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SARS Storm Spurs Surprising Strategies
Last winter's outbreak of SARS—severe acute respiratory syndrome—triggered an unprecedented emergency medical response worldwide. Researchers put aside scientific rivalries and within weeks not only discovered the coronavirus that was responsible but also mapped the virus's genomic sequence. After the outbreak had been contained, writer Barry Yeoman asked top medical scientists to reflect on the long-term lessons of the crisis.
Malik Peiris, microbiologist, University of Hong Kong, member of the team that identified the SARS coronavirus: In the 1960s, many believed that infectious disease had been conquered, but that has been proven wrong yet again. Today the scale of the threat is more global. Jet travel has increased exponentially, so somebody can pick up the infection here in Hong Kong and be in Singapore or Toronto in a few hours' time. You hear about the globalization of economy; this is the globalization of disease.
Jessie Gruman, social psychologist and president, Center for the Advancement of Health, Washington, D.C.: There was real reluctance on the part of the pharmaceutical industry to do research until they were sure that it would be worthwhile financially. The government brought together all the big companies and said, "Please, please, work on this," and they walked away. Eventually, some took a chance and did the development work. That's not to say the market is a bad thing. It's just that this is the kind of place where the market falls short, and then people die in the meantime.
Sanjay Kapil, coronavirus expert, Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Manhattan, Kansas: We have learned that it is not a good idea to come into contact with wildlife. SARS came from eating exotic meat, specifically the civet cat. Monkeypox was imported with Gambian giant rats and dormice. Viruses do not appear out of the blue: They have been evolving for millions of years in strange niches. When you are exposed under circumstances that work for a specific virus, the species jump happens.
Mark Rothstein, bioethicist, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky: We've found out that our public-health system is not equipped to handle an emergency of the magnitude of SARS. We don't have the facilities, the people, the know-how, to implement any large-scale form of quarantine. What would have happened if we had had to isolate 10,000 people at home? We've got to have a way to get food to them and to make sure they're obeying the quarantine orders. We've got to have a way to replace their income, so people who live from paycheck to paycheck don't try to sneak out the back way to go to work. There are a whole range of issues that we need to consider.
W. H. Seto, chairman of infection control, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong: The SARS outbreak has reaffirmed my faith that basic infection-control measures work. Nearly 400 health-care workers were infected in Hong Kong, but my hospital, one of the two big teaching hospitals in the city, had only two infections—by far the lowest number of any staff. We just practiced the basics: wear masks, isolate patients, and wash your hands.
Barry Bloom, dean of faculty, School of Public Health, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts: If the principal role of public health is preventing disease, it is not the smartest thing in the world to cut the infectious-diseases budget of the Centers for Disease Control, as Congress did this year. Despite all that we have learned about SARS, AIDS, and Ebola, the CDC, our major public-health institution, is getting kicked in the head, which puts us all at risk. How did the CDC get 300 or 400 people manning the phones, running to China, going to Vietnam and Taiwan during the SARS outbreak? They pulled everybody they could get their hands on off every other disease. They did a heroic job—but we became enormously vulnerable to other infectious diseases, or terrorism, or anything else.
Robert Garry, virologist engaged in envelope-protein research that may lead to a SARS vaccine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans: We've learned that it's good to support basic scientific research. Coronaviruses had never been associated with lethal diseases in humans before. Nevertheless, work on those viruses had been supported by the National Institutes of Health and other places, so we knew quite a bit about this family of viruses before the outbreak, which meant we were in a better position to make vaccines that could prevent another outbreak. If the basic research hadn't been done, SARS would have been a much more serious threat.
Michael Lai, molecular microbiologist, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles: Viruses are smarter than virologists.
Motherless Eggs Created in Lab
Stem cell researchers performed a laboratory feat this year that was once deemed unthinkable: the artificial creation of egg cells. "An egg is the most sophisticated cell in an organism, carrying the genes from one generation to the next," says Jose Cibelli, a biotechnologist at Michigan State University. The work was done with mice. But if the same can be done with human cells, the implications are extraordinary. Scientists would have an infinite supply of eggs for cloning vital tissues or organs and conducting fertility research—without needing human donors.
A team of developmental biologists led by Hans Schöler and Karen Hübner at the University of Pennsylvania placed densely packed clusters of stem cells from mouse embryos in a petri dish, using fetal calf serum as a growth medium and adding a gene protein that turns green when germ cells form. After four days, green flecks started appearing, "like a GPS system telling them where the eggs were," says Cibelli, who observed the experiment. Just days later, the germ cells matured into egg follicles. Schöler and his team then found further proofs that the eggs were functional: the presence of estradiol, a chemical produced only in the follicles; meiotic chromosome division; and, by adding the hormone gonadotropin, simulated ovulation.
Schöler is confident it will eventually be possible to create test-tube human eggs. How viable the eggs may be remains to be seen, but the ultimate hope is that they be could be used to produce an infinite, affordable supply of embryonic stem cells. Those primordial cells, in turn, could conceivably be used to treat Parkinson's and other cell-based diseases, as well as to clone vital tissues and transplantable organs. "In the past, we had to rely on women to donate eggs for this research," says Schöler. "And that's when you run into ethical issues such as the commercialization of human beings."
Other scientists think creating test-tube eggs opens a new Pandora's box of ethical concerns. "Genetically, this type of clone is still a member of our species," says David Prentice, a cellular biologist at Indiana State University and cofounder of Do No Harm, a group of scientists favoring alternatives to embryonic stem cell research. "We need to have an open discussion in society on what we will and will not experiment on." In theory, test-tube human eggs could help infertile couples who cannot produce their own eggs. If it works, women—or men—could have their genetic material inserted in an empty egg, cloned, and then fertilized with a partner's sperm. Or, with the help of a surrogate mother, two men could conceive a baby.
"It's all very speculative at this point," says Cibelli. "One of the main problems is that we don't know if the correct number of chromosomes would be produced. But who knows? Who expected scientists to produce eggs in a laboratory? It's remarkable."
—Annette Foglino
Aspirin May Prevent Some Cancers
Pain reliever, fever reducer, anti-inflammatory, preventer of heart attack and stroke—the humble aspirin looks increasingly like a miracle drug. Last March two studies confirmed that it might also help prevent the growth of polyps associated with colon cancer. In one study, half of 635 patients with a history of colon or rectal cancer took one aspirin daily while the rest took a placebo. Only 17 percent of those taking the aspirin developed new polyps, compared with 27 percent of those taking the placebo. Results of the second, larger study were nearly as impressive: 38 percent of patients who took baby aspirin developed new polyps, compared with 47 percent of patients taking the placebo.
The studies were also a source of encouragement to scientists who are studying aspirin's potential for fighting other cancers. Randall Harris, a cancer epidemiologist at Ohio State University, has observed a 68 percent lower risk of lung cancer in heavy smokers who took aspirin regularly; women who took aspirin or ibuprofen for at least five years had a 40 percent lower risk of breast cancer. Harris estimates that about 20 studies suggest aspirin and similar drugs may have a preventive effect on breast cancer. How aspirin works is a longstanding puzzle, but Harris and others theorize that it may help inhibit cancer by blocking cyclooxygenase-2, or COX-2, an enzyme commonly found in malignant tumors.
Robert Sandler, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who worked on both colon cancer studies, stops short of recommending that people routinely take aspirin to ward off cancer, especially since the drug's side effects can include ulcers and, in rare cases, strokes or even death. But, he says, "those who are already taking aspirin as a preventive measure for heart disease can take comfort in knowing they may be getting an added benefit."
—Annette Foglino
Stem Cells Reverse Paralysis in Rats
Stem cells taken from human embryos have been used to make paralyzed rats walk again. In July neurobiologist Hans Keirstead of the University of California at Irvine announced that the breakthrough experiment by his research team could lead to treatment of traumatic spinal injuries in humans.
The challenge facing the research team was to repair the bruised spines of the rats by rebuilding fatty tissue called the myelin sheath, which Keirstead likens to "the insulation around electric wires, without which the electrical impulses can't communicate." The research team first altered the undifferentiated embryonic stem cells into oligodendrocytes, the cells that form the myelin sheath, by using a combination of growth factors that "mimicked the environment of the brain where the cells thrive," Keirstead says. The paralyzed rats then received injections of the oligodendrocytes and regained the ability to walk in nine weeks. Keirstead says human trials using the same technique could begin in two years.
—Annette Foglino
Smoking: The News Just Gets Grimmer
"The effects of smoking extend far beyond the lungs," says chemist Joanna Fowler, coauthor of a study published in September. Fowler and her colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory found that cigarette smoke lowers levels of an enzyme called monoamine oxidase B, or MAO-B, that plays a role in the regulation of blood pressure and is critical to the functioning of multiple organs. The researchers injected volunteer subjects with a chemical that binds to the enzyme and shows up clearly on PET scans. The bad news: In the lungs, hearts, kidneys, and spleens of smokers tested, levels of MAO-B had dropped by one-third to one-half their normal levels. In a previous study, Fowler and her colleagues discovered that smoking also lowers levels of MAO-B in the brain.
—Charles Hirshberg
Mad Cow Disease Surfaces in Canada
In January a veterinarian noticed a drawn and sickly 8-year-old cow at a slaughterhouse in Alberta. Tests later showed that the animal had been suffering from North America's first homegrown case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.
Canadian minister of agriculture Lyle Vanclief insists that the Alberta cow's remains never made it into the food chain. But the United States, which until then consumed 78 percent of Canada's beef exports, banned Canadian beef. And an international panel of veterinary scientists and infectious-diseases specialists recommended that additional safeguards be put in place in North America: removal of brain and spinal-cord tissue from slaughtered cattle and increased testing of high-risk animals.
The cow probably contracted the disease after eating feed made with infected cattle imported from Britain, where the epidemic started in the mid-1980s. Feedmakers worldwide stopped using British cattle remains in 1990, but potentially contaminated feed was still legally circulated in North America until 1997. Experts say a few more mad cow cases could surface in North America in the near future because, although all the contaminated feed has most likely been consumed, the disease has an eight-year incubation period. "As time passes, the likelihood of more cases gets remote," says Jeff Bender, a food safety researcher and infectious-diseases epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota. "We certainly won't have a situation like the United Kingdom, where 180,000 animal cases were recorded and 137 humans were infected. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be vigilant."
—Annette Foglino
Ovulation Parsed
Ultrasound imaging reveals that ovulation is a far more complex process than anyone imagined. "We are literally going to have to rewrite medical textbooks," says Roger Pierson, director of reproductive biology at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada and senior author of a study published in July. In the classic textbook scenario, a woman's ovaries develop a cluster of three to 12 egg-carrying follicles early in a menstrual cycle, and one dominant follicle eventually ripens and releases an egg into the fallopian tube. Pierson and his colleagues carried out daily ultrasound scans on 63 women aged 18 to 40, who all had normal menstrual cycles. Fifty of the women had two to three waves of egg-follicle development before one follicle actually ovulated. But during those growth waves, some of the women had an egg follicle grow larger than the rest, which signals the potential for ovulating. Pierson says his discovery of follicular waves "could help explain why some women ovulate while taking birth control, as well as change the way infertility is treated."
—Annette Foglino
Estimates of Dioxin Use in Vietnam Doubled
How strong were Agent Orange and other herbicides that the United States dumped on Vietnam? It turns out they were far more toxic than anyone had thought. A research team led by Jeanne Mager Stellman of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University reported in April that the herbicides used to defoliate battle zones contained two to four times the previously reported levels of dioxin, a poison linked to a high incidence of prostate cancer, diabetes, birth defects, and other ailments among American veterans, the Vietnamese, and their descendants.
The Air Force flew about 9,000 defoliation sorties. Cross-referencing previously unexamined data from operational folders with already-known mission information enabled the researchers to create time-specific maps of the spraying. By comparing these maps with records of U.S. and Vietnamese troop positions and civilian populations, the researchers determined that at least 3,181 villages were sprayed and that between 2.1 million and 4.8 million Vietnamese were exposed to dioxin. Meanwhile, American veterans can now find out their level of exposure—assuming they know where they were on any given day.
—Michael W. Robbins
New Risks Emerge From Hormone Replacement Therapy
More discouraging news about hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women appeared in June: Women taking Prempro, the most widely prescribed pill containing both estrogen and progestin, are more likely to develop Alzheimer's and to have early breast tumors that go undetected by mammograms. "One of the problems may be that hormones make the mammograms harder to read because they change breast density," says Rowan Chlebowski, a medical oncologist at the Research and Education Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. "It's also possible that hormones cause tumors to grow at a faster rate."
The findings are based on ongoing analysis of data from the federally funded Women's Health Initiative, the first randomized study—and the largest, involving 16,608 women—on the effects of hormone therapy. Launched in 1993, the Women's Health Initiative halted a Prempro test in July 2002 when researchers discovered that women taking the drug were at a higher risk for developing breast cancer, heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes. This year Wyeth Pharmaceutical introduced a lower-dose version of Prempro (with 28 percent less estrogen and 40 percent less progestin) with a warning that the drug should be limited to short-term use. "The hormones were approved to treat symptoms of menopause," says Natalie de Vane, a spokeswoman for Wyeth. "The Women's Health Initiative is an important and well-done study. Women now know that hormone replacement therapy does not prevent disease."
—Annette Foglino
Fact-Acting Ebola Vaccine Tested
Ebola appears without warning and spreads quickly, and the extreme virulence of the virus has complicated efforts to develop an effective vaccine. But in August Gary Nabel, a vaccine researcher at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, announced that an experimental single-shot vaccine protects monkeys in just 28 days.
If the vaccine also proves safe and effective in subsequent tests in humans, it might be possible to mount a containment strategy similar to that used in the past against smallpox. The basic idea is to build a ring of immune hosts around an outbreak by inoculating anyone likely to have contact with someone infected by the virus.
Nabel's team had initially created a two-shot vaccine to sidestep the problem of using live Ebola virus. The first shot contained noninfectious genetic material from the Ebola virus, which would prime the immune system to recognize the pathogen. The second shot contained a modified cold virus that encoded some key Ebola proteins; it worked to boost the antibody response. But the two-shot strategy took several months to build immunity. So the researchers decided to skip the first shot and test the effectiveness of a single shot of the engineered booster virus. Eight macaque monkeys who were inoculated with the single-shot virus all fought off an active Ebola strain obtained from a person who died of the disease in the former Zaire in 1995. The one-shot vaccine doesn't stir up long-lasting protection like the two-shot vaccine does. But in theory, if everyone at risk of immediate exposure receives a fast-acting vaccine, the disease would find no new hosts.
—Eric Levin
Hormone Treatments May Prevent Premature Births
Nearly half a million babies are born at least three weeks premature in the United States each year, and those that survive potentially fatal lung problems in the first month may later develop retardation or cerebral palsy. A study published last February suggests a possible remedy. Doctors at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, reported that weekly injections of a form of progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone that helps nourish the uterus, may substantially reduce a pregnant woman's risk of delivering too soon.
The study, led by Paul Meis, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology, focused on 459 pregnant women with a history of premature births. On average, these women had previously given birth nine to 10 weeks early. About two-thirds received progesterone, the rest placebos. Fifty-five percent of the untreated women delivered three or more weeks early compared with 36 percent who were given progesterone—a reduction of about one-third.
Meis says he does not yet know specifically why progesterone is so effective. Close to delivery, progesterone levels drop dramatically, and he hypothesizes that premature birth happens when the levels of the hormone fall too soon. But levels differ from one woman to the next. Premature birth is most common in mothers who are older or very young, have weight problems, infections, multiple fetuses, or a previous premature child, but in half of all cases none of these factors are present. These uncertainties prompt Siobhan Dolan, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and assistant medical director for the March of Dimes, to counsel caution. "We're thrilled about Meis's research, but it's too early to prescribe progesterone to women who have not had a previous preterm baby," she says. "This is hard for women who are otherwise at high risk. They are going to ask for it, but the studies so far have been small. Although progesterone appears safe, we don't know much about its long-term effects."
—Annette Foglino
Safety of Medical X-Rays Reassessed
Spend a day at the beach or get a chest X-ray and you are exposed to low-level radiation. For more than a century, scientists have assumed your body reacts to that radiation in much the same way it does to high doses—only on a much smaller scale. In May, however, German biophysicists Kai Rothkamm and Markus Löbrich found that this is not the case. Surprisingly, low-dose radiation takes longer for the body to repair than damage from high doses does.
All radiation can cause lesions in human DNA, known as double-strand breaks, which if unrepaired can lead to cellular mutations and cancer. The body moves quickly when it gets a high dose; injured cells repair the breaks quickly and efficiently, usually within a few hours. But with a low dose, the German team discovered, the body usually takes days to make the repair—if it does at all.
Does this mean low doses are more dangerous than higher ones? Rothkamm and Löbrich don't think so. Instead of trying to fix the double-strand breaks when only a few cells are damaged, the body may simply opt to eliminate them. A damaged cell is replaced by a healthy cell. But after high-dose damage, too many cells would have double-strand breaks to replace them all, and repair would make more sense. This is only a theory, the researchers caution. Until they learn more, they recommend restricting X-ray exams to those that are critically necessary—good advice in any case.
—Michael W. Robbins
Long-Life Compound Found in Red Wines
If you want to live a long life, you could try maintaining an extremely low-calorie diet. Then again, you might be able to get the same benefit from occasionally sipping wine and munching on some peanuts, molecular geneticist David Sinclair of Harvard University reported in September. He and his colleagues found that resveratrol, a compound in red wine and peanut skins, seems to work just as well as caloric restriction in warding off age-related diseases—in yeast, at least.
More than a decade of research on mice has indicated that restricting calories at least 30 percent can significantly increase their life span. More recent experiments with yeast show that restricting food intake acts on one of a family of proteins called sirtuins. Sinclair's team discovered that resveratrol, long linked to health benefits in humans, activates a similar sirtuin in humans. Squirting resveratrol into a petri dish full of yeast lengthened their average life span by 70 percent. Administering a dose of resveratrol equivalent to the amount in a glass of red wine also nearly tripled the survival rate of human cells that were exposed to radiation.
Biologists speculate that cutting calories promotes longevity by subjecting the organism to stress, which provokes a chemical defense. Resveratrol appears to mimic that process without the trauma of going hungry, Sinclair says, "Resveratrol is not a stress; it just makes the cell think that it's stressed." The findings may explain why drinking small amounts of red wine appears to reduce heart disease. Tapping into these benefits won't be easy—resveratrol is a fragile molecule that changes when it comes in contact with oxygen—but it may be possible to synthesize a stable version of the compound to fight aging. "I'm waiting for them to come out with a pill myself," Sinclair says.
—Alison McCook
Tea Jump-Starts the Immune System
Looking for a bit of a pick-me-up? Try tea. Its antioxidant benefits have been known for years. But last May Jack Bukowski of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston announced that a few strong cups of tea every day can also help ward off infections. His team did not set out to study beverages—"We're immunologists, not tea researchers," Bukowski says—but rather the actions of gamma delta T cells, long known as a key component of the immune system. They found that gamma delta T cells produce far more infection-killing chemicals, including interferon, when exposed to large quantities of ethylamine, an alkylamine antigen. What helps produce ethylamine? An amino acid called L-theanine. And where do you find L-theanine in abundance? In tea.
Bukowski's team used human subjects to check their findings. A group of healthy volunteers put away five to six cups of Lipton tea every day for two to four weeks, and a control group drank comparable quantities of coffee. In the tea drinkers' immune systems, gamma delta T cells produced five times more infection-fighting interferon when exposed to disease-causing bacteria than did the T cells of the coffee drinkers. "If you're already sick it won't do much good to drink tea, because it works with the body's first line of defense," Bukowski says. "But it could decrease your chances of getting a cold or a urinary tract infection or a skin infection." Black, green, and oolong teas all have high concentrations of L-theanine. Herbal teas, whatever their other virtues, may not keep the sniffles away—they contain no actual tea leaves.
—Michael W. Robbins
Too Much Water Can Prove Fatal to Athletes
Coaches and health professionals used to offer a single word of advice to anyone engaging in strenuous physical exercise: hydrate. Athletes were taught that the sensation of thirst often understated the need to replace lost bodily fluids. But the British Medical Journal issued a warning in July that too much of a good thing can be harmful. Timothy Noakes, a professor of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, analyzed accounts in recent medical literature of seven deaths and at least 250 hospitalizations related to excessive consumption of water or sports drinks, mostly in the United States. Unrestrained hydration, Noakes concluded, "can have fatal consequences."
Take the case of a 28-year-old runner who downed massive quantities of a sports drink during the 2002 Boston Marathon. She collapsed a few miles short of the finish line, was taken to the hospital in a coma, and died. The cause: hyponatremic encephalopathy, or sodium-related brain swelling. Drinking too much during prolonged exercise can dilute sodium levels in the blood, Noakes says. And low sodium levels can cause water to enter the cells in excess, resulting in swelling—tolerable in muscles but potentially fatal in the brain, which, enclosed in the skull, has nowhere to expand.
Athletes are not at risk, however, unless they drink excessive amounts of fluid for more than four hours. Noakes suggests limiting intake to roughly a pint and a half per hour. —Michael W. Robbins
First Tongue Transplant Patient Regains Ability to Eat and Speak
The patient, a 42-year-old man, had been suffering from a malignant tumor on his tongue that made it impossible for him to speak, swallow, or even open his mouth. In a 14-hour operation last July in Vienna, Austria, a team of nine surgeons led by Rolf Ewers removed the diseased organ and replaced it with a tongue from a brain-dead donor. Great care was taken to reattach as many nerves as possible so that the patient would be able to talk and eat, although he will never regain his sense of taste.
—Michael W. Robbins
First U.S. Monkeypox Cases Crop Up in the Midwest
Monkeypox, a cousin of smallpox previously found only in the rain forests of central Africa and West Africa, made a surprise appearance in the Midwest in May. The health scare began when Schyan Kautzer, a 3-year-old from Dorchester, Wisconsin, was bitten by her new pet prairie dog and developed a mild fever. The pet died a few days later, and Schyan was hospitalized with a blistered rash on her head and extremities. In the next few weeks, her parents came down with the same condition; 13 other cases cropped up in the area, all involving people who had come in contact with newly acquired pet prairie dogs. The Centers for Disease Control, furthering lab work by the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin, identified the cause as monkeypox. Less virulent than smallpox, monkeypox infects small mammals, which can spread the disease to other animals or to humans through blood or other close contact. There is no known treatment. In the rain forests of Africa, the disease proves fatal to humans in 1 to 10 percent of reported cases.
Health investigators eventually traced the outbreak to 28 prairie dogs that had come in contact with an infected giant Gambian pouched rat while they were held together in a cage by a pet distributor in Illinois. In all, the Centers for Disease Control confirmed 37 cases of human infection. Luckily, Schyan Kautzer and all the other patients recovered, and no new cases have been reported since June 20.
—Michael W. Robbins


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Ships in 7-10 Days
The Camelgroup mission is to find the perfect combination of color and textile that will fit your lifestyle and the SKU#CG-i4444, which captures timeless design, is a great example of this. By combining sensation with deep Walnut color and durable materials, the brand was able to share the vision of purposeful design with its community. Creating this product, available in different color combinations, the design team endeavors to create a special moment that you can experience throughout the trademark's products usage.
Brand | Camelgroup |
Collection | Nostalgia Day |
Color | Walnut |
Size | Maxi |
Width | 66.9" |
Depth | 20.1" |
Height | 19.7" |
Camelgroup's inception was fueled by an insatiable curiosity and an unquenchable passion for discovery. Today, four decades later, these founding ideals remain our guiding light, propelling us ever forward and serving as our compass for the future.
Our enduring curiosity drives us to explore and understand the diverse aesthetics and cultures that shape our world. It is at the heart of our business, motivating us to seek out and identify the desires that define individual tastes and preferences.
Every journey we embark upon deepens our curiosity, broadens our perspective, and amplifies our vision of the world. This newfound wisdom fuels our determination to transform it into something tangible and meaningful. We channel this passion into crafting functional, high-quality furniture capable of turning any empty space into a home, wherever that may be.
The Classic Collection, offered by Camelgroup, represents the pinnacle of timeless elegance and sophistication. This meticulously curated assortment of furniture pieces showcases the brand's commitment to craftsmanship, attention to detail, and a deep appreciation for classic design aesthetics.
Each item in the Classic Collection reflects a harmonious blend of tradition and innovation, capturing the essence of enduring beauty and functionality. From ornate carvings to rich, luxurious finishes, these pieces are a testament to the brand's dedication to creating furniture that transcends trends and stands the test of time.
Whether it's a majestic dining table, an exquisite bedroom set, or a statement piece for the living room, the Classic Collection embodies the essence of refinement and luxury.
Every element in the Gold Collection is a masterpiece in its own right, embodying the timeless allure of gold in its design. From shimmering accents to rich, lustrous finishes, every element has been carefully curated to evoke a sense of regal splendor.
These pieces aren't just furniture; they are expressions of artistry and elegance. They transform spaces into realms of refined beauty, where every room becomes a stage for showcasing the finest in craftsmanship.
With the Gold Collection, Camelgroup redefines luxury and reimagines the concept of opulent living. It's a testament to the brand's commitment to creating exceptional pieces that capture the essence of timeless sophistication. Discover the Gold Collection and let your space radiate with the brilliance of gold.
With a focus on quality, customization, and sustainability, the Catalog 2023 invites customers to explore a world of possibilities and transform their home into a sanctuary of beauty and functionality. This collection encapsulates the pinnacle of craftsmanship and style, offering a diverse range of furniture and decor to elevate any living space.

subset: commoncrawl


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Cause of Alternating Hemiplegia identified
13 August 2012
An international consortium of scientists, led jointly by researchers at UCL's Institute of Neurology and Duke University, USA, has identified the specific genetic mutation that causes Alternating Hemiplegia, a rare neurological condition affecting an estimated one child in every million. Using the newest genetic technology, next-generation sequencing, the study published in Nature Genetics, showed that de novo mutations in the gene ATP1A3 cause the condition (de novo mutations are genetic mutations not present in the parents' genes).
Alternating Hemiplegia is characterised by onset in infancy or childhood of episodes of weakness of one side of the body; later in the course of the disease, both sides may be affected at the same time. The weakness typically gets better, but reoccurs in the next episode. The symptoms can vary from child to child and from day to day. For many affected individuals, other symptoms also occur, including speech, swallowing, and behavioural problems. Intellectual difficulties, movement disorders and epilepsy can also occur. The variety of symptoms and signs, and their variation over time, can lead to delays in diagnosis, multiple tests and investigations, and sometimes use of inappropriate treatments. So far, no definitive diagnostic test has been available, and a rational understanding of the disease has not been possible.
This study paves the way for future rational treatments for the condition, through a better understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. Whilst this will take some time, the discovery will have a direct impact in enabling more rapid, specific diagnosis of the condition, preventing unnecessary tests and misdirected treatment.
Jill Bailey, from the UK Alternating Hemiplegia Support Group said: "The discovery of the gene has given hope to parents whose lives are dominated by alternating hemiplegia. Our hope is that in the future a drug will be found that stops our children suffering these awful hemiplegic attacks. Our hope is that more money will be available for further research. Our hope is that our children will have a better life."
The research was jointly led by Professor Sanjay Sisodiya at UCL and Professors David Goldstein and Mohamed Mikati at Duke University, and is published in Nature Genetics. The study was funded by several sources; Professor Sisodiya's funding was from The Wellcome Trust.


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Rick Webb on all the recent bitching about the iPhone, Apple, and the App Store.
They made a mobile browser light years better than any previous browser & you promptly took it for granted & bitched about it lacking Flash.
And on cut and paste:
You whined for 2 years about cut and paste. They invented a brand new user interface means to implement it. You never even used it.
There's a bunch more. (thx, david)


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The Even-more Complete List of Hex Words
I realized that I was being insufficiently lee7, so I added S, T, and Z, converting into 5, 7, and 2. This produced a much longer list, of course.
I realized that I was being insufficiently lee7, so I added S, T, and Z, converting into 5, 7, and 2. This produced a much longer list, of course.
While converting some code to 64-bit on Snow Leopard, I discovered that character literals are ints, so I couldn't use them for 8-byte longs. The alternative is readable hex constants.
This demonstrates the polar decomposition of 2D matrices into their angle, scale, and shear components. The polarDecomp algorithm is taken from Shoemake & Duff "Matrix Animation and Polar Decomposition", 1992.
Casper Fabricius has a nice shell script for creating new git repositories on DreamHost. Unfortunately, this works only for creating new repositories.
One problem I had with the expression-to-C converter is that CForm converts negations of terms into a negation of parenthesized terms.
I frequently use Mathematica to rearrange or solve symbolic equations to use in C++ programs. While Mathematica is quite powerful for that, it has no facility to hoist common subexpressions into variables.
(updated 2009-03-23 to add the backslashes that disappeared between my blog editor and WordPress)
In Mathematica, typing index brackets is clumsy, as one has to type esc-[[-esc then esc-]]-esc. I found a way to modify the Edit menu to add a shortcut for this. Read more…
Mathematica 7 introduces a new Image function that eliminates all the hassle previously necessary to create and export pixel-perfect raster images.
I was asked what the purpose is of the test image in my previous post, and why the alpha was set to 0.01 rather than 0 in alternating pixels.
Read more…
I keep having to figure out how to export pixel-perfect raster images from Mathematica, which I use for test images with my software. I found that it's simpler to use ArrayPlot than Raster now, so I'm documenting this for my future use (and any one else's).
Read more…


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I want my eCommerce application Suteki Shop to be able to flexibly meet the requirements of any customer (within reason). How can we have a single product but enable our customers to have diverse implementations. I think the solution depends on the level of diversity and the number of customers. The right solution for a product with thousands of customers with little customisation is different from a solution for a handful of customers with very diverse requirements.
There are several axis of change to consider:
- Codebase. Do I have one codebase, or do I maintain a separate codebase for each customer?
- Application instance. Do I have one application instance to service all my customers, or does each customer have a separate one?
- Database schemas. Do I have one database schema, or do I have a different schema for each customer?
- Database instances. Do I have one database instance or separate ones for each customer?
Lots of customers, little customisation
Lets consider the two extremes. First, say I've got a product that I expect to sell to thousands of customers. My business model is premised on selling a cheap service to very many people. It's worth my while not to allow too much customisation because the effort to supply that simply wouldn't be worth it. If someone wants something significantly different from my thousands of other customers, I'll just tell them to look elsewhere. In this case I'd have a single code base, application instance, database schema and database. Effectively a single application will service all my customers.
In this case the main technical challenge will making sure that each user's data is keyed properly so they perceive it as a single application servicing their needs only. It would be a major failure if one customer could see another's data. Think of an on-line email service such as hotmail. Sometimes we want to allow customers to see each other's data, think Facebook, but that interaction needs to be tightly controlled.
Scope for providing diverging customer requirements is very limited in this case. Effectively every customer gets exactly the same features and all you can do is allow them to maybe switch features off and on. The cost of developing a customisable experience with such a setup is high.
The great thing about this single application approach is its scalability. Each extra customer requires no extra development effort. It's the way billion dollar on-line businesses are made.
Few customers, Deep customisation
At the other extreme we might be selling an application to just a handful of clients. Each client has diverse requirements and is willing to spend the money to have them implemented. Do we really have a single application in this case or are we instead delivering bespoke solutions? Here the answer might be to have a common application library but separate codebases for each client. It would then follow that each client needs separate database schemas, databases and application instances.
In this scheme, the cost of developing divergent features is no greater than developing them for bespoke software. The pain comes in deciding what to code in your shared library and what to code in your bespoke applications. Getting that wrong can mean repeating the same code for each customer and seriously violating the DRY principle.
Because we are effectively building bespoke software, each extra customer requires development effort. As our business grows we have to hire more and more developers to service our customers. The problem is that development teams don't scale well and there are high organisational costs involved. Our profit on each instance of our product is likely to decline rather than rise. For this reason there's a limit to the size a company based on this development model can grow to.
So which one is Suteki Shop?
Suteki Shop only has one customer at present. So it's a single bespoke application based on that customer's requirements. In the new year I hope to add a second customer so I'll have to start making decisions about my multi-tenancy strategy. I want to make the right decisions now so that I can provision my third, fourth, tenth or one-hundredth as easily as possible. My customers are likely to have divergent requirements within the constraints of an eCommerce system. The easiest thing for my second customer would be to branch the code, make any changes they want and deploy a second database (with possibly a customised schema) and application instance. But that strategy will not scale to one-hundred customers. Let's make the assumption that I want to service maybe a hundred customers easily, but I'm unlikely to have more than a thousand. Consider the four axis of change above...
- Codebase. I really don't want to fork my codebase. I'm a firm believer in keeping things DRY. There will be no branching.
- Application Instance. This is less clear cut. There are obvious benefits from maintaining separate application instances for each customer and this was my initial intention. I can configure and deploy them as required. However, after looking at techniques for provisioning multiple divergent customers on one instance, I believe that the costs can be minimal. Having one instance is much easier to administer and monitor, so I am changing my mind on this point and will aim for one application instance. One application instance can of course be duplicated to scale over a server farm. I think this approach could scale to thousands of customers.
- Database schemas. In the old days, I would have said that having multiple schemas would cause intense scale pain, but that is changing with modern tools. Using an ORM allows us to defer schema creation until deployment. If I can automate the management of schema creation and change, then having multiple versions is less of a problem. Of course that all depends on having multiple databases....
- Database instances. If I chose to have one database instance I would have to have one schema which limits the amount of customisation I can do. I would also have to carefully key each customer's data, which is a development overhead. Automating database deployment and maintenance is relatively straightforward so I think the choice here is clear cut. One database per customer. Also this gives me extremely simple database scalability, I can simply farm out my customers to multiple DBMS's. This approach will scale to hundreds of customers, thousands would be problematic but not impossible.
So now I've got my multi-tenancy strategy, how am I going to implement it? The core technology I'm going to use is component oriented software design using Dependency Injection and an IoC Container. I'm going to follow some of the recommendations that Oren Eini makes in these posts:
Multi Tenancy - Approaches and Applicability
Adaptive Domain Models with Rhino Commons
Components, Implementations and Contextual Decisions
Windsor - IModelInterceptersSelector
In part 2, I'm going to show my first faltering steps to making a single instance of Suteki Shop host more than one customer. Stay tuned!


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The game-loving popular site Kotaku.com have published a review of Final Fantasy XIII, the hottest RPG currently on the market. Read on to find out what the experts think of the games pluses and minuses.
Hovering above the surface of the planet Pulse, the shell-like city of Cocoon was once a haven for humanity, but fear of powerful ancient beings known as the fal'Cie has stirred fear and unrest among the people, causing the military to respond by "quarantining" anyone who comes in contact with fal'Cie. It's during these tumultuous times that our heroes – Snow, Lightning, Sazh, Hope, Fang, and Vanille – find themselves on the wrong side of the human-fal'Cie conflict, united by a task that could mean the end of the world as they know it.
It's a familiar tale, but Square Enix wouldn't fall back on common convention for its first true multi-platform Final Fantasy, would they?
A Beautiful Dream: By now you've seen the screenshots and videos, so I don't have to tell you that Final Fantasy XIII is a beautiful game. The world of Pulse pulses with life, from its dankest dungeon to its expansive plains. Characters move with a fluidity and grace that even extends to their mouths, as Square Enix made sure the lip-sync in the English version matched the dialogue, rather than trying to rewrite the dialogue to match mouth movement from the Japanese version, as is common practice. Let's face it, Square Enix isn't going to release a true, numbered Final Fantasy game without making sure it looks as spectacular as it can. Mission accomplished.
A Tale As Old As Time: Viewing it broadly, Final Fantasy XIII's story is about a group of heroes trying to save the world from destruction, which is nothing new, especially to fans of the series. It's the strong themes woven into this tale of heroism than make the story special this time around. FFXIII is all about the power of choice, and how human beings have the power to make their own decisions, no matter how desperate and hopeless the situation may seem. Fighting against fate isn't a new concept in the role-playing genre, but Final Fantasy XIII does it with a level of polish and proficiency that makes it stand out from all the rest. At times you'll feel just as hopeless as the characters you control. Luckily this is counter-balanced by the elation you feel when they finally overcome the overwhelming obstacles placed before them.
Role Call: The cast of Final Fantasy XIII started off as an assemblage of typical RPG character templates, but as the story progresses each member of my party underwent a change in character, be it subtle of profound, that won me over to their side. At the beginning of the game, the do-rag sporting Snow is your average, overconfident RPG hero, boisterous and boasting. By the time I reached the end credits, he was much the same, but the experiences I had with him during the course of the game changed my reactions to him, so it was less, "man, what a jerk," and more "oh, there he goes again, the little scamp." Even Hope, one of the whiniest characters I've ever encountered in a video game, manages to redeem himself in my eyes. My only real issue with the cast was the voice of Vanille. I always considered the Australian accent to be a little bit sexy, until Vanille opened her big mouth. Sorry, Georgia van Cuylenburg.
A New Battle Paradigm: After being terribly disappointed by Final Fantasy XII's battle system for taking the control of the characters away from me, I fully expected to be similarly disappointed in XIII, which once again sees the player issuing orders through one of the three active party members. Consider me pleasantly surprised. Each character in your party has multiple roles they can fill. Snow, for instance, can be a protective Guardian, a magic-hurling Ravager, or a fierce, fist-fighting Commando (at least initially). Once you form a party of three members, you have six slots to create Paradigms, which are particular groupings of your three characters different roles, which you can switch between during battle on the fly. For example, when a boss battle starts, you might have a Guardian drawing damage, a Medic healing, and a Synergist casting beneficial spells on the party. Once you're buffed, you can switch to a trio of damaging roles in order to bring the hurt.
During early chapters, the system was nearly completely unnecessary. Towards the end of the game it was indispensable. Rather than rely of a complicated series of instructions to act upon, as in FFXII, your party members rely on you to scan the creatures you fight, adjusting automatically to your enemy's strength and weaknesses. It's like playing an MMO with two other people who know exactly what you need at any given time. I found it immensely satisfying.
Summoning Your Inner Strength: It wouldn't be a Final Fantasy game without summoning spells, and XIII's are more impressive than ever. I say this as a Transformers fan, so take that how you will. Each character eventually winds up with their own powerful Eidolon, which can be summoned to fight beside you in battle and then triggered to change into a vehicle, unleashing devastating attacks on your foes. XIII's Eidolons are unique for more than their transformations, however. First, winning them to your side consists of some of the toughest encounters the game has to offer, requiring you to poke and prod until you discover each Eidolon's weakness. Secondly, the relationship between the Eidolons and their human counterparts is much more intimate this time around. Without giving too much of the story away, the Eidolons are basically the giant, powerful embodiment of the game's theme of personal choice. It's a very clever design, which certainly wasn't lost on me.
The Music Of The Crystals: I really want to hug Masashi Hamauzu. The composer behind the soundtrack of Final Fantasy X and Dirge of Cerberus outdid himself this time, creating one of the most eclectic yet satisfying video game soundtracks I've had the pleasure loudly curse over. He covers all of the bases, from blues to jazz to techno. My one issue with his score? You do not add lyrics to the Chocobo theme. That's our job. For years I've been adding my own lyrics, and I won't be told what to sing while I'm riding a big yellow bird, even if it's from a composer so obviously talented.
Equipment And Economy: Primitive as it may be, I miss the old RPG convention of visiting a new town, buying upgraded equipment, and then moving on. Give me a few slots to add special attacks to my weapons, and that's as complicated as I need it. Instead, Final Fantasy XIII presents me with a weapon and item leveling up system, in which I use bits and pieces found in chests, looted from enemies, or purchased from stores to raise the experience level of my weapons and accessories. It's not a bad idea, per se, but the execution is definitely lacking something. It takes a lot of items to raise your equipment's levels, to the point where it almost doesn't make sense to raise the experience of anything other than the character's weapons and a few select accessories. I wound up spending my entire game using the second weapon I acquired for each character, leveling them up to max and leaving them there. I never acquired a weapon that the game's auto-equip felt was more powerful than that.
So instead, I found myself selling weapons for Gil (Final Fantasy money), which seemed to be in incredibly short supply. Very few creatures in the game drop actual money, so I earned the majority of my spending cash selling weapons found later in the game, in order to afford the phoenix downs (resurrection items) I needed to make it through.
The Sudden Grind: You may have heard complaints about the linear nature of Final Fantasy XIII, but after the first few chapters it starts to grow on you. It grew on me so much, that towards the latter part of the game, when Square Enix dumps you out on a giant, rolling expanse and tells you to go have fun doing quests randomly scattered about, I felt lost. It didn't help that until just before that point, the game was relatively easy. The game doesn't so much have a difficulty curve as it does a difficulty brick wall that you'll slowly climb by sending your party to die against powerful monsters again and again until you finally start living again. The final level of the game was absolutely brutal.
I Miss Towns: It's a personal preference, and not really a fault of the game, but I miss stopping at a new town between long stretches of fighting, talking with the locals, hanging out at the inn for a bit, checking out the shops, and generally resting up at a safe haven where you don't have to worry about a battle around every corner. And while I am on the subject, placing a save point / store every five feet doesn't make up for that. I have more than 50 save games, and I never saved at the same spot twice.
Square Enix has been continuously evolving the Final Fantasy series since before Square Enix existed. Since the release of Final Fantasy XI, also known as Final Fantasy Online, I've found myself rejecting that evolution. I didn't want an online Final Fantasy, and I certainly didn't want the strange mix of turn-based and action role-playing game I was handed in Final Fantasy XII. For a while there I even pondered the fact that maybe this was a natural progression, and I had simply outgrown the series. It just wasn't for me anymore.
I wouldn't say that Final Fantasy XIII has completely renewed my faith in the series, but it has shown me that Square Enix's experimentation with the classic role-playing conventions I had come to expect from the Final Fantasy can produce something fresh, new, and highly enjoyable. The company may have made a few missteps in terms of pacing, and they continue to try out new equipment systems that are far more complicated than they need to be (see The Last Remnant), but as a whole, Final Fantasy XIII is step in the right direction for the fabled franchise.


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Great finale in Vegas; onward to ESX
By Rich Miller
Updated Mon April 2, 2012
ISC West 2012 is in the books.
As expected, Day Three was a bit quieter than the opening two acts, but there was still plenty of action for those who chose to stay for the duration. Here are a few details from my stops on the final day:
— Don Maden, executive VP for COPS Monitoring, said the company is putting the final cosmetic touches on its new central station in Dallas, with an anticipated opening sometime in May. COPS has also rebranded its COP-A-Link online management tool for dealers as MPower and has added "a whole series of technical improvements to make the customer experience more seamless."
— Uplink VP Michael Gregory provided a rundown of new offerings from his company, including the Uplink 5100 universal broadband alarm communicator. The device is the company's "first broadband solution," enabling a dial-up alarm system to transmit signals and two-way voice over an Internet connection.
— Micro Key Solutions President Victoria Ferro detailed the company's new WebTech app, which gives technicians access to accounts in the field with any Web-enabled device. "It gives techs remote access to tickets, Google directions, signature capture and credit card payments," she said. "It's green, reduces the costs of paper, and provides better customer service by putting information at [techs'] fingertips."
— Wayne Alter, chairman of the board for Dynamark Monitoring, was still meeting-and-greeting during the final two hours of ISC West. Alter, who was joined by Tom Piston, VP of sales and marketing, and Michael Hutcher, VP of product services, said it had been "a great show" for the Hagerstown, Md.-based company.
That sentiment seemed to be echoed across the expanse of the Sands Expo, with many exhibitors predicting better days ahead for the industry as the economy continues to rebound. As the show ended and the booths were broken down, thoughts turned to the next big event on the calendar. For the monitoring industry, that means ESX.
See you in Nashville ...


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TS from GUBI is a collection of elegant coffee tables, designed by the Danish-Italian design duo GamFratesi for the entrance and lounge areas of the Michelin-starred restaurant The Standard in Copenhagen. The designers drew their inspiration for the beautiful design from the 1930s building housing the restaurant: a round marble top stands on slender metal legs with eye-catching, intersecting rods. Place a large TS coffee table in front of a sofa and a smaller version next to a lounge chair – or be bold and mix and match different colours and sizes to create an eye-catching cluster of tables!
TS coffee table, 55 cm, brass - black marble
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- Colour
- Brass, black
- Height
- 16.14 in (41 cm)
- Diameter
- 21.65 in (55 cm)
- Table top material
- Marble
- Base material
- Brass
GamFratesi studio was founded in 2006 by Danish architect Stine Gam (born 1975) and Italian architect Enrico Fratesi (born 1978). The studio is based in Copenhagen, though Gam and Fratesi are continuously traveling between Italy and Denmark for development and research of new projects. GamFratesi has designed furniture and lighting fixtures to Louis Poulsen, Gubi, Hay, Fritz Hansen and Skultuna, among others.
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Jeff addresses reverb dropouts and volume drops or fluctuations potentially caused by failure of a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe's low-voltage power supply.
Hi Jeff,
I'm sure you've heard it all before:
channel-switching problems, the reverb
drops in and out, unwanted distortion,
and volume fluctuations in a Fender Hot
Rod Deluxe. I bought mine used about
three years ago and enjoyed two glorious,
trouble-free years of music making. Then
all the aforementioned problems started
to happen. Plus the jewel light flickers
and randomly goes dim.
The internet forums—bet you love those—point to a pair of 5-watt 470 Ω resistors. From what I can tell, the general consensus is to replace those with 330 Ω resistors and keep them off of the board with silicone.
Okay, I did all of that. These resistors heat up like crazy, supposedly wreaking all kinds of havoc, such as cold solder joints and burned PC boards. I can attest to the PC board. Now I understand that while the 330 Ω resistors solve some problems, they heat up even more. I know that you've got the answer because you have a column in the best magazine around!
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for reading and for your kind words.
Per your assumption, yes, I've heard it
and seen it all before. Okay, probably not
all, but definitely this. The two resistors,
designated R85 and R86 in the "Blues"
series and R78 and R79 in the "Hot Rod"
series, are part of the low-voltage power
supply in these Fender amps.
While these Deluxe models are functionally tube amps, there is some degree of solid-state in the signal path. Not like modeling, profiling, or sampling types of amps, but in a much more basic way. All of the clean, crunch, and overdriven tones in these amps are generated by the good ol' vacuum tube, but there are a couple of places where a solid-state device is used.
One of these locations is the effects loop. Here, an op amp is used to buffer the signal prior to the effects loop send and another is used as a recovery preamp for the effects loop return. Another area is the reverb circuit: An op amp is used to generate the send signal to the reverb tank, and another handles the recovery of the reverb signal from the tank. Also, switching ICs (integrated circuits) control the amp's FETs (field-effect transistors) and relays.
The reason I mention all this is that these solid-state devices are powered by the amplifier's low-voltage power supply. And guess what? The low-voltage power supply is derived through the two resistors in question. So yes, issues like reverb dropouts and volume drops or fluctuations are all potentially caused by failure of the low-voltage power supply. Let's take a look at the potential causes for this failure and what I'd recommend doing to remedy it.
The two resistors in question. They can heat up
and cause solder joint failure, wreaking havoc
on the amp.
It's true that the final low-voltage outputs, +16VDC and -16VDC, come through these resistors. In a typical scenario, when you use a resistor to drop voltage—such as a plate resistor in a tube circuit—the smaller the resistance value, the less voltage drop across it. Think of a decreasing resistor value as coming closer to a piece of wire. A short piece of wire will have virtually no voltage drop.
The original resistor values in your amp were 470 Ω, and you mentioned a suggestion to replace them with 330 Ω resistors. Conventional wisdom dictates that with less voltage drop across the resistors, they should actually run at a cooler temperature because any voltage that's dropped across the resistor is converted into heat.
But you say that the 330 Ω resistors actually run hotter, and here's why: These resistors do not immediately or directly feed the low-voltage circuit. The power supply uses two Zener diodes on its output. These diodes "clamp" the output voltage at a particular point—in this case, 16 volts. According to the schematic, the "input" voltage on the original 470 Ω resistors is 48 volts. The output voltage is clamped at 16 volts. The voltage drop across each resistor is 32 volts. Using basic Ohm's Law, voltage drop squared divided by the resistance will give us the power being dissipated across said resistor.
In this case, it's 2.17 watts. If we do the same calculation with the 330 Ω resistors, we come up with 3.10 watts. Almost a full watt more! So yes, you are correct, they will run hotter. They are, of course, still within their power rating of 5 watts, but the downside is that the hotter they run, the more potential damage they will do to the circuit board ... especially because they are not in an open-air environment.
I'd guess this forum repair suggestion references the fact that the other amps in this family (the Blues DeVille, Blues Deluxe, and Hot Rod DeVille) all use 330 Ω resistors here. However, the reason is that they're all fed with an initial DC voltage of approximately 33 volts, not 48, which allows them to run with a cooler dissipation of less than 1 watt.
My suggestion would be to install the correct 470 Ω resistors and keep them as far away from the circuit board as possible. You also need to check the integrity of the traces on the board as well. These boards are constructed with very thin, single-sided traces, with no plated-through holes, and this makes them very susceptible to damage, both from overheated components, as well as simple servicing. In instances like this, I've carefully scraped the solder mask from the traces for a good distance and added an extra-thick layer of solder to reinforce the trace. It not only helps to stabilize the connection, but also helps to dissipate the heat at the leads.
Here's hoping the only extra heat coming off your Deluxe is from your playing!
Warning: All tube amplifiers contain lethal voltages. The most dangerous voltages are stored in electrolytic capacitors, even after the amp has been unplugged from the wall. Before you touch anything inside the amp chassis, it's imperative that these capacitors are discharged. If you are unsure of this procedure, consult your local amp tech.


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Eccles:Protein Lysates from Cells in Culture
Protein Lysates from Cells in Culture
Cell Lysis Buffer
5mL 0.1M Tris HCl pH 8 (10mM)
0.44g NaCl (150mM)
0.02g EDTA (1mM)
0.5mL nonidet P40 (1% w/v)
0.05g SDS (0.1% w/v)
Make up to 50mL with MQH2O and filter sterilise.
Store at 4 degrees C.
This cell lysis buffer has a limited shelf life (at 4 degrees C). I recommend making fresh buffer up annually. My own personal experience has been that after ~18months my protein lysates began appearing very distorted following SDS PAGE and were no longer usable (whether fresh lysates were made from >18month old buffer or lysates that had been stored at -80 for >18months were used).
20x Complete mini Protease Inhibitor
Take 1 tablet and dissolve in 0.5mL MQH2O by pipetting up and down.
Store on ice.
Dilute 20 fold in cell lysis buffer
Cell Lysis Buffer containing 1x Complete Protease Inhibitor
50uL 20x Complete protease inhibitor
950uL Cell Lysis Buffer
- Harvest cells into 15mL tube by typsinisation as usual
- Spin at 250g for 5min
- Aspirate off supernatant
- Resuspend cells in 1ml PBS
- Spin at 250g for 5min
- Aspirate off supernatant
- Resuspend cells in 1mL PBS and move to an eppendorf
- Take 20uL of cells for counting
- Count cells
- Spin cells in 1mL PBS at 4 degrees C, 8000g for 10mins
- Discard supernatant and resuspend cells in cell lysis buffer containing 1x Complete protease inhibitor. I used to do 1x105cells/uL but can do whatever you want. By making lysates at a set concentration of cells/uL you don't need to quantitate the protein in the lysates. Simply load equal volumes of lysate to get equal loadings of protein. Popular choices by 2nd floor researchers of the department were...
Confluent 6 well (9.6cm2) lyse in 150uL cell lysis buffer.
Confluent T75 lyse in 800-1000ul cell lysis buffer.
If you choose this way you will need to quantitate your protein lysates to enable loading equal total cellular protein amounts onto your gel. I have followed this method and have found it to work well.
- Incubate on ice for 30min pipetting up and down occasionally
- Spin debris down at 13000rpm, 5min
- Aliquot into eppendorfs and store at -80 degrees C (10ul aliquots usually helpful)


text:
Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
We have no knowledge of that. Call your local electric company. Same with cable and phones.
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In the large black bin that is clearly labeled in the lobby of City Hall during office hours Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm.
This Online House Watch Form can be completed and submitted. These forms are available at Police Headquarters inside City Hall if you choose to come in.
Call Commander Daniel Okert 615-851-2236.
Call Goodlettsville Police Department 615-851-2217.
Call Public Works at 615-851-2740 from 7:30am-4:00pm Monday-Friday. After 4:00pm call dispatch at 615-851-2217.
We no longer do fingerprints. Visit the Madison Precinct at 400 Myatt Drive, Madison, Tennessee 37115. 615-862-7421. Hours are Monday-Friday 7:30am-3:30pm. They DO NOT take appointments.
We do not have a jail. Depending on the county of arrest call Sumner County 615-452-2616 and press 2 or Metro Davidson County 615-862-8123.
The Police Department keeps an online applicant pool. Apply online.
Citizens Police Academy Information
To obtain a copy of your crash report online go to: https://policereports.lexisnexis.com or purchasetncrash.gov. For customer assistance, please call the LexisNexis support line at 866-215-2771. We do not keep copies of these reports at the Police Department.
Private property or Minor Damage accident reports are available at the Police Department for a minimal fee Monday-Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm. For additional assistance call 615-851-3745.


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Grape Growing
The most important aspects of wine grape growing are the annual lifecycle of the vine, climate, terrain, vineyard management, pests and diseases, terroir, and planting grapes. Of these factors, climate is one of the most important. Vineyards thrive in moderate ones that are usually between 20 and 50 degrees Latitude on both sides of the Equator.
California has many different terrains suited to a large number of varietals. It refers to the soil type as well as the local topography. The composition, fertility and slope of the soil in a vineyard all affect wine grape growing.
Planting Grapes
When planting grapes, the grower must determine which grape varietal to plant based on the characteristics of the land. In California, rootstocks and clones need to be chosen with the great care, because wine grape growing is affected my many different factors.
Vineyard Management
Not all aspects of the grape growing process are left to nature. Vineyard management also has a profound impact on the finished product. Successful managers are in sync with the physical aspects of their property, and make grape growing decisions accordingly.
Pests and Diseases
Grape growers constantly need to be on guard against pests and diseases. There are many strategies that are used to minimize these threats. For example, phylloxera can be controlled through grafting Vitis vinifera cuttings onto Native American rootstocks.
Throughout Europe, specific varietals have been grown in certain regions for centuries. After growing grapes in the same place for many years, managers became aware of the aspects of their land that make it unique. Grape vines particularly respond to localized features that are inherent in the vineyard. This complicated notion is known as terroir.
The Annual Life Cycle of the Vine
The annual life cycle of the vine lasts from early spring to late fall. Several wine grape growing regions in California Wine Country have very long growing seasons, especially AVAs in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.
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Customizations Total: $0.00
• 100% cotton woven throw blanket.
• Soft to the touch, but durable enough to stand up to kids + pets.
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• 3 Sizes: - 37"x52": small size for a chair, or kids blanket - 50"x60": most popular size, great for throwing on a sofa - 60"x80": cover a few people on a sofa, or use as a bedspread


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EXCERPT: Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
[This review includes two excerpts from Eat, Pray, Love, courtesy of Ms. Gilbert. See the author on tour across America over the next few months.]
I liked Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert so much that I recently had no choice but to give away my advance copy before I had actually finished it.
I was sitting in the formal dining room of a Scottish castle with seven other men and three delightfully batty British women of a certain age. Wine flowed, haggis was served, and the conversation among a roomful of people who barely knew each other roared on with each course.
At one point, Penny, seated to my left, told me a tough time she had gone through after her husband died at an age too young. At first, she went down hard. "But I soon realized I had two choices," she told me. "I could either sink or swim." From my perch, Penny took the gold in the Olympic freestyle, and plans to "age disgracefully" (British for: have a ball). The next day was her birthday and though I had 35 pages left of the book that had been blowing me away bead by bead (as the author calls each chapter), I had to give my new friend Penny my copy of Eat, Pray, Love.
Like Penny, when Elizabeth Gilbert's marriage fell to pieces, her life took a nosedive. Personally smacked down by life like a bowling pin heading toward the gutter (fans of The Big Lebowski, that last one-metaphor-too-many was for you), she bailed from an A+ professional life and hit the road. She spent four months in Rome eating, four months in India praying, and … well, you see where this is going.
Admittedly, I'm a pushover for any story that starts in Italy and involves gelato before breakfast. Ever since the summer I lived in Florence at the ripe old age of 19, selling gloves and purses and what we billed as "snake-skinned" key chains to tourists (my Florentine accent was so bad my boss told everyone I was from Sicily), I've been a sucker for all things Italian. And I love yoga (despite a hand-eye coordination problem obvious to all who know me). Also, I've always wanted to meet a medicine man (preferably a Balinese one, of course). And it's hard to argue with finding love.
On a personal level, I adore Liz, even though I more or less know her through her non-fiction stories and our years of email exchanges in which she turned down my numerous offers to pay her lots of money to write articles for whatever magazine I was working at at the time.
Above all, she has ability to put words down on paper with a language, sensibility, point of view — "vibe" is what it really all adds up to — that resonates deeply with me. I laughed my ass off regularly as I inhaled Eat, Pray, Love, but there were times when it all got so intense that I did something I don't remember ever doing in my more than three decades of moving my eyes across the page: I had to stop reading. Could be that my own life is just so rattled right now (starting a magazine, planning a wedding, making a living) that I couldn't handle watching Liz's rattle by. Could be. Mainly, I think this book just blows a man away.
That's right, "a man." The subtitle is "One woman's search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia." Part of me is thrilled that this book has an Oprah-esque, smart self-help scent (translation: monster hit). Part of me is bummed that a lot of guys won't pick up a book with the word "woman" on its cover.
So who is this book for? Italiophiles, yogis, meditators, medicine-man lovers, spiritual seekers, storytellers, travel junkies, anyone who has ever had a bad breakup, bad year, or bad day. Also, for those in this world that have always wanted to read a couple pages on the perfect pizza (found in Naples; page 79 in case you're wandering a bookstore with a hankering for pizza), that — to borrow a phrase from the author, — is so well written that you "want to applaud."
Click here for the Elizabeth Gilbert world tour dates and info.
Keep reading for two excerpts from Eat, Pray, Love, courtesy of Ms. Gilbert. First, we find our heroine at a soccer game in Rome. In the second excerpt, the author arrives in Bali, without really understanding what "arriving in Bali" actually entails.
Ci Vediamo, Alligator!


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PackageStore Class
Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it's released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.
Represents a collection of application-specific Package instances used in combination with PackWebRequest.
public ref class PackageStore abstract sealed
public static class PackageStore
public static class PackageStore
type PackageStore = class
type PackageStore = class
Public Class PackageStore
- Inheritance
- Attributes
The PackageStore defines a reference collections of package that are open and active in the application. Packages added to the PackageStore are accessed is by their key URI value. The PackageStore supports three common uses:
Accessing PackagePart data through PackWebRequest.
The application obtaining an instance of a Package given the package's URI.
Accessing packages that are created and stored in a MemoryStream.
To improve performance and minimize the overhead of repeated file open/close operations, the PackageStore is used to manage instances of packages accessed by PackWebRequest and directly by the application. When accessing data in a package, the Package address of a requested PackagePart Uri is first checked to see if the package is already defined and open in the PackageStore. If the package is defined as open in the PackageStore, requested parts can be accessed directly without repeatedly opening and closing the package for each request.
If your application opens a package with Package.Open, AddPackage can be called to add the package to the PackageStore. RemovePackage should later be called to remove the package from the PackageStore prior to calling Package.Close.
XPS packages opened with an XpsDocument constructor are automatically added and removed from the PackageStore when the document is created and disposed. (You do not need to call AddPackage or RemovePackage separately for XPS packages opened with XpsDocument constructors.)
The file I/O permissions of a package accessed through the PackageStore remains the same as the I/O permissions set on the package when it is opened. The PackageStore only provides references to the packages that have been added the store. It is up to the application to correctly open, update, and close each package.
Packages added to the PackageStore can be accessed in multithreaded environments when they are used in combination with a XAML parser such as XamlReader.Load. When operating in a multithreaded environment, the application must lock the package before access.
AddPackage(Uri, Package) |
Adds a Package to the store. |
GetPackage(Uri) |
Returns the Package with a specified URI from the store. |
RemovePackage(Uri) |
Removes the Package with a specified URI from the store. |
Applies to
See also
Coming soon: Throughout 2024 we will be phasing out GitHub Issues as the feedback mechanism for content and replacing it with a new feedback system. For more information see:Submit and view feedback for


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Related links:
Thomas Jones
Thomas Jones is an American astronaut who was born on January 22, 1955, in Maryland. Before he became an astronaut, Jones was in the Air Force.
Jones became an astronaut in 1991. He has spent over 40 days in space on three space flights.
In 1994, Jones flew aboard STS-59. The crew made several observations of the Earth using radar telescopes. Jones made his second spaceflight later that year on STS-68.
Jones flew aboard STS-68 in 1996. The crew deployed and retrieved two satellites during this mission.


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Here's a look at some of companies that enjoyed massive success but eventually faltered, only to be brought back from the dead as "Zombie Brands..."
Polaroid: Edwin Land's company got its start selling polarized sunglasses in 1948 before moving into the instant camera market. They competed head-to-head with Kodak for many years but eventually faltered after the dubious introduction of Polavision, an ill-fated instant movie system that cost the company millions. They failed to make the jump to digital and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001. The Polaroid name now appears on a variety of products including TVs and digital cameras.
Bell & Howell: There was once a time when nearly every school in North America had an A/V room filled with B&H 16mm projectors. The company's 16mm Filmo movie camera was renowned for its rugged simplicity and their 8mm cameras were tremendously popular with amateurs. Alas, they didn't survive the transition to video and the company produced its last motion picture camera in the late 1970s. These days, the B&H name is licensed to companies producing digital cameras, noise reduction headphones and even floor lamps.
Commodore computers seemed to be everywhere in the late 1970s and early 1980s. From modest beginnings with the KIM-1 board, they had a string of hits with the PET 2001, VIC-20, C-64 and the Amiga. Alas, they also had more than their fair share of flops. There have been several attempts to revive the Commodore brand in the years since its bankruptcy in 1994, most of them centering around the Amiga. The name was eventually sold in 2004 for a reported € 22-million and Commodore Gaming unveiled a line of expensive looking Commodore XX PCs.
AgfaPhoto: The oldest Zombie on the list, originally founded in 1867. The company was famous for the development of the Agfacolor film in the 1920s and the rollout of Agfacolor-Neu color reversal film in 1937 (intended to compete with Kodachrome). They filed for insolvency in early 2005 and the AgfaPhoto name is now licensed to companies such as Sagem, Plawa and the unfortunately named Lupus.
I can hardly wait to see which of today's high-flying brands will go on to become tomorrow's zombies.


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American arctic explorer; born July 1, 1859, at Kalamazoo, Mich.; died May 27, 1884; educated at the University of Ann Arbor, Mich. He joined the Signal Corps of the United States Army and became a sergeant. In 1881 Israel volunteered for the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, under the command of Gen. A. W. Greely, accompanying the expedition as astronomer (1881-84); in this expedition he made many valuable scientific observations. At times he commanded special sleigh parties. Although not physically robust, he often volunteered for geographical work; in 1882 he rendered especially important service in determining the practicability of an overland route to Hazen Land in Greenland through "The Bellows" valley. The amiability of his disposition endeared him to his comrades, and, being the youngest in the party, he was familiarly denominated "Benjamin." When ill and starving, he refused to accept more than an equal ration. Israel died before the return of the expedition. In reading the burial service, General Greely, remembering that Israel was of the Jewish faith, omitted such portions as were inappropriate.
- Greely, Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, 1885.


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You could easily change out the fabric to match your outfit.
Inspiration 22 - DIY Sandals
May 25, 2011
You could easily change out the fabric to match your outfit.
8 {comments}:
- thezenofmaking said...
Great idea! I bet a strong braided elastic would work for the loops too, for people who don't want to work with leather.
- May 25, 2011 at 1:06 PM
- emily.marie said...
Cute! You'd probably have to take them to the cobbler to sew on the loops, though. DIY shoes can get dangerous!
- May 25, 2011 at 1:50 PM
- Aurora said...
I made something similar a few weeks ago! Check out my blog at http://aurorascreations.blogspot.com/2011/05/sun-inspired-sandals-tutorial.html
! - May 25, 2011 at 1:57 PM
- katy said...
If anyone likes the idea of this, but doesn't want to make their own....you should check out http://www.ssekodesigns.com/
The sandals are made by young women in Uganda, to fund their university education. The 'about' bit on the website goes into more detail, but it's an amazing company. The eventual goal of the founder is to turn the company over to the women who have graduated (those who want to own/run the business....), and then go on to start similar business in other places.
check them out! - May 25, 2011 at 2:23 PM
I was going to mention Seeko Sandles, but just saw someone else already did. I have a pair and LOVE them. I'm going to make a few extra pairs of straps for them as well!
- May 25, 2011 at 8:44 PM
- American Nanny said...
I'm thinking that if you used the base of a cheap pair of flip flops for these sandals. Pull out the plastic Y shape that forms the top of the sanda. Skip the leather loops and just knot the fabric, thread through one of the holes and continue knotting and threading through holes until you end up with the sandal that you want. I haven't tried this yet, it's just an idea.
- June 19, 2011 at 11:45 PM
- Cynthia said...
Those are knock offs of "Mohops". I have 2 pair of Mohops and I'm hooked. I don't have flip flops though- might have to try this though it'll probably disappoint as I'm used to the real thing.
- June 26, 2011 at 12:55 AM
Wow awesome shoes, they look a lot like the real ones but actually better :) ladies sandals uk
- September 9, 2011 at 10:13 AM


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Customize any space or decor with Black Watercolor Floral Peel and Stick Wallpaper by RoomMates. Offering a fresh new alternative to decorating with very little commitment, use Peel and Stick Wallpaper for more than just walls. Great for upgrading walls, furniture DIY crafts, decor and more, the decorating possibilities are endless. A fast, fun and affordable decorating tool, install Peel and Stick Wallpaper in minutes. Just peel and stick! Plus, remove in full strips in just seconds keeping walls 100% safe. Reusable and extremely versatile, shop Peel and Stick Wallpaper now!
- Pattern: RMK11236WP
- Book Name: RoomMates Peel & Stick
- Design Studio: Room Mates
- Name: Watercolor Floral P & S Wallpaper
- Colors: Contains Black
- Roll Width: 20.50 In.
- Roll Length: 16.50 Ft.
- Repeat Length: 20.50 In.
- Finish: SolidVinyl
- Match: DropMatch
- Paper Attributes:
- PeelNStick
- Peelable
- Repositionable
- Strippable
- Washable
- Total Square Feet: 28.19
- Features: Fun to Install, Easy to Remove


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FREMONT, Calif., Feb. 14, 2012 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — TeamF1, Inc. (www.TeamF1.com), the leader in embedded networking and security software solutions for wired and wireless applications, today announced that D-Link (www.dlink.com), the end-to-end networking solutions provider for businesses, selected TeamF1′s embedded software for their complete family of Unified Services Routers, including the recently launched DSR-250/250N wired and wireless services routers.
TeamF1′s cutting edge software solution provides advanced, high-performance features to D-Link's DSR family of devices, especially tailored to suit small and medium businesses (SMBs).
D-Link's DSR Unified Services Router family boasts a broad set of standards-based, business-class security features for services gateways providing SMBs with a safe networking environment. Enabled by TeamF1 technology, these routers include support for concurrent multiple IPsec and SSL VPN tunnels for secure remote access; an ultra-high-performance and robust stateful packet inspection firewall for powerful perimeter security; and an intrusion prevention system (IPS) for real-time filtering of malicious content.
"Today's SMB market demands enterprise-grade features for secure business networking coupled with ease-of-use that does not require a large IT organization," said ML Jean, Senior Director of Switch and Security Product Division at D-Link. "TeamF1 has provided us with high-quality software for our security product with excellent support to enable a highly integrated secure networking device for this market."
TeamF1 software equips all D-Link DSR models with multiple WAN connectivity options for country-specific ISP requirements and VLAN capabilities. These features, combined with an intuitive device management interface, offer a blend of feature-rich, user friendly devices for SMBs. Another key feature is a focus on power-saving "green" networking including sleep modes and automatic power-down based on pre-defined schedules. The wireless DSR series of devices (DSR 1000N/500N/250N) also adds the latest 802.11n standards support for fast wireless networking with easy security setup features.
"We are very proud to have our software selected by D-Link for their next-generation VPN gateway devices," said Mukesh Lulla, president, TeamF1, Inc. "We always strive to enhance our product offerings through innovation and intensive R&D, helping OEMs offer advanced devices to their customers."
TeamF1′s market-ready solutions help OEMs bring secure connected devices to market quickly, reducing overall development costs and risks. TeamF1′s SecureF1rst line of turnkey solutions combine various networking and security technology modules to build a unique solution for each OEM with their desired feature-set, and are available immediately for deployment on various CPU architectures and operating systems.
About D-Link:
D-Link (www.dlink.com) is the global leader in connectivity for small, medium and large enterprise business networking. The company is an award-winning designer, developer and manufacturer of networking, broadband, digital electronics, voice, data and video communications solutions for the digital home, Small Office/Home Office (SOHO), Small to Medium Business (SMB), and Workgroup to Enterprise environments.
About TeamF1:
TeamF1, Inc., a privately held corporation headquartered in Fremont, California, is a leader in high performance embedded networking and security software. TeamF1′s products enable secure networking of telecom/datacom and industrial equipment. For more information visit http://www.TeamF1.com or contact TeamF1 Public Relations at 510-505-9931.
Names mentioned are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective companies.
News Source: TeamF1 Inc. :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .


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UA:Jungle Halflings
From D&D Wiki
This material is published under the OGL 1.0a. |
Jungle Halflings
Jungle halfings live a much more settled life than their normal counterparts do. They build villages along rivers and burn clearings in the jungle to plant their crops. In addition, they gather the most abundant food source in their environment, fish, and hunt with poison-tipped weapons.
Racial Traits: Jungle halflings have the following racial traits.
- +2 Dexterity, –2 Strength.
- Humanoid (Halfling).
- Small: As a Small creature, a jungle halfling gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but she uses smaller weapons than humans use, and her lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
- Jungle halfling base land speed is 20 feet.
- Weapon Proficiency: Jungle halflings receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the throwing axe, handaxe, and shortbow (including composite shortbow) as bonus feats. For jungle halflings, the axe is both a practical tool and ceremonial item. They grow up using the other weapons for hunting and fishing.
- Poison Use: Jungle halflings use poison extensively when hunting, and as a result never poison themselves when applying poison to a weapon or when using a poisoned weapon in combat. Jungle halflings make extensive use of poisons harvested from vermin, particularly those that damage Dexterity scores.
- +2 racial bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison: Jungle halflings have adapted a resistance to their own favorite method of bringing down prey.
- +2 racial bonus on Climb, Jump, and Move Silently checks.
- +1 racial bonus on attack rolls with thrown weapons.
- +2 racial bonus on Listen checks.
- Automatic Languages: Common and Halfling. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, and Orc.
- Favored Class: Barbarian. A multiclass jungle halfling's barbarian class does not count when determining whether she takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing. Jungle halflings live much closer to nature, and must rely on cunning, resourcefulness, persistence, courage, and mercilessness to survive.
- Level Adjustment: +0.
Back to Main Page → Variant Rules → Races → Environmental Racial Variants → Jungle Races


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Submit Your Nomination to the 2014 Most Endangered Historic Properties List
Washington Trust Announces a Call for Nominations to the
2014 Most Endangered Historic Properties List
Here's the November 19, 2013 news release from the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation:
Seattle, Washington: The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation is seeking nominations to its 2014 Most Endangered Historic Properties List. Nomination forms may be obtained through the Trust's website at www.preservewa.org.
Washingtonians enjoy a diverse collection of historic and cultural resources found throughout the state. Historic buildings and sites significantly contribute to the heritage and vitality of Washington while enhancing the quality of life in small towns, large cities and across rural areas. Yet each day, these resources face a variety of challenges, including lack of funding, deferred maintenance, neglect, incompatible development, and demolition. Inclusion in the Most Endangered List is an important initial step in highlighting these threats and bringing attention to those historic resources most in need.
Historic properties selected for the Most Endangered list receive advocacy support and assistance from the Washington Trust. While the focus is to remove the immediate threat facing historic properties, raising awareness of preservation issues in general remains a programmatic goal. Through proactive partnering with local organizations and concerned citizens, the Washington Trust's Most Endangered List program has resulted in many high profile success stories across Washington since its establishment in 1992.
Past case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of inclusion in our Most Endangered List. The Battelle/Talaris Campus in Seattle's Laurelhurst neighborhood represents such an example. Redevelopment plans called for demolition of campus buildings and the associated historic landscape. Working with concerned neighbors and other advocacy groups, the campus and surrounding grounds recently received designation as a City of Seattle Landmark. The property owner, in turn, is interested in working with stakeholders on a preservation-minded redevelopment scenario. The Haller House, located in downtown Coupeville on Whidbey Island, provides another example. With the house on the market, concerned advocates feared a new owner would remove significant interior features from the 1866 house – a structure with direct ties to Civil War officer Colonel Granville Haller. The Washington Trust supported local efforts to contact the sellers, who in turn agreed to provide local advocates an opportunity to raise funds for acquisition of the site. The group, now acting officially under the auspices of Historic Whidbey, continues to work toward this goal.
Communities are encouraged to take action when the historic fabric of their neighborhoods, main streets and rural landscapes are threatened. Through our Most Endangered List, the Washington Trust offers support with preservation efforts aimed at resolving these preservation challenges.
Nominations to the Trust's 2014 Most Endangered Historic Properties List are due on Monday, January 13, 2014. The 2014 List will be announced at the annual RevitalizeWA Preservation and Main Street Conference held in May as part of the Washington Trust's Preservation Month programming.
Those interested in nominating a resource are strongly encouraged to contact Cathy Wickwire, Operations Manager with the Washington Trust, prior to submitting a nomination. Tel. 206-624-9449. E-mail: email@example.com
For more information on the Most Endangered Historic Properties List, including a nomination form, please visit the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation website at www.preservewa.org/Nomination-Process.aspx.


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Construction is now complete on the 1,300 sq. ft. test lab at the Hart & Cooley, Inc. headquarters in Grand Rapids, MI.
Hart & Cooley reports that for many decades, contractors, engineers and architects have come to trust Hart & Cooley, Inc. to engineer and manufacture products to the highest standards. The new lab is one additional way Hart & Cooley, Inc. continues to build on this trust.
This new, three-story addition was designed to enable testing on chimney, vent, duct and accessories for compliance with design specifications, industry requirements and standards. Having the lab in-house allows for timely, cost-effective testing that ensures every product meets all quality requirements and has the highest safety and performance ratings.
Products used in the construction of the lab include Hart & Cooley's Milcor brand roof hatch, as well as a damper and exhaust fan from their sister company, PennBarry.
Founded in 1901, Hart & Cooley, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of a wide variety of products, including grilles, registers and diffusers, flexible air duct, gas venting and chimney systems, rooftop accessories and duct system components. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Hart and Cooley, Inc. has operations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. For more information, visit hartandcooleyinc.com.


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WASHINGTON – Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the senior Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, says the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects had collected pipe bombs, grenades and improvised explosive devices before they confronted police.
Maryland Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger said that the brother who fled after a furious gunfight hurled some of the devices at police as he drove away in a stolen car.
Ruppersberger, who was briefed by authorities, said U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials plan to quickly pivot from their search for the surviving suspect to learn whether the brothers had any help or contact from terrorist groups inside or outside the U.S. Ruppersberger said authorities likely will ask Russian officials for evidence in Chechnya and other nearby Russian regions.
"The next phase that we're in right now is to find out what their motivation was," Ruppersberger told WTOP in an on-air interview on Friday afternoon.
On the subject of a possible broader involvement in this case beyond just the brothers as suspects, he says they have not made that determination. Ruppersberger also says the devices that exploded during the marathon were small but sophisticated.
U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia congressman on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs who originally hails from Boston, spoke with WTOP on air as well.
"This touches everybody's lives, including my family's," he says.
Connolly says the city of Boston is actually smaller than Fairfax County. Though he says a house-to-house search is an arduous task, it actually makes sense in this case because the community in and around the city is older and houses there are closer together. Connolly also says that judgment must be withheld until all of the facts in the case are known.
Copyright 2013 WTOP and the Associated Press. All rights reserved.


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Find upcoming tastings and other events at Fridley Liquor!
Fridley Liquor hosts a few special events each year, including our annual Autumn Sampler. Find information on the events and how to purchase tickets.
Hosting a party? We're here to help you with your beer, wine and liquor selections! We can offer recommendations and assist you in determining quantities.


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By this point, you probably feel like you've seen every possible option of plait, braid, twist, and knot that exists. Well, we've got just the thing for your hair ennui: new braids! But these aren't just any old plaits. We knew we would have to come up with some pretty spectacular criss-crossed coiffs in order to catch your seasoned eye, so we went to the major leagues for this one.
Here, Isabel Guillen, one of the master weavers from the Braid Bar at the John Barrett Salon, will show you how to craft two seriously amazing, unexpected woven 'dos. Check the step-by-step guides, then start flexing those fingertips — you're going to need them nice and limber before you try and tackle these twisted tresses.
Photographed by Guang Xu