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Laptops have become one of the most important devices of the modern world.They help improve the lives of people and enhance communication.They range from netbooks that are budget friendly to high end ones that offers HD multimedia and gaming.Whatever the type of laptop you own, you can find a wide variety of laptop accessories designed to improve your mobile computing experience.Some of these accessories also enhance the physical looks of laptop computers.
Most laptop owners believed accessories are very important as they streamline the use of their device most especially when they are on a trip.Here are some of the top laptop accessories you should not overlook when making your buying choices.
Laptop Bags – This is very important especially if you want to carry your laptops around wherever you go.These bags come in all sizes and styles and are made of different materials such as vinyl and leather.
When purchasing laptop bogs, you should consider the strength as well as the weight.Leather cases are usually strong but they are quote heavy. It may be a good idea to get soft sided case made of lightweight material.Laptop Bags are usually purchased separately.
Extra Batteries – Carrying extra set of batteries for every device that needs them. You should make sure they are fresh and in the right size.
Surge Protectors – This helps in preventing computer from getting affected by the fluctuations in the electrical power supply. Remember that computer components are very delicate and can be damaged severely by unexpected power sure.There are some surge protections that allow you to plug in other equipment.
Laptop Power Adapters – This will charge the laptop battery and allows you to work without any interruption.
This is essential especially if you do not have extra batteries.Most people choose adaptors that are compatible with variety of laptop models.
Laptop Speakers – This is very important when giving presentations.Even if your laptops have internal speakers that is more than enough when listening to your favorite music,but it won't be able to accommodate a crowd.This allows everyone in the room to hear your presentation.
Headset Microphones – This enables you to control your output while making an adjustment of the microphone for a more optimum usage. Some headset microphones come with speakers.
Wireless Laptop Mouse – This is a compact device perfect for anyone traveling.However,one has to make sure spare batteries for it are available so it can be used every time.
Portable Printers – One thing that laptop users should invest is tiny printers that are being offered on the market.It is something you can take with you on the road.You can print any documents wherever you are.Because they are small,they can fit easily into the laptop bag and are extremely lightweight.
By having the right laptop accessories in place, you will be able to make the most of using your laptop. This is especially true when you are traveling and you need to take your laptop with you.
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Queenstown Marathon
We hope you are ready runners, the Queenstown Marathon is just 2 short weeks away! If you are crazy enough to run a Marathon, then it might as well be one of the most scenic tracks to grace the Marathon circuit. The race kicks off in Arrowtown weaving its way through not one, but two mountain ranges (Crown & Remarkables) and around two lakes (Hayes & Wakatipu), giving runners a tour through the regions highlights in a 42km race.
70% hard packed trails and 30% on road surfaces combined with a mainly flat gradient.
Date: 18 November 2017
Start Time: 8:20am
Start Line: The Avenue, Millbrook Resort
Finish Line: Queenstown Memorial Centre Recreation Ground
Cut-Off Time: Athletes must reach the start of the Lake Hayes Trail (distance 11.65km) by 11.00am, the start of Domain Rd Track (distance 25km) by 1:10pm and the SH6 crossing (distance 32.2km) by 2:25pm. Due to course management and road closure restrictions, the course will officially be closed at 4:00pm

subset: commoncrawl


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Teamine Eye Complex helps reduce the appearance of dark circles by promoting collagen synthesis, increasing the strength and flexibility of fragile capillaries and normalizing drainage and circulation around the eye. Green Tea Extract and Aloe help to soothe the eyes and decrease puffiness.
Recommended to use with Teamine Concealer.
Usage: Apply to eye area once to twice daily, avoiding eyelids.
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The Fixed Income ETF marketplace is undergoing scrutiny as liquidity gravitates to these products and away from the underlying. The fact is, ETFs are easier to trade than individual fixed income securities, and can offer tighter spreads than the underlyings as well. The key question arises though, are these ETFs potentially dangerous to financial market stability? We covered a recent London conference on the topic.
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text: Paques a Haines (et Skagway), Alaska by Jerome | Apr 3, 2013 | Tourisme Alaska | 0 comments Voici quelques photos du debut de printemps passe a Haines, Alaska. Share this:FacebookEmailRedditLike this:Like Loading...Comments comments Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment Name * Email * Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.


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Fig. 11.1
Effect of microinjection of anisomycin 1 h before or after a single exposure to a predator scent stress: (1) The behavioral procedure used for the naïve and stress-exposed rats, (2) the behavioral procedure used for the pre-exposure microinfusion, and (3) the behavioral procedure used for the postexposure microinfusion. Vertical open arrows represent microinfusion (anisomycin or ACFS). (a) Anxiety Index. (b) The mean startle amplitude of rats in response to the 30 startle pulses. (c) Percent habituation of startle response. (d) Prevalence of extreme behavioral response (EBR). A single 10-min exposure to a predator scent significantly increased Anxiety Index (F(5,44) = 6.4, p < 0.0002) and mean startle amplitude (F(1,15) = 9.7, p < 0.01) and caused a significant deficit in the habituation of ASR (F(5,44) = 23.5, p < 0.0001) in exposed rats as compared to controls. Intraventricular microinjection of anisomycin 1 h before or after PSS significantly decreased anxiety-like behavior and completely reversed the stress-induced habituation deficit and lowered the mean startle amplitude in anisomycin-treated animals as compared to ACSF-treated rats (startle habituation, injected before F(1,11) = 15.5, p < 0.003, and injected after F(1,15) = 53.0, p < 0.0001; startle response, injected before F(1,13) = 20.4, p < 0.0006, and injected after F(1,16) = 6.9, p < 0.002). There were significant differences in the prevalence of EBR (PTSD-like response) among groups (Pearson χ2 = 16.4, df = 5, p < 0.006). The prevalence of EBR in predator-exposed rats was 50.0%. Intraventricular microinjection of anisomycin 1 h before or immediately after the stressogenic event significantly diminished extreme behavioral response, as compared to ACFS-injected control animals. The data represent group mean ± S.E.M or percentage
The results imply that persistent anxiety-like behavior after PSS is associated with a protein synthesis-dependent process related to memory consolidation and therefore that early post-stress interventions which disrupt consolidation may be a useful approach for mitigating PTSD symptoms [34].
Early Post-stressor Microinjection of Rapamycin
The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR ) is a phosphoinositide kinase family serine-threonine protein kinase that modulates cell growth, proliferation, and synaptic plasticity via the regulation of protein synthesis [35, 36]. Several reports indicate that components of the mTOR pathway are engaged following learning [35, 37–39], and rapamycin, a selective inhibitor of mTOR activity, when administered around training, blocks LTM formation in a number of behavioral paradigms [35, 37, 40–43]. It is activated by a number of growth factors including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and regulates protein synthesis mainly through the phosphorylation of two downstream targets, p70S6K and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding proteins, which are critically involved in initiation, the rate-limiting step of translation [35, 36]. The behavioral effects of intra-hippocampal and amygdalar microinjections of rapamycin (600 nM in ACSF) 1 h after PSS exposure were assessed. Behavior was assessed 7 days later in the EPM and ASR tests and freezing response to a trauma reminder on day 8. Rapamycin postexposure was ineffective in preventing PTSD-like behavioral responses. Neither prevalence rates of individuals with extreme behavioral response patterns nor subsequent freezing responses to a trauma cue differed between the treatment group and controls.
Early Post-stressor Microinjection of ZIP, an Inhibitor of Protein Kinase M Zeta
Protein kinase M zeta ( PKMζ) is an atypical protein kinase C isoform that has been implicated in the protein synthesis-dependent maintenance of long-term potentiation (LTP) and memory storage in the brain [44, 45]. PKMζ can maintain LTP because the kinase is autonomously active in neural tissue [45] and, thus, able to persistently enhance synaptic strength [46]. It has been shown that long-term memory can be "erased" by infusion of ZIP into the insular cortex (IC) [47]. The authors reported that in the IC, the activity of PKMζ is specifically involved in the storage of memories but not in their acquisition. Therefore, one may speculate that inhibiting PKMζ activity after traumatic experience may interfere with the process through which fearful memories become pathological and may lead to PTSD. We therefore assessed the long-term effects of ZIP, a specific, membrane-permeant peptide that mimics the autoregulatory domain of PKMζ and thus acts as an inhibitor, microinjected 1 h after stress exposure, into four brain structures widely implicated in the neurobiology of memory processes as well as in anxiety states: the dorsal hippocampus (DH), basolateral amygdala (BLA), lateral ventricle (LV), and insular cortex (IC) (Fig. 11.2). Stress-induced behavioral responses were assessed in the EPM and the ASR tests on day 7 and trauma cue-triggered freezing response on day 8.
Fig. 11.2
Effect of administration of ZIP/Scr-ZIP 1 h after a single exposure to a predator scent stress: (1) The behavioral procedure used for the unexposed and PSS-exposed rats. Vertical open arrow represents microinjection (ZIP or Scr-ZIP). (a) The effects of early post-stressor microinjection of ZIP/Scr-ZIP to the dorsal hippocampus. (b) The effects of early post-stressor microinjection of ZIP/Scr-ZIP to the lateral ventricle. (c) The effects of early post-stressor microinjection of ZIP/Scr-ZIP to the basolateral amygdala. (d) The effects of early post-stressor microinjection of ZIP/Scr-ZIP to the insular cortex. When microinjected to the DH and LV, but not to the BLA or IC, ZIP significantly decreased the prevalence rate of individuals displaying EBR as compared to Scr-ZIP-microinjected rats, reflecting decreased anxiety-like behavior and traumatic fear and memory in ZIP-treated animals. Data represent prevalence of affected rats
The results showed that inactivation of PKMζ with ZIP injected to the LV or DH within 1 h of exposure to stress effectively reduced PTSD-like behavioral disruption and trauma cue response 8 days later, resulting in statistically significant reductions (37.5% and 44.4%, respectively) in the prevalence rates of EBR (PTSD-like) individuals at 7 days, with concomitant increases in the prevalence of MBR individuals of 12.5% and 11.1%, respectively, as compared to scrambled (Scr)-ZIP controls, indicating a significant shift toward less extreme stress-induced behavioral disruption. The DH/LV ZIP-treated individuals demonstrated markedly less extreme trauma cue freezing responses (27.7% and 23.9% of time freezing, respectively) than the Scr-ZIP control groups (49.3% and 57% of time freezing). In contrast, immediate post-stressor ZIP microinfusion to the amygdala and IC was ineffective in attenuating stress-induced behavioral disruptions. We hypothesize that ZIP microinjected to the hippocampus and lateral ventricle disrupted traumatic memory consolidation processes.
Early Post-stressor Intervention with Corticosterone
After the initial demonstration that suppressing protein synthesis during consolidation interfered with the formation of the traumatic memory, we were particularly interested to examine if the effects of manipulation of the native stress-related neuromodulators associated with encoding and consolidation processes would also participate in processes.
The key processes of the primary consolidation of the initial trauma memory into long-term traces and trauma cue-triggered reactivation take place at times during which the stress response cascade is activated, i.e., the fast-acting autonomic (sympathetic) nervous system (ANS) and the slow hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical [HPA] axis. Sympathetic nervous system responses include the release of the catecholamines, epinephrine, and norepinephrine from the adrenal medulla. Activation of the HPA axis leads, via intermediate steps, to the release of glucocorticoids (cortisol in humans and corticosterone in rodents) from the adrenal cortex [48]. Glucocorticoids can enter the brain and exert their actions principally via intracellular receptors, the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). These key memory-related processes are thus likely to be affected by components, mediators, and end products of these physiologic systems, directly or indirectly [49]. The complex interactions among the various stress-related hormones in the emotionally aroused state experienced during trauma exposure presumably impact on the formation of the characteristically durable traumatic memories in PTSD.
Animals were treated once with corticosterone at doses of 0.1, 3.0, 5.0, 15.0, or 25.0 mg/kg 1 h after stress exposure and compared with vehicle-treated and unexposed controls [50] (Fig. 11.3). Behavior was assessed at day 30 and freezing response to the trauma reminder on day 31 [50]. The results clearly showed that a single 25 mg/kg dose of corticosterone administered 1 h after stress exposure resulted in a statistically significant reduction of 22.0% in the prevalence rates of EBR (PTSD-like) individuals at 30 days, with a concomitant increase of 14.3% in the prevalence of MBR individuals, as compared to saline controls – i.e., a significant shift toward less extreme behavioral disruption ensuing from traumatic stress. Individuals in the high-dose corticosterone group responded markedly less to the trauma cue (24% of time freezing) than the saline-control group (80% of time freezing). This pattern of response suggests that the single high-dose corticosterone treatment conferred some degree of resilience to subsequent trauma-related stress exposure. Paradoxically, lower doses of corticosterone (0.1–5.0 mg/kg) were not only ineffective in attenuating stress-induced behavioral disruptions but in fact significantly increased the propensity of individuals to show extreme behavioral responses at day 30 and significantly increased freezing response to the trauma cue as compared to vehicle. The dose-response curve for corticosterone thus conformed to the inverted U-shaped curve previously reported [51]. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying the dose-dependent effects of corticosterone appear to be the result of differential activation of the mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptor systems in different brain areas through a complex system of time-dependent modulators and/or modulation of gene expression through transcription or via transrepression [52–56].
Fig. 11.3
Effect of administration of corticosterone 1 h after a single exposure to a predator scent stress: (1) The behavioral procedure used for the unexposed and PSS-exposed rats. Vertical open arrow represents intraperitoneal injection (corticosterone or vehicle). (a) Prevalence of EBR rats. (b) Prevalence of MBR rats. (c) Prevalence of PBR rats. (d) Percent freezing (immobility time, in sec). (e) The test phase of a 24-h object recognition memory consolidation test. (f) Average exploring path length. Early treatment with high-dose corticosterone reduced the prevalence of PTSD-like behavioral responses (EBR) relative to saline-control treatment and to low-dose treatment. The exposed rats treated with vehicle or low-dose corticosterone displayed significantly more immobility than unexposed controls. Exposed animals treated with high-dose corticosterone (15.0 or 25.0 mg/kg) displayed significantly less immobility than saline controls or the low-dose corticosterone group. A single injection of high-dose corticosterone resulted in significantly lower exploration activity for the novel object compared to the saline-control group and to low-dose corticosterone indicating that low-dose corticosterone enhanced performance of the task, whereas high dose impaired it, presumably by interfering with memory consolidation
The possibility that the high-dose corticosterone regimen affected behaviors via memory processes was subsequently borne out by a follow-up study employing a nonspatial object recognition memory task. Similar dose dependence was displayed. Low-dose corticosterone enhanced performance of the task, whereas high dose impaired it, presumably by interfering with memory consolidation, suggesting that one possible mechanism underlying the overall effect involved the disruption of consolidation of traumatic (fearful) memories [50].
Early Post-stressor Intervention with Propranolol
A large body of evidence from animal studies indicates that adrenergic stress hormones released peripherally during emotionally arousing experiences modulate the storage of memory for the experience [57]. The ability of β-adrenoceptor blockade to reduce anxiety and fear has been quite firmly established by studies in human subjects and animals, although this is not true for every experimental paradigm involving anxiety and fear. In the clinical arena, Vaiva et al. [58] gave propranolol (40 mg) to 11 people admitted to the hospital following a motor vehicle accident or physical assault without any serious physical injuries. They were compared with eight patients who refused propranolol but agreed to participate in the study. Two months later, the propranolol group had fewer symptoms of PTSD (1/11) than controls (3/8). A pilot study by Pitman and colleagues [59] found similar results. The effect of two different doses of propranolol (10.0 and 15.0 mg/kg) administered immediately after PSS exposure was assessed at days 30 (EPM and ASR) and 31 (reminder response). Propranolol proved to be ineffective in attenuating stress-induced behavioral disruption. The propensity of treated individuals to develop extreme behavioral responses (PTSD-like) and the degree of vulnerability to a trauma cue 31 days after the index stress exposure were indistinguishable from exposed controls [60]. The physiological efficacy of the doses of propranolol was verified by collecting cardiovascular data telemetrically, and the results showed that the same treatment regimen effectively reduced post-stressor heart rate responses. Thus, propranolol effectively attenuated physiological functions, but failed to have behavioral effects in preventing posttraumatic responses, suggesting that propranolol was ineffective in preventing the development of posttraumatic responses in this animal model for PTSD [60]. In keeping with these results, a number of clinical studies published since then have reported similarly disappointing outcomes. In a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial of 14 days of propranolol administered within 48 h of injury to patients admitted to a surgical trauma center, no benefit over placebo on depressive or posttraumatic stress symptoms was found [61]. Sharp et al. [62] reported that propranolol does not reduce risk for acute stress disorder in pediatric burn patients. In a retrospective study performed on military burn soldiers injured in Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF), propranolol did not decrease PTSD development. The prevalence of PTSD in patients receiving propranolol was the same as those not receiving propranolol [63].
Post-stressor Intervention with Sleep Deprivation
Convergent evidence has accumulated that sleep serves as an off-line period in which newly encoded hippocampus-dependent memories are gradually adapted to preexisting knowledge networks [64–67]. Sleep following learning is known to enhance the consolidation of newly acquired memory traces [68–71] through an active reorganization of representations, whereas acute sleep deprivation (SD) may disrupt this process and impair retrieval functions [72]. Wagner et al. [71] reported that brief periods of sleep immediately following learning cause preservation of emotional memories over 4 years. We therefore hypothesized that interfering with memory consolidation processes by SD immediately after traumatic experience will reduce posttraumatic stress symptoms and incidence. Rats were deprived of sleep for 6 h throughout the first resting phase after predator scent stress exposure. Behaviors in the elevated plus maze and acoustic startle response tests were assessed 7 days later and served for classification into behavioral response groups. Freezing response to a trauma reminder was assessed on day 8. We found that 6 h of SD after PSS exposure resulted in a significant moderation of behavior patterns representing stress-induced anxiety, avoidance, and hyperarousal responses on the EPM and ASR tests. A resounding overall shift in the prevalence rates of animals fulfilling criteria for EBR, which were effectively reduced to nil, was mirrored by a concomitant increase in minimal behavioral responders (Fig. 11.4a). Freezing responses to the late (day 8) neutral trauma cue were markedly attenuated (16.4% of time freezing in the treatment group as compared with 75.8% for untreated controls) (Fig. 11.4b). As memory is required to bridge the time interval between stress exposure and trauma cue, and because the SD procedure intentionally spanned the time frame within which memory consolidation processes take place at the cellular level McGaugh [11], the reduction in freezing responses suggests that memory-related processes were affected. In other words, postexposure SD may affect traumatic memory consolidation and thereby effectively ameliorate long-term, stress-induced, PTSD-like behavioral disruptions.
Fig. 11.4
Effect of postexposure sleep deprivation on behavioral stress responses: (1) The behavioral procedure used for the unexposed and PSS-exposed rats. Vertical open arrow represents sleep deprivation. (a) Effect of postexposure sleep deprivation on relative prevalence rates according to CBC classification. Postexposure sleep deprivation reduced the prevalence of PTSD-like behavioral responses (EBR) relative to the exposed-untreated group and concomitantly increased the prevalence of minimal behavioral responders. No differences were observed in the prevalence of partial behavioral responses. (b) Percent freezing (immobility time, in sec). Postexposure sleep deprivation decreased the immobility time in response to trauma cue as compared to exposed-untreated animals. (c) Effect of postexposure sleep deprivation on dendritic morphology in the dentate gyrus granule cells. Quantitative analysis of total dendritic length (μm) of dentate gyrus granule cells from the suprapyramidal blade. (d) Effect of postexposure sleep deprivation on BDNF immunoreactivity in the hippocampus: The quantitative analysis of BDNF immunostaining in the dentate gyrus of unexposed-untreated rats, unexposed rats treated with sleep deprivation, exposed-untreated rats and exposed rats treated with sleep deprivation. (e) Computer-generated plots of reconstructions and photomicrographs of the dendritic tree from granule cells. Exposed animals treated with sleep deprivation exhibited significantly greater total dendritic length as compared to exposed-untreated animals. (f) Representative photographs of BDNF immunoreactivity in the dentate gyrus of unexposed-untreated rats, unexposed rats treated with sleep deprivation, exposed-untreated rats, and exposed rats treated with sleep deprivation. Photographs were acquired at 40× magnification (Scale bar, 50 μm). The cells in green were BDNF positive. The data represent group mean ± S.E.M or percentage
In addition to the behavioral tests, we launched a study to examine factors affecting neural/dendritic synaptic connectivity in response to interventions with sleep deprivation. We demonstrate that early post-stressor intervention with SD, which attenuates posttraumatic stress response, was associated with a dramatic increase in the number of dendrites of dentate granule cells, total dendritic length, and dendritic spine density, as compared to vehicle controls (Fig. 11.4 (C+D)). Although the precise molecular mechanisms underlying the factors that regulate the orientation, morphology, and elaboration of dendritic processes are largely unknown, there is now compelling evidence that outgrowth and morphogenesis of the dendritic arbor depends on the coordinated action of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Therefore, we also evaluated the BDNF expression. Hippocampal expression of BDNF demonstrated that postexposure SD also corrected the clear-cut stress-induced downregulation of hippocampal BDNF expression [73] displayed by exposed-untreated rats. In light of the involvement of neurotrophins, and particularly of BDNF, in neuronal plasticity [74, 75], axonal and dendritic branching and remodeling [76–79], and proliferation of pyramidal neurons and their proximal dendrite growth [80], such an upregulation would enhance synaptic plasticity and stabilization of synaptic connectivity, enabling adaptive behavioral responses, i.e., increased resilience. Overall, the results of this study suggest that prevention of sleep in the early aftermath of stress exposure may be beneficial in attenuating traumatic, stress-related sequelae. Postexposure SD impairs hippocampus-dependent traumatic memory formation and consolidation, a mechanism possibly pertinent to the development of PTSD.
To summarize, interference with consolidation processes appears to represent a valid avenue for attenuating subsequent PTSD symptoms by affecting the durability of long-term trauma memories. The findings that single high-dose corticosteroids might be effective in attenuating the neuromodulatory effects of the stress response and the lack of efficacy of β-blockade are of particular clinical relevance. In addition, intentional prevention of sleep in the early aftermath of stress exposure may well be beneficial in attenuating traumatic stress-related sequelae. These evidence shed light on the importance of posttraumatic "off-line" processing and consolidation, in a specific timing (i.e., natural sleep time), to long-term adaptive recovery from the traumatic event. Postexposure SD impairs hippocampus-dependent traumatic memory formation and consolidation and therefore may be a simple, yet effective, intervention for the secondary prevention of stress-induced psychopathologies.
Interfering with Reconsolidation Processes
Given that it is often not possible to administer a consolidation-blocking agent, the possibility of later affecting the traumatic memory by pharmacologically blocking reconsolidation is particularly clinically relevant [81]. The temporarily destabilized state of memories between their reactivation, often in response to triggering by trauma reminder or cues, and their subsequent reconsolidation presents an equally important target for study. The clinical impact of potential interventions at later stages hardly requires explanation. The benefit for patient populations could be significant, considering that the window of opportunity for preventive interventions, i.e. during consolidation, is quite narrow and that there are quite significant issues which arise from the lack of reliable predictive factors in the acute phase.
The next series of studies employed the same interventions as the consolidation studies and the same approach to data analysis. The reactivating stimulus was unused cat litter and was administered either 7, 10, or 14 days after the initial PSS exposure. The results show that the exposed groups displayed significant behavioral responses to the reminder cue comparable to the responses to the original traumatic event. Behavioral responses were assessed at days 30–31 in a manner identical to the consolidation study protocols.
Post-reminder Administration of Anisomycin
Microinjection of anisomycin (at two different doses) 1 h after the reminder/cue did not attenuate the behavioral responses evaluated 3 days later. Thus, exposure to the situational cue followed by microinjection of anisomycin does not eliminate the subsequent anxiety-like behavioral changes. The results thus suggest that persistent anxiety-like behavior after predator stress does not appear to become sensitive to protein synthesis inhibitors after reactivation and reconsolidation.
Post-reminder Microinjection of Rapamycin
We assessed the effect of intra-hippocampal and amygdalar microinjections of rapamycin (600 nM in ACSF) on trauma cue responsiveness and on prevalence rates of individuals displaying extreme, partial, and minimal behavioral responses to PSS. In the longer term, rapamycin did not attenuate the onset of PTSD-like behaviors or the prevalence rates of severely affected individuals and actually had no effects on the behaviors of the rats. These findings are in contrast with previous studies that show that systemic rapamycin disrupts contextual fear memory consolidation when the drug is given around the time of learning [40] or disrupts reconsolidation when given after retrieval [40, 82]. Moreover, microinjection of rapamycin into the amygdala [37] or into the DH [83] after fear memory retrieval disrupted performance. In line with our data, Glover et al. [82] reported differential vulnerabilities of cued and context fear memories to systemic rapamycin treatment. The authors reported that systemic rapamycin disrupts both the consolidation and reconsolidation of context fear memory as measured by fear-potentiated startle, but had no effect on the consolidation or the reconsolidation of cued fear memory. It is not clear why the consolidation and reconsolidation of traumatic fear memory is impervious to rapamycin treatment. It is possible that trauma/fear memories work very differently from other memories.
Post-reminder Administration of Corticosterone
Animals were treated once with corticosterone at doses of 3.0, 15.0, or 25.0 mg/kg 1 h after trauma reminder. The results clearly showed that all doses of corticosterone administered immediately after memory reactivation 14 days following PSS exposure were without effects and did not attenuate the onset of PTSD-like behaviors or the prevalence rates of severely affected individuals (Fig. 11.5). Rats given either low-dose or high-dose corticosterone single-dose regimen were indistinguishable from vehicle controls on the EPM or ASR tests after 30 days. Taken together, in contrast to our previous data demonstrating that (high-dose) corticosterone disrupted traumatic memory consolidation, these results indicate that corticosterone was ineffective in disrupting reconsolidation.
Fig. 11.5
The effects of early post-reminder administration of corticosterone: (1) The behavioral procedure used for the unexposed and PSS-exposed rats. Vertical open arrow represents intraperitoneal injection (corticosterone or vehicle). (a) Anxiety Index. (b) The mean startle amplitude of rats in response to the 30 startle pulses. (c) Percent habituation of startle response. (d) Prevalence of EBR rats. (e) Prevalence of MBR rats. (f) Prevalence of PBR rats. (g) Freezing (immobility time, in sec) There were significant differences between the groups in terms of Anxiety Index (F(3,43) = 5.9, p < 0.002), mean startle response (F(3,43) = 8.5, p < 0.00015), and startle habituation (F(3,43) = 36.8, p < 0.0001). Bonferroni test confirms that PSS exposure significantly increased Anxiety Index and mean startle amplitude and caused a significant deficit in the habituation of ASR in exposed rats injected with vehicle or corticosterone, as compared to unexposed controls. No differences were observed between the exposed groups treated with vehicle or corticosterone. The prevalence of EBR rats in the exposed group given vehicle or varying doses of corticosterone was 35.7, 35.7, 36.4, and 38.5% of the total population and differed significantly from the unexposed group (χ2=4.1, p < 0.044, χ2=4.1, p < 0.044, χ2=4.0, p < 0.04, χ2=4.5, p < 0.035), in which there were no EBR individuals. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of individuals displaying PBR and MBR among groups. Post hoc Bonferroni confirms that exposed rats treated with vehicle or corticosterone displayed significantly more immobility than unexposed controls (p < 0.0001 for all groups). The data represent group mean ± S.E.M or percentage
To summarize, the finding that the reactivation and reconsolidation phase was not sensitive to pharmacological manipulations by anisomycin, corticosterone, or rapamycin, unlike the findings from non-trauma memories, suggests that the dynamics of traumatic memory processing after reactivation are more complex than previously thought.
The lack of observable efficacy of the interventions during reactivation-reconsolidation of traumatic memory may stem from a number of reasons:
- (a)
Dosage: The memories that have been formed under stressful conditions are stronger and less labile when reactivated [84]. It is possible that higher doses are required in order to disrupt reconsolidation than consolidation.
- (b)
Reactivating stimulus: Although the stimulus we employed sufficed to cause reactivation of behavioral disruptions at levels similar to the original stress exposure, the destabilization of the memory was not sufficient to render it vulnerable to the interventions. Possibly a more potent stimulus might achieve this.
- (c)
Qualities of traumatic memories: It is possible that there are far greater distinctions between traumatic memories and other forms of memory than are presently known. Their biomolecular and/or physiological and/or morphologic characteristics or even their brain circuits may be such that the interventions could not affect them. On the clinical and psychological levels, they certainly manifest very distinctive characteristics, compared to other forms of memory, and this might stem from equally distinctive characteristics at the biomolecular level.
- (d)
Single-dose regimens : Possibly multiple doses coupled with recurrent reactivation-reconsolidation would be more effective than single doses.
Long-Term Repeated Intervention in Reconsolidation
A regimen of repeated corticosterone treatment paired with reactivating the traumatic memory over 15 consecutive days, with the same range of doses of corticosterone (3.0, 15.0, and 25.0 mg/kg) injected 1 h after memory reactivation, was next assessed (Fig. 11.5), beginning on day 14 postexposure. Behavioral responses were assessed in the EPM and the ASR tests at day 30. Exposure- and trauma cue-triggered freezing response was assessed 1 day later.
Low-dose corticosterone (3.0 mg/kg) resulted in a statistically significant reduction of 40.0% in the prevalence rates of EBR individuals at 30 days, with a concomitant increase of 16.7% in the prevalence of MBR individuals, as compared to saline controls. Moreover, these animals responded markedly less to the trauma cue (17.7% of time freezing) than the saline-control group (44.7% of time freezing). One plausible explanation for our data is that corticosterone may facilitate the extinction of a traumatic memory trace. Based on the finding that glucocorticoids impair the retrieval of emotional information, we thus suggest that by inhibiting memory retrieval, corticosterone may weaken the traumatic memory trace and thus reduce behavioral symptoms. We propose that repeated low-dose corticosterone administered following the reactivation of a traumatic memory could therefore potentially represent a novel treatment for PTSD. The results suggest that repeated paired low-dose corticosterone and trauma memory reactivation may be worthy of study in the clinical arena.


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The 2013 China Personal Care & Cosmetics Innovation Awards Winners Announced
- 22 Winning Companies Showcase their 24 Innovative Products and Technologies
The grand awards ceremony was held at PCHi 2013 in the Guangzhou Poly World Trade Center on March 13, 2013. More than 150 high-level delegates from the winning companies, such as Evonik, DSM Nutritional Products, Symrise, Dow, Guangzhou Tinci, Bayer, participated together with the judges, VIP buyers attending the tradeshow, Ringier magazine readers and industry media. Winners received awards for their innovative products and technologies which drive development in China's personal care and cosmetics industry. Meanwhile, all winners received a free showcase opportunity at the most traffic-attractive space at PCHi 2013 where trade show visitors were able to learn more about of the winning technologies and products.
The 2013 China Personal Care & Cosmetics Innovation Awards is co-organized by Ringier Trade Media and its magazine HAPPI China and Reed Sinopharm Exhibitions and its trade show - The Personal Care and Homecare Ingredients 2013 (PCHi 2013). Michael R Hay, President of Ringier Trade Media, explains: "As one of the Ringier Technology Innovation Awards, CPCIA has been designed to drive innovation in China's personal care and cosmetics industry. As a celebratory platform, the purpose of the Awards are to encourage, acknowledge and reward those individuals and companies that have developed a new idea, a new methodology, a new product or a new technology for production efficiency, cost effectiveness, or user convenience, which results, for example, in energy saving and more responsible clean manufacturing."
The independent judge panel, consisting of China's authoritative associations (the China Association of Fragrance Flavor and Cosmetic Industries), universities and research institutes, selected 22 companies and 24 products as the final winners of the Award this year. For this year's award, the nominated products cover all key areas in the industry, ranging from Anti-aging, Moisturizing, Sun care and whitening/brightening to delivery and sensory enhancing. Across all categories, green and sustainability continue to be a big trend. Moreover, cutting-edge science such as stem cell technology is increasingly seen behind nominated products.
As part of the innovation process, those involved in product development not only broke with conventionality but ethically considered the environment and upheld world-class standards in sustainable development.
Please find appropriate image data and further information on our Personal Care website: www.evonik.com/personal-care
Company information
Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders
in specialty chemicals. Profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company form the heart of Evonik's corporate strategy. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms.
Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2012 more than 33,000 employees generated sales of around €13.6 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of about €2.6 billion.
In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this press release or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release.


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RW looks at how the personalities of the two coaches – Stuart Lancaster and Eddie Jones – have been imprinted on their England teams
Shaun Edwards
Launchbury wary of Wales threat despite injury problems
England's Joe Launchbury expects Wales to put in a strong performance when the two sides meet at Twickenham on Saturday, despite their well documented injury problems. Wales lost influential players…
Wales v New Zealand: The Preview
WALES THRIVE with the underdogs tag – but is a win over New Zealand a realistic possibility?
Gatland praises battle-hardened Wales
Wales coach Warren Gatland said his team had become "battle-hardened" thanks to facing the big three from the southern hemisphere on a regular basis. Wales have played South Africa twice,…
Tony Hanks leaves Wasps
TONY HANKS is stepping down as London Wasps director of rugby with immediate effect. Head coach Shaun Edwards will take charge of the squad for Saturday's game against Leicester and…


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Lord Jesus took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. (1 Corinth. 11:23-26)
Eucharist is one of the Sacraments of initiation into the Catholic Church, together with Baptism and Confirmation. In Baptism we are anointed into the royal, priestly, prophetic family of God. In Confirmation we're sealed with the Holy Spirit. In the Eucharist, a repeatable sacrament, we renew, deepen and strengthen what God has done for us in Baptism and Confirmation.
Our Diocese makes the following recommendations:
Children in our Catholic schools are normally prepared for Eucharist and celebrate the sacrament in grade 3, or at about age eight.
Children who do not attend a Catholic school are prepared at St Joseph Church in the Parish-Based Program. Parents are required to attend the 6 sessions with their child. We advocate that parents are the first teachers of the faith.
Sessions begin Sunday, January 12, 2020
Parents are required to attend one Parent Sacramental Forum with Registration to register their child(ren) to receive a sacrament. Please bring a photocopy of your child's Baptismal Certificate:
To be announced
There will be a Parent Information Session to further explain Eucharist and how you can support your child(ren) as they journey to receiving Eucharist.
Parent Sacramental Meeting for Eucharist:
To be announced
Presentation of students preparing for Eucharist:
To be announced
The child(ren) will be called forward with a parent, Godparent or Guardian to the front of the church to be presented to the parish community. The parish community will welcome, nurture the faith life and support with pray these children and families as they continue their preparation to receiving the sacrament of Eucharist.
Eucharist Celebration
The First Eucharist normally takes place at a regularly scheduled Sunday Mass with the child's family – weekend of February 22/23, 2020
Receiving the Sacrament of Eucharist for the First Time:
Eucharist is a repeatable Sacrament that should always be celebrated with excitement. When we come to the Eucharist our focus should be on the beauty of the sacrifice that Christ made for us. When we gather to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord we come, not pure and perfect but, broken to be healed. In the Eucharist we are one with Christ and one with each other. With this in mind, we encourage you to dress your child in their "Sunday best"- for boys, dress pants and shirt (jacket and tie optional); for girls, semi-formal dress (please, no tiara, and no veil). As well, because of our practice of receiving Eucharist in the open hand, no gloves should be worn.


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Tau Reunion
- On Feb. 8, 2012, a small group of Zeta
Beta Taus met at the Wind and Sea in
Dana Point for lunch. In
attendance were: Tom Coffin,
'60; Tom Arnerich, '59; Al Graves,
'56 Larry Erwin, '56 Don
Huber, '56 Cal Sheets, '60;
Mike Carden, '59; John Vellis,
'59; Larry Robinson, '59 and Bill
Woodcook, '59. For some of
us, it had been 50 years since we had
seen each other. This is
what being an ATO is all about. A
good time was had by all.
Rev. Jerome "Jerry" Blankinship ('53)
Blankinship retires as "Mayor of Sunrise"
Click here
for more details


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Javier Perez, also known as Cintascotch, never imagined that so many people would love his simple drawings. His whimsical doodles have earned him over 120,000 followers on Instagram. Perez feels that people need a break from the high saturation photo world of Instagram, and that we should create art everyday no matter what our skills are.
You can follow Perez on Instagram and Facebook. He also has a shop where you can get some of this incredibly cute illustrations on t-shirts, bags, stationery, and more.


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Get the info about the advantages of arts learning for college kids and lecturers. Honoring those benefits and others associated with international training and world change, the UA is internet hosting a collection of events during International Education Week (IEW), which is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education established in 2000.
Inform household and friends to chip in, or forego partying for a time frame till the goal of higher education is complete. International Education Week is supported by The Graduate School and Office of International Programs. When we opt for higher education or masters, we need to choose the specialization subject of our interest and talents.
The heart conducts a spread of original research annually for that report, as well as Diplomas Count, Education Week, , and outside purchasers. Education is necessary as a result of it equips us with all that is wanted to make our dreams come true. Both pupil and teacher ought to hold a reading journal by writing about key ideas.
Originally EPE's website primarily housed online variations of Education Week and Teacher Magazine print editions; it now gives day by day breaking information and an array of different data resources, together with such standard news blogs as Politics K-12, State EdWatch, Curriculum Matters, and an array of opinion blogs.
Classes meet within the Language and Communication Center 229 N. thirty third (001, 011, 207) and One Drexel Plaza (Garden Level GL). As their schooling progresses, they'd transfer on to prep faculties and examine the classics continuing a mentor strategy. The Arts Leading the Way to Student Success: A 2020 Action Agenda for the Arts in Education (2015) This motion agenda will serve as the blueprint for the collective work of the Arts Education Partnership for the following five years. You can use ArtScan , AEP's clearinghouse of arts education policies to find out details about your state. Students and Faculty/Staff may submit applicable occasions that will happen during International Education Week for inclusion in our on-line calendar and in printed publications. Education Week Press was launched in 2002 to publish books and e-books on behalf of Editorial Projects in Education.


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Working with multiple documents, particularly if they are all different formats, can be a headache. With PDF Architect's Insert feature, you can merge all the files you are working with into one PDF document making it easier to manage and share. Organize and categorize your PDFs by inserting and customizing page elements as well as other such details into your document.
Insert pages
Insert images from many popular formats to bring life to your text. You can also crop and rotate the picture to control the focus within the image. You can also insert blank pages as well as pages from other PDF or images files.
By inserting hyperlinks, you can reference to other pages within the document. But you can also open a web page to bring the reader to you web site or open a local file. Using JavaScript allows you to run custom action, when the link is clicked.
Page numbers
After inserting or rearranging pages, you might want to update the pages numbers. With our page number tools, you can remove page numbering from all or selected pages and apply a consistent page numbering again.


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Job title: Apply for the Airport JOB for Ground Staff and Ticket Executive Post and Cabin Crew 9058322431
Job description: Apply for the Airport JOB for Ground Staff and Ticket Executive Post and Cabin Crew (9058322431)
Rs 19,000.00 monthly Rupnagar, Punjab Yesterday, 05:46 PM
Aviation Department
Description * Roles and Responsibilities
1. Ability to handel costomers with good comunication skills
2. Aviation course candidates will be given priority
3. Should have a good experience with Amadeus GDS
4. Handling Customer queries and complaints in real time via phone, chat and email.
5. General Customer problem solving, assistance and follow up
6. Handle flight reservations (New and existing bookings- date change , refunds , name corrections)
7. Provide prompt and concise Customer services, travel booking and support
Skills Required
- Must be fluent in clear easy to understand spoken English
- Must have excellent written and spoken communication skills
- Must be flexible with rotational 24×7 shifts.
- Should be a quick learner.
- A candidate is required to attend the passengers at different Airport counters during arrivals and departures of the flight.
- Passenger and Baggage Handling – The job involves extensive communication with passengers at the airport for booking, reservations, ticketing, complaint handling and passenger facilitation.
- To perform all security related functions as given for airline operations by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. Screening, frisking and overall safety & security of the passengers & their baggage.
- Helping and assisting the passengers.
- The candidates should be willing to work in rotational shifts/ 24 x 7 Operations
- Good verbal communication skills in both Hindi and English.
- Confidence and ability to handle passengers and provide only the best customer service.
- Intemediate/Pursuing Graduation / Graduate, Fresher's can apply
- Age 18- and above
- Salary starts from 18,000 till 30,000/- in Hand + Free Home pick up & Drop cabs, Passport is Mandatory**Skill: Good Communication & pleasing Personality. Must be known English & Hindi Language.
He or she has to reads coded data on booking card to ascertain destination, carrier, flight number, type of accommodation, and stopovers enroute.
He or she has to separate and files copies of completed tickets.
He/she is responsible of booking the ticketing, reissue of tickets and Refunds of the cancellation tickets.
He or she has to maintain the coordination with ticketing system service providers regarding the system capabilities and proposes to the refund or any additions or adjustments needed
It will be needed to work with the finance department and management with regard to reporting and invoicing.
– Bachelor Degree and 10th and 12th pass candidate also needed, preferably in tourism industry
– 1yrs – 5yrs experience and fresher also required
– Proficient in using booking/reservation system of Sabre, Abacus, and Amadeus
– Certificates of Abacus and Amadeus
– Certificate of Passenger service
– Fluent in English, Microsoft office, computer skills
– Strong domestic and international ticketing experience (especially international flights)
– Outstanding sales skill, organizational skill
– Quick learner and takes initiative
– Excellent communication and writing skills
– Excellent interpersonal skills across a variety of cultures
– High standards of customer service, high attention to details
– Problem solving and decision making capacities
– Motivated/ Creative/ Proactive – Passionate for travel industry
Mr. Yogesh Mishra (9058322431)
- Number of vacancies: 28
Requirements * Minumun level of education: High school
- Availability for travel: No
- Availability for change of residence: No
Expected salary: Rs.19000 per month
Location: Rupnagar, Punjab
Job date: Sun, 06 Sep 2020 04:32:12 GMT
Apply for the job now!


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James Callahan has been Monroe County Fire Rescue's Fire Chief since January 2009. He also is the director of Monroe County's Emergency Services Division, which includes Fire Rescue and Emergency Management.
He began his career with Monroe County Fire Rescue (MCFR) as a battalion chief in January 2006 and served as interim fire chief for two years. Prior to Monroe County, Callahan served for 16 years as the Fire Chief of the City of St. Petersburg and Hillsborough County, both in the Tampa Bay region of Florida. He has more than 40 years of professional firefighting experience in career and combination career/volunteer fire departments, serving in the ranks of Battalion Chief, Captain, Emergency Manager, Fire Chief, Fire Marshal, Firefighter, Lieutenant, Operations Chief, Training Officer.
Chief Callahan is accredited as a Chief Fire Officer. He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer program and has a Master's degree in Public Administration. Chief Callahan is committed to the continuous improvement of Emergency Services for the communities of the beautiful Florida Keys.


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Expert Consultants
Craig Andrews
Senior Consultant
Malecki Deimling Nielander & Associates, LLC
Defiance, OH
Professional Member
Damian J. Arguello
Principal Attorney
Colorado Insurance Law Center
Broomfield, Colorado
Professional Member
Scott E. Bushnell
Principal Owner - Executive Forensic Accountant
Business Interruption Consulting
Houston, TX
Professional Member
Michael Gay
Owner/Principal Consultant
Michael Gay Consulting LLC
High Point, NC
Professional Member
Bruce Heffner, Esq.
Independent Company Legal Consulting / Attorney at Law
Boomerang Recoveries, LLC & Law Office of Bruce P. Heffner,
Lorena, TX
Professional Member
Peter Marchel
President / Founder
Marchel & Associates Risk Consulting
Carnation, WA
Professional Member
Scott S. Margraves
P&C Expert Witness | Broker Performance Reviews | Certificate of Insurance (COI) Tracking & Compliance
Gulf Coast Risk Management, LLC
Houston, Texas
Associate Member
Edwin J. Miltenberger
Carrier and Affinity Group Strategies, LLC
Covington, LA
Professional Member
Mark L. Pollack
Board Member Emeritus / Expert Witness
Affirmative Risk Management
Little Rock, Arkansas
Professional Member
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Founder / President
Segale Consulting Services, LLC
Huntington Beach, CA
Professional Member
David L. Stegall
Principal Consultant
Risk Consulting & Expert Services
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Akos Swierkiewicz
Insurance & Reinsurance Consulting & Outsourcing Services ("IRCOS, LLC")
Morrisville, PA
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Robert E. Underdown
Principal Consultant
The Insurance Archaeologist™
Maricopa, AZ
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Jennifer Walker
Attorney, Founding Partner
Walker Risk Consulting, LLC. and Walker Law Firm, LLC.
Clive, IA
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Joe Williams
Pozmantier, Williams & Stone Insurance Consultants, LLC
Houston, TX
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Corwin (Cory) Zass
Founder, Principal and Consulting Actuary
Actuarial Risk Management
Austin, TX
Professional Member


text:
Get the most out of Flyway v7 - Sign up for our webinar on the Redgate Hub ▶ Watch now
2018-06-26 by Axel Fontaine
One full month has now passed since the release of Flyway 5.1.0. Here is an update on a number of Flyway-related events and releases that happened since!
As part of the Flyway 5.0.0 we launched official Docker images for Flyway.
And the reception has been incredible! Since launching them in December they have now been pulled over 1 million times!
So if you use Docker, make sure to take the Flyway images for a spin (if haven't done so already).
This past month has also see a number bug fix releases for Flyway. With Flyway 5.1.3 being the latest one. As usual you can find the list of fixes in the release notes.
As a number of important issues have been addressed, all Flyway users are encouraged to upgrade.
Earlier this month Craig Davidson also released an interactive PowerShell CLI for Flyway. So if you are a PowerShell user, make sure to check it out!
Work on Flyway 5.2.0 is already progressing nicely. We have a number of exciting features in store for you!
We'll be back for another update next month. Until then, happy migrating!


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Deep Book Review: "This Is Where I Leave You" by Jonathan Tropper
This is a 2010 novel by Jonathan Tropper about a family that has to live together in the same house for 7 days following the patriarch's death. Although it has a somber premise, it's quite funny and warm in places and moves along at an enjoyable pace. The book was also turned into a film by the same name that stars Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, and Jane Fonda, among other fine cast members.
The reason the number of days is 7 is that the family is carrying out the Jewish custom of "sitting Shiva", where the family gathers together with other mourners to talk about the deceased. The word "Shiva" means 7 in Hebrew.
Right away it gave the feel of another well-liked ensemble story, The Big Chill, where a single event draws estranged people together. The storyline is interesting and unpredictable and allows for some curious relationships and situations to develop.
One of the main characters (played by Jane Fonda in the film) is charming and funny in the book and has a lot of funny lines to say. Then there is the serious, safe brother. All characters in the book seem like well-drawn, well-rounded, real-people characters that the reader can relate to.
The family dynamics felt true to life, and you feel that this is a real family with real situations and emotions, not simply a contrived family with unrealistic lives and motives. No one is perfect, and everyone's shortcomings are painfully obvious and scrutinized. Don't be surprised if you see yourself in some of the characters, or know family members who fit the mold.
Just when you think the book is wrapping up, it goes on. And then it goes on a little more. And then a little more. It takes quite a long time wrapping things up, but I'm glad the ending happened this way, because you get the chance to see everything resolve, or not, as some cases may be. This feeling of resolution happens in the film too. It was good of the author to avoid pulling the rug out from under the reader after involving us in the lives of the characters. It would have been easy to just end everything with a question mark. Sometimes that's okay, and I get stories like that, but it would have been disingenuous and rude with this one.
It's a very satisfying and believable family novel, with a lot of honesty, heart, and humor. The plot may be just a little over-used, but still interesting to see how this family pulls it off, and it never came off as a copycat to me. The plot and situations aren't too farfetched. I could see this happening in just about any family today.
To tell you the truth, I wouldn't mind reading more of this family, either in a sequel where we catch up with what they've all been doing; or something on TV with a weekly family drama like This Is Us.
It isn't the kind of family that you grow to dislike intensely, but the members do have quirks and traits that can be a little irritating at times. For example, they are all surprised that the gathering is even taking place, since the father wasn't even that religious, and it had been a very long time since the family has visited one another. The main character, Judd, who is also the narrator, has to deal with finding his wife sleeping with his own boss and is caught up in divorce.
Judd's sister Wendy is a mother to three children and is married to a man who puts his career above family. Judd's older brother is dealing with a failed chance at the big time, and also failing to have a child. The youngest sibling is an outsider who seeks a relationship with an older woman.
It's the kind of family that most of us can relate to—blemishes, strengths, skeletons, and all.
Other dynamics are added to the family by those that show up to pay their respects, which lend to comedy and insightful exchanges.
The author deftly handles a balance between tragedy and comedy. After all, it is about a death in the family, but the characters and situations of the family members give it a lighter mood.
Some critics have said that no family is this dysfunctional, but couldn't be further from the truth, as family therapists' offices are full of families grappling with old wounds, abandonment, disappointments, pain, and unresolved issues.
There are some crude scenes that may come off as disrespectful or extreme, but no two families are alike, and, to be fair, this author is focusing on this one family, not The Waltons. Books like this, and families like this one, are reminiscent of the popular TV family found in All in the Family, where constant bickering, imperfections, and chaos was the norm.
Maybe it's that older audiences are a bit more conservative, or private, about family affairs. But the book seems to connect with those younger than baby-boomer age—the antics more acceptable. The author gives us a peek into the dysfunction of a family, peeling back the curtain to show us that families aren't alone in their flaws, and that forgiveness can be given and received under the right circumstances. Even in an era of relaxed mores and anything-goes relationships, people still need and want some semblance of family. The author does a good job of conveying this throughout his story.
The book helps us take a look at our own families: Don't you have a family member that's thought of as the black sheep? Don't you have one that drinks too much? Sleeps around too much? Keeps messing up over and over? If anything, these wild characters show us it's okay to have a fractured family, and that there's hope for redemption.
This book could have been a straight drama about all of these issues, but the writer chose to present it in a comedic light, which was the right thing to do. After all, who hasn't lived through some serious stuff with their families, only to look back and laugh at it later on?
While reading the book, ask yourself, "How would I fare spending 7 days under one roof with my family? What would we talk about? What would transpire? How would it go?"
In film terminology, the book would be rated R for sexual content, language, and some drug use. Basically, it's a good read for adult audiences. Although it can seem a little sensational at times, it doesn't swerve into the soap opera lane. It has some really good laughs and some poignant moments too, and you walk away thinking about your own family and how you may come off to one another.
Some of the book's critics say the family and characters are unrealistic and over-the-top, but it is fiction, after all, not a newspaper article. This family is wild and crazy, and they pull all of the skeletons from the closet. If the characters seem stereotypical, it's to see how they react in this particular situation, though I can't speak for the author's motivations.
The story can come across as a little crude and chauvinistic at times, but there is no rule that says books and films have to be PC. We would become bored very quickly if that were the case.
Relax. It's just a novel-just a quirky family with weird problems. If you can't relate to that, then this book probably isn't for you or your college literature course. In this story, opposites clash, rivalries abound, jealousies ensue, mistakes happen, and the outrageous is addressed. When you finish the last page, you just may be finding yourself appreciating that your own family isn't as messed up as this one.
There are over 2400 reviews for this book at Amazon, so this story has found its niche audience, and Tropper has been on the New York Times bestselling list, has authored several books, is a college writing instructor, and produced HBO's Banshee.
Some semi-negative comparisons have been made between Tropper and Nick Hornby because they write from a hyper-male perspective, but is that supposed to be a taboo? Do we want authors and books to always sound the same? Neutral? Asexual?
Just a few questions remain: Did the dearly departed old man request a sitting of Shiva to help his family come together and heal? Did he do it as a practical joke? Did he request it out of spite? Or a combination of all?
The dialogue in this book is natural and engaging, very witty and funny. By the time you get to the end, you feel a catharsis of some kind, as if dealing with this family can help you deal with yours.
If you like steamy, bodacious novels like the ones made famous by author Harold Robbins, this book is right up your alley. Tidy endings are optional, and memorable characters are everywhere.
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If the corner of Hillcrest Road and Northwest Highway is on your way work (or geographically convenient on any of your driving routes), you may find a new love in Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts. The new shop opened earlier this week with a sunny dining area, attractive-looking doughnuts and a great coffee service.
If you've ever made doughnuts yourself, the hammer-wielding metal worker in Top Pot's logo seems a little out of place. Doughnuts are fragile things, to be treated delicately, at least if you want to protect their airy texture. And maybe that's why Top-Pot's basic glazed doughnut seemed a little overwrought.
If you like the light-as-glazed-feathers doughnuts that you can buy at Krispy Kreme and most Korean doughnut shops, Top Pot's glazed version may not be your favorite. It's big, for one, and with its thick, sticky glaze it's a little difficult to pick up and eat. My nose was sticky when I was done. Actually, despite some aggressive napkin work, my face was still sticky after I left the place.
The cake doughnuts, on the other hand, were a high-calorie dream. A nice crumb, a little bit of chew, and a lightness you only see in the better cake doughnuts you find around town.
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You can't have doughnuts without coffee, and since Top Pot is a chain out of Seattle you can bet these guys take their coffee seriously. There's an espresso machine hissing away, you can order pour-over if you're inclined, and the entry level cup, referred to as drip coffee, is brewed in a French press.
There's plenty of seating, everything is served on shiny plates, and there's a massive patio. Consider Top Pot for all of you dignified doughnut experience needs.
Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts, 8611 Hillcrest Rd., (469)-232-9911


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The Gateway PGA REACH Foundation is excited to announce a partnership with LIFT23, a premium sock company that is committed to a social mission. LIFT23 will support the local PGA HOPE programs, Helping Our Patriots Everywhere, which help veterans assimilate back into their communities through the social interaction and therapeutic attributes the game of golf provides. Led by PGA Professionals, PGA HOPE programs are held in partnership with area VA Hospitals, VFW Posts and PGA Golf Facilities throughout Central and Eastern Missouri.
About LIFT23
For every pair of socks sold in the Gateway PGA Section, LIFT23 will donate $1 to our local PGA HOPE efforts. LIFT23, whose motto is "Performance Perfected", develops sport-specific performance socks and is committed to giving back to its community and helping local PGA Facilities.
"We're excited that LIFT23 has stepped up to help support PGA HOPE. It takes a true collaboration of people and organizations to help heal our Veterans."-Chris Nowak, PGA of America PGA HOPE Director.
To learn more about LIFT23 CLICK HERE
To place an order for your facility, contact David Allan at firstname.lastname@example.com


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Plain English Summary
Trial website
Contact information
Primary contact
Dr Somnath Mukherjee
Contact details
Velindre NHS Trust
Velindre Road
United Kingdom
+44 (0)2920 196184
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
Protocol no: WCTU012; Sponsorship no: SPON 415-07; EudraCT: 2008-001394-15
Study information
Scientific title
A multi-centre randomised phase II study of induction chemotherapy followed by gemcitabine or capecitabine based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for locally advanced non-metastatic pancreatic cancer
Study hypothesis
Pancreatic cancer is the tenth most common cancer in the UK with nearly 7,000 patients being diagnosed in UK each year and mortality parallels its incidence indicating that an effective treatment is required. Localised inoperable cancer accounts for 30 - 40% of advanced disease and its optimal management is unclear. Chemotherapy alone is the predominant modality in the UK whilst CRT is the treatment of choice in the USA. It has been reported that patients receiving either modality have a median survival of around 10 months.
Gemcitabine is the established monotherapy for pancreatic cancer; its combination with erlotinib and capecitabine have produced small improvements in median survival of 0.5 and 1.4 months respectively. The rationale for additional loco-regional therapy includes prolongation of local control and downstaging of inoperable disease, both of which may improve survival. Advancement in radiation technique has minimised radiation toxicity and combined with improved patient care makes CRT a feasible option. A national survey through the pancreatic sub-group of ACORRN (Academic Clinical Oncology, Radiotherapy and Radiobiology Network) has shown that the use of CRT is fragmented across the UK with no consensus guidelines.
The SCALP phase II study is a feasibility study which attempts to evaluate the activity, safety and feasibility of two chemoradiation treatment in the management of locally advanced non-metastatic pancreatic cancer (LANPC). If either is found to be active, safe and feasible to use it may be considered as experimental arm(s) of a future phase III trial. Also it will attempt to define an acceptable CRT strategy in UK and to demonstrate that high quality Radiotherapy (RT) with central Quality Assurance (QA) can be delivered. We hope to conclude as to whether or not there is sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation of one or both of the CRT regimes in a future phase III trial.
Ethics approval
Protocol approval is being sought from a Multi-Centre Research Ethics Committee (MREC). Each participating centre will be approved through a Regional Ethics Committee (REC) prior to patient recruitment.
Study design
Multi-centre phase II randomised trial
Primary study design
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
Trial type
Patient information sheet
Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Localised advanced non-metastatic pancreatic cancer (LANPC)
Patients will be recruited over a period of approximately 24 months. Patients satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria will receive three cycles (12 weeks) of GEMCAP chemotherapy (each four-week cycle consists of gemcitabine 1000 mg/m^2 weekly for three weeks out of four and capecitabine 830 mg/m^2 twice daily [bd] daily for 21 days). If restaging computed tomography (CT) scan at 12 weeks confirms stable or responding disease encompassable in a radiation field, patients will be randomised to receive a CRT regimen consisting of a fourth cycle of GEMCAP (for three weeks) as above and either:
1. 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions over 5.5 weeks (1.8 Gy per fraction, Monday to Friday) and gemcitabine 300 mg/m^2 intraveous (IV) weekly for the duration of radiotherapy (RT), or
2. 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions over 5.5 weeks (1.8 Gy per fraction, Monday to Friday) and capecitabine 830 mg/m^2 bd (Monday to Friday) for the duration of RT
Radiotherapy will be planned conformally using single phase, three to four coplanar beams, using 6 - 10 MV photons, treating all fields daily Monday to Friday. Those who fail on chemotherapy at 12 weeks will be treated and followed up according to clinician's choice, but they will be followed up and data on treatment and death will be collected.
Total treatment duration is 22 weeks from screening until follow up; patients will be followed up until week 52.
Intervention type
Phase II
Drug names
Gemcitabine, capecitabine
Primary outcome measure
In each arm of the trial: nine-month (from registration) progression-free survival, defined according to the RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours) criteria
Secondary outcome measures
In each arm of the trial:
1. Toxicity, during and after treatment using National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version three (NCI CTCAE v 3.0). Toxicity will be measured at baseline, weeks 5, 9, 13 (i.e. at the end of each GEMCAP cycle - prior to CRT), 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (during CRT), 23, 26, 39 and 52 (follow-up). Also, serious adverse events (SAEs) will be collected in real time.
2. Quality of life, measured at baseline, week 17, 23, 26, 39 and 52
3. Overall 12-month survival and time from registration to death by any cause. Those still alive will be censored at date last seen.
4. Objective disease response (based on RECIST criteria)
5. Progression-free survival (time to event). Time from registration to any progression (based on RECIST criteria) and/or death. Those progression-free and alive will be censored at date last seen.
6. Radiotherapy quality assurance (RT QA); planning will be between weeks 13 - 16, planned assessment will be during week 17
7. Tumour marker CA19-9, measured at baseline, weeks 17, 39 and 52
Overall trial start date
Overall trial end date
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Participant inclusion criteria
1. Informed consent
2. Aged greater than or equal to 18 years, either sex
3. Histologically or cytologically confirmed inoperable (or medically unfit for surgery) adenocarcinoma of the pancreas
4. Chosen for non-surgical therapy by a specialised Multi-Disciplinary Team
5. World Health Organization (WHO) performance status 0 - 2
6. Neutrophils greater than or equal to 1.5 x 10^9/L, platelets greater than or equal to 100 x 10^9/L and haemoglobin greater than or equal to 10 g/dL
7. Adequate liver function tests:
7.1. Serum bilirubin less than 35 μmol/l. In patients who have had a recent biliary drain and whose bilirubin is descending, a value of less than or equal to 50 µmol/L is acceptable.
7.2. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) less than or equal to 2.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN)
7.3. Alkaline phosphatase less than or equal to 5 x ULN
8. Adequate renal function (glomerular filtration rate [GFR] greater than 50 ml/min Cockcroft and Gault)
9. Women and men of child-bearing potential should agree to use an adequate contraception method, which must be continued for three months after completion of chemotherapy
Participant type
Age group
Target number of participants
Participant exclusion criteria
1. Women who are pregnant or breast feeding
2. Any evidence of severe uncontrolled systemic diseases including uncontrolled coronary artery disease
3. Any patient with myocardial infarction or stroke within the last six months
4. No previous malignancies in the preceding five years except for in situ cancer of the uterine cervix and adequately treated basal cell skin carcinoma and early stage malignancy
5. Renal abnormalities such as polycystic kidneys or hydronephrosis or ipsilateral single kidney
6. Previous radiotherapy to upper abdomen
7. Recurrent cancer following definitive pancreatic surgery
Recruitment start date
Recruitment end date
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
Velindre NHS Trust
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Cardiff University (UK)
Sponsor details
FOA: Chris Shaw
Research Governance Coordinator
Research and Development
McKenzie House
30 - 36 Newport Road
United Kingdom
Sponsor type
Funder type
Funder name
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) (UK) (ref: C28958/A9355) - funded by a grant from the Feasibility Study Committee (FSC)
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Funder name
The Wales Cancer Trials Unit (WCTU) is core funded by CRUK and WCTU core resources will be used to support this trial.
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Not provided at time of registration
Intention to publish date
Participant level data
Not provided at time of registration
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list
2013 results in: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23474363
2015 results in: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26530749
2016 results in: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27497804 (added 14/02/2020)
Publication citations
Mukherjee S, Hurt CN, Bridgewater J, Falk S, Cummins S, Wasan H, Crosby T, Jephcott C, Roy R, Radhakrishna G, McDonald A, Ray R, Joseph G, Staffurth J, Abrams RA, Griffiths G, Maughan T, Gemcitabine-based or capecitabine-based chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer (SCALOP): a multicentre, randomised, phase 2 trial., Lancet Oncol., 2013, 14, 4, 317-326, doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70021-4.
Hurt CN, Mukherjee S, Bridgewater J, Falk S, Crosby T, McDonald A, Joseph G, Staffurth J, Abrams RA, Blazeby JM, Bridges S, Dutton P, Griffiths G, Maughan T, Johnson C, Health-Related Quality of Life in SCALOP, a Randomized Phase 2 Trial Comparing Chemoradiation Therapy Regimens in Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, 2015, 93, 4, 810-818, doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2015.08.026.


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Wednesday, May 27 – Friday, May 29, 2015
"Integrating geoscience and technology to enable new discoveries:
building synergy for open science."
The second annual EarthCube All-Hands Meeting will be held at the Westin Arlington Gateway from May 27-29. This science-focused meeting will demonstrate the utility of the first two rounds of NSF EarthCube funded projects, and collect community input on strategies that will address needs and enable new discoveries and understanding within the geosciences and beyond.
The All-Hands Meeting brings together project institutions, partners, collaborators and scientists from across the globe to share their progress and experience with EarthCube, and discuss and plan activities for the upcoming year. Attending the meeting is an opportunity for community members to help shape the effectiveness, efficiency and future of EarthCube.
Slide decks from the presentations given at the 2015 All Hands Meeting can be found at following link: AHM 2015 presentations. This section will be updated with more details and files as they are received.
Posters are available for view here: http://maxim.ucsd.edu/suave/index.html?file=ecposters_i7.cxml
Participant materials quick link: http://bit.ly/1cSge8V
Key documents
View the poster sessions and descriptions
Add your photos to the AHM Photo Gallery
Meeting Documents
Meeting Agenda
Session List and Descriptions
Attendee List
Attendee Registration
Online registration is now closed.
The registration fee is $185.
Request for Comment
EarthCube Charter
Strategic Vision
Strategic Science Plan
Strategic Technology Plan
Organizing Committee
- Lindsay Powers (The HDF Group), Co-Chair
- Mohan Ramamurthy (Unidata), Co-Chair
- Bob Arko (LDEO)
- Simon Goring (Univ. Wisconsin-Madison)
- Rebecca Koskela (Univ. New Mexico)
- Erin Robinson (Foundation for Earth Science)


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Caryn presents keynote address at European Malacological Congress/in Uncategorized /by Caryn Vaughn
Caryn attended the 8th European Malacological Congress in Krakow, Poland, Sept 10 -14, where she gave an invited keynote address over ecosystem services provided by freshwater mussels.
Katie Murphy and Patrick Olson finish MS degrees/in Uncategorized /by Caryn Vaughn
Katie Murphy and Patrick Olson both finished their MS degrees in July. Katie will be working for the Kansas Department of Environmental Quality in Topeka, and Patrick is looking for a job in the Fort Collins area. We wish them both a great future and will miss them!
Brent Tweedy presents his PhD work to the Biology Department/in Uncategorized /by Caryn Vaughn
Brent discusses his research on freshwater mussels and interactions between climate-related increases in temperature and mercury contamination in the environment in a seminar presented to the Biology Department on April 19.
Kiamichi River and water scarcity/in Uncategorized /by Caryn Vaughn
The Kiamichi watershed is now a case study for an international group examining water scarcity and social-ecological systems. http://pecswaterses.com/
New article describes the important ecosystem services provided by freshwater mussels/in Uncategorized /by Caryn Vaughn
New publication – growth and longevity estimates for mussel populations in Ouachita Mt. Rivers./in Uncategorized /by Caryn Vaughn


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Intelligence is not as important as people thinkTuesday, November 18, 2008
In his latest book, Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, Fortune magazine's editor-at-large Geoff Colvin argues that talent is overrated. People aren't born with any predilections to greatness; instead, they earn it. Colvin talks to Mint about why intelligence isn't everything, what "practice" really means, and how companies and individuals can take a page out of the Tiger Woods playbook.
Define talent.
A specific and inborn special ability—that is an ability to play golf, or sing a song, or sell cars, or anything else that you are born with. Most people do believe that the greatest performers in any domain came into this world with a special ability, a one-in-a-million ability to do this particular thing.
You turn to the likes of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Tiger Woods to argue this isn't true.
An awful lot of people will say, look, what you're saying may sound reasonable, but you cannot explain Tiger Woods or Mozart without talent. So I did the research. What it turns out is that Tiger Woods and Mozart are excellent examples of what the researchers have been saying.
So, the key is practice? But you give an example of a study that found senior auditors were not much better at spotting corporate fraud than rookie auditors.
Doing more work doesn't necessarily make a person better. Now this sounds funny, but here's the point. We're all surrounded by hard-working people, people who have worked hard for 30 years. They're not, frankly, world-class at whatever they do. It isn't just hard work, it's a particular type of hard work.
You call this the difference between "practice" and "deliberate practice".
The key to the whole thing, is hard work at a very specific activity. It is a thing unto itself, it isn't work, and it isn't play, it is a separate thing. An activity designed to improve performance, it pushes you just past what you currently do. It can be repeated at high volume, and feedback is continuously available.
The greatest performers in every field are doing that, and they're doing that for hours a day, every day, for years on end. And that's what they all have in common.
Take a sales agent, for example. How would he or she go about deliberate practice?
Think ahead of time, "what do I want to do better?" Not just, "I want to close the sale", but think, "on this sales call, I want to understand the client's business issues better".
And during the sales call
While you are doing it, you are also standing outside yourself and observing, "okay, how is it going, has something changed, do I need to adapt?"
And afterwards?
When you leave, you think, "how did I do?" You don't just say generally, "well I did great, or I did lousy". You say, "okay, I understood this one concern, but there was something else, now that I think about it, there was something else he said that I should have picked up on but I didn't, so next time I'm going to be extra-sensitive to that kind of comment".
So, the key here is to be specific?
Average performers think in general terms. Great performers are very specific about what they are trying to do, and very specific about how it went.
There's an interesting example of a sales manager who rated his most intelligent agents as the best, but that wasn't really the case.
It shows how deeply held is the belief that the smartest people must be the best. There was a correlation between intelligence and how the manager rated the person, but there was no correlation between intelligence and actual sales performance.
Then how important is intelligence?
Intelligence isn't as important as most people think. There are international masters in chess with an IQ below 100—below average. What they have isn't incredible IQ, but an incredible ability to play chess, which they developed over many years.
You mention that having a lot of information is key. What does this mean for employees in a company?
The idea is for people to create what's called a mental model of the business, meaning you have in your head, how all the forces affecting the business are connected. If there's a drop in interest rates, you know how that will work its way through the whole industry, what it will do to your business, what it will do to your competitor's. Within organizations, having a shared mental model turns out to be very important.
Aruna Viswanatha


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Nobody could ever claim that Fayval Williams isn't academically qualified for her new job. She has the benefit of an education from one of Jamaica's top high schools, Ferncourt in St Ann, and two of the world's finest universities – Harvard, where she read for her undergraduate degree, and University of Pennsylvania, from whose prestigious Wharton Business School she received her MBA.
And with her background in economics and finance, no one ought to be able to pull the wool over her eyes with regard to the finances of the agencies for which she now has responsibility.
But that said, despite the claims made by Prime Minister Andrew Holness about what has been achieved over the past several months, Mrs Williams faces the daunting task of cleaning up the mess she has inherited and rebuilding public confidence in the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, to which she has been assigned.
Nothing in her ministerial background indicates whether she is up to the job despite her nearly three years in the finance ministry and as full minister, supporting Audley Shaw and, latterly, Dr Nigel Clarke.
In the first instance, the public sense was that she was at the ministry as a sort of ring-fence around Mr Shaw to assuage Prime Minister Holness that the senior minister would not go off on a frolic of his own that would undermine Jamaica's fiscal reform agreement with the IMF. If that was indeed the case, hers would be primarily a back-channel operation, of which the public would see little. And once Mr Holness' real preference as finance minister, Dr Clarke, was installed, she, perforce, had little room to parade her skills.
Now, though, Mrs Williams is being given a canvas of largely crawls and smudges, which she is being asked to convert to a coherent picture in which Jamaicans don't perceive graft corruption and the sacking of the Treasury. Her most immediate task must be to sort out the Petrojam oil refinery, including the arrangements by which Jamaica plans to reacquire Venezuela's 49 per cent stake in the entity.
All matters relating to Petrojam are pressing, but how she tackles the seemingly reckless impunity with which the refinery was managed is what the public will first pay attention to.
Dr Andrew Wheatley was forced out, or voluntarily gave up the energy portfolio last year, in the face of the scandal over unaccounted-for oil, cronyism, nepotistic hirings, and the engagement of a poor-performing human resource manager, who was placed on a fast track for salary increases even though she didn't possess the stipulated qualifications for the job. When Petrojam decided to dismiss this manager, she, despite facing 19 disciplinary charges, received a settlement package of over J$13 million, which was initially declared to be a third less than the real figure. A non-disclosure agreement was appended to the settlement.
The confusion and contortions over this matter happened, unfortunately, under Prime Minister Holness' watch. He assumed the portfolio after Dr Wheatley's departure.
It is probably an attempt to push this issue as far as possible from Mr Holness that Permanent Secretary Sancia Bennett Templer, who gave stumbling explanations about the matter to Parliamentary committees, has been shunted from the Office of the Prime Minister in this realignment of the Government.
But even when she deals with this matter, Mrs Williams has to work a long-term strategy for Petrojam, including how it fits in Jamaica's energy matrix, as well as manage the political ramifications of Jamaica's use of legislation to forcefully reacquire the Venezuelan shares.
These are not all, though. The scale of the Petrojam scandal may have overshadowed everything, but there are also serious questions about the operations of the energy company NESoL and the Universal Service Fund.


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I need to watch a RSS feed from our hudson ci server.
Each time a new entry is available i want to play a sound by calling
#>play sound.wav.
Does anyone know a tool which can watch a rss-feed and fire a command each time a new entry appears?
I had a look at
rsstail but it gets all entries from the feed and not the latest or only the ones that are new since the last lookup.


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- Fee assured
- Awaiting verification
You'll need to contact this healthcare professional to check their availability
Areas of interest
Lower back pain; Neck pain; Shoulder pain; Foot pain; Knee pain; Chest pain; Soft tissue disorders; Fibromyalgia; Manipulation; Children (0-6 years of age); Children (7-11 years of age); Headache / migraine; Acupuncture; Sports Injuries;
Research interests
Lecturer at the British School of Osteopathy; Dissertation supervisor
Personal interests
Keen interest in chronic pain management, movement re-patterning, pain neurophysiology education, mindfulness, teaching, mentoring new graduates, providing affordable osteopathy to all.
(Additional) Languages spoken
- Italian
- Spanish
- Portuguese
Courses offered to GPs
Regular talks in osteopathy, back pain, and pain neurophysiology at our charitable research and mentoring clinic - Core Clapton.
- Pain: Science & Society Kings College London 2012
- Bachelor of Osteopathy British School of Osteopathy 2005
- Human Biology University of Leeds 1998
Affiliations / memberships
Institute of Osteopathy
Registered with the General Osteopathic Council
Practice hours
Appt Bookings
- Core Clapton
- Tuesday
- 09:00 - 18:00
- 0300 561 0161
- Core Clapton
- Wednesday
- 09:00 - 18:00
- 0300 561 0161
- Core Clapton
- Thursday
- 09:00 - 18:00
- 0300 561 0161
Post treatment communication
Following treatment of a Bupa member, I will communicate with GPs in line with Department of Health, GMC and appropriate professional bodies guidelines.
In the event of an urgent query following treatment, Bupa members should use the following contact details


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Mar 7, 2018
In this episode of the UnPodcast, we share a couple of stories to contrast truly great Customer Service and... well, whatever that other things was. We also discuss Doritos solving a lady problem; how Facebook's newsfeed change has affected traffic to news sites; and how a court ruling impacts embedding tweets. All this and more artificial intelligence.


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Apple's new restrictions governing the code origin of apps for App Store have been widely discussed. My position, in brief, is that it's unquestionably Apple's prerogative to do so, but it's just more fuel for the fire. Especially when the collateral damage is to such plainly non-threatening apps as Scratch, an app designed for accessing the eponymous introductory programming language backed by none other than Alan Kay.
Because such a program obviously accesses, and in fact has its roots in, the foreign APIs and code that Apple finds so abhorrent, it was removed from the app store. Right. I'm not saying Apple shouldn't apply its own rules on a case-by-case basis, but this is exactly the kind of constructive, rich app that people have been saying will be blocked by the 3.3.1 and 3.3.2 restrictions. I can't muster any outrage, only share in Kay's disappointment that a platform he envisioned and engendered decades ago will not be able to be used to its full extent.
Kay is quoted as having said to Jobs, after the iPhone event, "Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you'll rule the world." Unfortunately, a world ruled by Jobs isn't exactly what we all envisioned it to be a few years ago.
[via Wired Gadget Lab]


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UPDATED: SEP 29, 2012 As a critic I often find myself not knowing what rating to give a certain product. However, in these instances I find that being mixed means that product is only average at best since good items are obvious in their quality. This is how I view Harpoon Octoberfest, another American take on the wholly German style. It has its attributes, but it has its flaws as well.
Having sampled a few different Octoberfest-style beers the one thing I like about all of them is their appearance. Harpoon's entry is much like many others: a dark amber/reddish-orange, crystal-clear body with lots of carbonation. It pours to a fairly large, off-white, foamy head that lingers throughout the life of the drink and leaves a lot of lacing on the glass.
The aroma is fairly standard for a beer of this type – malty, but more dry than sweet. Other brews have a bit of sweet scent, but Harpoon's is surprisingly bland.
In my experience of sampling Octoberfest beers I notice I find their taste to be malty and slightly sweet but with a dry finish. But with Harpoon the most noticeable aspect to its taste is its bitterness. Although it's only a 30 on the IBU scale, only about 5 higher than typical Octoberfest beers, there seems to be a dry, salty, bitter taste to this brew (even at colder temperatures).
I decided to let the beer warm a little but the taste stayed essentially the same. There definitely is a strong mixture of various malts here, including chocolate and possibly caramel, but the beer doesn't drink like liquid candy. This is most unusual since Harpoon Octoberfest is technically an ale, not a lager, so I was expecting more of robust taste. But what I got was a mostly dry-tasting beer that wasn't nearly as flavorful as it could be.
I wouldn't call Harpoon Octoberfest a strong beer by any means, but it definitely has an edge to its finish. Since this beer is quite bitter in its taste, it's not surprising it finishes with a significant amount of bite.
If you drink the beer quickly its finish will seem much smoother but you'll likely miss the flavor combination. If you drink it slowly you'll be able to appreciate the craftwork but it will not finish cleanly at all. Not that this is bargain beer, but for a seasonal niche beer by a microbrewery you'd expect an easier finish.
The funny thing about Octoberfest beers is that they're almost always lighter in body than you might expect. After all, these are dark beers based on a Germany style which leads the average Joe Six Pack to assume they're a meal in and of themselves. While it's true some are more potent (and Harpoon is no exception at 5.5% ABV), they are not packed with calories. This probably explains why it would be easy to down several servings of Harpoon without feeling overwhelmed.
It doesn't surprise me Harpoon Octoberfest would seem like only an average beer to me. I have found their other beers to be only average at best and the same is true of other American Octoberfest beers I have tried. Only the most dedicated, diehard beer connoisseurs will likely enjoy this brew, and it's easy to understand why lightweights would not.
Grade: 5/10