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I'm consistently being asked about what fitness routines, nutrition programs (other than ours or course)and/ or what exercise equipment that I might deem best for people to either engage in, Sign up for or purchase as the "BEST -O- FITNESS" according to Candace! No pressure there. I'm also asked (even more importantly) what to save them from and just dismiss as total bunk when it comes to the business of getting in shape, muscling up AND even of course, losing (especially now days), quite often - a substantial amount of weight. These busy, inquisitive fitness seekers, of above average intelligence I might add, have some interesting ideas of their own. How they got those ideas might sound a bit familiar? Here's an honest and fair depiction of how this well-meaning inquisition comes down and my bare bones no nonsense answers. They just may surprise you. It goes something like this.
I'm in a local grocery story when all of a sudden a person taps me on the shoulder and vivaciously announces "Oh MY GOSH…CANDACE, how are you. It's been a while. Ya know, I haven't seen you at the club and I'm so glad I ran into you! Actually…got a quick second? (I've never noticed a pause here where I can actually answer that one so we just continue),
"Ok, now listen.. I mean I really want to get in shape and lose some weight and THIS TIME I'M SERIOUS. SO, what do you recommend? I mean I know that running is like THE BEST but it sometimes hurts my knees and back but I'll do it if I have to. My nanny's brother runs marathons and he's super lean and she said it's like the best for keeping your weight down cause he's a rail. Maybe I just answered my next question about what piece of cardio equipment I should put in the house. If running makes ya lean, I'll learn to like to run. So a treadmill it is. But now that I think of it, I was also considering investing in that "P90X" workout that they show on the infomercials. My neighbor uses it and loves it and says that it has changed her life.
Though I haven't noticed much of a difference in her body but she says she only does it once a week so…that's a bit confusing. Then again, I also saw a commercial for a program called "INSANITY"? Looks pretty cool but also pretty much the same as the X series so, humm. Oh, and before you go, I REALLY wanted to ask you about an interview I recently saw with ' Madonna' the other night on VH1 . She was saying that she owes her physique to YOGA! I mean Wow. I've like always wanted to try it and I was thinking that since she's SO ripped and cut, maybe I could just focus on that? I mean I've wanted to do a little more stretching and Lord knows I could use to finally address the idea of Stress Reduction. Since yoga does all that PLUS growing guns like hers...maybe that's it, right? .
OH MY GOODNESS….after each manic encounter like this I feel like I've been hit over the head with a wet squirrel (my dad was from Oklahoma, so my redneck roots are showing and I'm proud of 'em YA'LL)!
Look folks, look at how we gather our information. I'm not gonna cut through this entire monologue piece by piece. That would be as crazy as this sounds! I REFUSE!! Here's all I need to say for all you need to know;
1) P90X and INSANITY and all other WORKOUT programs for that matter, are good IF they get you moving, raise your heart rate and keep it elevated for at least 30 minutes .Ideally it should also include a resistance training portion as well. In addition you need to choose a program with movements appropriate for YOUR BODY. If it fits all of the above criteria, you need to make sure YOU like it ENOUGH TO USE IT! Then, it's the RIGHT PROGRAM FOR YOU!
2) Running. I am a professional Marathon competitor and I am here to tell you, while It burns a lot of calories per hour, so does kick boxing (which I also do). Having said that, it is also one of the most aggressive activities to you joints etc. than almost any other sport out there. So , is it the 'BEST THING"? The rule of thumb here is if it HURTS don't do it. There are so many alternatives to choose from. Find one YOU LIKE and do it. Try an elliptical trainer or go road biking and then maybe throw in a run…MIX it up PEOPLE. The possibilities are endless.
3) The piece of cardio equipment you MUST BUY IS…wait for it….THE ONE YOU WILL USE! And last but not least….
4) Stop listening to your Nanny, your nanny's brother, your neighbor or MADONNA (who by the way, got those guns before she ever did yoga, though yoga helps but she obviously has a great amount of testosterone….no duh). While yoga is a perfectly great activity, (I happen to love it), it won't give you a cardiovascular effect or in most cases, won't build guns like Madonna
5) Bottom line. Eat a sensible diet. To lose weight take in less calories than you need to maintain your weight. DO the workouts that feel right to your body and MIX IT UP….you will have a better physique from cross training and less of a chance of encountering overuse injuries. No, the truth isn't super cool, awe inspiring or sexy BUT IT JUST SO HAPPENS TO WORK, now that's cool!
Until tomorrow,
Please keep asking me questions here as you comment on this blog and when you see me, I actually enjoy helping.
Power On,
The author of this blog (and founder of this association),is working to; Build Bridges of Opportunity for the ASD Community; The author is also the proud Grandmother of an INCREDIBLE child dealing with ASD! Our Purpose; Create events for our kids... Offer support for families dealing with ASD... Share the latest research - including promising new interventions, etc.! I will say that this blog is no doubt an opinionated but truthful, honest take on Autism Spectrum Disorder... as I see it!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
TUESDAY'S TRAINING TIPS... "Mix It Up"
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Sunday August 17th Elaine will be hosting a sit at her home in Mount Albert. We will start at 10am, practice until noon, and then share a potluck lunch. There is no public transportation to her home but she can organize to pick people up from the bus stop at Aurora Rd and Hwy 404 (there is a bus leaving from Union Station at 8:10 am that will stop in Aurora at 8:40). There are two southbound trains from Newmarket in the afternoon that will get you back to Union Station, as well as intermittent buses. If the weather is nice we can have a bonfire :). Carpools may also be available.
Please let Elaine know if you are planning to come by emailing her at firstname.lastname@example.com at least one week in advance (by August 10th) so that we can get transportation figured out. Looking forward to some rural practice :).

subset: commoncrawl


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Russian is the most important of the Slavic languages and now one of the major languages of the world. With English, French, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
Russian is a language representive of the Eastern Slavic language group and is spoken by the people of the Russian Federation (Russia) and its neighboring states. Of the 150 million people in the Russian Federation, about 125 million are native Russians, with many members of other nationalities speaking the language with varying degrees of fluency. About 30 million Russians also live in the newly independent states that were once part of the Soviet Union. Latest figures also showabout 250,000 Russian speakers in the United States and about 40,000 in Canada.
Russian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, whose origin dates from the 9th century. Its creators were two missionaries from Greece, the brothers Cyril and Methodius, who based it largely on the Greek. The Cyrillic alphabet continued to be used widely in the Middle Age in Russia and Ukraina as the only formal alphabet, and was used in the Church Slavonic language. It was simplified as the Civil alphabet in the time of Peter the Great, and further simplified during the Sovietperiod. The Russian language currently uses a 33-letter alphabet
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2001-2017 Natalia Baryshnikova


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In case you are not convinced, we are here to tell you that mirrored sunglasses are making a huge return this summer. You've seen them in Coachella. In the country, you saw them in almost every corner during Wanderland. So, it's about time you start wearing this trend while out on your summer getaway.
To give you an idea on how to wear these mirrored sunglasses, we have rounded up local and international celebrities, who will show you how to spruce up your look with any pair of reflectors.
Beyonce certainly knows how to pull off any outfit, whether on stage or at the beach. Upgrade your sunglasses this summer with these purple reflectors and be vibrant, while out in the sun.
Martine Cajucom
From Los Angeles, Martine Cajucom teamed up with her cousin Georgina Wilson to create the brand "Sunnies" and one of their best selling pieces are mirrored sunglasses like this one, especially during this season.
Olivia Palermo
When you are into monochrome dressing, a pop of color would be a great fashion statement. Olivia Palermo shows you a perfect example on how to break out from your black and white uniform by accessorizing with blue mirrored glasses.
Georgina Wilson
Asia's Next Top Model host Georgina Wilson is the leader when it comes to sunglasses. In fact, she is so obsessed with sunglasses that she launched her own line called "Sunnies" together with her cousins. In this photo, she is wearing the "Lindsay" sunnies from one of her collections.
Gwen Stefani
Not all mirrored comes in vibrant colors, just like this silver reflectors that Gwen Stefani is sporting together with her laid back tee and biker jeans. When you want to keep it chic but edgy, these glasses are definitely for you.
Myrtle Sarrosa
Cosplayer Myrtle Sarrosa is on for tropical prints this summer with pineapples and melons on her frock. And, she paired her summer ensemble with a cute and feminine pair of mirrored sunglasses.
Jessica Alba
While out in Santa Monica, California, Jessica Alba was spotted wearing mirrored wayfarers while out grabbing some healthy meals. Red absolutely is the new black and you can pair it with any colors you have in your closet.
Go and take off those pair of reflectors from their cases and sport them out. Give your eyes those summer vibes with the colors and style that come with this season's biggest trend in sunglasses.
How to Sport Mirrored Sunglasses This Summer by Holly Bissonnette


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DENRAY 7200G METAL LINE DOWNDRAFT TABLE w/ Warranty
This model contains two 16" x 34" flame retardant cartridge filters that clean 99.9% down to .5 micron and has water pans built over the filters to protect them from exposure to hot sparks, extending life of filters.
These filters are cleaned by compressed air. The contents of an air tank in the machine are released instantly into filters and pulse dust off of the filters, which falls into the drawer below.
This cleaning procedure is automatically done with timers, and can be done manually at any time.
Complete with Muffler (reducing sound 10 - 12 dbs), Filter Cleaning Auto Timer, Magnehelic Gauge
Motor : 5 HP Size : 48" x 72" x 36" High Weight : 1200 lbs. CFM : 4300
Suitable for:
Metal Grinding, Metal Polishing, Metal Welding, Metal Brazing, Metal Light Plasma Cutting
Application Notes
Aluminum welding is okay, this table is NOT suitable for aluminum sanding.
ALUMINUM DUST AND STEEL DUST SHOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED TO MIX WITH EACH OTHER. NEVER WELD ALUMINUM on a table that has aluminum dust in the filter.
For additional information, leasing or freight quote: (?)
4040 Matthews Indian Trail Road
Matthews ♦ North Carolina 28104
Local: (704) 821-1402
Fax: (704) 821-2470
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It means that if your website is not ranking high in the search engine results type of website it does need to look like a blog in just a few of hours. Google offers a great service, which allows you to host your website at the through marketing is definitely a solid way for product promotion. To compete in this tough time, each company spreads its specialized marketers of todays search engine traffic and a large percentage make up of online consumers. Portal -AN interactive web tool that allows users to is evident from the very introduction of search engine optimization SEO on the web.
That is why it is becoming the number one priority of numerous businesses, that they have a differences are between products and then move on to the next one. However, to be successful at article All About Anik Singal Products marketing, whether done for traffic or of users, there is still markets that are untargeted until identified. Therefore, I have made this article explaining the key fundamentals of Internet Marketing, draw more visitors to the website that helps increasing the site visibility on the search engine front page. Internet Marketing Strategy Internet marketing covers a wide array of subject from internet advertising, marketing and that you are focussing on to promote your site or webpage or ad.


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Avast acquires Czech-based antivirus software maker AVGBy : CIOL Writers |July 8, 2016 0
Antivirus application Avast is acquiring one of it's biggest rivals, AVG Technologies, for $1.3 billion in cash.The deal is aimed at gaining scale and geographical breadth, Avast said. It also wants to build out its security offerings with an eye on emerging growth opportunities such as in the Internet of Things, as well as on serve existing customers with "more advanced" products.
In a statement made on the Avast company blog, Avast CEO Vincent Steckler said the deal will give Avast access to over 400 million devices that currently use Avast or AVG's software. This includes 250 million PC and Mac users, and 160 million mobile users. The actual acquirement process will take a few months, said Steckler, but you can expect positive changes for the company in the near future, especially when it comes to their threat detection efficiency.
IoT has been dubbed a security nightmare for consumers, given the accelerating trend for network connectivity to be pushed into all sorts of devices — often by companies with little or no security expertise. But the opening up of this vast new front of potential vulnerabilities is clearly also an opportunity for experienced security players to step in and address.
Organization efficiencies are also expected as a result of the acquisition, so presumably there will be some staff reductions owing to duplicate roles.
On this, a spokeswoman for Avast said: "We haven't started planning the team integration yet. Over the next months we will be analyzing and planning the organizations, but can't speak to any potential staff reductions until after that."
She also confirmed that the AVG brand will not be disappearing, saying the company will use a combination of the two brands owing to associated strengths in different markets.


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Miami babe Dreana is ten-year graphic design veteran with a long list of respected clients, but this next level creative is also a visual artist. Commissioned for her celebrity portraiture work by those who sweat the now signature style of her Gold Collection Series, Dreana brings the heat.
Copyright © 2019 The Notice Networks


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Yaşar Güler appointed as Chief of General Staff
NEWS CENTER - According to the presidential decree, General Commander of the Land Forces General Yaşar Güler was appointed to the Turkish Chief of General Staff.
In the current issue of the Official Gazette, the Presidential Decree on the Appointment Procedures in High-Level Public Administrators and Public Institutions was published.
According to the decision, General Commander of the Land Forces General Yaşar Güler was decided to appoint as the Chief of General Staff.
Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ümit Dündar was appointed to the Land Forces Command. (ILKHA)


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Boston Tennis Club's Men's First team have been beaten in the Aegon Team Tennis competition.
Following two early victories in the competition, the team of Lewis Fisher, Felix Beech, Sam Kemp and David Cheer were beaten 1-5 at Northampton, Fisher winning his singles at number one.
Boston's Seconds remain unbeaten in the county's second division after Sam Borbe, Simon Bush, Zach McDonnell-Woods and Marcel Hernandez beat Deepings 4-2.
The Ladies' Firsts - Emma Mastin, Charlotte Priestley, Chloe Robinson and Ashleigh Frankish - beat Tennis Buddies 4-2 in the Aegon Lincolnshire Division One.
The under 16 girls are the 2015 county champions after a 4-2 win over Burton Waters for Charlotte Priestley, Isabelle Hunt, Hattie Needham and Faith Coffey.
In the younger Aegon sections, the Orange A team's Isabel Wookey, Lois Boothby, James Burrell and Hannah Willis did not lose a rubber as they beat Grantham A.
The team then faced Boston Orange B on Sunday morning.
With Paul Aranin replacing James Burrell, who this time headed up Boston B, along with Will Shears, Katie Wood and James Gedney, the A won 14-6.
Boston B - Will Shears, Katie Wood, James Gedney and Emily Stukins - beat Louth Indoor 16-4.
The Orange C team - Jessica Stephens, Daniels Goreliks, William Tawton and Lily Lakin - lost out 4-16 to Horncastle.
The Boston Aegon Red team - Emily Stukins, James Gedney, Jacob Felipes and William Pettitt - beat Grantham 9-7.
The Green A team - William Cheer, Alice Gamman, Rebecca Dickens and Serena Morrow - beat Grantham A 8-4.
Boston's under 16 boys - Jake Sherrick, Thomas Cozens, Toby McDonnell-Woods, Harry Foster - beat the B team of Michael Niedermeier, Connall Newton, Robert Hayes and Nicholas Hart.
Boston under 16s D lost out to Spalding, the team including Pamod Piyatissa, Alex Pinchin, Joseph McGarel and Siddhart Anand.


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- Research
- Open Access
Optimization of a closed rat tibial fracture model
© The Author(s). 2018
- Received: 6 November 2017
- Accepted: 19 April 2018
- Published: 2 May 2018
The use of a closed fracture model has become the preferred model to study the fracture healing process, given that the periosteum and the soft tissue surrounding the fracture site play an important role in the fracture healing process. Some techniques like osteotomy, drilling the long bones and the use of the guillotine-like apparatus to induce fracture are characterized by some undesirable effects and complications. The aim of this study is to optimize and evaluate an in vivo fracture model using three-point bending pliers that can be used to study secondary bone fracture healing in rats.
Modified three-point bending pliers were used as a device to create the closed rat tibial bone fracture that was prefixed with an intramedullary pin (23 G × 11/2″) in rats. The exact location of the induced closed fracture was along the long bone. The presence of bone comminution, and the fracture bone alignment were immediately examined after the induction of the fracture until the 6th week.
All fractures induced were transverse, located in the middle to proximal one third of the tibia, and they all healed without complications. Bone union as shown radiographically occurred within 2–3 weeks postoperative. The average angle of the fracture line with the axis of the tibia was 89.41 ± 2.11°. The lateral and anterio-posterior pin angulation views were 167.33 ± 3.67° and 161.60 ± 4.87° respectively. The average length of proximal end of the fractured bone in comparison with the whole length of intact bone was 41.02 ± 3.27%. There was a significant difference in percentage of the gross callus area and gross callus index, while there was no significant difference in X-ray callus index. There was no significant difference of the gross callus area between slight comminution (n = 4) and non comminution (n = 21).
The optimized rat tibial fracture model resulted in mainly transverse tibial mid-shaft fractures with minimal bone comminution and absence of surrounding soft tissue damage. The size area of consequent soft callus formation and the extent to which the closed fracture model was reproducible are very good outcomes making it feasible for in vivo laboratory research use.
- Fracture model
- Rats
- Tibia
- In vivo
The large number of seriously injured patients requiring treatment and the long-term morbidity associated with skeletal injury inevitably results in greater socioeconomic impact. Hence, to improve the quality of patient care and reduce the costs of treatment, there are ongoing research and clinical works to develop novel therapies to enhance bone fracture healing that will shorten the recovery period (Yukata et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2017). The process of fracture healing starts following the disruption of vessels that causes hematoma and activates thrombotic factors in the coagulation cascade. This leads to an inflammatory response within which cytokines and growth factors recruit osteoprogenitor and mesenchymal cells that generate a granulation tissue at the edges of the fractured bone. The granulation tissue is then replaced by bone, formed either by intramembranous (direct) bone formation or through a hyaline cartilage tissue that is subsequently mineralized to woven bone through endochondral (indirect) bone formation (Shapiro, 2008; Ghiasi et al., 2017). This then results in the fracture being stabilized and the tissue is later remodeled. Manually inflicted fractures of the rat tibia with either internal or external fixation have been described by several authors as a model to study fracture healing. The inadequate stability of internal or external fixation leads to variable degrees of displacement and repeated movement of the bone fragments during the healing period (Slätis and Rokkanen, 1965, 1967; Glatt et al., 2017). The ideal experimental fracture should be of consistent site, with the standard degree of bone damage, soft tissue injury, stability and displacement of the bone fragments, and the time needed for bone union should also be standardized (Greiff, 1978). The soft tissues also have an important role in fracture bone healing. For example, callus formation around the fracture provides temporary stabilization. The release of various mediators and sprouting of newly formed blood vessels are also contributed by the soft tissues in the milieu. In addition, the surrounding muscles contribute to stabilization and strengthening of the long bone fracture (Otto et al., 1995; Loi et al., 2016).
In 1984, Bonnarens and Einhorn described a fracture model in the rat based on a previously designed model by Jackson et al. (1970). In this model, osteosynthesis was performed before the fracture using an intramedullary (IM) pin inserted through the knee in a retrograde fashion (Aurégan et al., 2013). Then, a fixed weight dropped onto the bone placed on a blunt guillotine created a standardized closed mid-shaft fracture of the femur.
Some studies have reported recurrent complications, including death, misplaced fracture, excess comminution and deep infection in a rat model of femoral fracture using this blunt guillotine technique (Aurégan et al., 2013; Haffner-Luntzer et al., 2016).
Moreover, it appears that fractured bone comminution in various degrees has been particularly difficult to control during fracture healing (Pei and Fu, 2011; Ghiasi et al., 2017). As the degree of fracture comminution can affect the formation of callus, there was association between the rat fracture model used with the resultant comminution and the soft callus produced. Using similar principles, Grieff (1978) used a guillotine device to create bone fractures in rat tibiae fracture models and the result showed minor comminution but high displacement of bone fragment and pin angulation of more than 10°. Otto et al. (1995) who used three-point pliers in the rat tibial fracture model demonstrated minimal edema and death, but a high percentage of shortening of the fractured tibiae with the callus being still visible until six months post-surgery and pin angulation of 80 ± 2°. Owing to these limitations of the existing fracture models, there is a need for a reliable fracture model of the laboratory animals especially in rats that is feasible and reproducible. The aim of the study is to optimize a closed rat tibial fracture model based on works of Grieff (1978) and Otto et al. (1995) and to evaluate the extent to which the model can overcome the current limitations and offer a better technique that creates a rat fracture model with more consistent and reproducible results.
All the experimental designs in this study were approved by the Institute Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of University Putra Malaysia (UPM/IACUC/AUP-R028/2015). The preliminary study used ten (n = 10) and seventy one (n = 71) rat cadavers of 30 weeks and 8 weeks old respectively. The cadaver rats were humanely killed for other experiments following the guidelines of the AICUC. The fracture was induced using the three-point bending pliers as described below. In the in vivo study, a total of twenty five (n = 25), 8 weeks old female Sprague-Dawley rats with an average weight of 187.04 ± 10.15 g were used. An acclimatization period of one week was allowed before the experiment started. The rats were starved for 12 h prior to surgery following the acclimatization period.
Surgical procedure
All surgeries were performed on the animals under general anaesthesia using a premixed combination of Ketamine Hydrochloride (Narketan®, Troy Laboratories PTY Limited, Australia) and Xylazine (Ilium Xylazil-100®, Troy Laboratories PTY Limited, Australia) (McKelvey and Hollingshead, 2004). Ketamine (40 mg/kg) and Xylazine (5 mg/kg) was given by intramuscular injection to each of the rats for surgery and radiography. Xylocaine 2% local anaesthesia (Xylocaine®, AstraZeneca, UK) was also given subcutaneously. Routine surgical aseptic skin preparation of the surgical site was performed.
The surgical site was approached through 4 mm skin incision craniolaterally of the stifle joint using a scalpel blade # 15 (BlBraun®, Bbraun, Germany). The tibial plateau was exposed with the stainless steel and a sharp probe was introduced manually through the tibial plateau, cranial to the attachment of the anterior cruciate ligament and between the anterior horns of both menisci to determine the area of intramedullary pin entrance. A 23 G 11/2″, needle (BlBraun®, Bbraun, Germany) was inserted till it met resistance at the distal end of tibial bone. The depth of penetration of the needle was approximately 22 mm. After the intramedullary pin being introduced completely through the tibia, the excess proximal needle end was cut flush using bone cutter. The incision was closed with simple interrupted non-absorbable 4/0 nylon suture (Ethilon*, Ethilon. LLC).
The pliers were positioned with the two-support jaw on the medial side of the tibial mid-shaft and the pressing jaw on the lateral side. After application of the pliers the position was controlled visually and the pliers were closed till a cracking sound was heard and the pliers' resistance suddenly falls. The pressure was immediately released thereafter. The same principles mentioned above were applied to create tibial or femoral fracture in rat cadavers. The fracture was created on the left tibia and the counter lateral right intact tibia was utilized as the control. Each animal was kept in individual cages to allow free ambulation post-surgery. A dose of 5 mg/kg Tramadol (Analab®, Biolab, Thailand) was given once a day for 3 days as analgesia following the surgery. Gross observation and radiological evaluation were done at different time points following euthanasia using a high anaesthetic dose of pentobarbital at 20 mg/kg IP injected (Society and States, 2013).
Gross evaluation of the fracture
The skin of the fractured leg was inspected for any wound caused by the pliers' jaws. As it was a closed fracture with intramedullary pin pre-fixed into the fractured bone, the fracture was considered stable and no additional post-operative external supportive bandage was required. The dissected tibiae were collected from both the induced- facture and non-fracture limb (control). Five (n = 5) rats were sacrificed at each time point, namely at 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th week post-surgery. Gross callus index and callus area size were determined from the dissected fracture tibiae and the control (Greiff, 1978; Otto et al., 1995; Eastaugh-Waring et al., 2009; Aurégan et al., 2013). A dissecting stereo-microscope (HUVITZ; HSZ-645TR, Korea) fitted to a 3.1 M pixel digital camera (VIS Imaging UC3010, Malaysia) (millimeter unit of measurement) was used to capture dissected bone images and measure the callus width (mm) of the rat left tibial fracture healing with callus formed. The contralateral rat right tibia was used as control and the data was used to determine the ratio for the callus index using ImageJ software (1.48 V, NIH, USA). The same software was used to measure the callus area size, callus index, pin angulation, proximal fracture, whole length fracture and normal control bones.
Radiological evaluation of the fracture
Immediately after surgery and every week thereafter, the fractured and contralateral intact tibiae were radiographed on two views (anterioposterior (AP) and lateral views) using an X-ray machine (Orange 10040HF, Econet Medical, Korea). The obtained radiographs were used for objective evaluation of the bone healing using criteria such as bone union, size of callus formation, degree of bone comminution, pin angulation, and radiograph callus index. The radiograph callus Index is defined as the maximum width of the callus formation of the mid-tibia fracture, including the original bone divided by the width of the contralateral control bone. A comminuted fracture is a splinter or break of the bone into more than two fragments which radiographically appeared at the fracture site. Three types of comminution were to be observed: firstly, no comminution (no third fragment) is detected on the two radiological observation views of anterioposterior and lateral; secondly, slight comminution with smaller fragments where the size is smaller than the pin diameter, i.e. < 1.1 mm, and thirdly, severe comminution (≥ one large fragment larger than the diameter of the intramedullary pin) (Aurégan et al., 2013).
Histological examination of the fracture
The animals were sacrificed at week 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 post fracture and samples of the dissected tibiae were collected (n = 5) from the fractured limb at each week. The bone was cut 2 mm proximally and distally to the fracture site (where gross callus formation was evident), fixed in formaldehyde 10% for 24 h, decalcified in 10% formic acid for 4 days before being further processed, sectioned (5 μm) and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) using standard procedures (Kiernan, 2000; Bancroft and Gamble, 2007).
Statistical analysis
The statistical SPSS Software version 20 (Armonk®, IBM, USA) and SAS Software (SAS®, TAKS, England) were used for the data analyses. We used 2-paired samples student's t-test to compare the group without comminution and the group with slight comminution, and one way ANOVA for other data analysis. Standard errors of mean were reported with P < 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant.
Comparison of types of fracture created in rat tibiae at two different ages
Assessment parameters
Mid- shaft
30 weeks
8 weeks
In the in vivo study, all induced fractures were found to be in the middle third of the tibiae. The mean operation time was 3.90 ± 0.55 min. All the animals survived the surgery without any complications, soft tissue damage at the fracture site or stiffness of the adjacent knee and ankle joints. No wound or necrosis and signs of severe edema were seen at the fracture site. Twenty four hours after the fracture, the rats showed normal behavior, started walking around on three legs and lifting the fractured leg. One to two weeks post-surgery, the rats started to bear weight on the affected limb. All the rats started to show weight bearing on all four limbs after 2 weeks onwards.
Radiological evaluation of the type of fracture was determined by measurement of the angle between the fracture line and the long axis of the tibia. The main type of fracture induced was transverse (89.41° ± 2.11). The average length of proximal end fractured bone to the whole length of intact bone was 41.02 ± 3.27%. The mean angulation of the IM pin from the lateral and anterioposterior view positions were 167.33° ± 3.67° and 161.47 ± 4.87° respectively.
Comparison of types of induced tibial fracture and fracture healing in rats (n = 25)
Slight Comminuted
Non- comminuted
Type of fracture (n)
Animal weight (g)
176.75 ± 7.50
189 ± 28.39
Surgery procedure time (mins)
3.5 ± 1.0
3.97 ± 1.98
Callus area %
0.81 ± 0.64
0.52 ± 0.32
1-Anteroposterior (AP)
161.03 ± 5.42
161.56 ± 15.48
2- Lateral (Lat.)
165.03 ± 7.68
167.77 ± 8.96
The use of a closed fracture model is considered the choice model for studying the fracture healing process. This is important because the periosteum and the soft tissue surrounding the fracture site play an important role during the fracture healing processes (Davis et al., 2015). Osteotomy of the tibia or femur or making a drill in the rat bone are the most common bone healing models investigated by orthopedic scientists (Otto et al., 1995). A guillotine-like apparatus described by Bonnarens and Einhorn (1984) was characterized by some disadvantages, including frequent reports of comminution, varying rates of complication and bending. However, the angulation in this study was only measured in the lateral plane. Aurégan et al. (2013) used a rat model of femoral fracture and in this model, a fixed weight was dropped to the bone placed on a blunt guillotine to create closed mid shaft fractures. The bone was prefixed with an IM pin before the fracture. The results show that 12% of the fractures created were not suitable for the research because of death, deep infection or a non-acceptable fracture, while the remaining fractures displayed slight comminution (63%).
Jackson et al. (1970) used a pneumatic punch press to produce closed femoral fractures in rats. In this technique model, 15% of fractures were excluded due to the fact that they were not at the right location and not transverse. Hulth (1989) used manual force to produce a closed fracture model of the rat tibia but it was difficult to control or reproduce in a standard manner, making the method unsuitable as a model. Other reported fracture models use crushing by a pair of pliers to produce a closed tibia fracture (Newman et al., 1985). It was associated with serious damage to the surrounding soft tissues.
Having stated a number of the setbacks and limitations of the earlier fracture model techniques, the current modified device used in this study takes into account those issues and the importance of soft tissue surrounding the fracture. Our current modified three point bending pliers used to create the closed bone fractures was constructed by modifying the upper circle compressed jaw of the Otto et al. (1995) device according to the compressor blade of the Grieff, (1978) device with dimensions of 10 mm X 1 mm (Fig. 1). In addition, the gap distance of the two support jaws of the three-point bending pliers was reduced to 7 mm instead of 17 mm as in the Otto et al. (1995) device. Using this modified device resulted in a fracture without any significant damage or effects on the surrounding soft tissue. The device was easy to use and control, and the IM pin prefixed before the fracture served to stabilize the bone fragments and enables the animals to immediately regain their ambulatory function. Even though the prefixed IM could not provide rigid stabilization to the fractured bone, it could minimize the bone comminution during the fracture and at the same time could resolve the problem of post fracture limb shortening and rotation of bone fragments (Omerovic et al., 2015) in rats.
The technique also produced consistent outcomes with minimal complications such as skin abrasion and laceration at the fracture site. This is contrary to the results of other previous studies of this nature that reported recurrent complications, misplaced fractures and excess comminution with deep infection in this rat model (Jackson et al. 1970; Newman et al., 1985; Hulth, 1989; Aurégan et al., 2013).
This current study reported no significant bending of the intramedullary 23 G needle used between the lateral and anterioposterior (AP) radiographic planes. On the other hand, Bonnarens and Einhorn (1984) in a related study, reported significant differences between AP and lateral angulation. The significant bending observed in the AP plane angulation in the Bonnarens and Einhorn (1984) study could be explained by the more lateral impact of the blunt guillotine on the limb (Aurégan et al., 2013) in comparison to the technique used in the present study.
In another study using goats, a closed tibial fracture was created and stabilized with a cast and at two weeks the callus volume was found to reach its maximum (Den Boer et al., 1998). However, in our current study there was a significant increase in the gross callus area in week one compared to the subsequent weeks. This difference may be as a result of differences in animal species and mode of fixation.
Eastaugh-Waring et al. (2009) showed that both fracture stiffness and callus indices have been reported to increase postoperatively with time. This could be considered as a consistent feature regardless of fixation method used (Eastaugh-Waring et al., 2009). However, our result showed that the callus indices decreased over 6 weeks as the fracture became more stable toward the later phase of fracture healing.
The gross callus area and gross callus index of the rat fractures in this study generally showed an initial increase at week 1 and gradually decreased towards week 6. However, a slightly different trend was shown for the radiograph callus indices, which showed the highest value at weeks 3 and 4. This could be because of the fact of the difference in the time onset of soft and hard callus formations. In this study, hard callus formation was more evident on the radiograph at 3 or 4 weeks after the fracture.
Our result also showed that the radiograph callus index was lower at week 2 and reached a maximum level at weeks 3 and 4 before decreasing at week 6. This finding was different from the progressive increase observed in an experimental osteotomy conducted in dogs stabilized with an external fixator, where the amount of callus increased over time until week six (Markel, 1990). The variation may likely be attributed to the different species and fixation method used in both experiments.
We found that there was non-significant difference in percentage of the gross callus area size produced between slight comminuted and non-comminuted fracture bone. This suggested that a slight comminuted fracture created using the current modified device gave minimal influence at the early phase of the fracture healing. In contrast, Aurégan (2013) found a significant difference in the amount of callus produced between slight comminuted and non-comminuted fractures in rats.
Fracture healing is completed within six to eight weeks post induction of injury (Sfeir et al., 2005). Temporary characteristics of secondary bone healing involve six stages that can be identified. These include an initial stage during which hematoma is formed in addition to inflammation. This is followed by angiogenesis and cartilage formation which leads to the stage of the calcification of the cartilage. The fourth stage is the stage of cartilage removal which results in bone formation and the final stage which is ultimately bone remodelling (Oryan et al., 2015). In agreement with those normal stages of fracture healing, the present result showed the callus formation at the fracture site was observed after the first three weeks, followed by gradual increase in bone mineralization and ultimately the complete bone union and stabilization at week six post fracture.
The modified three-point bending pliers used in this present study are practical to create a reproducible closed fracture in rats with very minimal post-operative complications. It was also found to be a relatively simple device that can be used to prepare in vivo fracture models particularly of secondary fracture healing.
Authors' contributions
KOH conducted the study, drafted and prepared the manuscript. SMI and UK assisted in the conduct of the study and manuscript preparation. MA assisted in the statistical and data analysis. JA and MSY assisted in analysing the results and the manuscript correction. LMY drafted the initial study plan, assisted in the data analysis, manuscript preparation and correction. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Authors' Affiliations
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Canada - China and Philippines restrict ban to Alberta
China and the Philippines have emphasized that their ban on Canadian pork imports are restricted to hogs and pork from Alberta only.Both countries have enforced the restriction following the incidence of of a H1N1 infection in a hog herd in central Alberta's Clearwater County.
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Entry requirements
Masters by Research and MPhil: A UK 2:1 honours degree with a mark of at least 65%, or its international equivalent, in a relevant subject. You should also have academic training in the area of your research project.
PhD: A UK 2:1 honours degree with a mark of at least 65% in a relevant subject, and typically a specialist masters degree with a high level of attainment (at least 67% in both coursework and dissertation), or their international equivalents. You should also have academic training in the area of your research project.
We may also consider your application if you have other qualifications or experience.
Months of entry
Course content
The academic staff in this area can offer you research supervision in most areas of study related to the Hebrew Bible. The research interests of staff and graduate students cover pentateuchal and historical studies, poetry and prophecy, biblical theology and ethics, Hebrew language, Septuagint and targumic studies, and the Dead Sea Scrolls in their Hellenistic context.
You can find out more and identify a potential supervisor by looking at the School's staff profiles, which give details of research interests and publications, and email addresses.
You are encouraged to contact a potential supervisor to discuss your research project before making a formal application.
At the School of Divinity you will join a community of around 150 research students, drawn from around the world, and from a variety of religious and non-religious backgrounds.
You will study in a stimulating environment. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 ranked the School's research environment at 100% world-leading / internationally excellent, second in the UK on this front in theology and religion. This outstanding result reflects the vibrancy of the School's research culture.
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MTh by research
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Hero MotoCorp is the world's largest 2 wheeler manufacturer with over 8000+ employees, presence in 35 countries, having sold over 75 million automobiles.
Take a peek into, how Hero MotoCorp is changing the way their employees work and live on a daily basis, using Hyphen!
PS: The latter videos will give you more insights on the Hyphen platform. See for yourself!
Hyphen is a mobile-first Employee Listening and Engagement solution that helps companies continuously listen to their people and act on critical feedback and issues faster than with any other solution.
With Hyphen, you will collect quantitative *and* qualitative people opinions and feedback easily, in real-time and at scale using a combination Employee Lifecycle Surveys, dipstick Pulse Polls, and our proprietary Employee Voice module - allowing for anonymous crowd-sourced employee conversations.
With this goldmine of data, management, leadership and HR is empowered with powerful alerts, reports and analytics (heatmaps, trends, alerts, sentiment analysis, benchmarks etc.) to proactively identify the hotspots in the organization, thus enabling earlier action planning.
Often coined "internal Glassdoor", Hyphen is the most complete employee listening solution for organizations to identify and solve issues before it is too late, thus increasing employee engagement, productivity, retention, and boosting the workplace culture.
Most solutions in this space follow the traditional top-down approach of gathering employee feedback once a year, which has become outdated with the need of something more real-time being demanded by employees and managers alike.
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And this why Hyphen is helping companies like Dollar Shave Club, InMobi, Safariland, Michelin, Hero MotoCorp, Epsilon, Titan and more to create a compelling employee experience and accelerate the real-time feedback into action!


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4 – 20 December, 2014
Process Becomes Movement
Eitan Ritz
Attempting to examine space through a series of actions and processes – the gallery is transformed into an active area, forcing it to be constantly reviewed. Improvisation and failure are key to the exploration, as ideas for movement are developed within and without the space. These thoughts are tested as they are required to shift and transform as the surroundings dictate a logic, and the body interprets and tries to consolidate an understanding.


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Your house is not only just the place you reside in. It is also your very own sanctuary with all your personalized belongings that showcases your individuality. There's a subconscious familiarity with the furniture you own and the way they are arranged that you find comfort in. When you receive guests at your home, their first impression will form based on the state of how you keep things. Therefore, what you choose to keep in your house and how you present them can also have an impact, not just on yourself but also potential guests. So here are a few things to consider.
The kitchen is something only you would mostly benefit from, although it could be a potential stop on an occasional tour of the house to an intrigued guest. Most kitchens need to be fully stocked with equipment that assist in cooking and cleaning. Items such as ovens, microwaves and toasters can help you in making a quick meal as opposed to spending hours in the kitchen cooking. Dishwashers can also simplify the cleaning process so you don't have to spend a long time washing piles of dishes.
Living Rooms
This is the room that is likely to have the most number of visitors when compared to the rest of your house. This is the place where you entertain your guests or even relax by yourself with your family. Ideally, a nice sofa set takes centre stage of the average living room. Wall cladding Adelaide is an interesting way to decorate your interiors and give it an exquisite design.
It doesn't have to be limited to just your living room walls. Wall panelling is the inventive way of adding decorative panels to your walls to add more texture and beauty to your house. You can even add this to ceilings and outdoor surfaces if that's your preference.
This is yet another important room in your house that is likely to be used on a daily basis. There are simple additions you can make to improve your experience such as bidet showers and hot water systems. Hygiene is important when it comes to bathrooms so extra attention would have to be paid to the cleanliness so keep that in mind.
These are three important rooms that you spend your time in but it doesn't have to be limited to these spaces only. You could also customize your bedroom according to your specifications to create your own little mini sanctuary inside your house that is usually untouched by anyone else except your spouse.


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I love, love, love Mac-n-Cheese. Like, seriously, in love. When I was a kid I almost literally lived on boxed mac-n-cheese. Fortunately, I knew how to boil water so I could make mac-n-cheese all the time.
Unfortunately, between the gluten, the processed "cheese" (let's be honest, whatever that stuff is, it isn't cheese) and all of the artificial crap in it made me sick.
So, I was determined to make something that wasn't going to make me sick, that tasted delicious and that was as easy to make as the boxed stuff.
And here it is!
What's Smart & Sexy About This Dish?
4 ingredients, very little cooking…basically, if you can heat something on a stove and press "start" on the oven, you can make this.
No gluten, no dairy AND tastes delicious. What can be smarter or sexier?
You'll thank me later 🙂
[serves 4-6]
(Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Easy To Make & Sooo Delicious)
1 can full fat coconut milk
1 8 oz bag Non-Dairy Cheddar Flavored Cheese
1 tablespoon Sea salt
½ bag gluten free elbow or penne noodles
Cook noodles as directed.
While they are cooking, in a medium pot on low heat, bring coconut milk to a simmer; once coconut milk is simmering add in "cheese" and sea salt and stir until melted (this may take a few minutes).
When noodles are done and the cheese is melted, mix the noodles into the "cheese", pour the "sauce" over the noodles (they may need a little bit more sea salt to bring out the flavor of the cheese, feel free to adjust to taste) and pour into a Pyrex dish. Bake at 350 for about 1/2 hour-45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.
**Note** This is even better when reheated (on a stovetop or toaster oven, not a microwave)!


text: Inflata-Palooza 12-28-2018 This event will benefit our Day Camp trip to "Feed My Starving Children." Come jump with us as we support a good cause! Spend the day using our big inflatables and playing on the soccer field. SOCKS ARE REQUIRED. Age: 12 & under. All children must be accompanied by an Adult Location: Darien Sportsplex, 451 Plainfield Rd. Date & Time: Friday, December 28, 11am-1pm $5 per person for unlimited inflatable FUN!(Cash Only!) Click here for more information « Back


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Advances in Consumer Research Volume 17, 1990 Pages 683-689
Janet Wagner, University of Maryland
Richard Ettenson, University of Maryland
Sherri Verrier, University of Maryland
The Sherry (1983) model suggests that gift-giving decisions vary by the level of involvement in the donor-recipient relationship. A conjoint task involving a gift purchase was administered to consumers in two conditions: 1) a gift for a new neighbor, and 2) a gift for a best friend. The results showed that the use of expressive and utilitarian attributes, as well as price, differed between the two gift-giving conditions. It was concluded that the results lend support to the Sherry model by demonstrating that level of involvement affects the gift purchase decision.
Gift-giving is a phenomenon of economic and social importance, which has been the focus of a growing body of conceptual and empirical work in consumer behavior. In the economic realm, expenditures for gifts represent more than 3% of the annual budget of the average household (Garner and Wagner 1987). In the social sphere, gifts serve as important symbols in creating and maintaining relationships and in acknowledging important life cycle events (Belk 1979; Sherry 1983).
Conceptual Framework
Sherry (1983) proposed a multidisciplinary model of consumer gift-giving based on a typology with three major components -- the gift, the relationship between donor and recipient, and situational factors. According to this model, the gift-giving process has three stages -- gestation, prestation, and reformulation. Gestation resembles traditional consumer decision-making models (e.g. Engel, Blackwell and Miniard 1986), and may be of the most interest to marketers, because it culminates in a purchase.
Gestation begins with a precipitating condition, which is the donor's recognition of a gift-giving situation. During this stage, decision-making is affected both by the gift-giving motives of the donor and by hints from the recipient about his or her needs and wants. The donor evaluates alternative gifts in terms of their attributes and what those attributes communicate to the recipient. Finally, a purchase decision is reached.
According to Sherry (1983), the effect of product attributes on the choice of a gift may vary according to the level of involvement between the donor and the recipient. Expressive gifts are more likely to be given in close relationships, while utilitarian gifts are more likely to be given in distant relationships. Attributes such as price and quality may also be used to define level of involvement. More costly, higher quality gifts are usually given in closer relationships.
One major function of gift-giving is communication (Banks 1979; Belk 1979; Sherry 1983). Because gifts communicate information not only about the recipient, but also about the donor, consumers may engage in "impression management" (Sherry 1983). This suggests that gift-giving decisions are likely to be influenced by social norms.
Previous Research on Gift-Giving
Warshaw (1980) studied the relationship between social norms and perceived expense in the purchase of gifts by college students. The influence of social norms appeared to decrease as the perceived expense of a gift increased. Conversely, the influence of social norms appeared to increase as perceived expense decreased.
Belk (1982) studied the effect of involvement on the gift-giving strategies of adult women. Eighty-seven gift attributes were rated with respect to their importance. Price, quality, and convenience were hypothesized to differ by level of involvement. Subjects were assigned to three experimental conditions in which involvement was manipulated by intimacy of the relationship (close friend, casual friend, close relative) and gift-giving occasion (birthday or wedding). The results of analyses of variance (ANOVA's) showed that high involvement was associated with the importance of price and quality. The effect of the occasion on gift-giving was studied by Devere, Scott and Shulby (1983). Undergraduates rated the importance of 48 attributes of birthday and wedding gifts. In both situations, the most important gift attributes were those related to style, quality, usefulness, performance, and price. Style was more important in the birthday gift, and quality and performance were more important in the wedding gift.
Any resource -- a good, a service, or money - may be used as a gift. Perhaps the most popular gift is clothing (Belk 1979; Caplow 1982; Jolibert and Fernandez-Moreno 1983). Because clothing conveys information about sex, age, status, and personality (Sproles 1979), a gift of clothing may be one of the most effective ways for a donor to communicate his or her perception of the recipient and the gift-giving relationship. Horne and Winakor (1988) studied gifts of clothing exchanged within families at Christmas, and found that subjects reported style, color, fiber content, and cost to be the most important attributes. Rucker, Boynton, and Park (1986) compared attributes used in gift and nongift purchases of children's clothing, and found that "embellishment" was more important in gifts. Andrus, Silver and Johnson (1986) studied the effect of brand on purchases of clothing gifts, and found that consumers were willing to pay 20% more for a gift in order to purchase a status brand.
Much of the research on gift-giving has been based on methods in which subjects are asked to report or rate the importance of a set of product attributes (e.g. Andrus, Silver and Johnson 1986; Belk 1979; Devere, Scott and Shulby 1983; Horne and Winakor 1988). The results of such studies provide insight into consumer gift-giving behavior and are useful in generating list of attributes that may affect gift-giving decisions. The results must be interpreted with caution, however, for two reasons. First, self-reports are often poor surrogates for the decision-making process (Achenbaum 1966; Bettman 1979; Nisbett and Wilson 1977). Gift-giving involves social interaction, so subjects may have given socially desirable responses. Second, subjects have rated attributes one-at-a-time, in isolation from the bundle of attributes which typically define a product. Consequently, the results give little information about the psychological trade-offs which consumers are likely to make among product attributes in purchasing gifts.
In this research, conjoint analysis was used to compare gift-giving decisions in two situations, which were varied by level of involvement in the donor-recipient relationship: 1) a gift to a best friend, and 2) a gift to a new neighbor. Use of the conjoint approach was predicated on the assumption that the decision to purchase a gift, like the decision to purchase a product for personal use, involves evaluating and integrating information on multiple product attributes. Because the gift to a best friend was assumed to be more involving than the gift for a new neighbor, it was expected that price, quality, and expressive attributes would be more important in the best friend condition. It was also expected that utilitarian attributes would be more important in the new neighbor condition.
One-hundred mothers were systematically sampled from the P.T.A. membership list (N=197) of a public elementary school in the suburbs of a major metropolitan area in the Mid-Atlantic region. Adult females were used as subjects for two reasons. First, most donors are female. As the "unpaid social directors" and "chief gift-givers" of American society (Schnudson 1986), women purchase 84% of all gifts (Caplow 1982). Second, the decision-making task upon which this study was based involved a gift for a baby shower. Consequently, the use of adult females ensured that the subjects were familiar with the gift-giving situation. Permission to recruit the mothers was obtained from the P.T.A.'s executive board at its meeting in the month prior to administration of the research. To encourage participation, the P.T.A. was promised a $5 donation for every completed instrument returned to the researchers.
The Gift-Decision Task
Participants were given a set of instructions in which they were told that they had been invited to a baby shower and that the guest of honor had hinted that she wanted one-piece jumpsuits for her new baby boy. An infant's jumpsuit was defined as a one-piece garment, with feet, to be worn while the baby was either awake or asleep. Half of the 100 mothers sampled were told to assume that the guest of honor was a best friend, and the other half were told to assume that the guest of honor was a new neighbor.
The research instrument consisted of a set of decision-making tasks, based on a 2 x 28 mixed 1/16 fractional factorial design, with full replication (Hahn and Shapiro 1966; Plan 7b). The two main factors were: 1) the relationship between the donor and the recipient (a between-subject variable) at two levels: best friend or new neighbor; and 2) eight product attributes (within-subject variables) at two levels each. Attributes were borrowed from the Sproles (1979) model of fashion-oriented consumer behavior, and levels were selected through a focus group of mothers with demographic profiles similar to those of participants. The eight product attributes and their corresponding levels were: price ($15.00 vs. $8.00), color (mint green vs. blue), brand (Carter vs. LACOSTE), fiber (100% cotton vs. 100% polyester), size (6 months vs. newborn), fabric (t-shirt knit vs. terry cloth knit), quality (good vs. very good) and style (classic vs. fashion). In the instrument, all attributes except for style were presented in written descriptions of infant jumpsuits. Style was presented in accompanying sketches. The instrument was pretested with a group of 10 mothers of elementary school children. The results indicated that the two levels of price initially chosen, $5 and $20, were perceived to be unrealistically low and high. The levels were adjusted accordingly.
The experimental design involved 16 cases in which infant sleepers were described. This made it possible to analyze main effects for the eight product attributes as well as six two-way interactions. Each of the 16 cases was fully replicated. By replicating the cases, it was possible to estimate both experimental error in the individual-subject ANOVA's and within-subject consistency. Eight "filler" cases were also included, so each participant made a total of 40 decisions. For each case, participants were asked to evaluate the likelihood of purchase by placing a slash along a 100 millimeter continuum, with ends marked "Not Very Likely" and "Very Likely," which appeared at the bottom of the page. The decision-making task was followed by a post-experiment questionnaire, in which socioeconomic and demographic information was collected.
A packet of research materials was mailed to participating mothers in November, 1988. Included were: a cover letter from the researchers, a letter of endorsement from the president of the P.T.A., the research instrument, and a stamped, pre-addressed envelope for return of the completed instrument. The participants were asked to return the instrument within 2 weeks. Reminder letters were sent to those who did not comply. Of the 100 instruments mailed, 69 were completed and returned by the first deadline. An additional eight were received after the reminder, yielding a response rate of 77%. Completed instruments were received for 35 mothers in the new neighbor condition and 42 mothers in the best friend condition.
Descriptive statistics for the 77 participating mothers are presented in Table 1. For the most part, the mothers were older, better educated, more likely to be working, and more likely to be married than one would expect of mothers of elementary school children. The majority reported having given a shower gift in the last year.
Use of Attributes
An individual-subject analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the fractional design was performed on the gift purchase decisions. This made it possible to identify which attributes affected the gift purchase decisions of each participant. The results are summarized in Table 2. Table 2 shows that the attributes--which most often affected the decisions of the 35 mothers in the new neighbor condition were size, fiber content, and price. Table 2 also shows that fiber content and size were the attributes which most often affected the decisions of the 42 mothers in the best friend condition. Compared to the mothers in the new neighbor condition, price seemed to affect the decisions of fewer mothers purchasing gifts for a best friend. Few significant two-way interactions were found between attributes in either the new neighbor or the best friend condition.
Relative Importance of the Attributes
Hays' (1973) omega-squared (w2) was used to evaluate the relative importance of the attributes in the decision-making of individual subjects. The average w2 values for the mothers in each experimental condition are presented graphically in the Figure. It appears that the gift purchase decisions of mothers in both conditions were dominated by fiber content, size, and price. Style and quality seem to represent a second-tier of effects, and fabric. color. and brand a third tier.
Differences In Decision Making by Level of Involvement
A two (level of involvement) x eight (attribute) ANOVA was performed on the w2 values to determine whether or not the gift purchasing strategies differed by intimacy of the relationship. The result showed a significant effect for attributes (F [7,525] = 16.45, p< 05) and no effect for level of involvement (F [1, 76] = 2.92, p>.05). There was, however, a significant level of involvement x attribute interaction (F [7,525] = 2.84, p<.05). The results of a post-hoc Scheffe' test demonstrated that there were differences in the use of the three dominant attributes -- fiber, size, and price. While fiber had more of an effect on the decisions of mothers purchasing gifts for a best friend (w2=.32 vs. .18, p<.05), size had a stronger effect on the decisions of mothers purchasing gifts for a new neighbor (.20 vs. .10, p<.05). Price appears to have been more important to mothers purchasing a gift for a new neighbor (.15 vs. .08); that difference was, however, only marginally significant (p<.10).
The results of this research provide insight into the tradeoffs among product attributes that consumers may be willing to make in gift purchase decisions. More important, the results lend support to the Sherry (1983) model of consumer gift-giving, by demonstrating that gift-giving strategies may differ by level of involvement in the donor-recipient relationship.
Tradeoffs Among Product Attributes In Gift Decisions
The gift purchase decisions of the mothers were dominated by fiber, size, and price. Fiber content was the most important attribute. This may reflect both expressive and utilitarian qualities. Fiber content may be expressive because it is subject to fashion change, which is, in turn, associated with status. Examination of the marginal utilities for fiber content showed that all but one of the mothers whose decisions were affected by that attribute favored the 100% cotton garment. Because cotton is more fashionable than polyester (Rowland 1987), consumers may believe that it communicates a desirable impression of the status of the donor as well as the recipient. This suggests that, in making their decisions, the mothers engaged in what Sherry (1983) termed "impression management." Cotton also has utilitarian properties, such as comfort and absorbency, which may have affected the gift purchase decisions.
The dominance of fiber content may reflect the relationship between social norms and perceived expense observed by Warshaw (1980). Fashion is a social norm, so preference for, cotton, the more fashionable fiber, may have been related to the perceived expense of the jumpsuit. Had a more expensive gift been involved, the effect of fiber content might have been weaker. The importance of fiber is consistent with the results of Home and Winakor's (1988) study on Christmas gift-giving.
Size, which might be interpreted as a utilitarian attribute, was the next most important influence on the gift-giving decisions. This finding lends credence to Sherry's (1983) contention that utilitarian considerations may affect gift-giving, and to the results of Devere, Scott and Shulby (1983), who reported that the usefulness of an item is likely to be an important consideration in purchasing a gift. The marginal utilities showed that, among the mothers with a significant effect for size, all but two favored the six-month over the newborn. Given that newborns usually grow quickly, the mothers may have perceived the larger size to be useful for a longer period of time than the smaller size. Mehrabian (1972) suggests an alternative explanation. If size is associated with status, then giving a larger size may be one way of conferring status upon the recipient.
The importance of price is consistent with the results of previous research in which price was reported to be an important attribute in purchasing a gift (e.g. Belk 1979; Devere, Scott and Shulby 1983; Heeler, Francis and Okechuku 1979; Home and Winakor 1988). It appears, however, that consumers may be less concerned with price than with either the status communicated by an item or its usefulness.
Quality and style appeared to be attributes of secondary importance. Quality was reported by both Belk (1979) and Devere, Scott, and Shulby (1983) to be an attribute of importance in purchasing gifts. The results of this study support their finding, but with the qualification that, compared to other attributes, quality seems to have a smaller effect. Both Devere, Scott and Shulby (1983) and Horne and Winakor (1988) reported that style affects gift-giving decisions. The results of this research indicate that, relative to other attributes, the effect of style is not large. This may be related, however, to the situational context, in that participants were told that the shower was being held for the mother of a baby boy. Although one function of gift-giving is socialization, sex-role socialization may not begin in earnest until a child is older. Consequently, style may be of less importance than other attributes in gifts of clothing to infants. The marginal utilities showed that all but one of the mothers who had a significant effect for style preferred the classic jumpsuit. This may reflect the fact that fashion continues to have less effect on the clothing of males than the clothing of females (Hyde 1988).
Color, brand, and fabric appeared to be the least important of the gift-giving attributes. In Home and Winakor's (1988) study, color was reported to be important in gifts of clothing. The results of the conjoint analysis suggest, however, that compared to other attributes, the effect of color is small.
Andrus, Silver and Johnson (1986) reported that consumers are willing to pay a higher price in order to purchase a status brand as a gift. The results of this research indicate that, compared to other product attributes, brand may have little effect on gifts of clothing. The importance of fiber, relative to brand, suggests that physical attributes of a product may communicate more about status than does brand. The price x brand interaction was tested, and 16 (21%) significant interactions were observed across the two experimental conditions. In most cases, the mothers preferred to pay less for LaCoste, the higher status brand. The w2 value for this interaction was, however, negligible. Although the Sproles (1979) model suggests that fabric is one of the "critical characteristics" in purchases of clothing, this attribute had little effect on the gift purchase decisions of the mothers in the sample.
Comparison of Gift Decisions by Intimacy of Relationship
Differences were observed in the relative importance of fiber, size, and price in the best friend and new neighbor conditions. Mothers giving a gift to a best friend were more likely to use fiber, and less likely to use either size or price, than were mothers giving a gift to a new neighbor. This lends support to the Sherry (1983) model, which suggests that gift-giving decisions differ by the closeness of the donor-recipient relationship.
According to Sherry (1983), gifts may be either expressive or utilitarian. Expressive gifts are more likely to be given in close relationships, and utilitarian gifts more likely to be given in distant relationships. The use of the gift attributes by the mothers in the two conditions appear to reflect this. Fiber might be considered the more expressive of the two attributes, because it may communicate information on the status of both donor and recipient. Since natural fibers (e.g. cotton) are perceived to be more fashionable than synthetic fibers (Rowland 1987), a gift of a natural fiber garment might be seen as one way of communicating the importance of a relationship. Size might be considered the more utilitarian of the two attributes. Consequently, the decisions of mothers in the new neighbor condition, in which the relationship was distant, were more strongly affected by size.
An alternative explanation for the importance of fiber in the best friend condition might be that consumers make purchases for close friends in much the same way that they make purchases for personal use. Ettenson, Wagner, and Gaeth (1988) found fiber content to be a dominant attribute in decisions involving purchases of clothing for personal use. Heeler, Francis and Okechuku (1979) reported that, in making purchases of gifts for close friends and purchases for personal use, consumers access similar types of information. This interpretation is consistent with the anchoring and adjustment model developed by Davis, Hoch and Ragsdale (1986), in which both husbands and wives were found to anchor their predictions of spousal preferences on their own preferences.
Although the difference was marginal, price appeared to be less important to mothers purchasing gifts for best friends than to mothers purchasing for a new neighbor. Both Sherry (1983) and Caplow (1983) suggest that the value of a gift may reflect the importance of the relationship. This implies that a more expensive gift might be preferred in a closer relationship. However, the less expensive jumpsuit was favored by all of the mothers with a significant effect for price, regardless of level of intimacy. Low cost of the jumpsuit was, however, of more importance to the mothers purchasing a gift for a new neighbor than to mothers purchasing a gift for a best friend. In light of the importance of fiber content, it appears that for some gifts, there may be attributes more effective than price in communicating the importance of a relationship. The difference in the importance of price between the best friend and new neighbor conditions lends support to the work of Belk (1982), who reported that the amount of money spent on gifts-is likely to vary by level of involvement.
The results of this research contribute to development of the Sherry (1983) model and suggest directions for future decision-making research in a gift-giving context. Gift purchase decisions were studied in the context of a shower gift to be given to either a best friend or a new neighbor. The results demonstrated that the use of product attributes by the participants differed in the two situations. Thus, it appears that the gift-giving decisions of consumers differ by level of involvement in the donor-recipient relationship.
Four directions for future research are suggested. This study was limited in terms of sample size and range of products. Consequently, the most obvious extension of this research is to a larger, more representative sample of consumers and a wider range of products. A second extension of this research might involve using the conjoint method to compare gift-giving decisions to decisions involving purchases of goods for personal use. Given that gift-giving tends to be seasonal in nature, such information might be useful to the marketing establishment in planning seasonally-appropriate promotional strategies. A third avenue of research might be based on the anchoring and adjustment model of evaluative judgment (Tversky and Kahneman 1974). Davis, Hoch and Ragsdale (1986) used this approach to study spousal preferences. In that research, both husbands and wives were found to be not very accurate in their predictions of spousal preferences. It would be interesting to explore the accuracy of donor predictions of recipient gift preferences, by level of involvement. Finally, given the burgeoning of interest in family decision-making, the study of gift-giving decisions within the family, not only between husbands and wives, but also between parents and children, presents intriguing possibilities.
Achenbaum, Alvin (1966), "Knowledge is a Thing Called Measurement," in Attitude Research at Sea, eds. Lee Adler and Irving Crespi, Chicago, IL. Attitude Research Committee, American Marketing Association.
Andrus, David, Edward Silver and Dallas Johnson (1986), "Status Brand Management and Gift Purchase: A Discriminate Analysis," The Journal of Consumer Marketing, 3 (Winter) 5-13.
Banks, Sharon (1979), "Gift-Giving: A Review and an Interactive Paradigm,: in Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 6, ed. William Wilkie, Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research, 319-324.
Belk, Russell (1979), "Gift-Giving Behavior," Research in Marketing, Volume 2, ed. Jagdish Sheth, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 95-126.
Belk, Russell (1982), "Effects of Gift-Giving Involvement on Gift-Giving Strategies," in Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 9, ed. Andrew Mitchell, Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research, 531-536
Caplow, Theodore (1982), "Christmas Gifts and Kin Networks," American Sociological Review, 47 (3), 383-392.
Davis, Harry L., Stephen J. Hoch and E.K. Easton Ragsdale (1986), "An Anchoring and Adjustment Model of Spousal Predictions," Journal of Consumer Research, 13(1), 25-37.
Devere, Stephen P., Clifford D. Scott and William L. Shulby (1983), "Consumer Perceptions of Gift-Giving Occasions: Attribute Saliency and Structure," in Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 10, eds. Richard P. Bagozzi and Alice M. Tybout, Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research, 185 -190.
Engel, James F., Roger D. Blackwell and Paul W. Miniard (1986), Consumer Behavior, 5th ed., New York: The Dryden Press.
Ettenson, Richard, Janet Wagner, and Gary Gaeth (1988), "Evaluating the Effect of Country of Origin and the 'Made in the USA" Campaign: A Conjoint Approach," Journal of Retailing, 64 (1), 85-100.
Garner, Thesia and Janet Wagner (1987), "Gift-Giving: An Economic Perspective," paper presented at the Allied Social Sciences Association Annual Meeting, Chicago: IL.
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Hays, W.L. (1973), Statistics for Psychologists, New York: Holt. Rinehart, and Winston.
Heeler, Roger, June Francis and Chike Okechuku (1979), "Gift Versus Personal Use Brand Selection," in Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 6, ed. William Wilkie, Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research, 325-328.
Horne, Lena and Geitel Winakor (1988), "Exchange of Clothing Gifts in Families -- A Pilot Study," in ACPTC Proceedings: Combined Central, Eastern, and Western Regional Meetings, ed.
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Hyde, Nina (1988), "Fashion Notes: Basically the Same," The Washington Post, (January 10), H3.
Jolibert, Alain. J.P. and Carlos Fernandez-Moreno (1983), " A Comparison of French and Mexican Gift-Giving," in Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 10, ed. Richard P. Bagozzi and Alice M. Tybout, Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research, 191-196.
Mehrabian, Albert (1972), Nonverbal Communication, New York: Aldine-Atherton.
Rowland, Mary (1987), "Back to Natural Fibers," Working Woman (November), 101-105.
Rucker, Margaret H., Linda Boynton and Mee Young Park (1986), "Gift versus Regular Purchases: The Children's Market," in Proceedings of the Annual Convention, Division of Consumer Psychology, American Psychology Association, ed. Joel Faigert, Northridge, CA: American Psychology Association.
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Warshaw, Paul (1980), "Buying a Gift: Product Price Moderation of Social Normative Influences on Gift Purchase Intentions," Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 6 (1), 143-148.


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10 steps to a great garden
So you've never been much of a green thumb. You've decided, however, that this will be the year when you'll get a handle on the garden. But how to make sense of the blank canvas that is your outdoor space?
The first thing to remember — something all gardeners are told when they start out — is this: a garden is never finished.
You'll always be in a mood to change something, improve something, add or take away, or even embark on a complete redo.
I have yet to find a gardener who says his or her garden is finished; it's always a work in progress.
Having said that, you can save yourself a lot of headaches by following a few common sense rules. Here are 10 that I wish I had paid more attention to when I started years ago. Some of them are gained from years and years of talking to gardeners, while others are lessons learned from my own trial and error.
1. Draw up a master plan. It is better to have a design drawn up, incorporating all the features you are looking for in a garden, rather than working here and there in a higgledy piggledy fashion as the mood takes you.
This way, you can work on parts of your plan as time and money permit, and you will still end up with a consistent whole. Many people use this method to create the garden of their dreams over a number of years. It is a mistake to try to build a garden without a plan.
Your plan also should always contain an air of mystery. Make sure your whole garden is not revealed in a single glance. It is best if people are kept guessing what's around the corner.
2. Always put in your "hardscaping" first. Paths, walls, fences, patios, arches and arbours should be installed before any planting.
Once these permanent features are done, they can be tastefully softened by intelligent planting.
It is a common error to rush hell-for-leather into planting trees and shrubs, only to realize too late that you needed to put in a retaining wall or path or pond.
If you follow tip No. 1 this won't be a problem because you will already be aware of what permanent landscape features need to be installed ahead of planting.
3. Always try to pick the right plant for the right spot. Don't run off to the garden centre without first taking time to know the site – where the rain puddles, where frost stays, where shadows fall, where the sun comes first thing in the morning, where it beats down in the afternoon.
This information is invaluable. It will save you from buying plants for the wrong place. Always look first at the spot where you want to plant something, analyze the conditions (wet or dry, hot or cool, shadow or sunny) and then go to the garden centre to look for a plant that will thrive in those conditions. This is the way to always get the right plant in the right spot.
Vegetable gardens should be in full sun in well-drained soil. But edible plants can often be mixed in to flower borders as they often have beautiful flowers and foliage.
4. Build your garden with four seasons of interest in mind.
Don't plant only spring or summer flowering plants; also pick plants that provide fall and winter interest.
When you are considering buying a plant, look it in the face and ask it: What more do you do for me? I see you have nice flowers, but what about your foliage and shape and structure?
Do you have fall colour? Do you have winter interest?
The important thing here is to always pick plants that have more than one attractive characteristic and ideally look terrific in more than one season.
5. Hit the heights. Make people lift their head when they enter your garden rather than having to look down at the ground most of the time.
You do this by growing climbers, such as roses and clematis, into trees and over arches and up pillars and along pergolas.
The idea is to get people looking up.
It is also always good when you can work in a change in elevation, getting people to walk up and down steps to a new level.
This adds interest and keeps the garden full of surprises.
6. Look for ways to create exciting changes in elevation.
This can involve terracing a slope into a series of horizontal borders or a staircase.
Changes in direction and elevation always add interest and create a feeling of change and transition.
Consider developing a tunnel using wisteria, clematis or roses.
Tunnels also create a magical sense of transition and mystery as they take you in at one end and carry you through space into a new area to discover.
7. Make a good first impression. Give your garden a good entrance and make sure it tells people they are welcome once they get inside.
First impressions count. It is the same with gardens.
A good entrance gate can set the tone for everything that happens afterwards.
Inviting sitting spots tell people immediately that they are welcome to stay and relax.
Without a few well placed seats it comes across that all you want people to do is come in, look at your plants and leave.
Send a clear message that your garden is a warm, inviting, social place.
8. Frame views. Wherever possible, frame views and take advantage of the borrowed landscape (what you get for free from the neighbours or countryside outside your garden).
Using clipped hedges or doorways or entrances cut into hedges to frame a piece of sculpture or a view of an inviting bench or piece of statuary is a design concept perfected by top garden gurus like Vita Sackville West, Rosemary Verey, Lawrence Johnson and Penelope Hobhouse.
Your goals should be to create framed pictures that are worthy of a high-class glossy magazine.
9. Keep it simple. Resist over-elaborating. Plant in drifts of three and five rather than one of this and one of that.
Over-elaborate planting schemes come across as bitty and lacking in confidence.
You will find that planting in solid drifts of colour and foliage texture not only increases the impact of your overall scheme, but also creates a more restful and harmonious design.
There are some top garden designers, such as Spain's Fernando Caruncho, who limit themselves to using only five or six kinds of plants in different associations and forms and rhythms to create an overall sense of unity and artistic consistency.
10. Make a statement with your decorative touch. Make your statuary and decorative ornamentation do more than occupy space and look interesting. Use it artistically to make a statement and to create arresting synergies.
At Powis Castle in Wales, for example, they deliberately placed a statue of Hercules slaying the Hydra next to a 300-year-old gigantic rippled yew hedge thus placing the muscular, heroic figure from antiquity against an equally muscular masterpiece.
The classic figure of the Water Carrier makes more of statement placed against a stream or water feature than stuck in the middle of a hosta patch.
Herons stepping through a sea of blue ornamental grass or surrounded by an ocean of blue forget-me-knots is more fun than seeing them stuck on a lawn in the shade of trees.
Have fun with your decorative pieces and never forget the power a beautiful stone pot can have left empty and placed just as is in a flower border or simply surrounded by masses of lavender or nepeta.


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State Budget Growth Outpaces Inflation
Gov. Rick Snyder's executive budget recommendation for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 proposes spending $32.083 billion in state dollars (not including federal money). That's a 3.5 percent increase over the current budget, which authorized spending $30.998 billion state dollars. Snyder's budget team projects inflation will be 2.1 percent next year; the 2016 inflation rate was 1.2 percent.


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Within the Enterprise plan we provide the technical support, if you need to put the widget to your website or change some colors in the widget layout. The support is not unlimited, but we will do our best to make you comfortable with us.


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I still had lots of bees outside the Swarm Hive and even though it's been hot, none of the other hives have been hanging out on the front porch. So Monday, I opened this hive to see if I could figure out what's going on.
Well, they were out of room! The super was full of honey and bees. I added the empty super from Hive #6. I didn't check anything - just added the empty super.
What a difference - this was not ten minutes later. So they just needed some more space.
This hive is full and I mean full of bees!