb, pulling her ear (like she does when she is declined mine) barely able to speak: Not Kats?
Even in that half asleep state, all she cares about is if Kat is going to go to school or not??!!
Its 8am now and since then Kit has woken up Kat prematurely, had a few bouts of crying when she refused to play with her, has generally moaned about not having any fun thing to play with...WHEN WILL THIS SNOW DAY END?
Pancakes with fresh strawberries and maple syrup coming up...that should keep them busy for a while!
By the way, my girls have never been great sleepers as babies. I learnt one thing though - whether your baby sleeps in excess or not, you will always get abundance of advice which makes you question your baby raising skills (after just having got over the questions over baby bearing ones!) All said and done, Kit Kat have finally discovered the pleasures of peaceful sleep (sleep and let sleep!).
Coming back to ways of drifting to sleep - As a baby, Kat had this strangest habit of rubbing my skin before going to bed. This skin could be my hand, my arm, my anything! This rubbing would go on all the while I was reading books to Kat till the time she fell asleep! Sometimes, if I was sitting next to her and she was drowsy, she would pick my arm and start rubbing her tiny fingers over my hand. This rubbing matured into Kat sucking her own thumb and then eventually a soft toy in bed (still does - Oh! I mean the toy, not the thumb!!)
Now here comes the most funny candidate for sleeping aids: KIT! When she was a baby, she developed this sweet habit of sucking my finger to sleep...So sweet, I hear you say. Ok, agreed but that sweetness looks sweet and adorable only till your baby is really an infant it starts to look weird once your baby get older. Kat loved my finger SO MUCH that she would just not let go...she started developing preferences for fingers (!) I thought this was our future and was finding ways to reconcile with it when she (literally overnight) decided to switch to sucking her own thumb what a RELIEF!
Thumb sucking goes on full swing when Kit is tired and sleepy but the minute she lies in bed, she needs my EAR yes, MY EAR and she pulls it in every possible direction! She says I have the softest ears in the world (is that a crime?) and she has to feel them. What do my girls have with feeling me, I fail to understand. Again, Papas ear is not acceptable and nor is anybody elses ONLY MINE! Kit is very specific it has to be the ear lobe only as that is the softest part when she goes back and forth rubbing against my studs, I am worried that my ears will now start hanging like the rest of my body (Oh dear!)
So what if Dumbo had magic ears, I have the softest ears in the world Shes just still a child I tell myself it is only LOVE!
When we finally do agree on the number of books, we spend the next half hour or so snuggled up in bed reading them and this is the time when Kit is allowed to suck her thumb and she uses her freedom to the full. Along with this comes the newly acquired habit of feeling my ear with the other finger and the even more recent habit of alternating hands so you can imagine how wet and sticky my ears are at the end of all this. Thumb on hand 1 goes in the mouth, hand 2 feels my ear - after a few seconds hand 1 with wet thumb feels my ear and dry hand 2 thumb goes in mouth and so on...
(We are reading a book from the library called Is your mama a Llama? nowadays. I love this book myself and we read this almost every day. There is a kangaroo called Rhonda in this and Kit loves the sound of this name and wants us to call her that from now on and for the last few days she was actually upset when every night she would remember that we forgot to call her Rhonda during the day! )
Anyhow, once the books are read and the lights are out, Kit is happy for me to leave the room as long as she can feel my ears one last time, pee again and drink water (in that order)! One last hug and kiss and Im out monitor on and Kit is generally good for the next 10 hours.
THEN I enter Kats room and find her sitting quietly with a book in her favourite chair (both girls have identical chairs). Although there is no negotiating books, there is ALWAYS negotiating bedtime. Whatever bedtime we agree on, Kat always wants 5 minutes more! Then comes the forever brush (both tooth and hair) time I could cook an entire dinner for a family of 10 in that time it seems...Kat can never go to sleep without watering her plants (some new app on her iPhone using which she continues to send virtual bouquets to her friends/family) so an additional 5 minutes are spent watering (!) some virtual plants while I look over them, thinking they do look cute (no wonder Kit wanted to do the same when Kit Kat had an argument this morning!) FINALLY, Kat is ready for bed takes off her glasses prepares a mount of books at her bedside for morning time read (a summer break luxury only for a few more days) and snuggles into bed in the right position (with the hair intact etc). Lights out in this room now I stagger out picking up dropped clothes on the way and make it to my room now where Papa by this time is deep into Financial Times.
Once in my room, I pick up some more dropped clothes (now I know where Kat gets her these genes from!) and hop on the bed (literally this one is exceptionally high for no reason) and hear the familiar clicking in my knee (Oh God, am I now getting old after having just 2 kids?) and after some one-sided conversation with Papa or (if Im lucky) some monosyllables back, I go to bed with my e-reader which then takes ages to load because most days I am too busy to remember to charge it/sync it and now its too much hard work to bother so I just cuddle up and finally go to bed. Night-night...
Kit was tired and not very enthusiastic at the thought of brushing her teeth (as usual!)
Me (after reminding her about bacteria, viruses and stomach elly): Do you know what will happen to your teeth if you dont brush them? I say this in a low voice as if the germs are listening to me
Kit (eyes wide open, in a hushed voice to match mine): Lets see if the teeth fall out!!
And she goes about picking her 6 books for bed time as if nothing has happened and is ready for bed and Im left wondering if I should now close my mouth or say something or stop looking like that last goldfish in the bowl!


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I'm currently making my way through the Legendary Souls mode, and I must say I have never seen so much A.I. cheating in my life. While I am used to the computer cheating from my time fighting the extremely difficult A.I. in Soul Calibur III, there was one thing that caught my eye as being extremely odd.
While I was fighting Kilik, I managed to get behind him. From my past experience with the Soul Calibur games, I know that it is impossible to guard or guard impact attacks from behind, and you also can't shake off grabs. However, when I went to attack him, he somehow Just Guarded my blow!
Is this just more A.I. cheating, or can human players do this as well?

subset: commoncrawl


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May 10, 2011 by
Filed under Divine Messages, TODAY'S INNER POWER TIP
TODAY'S INNER POWER TIP: If you've "lost that lovin' feelin'" about your life in general or any part of it, then you may have fallen out temporarily out of sync with your Divine Spirit aka Mojo! Here's a simple but powerful reconnect: STOP whatever you are doing! Take a deep breath and moan, groan, sigh LOUDLY as you let it out. Now stomp your feet on the ground while lifting and shaking your arms to the sky for another breath or two. Stand still and breathe in Mother Earth and Father Sky. Now, put your hands over your heart and breathe softly until you connect with your heart beat. AHHHH!!!! THERE YOU GO!! Resynced and ready to rock n' roll!!! WHOOO HOOOO!!!


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making up for a few lost
weekends linkfests…
Tracing Ancestry, Researchers Produce a Genetic Atlas of Human Mixing Events – "Researchers have found genetic evidence for hundreds of examples of the large-scale mixing of human populations in the past 4,000 years." – see also: A Genetic Atlas of Human Admixture History – "We used this to produce an atlas of worldwide human admixture history, constructed by using genetic data alone and encompassing over 100 events occurring over the past 4000 years. We identified events whose dates and participants suggest they describe genetic impacts of the Mongol empire, Arab slave trade, Bantu expansion, first millennium CE migrations in Eastern Europe, and European colonialism, as well as unrecorded events, revealing admixture to be an almost universal force shaping human populations." – see also: A genetic atlas of human admixture history. – see also from dienekes: Human admixture common in human history (Hellenthal et al. 2014).
Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk – "Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa, on the Norfolk Coast in the East of England. The footprints are more than 800,000 years old and were found on the shores of Happisburgh." – aaaand then they got washed away in the storms. (>_<)
Modern human genomes reveal our inner Neanderthal – "Cross-breeding boosted Homo sapiens' ability to cope with cool climates, but the hybrids may have had trouble breeding." – see also: Neanderthal-human sex bred light skins and infertility. and see also: Adaptive Neanderthal admixture – from greg cochran.
Science discovers new ignorance about the past – good stuff from matt ridley.
Genetic origins of high-altitude adaptations in Tibetans – "Genetic adaptations for life at high elevations found in residents of the Tibetan plateau likely originated around 30,000 years ago in peoples related to contemporary Sherpa. These genes were passed on to more recent migrants from lower elevations via population mixing, and then amplified by natural selection in the modern Tibetan gene pool, according to a new study." – see also: Admixture facilitates genetic adaptations to high altitude in Tibet – see also: A novel mechanism for getting high – from greg cochran. – see also: Tibetan mastiffs equally adapted to high altitudes of Tibet.
Immediate replacement of fishing with dairying by the earliest farmers of the northeast Atlantic archipelagos [i.e. british isles] – "These new findings…unequivocally confirm rejection of marine resources by early farmers coinciding with the adoption of intensive dairy farming. This pattern of Neolithization contrasts markedly to that occurring contemporaneously in the Baltic, suggesting that geographically distinct ecological and cultural influences dictated the evolution of subsistence practices at this critical phase of European prehistory."
The booms and busts of Neolithic Europe (and their potential impact on our DNA) – "most of the interactions between the genetically Near Eastern-like Neolithic farmers and indigenous European hunter-gatherers, including mixing, in all likelihood took place on the peripheries of the farming societies. If so, then perhaps every time there was a bust, it was the relatively more admixed, or even more hunter-gatherer-like, farmer groups from the peripheries that took advantage of the situation and moved in to grab some land in the depopulated regions? In other words, this might have been the process which led to the well-documented reemergence of hunter-gatherer-derived ancestry in the heart of Europe after the early Neolithic." – @eurogenes.
First Ancient North American Genome Sequenced – "Analysis of 12,600-year-old DNA refutes the idea that Native Americans originated in Western Europe." – see also: The genome of a Late Pleistocene human from a Clovis burial site in western Montana
The Fading of the Most Basal of Basal – "[T]he western and eastern Pygmy populations of the Congo rainforest seem to have diverged tens of thousands of years ago, tens of thousands of years after their divergence from the ancestors of their agriculturalist neighbors." – from razib.
Slow times in the New World – from greg cochran.
Genetic ancestry is associated with colorectal adenomas and adenocarcinomas in Latino populations – "[I]ncreased African ancestry (or variants linked to it) contributes to the increased susceptibility of colorectal cancer in admixed Latin American population." – h/t razib!
Black Death Left a Mark on Human Genome – "Genetically, the Rroma are still quite similar to the northwestern Indians, even though they have lived side by side with the Romanians for a millennium, the team found. But there were 20 genes in the Rroma and the Romanians that had changes that were not seen in the Indians' versions of those genes, Netea and his colleagues report online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. These genes 'were positively selected for in the Romanians and in the gypsies but not in the Indians,' Netea explains. 'It's a very strong signal.'"
HBD is Life and Death – from jayman.
Chemists Seek Possible Precursor to RNA – h/t billare! who tweeted: "Were there self-assembling replicants—proto-RNAs—before RNA world? Researchers find some candidates."
The Unique Merger That Made You (and Ewe, and Yew) – "All sophisticated life on the planet Earth may owe its existence to one freakish event." – mitochondria, eukaryotes, yada, yada, yada.
Study demonstrates evolutionary 'fitness' not the most important determinant of success – "By modelling populations over long timescales, the study showed that the 'fitness' of their traits was not the most important determinant of success. Instead, the most genetically available mutations dominated the changes in traits. The researchers found that the 'fittest' simply did not have time to be found, or to fix in the population over evolutionary timescales. The findings suggest that life on Earth today may not have come about by 'survival of the fittest', but rather by the 'arrival of the frequent'."
Burakumin, Paekchong, and Cagots – "Human evolution is a logarithmic curve where most of the interesting changes have happened since the advent of farming and complex societies. *Homo sapiens* was not a culmination but rather a beginning…of gene-culture co-evolution. There are many ways to study this co-evolution, but one way is to look at the different evolutionary trajectories followed by castes and their host populations." – from peter frost.
Of Genetic Determinists and Unicorns – from helian.
Geographic variation of human gut microbes tied to obesity – "[P]eople living in northern latitudes have a greater proportion of the Firmicutes associated with obesity than do people living farther south, and a smaller proportion of Bacteroidetes. The implications are unclear, though microbes may evolve with people to better extract energy from food in colder climates." – h/t claire lehmann! – also: I had the bacteria in my gut analysed. And this may be the future of medicine.
A Dog Can't Teach a Dog New Tricks (But It Can Teach a Wolf) – *cough*domestication*cough* – h/t neuroskeptic!
Revolutionary new view on heritability in plants: Complex heritable traits not only determined by changes in DNA sequence – "Complex heritable traits are not only determined by changes in the DNA sequence. Scientists have now shown that epigenetic marks can affect traits such as flowering time and architecture in plants. Furthermore, these marks are passed on for many generations in a stable manner." – in PLANTS! (are you a plant?)
Single nucleotide polymorphism in the neuroplastin locus associates with cortical thickness and intellectual ability in adolescents – h/t stuart ritchie! – also: Scientists identify gene linking brain structure to intelligence.
The many-headed Hydra of alternate intelligences – from dr. james thompson.
Quick Post: L&V's National IQs predict GMAT scores across 173 nations – "We have shown that measures of national cognitive ability predict both GMAT scores and English proficiency scores independent of rates of English usage. GMAT and English proficiency scores seem to be indexes of National (g) by way of National IQ and National ACH." – @human varieties.
Meritocracy doesn't work. It's in the Left's interest to recognise this. – "The Son Also Rises, a study of social mobility by Gregory Clark, will surprise and also alarm some people. He notes, by using surname patterns, that mobility is minimal in all societies where the data is available. Even, for example, in the Nordic paradise of Sweden. He says: 'In all societies, what seems to matter is just who your parents are. At the extreme, we see in modern Sweden an extensive system of public education and social support. Yet underlying mobility rates are no higher in modern Sweden than in pre-industrial Sweden or medieval England.' He also notes that even in revolutionary societies, such as in Communist China, people with aristocratic surnames also turn up at the top, showing that once again Darwin trumps Marx." – from ed west. – see also: Everyone likes the idea of equal opportunity. This economist thinks it's a fantasy.
The Ideological-Conflict Hypothesis: Intolerance Among Both Liberals and Conservatives – "[L]iberals and conservatives express similar levels of intolerance toward ideologically dissimilar and threatening groups."
Sadism: A New Addition to the Dark Triad? – from staffan.
You Are Not A Special Snowflake – from sisyphean the mad contrarian.
Males and females differ in specific brain structures – "Reviewing over 20 years of neuroscience research into sex differences in brain structure, researchers have conducted the first meta-analysis of the evidence. The team performed a quantitative review of the brain imaging literature testing overall sex differences in total and regional brain volumes. They found that males on average have larger total brain volumes than women (by 8 to 13 percent). Looking more closely, the researchers found differences in volume between the sexes were located in several regions. These included parts of the limbic system, and the language system."
Major sex differences in brain gene expression – from mr. mangan, esq. – also: How Can This Be? – from malcolm pollack.
How much do sex differences matter in sports? – "Thanks in large part to testosterone, men are generally heavier and taller than women. They have longer limbs relative to their height, bigger hearts and lungs, less fat, denser bones, more oxygen-carrying red blood cells, heavier skeletons that support more muscle — 80 percent more in the upper body, on average, which is about the difference between male and female gorillas — and narrower hips that make for more efficient running and decrease the chance of injury. But since these differences generally don't appear until puberty, boys' and girls' records in track tend to be identical before age 10. There's scant biological reason to separate young boys and girls in competitions." – from david epstein.
How the gender divide reaches into our nightmares – "A study has found women are more likely to dream of interpersonal disputes, while men tend to face war, calamities and insect swarms alone."
Be My Valentines: Is Monogamy Natural to Us? – "It turns out that we aren't monogamous or polygamous by nature. As everyone from poets to divorce attorneys can attest, we are by nature a profoundly confused species—somewhere in between." – h/t robert ford!
Male infanticide leads to social monogamy in primates – "The origin of social monogamy in primates is best explained by long lactation periods caused by altriciality, making primate infants particularly vulnerable to infanticidal males. We show that biparental care shortens relative lactation length, thereby reducing infanticide risk and increasing reproductive rates. These phylogenetic analyses support a key role for infanticide in the social evolution of primates, and potentially, humans." – h/t heartiste!
23andMe Couples Correlated – "For Valentine's Day, we analyzed data from 15,298 real-world couples who had children together and found that people paired with others who were more like themselves than they were different."
How Women Gang Up On Each Other To Get What They Want – from claire lehmann.
Morality and evolution – from mr. mangan, esq.
Cultural Marxism, gay-style – hints of left-wing authoritarism? i think so. from the awesome epigone.
Panthropology reveals 4,300 year old chimp site
Ethnic diversity's 'inconvenient truths' – "[W]hen the Vancouver Foundation recently conducted a massive survey of Metro Vancouver residents, researchers discovered most people in this West Coast city feel unusually high levels of loneliness and lack of friends…. The Vancouver Foundation survey of 3,800 diverse Metro residents confirmed Putnam's results. It found one in four Metro residents feels alone more often than they would like, one-third consider Vancouver a difficult place to make friends, most don't socialize with their neighbours, half don't volunteer and most feel that, while diversity is generally a good thing, they prefer to be with members of their own ethnic group." – h/t mike anissimov!
Rainforests in Far East shaped by humans for the last 11,000 years – "New research shows that the tropical forests of South East Asia have been shaped by humans for the last 11,000 years. The rain forests of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Thailand and Vietnam were previously thought to have been largely unaffected by humans, but the latest research suggests otherwise."
The Case of Moulay Ismael – Fact or Fancy? – "The results indicate that Moulay Ismael could have achieved this high [888 children!] reproductive success." – btw, that's moulay ismael the bloodthirsty to you!
How HBD Will Make you a Better Person – "[F]orbidden knowledge does not result in genocide. The problem with this view is that genocide has been the norm throughout human history — that is, until very recently. On a historical timeline, our recent scientific knowledge of racial differences actually negatively correlates with the historic trend of genocide." – @occam's razor.
Robots and HBD denialism – "The coming robot revolution will make the labor of people below a certain IQ totally worthless. This is an event never before experienced by humanity." – from the lion of the blogosphere.
The outgrowth of Muller's eugenics program – "[T]he eugenics program described by Muller, as such, has become a reality." – h/t jayman and billare!
Being lazy could be genetic say scientists – study done on (lazy, good for nuthin'!) mice.
Male sexual orientation influenced by genes, study shows – "Genes examined in study are not sufficient or necessary to make men gay but do play some role in sexuality, say US researchers."
Church Making Strides Preserving African Family Histories – "Genealogy experts are experiencing a race against time in Sub-Saharan Africa; an area that spans 36 countries. There is an urgency to collect oral interviews of African genealogy because family historians are aging and some are dying before those histories can be recorded." – h/t t.greer!
Plagiarism attitudes common across cultures – in children – h/t naturalismo!
Richard III DNA mapping: historic first lets experts look into eyes of Plantagenet king – "Scientists will be able to check whether portraits of a dark-haired brooding monarch are accurate."
Norse Rune code cracked – "A scholar of the University of Oslo has cracked one of the rune codes used by the Vikings, revealing they were sending each other messages such as 'Kiss me'." -?!-
Midiclorianos: determinismo biológico en Star wars – REALLY important stuff from eduardo zugasti. (^_^)
After 400 years, mathematicians find a new class of solid shapes – "Nearly 400 years after the last class was described, researchers claim that they may have now invented a new, fourth class, which they call Goldberg polyhedra." – h/t jason moore!
bonus: Nigeria: Restaurant Served Roasted Human Heads – yup.
bonus bonus: Huge chimpanzee population thriving in remote Congo forest – "Scientists believe the group is one of the last chimp 'mega-cultures', sharing a unique set of customs and behaviour."
bonus bonus bonus: Camels Had No Business in Genesis – "Radiocarbon dating was used to pinpoint the earliest known domesticated camels in Israel to the 10th century B.C.— decades after the kingdom of David, according to the Bible."
bonus bonus bonus bonus: Cat parasite found in Arctic Beluga – "The cat parasite *Toxoplasma gondii*, which can cause blindness in people, has been identified in Beluga in the western Arctic." – h/t carl zimmer!
bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus: The Rise of the Crazy Ants – "Ants equipped with venom antidote invade southeastern U.S." – h/t hbd bibliography!
bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus: This Tiny Animal Can Live an Estimated 1,400 Years
bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus: Conservative Acquaintance Annoyingly Not Racist – h/t niall gooch!
(note: comments do not require an email. bili apes!)


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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Aiming to show he's still focused on creating jobs, President Barack Obama is beginning a series of quick trips around the country to resurrect ideas from his State of the Union address that became overshadowed by the intense debates over gun control, immigration and automatic spending cuts.
Obama on Thursday dropped in on Austin, Texas, and was using that bustling state capital as a backdrop to talk about attracting jobs, providing skills training and ensuring that hard work begets a decent living.
The trip was an opportunity to make his case for his more ambitious jobs agenda — one that has faced stiff resistance from Republican lawmakers — and to offer more modest initiatives that don't need congressional action.
Among those administrative actions is a plan to launch a competition to create three new Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, partnerships among businesses, universities and government to help U.S.-based manufacturers and workers create good jobs. Five federal agencies — the Defense, Energy and Commerce departments, NASA and the National Science Foundation — are putting $200 million toward the effort.
"We believe that manufacturing is worthy of that priority because it punches above its weight economically," said Gene Sperling, director of Obama's National Economic Council.
For Obama, it was his second trip to Texas in two weeks. He was greeted at the foot of Air Force One by Republican Gov. Rick Perry, a critic of Obama's polices. The two men chatted as they walked across the tarmac.
The president argued in February's State of the Union address that an economy that is growing and creating well-paying middle-class jobs must be the guiding principle for Washington policymakers. He proposed a broad expansion of pre-kindergarten to accommodate every 4-year-old, calling it a smart investment that will help improve educational outcomes, along with raising the federal minimum wage to $9 to help working families. Both ideas almost immediately faced resistance from some lawmakers who said the proposals cost too much and could stunt the economy, and Obama has barely discussed either proposal since then.
At the time of the speech, the debate over gun-control legislation was heating up following the December massacre of 20 first-graders and six educators at a Connecticut elementary school. A bipartisan group of senators was drafting a sweeping immigration bill desired by both political parties, and Congress and the White House were blaming each other for $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that would kick in March 1.
The series of field trips Obama begins Thursday marks an attempt by the president to remind the public that he hasn't forgotten about the issues that concern them the most: the economy and jobs. The outing also comes amid questions about whether the second-term president has enough sway to get his agenda through a divided Congress before attention turns to the November 2014 midterm elections.
Since his second inauguration, Obama has lost a bid to expand background checks for gun buyers and was similarly unsuccessful at getting lawmakers to undo the spending cuts. On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin considering and voting on scores of proposed changes to the immigration bill, which is facing opposition from conservatives, religious leaders and others.
His jobs proposals have stalled in Congress, with Republicans showing no interest in job-creation plans based on new federal spending. They also argue that Obama's regulatory regime and new health care law — the president's signature domestic policy achievement to date — are hindering more robust job growth.
"The president doesn't seem to understand that it's his policies that are undermining economic growth and job creation," House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday as the president departed.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ridiculed Obama's trip as mere image-building.
"If you're someone who's all about the visual, then of course putting on a pair of goggles or showing up at a factory is a great way to at least look like you're doing something about job creation," he said.
By traveling to Texas to begin this renewed attention to his jobs initiatives, Obama is choosing a state represented by two of the most conservative Republican members of the U.S. Senate — John Cornyn and tea party hero Ted Cruz. Texas also has the second-highest Hispanic population in the country, an attractive demographic group for Democrats and a key audience for Obama as he also pushes for an overhaul of immigration laws.
Obama's effort to highlight jobs and the economy is buoyed by last Friday's positive jobs report, which found that the unemployment rate had dipped to a four-year low of 7.5 percent in April and employers had added 165,000 jobs — and that far more jobs were added in in February and March than previously thought.
"He's focusing on economic issues that are at the core of his agenda, and have always been at the core of his agenda," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
But the slowly improving economy masks the stagnant wages and fewer working hours that strike directly at the president's base of support: young people, racial minorities and the less affluent. The average unemployment rate in the first three months of the year was 7.7 percent, but the rate was 13.6 percent for blacks and 9.5 percent for Latinos.
Before Obama departed Washington for a stay of about five hours in Texas, the White House announced a pair of initiatives it said would help the economy in the absence of action by Congress.
The competition for three new Manufacturing Innovation Institutes that Obama planned to announce are being financed with savings from participating government agencies. The president has also asked Congress for a one-time investment of $1 billion to create a nationwide network of 15 such institutes.
The White House also announced an executive order and other steps to make government data more easily available to entrepreneurs, researchers and others who can then use the information to create new products and services, build businesses and create jobs.
Obama planned to visit Manor New Tech High School near Austin, where the curriculum is based on science, technology, engineering and math. He'll hold separate meetings with middle-class workers and technology entrepreneurs, and visit Applied Materials, a high-tech company whose products help make goods like smartphones, flat-screen TVs and solar panels more affordable, according to its website.
Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington contributed to this report.
Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap


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The ICI keeps a small administrative staff, reserving resources for its fellows and activities.
The international and interdisciplinary group of associate members play an active and important role for the ICI Berlin. Both individually and collectively, they form an independent, supportive board for the Institute's leadership, offering their advice, expertise, and experience on all critical matters regarding the profile, operation, and development of the ICI Berlin as an independent research institution. In particular, they help the ICI Berlin in conceiving its core projects, selecting fellows, and evaluating possibilities of cooperation.
Each year, the ICI Berlin invites an international and multidisciplinary group of fellows to link their individual projects to the ICI Core Project and to engage in a joint exploration with other fellows at the institute.
ICI Fellowships are usually advertised once a year for a particular core project. As stated in the fellowship guidelines, applications can only be considered when received during the application period.
The ICI Berlin also offers non-stipendiary Affiliation Fellowships, which include a limited use of the ICI's facilities and services. They are intended mostly for recent ICI Alumni but are also open to other individuals with projects related to the ICI's current research focus.
The ICI Berlin encourages former fellows to keep involved in its activities and stay connected. Former fellows are free to continue using their profiles and keep them updated. In addition to a list of all former fellows, we maintain lists of alumni grouped by the academic year in which they were last stipendiary fellows: alumni -16, -14, -13, -12, -11, -10, -09, -08
For many events and some research projects, the ICI Berlin co-operates with other partners.


text: Electro-pop group Sneaky Sound System emerged among the premier Australian club acts of its generation with its self-titled 2006 breakthrough LP. Songwriter/producer "Black Angus" McDonald and MC Daimon "Double D" Downey first met at a Sydney costume party in the spring of 2000, soon after hatching plans to co-headline DJ sets at a friend's nightclub. The following summer, they began collaborating under the Sneaky Sound System aegis, signing to Sony Music Australia and in late 2003 issuing the mix CD Other Peoples Music. After founding their own Whack Recordings label, Black Angus and Double D teamed with producer/engineer Peter Dolso to begin work on their official debut, scoring a club hit with the single "Hip Hop Hooray." Soon after, they recruited vocalist Miss Connie Mitchell, a former member of the Aussie rock trio Primary, and completed work on their self-titled debut album, which scored a pair of Top 40 hits with the singles "I Love It" and "Pictures" and eventually went triple platinum in their home country. Touring stints in support of Jamiroquai, Robbie Williams, and the Scissor Sisters followed. Their second album, Two, was released in 2008 and topped the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) album chart. Downey left the group, who moved to the Modular label and released From Here to Anywhere in 2011. "I Will Be Here," a collaboration with Tiësto, topped Billboard's Dance Airplay chart in the U.S. The Knocks then worked with the group on "The One," a single released in 2014. Mitchell has also worked with Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, and Kanye West. ~ Jason Ankeny


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Published February 2011.
Why is it that some children can give you number bonds to ten, and yet are unable to count to ten accurately?
Why is it some children can count in tens to one hundred and yet they cannot tell you which number comes after 39?
Perhaps it is because we treat mathematical learning as a path of stepping stones. One concept is introduced to be assimilated before the next is tackled. No-one would argue with the statement that 'maths is a subject which requires a progression of knowledge', so what goes wrong?
When we come across a problem in life we do our best to get around it. We find tricks and ways of avoiding our problem, and thus mask our difficulties from other people. We are able to regurgitate facts, but we do not understand the principles behind them. In maths, these tricks often involve major feats of memory.
Everybody is different. A concept that might be obvious to one person may be difficult for another to grasp. That person may require a different approach - say a practical, 'hands on' method rather than an abstract, 'algebraic' approach. They may just require a little more time to 'get it straight' in their mind, or they may simply be unsure that they have understood. Nobody likes to stand out by saying that they haven't understood, especially when it seems that everyone around them has understood perfectly. (They aren't asking for more help, so they must understand.)
As an illustration let's look at something which we may have first encountered in secondary school - Ohm's Law. It says
that is, voltage is proportional to current and resistance. A 'non-mathematician' may also have to remember
$$ R = \frac{V}{I} \; \mbox{ and } \; I = \frac{V}{R}$$
whereas a mathematician who understands changing the subject of a formula, can easily manipulate the first equation to form the other two.
In the 'real-world' of teaching a class of some 30 children, there is never enough time to ensure that every child has had every opportunity to fully comprehend what is being taught. We do our best to explain, show and allow the children to try out new ideas for themselves in a variety of contexts and approaches. But we do not expect 100% of the class to fully understand, before we have to press on with the next topic. Gradually we build up a cache of pupils who are gaining a cumulative lack of understanding, until, as we are well aware, they have such a poor 'background' knowledge, they have little hope of understanding the next topic, and they are inevitably labelled as 'the bottom group'.
Can we avoid this downward spiral, which leads to children who give up on maths, and teachers who are frustrated because they don't have the time to give all the extra help that is needed?
Instead of a path of stepping stones, try to imagine mathematical knowledge as a broad crazy paving. There is no one right place to start and there is no one right route to follow. Each stone is surrounded by several others and the most satisfying route is a slow meander over all the stones!
Because a child can apparently add two numbers, we shouldn't assume that he has understood what addition means or even what numbers are. It may be he has found a trick which allows him to jump over a stone or two of the crazy paving. Similarly, children who can perform mathematical 'party tricks' without a true understanding of what is involved, may have been led on a route along the path without being able to stop and absorb the view from other stones along the way.
So what can we do to give children more time to absorb and understand mathematics? Well, we can't invent more time, but we can share time with other topics on the curriculum, and we can ensure that a child's free or 'choosing' time is well used.
Right from day one, babies and children are exploring the world around them. Gradually their known world becomes larger and every new encounter has to be analysed and stored for later reference. Babies and young children are very busy indeed! As the children grow, their world divides into 'home' and 'school', and school is further sub-divided into 'subjects'. As teachers, we should endeavour to remember that life isn't really a series of different subjects, but is a conglomeration without boundaries.
The daily mathematics lesson shouldn't be treated as the day's sole allotted time for maths. It is instead a very valuable hour for concentrated work on formalising familiar ideas and introducing new ones. But your children's contact with maths doesn't start and finish within that hour, it is a continuous encounter throughout their waking day. Just take a minute or two to think of all the mathematical things you have done today. Don't just think of times you have used numbers, but include telling the time, measuring weights or lengths, judging spaces (when parking the car), using money, and so on. OK, so some of it is pretty basic stuff, but then you've had years to practise! Remember, even you had to learn to count, and learn the days of the week, etc.
Because maths is such an integral part of our lives we tend to forget that we too had to learn everything in the distant past, and we can often assume a child will have a certain piece of mathematical knowledge when in fact they do not. Our role as teachers is to provide that child with as many opportunities for learning as possible. We can do this in school and we can help parents to provide simple learning opportunities at home by establishing a good two-way interaction with parents and carers.
Here are a few suggestions for how maths can be included throughout the day.
Be aware of when you are, and when you could be, using mathematical vocabulary rather than talking about 'amounts' talk about 'lengths', 'weights', 'amounts of money', etc., demonstrate what 'sharing' and 'exchanging' mean when the occasions arise naturally, use the vocabulary of shapes and time, etc., etc.
Take time to count objects (sheets of paper, pairs of scissors, etc.) out loud.
Use register time as an opportunity for a quick calculation - 32 children in the class, 2 are away, how many are here?
Have a daily 'calendar' session to familiarise the children with the names and order of the days and the months, and to introduce ordinal numbers.
Use art sessions to make up patterns, print 2 D shapes with the faces of 3 D shapes, build 2 D shapes into pictures.
Use mathematical vocabulary in science and technology sessions.
Teach the children to play board games with a dice. Using a die with spots helps the understanding of the connection between the names of the numbers and their meaning. Using two dice helps to establish number bonds.
Teach the children to play dominoes. (picture and spot dominoes)
Help the children with jig-saws, so they can learn how to try pieces in different orientations. A piece that seemed not to fit, now magically does.
Provide a rich variety of 'spatial' toys, such as peg boards, stacking and nesting toys, bead counting frames, wooden and sticky-paper mosaic shapes, building blocks, shape matching toys, jig-saws, mosaic colouring sheets, etc., etc.
It is most likely that the children who would gain most benefit from these toys and games are the ones least likely to opt for them. Encourage them by providing simple puzzles, games etc. that they can complete and achieve with little or no help, and gradually make things more difficult.
'Guide' the children to use these activities during their 'free-play', and 'choosing' times. Encourage them to play the rules properly and not to give up when things seem difficult.
If you are lucky enough to have a classroom assistant, encourage her to talk with the children as they play. Get them to name the number thrown on the dice, count aloud the number of squares moved, name the number reached on the board, name and describe the shapes being used, 'think out loud' when looking for the next domino needed in the line, etc., etc.
The list could go on. The idea is not to produce artificial 'maths opportunities', but to be aware of real occasions when maths is used. By actively allowing children to develop mathematical thinking, away from 'the maths lesson'
The next article in the series can be found here.


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ASTM E517 & E646, Sheet Steel, R&N Testing with Video Extensometer
Sheet metal testing applications require calculations such as yield strength, yield point elongation, ultimate tensile strength, plastic strain ratio ('r' value) and the strain hardening exponent ('n' value). These calculations place a high physical demand on traditional contacting extensometers for measuring axial and transverse strain to allow for enough travel to test the specimens through break, but small enough gauge lengths to ensure high accuracy in measurements. Additionally, relevant ASTM and ISO testing standards have accuracy requirements that must be achieved.
We have found that video extensometry is not frequently used in these applications, as most customers in the metals industry use traditional contacting extensometers and trust the reliability of the results. Developments in the technology of extensometry offer metals testing customers other options, such as our Advanced Video Extensometer (AVE). Not only does this solution allow for simultaneous collection of axial and transverse strain data, and reduce the maintenance required for wear and tear on knife-edges, it may also increase productivity and simplify testing. The purpose of this test is to demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of the AVE for testing steel specimens. For this test, we used our 5982 universal testing system, with a 10 kN load cell and 50 kN wedge grips with serrated faces. We captured the test results with our Bluehill® materials testing software.
5900 Series Premier Testing Systems Brochure
5900 Universal Testing Systems are engineered for precision, built for durability, and offer the flexibility for changing requirements. They are designed with standard and optional features that increase testing efficiency and improve the testing experience for the operator. A wide range of models are available for testing capacities from < 100N up to 600kN.
- Products
- 1/22/2019
Bluehill® Universal Software
Bluehill Universal Software is built from the ground-up for touch interaction and an intuitive user experience. Discover simpler and smarter testing with features such as pre-loaded test methods, QuickTest in seconds, enhanced data exporting: and Instron Connect – a new feature that provides a direct communication link to Service. Users of previous versions of software such as Bluehill 2 and Bluehill 3 can easily upgrade to the newest version of Bluehill.
- Products
- 2/26/2017


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Race Meeting
FREE Admission
FREE Parking
FREE Race Book
Dining Options
Spectators Bar & Bistro (Ground Floor)
Our 7-day bar & bistro (open til late) has a great selection of food and snacks available and is renowned for their pizzas and burgers. For more information on Spectators click here.
A La Carte Meals
A delicious array of $15 a la carte meals are available until 8.30pm. Please check on your arrival to the Metropolitan Stand where to go to enjoy one of these meals. We recommend that for groups of 10 or more you book to guarantee space for you and your guests on 03 338 9094.
Stables BBQ (Adjacent to Stable's Entrance)
If you are looking for a quick bite to eat, while catching up with your trainer/driver between races, the Stables BBQ is an excellent choice. It is open an hour prior to the first race and for most of the race meeting.
Trackside Dining
There are three excellent options to consider:
- Bronze: has access to premium viewing and allocated seating, platters on arrival with a sumptuous buffet dinner to follow. A cash bar is available for you to enjoy a refreshment with your dinner. $62 inc GST per person.
- Silver: includes all of the benefits mentioned above as well as a premium beverage package (includes beer, wine and soft drinks). $92 inc GST per person.
- Gold: includes all the benefits of the Silver package as well as exclusive naming rights to a race, TV and radio publicity via Sky Trackside and radio, print media – coverage from all racing publications and national newspapers (pre and post race day), race name and information sheets at all bars and TAB agencies and sub-agencies throughout NZ, on course announcements from the commentator about your company, exclusive access to view your race in front of the winning post (limited to 10 guests) and a meet and greet with the winning owners and trainers of your race. Price on application.
Please call our friendly Events Team on 03 338 9094 to make a booking.
Private Suite
For further information click here. Available by booking only on 03 338 9094
Free Access And FREE Car Parking
There are two entrances to Addington Raceway, Whiteleigh Avenue and Wrights Road. If by chance there is an event at Christchurch Stadium and/or Horncastle Arena, please advise the car parking consultants you are going to the races and free access will be granted.
Eftpos And Free Wifi
Efpos is available at the Raceway Admin Desk and ATM machines are located outside Spectators internal entrance on the ground floor and in the foyer on levels 1, 2 and 3 of the Metropolitan Stand.
Wifi is free. Please check on arrival for the current network name and password.
Courtesy Van And Blue Star Taxis
Spectators Courtesy Van is available after the races. Please see our friendly bar staff in Spectators to assist you (boundaries apply).
Blue Star Taxis are the official taxi company for Addington Raceway. Phone 03 379 9799.
What's on at Addington
To keep up with the latest information from us, please see the What's On section of our website, download our App and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
You will require an official 'Stable Pass' to gain entry to the Stables. This can be collected from the Administration Desk in the foyer of the Metropolitan Stand.
Please note no children under the age of 6 are allowed in the stables. Children between the ages of 6 -14 will require a Kidz Karts License or are required to complete the Stable Area Awareness Course. For more information on the course click here.


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I Blinked.
It's 4:45am. I've been up for over an hour. I'm all dressed, spare one shoe. But I'm going back to sleep.
Dillon v. United States, this morning's first case, certainly classifies as a mid-major. Law.com's Legal Blog Watch predicted yesterday that by last night I'd be "already in line with a couple of PowerBars and an empty milk jug." And while I find PowerBars unsavory and my lactose intolerance distances me from milk jugs even as latrines, I had intended to get in line for Dillon.
But I blinked. Instead of rushing out the door soon after my alarm went off, I spent an hour agonizing over obstacles surmountable or imagined: my Passover seder kept me up a little too late last night; I hear rain and thunder outside; the Court's slated to hand down decisions this morning, hopefully several big ones; Dillon is just a sentencing case.
Dillon, however, is not just a sentencing case. It's a sequel of sorts to United States v. Booker, in which the Court, by an ideologically scrambled 5-4 vote, held that the federal sentencing guidelines were advisory rather than mandatory. Dillon asks whether a federal judge may modify a sentence to go below the Guidelines even as he resentences a criminal per a new guideline range. In other words, as applied to Dillon's facts, does Congress's retroactive lessening of the mandatory minimum sentence for a crack cocaine possession preclude a judge from also relying upon Booker to further reduce the sentence? Behind the curtain, the justices may have seen something sympathetic in Percy Dillon, as the Court has denied certiorari in similar cases, and the SG's office recommended denial in this case.
Dillon may, then, go on my short list of arguments I should have attended. But whereas my marathon McDonald tailgate swallowed up my chances to see Skilling and Samantar, my excuses for staying home for Dillon may not add up–especially if the Court hands down no big opinions for me to write up today.
Then again, the Court's March sitting is not yet over and I do need to conserve my energy during this carb-starved week…


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HUNTSVILLE, Ala.–Shoppers in Huntsville this holiday season can expect to see more Huntsville Police Officers at shopping locations throughout the city. The increased patrols will begin Friday, November 23, 2012, and run through Monday, December 31, 2012. Police will be highly visible as they monitor parking lots with dedicated patrols in all major retail areas during this high shopping season. The Huntsville Police Department wants the community to have a safe and positive shopping experience.
Chief Morris said criminals often look for the easiest opportunity when deciding to commit a crime. Any shopper can be vulnerable to such crimes as theft, robbery and assaults, and that is why we are taking these progressive and proactive measures to ensure the safety of all shoppers during the holiday season. Huntsville Police suggest the following crime prevention tips and recommendations to make your shopping experience as safe as possible.
• Be alert and aware of your surroundings at all times. Knowing who and what is around you will help you avoid being caught unaware. It also allows you time to react if something does appear suspicious.
• Display confidence. Criminals choose the victim who looks like the easiest target. That choice is partially based on their perception about your abilities to react to an attack. If you walk with a purpose, scan your surroundings, and make casual eye contact with others, you are displaying confidence.
• Trust your instincts. If you have an intuitive feeling something is wrong or suspicious, react immediately and take action to reduce your risk of becoming a victim.
• Carry only what you need. Extra cash, credit cards, checks, jewelry and other items should be left at home — not in your vehicle. If you carry a purse, keep it in front and close to your body. Men should keep their wallets out of back pockets where they are easily stolen. Carry wallets in your front pocket.
• Don't be overburdened with packages. Carrying several shopping bags makes you look vulnerable. If a store cannot hold your merchandise until you finish shopping, place all purchases in the trunk of your car.
• Shop with others. The chance of being victimized drop dramatically when you are with a companion.
• Be prepared. Have your keys in hand when walking to your vehicle and use the alarm or alert button to signal if something is wrong.
• Plan ahead. Choose areas to park where lighting is good and activity is high. Valuables in your car should be kept out of view. Be sure to lock your car and look in the back seat before getting in. Observe anyone sitting in a parked vehicle next to yours. Don't park next to dumpsters or high bushes that can conceal you from observation. Most auto burglaries occur when cars are unlocked.
• Finally, if you feel uncomfortable walking to your vehicle, most malls will provide a security escort upon request.


text:
Diabetic Human clinical trials on Volcanic Nectar Blue Agave showed that the product is Low Glycemic in diabetics. Further, the product did not trigger Adipose tissue fat-storage in humans. The research showed that Volcanic Nectar Blue Agave (at one, two, and three servings) neither triggered fat-storage in fat cells nor elevated blood glucose insulin levels, which would lead to obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetes. The researchers noted that not all agave products have been clinically proven, and the ratios of ingredients in agave (stated or not stated on labels) varies and is not standardized. View full study here.
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text:
Sorafenib Tosylate With or Without Everolimus in Treating Patients With Localized, Unresectable, or Metastatic Liver Cancer
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01005199
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : October 30, 2009
Last Update Posted : May 15, 2019
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
RATIONALE: Sorafenib tosylate and everolimus may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth and by blocking blood flow to the tumor.
PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying giving sorafenib tosylate together with everolimus to see how well it works compared with sorafenib tosylate alone in treating patients with localized, unresectable, or metastatic liver cancer.
|Condition or disease
|Liver Cancer
|Drug: everolimus Drug: sorafenib tosylate
|Phase 2
- To determine if sorafenib tosylate with versus without everolimus can stop tumor progression in patients with localized, unresectable, or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.
- To evaluate changes in symptom-related and global quality of life (QL) and QL benefit over the course of trial treatment in these patients.
- To compare the primary endpoint (i.e., progression-free survival at week 12) to the QL benefit within 12 weeks from baseline.
- To evaluate how symptom-related and global QL indicators map on the single summary index derived from a standardized measure of health status for utility cost analysis.
OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to WHO performance status (0 vs 1), disease spread (extrahepatic spread vs non-extrahepatic spread), and center. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.
- Arm A (standard treatment): Patients receive oral sorafenib tosylate twice daily for 4 weeks. Courses repeat every 4 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
- Arm B (investigational treatment): Patients receive oral sorafenib tosylate twice daily and oral everolimus once daily for 4 weeks. Courses repeat every 4 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
Some patients may undergo CT scan or MRI at baseline and at 6 and 12 weeks during study to assess tumor response, tumor size, and tumor density.
Patients complete quality of life questionnaires at baseline and every 2 weeks for 12 weeks during study treatment.
After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 2 months for 3 years.
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Actual Enrollment :
|106 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Parallel Assignment
|None (Open Label)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|Sorafenib Alone or in Combination With Everolimus in Patients With Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma. A Randomized Multicenter Phase II Trial.
|Study Start Date :
|November 2009
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|June 2013
|Actual Study Completion Date :
|March 2016
Experimental: Arm A: Sorafenib standard
• Arm A (standard treatment): Sorafenib 2 x 400 mg daily until progressive disease, unacceptable toxicity, or consent withdrawal. (46 patients).
Drug: sorafenib tosylate
Sorafenib 2 x 400 mg daily
Other Name: BAY 43-9006
Experimental: Arm B: Sorafenib + everolimus
• Arm B (investigational treatment): Sorafenib 2 x 400 mg daily plus everolimus 1 x 5 mg daily until progressive disease, unacceptable toxicity, or consent withdrawal. (60 patients)
Drug: everolimus
Sorafenib 2 x 400 mg daily plus everolimus 1 x 5 mg daily
Other Name: RAD001
Drug: sorafenib tosylate
Sorafenib 2 x 400 mg daily
Other Name: BAY 43-9006
- Progression-free survival [ Time Frame: at 12 weeks ]
- Objective response [ Time Frame: during trial treatment and follow-up (max. 3 years) ]
- Disease stabilization (DS) [ Time Frame: under trial treatment ]
- Duration of disease stabilization [ Time Frame: Duration of DS (CR, PR or SD) will be calculated from the time that measurement criteria are met for the first time until documented tumor progression. ]
- Progression-free survival (PFS) [ Time Frame: PFS will be calculated from randomization until documented tumor progression or death, whichever occurs first ]
- Time to progression (TTP) [ Time Frame: TTP will be calculated from randomization until documented tumor progression or tumor-related death ]
- Overall survival [ Time Frame: from randomization until death ]
- Adverse events at baseline and during trial treatment [ Time Frame: All AEs will be assessed according to NCI CTCAE v3.0. ]
- Serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP) level [ Time Frame: Serum AFP levels will be measured during the therapy, if AFP is ≥ 1.5 x ULN at baseline. ]
- Viral reactivation in patients with chronic hepatitis B or C virus infection [ Time Frame: Number of patients with HCV/HBV (re)-activation during trial treatment ]
- Correlation between vitamin B12 and overall survival [ Time Frame: The baseline vitamin B12 value, collected at trial randomization, is correlated to overall survival when dichotomized by the cut-point of 600 ng/L. ]
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Histologically, cytologically, or radiologically confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
- Localized, unresectable, or metastatic disease
- Child-Pugh class A or mildly decompensated Child-Pugh class B liver dysfunction (Child-Pugh score ≤ 7)
- Stage B or C disease according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging classification
Measurable disease
- At least 1 unidimensionally measurable site of disease (≥ 10 mm in case of a non-nodal lesion or with a short axis ≥ 15 mm in case of a lymph node) by spiral/multi-slice CT/MRI scan according to revised RECIST criteria
- No locally advanced disease AND a candidate for radical surgery
- No known fibrolamellar HCC or mixed cholangiocarcinoma/HCC
- No clinical symptoms or history of CNS metastases or leptomeningeal disease (no imaging required)
- WHO performance status 0-1
- Hemoglobin ≥ 90 g/L
- Neutrophil count ≥ 1.5 x 10^9/L
- Platelet count ≥ 75 x 10^9/L
- Creatinine clearance ≥ 40 mL/min
- ALT ≤ 5 times upper limit of normal
- Urine dipstick for proteinuria ≤ 1+ OR protein spot urine < 0.6 g/L
- Not pregnant or nursing
- Negative pregnancy test
- Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 12 months after completion of study therapy
- No prior malignancy within the past 5 years except adequately treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix or localized nonmelanoma skin cancer
- No history of hemorrhagic or thrombotic cerebrovascular event within the past 12 months
- No documented variceal hemorrhage within the past 3 months
- No requirement for anticoagulant therapy except for low-dose anticoagulants for maintenance of patency of central venous access or prevention of deep vein thrombosis
- No history or presence of clinically significant acute or unstable cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, renal, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, endocrine, central nervous system, or immunological disorders (except for the presence of hepatitis B or C virus or cirrhosis) within the past 6 months
- No encephalopathy
- No known HIV infection
- No active infection requiring IV antibiotics
- No arterial hypertension ≥ 150/100 mm Hg despite therapy
- No ongoing cardiac dysrhythmias of NCI CTCAE grade ≥ 2, atrial fibrillation of any grade, prolongation of QTc > 500 msec on screening electrocardiogram (ECG), or history of familial long QT syndrome
- No repeated paracentesis (more than 1 per month)
- No psychiatric disorder precluding understanding of information of trial-related topics, giving informed consent, or interfering with compliance for oral drug intake
- No concurrent grapefruit, grapefruit juice, or products containing bitter oranges
- Able to take oral medications
- Completed baseline quality of life questionnaire
- Must be compliant and geographically proximal for follow-up
- See Disease Characteristics
No prior systemic anticancer treatment for this disease
The following prior therapies are allowed provided previously treated lesions remain separate from those to be measured in the current trial and prior treatment is completed within the past 4 weeks
- Surgery
- Liver-directed therapy (e.g., transarterial embolization/chemoembolization [limited to 5 treatments], radiofrequency ablation, cryoablation, radiotherapy, or percutaneous ethanol injection)
- No prior organ transplantation
- No concurrent estrogen-containing supplementary therapy
- No concurrent full-dose anticoagulation with coumarin derivatives
- No concurrent elective major surgery
- No concurrent radiotherapy (concurrent analgesic radiotherapy of non-target lesions allowed)
No concurrent or anticipated need for CYP3A4 inhibitors or inducers, unless the drugs are medically necessary and no substitutes are available, including any of the following:
- Ketoconazole
- Itraconazole
- Voriconazole
- Erythromycin
- Clarithromycin
- Diltiazem
- Verapamil
- Protease inhibitors
No concurrent strong CYP3A4 inducers*, including any of the following:
- Carbamazepine
- Continuous dexamethasone (> 2 mg/day for > 7 days)
- Phenobarbital
- Phenytoin
- Rifampicin
- St. John's wort NOTE: *Concurrent antacids allowed provided they are administered > 1 hour before or > 1 hour after trial drug administration.
- No other concurrent experimental drugs or anticancer therapy or treatment in another clinical trial within the past 30 days
- No other concurrent investigational drugs
- No chronic systemic steroids or other immunosuppressive agents
- No concurrent angiotension converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I)
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01005199
|Medizinische Universität Wien
|Wien, Austria, 1090
|Szent Laszlo Korhaz
|Budapest, Hungary, 1097
|Saint Claraspital AG
|Basel, Switzerland, CH-4016
|Clinical Cancer Research Center at University Hospital Basel
|Basel, Switzerland, CH-4031
|Istituto Oncologico della Svizzera Italiana - Ospedale Regionale Bellinzona e Valli
|Bellinzona, Switzerland, 6500
|Inselspital Bern
|Bern, Switzerland, CH-3010
|Kantonsspital Bruderholz
|Bruderholz, Switzerland, CH-4101
|Hopital Cantonal Universitaire de Geneve
|Geneva, Switzerland, CH-1211
|Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois
|Lausanne, Switzerland, CH-1011
|Kantonsspital Liestal
|Liestal, Switzerland, CH-4410
|CHCVS - Hôpital de Sion
|Sion, Switzerland, 1950
|Kantonsspital - St. Gallen
|St. Gallen, Switzerland, CH-9007
|Thun, Switzerland, 3600
|City Hospital Triemli
|Zurich, Switzerland, CH-8063
|UniversitaetsSpital Zuerich
|Zurich, Switzerland, CH-8091
|Study Chair:
|Dieter Koeberle, MD
|Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen
|Study Chair:
|Jean-Francois Dufour, MD
|University Hospital Inselspital, Berne
|Study Chair:
|Gyorgy Bodoky, MD, PhD
|Szent Laszlo Korhaz
|Study Chair:
|Michael Montemurro, MD
|CHUV Lausanne
Publications of Results:
|Responsible Party:
|Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
SAKK 77/08 and SASL 29
SWS-SAKK-77/08 ( Other Identifier: SAKK )
2009-011884-35 ( EudraCT Number )
|First Posted:
|October 30, 2009 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|May 15, 2019
|Last Verified:
|May 2019
|Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:
|Plan to Share IPD:
adult primary hepatocellular carcinoma
localized unresectable adult primary liver cancer
Liver Neoplasms
Digestive System Neoplasms
Neoplasms by Site
Digestive System Diseases
Liver Diseases
Antineoplastic Agents
Immunosuppressive Agents
Immunologic Factors
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Protein Kinase Inhibitors
Enzyme Inhibitors
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action


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Bento box lunch at Republic, Union Square, New York, sweet lunch of my dreams: seafood dumplings, beef soup, chicken rice, hot green tea. This is what I would eat every day, given the chance.
my bento:
I am not to speak to you, I am to think of you
when I sit alone or wake at night, alone
I am to wait, I do not doubt I am to meet you again
I am to see to it that I do not lose you. (Whitman)
Get up. Go ride.


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july~working in france, so happy to be dancing again, and sweet-swedish-summertime.
august~swimming in lakes, ridiculous amounts of wine and strawberries *in israel strawberry season is about now btw.
september~dog friends and female friends
october~practicing lots of baking and lots of mud-plastering
november~rediscovering suspenders, meeting E.T
december~the prickly heart of a small scale baker…
2014-I am curious about you, what you will bring, what you are planning for me. I am looking forward to spending more time in europe, and to be dancing again. I hope I will stay open and trustful.


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Fill out the Official Student Complaint Form
Fill out the Appeal for Hardship Withdrawal form
Fill out the Appeal for Non-attendance Withdrawal form
The Western Michigan University ombudsman:
- Listens to you and discusses your problems and concerns, identifying and evaluating with you options to resolve problems.
- Provides information on resources within the University that may help you.
- Opens avenues of communication, investigates complaints, and gathers information.
- Serves as a neutral party to solve problems and resolve conflict. The ombudsman does not take sides, but works to achieve fair outcomes.
- Identifies problem areas facing faculty, staff and students, and recommends changes in University policies and procedures.
- Facilitates processes for hardship / non-attendance withdrawal appeals, course grade appeals and program dismissal appeals.


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Misc Wallpaper
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Allow freshly painted walls to dry for a minimum of 1-2 days before applying xception interiors Wallpaper.
We cannot guarantee that the adhesive will adhere correctly and the wall's texture may show through the material.
Delivery: Made just for you in 1 weeks.
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CULTURE- ART FEATURE- Non-linear thought: Dolinger goes below the surface
If you've ever visited Amazement Square, Lynchburg's ultra-fun children's museum, you've probably noticed Ed Dolinger's giant bug sculptures scaling the side of the building formerly used to sell insecticide. The juxtaposition of the huge, cartoon-ish, friendly looking insects with the no-nonsense, real-world architecture of a building that housed a business dedicated to eradicating bugs is hilarious and eye-opening.
Humor, wonder, and a fascination for strange combinations of fantasy and practicality also fuel Dolinger's mixed-media paintings at Staunton's Kronos gallery in the exhibition, "finish line." These mostly graphite and off-white abstract works resemble nothing so much as an amalgam of bits of random-access memory. Dinosaurs share space with auto body parts. Musical scores float across architectural plans. Topographical maps exist alongside Disney characters and illustrated directions for installing a toilet.
To create these complex yet oddly lyrical pieces, Dolinger paints 20-40 layers of translucent acrylic on primed board surfaces. Between the layers, he introduces elements of drawings, using Xerox transfers and other materials. He then wet-sands the coats of paint before polishing them with super-fine sandpaper. The resulting works look like tracing-paper sketchbooks that were left out in the rain, leaving the pages glommed together— except Dolinger's paintings are square and perfectly smooth.
Many of the images embody an air of nostalgia. The ubiquitous automobile illustrations date to the 1950s and '60s, and the earlier they occur in Dollinger's process, the softer and more muted their lines become. The artist also occasionally uses partial images, prompting viewers to fill in the rest from their own associative memories.
Although there is no "sense" to Dollinger's paintings, the most compelling pieces are those where the juxtaposed elements, no matter how odd, take on an organic flow of their own. In "Sixties Sermon," Dolinger intermixes musical notes, car parts, and building plans, among other things, to create a curve of bold and faded lines that gracefully arcs through the off-white space. Less successful is "Slumber," where a profusion of broken-up black lines creates a headache-inducing swirl.
Dolinger plays with color with mixed results in a handful of pieces. The pink and green in "Torque of Ages" is so sticky-sweet that it repels the eye. On the other hand, the red-crackled copper and bronze of "Turboflora" is utterly magnetic, jolted by a thin blue line searing through the painting's center..
Visiting Dolinger's layered world is a mesmerizing trip into the beauty and humor of the unexpected.
Ed Dolinger's exhibition, "finish line," is on view at Kronos Gallery through November 8. 14 Byers St. (on the Wharf), Staunton. 540-213-1815.


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XMC-A825-16 XMC 16 Channel CAN / CAN FD / ARINC-825 Board
16 Fully Isolated Channels
Our Latest Product: The XMC-A825-16 board is a CAN / CAN FD / ARINC-825 16 Channel Board based on an XMC form factor. 16 fully isolated channels with simulaneous transmit and receive. Click here for more information.
The Experts in ARINC-825, CAN and CANaerospace
CANflight Dual Channel Bus Analyzer
- NEW! The CANflight adapter is our newest CAN, CANaerospace and ARINC 825 Dual Channel Bus Analyzer and Traffic Generator brought to you by the CAN Aviation Alliance who helped define the ARINC 825 standard and who's equipment was used to validate the ARINC 825 standard. Click Here for Details...
- ARINC825 is the Controller Area Network (CAN) standard for future Airbus and Boeing aircraft and the framework for all ARINC specifications based on CAN (Note that the ARINC825 specification can only be purchased from the ARINC online store).
- Innovative Control Systems, Inc., Stock Flight Systems and Wetzel Technology have formed the CAN Aviation Alliance, an international strategic partnership to supply the aerospace industry with integrated solutions for the ARINC825 standard, consisting of the PMC825 module, operating system drivers and a window-oriented toolbox.
- The PMC825 is the reference system used by the AEEC CAN Technical Working Group for the development of the ARINC Specification 825 and will reflect the development of the standard on a continuous basis.
- PMC825 modules can work as either standalone systems linked to host computers via Ethernet/UPD/IP or as plug-in boards for computer hosts offering PMC, PCI, Compact-PCI, PCI-X, PCI-Express or VME interfaces.
- The standalone version of the PMC825 (PowerNECS) integrates the module into a rugged aluminum box that can be powered from 9-36 VDC allowing it to run from standard 14V or 28V DC aircraft power buses and may be used for flight test applications.
- The PMC825 is delivered together with the eXtended CAN Tool (XCT) software, a powerful window-oriented ARINC825 network toolbox for Linux and Windows XP/7.
New 16-channel Isolated ARINC-825 PMC Board Designed
Phoenix USA, 9 May 2013 - The CAN Aviation Alliance is proud to announce our new 16 Channel ARINC-825 / CAN Aerospace / CAN PMC form factor board. This powerful and intelligent board is designed around the latest 28nm XILINX ARTIX-7 FPGA with over 215,000 internal Logic Cells. The resulting implementation has 6 Internal Microprocessors running at 112 MHz with 16-Bosch C_CAN CAN Cores. There is on board storage of CAN data up to 128GBytes. The board is field updatable, highly configurable and easy to modify for custom Special Mission Applications. The board uses the PMC form factor to allow maximizing the types of host platforms that it can be used in. Carrier boards will be available in CompactPCI, CompactPCI Express, PCI, PCI Express, PXI and others. In addition, there is a stand-alone enclosure available that allows the board to be used in flight test applications from Aircraft power. The board also offers new features such as in the field upgradeable software and FPGA firmware and is compatible with the same leading edge XCT software suite as our existing 4 and 8 channel PMC boards.
The first production 16-channel PMC boards will be available before the end of July 2013. Contact us today for additional information needs regarding our new hi-tech product.
*Notice: All third-party brands and trademarks belong to their respective owners.
CAN Aviation Alliance goes Paris Air Show 2011
Paris, 20 June 2011 - The CAN Aviation Alliance shows PowerNECS, the new CANflight and XCT during Paris Air Show in Hall 2C, stand D341. The demonstration includes a flight simulator driven by CANaerospace over Wireless LAN (CoE) and ARINC825 over Ethernet (A825oE). Download the corresponding Press Release Here:
Laptop-ready version of the PMC825 available
Phoenix, 21 March 2011 - Innovative Control Systems and Stock Flight Systems have announced a 2-channel version of the PMC825 contained in a standalone solid aluminum enclosure. The CANflight unit is powered by a USB connector and communicates with host computers via Ethernet/UDP/IP. The CANflight functionality is identical to that of the PMC825. Host software already developed for the PMC825 including XCT may be reused. Click Here For More.
CAN/CANaerospace/ARINC 825 Training Courses available
Farchach, March 3, 2011 - Stock Flight Systems announces the immediate availability of a three day CAN/CANaerospace/ARINC 825 Training Course which includes hands-on experience with airborne systems and an introduction to the eXtended CAN Tool (XCT). Stock Flight Systems is the inventor of the CANaerospace interface definition and is a member of the ARINC Technical Working Group which defined the ARINC 825 standard. The training courses will be held at locations in Berg/Germany and Phoenix/Arizona. Inhouse courses with optional consulting services are available as well. For details please mail to:
PMC825/XCT Presentation
Toulouse, 16 April 2010 - Stock Flight Systems and Wetzel Technology have demonstrated the outstanding capabilities of the PMC825/XCT reference system for ARINC 825 during a meeting of the ARINC CAN Technical Working Group at Airbus facilities in Toulouse.
Download this presentation here:
PMC825/PowerNECS Thermal/Vacuum Test successfully completed
Ottobrunn, 10 April 2010 - Stock Flight Systems has successfully tested the PMC825/PowerNECS in the IABG Space Test Center in Ottobrunn thermal/vacuum test chamber for envrionmental conditions of -60 to +60 degrees Celsius and down to 70hPa ambient pressure. This test was conducted as part of the qualification of PowerNECS as a flight data recording system for large transport aircraft.
PMC825 available for A350 Test Systems
Poing, Dec 31, 2009 - TechSAT GmbH reports the immediate availability of the PMC825 for the TechSAT ADS2 System Integration Bench (SIB) and ADS3 New Generation Test System (NGTS). TechSAT is a leading supplier of Test & Integration Systems for the aerospace industry and a strategic partner of the PMC825 consortium.


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At least 25 homes in East Haven were destroyed, one person has died, others are missing and more than half the state is without power after Tropical Storm Irene tore through Connecticut Sunday.
East Haven mayor April Capone said that at least 25 homes in the Cosey Beach neighborhood were "a total loss" — swept out to sea, collapsed or missing entire sides.
"It's devastating," said Capone. "Fortunately, we have no loss of life, which is the most important thing."
Capone said that most residents left before the storm struck, but that several people had not heeded the mandatory evacuation and needed to be rescued. She said that residents would be allowed to return to the area tomorrow, adding, "but in some cases there's nothing there."
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said that three people were missing, two in East Haven and one in Bristol. East Haven police said they were not searching for any missing people, but state officials said that two residents of a heavily damaged home remain unaccounted for.
In Bristol, the national guard rescued one of two men whose canoe capsized in the flood-swollen Pequabuck River just after 3 p.m. While one man was able to swim to the river bank and wait for rescuers, police said witnesses never saw the second man, identified as Shane Seaver, 46, surface. The National Guard continues to search for Seaver.
"I heard the people yelling 'Help, help' — they were coming down the river," said Kathy Oates. "Then they banged their heads right into the end there, next thing they went under and my husband went running."
Malloy warned citizens against taking unnecessary chances in difficult weather.
"I hope and pray their lives are not lost," Malloy told reporters Sunday. "There is no reason to be on the water," in a canoe or kayak.
Following the storm, many towns along the Housatonic, Connecticut and Farmington Rivers worried about flooding. Farmington urged residents in several areas along Route 4 and New Britain Avenue, as well as Riverwood and Farmington Village to evacuate.
Trees, branches and power lines remain strewn across roads in every town in the state. Major highways are open and tractor-trailer bans have been lifted, but many local roads are impassible. About 2,000 residents are in shelters across the state.
At 11 p.m., 767,324 electric customers were without power, a number that was expected to climb through the night as wind gusts dislodged lose branches and wires. There is no timeframe for the restorations, which will affect school openings this week.
Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford was forced to evacuate all 43 patients to other area hopsitals after a generator failed during the power outage Sunday afternoon. Staff remained in the emergency, operating and obstetrics departments.
The number of outages is the highest in recent memory, and crews will likely take days to restore all power. With large numbers of downed trees, state and local officials will be working overtime in the coming days to restore the state to normalcy. CL&P said that it would have "several hundred crews," working throughout the night and ramp up services at 7 a.m. Monday when crews can "maximize daylight hours and be most productive."
The storm hit the shoreline in concert with a strong high tide, causing a surge that swamped roads and homes from Fairfield to New London.
Along Fairfield Beach Road in Fairfield, flood waters surrounded homes, with the waters of the sound rising a quarter mile from the shoreline. Fairfield Fire Chief Richard Felner said that four homes were severely damaged and that two or three would probably have to be torn down.
Rescuers searched the homes after receiving a report that someone was trapped inside, but found no one. The area was part of a mandatory evacuation Saturday, which was extended Sunday when high tides contributed to major flooding.
Sections of Fairfield Beach Road remained impassable, but tourists eager to see the damage flocked to the area. There is also significant flooding on Harbor Road and in the Ash Creek area, she said.
In Prospect, a woman died in a house fire caused by downed wires.
The fire occurred at 111 Clark Hill Road around 5:20 a.m. when a tree in the front yard fell and pulled down the power lines, said Lt. P.J. Conway of the Prospect Volunteer Fire Department.
Two elderly people lived in the house, Conway said. The man escaped.
In Milford, many people had to be rescued from their homes. Police and fire dive teams, with the help of the National Guard, were in the Bayview and Point Beach areas of town, getting people out of houses as high water rushed into the streets.
Among those rescued were a husband and wife in their 60s, who were in their ocean-front home on Shore Front drive when a wave blew out a picture window and came into the house, according to police.
Police said they dispatched a marine unit and dive team on two inflatable vessels that were able to rescue the couple along with their bulldog and cat.
On West Main Street, a tree uprooted and fell onto a house, shattering a window that a young boy had been peering out of seconds before. The boy was shaken but unharmed.
About 27 people were at the shelter at Jonathan Law High School, said Dr. Dennis McBride, the town health director.
"Many of the areas have been flooded before, so we have people who realize this may be a bigger flood than before," he said.
West Haven also saw extensive damage, especially along its 3.5 miles of public shorefront. State representative Stephen Dargan said that he has never seen the likes of it in his 56 years as a resident.
"Everything is washed out on Beach Street," Dargan said in a telephone interview. "We have water all around us. I've lived here in West Haven all of my life and I've never seen it like that."
Transportation problems persisted into the evening, with Interstate 95 in Waterford littered with debris and crews using plows to clear impassible portions of Route 1. The Tappan Zee Bridge, used by many who commute to jobs in New York will likely be closed for several days, according to Malloy.
The Wilbur Cross and Merritt parkways re-opened around 1 p.m. Sunday.
Metro-North suspended service into Monday because of significant damage to many portions of the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines. In addition to downed trees all along the New Haven line into Manhattan, local streams and the Bronx River continued to flood the tracks and high winds felled trees into the night.
"We can't even send our inspection trains out yet to see if tracks are under water, if we've had washouts, if any switch controls are fried," spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said Sunday afternoon. "Just because this wasn't the worst hurricane in New York history doesn't mean we don't have trouble."
Normal bus operations are scheduled to resume Monday in Stamford, Hartford and Waterbury.
With power out all across downtown, Bridgeport wants everyone off the streets by 8 o'clock tonight.
Mayor Bill Finch is asking for help from nearby police agencies to help enforce the curfew.
"We want to make sure everyone is safe, especially while the power is out," Finch said this afternoon. "We've gotten through the hurricane without any major problems, and we ask everyone to cooperate to maintain order."
Shortly before noon, United Illuminating shut off power downtown because of potential flooding at two substations. City officials and UI executives are meeting to determine who to proceed.
"They're working on it diligently. Hopefully we'll have some good news soon," said Elaine Ficarra, Finch's spokeswoman.
At the Holiday Inn downtown, a desk clerk reported the hotel was still open but had no lights or air conditioning. Elevators were running on generator power, she said.
Rainfall in the city totaled 6.5 inches as of 1 p.m. Stratford Avenue has been closed on and off because of rising waters, and the I-95 southbound exit ramp at Wordin Avenue also was shut down.
About 35,000 businesses and homes in Bridgeport had no power as of 1 p.m. About 700 city people were in emergency shelters at two high schools.
Large trees have fallen on two houses in the Black Rock section, causing substantial damage, city officials said.
New Haven police blocked off roads near the shoreline Sunday morning, and a stretch of Woodward Avenue near the Morris Cove section was closed after a large tree toppled over. Around 2 p.m. Sunday, the evacuation order for Morris Cove was lifted and people were allowed to return to their homes.
Motorists near Yale and the downtown Green dodged broken branches here and there Sunday afternoon, but traffic still moved freely. Although few residents ventured out Sunday morning, by the afternoon the streets started to fill with pedestrians, bicyclists and homeowners clearing debris.
Mayor John DeStefano Jr. ordered public works and tree crews to work throughout the night to remove an estimated 1,250 downed trees blocking some 30 streets.
The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings in Windham, Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven and Tolland counties.
Thirty-five towns declared states of emergency after the storm struck, including West Hartford, which was removed Sunday night after CL&P crews started removing live wires that were downed or tangled in trees.
Trees and more than 2,000 telephone poles are down across the state, especially in shoreline towns and in southeastern Connecticut, but damage spread as the storm moved north.
According to Bristol police, a 15- to 20-foot long, one-lane wide portion of Route 72 near Clark Avenue and Terryville Road "washed away." Much of route 72 is impassable.
Residents in the Forestville section of Bristol along East Main Street have been ordered to leave their homes, Bristol police said.
A police dispatcher said Mayor Art Ward has sent a message to the entire city notifying residents to consider evacuating their homes if they are in a low-lying area near a river or stream.
The heaviest rain has moved out of the state, according to Fox CT meteorologist Joe Furey, but showers are still possible Sunday afternoon, and a westerly wind could gust up to 40 mph at times.
"It's an improving situation," Furey said. But he cautioned that shifting winds could loosen branches, and additional scattered power outages are still possible.
Malloy reopened the Merritt and Wilbur Cross parkways around noon and lifted a tractor-trailer ban he had imposed on all roads in the state.
The state, he said, avoided the idea of erecting woodenhorses to literally block the highway entrances because those horses would become "projectiles in 50 mile-an-hour wind."
As such, the main enforcement of the ban on the long highways was through Malloy's announcements on live television.
"As winds have picked up and the rainfall has increased, we can't guard every downed tree, nor can we guard every downed wire, nor is it necessarily a smart thing for us to be guarding every downed tree at this point," Malloy told reporters Sunday at the state's emergency operations center at the state armory in Hartford. "If you're out there, you're on your own."
Besides the highways, the cross-Sound ferries that leave Bridgeport and New London for Long Island were closed Sunday. Buses stopped running throughout the state on Saturday, and the Metro-North Commuter Railroad remained closed down.
Overall, 32 cities and towns reported evacuations, and about 1,600 people stayed in shelters in Saturday night.
A firefighter was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury for minor injuries after he touched the house and received an electrical shock. The occupant of the house was hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
At high tide on Sunday, East Haven police came to roust residents from the town beach. One officer leaned into the wind to retrieve a few picture-takers standing near the sea wall. He then got back into his car, and got on his loudspeaker and said:
"What part do you not understand? Get off the beach. We have downed lines."
Meanwhile, standing on a hill overlooking a flooded Cosey Beach Avenue in East Haven on Sunday, a homeowner who identified himself only as Arnold pointed to his two-story house facing the sound. As waves crashed over the roofs of some of his neighbors, Arnold shrugged.
"It looks like it's still standing from here," he said. "I just hope everyone got out." Police evacuated the street yesterday, and Arnold said he was among the last to leave at around 7 p.m. Saturday. Down the street, one house had caved in on itself, and another had been battered by wind and waves, and all that was left of the first floor was the framing. A curtain fluttered in the gusts. Arnold shrugged, waving toward the damaged homes on his street.
"A house is a house," he said. "People are people."
Karen and Fred Ortola looked out on a roiling Long Island Sound at 8 a.m. Saturday, about an hour and a half before high tide.
They stood on a concrete slab next to Rocky Neck State Park, which was engulfed by the storm surge as waves crashed into bushes.
"It's almost all gone," Fred said.
The couple decided to weather the storm at their home in Niantic, just up the hill from Rocky Neck, instead of staying in their Kensington home, which has a lot of trees.
"During a storm, you can hear them creaking," Karen said.
A dozen or so curious residents came down to Giants Neck Heights private beach, next to Rocky Neck, to take photos and videos of the storm.
At Saybrook Point, where the Connecticut River meets Long Island Sound, the ocean was at full boil. Wind-driven white caps slammed into the sea wall, sending huge plumes of salty spray into the parking lot.
Occasional wind gusts near 70 mph drove horizontal rain there.
The wind, the surge and the incoming tide flooded the Saybrook Point parking lot and nearby marina. Police blocked the causeway between Saybrook Point and Fenwick area, but a few people were out walking on it.
In New London, parking areas and docks near the ferries to Long Island and Block Island were underwater even two hours after high tide.
Shortly before noon, some windows had blown in on buildings along S. Water Street in the downtown area.
David Spon, the owner of a building at 90 Bank St., was out walking his Portuguese water dog in the moderate wind.
Spon said his building, home to Roberts Audio Video, had two windows broken by the wind.
In West Cornwall a small bridge collapsed Sunday due to fast moving water from a brook feeding the Housatonic river.
Danbury called in all public works crews Sunday morning, and Mayor Mark Boughton Tweeted around 8 a.m. that Irene had hit: "It's on people. It's on."
On Main Street in the Southport section of Fairfield, a tree fell into a house, causing the roof to collapse, according to Assistant Fire Chief Douglas Chavenello.
Customers are advised to be prepared to go a week or more without power, spokeswoman Ashley Duncan said.
Many businesses are closed, and many churches canceled services.
Five hundred Connecticut National Guard troops are in position at armories across the state and will be deployed Sunday morning, Malloy said.
Around the state, highway information signs flashed "No Unnecessary Travel. For Your Safety." Malloy said he might ban non-emergency driving on state highways, if necessary.
All air, train and bus service had been suspended.
Amtrak also announced that it suspended service through Sunday in New England, as well as in the Southeast, mid-Atlantic and Northeast states.
In addition to the National Guard, the state has issued 2,000 emergency licenses for out-of-state adjusters, pushing the overall total to 5,000 adjusters ready to handle insurance claims related to the storm, Malloy said. And mobile cell towers have been moved into the state for recovery efforts.
Malloy said that all non-essential workers will be expected at work at 10 a.m. Monday, so they can help residents in need of state services.
"We've got to get our state employees back working," he said.
Courant staff writers Julie Stagis, David Owens, Don Stacom, Matthew Sturdevant, Christopher Keating, Steven Goode, Shawn Beals, Hillary Federico, William Leukhardt, Kim Velsey and Melissa Pionzio and FoxCT's Laurie Perez, George Colli, Erin Flanigan, Michael McGuire, Ayana Harry, Tom Lewis, John Charlton, Anthony DiLorenzo, Rocco Paolino, David McKay and Jeevan Vital contributed to this story.