text:
- Research article
- Open Access
A reconfigurable NAND/NOR genetic logic gate
- Angel Goñi-Moreno1Email author and
- Martyn Amos1
© Goñi-Moreno and Amos; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012
- Received: 20 July 2012
- Accepted: 14 September 2012
- Published: 18 September 2012
Engineering genetic Boolean logic circuits is a major research theme of synthetic biology. By altering or introducing connections between genetic components, novel regulatory networks are built in order to mimic the behaviour of electronic devices such as logic gates. While electronics is a highly standardized science, genetic logic is still in its infancy, with few agreed standards. In this paper we focus on the interpretation of logical values in terms of molecular concentrations.
We describe the results of computational investigations of a novel circuit that is able to trigger specific differential responses depending on the input standard used. The circuit can therefore be dynamically reconfigured (without modification) to serve as both a NAND/NOR logic gate. This multi-functional behaviour is achieved by a) varying the meanings of inputs, and b) using branch predictions (as in computer science) to display a constrained output. A thorough computational study is performed, which provides valuable insights for the future laboratory validation. The simulations focus on both single-cell and population behaviours. The latter give particular insights into the spatial behaviour of our engineered cells on a surface with a non-homogeneous distribution of inputs.
We present a dynamically-reconfigurable NAND/NOR genetic logic circuit that can be switched between modes of operation via a simple shift in input signal concentration. The circuit addresses important issues in genetic logic that will have significance for more complex synthetic biology applications.
- Synthetic biology; Boolean logic; Multifunctionality
The emerging field of synthetic biology[1–7] applies rational engineering principles to the (re)design of biological systems. Work in this area has often focussed on the creation of small-scale genetic devices, such as oscillators[8], toggle switches[9, 10], clocks[11], Boolean logic gates[12–15] and half-adders/subtractors[16].
One interesting aspect of such devices concerns their potential for multifunctionality (that is, the possibility that devices may switch between different operating modes, depending on some external signal). Most existing engineered gene circuits have been constructed to perform a single function, but recent results suggest that such devices may be able to implement multiple functions[11, 17]. This property is often observed in neuronal networks[18], as it allows organisms to select multiple behavioural "programs" using the same group of neurons. The ability to engineer multifunctionality into genetic circuits may have significant performance benefits when a range of different responses or behaviours is required. In this paper we describe a model for such a genetic circuit, which may be dynamically reconfigured (without modification) to serve as both a NOR gate (output "1" only when both inputs absent) and a NAND gate (output "0" only when both inputs present), depending on its input. We give the results of single cell computational experiments, before showing how two-dimensional, population-based simulations can shed valuable light on both the behaviour of the system and its beneficial features.
We describe this circuit in the context of our previous work[19] on continuous computation in engineered gene circuits. By "continuous computation", we mean gene-based computation that maximises the period during which outputs are valid and "readable", by using "real-valued" signals.This addresses issues of reliability in such circuits, by (a) carefully interpreting binary signal values in terms of continuous/analogue value thresholds over time, and (b) using the concept of branch prediction (taken from computer architecture). During the execution of a program, a "fork" may occur as the result of a conditional statement (e.g., "if X is true, then do A, else do B"), as in the operation of a logic gate, where the output depends on the inputs. Branch prediction is a technique generally used for saving time when a device faces this kind of decision, and a prediction may be either conditional or unconditional. The latter (studied in[19]) is used when the probability of one branch being taken is significantly higher than the other; in this case, the high probability branch is taken by default, and the situation is only corrected if it transpires that the decision is incorrect, based on the expression evaluation. The circuit proposed here uses conditional prediction, by assuming that the previous output expressed will be carried forward to the next output (and correcting itself if this is not the case) before processing the inputs.
The inputs of the circuit, represented by molecules A and B, induce the expression of both genes G1 and G2(by binding to their correspondent upstream promoters), which produce, in turn, proteins X and I1(Induce r1) respectively. Product X represses the production of I2(Induce r2), which is expressed by the inverter using gene G3. Inducers I1and I2are in charge of controlling the switch, and change its direction. This third part of the circuit (the switch) is formed by two promoters which control the expression of three genes. Repressor R1 represses the expression of gene G5 unless inducer I1 sequesters it, forming the complex C1 (which has no functionality in the circuit). Symmetrically, R2 represses the expression of both genes G4and G6which, in turn, produces the reporter Out.
We now briefly consider the possible implementation of our system. The two main components we use are a genetic toggle switch and NOR gate, both of which have previously been successfully demonstrated in the laboratory[9, 20]. The main novelty in our proposed scheme (in terms of its implementation) lies in the connection between both components. We believe that this is where attention should be focussed during future laboratory work. The outputs of the NOR gate (that is, the inducers of the switch) are inhibitors of the R1 and R2repressors. By being sequestered, the repressors are rendered inactive, and the implementation of such a scheme is supported by a recent study[21], in which examples of such negative inhibition are demonstrated. Further investigations may also focus on alternative implementations of the connection scheme, without altering the fundamental behaviour of the device. One possible route to this may lie in directly repressing the switch promoters, instead of implementing the protein-protein interaction. There is also the possibility of using RNA-based logic to implement connections, as described recently in[22]. The key consideration that should inform the engineering process is the fact that the maximum expression level of the NOR output must be at least equal to the maximum expression level of the switch inputs. This is what allows the switch to "flip". Conversely, the minimum expression level of either NOR output must be lower than the minimum levels of either switch input. These two features allow the device to have the desired multi-functional behaviour.
In terms of traditional electronic logic, our circuit therefore corresponds to a system that produces, by default, a "high", or "1", signal in the absence of any input signals equal to "1". As soon as either inputs equal "1", the output signal is "pulled low" to "0" (classical NOR behaviour). Once all "1"-valued inputs are removed, the circuit defaults back to "high". In the Results and discussion section, we study the dynamics of the circuit and - more importantly - the meaning of a logic "1"-valued input, from which the multi-behaviour feature of the system is derived.
Results and discussion
We perform a number of computational simulations (model details are specified in the Methods section), with the two main aims of investigating the behaviour of the branch-predicting NOR gate, and then examining its potential as a reconfigurable device. In both cases, we perform single-cell and population-based experiments, to investigate both the internal dynamics of the circuit and its effect on a spatially-distributed collection of cells (which might be used in a realistic synthetic biology application).
Single cell NOR
We first emphasise the difference between static and dynamic (i.e., continuous) observations. Static measurements are performed by testing a single logic case (input setup), observing from the initial state of the circuit until a steady-state is reached. Dynamic measurements are taken once initialisation has occurred, and the logic input cases are modified sequentially. The outputs obtained are not always consistent, and we conclude that the continuous paradigm is more appropriate (i.e., robust) for these circuits.
It is important to note, however, that this performance is only observed when the system starts from a "pristine" (i.e. unused) state. Therefore, this behaviour is only useful if the circuit is intended for "single use". In non-trivial synthetic biology applications, it may well be the case that a circuit is used many times, with different inputs, so it is important to test its behaviour over an extended period. Once the system has been initialised with a set of inputs, we therefore need to switch over to a dynamic observation model[19].
Single cell NOR with noise
Dynamic predictions are observed after the 0-0 case, as the initial - static - conditions are no longer valid. During the 1-0 input phase (until t≈110) input A varies within the interval [4.5…5.5] nM (logic "1") while input B is still varying within the range [0…0.05] nM (logic "0"). In this scenario, the expression of protein I2is completely repressed, as the circuit senses this input as a clear logic "1" -not noise- for both I2and Out. The same thing happens during the next (0-1 and 1-1) cases, where the inputs vary within the same intervals for both logic values and output concentrations are the same. In order to get a more valuable insight into the system, we change the meaning for a logic "0" for the final case 0-0 (from t≈210) where it varies within the interval [0…0.005]. Such a low signal causes the production of I2but not at full capacity due to existing X repressors in the system. That amount, which can be interpreted as a positive output of I2, it is not enough to change the direction of the switch. Thus, the low inputs (A and B) are interpreted as noise for our system and Out will stay in the previous state, which is a "0" output. The noise causes an unclear signal to be received at the input: neither a clear logic 0 nor a clear logic 1, thus the system predicts the previous behaviour.
Population-based NOR
We depict the behaviour of the simulated colony in Figure6, starting with a single cell in the centre of the region. As the number of cells increases, those to the right-hand side eventually exhibit fluorescence, as they inhabit the 0-0 region, while those to the left (in the 1-1 region) show no fluorescence, as expected.
After 50 hours, we notice some cells on the right-hand side that are not producing light, when they should actually display a high output concentration. This is due to the fact that those cells are moved from the left-hand side (1-1 case) at high speed while they are being pushed strongly. Therefore, the circuit inside those cells has not had time enough to respond and start expressing Out (we recall the gap of Figure3). After 130h the cells clearly signal the input concentration corresponding to the inputs on the surface (any single-cell "errors" are due to cell movement and/or stochasticity).
In this experiment, the environment (a longitudinal trap) is divided into two zones: the centre: with a 1/0 input profile, and the remaining area, with a 0/0 input profile. The cells start growing once inoculated at the centre of the trap (about 100 cells are placed at the beginning). Obviously, as seen in the velocity field (bottom of Figure7), the cells move in one of two different directions, depending on their physical location: from centre to left, and from centre to right (due to pushing forces while growing). When the cells reach the 0/0 area we would expect a cell's circuit to display a "1" state. This is what we observe, but with a time delay, as seen in the previous differential study. In this particular case, the higher a cell's velocity, the more space it will cover before processing the inputs. This explains the gap between the beginning of the 0/0 area and the region in which the cells start expressing the output Out. This time-space delay plays a very important role in attempts to generate specific patterns in a cell population. If that is the case, there is a key parameter to bear in mind: the velocity of the cells, which can - of course - vary within the same colony (as in Figure7).
It is important to notice that our circuit offers significant possibilities for pattern formation or sensing studies. Instead of recognising only a logic "1" and a logic "0", the circuit is also able to distinguish between a high logic "1" and a low logic "1", and change its behaviour accordingly. We now investigate further this useful property.
Multi-functional behaviour
In this Section we use different sets of simulations to illustrate one of the main features of the circuit: the possibility of reusing it (without modification) for evaluating a function other than NOR. The key factor lies in how we define input "1". In contrast to our previous experiments, where this is denoted by an input concentration of 5nM, here we reduce the input "1" concentration to 1.5nM. By "flipping" the high input signal from 5 to 1.5nM, we obtain a change in functionality, from NOR to NAND (negated AND). Such a possibility could prove invaluable in terms of saving space in a hybrid bio-device, if differential behaviour is required for a range of input values. We compare our approach to that of Budyka[23]; their gates use light as an input, and the functionality of a gate may be altered by changing its wavelength (see also[24], in which the behaviour of a promoter is flipped between that of an amplifier and an OR gate using different inducer concentrations).
The definition of logical values is of vital importance if different synthetic regulatory networks are intended to work together. Here we show that a given genetic circuit can display very different behaviours, depending on the thresholds of a specific input logic signal. This will be of significance for future genetic circuit design. The circuit proposed in this paper harnesses this fuzzy behaviour by reconfiguring its behaviour between the NAND and NOR logical functions in response to different input standards. In this way, the circuit can be reused for either of those two functionalities without modification. We highlight the importance of computational studies in order to find abnormal behaviours inside circuits, and to identify the key features of a system. Although in this work we take all parameter values from the literature, the simulation results help us to focus on the specific areas of interest to parts selection for future laboratory validation.
Due to the large size of the circuit - with 5 promoters, 10 protein species and 6 genes - the mathematical model is reduced to 6 Michaelis-Menten equations (4 to 8). However, a full deterministic model of the first expression product (X) is built in order to: (1) check if the approximation is correct, and (2) make a good setup of the parameters in equations.
where denotes the gene with input A bound to its corresponding promoter, is the gene with input B bound to the other promoter and represents the gene with both inputs bound. Regarding the rates: k1 and k2are the binding rates of A and B, respectively, to their promoters when G1 has no protein bound; k−1 and k−2 are the unbinding rates of the previous reactions; k3and k4 are the binding rates of B and A to and, respectively; k−3 and k−4 denote the unbinding rates of the previous reactions; k5, k6 and k7 are the active transcription rates of X by, and respectively; k8, k9 and k10 are the degradation rates of X, A and B; and k11and k12 are the creation rates of inputs A and B respectively.
All the parameter values used in 2 are taken from standard values in the literature[25–27]. The objective of this model is to provide as a generic model as possible, to abstract away from specific laboratory details (i.e. the utilisation of a concrete promoter type). Thus, similar kinetic parameters have the same value in order to prove the functioning of a complete standardised model. The values are as follows: k1 = k2 = k3 = k4 = 1 molecules−1hour−1; k−1 = k−2 = k−3 = k−4 = 50 hour−1; k5 = k6 = 500 hour−1; k7 = 700 hour−1; k8 = k9 = k10 = 0.1 hour−1; k11 = k12 = molecules hours−1. Notice that k7 is higher than k5and k6 in order to emphasise a stronger transcription rate when the two inputs are bound to their promoters at the same time[28].
where α denotes a synthesis rate, K represents the dissociation constants, h the Hill coefficients, δ the protein decay or degradation rate and β denotes repression coefficients. It is important to notice that the sequestrated repressor complexes, C1 and C2, are represented by max([R1]−[I1],0) and max([R2]−[I2],0) which are the direct subtraction of the repressor by the inducer (or 0 if a negative result is obtained).
The values of the parameters are chosen to make Figure11 (right) match Figure11 (left) according to standard values[26, 29]. As before, similar parameters have the same value in order to make the in-silico study as general as possible. Thus, = α X = 3.0 nM hour−1; = = = α Out = 4.0 nM hour−1; = = 0.5 nM; = = = β Out = 0.04 nM; δ i = 0.15 hour−1; h1 = 1; h2 = 2. The initial conditions are: A= B = 0.5 nM (again, both inputs set to a logic 1).
All simulations are performed with our own software coded in Python. Figures2,3,8,9 and11 are obtained by using a deterministic approach with the previous ODE (Ordinary Differential Equation) model. For Figure4 we added noise to inputs, as explained in the Results and discussion section, without changing the ODEs. Figure5 is obtained by adding noise to the full model (all species that change over time). For that purpose, the ODE model is altered by adding Gaussian noise at every integration step to the previous concentration (building a SDE, Stochastic Differential Equation model). In the spatial studies (Figures6,7 and10) the inputs are fixed in their specific surface areas and the rest of the species are subject to low stochasticity (in this case, however, it is the collective behaviour that matters, not individual).
For spatial studies we use the physics library Pymunk (wrapper for the physics library Chipmunk) to design and control the cells as rigid bodies with growth in an agent-based paradigm. The ODE model of the system is placed inside the cells so there are as many copies of the genetic circuit as cells in a given time (the circuit with all parameter values is copied from mother to daughter when the cell divides). In order to control the doubling time of the cells we can let the circuit run for as many integration steps as we may need before the cell divides. For visualisation purposes, the circuit runs during 12 or 24 hours in a cell life-time (making that time the doubling time) depending on the set-up (see Results and discussion section).
This work was supported by the European Commission FP7 Future and Emerging Technologies Proactive initiative: Bio-chemistry-based Information Technology (CHEM-IT, ICT-2009.8.3), project reference 248919 (BACTOCOM).
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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


text:
As you move forward, there is another consideration (in addition to unintended side to side movement).
If you move from a low stance to a higher stance, you put more weight on your feet.
If you move from a high stance to a lower stance, you take weight off your feet.
Try it. It helps to move briskly.
I want to repeat this because it is so important:
If you move from a low stance to a higher stance, you put more weight on your feet.This applies whether you are standing still or moving. When you move up (rise), you press down. When you move down (sink or drop), you weigh less.
If you move from a high stance to a lower stance, you take weight off your feet.
This affects how you can pivot on your feet. When there is more weight on your feet, it is more important to pivot on the ball of your foot or heel. It is hard to pivot on the center of the foot. When there is less weight on your feet, you can pivot more freely -- on the ball, heel, or on the center of your foot.
There is another consideration. When you move up (rise), there is a moment at the top of the movement when you become lighter. At that moment, you are less stable (unless you also have movement is a horizontal direction).
Try this. Stand comfortably. Now jump up a couple of inches. At first, you press down on your feet. But at the top of your jump, you become weightless for a moment. And then the weight returns to your feet.
The opposite is also true. When you move down (drop or sink), initially there is less weight on your feet for a moment, but then there is more weight, followed by a bounce (momentarily slightly less weight). It is good to move when there is less weight on your feet and good to strike when there is more.
So the timing of your movement (in the horizontal plane) and the effectiveness of certain techniques are great affected by vertical movement (rising or sinking).
In fact, vertical movement can and is used in our Kishaba Juku form of Shorin-Ryu to initiate movement or boost the power of techniques. I am sure that it is used in other styles as well. But in Kishaba Juku, vertical movement is elevated to an invisible "ballet" of sorts that takes place during and in between all of our movements. We are always moving in three dimensions, externally and internally. (By internally, I mean inside our body -- not metaphysically.)
Charles C. Goodin

subset: commoncrawl


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sat there all night then I tried remerge and
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waiting for lock on /var/db/.pkg.portage_lockfile
is sitting there now. I even tried untaring the Tbird I got off thier web site and it does the same. I know Sabayon is more fussy then Kubuntu but this makes no sense.
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Calculating dependencies waiting for lock on /var/db/.pkg.portage_lockfile


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Can you beat Piggy in this simple dice game? Can you figure out
Piggy's strategy, and is there a better one?
Edward Wallace based his A Level Statistics Project on The Mean
Game. Each picks 2 numbers. The winner is the player who picks a
number closest to the mean of all the numbers picked.
Use the computer to model an epidemic. Try out public health policies to control the spread of the epidemic, to minimise the number of sick days and deaths.


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This Guest Post is by my friend and senior, Sensei Pat Nakata. Nakata Sensei is the head of the Okinawa Shorin-Ryu Karate Association in Hawaii. He was a student of Chosin (Choshin) Chibana in Shorin-Ryu, and also studied Ryukyu Kobudo under Sensei Fumio Nagaishi. When he was a young man, he studied Wado-Ryu Karate under Sensei Walter Nishioka.
This is the way of Karate, training. We keep moving forward with our training, many times taking small steps, but moving forward nonetheless. We may never reach the destination, but we would have traveled a great distance.
Pat Nakata


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DR. HOOK- Tables turned: When the doctor is the patient
Do doctors make the worst patients? I'm sitting in my hotel room in Utah with ice on my elevated right knee. Torn ACL, chipped bone on my tibia, and possible torn lateral collateral ligament. Yippee, everybody dance now!
After skiing for four fabulous days, I fell at Snowbird while doing nothing and twisted my knee. I felt something pop, and I knew I was in trouble. At first I figured it was my meniscus, so I thought to myself, "Hmm, I'll skip going to the ER and just wear a brace." Physician, heal thyself... no, no, no.
So I let the paramedics take me to the ER. I felt like such a loser. I had skied black diamonds all day (not gracefully like Susie Chapstick, but well enough), but I hurt myself when we were finished.
As I was being triaged by the nurse, I kept saying it had to be a lateral meniscal tear because of what I felt. However, while waiting for the doctor, I rolled up my pants and saw a bump in a different place– uh-oh. My heart sank. I feared a worse condition that required surgery. I've never had surgery– well, except for a botched oral surgery that left me with permanent nerve damage to my left lower lip. (My oral surgeon went to jail five months later for beating his ex-wife to death. Lovely fellow, huh?)
Negative thoughts entered my head. Money? I was worried that my insurance person had changed my current $1,000 deductible to $2,800 (yes, health insurance is financially killing even doctors). Work? I move faster than The Flash, but with an injured knee, how am I going to function during my 70-80-hour work week? Figure skating? Mountain biking? Elliptical rider? Rockette tryouts? (Okay, that's a joke.)
I wasn't worried about pain. I was worried about how this was going to affect my lifestyle and my checkbook. Also, I've never been sick or hurt on vacation, and now vacation is over. To me this was worse than the Heather Mills-Paul McCartney divorce settlement. When I worked a year in D.C., I tore my ankle ligaments while figure skating, and I didn't take a day off. I saw patients while sitting in a broken-down wheelchair that veered to the left. In fact, I veered into a crash cart and knocked over a food tray. Bad memories came to me like flashbacks on Lost.
The ER resident ordered an x-ray of my knee, and I wanted to decline because I was in major denial. But I didn't argue with him because my partner, who is also a doctor, said to be a good patient. After the x-ray, he examined me and said he thought I had torn my ACL (a stabilizing knee ligament).
I actually tried to convince him that it was okay in between "ouches"– the examination hurt! Da da da dum! Then his attending physician came in and said, "You have a fracture on your lateral tibial epicondyle called a Segond fracture." "No way!" I said.
So he yanked my knee around and said, "You blew out your ACL." "No way!" Way!
I've diagnosed plenty of patients with a torn ACL and have referred them to an orthopedic surgeon. But I was in complete shock when the ER doc diagnosed me. I almost cried like Nancy Kerrigan, "Why me?" but I had better sense than to do that. So I called home and arranged with my orthopedist to have my MRI when I flew back. And once home, I continued to do my best to be a good patient... with a pout on my face.
Dr. Hook cracks a joke or two, but he's a renowned physician with a local practice. Email him with your questions.


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Investigators could take nearly a year to determine what caused Tuesday's fatal Childress County helicopter crash, National Transportation Safety Board Air Safety Investigator Mitchell Gallo said.
"Actually, (the cause) is not going to be established for a while," Gallo said by phone Thursday. "We're still in the process of interviewing people."
A preliminary report on the crash, which will include the date, time, location and other basic facts about the incident, should be available to the public in the next few days, Gallo said.
In the following months, investigators will release a second factual report with more details about the accident, the helicopter and the personnel involved in the operation, Gallo said.
A final report will follow, which will include a summary of the incident and name contributing factors, he said.
The investigation stems from a crash that took place about 4:05 p.m. Tuesday, when a Brim Aviation helicopter piloted by Keith Hard, 42, of Butte County, Calif., was hovering about 150 feet above the ground with David Suhr, 23, of McLean sitting on a seat suspended 50 feet below the helicopter hanging a roller on a power line, Department of Public Safety officials said.
The aircraft lost power and crashed, and Suhr died as a result of the crash.Hard's injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.


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So, here we are on Friday, with our normal…wait, what's that? It's Wednesday? Huh.
Well, uh, welcome to our Wednesday New Game Stuff post!
The first couple of items we're going to start out with, it should be noted, won't actually be available for purchase until Friday. So, don't get too jumpy, just yet.
First up, is all the new D&D items that are hitting this Friday. The new Witchlight Fens Dungeon Tiles are another in the long line of D&D tile sets. Specifically, Witchlight adds onto The Wilderness pack, focusing on swamps. Also shipping is, The Monster Vault: Threats of Nentir Vale hardcover which includes within its glossy pages a number of creatures from the titled region. Creatures like the Raven Roost Bandits, stand as perfect challenges for heroic and paragon-tier characters. The book also includes the standard pages of monster tokens and maps that you expect.
Also dropping Friday are the New Phyrexia Event Decks. If you remember the Mirrodin Besieged Event Decks, these are extremely strong, vastly playable decks constructed to dominate your opponents. Most of the people I've seen play with these have come in somewhere in the top five players of the night. These two New Phyrexia decks, War of Attrition and Rot from Within, are built around white and green, respectively. Even if you don't want to use the decks, some of the cards they contain are worth it alone. For instance, War has two Stoneforge Mystics, one Mirran Crusader, and a Puresteel Paladin while Rot has an Inkmoth Nexus, a Green Sun's Zenith, and a Putrefax. These are also limited; once we're out, we're out. So, get'em while you can.
Okay, now for some stuff that you can actually buy today!
If you weren't aware, this year marks the 10th anniversary of one of our favorite games, Carcassonne. We like to call it a "tent-pole" game, as it is one of our consistent sellers and an all around enjoyable game for the whole family. As part of the anniversary celebration, Rio Grande Games has released a new Carcassonne 10th Anniversary edition, which contains ten new tiles for the Festival expansion as well as the new, clear, "phantom" meeples. Speaking of meeples, there is also a new "Phantom" meeples mini-expansion. Inside this clear meeple-shaped case are enough pieces for up to six players and a new "phantom" rule set. Finally, a new anniversary edition of the Carcassonne Dice Game has also shipped. It comes in a quaint meeple-shaped tin, as well, and includes a pad, pencil, and the rule booklet.
One of two Godzilla-related games that came in today, Godzilla Stomp! is a card based game where players choose control of either Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla, Battra, or Destoroyah and battle to see who destroys the most buildings through fighting or rampaging. Simple destruction, what could be better?
Second up, is Godzilla, Kaiju World Wars. Basically, a grander, boardgame version of Godzilla Stomp!, players choose from Godzilla, Rodan, Gigan, or King Ghidorah. From there you choose one of the many scenarios contained in the game and begin crushing buildings, fighting off the army, and battling other monsters. Each creature has special abilities that they can whip out when needed.
Don't call it an expansion! The Struggle for Catan Card Game follows in the footsteps of the previous Rivals of Catan that made for two to four players. Working off of the mechanics popularized by the Settlers of Catan boardgame, Struggle has players managing resources as they build cities, knights, roads, and so forth. The twist is that certain roads and knights can change hands. As usual, the first player to ten victory points gets the win.
An important restock note, Citadels has come back in stock. That is all. No, wait, that's not all. There's also two new sets of prepainted miniatures (in the vein of the Arkham Horror miniatures from a couple months back) for City of Thieves. If you've played the game, you know that the miniatures included in it are gorgeously sculpted, but lack a nifty paint job. These are equally well sculpted, but also are painted to match. Plus, there is one special miniature not included in the game called the Duke of Cadwallon that introduces a new rule set to the game.
Last but nowhere near least. Like, miles away. Like, here's least and way over there on the moon is this. That this is the new Dominion expansion Cornucopia. This is not a stand alone game like base Dominion or Intrigue, but it adds a completely new element of play. That element is a reward for variety; the more types of cards in your hand, the more you gain. If you have the cards that allow such a thing, though. Dominion really needs no introduction at this point, so we'll leave it at that.
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VIP entry is normally via invitation only and you should have received correspondence from DCD's VIP manager. If you have not received but would like to apply for VIP entry then please contact email@example.com who will be delighted to offer further clarification.
To qualify as a VIP attendee, you must be in a senior director level or above role and be directly engaged, as a management or technical professional in planning, strategy, systems design,
sourcing, purchasing, procurement, adoption, implementation, integration and operations of an IT organization, data center or cloud services.
In addition to access to the full conference programme, expo, meals and refreshments, VIPs receive a range of exclusive benefits, including:
- Access to C-Level Roundtables and private functions
- Entry to the conference's VIP and speaker lounge
- Discounted accommodation offers
- Beat the queues with speedy registration
- A reserved place at the speed networking
[Individuals with business development/marketing/sales titles or job responsibilities representing vendors and industry supplier/service provider firms do not qualify for a VIP pass, and should not apply here. Please see VENDOR PASS.]


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Fit your ticketing preferences with a variety of solutions that allow you to sell however you operate. Our platform integrates with your sales methods, whether that's at the box office or on location.
Box Office
Sell events from our Event Manager Box Office. Access directly from your computer or on mobile, and manage every aspect of the sale, from comp tickets to exchanges.
White Label
Our White Label Plugin allows you to seamlessly embed on your own website to sell events. The design is customizable to suit your branding and style. Plus, your patrons never leave your website to complete a purchase, which leads to higher conversion rates.
Memberships & Subscriptions
Offer enticing Memberships or Subscriptions to your patrons. These versatile options let you provide seasonal subscription packages or year round memberships with many different options.
Accept donations from patrons in a number of ways to receive continued support for your organization. Organize donation campaigns to reach a goal, or simply ask for donations throughout the purchase process.
The Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) is deeply integrated with all of your patron interactions from the Box Office, Plugins, and Widgets. Maintain communication and keep details on each patron to help build your relationships.
Drive attention to your events with our built in tools. Sync email lists to MailChimp or Constant Contact. Schedule event posts to social networks like Twitter and Facebook with our PromoteBotTM. And cross sell by showing related events to customers.
Run numerous reports to get a detailed view of your event activity such as audits, scans, event summary, donations, merchandise, and more. Export, print, or save reports for later.
Run your events and your box office from iOS, Android, or the new Opticon H27 Android barcode scanner. Perfect for multi-door events, and offline scanning makes it perfect for festivals and other outdoor events.


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Program Guide
Related Links
Econ Non-Petition Policy and Waitlist Info (pdf, 60kb)
University Bulletin
Academic Calendar
Career Development Center
Degree requirements
The degree requirements are specific to each economics major. Be sure to review them carefully.
- BA (.pdf, 30kb)
- BS Economic Analysis (.pdf, 30kb)
- BS Financial Economics (.pdf, 35kb)
- BS Economic Policy Analysis (.pdf, 35kb)
- Accelerated BS/MA in Economics
- Economics Minor (.pdf, 40kb)
Sequence of Courses
Review the suggested sequence of courses to ensure that you are able to complete your economics degree on time.
- Suggested Sequence of Courses (.pdf, 103kb)
Course Descriptions and Prerequisites
You can view course descriptions through the University Bulletin. Also make sure you review course prerequisites to ensure that you are eligible to register for the economics courses you plan to take.
Independent Study and Internships
Independent study projects offer tutorial study for intermediate and advanced students on special topics not offered elsewhere in the curriculum. Generally, interested students first choose a research topic of interest to them, and then identify an economics faculty member who agrees to supervise the research project. The student and the faculty member together determine what work will be required, the number of credits to be received, and the grading option.
The Department of Economics does not sponsor internships. Students interested in taking an internship are encouraged to consult with the Fleischman Center for Career and Professional Development to discuss securing such a position.
The Department of Economics offers a variety of awards for outstanding academic achievement and service to the department. The department hosts a reception towards the end of each spring semester where these awards are presented.


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Joyce Manor keeps getting better and better.
The Torrance quartet's third full album, which comes out Tuesday, only lasts 19 minutes, but it's hard to imagine that making it any longer would have made it any more riveting.
Hearing the opening "Christmas Card" is like a headfirst dive into a breaking ocean wave, with the listener instantly immersed in a bracing welter of ringing guitars supporting Barry Johnson's aching vocals.
The South Bay band — vocalist/guitarist Johnson, guitarist Chase Knobbe, bassist Matt Ebert and drummer Kurt Walche — play superbly throughout, whether banging out high-grade power-pop on the storming "Victoria," or dialing it back into subtle melodic folk rock on the Smiths-like "Heated Swimming Pool."
Throughout "Never Hungover Again," the band tempers its joyous outbursts with deeper undercurrents of melancholy. Not many performers have conjured up the distinctive blend of beauty and wistfulness that can mark the end of a Southern California summer as well as Joyce Manor does on "End of the Summer." Think of it as a hopped-up answer to the Beach Boys' "Warmth of the Sun," or a counterpart to "Every Summer Day" by South Bay stalwarts The Last.
The album's songs seem fragmented at first, coming in sharp bursts and ending just as quickly. On repeated listenings, though, tracks such as the stunning Jam-like rocker "In the Army Now" and the powerfully melodic "Schley" reveal themselves as fully formed in every way.
As if all that weren't enough, "Catalina Fight Song" even drops in a reference to San Pedro's Sunken City on the Point Fermin cliffs — and it fits the song's feel perfectly.
Joyce Manor will bring its distinctive brand of yearning vocals bolstered by crashing guitars to the El Rey Theatre, where it will headline an all-ages record release show on Friday.


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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. � Shane Carden had his seventh-career 300-yard passing game to lead the visiting East Carolina Pirates to a 24-17 win over the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders Saturday afternoon.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. � Shane Carden had his seventh-career 300-yard passing game to lead the visiting East Carolina Pirates to a 24-17 win over the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders Saturday afternoon.
Carden, the Pirates' junior quarterback, completed 43 of his 58 pass attempts for 365 yards and a touchdown.
Running back Chris Hairston gained 91 yards on 17 carries, while wide receiver Justin Hardy snagged eight catches for 85 yards.
With three seconds on the third-quarter clock, MTSU quarter Logan Kilgore fired a 26-yard touchdown strike to Tavarres Jefferson, capping an eight-play, 80-yard drive in two minutes, 47 seconds, knotting the score at 17-17.
Following a Lance Ray kickoff return, Carden tossed a 21-yard pass to Hardy, putting the Pirates back on top � 24-17. Hardy has three touchdowns on the season.
On MTSU's next offensive possession, the Pirates' defense showed up.
Safety Damon Magazu laid out and grabbed his first interception of the season with 5:10 left in the game.
The Pirates (4-1, 2-0) ran the clock out to remain unbeaten in Conference-USA play.
Vintavious Cooper's 1-yard run put the first seven points on the board for the Pirates, who have scored a touchdown on the opening drive in all five games.
The Blue Raiders went on a mini-scoring spree, putting together 10-straight points � a 1-yard touchdown run by Jeremiah Bryson and a 22-yard field goal from Cody Clark.
Carden's 1-yard touchdown run, his fourth rushing score in two weeks, with 8:27 remaining in the second quarter gave ECU a 14-10 lead � an advantage the Pirates would take to halftime.
Warren Harvey's 25-yard field goal in the third quarter bumped the lead to 17-10. Harvey, a Greenville native, is 16-of-18 on kicks inside 40 yards the past two seasons.
Harvey missed field goals of 35 and 52 yards.
The Pirates travel to New Orleans, La. next week to square off with Tulane.


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Virtual Monotherapy: Can It Be Avoided?
Twenty years ago, participating in a clinical trial was usually the only way to access an experimental HIV drug. Doctors who kept up with new developments worked hard to get their patients on drugs as soon as they became available. Unfortunately, many doctors and patients ended up adding one new drug at a time. We soon learned -- painfully for many patients -- that this type of "sequential monotherapy" usually has only short-term benefits. And it has the primary effect of burning through all available antiviral drugs, helping the virus accumulate additional mutations that reduce the efficacy of any future regimen.
The official Department of Health and Human Services Guidelines recognize the importance of having more than one active drug in a treatment regimen. The current version states:
Use the [patient's] treatment history and past and current resistance test results to identify active agents (preferably at least two fully active agents) to design a new regimen. A fully active agent is one likely to demonstrate antiretroviral activity on the basis of both the treatment history and susceptibility on drug-resistance testing.
If at least two fully active agents cannot be identified, consider pharmacokinetic enhancement of protease inhibitors with Norvir (ritonavir) and/or re-using other prior antiretroviral agents to provide partial antiretroviral activity.
Adding a drug with activity against drug-resistant virus (e.g. a potent Norvir-boosted PI) and a drug with a new mechanism of action (e.g. HIV entry inhibitor) to an optimized background antiretroviral regimen can provide significant antiretroviral activity.
In general, one active drug should not be added to a failing regimen because drug resistance is likely to develop quickly. However, in patients with advanced HIV disease (e.g. CD4 <100) and higher risk of clinical progression, adding one active agent (with an optimized background regimen) may provide clinical benefits and should be considered. (Emphasis added.)
In 2006, we're in relatively good position in terms of the drug pipeline. There are promising new agents, including some that appear to be effective against HIV that is resistant to existing drugs. And drugs are showing up in new classes: attachment and fusion inhibitors, integrase inhibitors, and maturation inhibitors. A new class of drugs carries the strong hope of a lack of cross-resistance with older classes of drugs -- an extra boost to its ability to fight HIV. And yet, many patients are still risking their future treatment options by participating in clinical trials where they may only receive one new, active agent to add to their failing treatment regimen. What factors contribute to this situation? Why are people with HIV putting themselves at risk?
Clinical Trial Design
The FDA has long been aware of the risks of monotherapy in testing new drugs. In 1999 they wrote to manufacturers indicating that more than one investigational agent could be used in the same clinical trial. The FDA was very supportive of "factorial designs" where more than one agent at a time could be studied. For example, the following is an example of a factorial design (Note: OBR means "optimized background regimen," or the best combo that can be put together with existing drugs.)
OBR plus new drug A
OBR plus new drug B
OBR plus new drugs A & B
OBR alone
But unless your OBR includes at least one "active" agent -- a drug to which your virus is not yet highly resistant -- then the only arm that doesn't expose you to monotherapy is OBR plus A + B. And of course, the whole point of a randomized trial is that you can't choose which arm you get into.
The Lessons of Fuzeon and Aptivus
Two recent drug approvals were supported by large clinical trials that highlighted the benefits of having more than one active drug available.
The key clinical trials supporting the approval of Fuzeon (enfuvirtide) were the TORO trials. These trials generally studied a regimen that included a boosted protease inhibitor, with or without Fuzeon. When people in the TORO studies were given phenotype tests, one study found that people with 3 to 4 active drugs had an average viral load drop of 2.3 logs (99.5%) after 6 months -- an impressive result. But those who had only one other drug available achieved only a 0.2 log drop (37%). The TORO studies showed that Fuzeon works best in people who have two other active HIV drugs available, and some ADAP programs require this before they will pay for Fuzeon, the most expensive HIV drug yet approved.
The newest protease inhibitor to be approved is Aptivus (see article in this issue). An analysis of the RESIST clinical trials provided clear support for the benefits of additional active drugs in the background regimen: Almost 55% of people taking Aptivus had a treatment response if they had 3 or more active drugs available. But this number dropped to 46% when only two other drugs were available, 37% with one other drug available, and 13% with no other active drugs.
The TORO and RESIST trials clearly support the value of active agents in the treatment regimen, but they also leave open a key question: the role of a new class of drug. In both sets of trials, patients who took Fuzeon did better. Was this because it was "one more active agent" or because it was a drug in a totally new class? Would another fusion inhibitor (of course, there aren't any right now) or a drug in one of the other classes being developed (attachment inhibitors, integrase inhibitors, maturation inhibitors) have the same benefits? We won't know the answers to these questions until some of these newer drugs are tested.
Research vs. Treatment
That puts us squarely in the middle of the dilemma of how to test new drugs. From the manufacturer's point of view, the goal of a clinical trial is to provide key data to achieve FDA approval. The best way to do this is to show higher response rates with their new drug than without it. But this often conflicts with the best way to optimize treatment for an individual patient.
So -- what restrictions should be put on patients entering clinical trials to protect them against the risks of getting only one active drug? Should more than one experimental drug be tested in a single clinical trial? From a manufacturer's point of view, combining experimental drugs in a trial design is challenging and risky. What about legal issues? Will the manufacturer of the other new drug cooperate? Have interaction studies been done between the new drugs, and with existing drugs? Are they safe for people with kidney problems or liver impairment (such as with hepatitis B or C)? And when the trial is over, will anyone be able to sort out the contribution of Drug A versus Drug B to treatment success?
Of course, from a patient's point of view, allowing more than one experimental agent in a trial increases the possibility of constructing a regimen with active agents, raising the chance that the regimen that will control HIV, and avoiding real or "virtual" monotherapy.
It's also been common for clinical trials of new drugs to include an initial period of monotherapy. The benefit is being able to see the impact of the new drug by itself. The risk is that HIV will quickly develop resistance and the new drug will become useless.
Asking the Right Questions
If you're considering participating in a clinical trial, talk with your doctor about the following: Do we have current resistance testing results for me? If not, does it make sense to get them done now? What active drugs do I still have? Which approved medications still have a chance to contribute to control of HIV? (Remember that resistance is not "all or nothing" -- you may get some benefit from drugs that show partial resistance.)
What clinical trials are available for new drugs? What phase are these trials? How much is known about the drugs being studied? What are the treatment arms in the clinical trial? Would any of them expose me to monotherapy, real or virtual? Would any of them expose me to untested dosages? What are the anticipated side effects? Is there any other way to access experimental drugs? Are there expanded access or open-label safety studies that could provide access?
Informed consent is a process intended to protect people who enter clinical trials. There are always some risks, which must be weighed against the potential benefit. Unfortunately, the clinical trials system can be slanted toward the completion of the trial, and informed consent can sometimes be less thorough than is needed. Before entering any clinical trial, it's important to check it out with your healthcare provider, and to look for info from other sources, like an AIDS treatment organization or other people with HIV.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Clinical trials are not done to provide optimal care to trial participants. They are done to answer specific research questions about the effectiveness and safety of new drugs. On the other hand, clinical trials have always been a way for people with HIV to gain access to these new drugs. Unfortunately, most manufacturers won't let you access their new drugs through early access programs if you meet the criteria for their clinical trials. Exceptions are sometimes made for people who live too far from a trial site, but this is difficult to do. Activists have pushed for years to allow people with very low CD4 counts to get new drugs without risking being randomized in a clinical trial, but have not had much success.
When someone has highly resistant HIV and a falling CD4 count, the lure of a new drug -- especially if it's in a new class of drugs, such as attachment inhibitors -- can be impossible to ignore. But we have to remember that there is a risk/benefit ratio to calculate before deciding to enter a clinical trial. What happens if you get assigned to the placebo arm? What is the potential risk to your health? What if the experimental drug doesn't work as well as hoped? Where will you be after 6 months in the trial? What is the risk of developing resistance to the new drug? What is the risk of waiting?
There are no clear answers to these questions. The answers have to come from the clinical trials themselves. The real issue is for people with limited treatment options. As grim as things may look, overall, they're much better than a few years ago. At that time, the goal of salvage therapy was just to keep the patient alive for a few more months. Now, we talk about suppressing the virus, even for highly treatment experienced patients.
Recent studies suggest that going off all protease inhibitors -- while staying on nukes -- may be a good "holding" pattern. This avoids the accumulation of new protease inhibitor mutations, and appears to do a fairly good job of maintaining CD4 counts. In fact, many physicians leave Epivir (3TC) in a patient's regimen even if HIV has developed resistance to it, because Epivir resistance may actually enhance the activity of other nukes. If you still have two or three effective drugs that you can tolerate, ask your health care provider it you should switch to them. But if you have only one new treatment available, you have to balance any short-term benefit you might get against the value of preserving future treatment options. Check out web sites dealing with salvage therapy such as: aac.org (click on "Your Health Info" and then "Salvage Treatment"); salvagetherapies.org; hivforum.org/projects/antiviral.htm; and hivandhepatitis.com/recent/salvage/1.html.
Some studies show that the decline in CD4 cells is slower in people with highly resistant virus because the virus may be less "fit" (meaning it is less able to infect CD4 cells). Can you afford to wait until the trials reveal more information about a new drug? Is your doctor willing to jump through the paperwork hoops necessary to enroll you in a compassionate access or expanded access program? Ultimately it's a personal decision -- so be sure it's an informed decision. Don't count on clinical trials alone to offer you the best care for your individual situation -- be aware of all your options.
Bob Munk is a long-time AIDS activist and the Project Coordinator of aidsinfonet.org.


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Udiskie is an automatic disk mounting service using udisks. It can be used for mounting CDs, flash drives, and other media. It is simple to use and requires no configuration.
You can install Udiskie by using the python2-udiskie package that is found in the Official Repositories. Start the Udiskie service by adding
udiskie &
to your xinitrc file, before the window manager is loaded.
Once Udiskie is running, all removable media will automatically be mounted under
/media under a new directory that matches the device name.
udiskie requires permission for the
org.freedesktop.udisks.filesystem-mount action to be granted through PolicyKit. If you use a display manager that supports ConsoleKit this will be taken care of for you automatically. If you don't, you'll need to set up consolekit to work with startx/xinit or use the storage group method.
Start your window manager or desktop environment with ck-launch-session, for example, an exec line in ~/.xinitrc:
exec ck-launch-session awesome
You may need to start udiskie within the Consolekit session -- that seems to be necessary, for example, when launching dwm:
exec ck-launch-session bash -c "udiskie & dwm"
Storage group
If it doesn't already exist, create the file
/etc/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d/10-udiskie.pkla with these contents:
[Local Users] Identity=unix-group:storage Action=org.freedesktop.udisks.* ResultAny=yes ResultInactive=yes ResultActive=yes
This example configuration allows any member of the
storage group to mount and unmount disks with udiskie.
Use the
udiskie-umount command to unmount media. For example, for a device named "MY_USB_DRIVE":
udiskie-umount /media/MY_USB_DRIVE
Or, you can unmount all media with the command:
udiskie-umount -a
Window Manager Menu Scripts
For convenience, you can add a script to the menu in some window managers to allow for easy access and control of removable media.
Here's an openbox menu script that offers a slight variation on the WindowMaker example below:
#!/bin/bash # An openbox menu for removable media (requires udiskie). # # This script will generate sub-menus for any device mounted # under /media. You can browse the device in a file manager or # unmount it. # # It will ignore the "cd", "dvd", and "fl" directories and the U3 # containers found on some windows formatted drives # # By default, this script uses the rox file manager to browse the # media. DIR=$(cd $(dirname "$0") && pwd) SCRIPT=$(basename "$0") NOTIFY="notify-send" FM_CMD="rox" pipemenu() { cd /media echo '<openbox_pipe_menu>' for i in * do if [ "$i" != "*" ] && [[ ! "$i" =~ ^U3|cd|dvd|fl ]]; then echo "<item label=\"Browse $i\">" echo "<action name=\"Execute\">" echo "<execute>$FM_CMD /media/$i</execute>" echo "</action></item>" echo "<item label=\"Unmount $i\">" echo "<action name=\"Execute\">" echo "<execute>$DIR/$SCRIPT unmount /media/$i</execute>" echo "</action></item>" echo "<separator/>" fi done echo "<item label=\"Eject CD/DVD\">" echo "<action name=\"Execute\">" echo "<execute>eject -T</execute>" echo "</action></item>" echo "<item label=\"Remount all\">" echo "<action name=\"Execute\">" echo "<execute>$DIR/$SCRIPT remount</execute>" echo "</action></item>" echo "</openbox_pipe_menu>" } case $1 in unmount) udiskie-umount $2 if mountpoint -q $2; then $NOTIFY "Failed to unmount $2" else $NOTIFY "Unmounted $2" fi ;; remount) killall udiskie udiskie & $NOTIFY "Mounting removable media..." ;; *) pipemenu ;; esac
Window Maker
Create a "Generated Submenu" entry in the root menu.
#!/bin/bash # For a Window Maker menu for removable media. # # This script will generate sub-menus for any device mounted # under /media. You can browse the device in a file manager or # unmount it. # # It will ignore the "cd", "dvd", and "fl" directories. # # It uses "emelFM2" file manager to browse the media. cd /media echo \"Media\" MENU for i in * do if ["$i" != "*" ] && [ "$i" != "cd" ] && [ "$i" != "dvd" ] && [ "$i" != "fl" ] then echo \"Browse $i\" EXEC \"emelfm2 -1 \'/media/$i\'\" fi done for i in * do if ["$i" != "*" ] && [ "$i" != "cd" ] && [ "$i" != "dvd" ] && [ "$i" != "fl" ] then echo \"Unmount $i\" EXEC \"udiskie-umount \'/media/$i\'\" fi done echo \"Eject Disc\" EXEC \"eject --traytoggle\" echo \"Media\" END


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Replacement Gas Range Knob
Key Features
- Knob Compatibility LRG30355SW, LRG30357SW
- Replacement and Cleaning
$29.99Suggested Price
Replacement and Cleaning
To replace the knobs, make sure the knob has the "OFF" position centered at the top. Slide the knob straight off the stem and slide the replacement knob back onto the stem. Do not bend the knobs upwards or downwards, and do not hang towels or other objects on them as this can damage the gas valve shaft. Same process can be used for easy cleaning of the knobs.
It is also best to clean the front panel after each use of the range, stove or cooktop. Use a damp cloth and mild soapy water or a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water. Rinse with clean water and polish dry with a soft cloth.
NOTE: Do not use abrasive cleansers, strong liquid cleaners, plastic scouring pads, or oven cleaners on the manifold panel. They will damage the finish on your range, stove or cooktop.
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text:
We smell a series. Acura announced it would unveil a new sports-car design concept at the Detroit auto show, offering the above teaser sketch as an airbrushed amuses bouche. The proto model will be dubbed "Advanced Sports Car Concept," continuing a thread started at the LA auto show with the radically angular "Advanced Sedan Concept." According to accompanying press-release spiel, the sports-car concept "provides a glimpse" of the next-generation Acura exotic sports car, formerly known as NSX. CEO Takeo "Me Out to the Ballgame" Fukui will deliver keynote remarks at the Acura press conference on Sunday, January 7.
LA Auto Show: Acura Advanced Sedan Concept Is Weird; Edmunds Speculates on the Next-Gen Acura NSX [internal]


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Only two state lawmakers attended a Sept. 18 meeting that the Asheville City Council had scheduled specifically to dialogue with the local legislative delegation. The topic was the proposed merger of Asheville's water system with the Buncombe County Metropolitan Sewerage District, and despite the lawmakers' meager turnout, those present did manage to get a few things off their chests.
Reps. Chuck McGrady of Hendersonville and Susan Fisher of Asheville sat down with six of the seven Council members in the U.S. Cellular Center's banquet hall (Marc Hunt had a scheduling conflict). They discussed the city's efforts toward a merger, as recommended by a legislative study report released in April.
That study, from a committee headed by Buncombe County Rep. Tim Moffitt (also absent due to a conflict), declared the benefits of combining the two entities "undeniable." The committee recommended that the 2013 General Assembly mandate consolidation — unless the city and MSD were engaged in "good-faith negotiations on this matter."
Since then, Council has undertaken a series of moves, which Water Resources Director Steve Shoaf outlined at the meeting. They include: taking steps to clarify the Asheville watershed's 1996 conservation easement (which the report also called for), establishing a financial analysis group to review the merger's impact, and conducting an evaluation/methodology study to provide models for asset value and governance.
The city has hired a consultant to interface with MSD's rate-impact study and to post all pertinent data concerning the proposed merger on the city government website at www.ashevillenc.gov/projects.
So on Sept. 18, the question of the day was whether those efforts were sufficient to demonstrate good-faith negotiations and perhaps forestall a state-mandated merger.
"The next General Assembly," noted McGrady, "is going to be a new General Assembly." Accordingly, he explained, it can revisit the logic and economic impact of consolidation and make its own decision. If the studies now being undertaken by the city and MSD conflict with the study committee's recommendation, he said, a future bill would presumably address that.
McGrady added that he "didn't introduce the bill originally" and didn't intend to introduce a follow-up, though he might co-sponsor a bill he found acceptable.
"It almost sounds like it doesn't matter how much good faith there is — there will still be a bill introduced," commented Fisher.
"Yeah, I would suspect — if only a placeholder," McGrady agreed.
"If the citizens say no?" queried Mayor Terry Bellamy, referring to the planned Nov. 6 referendum on the potential sale or lease of the water system.
"I personally question the whole referendum, but that's your call," said McGrady. "These are difficult issues with a lot of history to them."
Referencing that troubled history, Council member Chris Pelly noted that MSD itself had been created by merging various failing sewer systems. Considering the water system's current status, he asked McGrady, "Where is the same need?"
"In recent history, the management of the water system by the city is generally positive," McGrady replied. "But it wasn't very long ago when that was not the case. Perhaps this is the bill before the storm. Perhaps we can effect a regulatory system at a time when there is nothing driving it."
"The things that we're being penalized for are things that have happened in the past," said Bellamy. "To me, that's over. We've made investments, stopped leaks, [developed] a [capital-improvements plan] — I just don't understand how the things of the past affect the future when we've done everything right."
Fisher thanked the city for its transparency in those efforts and complimented MSD for setting a "really good example. When you have problems there, you go after them. I look forward to hearing more as the study goes forward," she concluded.
Upcoming markers along the good-faith trail include an Oct. 16 City Council work session to review internal financial and governance models; the Nov. 6 referendum (in which only city residents can vote); and the results of both MSD's rate-impact study (due in November) and another study concerning possible mergers with other public water systems in the area (expected in January).
— Contributing Editor Nelda Holder can be reached at email@example.com.


text:
Find Your Perfect Home.
Reading Real Estate
Reading is located in Michigan. Reading, Michigan has a population of 1,056. Reading is more family-centric than the surrounding county with 33.45% of the households containing married families with children. The county average for households married with children is 28.52%.
The median household income in Reading, Michigan is $30,653. The median household income for the surrounding county is $42,183 compared to the national median of $53,482. The median age of people living in Reading is 32.4 years.
Reading Weather
The average high temperature in July is 82.5 degrees, with an average low temperature in January of 14.8 degrees. The average rainfall is approximately 36.2 inches per year, with inches of snow per year.
View Homes for Sale in Reading
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text:
Physical Address
Tel: +27 12 819 1440
New era in beekeeping in South Africa
The Honeybadger has moved into a new dimension! We are now BEE compliant and we are ready for the new era in beekeeping in South Africa.
Our premises in Kameeldrift East, Pretoria South Africa offer more than 50 square meters exhibition space as well as a lecture room that can seat 20 learners at tables.
Join us for a cup of coffee, tea or ice cold filtered water while you find everything you need for beekeeping: from hives, protective clothing, and tools to all honey bottling equipment. We also sell pure South African Honey in our Honey Shoppe!
Sidwell and Theresia are ready to assist you with their knowledge and experience and to give you tips and show you the techniques in beekeeping.
'Bee' informed
The media is full of articles on imported honey tainted with antibiotics. This is good news for consumers as well as for producers. Unscrupulous importers are now more careful but unfortunately innocent labels was taken of the shelves causing irreparable damage to certain labels.
The price of quality South African honey has increased and consumers can know that retail honey prices below R50 per kg (August 2007) are possibly either imported or blended with imported honey. Even well known retailers with honey branded in their name are also known to receive imported honey although they deny this. Their suppliers are contractually bound to supply honey at a certain price and with producer prices rising they have n choice but to blend cheat poor quality imported honey with South African honey. (the honey regulations stipulate that if a jar of honey contains 50% South African honey, it can be labeled as South African honey) Most labels now carry the countries of origin but be assured that although it mentions many countries, the contents probably comes only from China.
Consumers are advised only to buy pure South African honey. We can supply in quantity. Contact us
You may have noted that our site were down for a couple a days and that gave us the opportunity to do necessary maintenance and upgrades. We hope to do more regular updates and to ad a lot more articles and all previous copies of the South African Bee Journal. For more information, click here
'Bee' prepared
We offer a wide range of beekeeping equipment. You will find everything you need, including hives, hive components, protective beekeeper's clothing, filters for honey and wax, honey packaging and more.... (Prices included and updated 1 September 2007) New equipment arriving from France Nov 2007!
New at Beekeeping?
We show you how to become a beekeeper. We have an introduction course to beekeeping that will teach you everything you need to know.
So what is a Honeybadger?
A honeybadger or ratel is known as one of the main culprits for breaking into hives for brood and honey. Click here to read more about this fascinating creature, or follow our link to articles and see what other fascinating information we have in our knowledge base.
Attention Beekeepers, we buy clean beeswax and capping in all quantities. Contact us for more information
|Email Address:
home | products | course | newsletter | order | articles | sabj | ntba | links


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Kagiso Trust is one of South Africa's leading development agencies working for freedom from poverty. The Trust empowers the poverty stricken through programmes in 5 development areas namely: education, socio-economic development, capacity building, innovation, and sustainable funding.
Copyright © 2017 Kagiso Trust. All Rights Reserved | Designed and developed by Star Hero Media Group


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black bart wrote:A few years ago I a had a pal who worked at Sainsburys and he got myself and a few others into a Whisky Tasting session led by a well known whisky expert. We had ten glasses of whisky infront of us and some assorted Scottish Snacks.
I used to attend wine tastings with an academic crowd. One of the spouses loathed wine, but was partial to Scotch. Our scoring charts included a list of helpful adjectives (both pro- and con-) for noting our comments; one of the adjectives was "Scotch-like".
A whiskey tasting would be fun, I think.


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Follow RFF News on your cell phone. Text follow rff to 40404 you will receive txt messages with RFF News
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Dawn had to either do the shooting or the coconuts/wheelbarrow, perhaps they thought pairing her with Ozzie was a better idea than leaving her alone as a shooter?
Coach shot 0, Mikayla 0 and Albert 3, so why was Coach alright with saying Mikayla should have stopped and didn't listen to him as "Coach" of his tribe. I am finding him hard to tolerate now, and actually I am going the same way with Ozzy
RI has thrown a wrench into the works that doesn't have entertainment value, IMO. Hope this is the last season for RI. When a person is sent home, that should be it and the silly comps for who should stay in RI are getting boring very quickly.
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Ambon Night Safari 2010
Trip: Wetpixel Night Safari Ambon 2010
Dates: Arrive 7 Nov 2010, depart on 16 Nov 2010
Trip Leaders: Eric Cheng and Tony Wu
Host: Maluku Divers, http://www.divingmaluku.com
The planned diving schedule, comprising 21 dives (or more, if you are ambitious) is:
7 Nov: Arrive/ set up cameras
8-9 Nov: Normal day-diving schedule
10 Nov: Transition schedule: 14:30; 17:30; 20:30
11-13 Nov: Night schedule: 17:30; 20:30; 23:30
14 Nov: Transition schedule: 14:30; 17:30; 20:30
15 Nov: Off-gas/ Optional land tour (additional cost)
16 Nov: Depart Ambon
Note that Wetpixel is also running a Raja Ampat / Misool trip from Nov 20 - Dec 2, 2010. There will be at least 3 of us who are doing both trips; we plan to migrate from Ambon to Sorong sometime between Nov 16-19. This means that if you would like to do both trips, you can join us and we'll do the planning.
Frontal view of the Maluku frogfish (Histiophryne psychedelica)
Diving Style: Ambon has a combination of reef and muck diving. For this trip, we will be concentrating on muck/ critter diving, and we will devote much of the trip to diving in the evening and night. Although the resort is situated at the best critter sites, we will dive from boats. The dive sites are located inside Ambon bay, and most of the time, we will be diving in relatively shallow water.
Because we will be diving a lot at night, you will need to bring adequate lighting. A minimum of two torches (three would be better) plus lots of batteries would be a good idea.
Also, while the muck sites are sheltered and shallow, there can be strong current at times. Our night dives will be concentrated during the period between new moon and first quarter moon, so in theory, the current will not be strong.
However, you never know with Mother Nature, so we'll need to be flexible and adapt to prevailing conditions.
Mating cuttlefish everywhere!
For a better idea of what Ambon is like, see this slideshow:
Also, here is a PDF of an article about Ambon. The text is in Japanese, but the photos will give you more of an idea of what kind of marine life to expect:
Finally, the dive sites we will be diving are where the newly described Maluku frogfish (Histiophryne psychedelica) has been found. We will, of course, hope to see this elusive fish, but to date, only a handful of these animals have been spotted, so please manage your expectations accordingly.
Accommodation: Twin-share rooms at the newly completed Maluku Divers dive resort, which is located at the prime muck dive sites at Laha. All rooms have hot water and aircon, as well as two editing desks with charging stations for batteries. The resort is equipped with back-up generators, so we'll be insulated from power outages on the island. There is no Nitrox available at this time.
Meals are Indonesian fare, primarily comprising fresh fish and seasonal vegetables. If you have any special dietary requirements, please inform us well in advance so the resort can try to accommodate. Please bear in mind that Ambon is a remote location and some things are not always readily available.
Cost/ Person: US$2,495
Not included is airfare, additional local accommodation during transfers, alcoholic drinks.
Deposit: US$1,000, due with booking
Balance: Balance of payment due 1 July 2010.
Getting There: There are regular flights to Ambon from Bali, Manado and Jakarta on Lion Air and Batavia Air. While it is possible to make reservations yourself, it's best to let the resort handle domestic flight reservations, coordinated through Dan Baldocchi. Domestic itineraries and prices generally firm up within three months of the date concerned, so expect that final itineraries will become clear around mid-August.
Power Supply: Power in Indonesia is 230V/ 50Hz. There are charging stations in the cabins and in the dedicated camera room. Plug shape is recessed two-prong, Type F on this page: http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm
Please note: 110V is not available.
Snapping shrimp with eggs
Discarded fish = HUGE critters
Rhinopias in Ambon
Baby cuttlefish in egg
A juvenile snapping shrimp
It may not look like much, but under those fishing boats is critter insanity


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Good shopping day
1. Market
Armed with my new crocheted bag, I went shopping this afternoon at the Jean-Talon Market (which is kind of a bad idea on a weekend, because it's so busy, but I still love it there).
I made this great -- and sparkly! -- little bag from this free pattern. Now, my original plan had been to make a good-sized bag that could hold lots of stuff. As I was crocheting this one I thought it looked pretty small, but of course a mesh bag will expand; I added an extra four rounds before working the decreases, but otherwise followed the pattern. When I finished, my first thought was that I'd just made myself an evening bag instead of a grocery bag. It was so small!
However, as shown in the first photo, this sucker does hold plenty. In that picture, there were two large tomatoes, two red peppers, one English cucumber, two small zucchinis, a bunch of green onions, and a bunch of celery in the bag. Just minutes before, I'd had a conversation with one of the produce vendors that went a little something like this (but in French):
Me: I don't need a bag -- I have one.
Her: This? Is it big enough?
Me: Yes! [not really sure this was true]
Her, putting the vegetables in the bag: It grows!
Me, beaming: I made it!
I still have lots of sparkly silver cotton left, so I'm going to make at least one more bag. I'd like to try this MagKnits pattern, which is for a much bigger bag. I don't love knitting on big needles, though, so I may crochet again. Not sure.
2. Thrift
It's been a while since I bought buttons, since I have lots, but I'm in the middle of making a simple, bulky cardigan and planning for it to just have two big buttons. At Value Village earlier today, I just happened to find some of the most incredible buttons I've ever seen:
I'd love to know what the story is with these. I've never seen anything like them. The designs in the middle are 3-D under a clear surface. Have you seen these before?
I also managed to find some back-to-school clothes: a short-sleeved shirt, a blue long-sleeved Western-cut shirt with pearl snaps, and a light-brown wool V-neck vest with a nice lace pattern on the front (which I could easily knit, but not for $3.99). 'Twas a good shop.
(Oh, and the plastinated bodies were fascinating.)


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The East Carolina Pirates were angry coming off a triple overtime loss last week to Tulane.
GREENVILLE � The East Carolina Pirates were angry coming off a triple overtime loss last week to Tulane.
That anger was directed fully at lowly Southern Mississippi Saturday, as ECU eviscerated the Golden Eagles 55-14.
�This team has a great teach-me-coach approach and mentality,� ECU coach Ruffin McNeill said. �I was proud of our preparation this week in practice and how the kids executed it and took it to the field.�
Junior quarterback Shane Carden found his rhythm early and often, tossing for 308 yards on 30-for-37 passing with three touchdowns and a rushing score.
Justin Hardy followed up his school record-setting performance of a week ago, with 10 catches for 126 yards and a touchdown.
The score was Hardy�s 21st receiving touchdown of his ECU career, bringing him within one of Lance Lewis�s record of 22.
�Records are meant to be broken and I just go out there and do my best every week,� Hardy said.
Hardy had 231 all-purpose yards on the game. The Golden Eagles managed just 233 yards of total offense.
The Pirates scored 55 points before allowing points to the visitors.
�It was important for us to get off to a fast start,� Carden said. �Last week not being able to finish in the red zone, then this week being able to get touchdowns instead of field goals was huge. Coach emphasized finishing to us this week in practice.�
The Pirates began the season with an arsenal at the receiver position akin to General Cornwallis�s army, but due to injuries and suspensions, has been reduced to more of a single brigade.
A pair of receivers who came up enormous alongside Hardy Saturday, were junior Isaiah Jones and freshman DaQuan Barnes out of New Hanover High School in Wilmington.
Jones caught six balls for 43 yards and a touchdown, while Barnes added three grabs for 47 yards.
�First off, my parents have done the right things and taught me right from wrong and I have transitioned that to college,� Jones said. �Second, having one of the greatest coaches in college football and a great team around me has made my transition much smoother.�
The Pirates had a trio of running reach paydirt, as Vintavious Cooper, Chris Hairston and Breon Allen each had a rushing touchdown.
Allen�s was the first of his ECU career.
Damon Magazu led the defense, snagging his third interception in as many weeks.
ECU improves to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in Conference-USA, while Southern Miss falls to 0-6 and 0-2 in league play.
The Golden Eagles head back to Hattiesburg to host North Texas next weekend, while the Pirates will enjoy a bye week.
Southern Miss 0 0 0 14 - 14
East Carolina 14 17 24 0 � 55
First Quarter
ECU � Justin Hardy 1 pass from Shane Carden (Warren Harvey kick)
ECU � Isaiah Jones 11 pass from Carden (Harvey kick)
Second Quarter
ECU � Vintavious Cooper 21 run (Harvey kick)
ECU � Carden 1 run (Harvey kick)
ECU � Harvey 27 Field Goal
Third Quarter
ECU � Bryce Williams 5 pass from Carden (Harvey kick)
ECU � Breon Allen 1 run (Harvey kick)
ECU � Chris Hairston 4 run (Harvey kick)
ECU � Harvey 18 Field Goal
Fourth Quarter
USM � Marquise Richard 15 pass from Nick Mullens (Corey Acosta kick)
USM � Bruce Johnson 8 pass from Mullens (Acosta kick)
Total Offense 233 476
First Downs 12 30
Rushes-Yards 36-121 44-122
Passing Yards 112 354
Comp-Att-Int 11-28-1 34-44-0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-56 6-55
Punts-Avg. 7-40.1 1-43.0
Individual Statistics
Passing: Southern Miss � Nick Mullens 9-17 97 yards (2 TD), Allan Bridgford 2-11 15 yards (INT). East Carolina � Shane Carden 30-37 308 yards (3 TD), Cody Keith 4-6 46 yards. Rushing: Southern Miss � Tyre Bracken 7-50, George Payne 11-37, Jalen Richard 10-32, Mullens 5-17. East Carolina � Vintavious Cooper 14-65 (TD), Breon Allen 10-44 (TD), Chris Hairston 6-33 (TD), DaQuan Barnes 1-12, Carden 7-1 (TD). Receiving: Southern Miss � James Cox 3-37, Justin Sims 2-30, Marquise Richard 1-15 (TD), Bruce Johnson 1-8 (TD), Jalen Richard 2-7. East Carolina � Justin Hardy 10-126 (TD), Isaiah Jones 6-43 (TD), Bryce Williams 4-37 (TD), Barnes 3-47.
Jordan Honeycutt can be reached at 252-635-5670 or at email@example.com. Follow Jordan on Twitter @JHONEYnbsj29


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Chieffy Caligdong leads PH past Vietnam
BANGKOK—A Filipino football hero returned to the fore Tuesday night. And his resurfacing couldn't have come at a better time.
With the Azkals staring at early elimination from the AFF Suzuki Cup, Chieffy Caligdong provided the flash of inspiration in a massive 1-0 victory over Vietnam at Rajamangala Stadium here Tuesday night.
Relegated to a sub after a so-so performance in the 1-2 loss to Thailand, Caligdong struck the game-winner five minutes from time as the Azkals stayed in the hunt for a place in the semifinals.
"I just wanted to give my 100 percent for the team when I was sent in," Caligdong said in Filipino during a phone interview with TV5's AKTV Center, which covered the game in Manila.
The rematch against Vietnamese side brought back memories of that cold December night in Hanoi two years ago when the Azkals finally made their presence felt in this tournament with a 2-0 victory over the then defending champions.
History repeated itself here. And while the margin of victory was smaller, the performance was nothing short of heroic.
Displaying a much improved passing game and a more organized defense, the Azkals—with coach Michael Weiss reduced to a spectator in the stands because of a suspension—constantly put the Vietnamese backline under constant pressure with their reward coming in the form of Caligdong's half-volley that beat Vietnamese keeper Duong Hong Son.
"I'm proud of my team," said Weiss, whose team moved up to second in the group just behind Thailand, which was scheduled to play Myanmar late last night. "They (Azkals) fought like lions and warriors like they had to do."
It was a terrific piece of counter-attacking play that led to the goal with Jerry Lucena starting the quick buildup from midfield until the ball found its way to Angel Guirado, whose pinpoint pass to Caligdong gave the Air Force winger time and space to deliver a composed finish.
But the Azkals needed to ride their luck in the final minutes with the solid Ed Sacapano just rescued by the crossbar, which denied an unmarked Le Tan Tai inside the box.
"We can't celebrate yet, we still have a game to play," Caligdong told TV5.
More than surpassing their feat in this tournament two years ago, the Azkals are fueled by the desire to give the country what it was deprived of in 2010—a home game in the semifinal stage of this meet.
The Azkals reached the last four two years ago but failed to get the home field advantage they so desperately needed as the country did not have a suitable venue for the match against Indonesia, which eventually prevailed on aggregate scores.
The Philippines next faces Myanmar on Friday, needing a victory to ensure a hassle-free entry to the semifinals.
If the Azkals book their ticket, the Philippines can finally get to host a leg of the semifinals after the Asean Football Federation, through secretary general Dato Sri Paul Mony Samuel, announced that the Rizal Memorial Stadium is good for a home game, subject to "remedial work on the field of play."
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.


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Exclusive Rubik's Cube Fridge
Puzzling how awesome it is.
- Keep your food cool or warm with this multi-function Rubik's Fridge
- Looks just like the cube we all know and love
- A ThinkGeek exclusive!
When you are spending a day working the cube, as they say, you need to make sure you have all the energy foods you need. Sometimes all of these foods need to stay cold, and other times all the foods need to stay warm. Little did Mr. Rubik know when he created his puzzle cube in 1974, it would spawn the perfect way to keep your foods the temperature they desire. This is it: Rubik's Fridge!
The Rubik's Fridge looks just like the Rubik's Cube... except the colors don't turn. There are two main puzzle cubes in geek mythology, and only the Rubik's Cube is used for good (no fridge for you, Pinhead). The Rubik's Fridge has two settings: one for cold and one for warm. It also comes with a 110V AC power cord for inside use and a 12V DC power cord for travelling (i.e., in a car) use. The Rubik's Fridge - it's not puzzling at all why it's the perfect Cube for your cube.
Product Specifications
- It's a Rubik's Cube... for your food!
- Does not actually turn, of course
- This cube is forever unsolved
- Has a warm and a cool setting for keeping food either warm or cold
- Officially-licensed Rubik's food technology
- A ThinkGeek exclusive!
- Rubber feet to protect surface
- Locking door to prevent spillage
- Capacity: 9 cans of soda (with a little extra room for bacon or something) or 18 Rubik's Cubes (with a little extra room for some Rubik's Magic)
- Includes fridge, 110V US AC power cord (for use in home), 12V DC power cord (for use in car), replacement sticker pack (not enough to "solve" it)
- Note for International Friends: We do not recommend using this small appliance with an international power converter
- Cooling Capability: approx. 32-44°F
- Heating Capability: approx. 131-149°F
- Outer Dimensions: approx. 11.5" cubed!
- Inner Dimensions: approx. 6" x 7.5" x 8.25"