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The Army set out to make a more environmentally friendly bullet, and wound up with something to really brag about.
Why the EPR
There was nothing fundamentally wrong with the M855 "Green Tip" ammo that the United States has been using since 1982, except that it has a lot of lead in it. With the adoption of the Montreal Protocols, Executive Order (1993), EPA 17 List, and AEC Study into lead contamination, the Army began looking for an unleaded solution to their 5.56mm rounds. With the use of a lead free projectile the Army could eliminate 2,000 tons of lead from production, gain access to formerly closed training ranges, and removes the future lead hazard from the environment.
Improved performance
According to the Army's releases, the M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round (EPR) is superior to the old school green tip round. The new round has a copper core, rather than a lead core. Like the green tip, the EPR has a steel penetrator. The EPR is billed as having consistent penetration performance, not being dependent on yaw. It has significantly improved performance at extended ranges. The improved propellant has a reduced perceived muzzle flash, which for five centuries has been important on the battlefield. All this with the same ballistic trajectory match as the greentip round, so that the Joe in the field doesn't notice a difference in their ammunition's point of aim. Best yet is that the slug is billed as getting near 7.62x51mm NATO performance. In head-to-head tests, the EPR penetrated 24-layer Kevlar body armor that was proofed to withstand the M80 7.62 ball as well as penetrating 3/8-inch steel plate--, which the 7.62 couldn't. It also offers better performance in masonry and automobile windows. The full 11-page comparison in PDF format is here.
It is one of the most tested rounds ever, with more than 1-million test cartridges fired in the developmental process. (Where do I get that job?)
Camp Perry
According to an article from Aerotech News, Rob Harbison, a contractor supporting small caliber ammunition capability development at Fort Benning, Ga., competed in the competition at Camp Perry while firing the EPR. He used a AR15A2 with stock Mil-std components, as close as firing a regular M16A2 rifle as you can get without the three-round burst. The results: Not too bad.
"Harbison finished 86th of 385 competitors, and 46th (17th civilian) of 200 marksmen competing with an M16-Series weapon. Throughout the competition, Harbison had several noteworthy performances, including firing a perfect 200 points in the Coast Guard Trophy Match, which is 20 shots fired from the sitting position at 200 yards. He also finished 17th overall in that match (of 385 competitors), finishing in the top five percent. Also of note, Harbison scored a perfect 100 on the final string of ten shots during the Air Force Cup Trophy Match, fired at 600 yards from the prone position. That is 10 shots in a row within the 12-inch, 10-point ring at 600 yards with combat ammunition. "
Besides showing up at Camp Perry, the new round is in full production since June 2010, and is in-theater already with the hands of shooters in real-life real-time red on blue (and hopefully not too many green on blue) engagements in Afghanistan. Not saying that the green tip is not quality ammo, but the EPR is the next step and is even better.
I'd hate to be a terrorist in the sandbox.
The New Greener Greentip
By christophereger, Sep 6, 2012 | |
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Merino wool is warm, lightweight and breathable with antibacterial properties to keep you dry and odour free. You can find out more about its benefits in our merino wool guide. In our mens range you'll find merino wool base layers in a great selection of styles and colours to help you stay warm from the slopes to winter hikes.

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In my opinion, clear mascara is the most underrated type of makeup. Many people ask, "What's the point? Why would I pay money for something you can't even see?" But what they don't know is that this makeup product can do a lot more than you think.
#1: Eyelash curler/lengthener
Obviously, clear mascara can be used on your eyelashes. It adds length and volume to your eyelashes and effortlessly curls them. They also work great for your lower lashes, as there is no risk of the dreaded under-eye smudge. Plus, if you accidentally rub your eyes, you won't look like a raccoon!
#2: Eyebrow groomer
That's right, clear mascara works great as an eyebrow groomer and shaper. If you have unruly brows, a few swipes of this will do a great job of making your eyebrows look neat and polished.
#3 Flyaway securer
Everyone has dealt with hair flyaways at some point, and they can really take away from your look. Luckily, clear mascara takes care of those. Just brush your flyaways with the wand for a much more professional look.
So, there you have it! Clear mascara may not be as useless as many take it to be. #ClearMascaraDefenseSquad


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Magic Traditions: Divination
Divination is probably the hardest school to write, develop, and use.
It's your "spot the plot" magic tradition. Players will inevitably (see what I did there?) ask questions about future events that you can't possibly know or predict. And so it must be in most games that divinations are neutered, often worse than useless. Prophesies are vague or pointless instead of mysterious or baleful.
If the GM is trying to run a mystery plot, a divination spell might ruin everything by telling the PCs exactly where Jack the Ripper is, or the identity of the killer.
Honestly some of the problem just comes about in trying to reconcile a two-axis alignment system with the ability to see the future. If Good characters can know the consequences of their actions, how do they ever "fall?"
For this reason, it's important to understand the difference between "choice" and "consequence," and further creates a need for an "uncertainty principle."
A character may learn the choices they will face or the consequences of their actions — but never both at the same time.
I'm thinking seriously about how I might use the violation of this principle as the basis for plot generation, a la Dogs in the Vineyard. A ritual caster learns the results of a choice they will face, which creates ripples of consequence.
Not sure yet, but I might seek this for all seven schools of magic.
Anyway, back on topic…
I've researched the subject pretty thoroughly over the last exty years, and I've devised a number of rules and tools for developing the schools of magic. At this stage, it's honestly more of a victory dance than a genuine project.
There's a lot of writing involved, so it's still a project.


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Well I am excited. Are you excited?
Today I picked up a three by four foot lightweight mdf board and 18mm battens to make me the first panel of my full size wargame board!
I managed to assemble the frame pretty quickly. In hindsight 18mm may be too thin to prevent warping entirely, but it will do for now. Any larger and I wouldn't be able to stack it against the wall neatly behind the bookshelf. I may have to add a few more cross braces.
I am thinking I will paint the underside white to make it seem airy and light. Or bkack and white to look like a japanese screen.
I intend to paint it deep sickly green then gloss the crapola out of it. Gloss modpodge and ink will then be used to texture ripples in the top.
This new board is the basis for my Skulldred photography board- and will also be used for demos at events like Cancon/PAX/MOAB.
Once this is done I will fashion some islands in various sizes which can each have different looks- muddy trench, city, flocked field, necromunda hive, leafy forrest... whatever I feel like. The gaps between the islands form rivers. Infinitely configurable water/toxic sludge features!
Undead assault here I come!


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Our Founder and Director was an adjunct professor of audio and music production. He taught college classes to undergraduate students in Apple's GarageBand, Propellerhead's Reason, Apple's Logic Studio and Avid's Pro Tools.
Students at Music Notes Academy primarily learn GarageBand and Reason. We incorporate audio production private lessons with instrument recording and composition or song writing at our East Brunswick Academy.
Learning audio and music production is a process similar to learning a musical instrument. There is no quick fix. Learning audio production is a process and students that understand music performance and music theory are better music producers.
We have Apple computers, audio interfaces, pro audio equipment, amplifiers, various microphones, PA systems and mixing consoles where students can learn audio engineering and music production with professional equipment.
Ready for Music Notes?
Call Us at (732) 238-2828. Visit Us in East Brunswick, NJ. Register Online.


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Festivals are one among the most activities of Lai Chau in particular and mountainous regions' in general. Another famous festival is "Han khuong festival", which takes place in spring. Once again, this is an opportunity for boys and girls to get to know each other by singing and dancing. "Han" means stage, "Khuong" means yard. When the festival starts, young, beautiful and unmarried girls sing love songs on the stage. Then, the boys sing songs for response. At the same time, they can look for a person who can share their feelings and then come, sit together and talk. After that, they date, and wait for the next appointment. And can you guess? After the festival, many couples get married. For old people, that is the time for memories.
Not long ago, each Thai village has dozens of "Han Khuong". "Han Khuong" is the spirit of the villages which symbolizes of the prosperity and happiness of Thai society. "Han Khuong" means the stage, which is constructed outdoor; it can be square or rectangular shape with the area of 15-20m2. The stage is 1-1.5m from the ground with bamboo floor and surrounded by bamboo net or lattice bamboo bars .There is a kitchen fire in the center of the floor to provide heat and light to people joining the festival. Notably, "Han Khuong" is decorated with 5 poles called "Lac xay". "Lac xay" poles are made from palm trees, cutting away all leaves except the top clusters. Their bodies are painted with red, green colors and hang with the bamboo circles with colorful shapes of people, birds, cicadas, fruits... Of the 5 "Lac xay", there is one main pole next to the fire while the other four are laid in the four corners. Each "Han Khuong" will consist of 5-10 girls ("Xao Lac Xay" group), including a team leader (called Ton Khuong) sitting at the central pole.
"Han Khuong" is a public activity managed by Thai girls with the support of young men and the help of old people. When the construction is finished, people bring wine and meat and invite people to celebrate and begin the first "Han Khuong" night.
At first, "Ton Khuong" and "Xao Lac Xay" take their seats. They gin cotton, spin fiber, embroider their products...and chat with young men in the cozy atmosphere. In the romantic night, by the sparkling fire, the glittering poles attract young people going to "Han Khuong". One or two talented men are chosen in each group to sing and ask to join the stage. After checking their talents, the team leader (Ton Khuong) allow the men to join. Then the party begin and last until late night.
Normally, the familiar participants can freely join the party; the challenges are just for strangers. The old people go to "Han Khuong" to share the happiness and teach pretty songs to young children. The children go to "Han Khuong" to watch and learn songs and nice behaviors, spinning skills.
"Han Khuong" is not only the place for singing where young people meet each other, it is also the place to discuss, exchange ideas of the community. "Han Khuong" is the place to teach young people about the tradition of Thai Community. "Han Khuong" nights make people relaxed and the party atmosphere warm up the Thai villages.


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Meet us at the forthcoming Danish IP Fair, which is being held at the Confederation of Danish Industry's premises in Copenhagen on Tuesday, 9 May.
Everyone is welcome. Please register at the Danish IP Fair website.
Previously, wind turbine monitoring and fault diagnosis have used detailed models or data-driven methods. This has placed significant demands on the model or data, which had to reflect the normal situation extremely accurately in order to detect irregularities—just as it can be very difficult to use these methods for identifying the location of a possible fault on the wind turbine.
A new method developed by Associate Professor Henrik Niemann's research team from DTU Electrical Engineering, as well as DTU Compute and DTU Wind Energy makes it possible to both monitor the wind turbine while simultaneously establishing the location of any wear or fault, as well as the nature of the fault.
"We use data from sensors positioned at the point where the wind turbine blade is attached to the axis. There are two torque sensors on each blade. These are sensors which are already found on newer wind turbines in order to monitor the blade load. A wind turbine has three blades, so this provides three sets of measurements in total. We collect the data and then conduct a simple signal analysis. If the turbine is functioning as it should, the picture from the measurements will be completely symmetrical, whereas there will be fluctuations if there is a fault on one of the three blades," explains Henrik Niemann from DTU Electrical Engineering.
The measurements not only provide information on whether there is a fault with the wind turbine, but also the location and nature of the fault.
"Different kinds of faults can crop up on wind turbine blades. It may be a fault with one of the sensors such as bias, where the sensor measures incorrectly. Or there might be a blade fault, for example a crack in the material which can lead to an ingress of water. Or it might be an actuator fault, which might mean that a blade is being incorrectly pitched. With our new method, it is possible to clarify where the fault is on the wind turbine, which then makes it simpler to repair," says Henrik Niemann.
Method ready for testing in the real world
The new method will be highly attractive in terms of both wind turbine monitoring and, not least, because it makes it possible to know in advance where errors and wear and tear are about to occur. Maintaining wind turbines is resource-intensive, and it is important to remedy any wear and tear and poor functionality when the service technicians have, for example, sailed out and climbed to the top of the installations.
This method is very simple, and as like other big inventions, developing this new monitoring method happened slightly by chance.
"We were working on a project in which we developed a traditional model for monitoring wind turbines. However, when one researcher was replaced by another in the course of the project, some of the previous data had to be looked at afresh. We therefore started again to perform transformations of the data for using in the model, and discovered that they were sufficient to identify both the existence, type, and location of faults using the turbine's own symmetry," explains Henrik Niemann.
The new method has been thoroughly tested in the laboratory, and is now ready to be tested in the field. In this connection, the researchers have been in contact with several different wind turbine manufacturers.
Illustration: Data after the signal processing of a wind turbine without any faults (blue field) and data from three different measurements, where in each case there was a fault on one of the three different blades.
20 October 2020
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Looking for an RV topic? Search the entire forum HERE
I couldn't even get our rig registered in Texas w/o documenting the "dry weight" of our rig. There isn't any weight listed on the previous title. Plus they wouldn't even tell me where to get the rig weighed that would be acceptable to the state (said they can't promote any business). So i'm in the process of finding a certified scale that is acceptable. Point is, there are valid reasons for knowing the dry weight of a rig.
Donn those federally mandated stickers which include OCCC, UVW, etc did not become mandated until about 2008, prior that the the labels only included such things as GVWR, GAWR, and GCWR
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Secure IP Bind enables you to force selected applications on your computer to only work once connected to our VPN servers. This ensures selected applications will only work behind a secure encrypted connection. If you open selected applications without being connected to our VPN, they won't be able to access the internet.
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Note: This works the same way on Mac OS X as on Windows - only difference being how apps get added to the IP Binding list; Windows: Select .EXE file of application; Mac OS X: Select application from app list.
1. Navigate to the 'Secure IP Bind' (aka SIB) screen.
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4. If you said 'Yes' then web browsers will be added to the list, and Secure IP Bind will be enabled automatically for the web browsers.
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Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in Myocarditis: A JACC White Paper
Author + information
- Received September 3, 2008
- Revision received January 31, 2009
- Accepted February 3, 2009
- Published online April 28, 2009.
Author Information
- Matthias G. Friedrich, MD*,* (matthias.friedrich{at}ucalgary.ca),
- Udo Sechtem, MD‡,
- Jeanette Schulz-Menger, MD§,
- Godtfred Holmvang, MD‖,
- Pauline Alakija, MD†,
- Leslie T. Cooper, MD¶,
- James A. White, MD#,
- Hassan Abdel-Aty, MD§,
- Matthias Gutberlet, MD**,
- Sanjay Prasad, MD††,
- Anthony Aletras, PhD‡‡,
- Jean-Pierre Laissy, MD§§,
- Ian Paterson, MD‖‖,
- Neil G. Filipchuk, MD*,
- Andreas Kumar, MD*,
- Matthias Pauschinger, MD¶¶,
- Peter Liu, MD##,
- International Consensus Group on Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in Myocarditis
- ↵*Reprint requests and correspondence:
Dr. Matthias G. Friedrich, Stephenson Cardiovascular MR Centre at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, Department of Cardiac Sciences and Radiology, University of Calgary, 1403 29th Street NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 2T9, Canada
Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has become the primary tool for noninvasive assessment of myocardial inflammation in patients with suspected myocarditis. The International Consensus Group on CMR Diagnosis of Myocarditis was founded in 2006 to achieve consensus among CMR experts and develop recommendations on the current state-of-the-art use of CMR for myocarditis. The recommendations include indications for CMR in patients with suspected myocarditis, CMR protocol standards, terminology for reporting CMR findings, and diagnostic CMR criteria for myocarditis (i.e., "Lake Louise Criteria").
Background: Myocarditis
Incidence and Etiology
In this paper, myocarditis is defined as inflammation of myocardial tissue. Myocarditis has been reported in up to 12% of young adults presenting with sudden death (1–4) and is an important underlying etiology of other myocardial diseases such as dilated (5) and arrhythmogenic right ventricular (6) cardiomyopathy. The incidence of nonfatal myocarditis is likely greater than actually diagnosed, mostly as a result of the challenges of establishing the diagnosis in standard clinical settings.
Infectious disease accounts for most cases in previously healthy patients typically either because of a direct viral infection or post-viral immune-mediated reaction. Myocardial inflammation, however, also may be triggered by reversible and/or irreversible toxic, ischemic, or mechanical injury, drug-related inflammation, transplant rejection, or other immune reactions.
Pathogenesis and Pathology
The pathogenetic features of myocarditis are reviewed in detail elsewhere (7). After the initial injury, local and systemic immune responses activate cytokines and B cells with subsequent edema, additional myocyte injury, and autoantibody production. Although the molecular and cellular pathophysiology may differ between different etiologies, cellular infiltration, edema, necrosis, and (in later stages) fibrotic scars are common features.
Diagnostic Approaches to Myocarditis and Their Limitations
Currently, no single clinical or imaging finding confirms the diagnosis of myocarditis with absolute certainty. Rather, an integrated synopsis, including history, clinical assessment, and noninvasive test results, should be used to diagnose the disease and guide treatment.
History and physical exam
Although of limited specificity, a careful history and thorough clinical assessment have to precede further diagnostic tests. Patients may appear almost normal, may have nonspecific symptoms, but also may present with features of acute myocardial infarction or heart failure with hemodynamic compromise. Physical exams of patients with myocarditis are often unremarkable.
Ventricular functional analysis
Although many patients with myocarditis have regional or global wall motion abnormalities (8–10), dysfunction is not specific to inflammation, and its sensitivity is limited (9,11–13). Biventricular dysfunction in myocarditis, however, was found to be the main predictor of death and transplantation (14).
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
The ECG findings associated with myocarditis may include ST-segment and T-wave changes, Q waves, atrioventricular block, and bundle-branch block. Arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation occur. The diagnostic value of the ECG in myocarditis, however, is limited. Aside from a low specificity, either ST-segment elevation or T-wave inversion is present as the most sensitive ECG criterion in <50% of patients, even during the first weeks of the disease (15).
Depending on the severity and time of testing during the course of disease, serum biomarkers of myocardial injury such as creatine kinase, creatine kinase-myocardial band, and troponin may be increased. When present, the magnitude of increase as well as the time to clearance is similar to that of a small- to medium-sized myocardial infarction and indicates more severe disease. The prevalence of an increased troponin T in biopsy-proven myocarditis, however, is only 35% to 45% (16).
Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) is a widely accepted method for diagnosing myocarditis, based upon histopathology, immunohistology, and molecular techniques to identify viral genomes. A Joint Scientific Statement of several professional societies on its use in various clinical scenarios has been published (17).
Some limitations of EMB have to be considered. First, the sensitivity of EMB is limited as the result of so-called sampling error (18–21). Second, severe complications (perforation, tamponade) occur in 0.1% to 0.5%, and the overall complication rate is 6% (17). Third, substantial debate exists regarding diagnostic criteria for analyzing myocardial tissue specimens (22). The utility of the Dallas criteria (23), with inflammatory infiltration and associated myocyte necrosis uncharacteristic for an ischemic event as disease markers, is limited by poor interobserver agreement (24,25).
Immunohistochemistry has a greater sensitivity than standard histopathology for the diagnosis of myocarditis (26,27), and immunohistology protocols and evaluation criteria have been proposed (10,28). Cost, availability, and limited standardization, however, have limited the widespread use of immunohistology and viral genome analysis. Finally, in adults, the recommended indications for endomyocardial biopsy are confined to patients with heart failure (17) and, therefore, EMB is not recommended in many patients with myocarditis.
In summary, history, clinical exam, ECG, and serology have an unsatisfactory diagnostic accuracy in myocarditis. Biopsy, including immunohistochemistry, remains the widely accepted standard, but may not be appropriate for many patients, especially those with less severe disease.
Imaging Modalities Other Than CMR
A detailed review of noninvasive imaging in myocarditis can be found elsewhere (29). Ultrasound studies of the heart in myocarditis typically are performed to visualize associated functional abnormalities, wall thickness, and pericardial effusion (8,30). The diagnostic value of echocardiography is limited by the fact that many patients with less severe myocarditis have a normal echocardiogram and the highly variable echocardiographic findings lack specificity (8).
111Indium antimyosin antibody and 67gallium nuclear imaging have been used to diagnose myocarditis (31). The specificity of these approaches, however, is very limited (32). Nuclear medicine techniques also are hampered by the limited availability of tracers mentioned previously, poor spatial resolution, and radiation issues. In current clinical practice, nuclear medicine is used only rarely to diagnose myocarditis.
CMR in Myocarditis
Published Data
The use of CMR imaging offers a unique combination of safety, clarity of anatomical visualization, interobserver consistency, and quantitative accuracy. Furthermore, it allows for the comprehensive use of a wide spectrum of diagnostic targets, especially the modifiable inherent tissue contrast. This modality has become a standard tool in many medical centers and currently is considered by many to be the most versatile and powerful cardiovascular imaging modality.
Since the first description of T2-weighted CMR findings in children with myocarditis by Gagliardi et al. in 1991 (33) and the first controlled clinical study using contrast-enhanced CMR in 1998 (9), numerous investigators have studied the diagnostic utility of noncontrast (11,13,34) and contrast-enhanced (11–13,34–43) CMR in patients with myocarditis. Results have consistently shown the clinical feasibility and high diagnostic accuracy with different single-technique or combined CMR protocols. Tables 1 to 4⇓⇓⇓show a list of published controlled trials on CMR in myocarditis (Table 1), and data on the diagnostic accuracy of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction (Table 2) and of CMR criteria for myocarditis (Table 3: individual criteria; Table 4: combined criteria).
Although published data on diagnostic accuracy provide solid evidence for the use of CMR in clinical settings, it is important to emphasize that most of these studies were single-center reports and had a small sample size, variable inclusion criteria, and nonuniform patient populations. Furthermore, CMR studies were performed at variable time points after disease onset, used different imaging diagnostic criteria, and mostly did not include biopsy for confirmation.
Furthermore, the specificity was mostly compared with normal control patients or those with myocardial infarction and not to other heart diseases with similar clinical presentation, such as acute coronary syndrome or other secondary cardiomyopathies. Current data do not allow for a clear definition of the diagnostic accuracy of CMR in various clinical, histological, and immunohistochemical subgroups, and data from larger (multicenter) trials with standardized protocols comparing comprehensive CMR studies to biopsy-derived criteria are lacking.
The prognostic value of CMR criteria for myocarditis remains to be defined. In a small study, increased myocardial early gadolinium enhancement ratio at 4 weeks after clinical onset of the disease was associated with an impaired prognosis regarding functional recovery and symptoms after a 3-year follow-up (44). Confirmative studies on the prognostic value of the various parameters are required.
Diagnostic Targets of CMR in Myocarditis
Different from other diagnostic modalities, targets for CMR not only include functional and morphological abnormalities but also tissue pathology as diagnostic features of myocardial inflammation.
Functional abnormalities
The CMR assessment of right ventricular and LV function is very reproducible and thus allows for identifying, quantifying, and following even mild functional abnormalities, if present. In patients with more severe myocarditis, global LV dysfunction is frequent. It is, however, re-emphasized that regional or less severe LV wall motion abnormalities have a low specificity for the underlying pathophysiology.
Pericardial effusion
Pericardial effusion has been reported in 32% to 57% of patients with myocarditis (45–47). Although not specific for myocarditis, its presence is supportive evidence for active inflammation.
Regional distribution and extent and hemodynamic significance of pericardial effusion can be assessed by the use of standard short- and long-axis steady-state free precession (SSFP) images acquired for morphology and function. This sequence type has an inherent T2 sensitivity, rendering pericardial fluid bright signal intensity (Fig. 1A).The differentiation from epicardial fat (which also appears bright) is straightforward: the latter is found around coronary vessels (which are embedded in the epicardial fat layer) or in the AV groove and, in SSFP images, typically separated from effusion by a (single-pixel) thin chemical shift artifact layer, that is, a fine line without signal. Furthermore, fat mostly appears with a slightly lower signal intensity, and effusion may have a more "deformable" appearance through the cardiac cycle. In T1-weighted images (e.g., spin-echo images) fluid has low signal intensity. In phase-sensitive inversion-recovery sequences, however, it may be black or white, depending on the inversion time settings.
Small, physiological accumulations of pericardial fluid are not circumferential and may not be considered pathologic. A fluid layer that contains nonfluid components (fibrinous deposits, thrombus) is pathologic.
Morphological abnormalities
A transient increase of wall thickness during myocarditis was first described in echocardiography studies (48) and may serve as a supportive finding during follow-up. A decrease of LV mass during the course of uncomplicated myocarditis was found to be associated with edema as assessed by T2-weighted CMR (49). A transient increase of LV volumes has been observed in the course of myocarditis (9) and may also may serve as retrospective, supportive evidence for recent myocarditis.
Tissue Characterization With CMR
Given the unique potential of CMR to visualize tissue changes, this area is of special interest. As outlined previously, expected tissue pathology in active myocarditis includes intracellular and interstitial edema, capillary leakage, hyperemia, and, in more severe cases, cellular necrosis and subsequent fibrosis (50).
An important hallmark of inflammatory cell injury is the increased permeability of cellular membranes. Whereas initial membrane defects are of a functional nature, leading to Na+influx and subsequent intracellular edema, a more severe injury allows for a net efflux of water and transmembranous leakage of larger molecules such as troponin, eventually leading to loss of cellular functions.
T2-weighted imaging sensitively detects tissue edema with the long T2 of water-bound protons as the contrast-generating mechanism, resulting in a high signal intensity of edematous tissue (Fig. 1C). Triple inversion recovery turbo spin echo sequences with inversion pulses for fat and blood suppression (51) provide excellent contrast between regional edema and normal myocardium because of the dual suppression of the fat and flowing blood signal. Double inversion recovery sequences may provide a greater signal-to-noise ratio and be used alternatively. Importantly, edema in patients with myocarditis may have a global myocardial distribution and, thus, a quantitative signal intensity analysis of the entire myocardium may be necessary. A high diagnostic accuracy has been shown for this approach in acute inflammatory or ischemic injury (13,34,52).
Regional edema visible on T2-weighted CMR images was not observed in "borderline myocarditis" but could be found in 36% of patients with histologically "active myocarditis" as defined by the Dallas criteria (39). Thus, regional edema may have a limited sensitivity in less severe inflammation. Short-axis views typically provide a more robust image quality than long axis images, although apical slices may have to be discarded because of artifacts related to intraventricular blood signal.
The signal-to-noise ratio of T2-weighted images strongly depends on sequence parameters. Particularly in patients with arrhythmia and other motion artifacts, image quality may not allow for reliable visualization or quantification of edema. Newly developed sequences may yield a more consistent image quality and better diagnostic accuracy than currently used fast spin-echo triple inversion recovery prepared protocols (53,54).
Hyperemia and capillary leak (myocardial early gadolinium enhancement)
Regional vasodilatation is an integral feature of tissue inflammation. The increased blood volume in the inflamed area leads to an increased uptake of contrast agents during the early vascular phase. Because gadolinium-based contrast agents distribute quickly into the interstitial space after administration, this phase lasts for the first minutes after the contrast bolus. Contrast-enhanced fast spin-echo T1-weighted MR during this time can be used to assess experimentally induced myocardial hyperemia (55) and to detect muscular inflammation (56). Accordingly, the purpose of myocardial early gadolinium enhancement ratio (EGEr) is to detect an overall increased volume of gadolinium distribution into the intravascular and interstitial space during the early washout period.
The diagnostic utility of contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging in patients with clinically acute and chronic myocarditis has been shown in several studies (9,13,34,35).
Currently, fast spin-echo sequences are used, which are vulnerable to inconsistent image quality in patients with varying heart rate and irregular breathing patterns. New sequences to assess the early phase of gadolinium kinetics may overcome existing limitations of image quality.
Necrosis and fibrosis (late gadolinium enhancement [LGE])
Myocardial LGE specifically reflects irreversible myocardial injury (i.e., necrosis and fibrosis). This type of imaging uses an inversion pulse to decrease the signal response from normal myocardium, thereby highlighting areas with increased accumulation of gadolinium as bright regions.
In earlier stages of necrosis, gadolinium enters the cells through acutely injured cell membranes (7). Hence, the volume of distribution of gadolinium is increased (12) and visualizes myocarditis-related necrosis (Fig. 2).After inflammatory clearance of necrotic regions, a mesh of fibrocytes with a large interstitial component replaces formerly viable tissue, again increasing the volume of distribution for gadolinium into this extracellular space during the late washout period. Thus, the late sequelae of inflammatory tissue damage also can be observed by LGE.
Microscopic (57), animal (58), and clinical (59) studies have confirmed the role of LGE imaging as s gold standard for in vivo detection of irreversible myocardial injury associated with myocardial infarction. In patients with myocarditis, several studies have demonstrated a high specificity of LGE for the detection of such injury in myocarditis (12,13,37,38,40). The regional distribution of injury as defined by LGE not only allows differentiating ischemic (with mandatory subendocardial involvement) from nonischemic injury (60), but also may indicate the underlying etiology of the nonischemic insult (61).
As a potential limitation, LGE showed a variable sensitivity to detect active or chronic inflammation, depending on the selection of patients (12,13,34,39,40,43). Using the Dallas criteria, De Cobelli et al. (39) found LGE to be less sensitive in "borderline" myocarditis (44%) than in "active" myocarditis (84%).
One reason may be that active myocarditis may not always lead to large-enough regions of necrotic myocytes to be visually detectable, given the pixel size in CMR images. This contrasts with the situation in ischemic necrosis for which LGE has been shown to be highly sensitive. Therefore, LGE may be insensitive for the detection of symptomatic myocarditis with limited or nonfocal irreversible injury. More studies are needed to address this issue.
Combined use of tissue pathology markers
Two studies have compared all 3 tissue-based markers as well as various combinations of these. Abdel-Aty et al. (13) used combined clinical criteria for active myocarditis, whereas Gutberlet et al. (34) assessed patients with chronic myocarditis, validated against histopathological criteria of myocardial inflammation. In both studies, the approach with the best overall diagnostic accuracy was found by the combined use of all 3 tissue-based CMR parameters, with the presence of at least 2 positive criteria defining the CMR study as positive for myocarditis (Tables 3 and 4).
Indications, Procedure, and Protocol of CMR
Indications for CMR
A CMR study should only be performed if patients are symptomatic, if there is sufficient clinical evidence for myocarditis, and if the CMR result will likely affect clinical management. Thus, it is generally indicated in patients with current or persisting symptoms, evidence for significant myocardial injury, and suspected viral etiology. CMR is of potential use in patients with chest pain, elevated troponin, and normal coronary arteries, where it was shown to identify myocarditis in more than 30% of patients (62).
Additional indications may exist for subjects with possible myocarditis being exposed to strenuous physical exercise (e.g., professional athletes) or for patients with otherwise unexplained new ECG findings consistent with myocarditis, even in the absence of symptoms suggestive of myocarditis. Table 5lists recommended criteria for requesting a CMR study in patients with suspected myocarditis.
The CMR Procedure
The patient should be monitored throughout the session, including ECG, blood pressure, breathing, and O2saturation. Furthermore, communication to the patient should be ensured by the use of intercom devices. A physician trained in cardiac resuscitation should be available. As for all cardiac diagnostic modalities, drugs and equipment for immediate interventions should be within reach.
Typically, patients are examined in a supine position. A dedicated cardiac phased-array surface coil should be used to acquire functional images. It is very important to emphasize that for all sequences used to analyze signal intensity (qualitatively or quantitatively), either a signal intensity correction algorithm or the body coil should be used. The inhomogeneous sensitivity field of surface coils may otherwise lead to false negative (inferolateral wall) or false positive (septum) results.
The coverage of the heart should allow for assessing all 17 LV segments according to published recommendations (63). Images of the apex may be of insufficient image quality and may have to be excluded.
Published data on contrast-enhanced CMR in myocarditis mostly have been obtained with the use of gadolinium gadopentetate dimeglumine and, thus, recommendations are only valid for this substance or compounds with an equivalent pharmacokinetic profile.
The CMR Protocol
Recommended imaging parameters and detailed protocol recommendations are provided in the Online Appendixof this article. CMR sequences generally will be ECG-gated and performed by the use of breath-hold protocols. These recommendations are based on the current evidence as published in peer-reviewed literature as of January 2009. Some of the currently recommended sequences have distinct limitations. Images obtained by T1-weighted spin-echo sequences during free breathing may have limited diagnostic quality, and T2-weighted spin-echo images suffer from an inherently low signal-to-noise ratio. Although new sequences are being tested for these purposes, their value and clinical role remains to be defined.
Evaluation of CMR Images in Suspected Myocarditis
The versatility, accuracy, and reproducibility of CMR and the generally high expectations of referring physicians call for a careful, responsible evaluation of all available parameters. Table 6summarizes CMR findings and proposed terminology in patients with suspected myocarditis.
Myocardial edema appears as an area of high signal intensity in T2-weighted images (Fig. 1C, left panel). In myocarditis, it may be regional or global. It is important to keep in mind that, in the absence of LGE, edema reflects reversible myocardial injury (52,64).
Regional edema can be identified visually (Fig. 1C), although a quantitative assessment of the signal abnormality seems appropriate. Evaluation software allows for verifying edema as regions with signal intensity more than 2 standard deviations above the mean value of normal tissue. The lower signal-to-noise of T2-weighted images should be considered, limiting the ability to correctly identify small regions of signal inhomogeneity. Thus, it is recommended to consider only areas of at least 10 adjacent pixels with high signal intensity as relevant. Areas with abnormally low signal in T2-weighted images (e.g., fibrotic scars) should not be used for normalization.
In myocarditis, edema may be global and thus not recognizable to the eye. A quantitative analysis by normalizing the signal intensity of the myocardium to that of skeletal muscle has been shown to allow for the detection of a global T2 signal abnormality. Values for the T2 ratio (for calculation, see the Online Appendix) of more than 1.9 indicate myocarditis (13).
Involvement of skeletal muscle in systemic inflammation may limit the sensitivity of a signal intensity analysis normalized to skeletal muscle (11) and should be taken into consideration in patients with evidence for ongoing myositis. Future studies will have to address the diagnostic accuracy in different scenarios.
When analyzing signal intensity, great care should be taken to exclude high signal of inadequately suppressed slowly flowing cavitary blood. This should not be a problem in visual analysis because slow flow signal would have an apparent "subendocardial" location, whereas the T2 signal hyperintensity of myocarditis is almost always subepicardial or transmural. The identification of skeletal muscle to calculate myocardium to skeletal muscle ratio in the same slice may be difficult with a fat-suppressed sequence. The viewing of T2 images side by side with colocalized SSFP or T1-weighted images is recommended to correctly identify skeletal muscle and differentiate it from subcutaneous fat.
Hyperemia and capillary leakage (myocardial early gadolinium enhancement)
The EGEr is defined as an increased normalized gadolinium gadopentetate dimeglumine accumulation in the myocardium during the early washout period. Although sometimes visually appreciated (Fig. 1B), quantitative evaluation of myocardial EGEr is required. Normalization of the signal intensity in T1-weighted images to that of skeletal muscle may be hampered by coexisting myositis. In patients with evidence for skeletal muscle involvement as indicated by a skeletal muscle signal intensity increase of 20% or higher or by a recent history of muscular pain, an absolute myocardial signal intensity increase between pre- and post-gadolinium images of more than 45% should be used as a threshold consistent with myocarditis instead of the normalized myocardial early gadolinium enhancement ratio (11). In patients with irregular breathing patterns or significant arrhythmia, image quality may be reduced or even be nondiagnostic.
Necrosis and fibrosis (LGE)
Several patterns of LGE may be seen in patients with active myocarditis (Fig. 2). Focal signal increases typically are localized to the subepicardial regions of the LV and extend to a variable extent through the ventricular wall. The LGE may be localized in inferolateral and, less frequently, anteroseptal segments (Fig. 1B). However, LGE may be multifocal or diffuse in distribution (Figs. 1C and 1D). As a rule, the subendocardium typically is not involved in an isolated fashion, clearly distinguishing this injury pattern from ischemia-mediated injury. In the basal septum, the LV outflow tract and the membraneous septum may mimic septal LGE in short axis images and lead to false-positive results. Also, a line of increased signal intensity may appear in the basal septum on transverse, long-axis, or short-axis images that may not represent pathologic LGE but may be related to the fusion of the right ventricular moderator band to the right ventricular portion of the interventricular septum.
Comprehensive use of CMR criteria ("Lake Louise Criteria")
Because of the lack of large-scale multicenter data, current recommendations can only reflect the experts' best-achievable consensus based on currently available literature. It is important to re-emphasize that rigorous test data of the pulse sequences evaluated against the gold standard of myocardial biopsy in clearly defined clinical subsets of patients are still scarce. The sensitivity and specificity as compared with endomyocardial biopsy for the pulse sequences recommended in this article are based on the limited number of patients in controlled trials. At the current time, this needs to be kept in mind when employing CMR for making the diagnosis of myocarditis.
The authors recommend the combined use of all 3 tissue markers. If all sequences can be performed and 2 or more of the 3 tissue-based criteria are positive, myocardial inflammation can be predicted or ruled out with a diagnostic accuracy of 78% (pooled data, Table 4); if only LGE imaging is performed, the diagnostic accuracy is 68% (pooled data, Table 3).
The authors acknowledge that there may be clinical settings that require a greater sensitivity, even if this comes with a reduced specificity, or vice versa. One example may be the use of CMR to assess patients with a high pre-test probability or children with suspected inflammation after cardiac transplantation. It is re-emphasized that both referring physicians and CMR readers should use the reported criteria as part of a comprehensive diagnostic approach, which also includes clinical, functional, and other information. Table 7summarizes the recommended diagnostic CMR criteria for myocardial inflammation.
Follow-Up of Myocarditis by CMR
The decision regarding follow-up of patients with active myocarditis depends on the individual scenario. Anecdotal evidence suggests that CMR studies during the first days of myocarditis may be less sensitive than those obtained 7 days after clinical onset of the disease (65). This may be due to the focal nature of early stages of the disease. Thus, in a patient with strong clinical evidence for myocarditis yet negative criteria in the initial CMR study, a repeat scan may be needed to establish the diagnosis. A follow-up at least 4 weeks after the onset of disease may be useful to differentiate uncomplicated involvement of the myocardium in a systemic viral illness from a complicated course with viral persistence or autoimmunologic disease, as viral clearance usually is completed within the first days after infection and tissue inflammation should not take more than 2 to 3 weeks. Indeed, pilot data indicate a prognostic relevance of persisting CMR markers for inflammation at 4 weeks after onset (44).
Reporting of CMR Results
The report for a CMR study should address the specific questions raised by the referring physician. In suspected myocarditis, this will usually include the inflammatory activity, LV function, and other information such as pericardial effusion, cardiac index, and extent of scarring.
There was consensus that for the time being the presence or absence of the 3 criteria, if acquired, should be reported. The report summary should include components as listed in Table 8.The report should relate quantitative values to published reference values. References may be cited as deemed appropriate.
It is important to be aware that CMR, like myocardial biopsy, depicts the patient's status at one point in time and cannot characterize acute, chronic, or relapsing forms. These attributes are based on the clinical course rather than imaging (or biopsy) findings. The consensus group therefore recommends against using the terms acute, chronic, and so on with respect to CMR findings, but rather to comment on the presence or absence of "active" or "ongoing" inflammation.
Future Developments of CMR for Myocarditis
The CMR methodology is evolving at a rapid pace. Among numerous interesting developments, many can be expected to be useful for application in myocarditis. As hardware and coil technology are improving, image quality and thus diagnostic yield will be more consistent. But, more importantly, novel approaches for characterizing tissue such as time-resolved assessment of gadolinium wash-out, T1 mapping, T2 mapping, parametric imaging, and the combination of imaging criteria with seromarkers will likely further increase the utility of CMR.
This work provides recommendations on the use of CMR as part of a comprehensive diagnostic approach in patients with suspected myocardial inflammation. The use of CMR appears suitable to identify patients with significant ongoing inflammation, which may be especially important for patients with recurrent or persisting symptoms and in patients with new onset heart failure.
On the basis of published data, we propose a comprehensive CMR protocol to determine the extent and regional distribution of reversible and irreversible myocardial injury, as well as to detect functional and other abnormalities. Furthermore, we suggest consensus criteria providing evidence for or against myocardial inflammation based on CMR findings. We are aware that these recommendations are based on limited data and that not all centers will be able to apply all components of the suggested protocol. New hardware, software, and contrast agent techniques may become available to further improve diagnostic and procedural efficiency of CMR in myocarditis.
The entire Consensus Group actively participated in the discussion that resulted in the recommendations; the members are listed in Table 9.
The authors thank Drs. Debra Isaac, Sabine Pankuweit, and Oliver Strohm for their careful review of the paper and helpful suggestions.
For the recommended imaging parameters and detailed protocol recommendations, please see the online version of this article.
Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in Myocarditis: A JACC White Paper[S0735109709004963_mmc1.doc]
Dr. Friedrich is a shareholder and advisor for Circle Cardiovascular Imaging, Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada. One of the meetings of the Consensus Group was in part supported by nonrestricted grants from Siemens Medical Solutions Canada and from Berlex Canada Inc. None of the sponsors was involved in the writing process.
- Received September 3, 2008.
- Revision received January 31, 2009.
- Accepted February 3, 2009.
- American College of Cardiology Foundation
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Super Cozy Ear Warmer
This cabled ear warmer is not only stylish, but it's also super cozy! It's worked in a tube with plain stitches at the backside and pretty cables at the front. Make it for yourself, or give it as a gift.
You will need a #4 worsted weight yarn and an I crochet hook.
If you enjoyed this free crochet pattern you might also enjoy more designs by Pattern Paradise.


text: WESLEY CHAPEL — Steinbrenner rallied from a 10-point deficit Friday night to knock off Class 7A, District 7 foe Wiregrass Ranch 27-20.The Warriors (2-5, 1-2) trailed 17-7 going into halftime, but halfback Shaheem Barthel made sure it didn't stay that way. The senior led Steinbrenner's furious comeback, scoring two of his three touchdowns in the third quarter."I had to lead my team to victory," said Barthel, who finished with 128 total yards. "We've been on a losing streak and we're trying to give ourselves at least a hope at the playoffs."Wiregrass (3-4, 0-3) fumbled on its own 15-yard line on the opening play of the second half, setting up an easy 5-yard touchdown run for Barthel to start the comeback.Then, after Bryce Wilson gave the Bulls a 20-14 lead with a 40-yard field goal midway through the third quarter, Steinbrenner responded with a 45-yard TD pass from Quentin Poteralski to Barthel to cap a 12-play drive and tie the game at 20, swinging momentum back to its sideline.Poteralski, who entered the game in the third after starter Curtis Fitch went down with an injury, called his own number with just more than nine minutes left in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard run to give the Warriors a lead they would not relinquish. Senior running back Gerald Grady led Wiregrass with 119 all-purpose yards and one touchdown.


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Hungary's inflation rate rose to the highest in more than two years in December as food became more expensive and the effect of higher energy prices reverberates.
The annual rate was 6.5%, the highest since September 2004, compared with 6.4% in November and a 6.6% median forecast of 13 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Prices rose 0.1% from November, while core inflation was 0.5% for the month and 5% for the year. Hungary's inflation rate has almost tripled in the past six months as Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány's government raised the value-added tax rate and boosted utility bills. The effects are still lingering as consumers received higher heating bills in December and food producers relayed higher costs to buyers. "It was primarily food prices, especially those of seasonally priced food products that drove price increases," said Borbála Minary, an economist at the country's statistics office.
Food prices rose 12.3% from December 2005 and household energy costs increased 17.3%. For the full year, consumer prices climbed 3.9%, while core inflation rose 2.3%, the office said. The forint fell to 252.13 per euro by 9:01 a.m. in Budapest from 252.05 late yesterday. It's the world's second-best performer over the past three months, behind the Slovak koruna, having gained 5.2% versus the euro. Accelerating inflation forced the central bank to raise the benchmark interest rate five times last year, from 6% to 8%. While the bank shifted its focus to 2008 prices, in a January 12 statement it said inflation was difficult to predict.
Policy makers pledged to remain vigilant of a potential pickup in the pace of inflation. "As long as there remained great degree of uncertainty surrounding future developments in inflation expectations, the Council should take particular care to head off second-round inflationary effects," the bank said in the minutes released from its December 18 policy meeting. While the effects of energy price and tax increases still push prices higher, the forint's strength helps the central bank cap price growth and allowed rate-setters to keep borrowing costs unchanged in the past two months. A stronger forint damps inflation by curbing the price of imported goods from DVD players to cars and coal. A decline in the price of crude oil also help cut costs. Still, that effect was less pronounced in December, when the comparison was distorted by large pre-Christmas discounts in 2005, said analysts including Gergely Suppan at Takarékbank Zrt.
Inflation is driven by government measures as the government works to trim the EU's widest budget deficit. Premier Gyurcsány has raised taxes and cut price subsidies for products such as natural gas and medicines to narrow the budget shortfall from an estimated at about 10.1% of gross domestic product this year to 3.2% in 2009 as part of preparations for euro adoption. The central bank expects an average inflation rate of 6.9% in 2007 and 4.1% in 2008, according to a report released on November 20. Both are higher than the target of keeping the rate between 2% and 4% through 2009. Still, the spike in the inflation rate is largely the result of government measures and price increases are set to slow from the second half of 2008. Because of that, the policy makers don't need to raise the benchmark two-week deposit rate again, central bank President Zsigmond Járai said.
The inflation rate may decline to between 3% and 4% by the end of 2008, should "positive trends prevail," Járai said in an interview with MTI news agency on December 28. Three-month money market rates are currently 8.05%, just 5 basis points higher than the central bank rate. That gap is down from an average of 28 over the past year and from a high of 78 basis points in July, suggesting traders and investors have scaled back expectations for higher borrowing costs. (Bloomberg)


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Episode Description:
Dianne and Donna visit Brackett's Apple Orchard in Limington Maine.
In it's eighth generation, Brackett's Orchard is thought to be the oldest family owned and operated orchard in Maine. Settled in 1783, the orchard spans 75 acres and grows a large variety of apples, pumpkins and squash.
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Brazil is a fascinating country. In geographic, demographic, and, in recent years, economic terms it dominates South America; but it's a world apart: a distinct culture, history, gastronomy, and language.
In fact, it's the only Portuguese-speaking country in all of the Americas.
Most Portuguese colonies were further west: Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. This is no accident of history.
When Columbus first discovered America for white people, he thought he had reached Asia, opening up a quicker, less treacherous route to the lucrative Spice Islands (at the time, certain spices such as nutmeg were more valuable than gold).
To prevent conflict between the two major seafaring powers – Portugal and Spain – Pope Alexander VI divided the world between them, with the line of demarcation being one 100 leagues (about 350 miles) west of the mid-Atlantic Azores.
Initially, this worked fine, granting Spain the right to colonize the Americas, and Portugal free reign over Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. That is, until an intrepid Portuguese explorer found a part of South America which jutted out past this line: Brazil.
Rapid colonization begat vast sugar plantations and huge mining concerns. The indigenous Indians (the term itself a hangover from Columbus thinking he had reached Asia), ravaged by war and Old World diseases, didn't seem to make sturdy enough slaves, so Portugal decided to import more robust recruits from Africa and the transatlantic slave trade was born.
The slave trade always existed, of course, but Europeans globalized it. Over the next three hundred years, Portuguese, British, French, Spanish, Dutch, and American traders brought (at minimum) 12 million slaves from Africa to the New World.
It was roughly in that order of scale too, as around 6 million of those ended up on Brazilian shores (dwarfing the number of colonists). And that's just counting those who survived the journey, packed like sardines into every possible nook and cranny.
When I started researching South American history for A Storm Hits Valparaíso I knew I had to include a character who could tell at least part of that story.
His name is Zé, and I introduce him to readers in the fourth chapter of my book (below). If you missed the earlier chapters, you can catch up here:
Chapter One: A Storm Hits Valparaíso
Chapter Three: A Pact In Blood
Chapter Four—The Haunting Eyes of Dom Robado Vivaldo
Zé had been on the run for three nights now, making his way inland under the cover of darkness. By day he lay as still as possible, waiting for the sun to go down. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the face of the man he had killed, for Robado Vivaldo wouldn't let him sleep; those cold, dead eyes haunted him. Instead, he inhabited the eerie twilight of the insomniac—tracing the sun's slow progress in a sweeping arc across the sky, counting the seconds, minutes and hours until he would be hidden by the cloak of night and free to move again. They would still be looking for him when the sun went down, but at least he would be harder to find. He knew they would be looking for him because there was a price on his head.
Most men have a vague notion of their self-worth. Some count it in property, some count it in chickens, yet others in good deeds done or worse deeds refrained from. Zé knew he was worth six hundred and seventy-six mil-reais. At least he was, before he killed Robado Vivaldo. It might be double now; an escaped slave was worth a lot more, but only when caught.
That was the price of his freedom, a price he could never afford. And now, he was here. Free, but trapped. Imprisoned by the glare of the sun and the watchful eyes of the slave-catchers. He hadn't eaten in three days. Zé was used to going without food, but his strength was beginning to fail. Each night he made less progress but he couldn't allow himself to lose hope, just as Robado Vivaldo wouldn't allow him to sleep.
Old Falçao's voice came to him again. "Follow the direction of the setting sun and keep going. Don't worry, they will find you before you find them. Only travel by night. Be careful, the slave-catchers will be looking for you too."
Zé heard stories of the quilombos all his life: hushed tales around the fire, history passed in whisper, victories sung in secret, defeats silently mourned. In Brazil, there were only two roads to freedom for a slave, meeting your slave price with stolen or borrowed gold, or the quilombo. Death of your master only brought freedom for a lucky few; most slaves were passed down the family tree like a pocket-watch.
The slave-owners had tried to spread stories that all the uprisings had been quelled, all the runaways returned to chains or dead. But everyone knew the quilombos were still out there, existing as little communities of runaway slaves who lived in secret in the sertão, the vast, barren Brazilian interior. Many quilombos only survived for a few months before having to move on. Most slaves lasted only a few years before they were captured or killed, but then most would take a few years of freedom over a lifetime in chains. That's why the price on Zé's head was so big—escaped slaves had to be recaptured and returned, so the others couldn't dream, so the others would accept their place in the great scheme of things, keeping sugar prices low for whites—that, and the blood on his hands.
Zé woke with a start. The sun was high in the sky; he needed to hide, fast. He scanned his surroundings, spotting some brush in a gulley not far to his left. Keeping low, he scurried towards it. Every snapped twig made him flinch as he eased his way under the foliage. As he lay down, a wave of nausea swept over him. Falçao's voice drifted back to him once more. "I will delay them as long as I can, but you have to leave, Zé. Now! If you don't they will kill you. Go! Run! Stay off the roads and away from any villages. And keep out of the sun. Go!"
His shirt was torn, his back lacerated from the whip. He had cleaned the blood from his face and hands, but it still covered his clothes. And that face, he would never forget that face. He probably would have stood on that spot forever, still standing over the dead body of Robado Vivaldo, if his friend, old Falçao, had not grabbed him and broken the spell. He would have still been standing there when they came for him, frozen by the awfulness of the act he committed.
"Follow the setting sun…" Falçao's words repeated in his head like the voice of a spirit. "Keep to the edge of the field and then cut through the trees. I will delay them as long as I can."
Zé wondered what punishments were inflicted on Falçao for that act of kindness. He wondered what other crimes he would have to answer for when the time came. He stared the deep cuts around his knuckles, made when he struck Robado Vivaldo over and over. The hands of a killer. He closed his eyes. He wanted to see the face of his victim again. He wanted to suffer.
Blessing himself, Zé asked God for forgiveness.
He got no response.


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When it comes to baseball in Chicago there is only one choice – well, for those with any semblance of intelligence – and that choice is the Chicago White Sox.
Being a lifelong fan, you can imagine how thrilled I was when a friend pulled a few strings for me and was able to set me up with amazing tickets for the White Sox game against the Los Angeles, err Anaheim…oh forget it, the Angels.
With tickets right behind home plate, not to mention the row immediately behind Ramon Castro's family, we were like kids in a candy shop.
There is little that could have dampened our experience, not even the 2.5 hour rain delay or sweltering heat and humidity. We didn't once think about leaving – that is the kind of thing that Cubs fans do. The game was more than worth the wait too, as the Sox won the game with some timely hitting to complement great pitching.
Family Fun – Autographs
As a kid at the ballpark, there isn't much that can beat the thrill of tracking down one of the players from your favorite team and securing an autograph. I'll never forget my days at old Comiskey Park trying to land the elusive scrawl on a baseball, or when I was at Fenway Park and Jon Garland came over to give me an autograph when I commented about his last outing in the prior series.
On this night at the ballpark, my youngest son (G-Slick), had all of the thrills as he secured autographs from Ramon Castro and Brent Lillibridge; the latter as the rain was pouring down and everyone was running for cover.
Oddly enough, when he obtained the autograph from Ramon Castro we had no idea that we were sitting directly behind his family.
For anyone that is a sports fan and can remember the thrill of getting a player's autograph, you can imagine the smile that was on my son's face the entire night. It is a memory that I will never forget.
Family Fun – Pictures
Speaking of memories, one way to preserve the memory of your experiences is with photographs. Knowing that we would have pretty good seats for the game, I decided to bring along my Nikon D40 so we could capture some of the action from the game.
Now, I have to emphasize that I thought we would capture some of the action.
My oldest son, the mastermind behind Click the Brick, decided that he wanted to try his hand at photography and asked if he could use my camera to take pictures during the game. Little did I know that I would not see my camera again.
Over the course of the game, JB took 491 pictures!
Unfortunately, there were not a ton of keepers but I can guarantee you that he had an absolute blast capturing various aspects of the game. I've decided to share a few of the pictures here that were taken at the game, but you can see more over at flickr.
Note: Being right behind home plate, JB had a bit of a disadvantage due to the safety net and pole that you will see in quite a few of the pictures. But I think he still captured some great shots.
Cannot Say Thank You Enough
Before I get to the pictures, I want to again express my gratitude to my friend that coordinated this night full of fun for my family. The heat, humidity, and 2.5 hour rain delay could not detract from our experience and we will all be remembering this game for quite some time. Thanks! 🙂
If baseball is not your cup of tea, I strongly encourage you to find something that you can do with your family this summer to create your own lasting memories. In the event you're scratching your head trying to think of an idea, check out this list I wrote awhile back covering 10 things to do with your kids.
Now…on to the pictures.


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Hi, Galletita Dulce, Thanks for entering the challenge. However, the challenge requires at least three cookies with one or more fonts, or one cookie with three or more fonts. There is only one cookie here with one font, so I am removing it from the challenge (it will remain on the site though). The same is true of several of your other entries.
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Should I Care About SSLs?
Short answer: Yes. The chances of people browsing your site are slim without an SSL certificate. Make sure you know about the different types of SSLs and how they protect your customers.
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* Offer valid for new monthly Security Pack service plans purchased through the Media Temple website or Sales Department between October 19, 2020, 12:01 a.m. (PST) and November 1, 2020, 11:59 p.m. (PST) using an applicable promo code. Discount will be applied to the first month of service only. At the completion of the first month, service will automatically renew at the then-current renewal rate with no further action from you, and will recur monthly until cancelled. You may cancel the automatic renewal of the free trial service by initiating a Request to Close action in the Billing Center (within your Account Center) prior to the service renewal date. This offer applies only to customers with active hosting services with Media Temple and must be attached to an active service at the time of purchase. Products and services offered under this promotion will be governed by Media Temple's Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and any other applicable agreements, see full terms at mediatemple.net/legal. Offer cannot be combined with any other offers. Media Temple reserves the right to deny use of this offer and/or cancel services purchased using this offer if the offer is abused or used fraudulently, as determined by Media Temple in its sole discretion.


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American Physical Society Sites|APS|Journals|PhysicsCentral|Physics Magazine
- American Physical Society Sites
- Publications
- Meetings & Events
- Programs
- Membership
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- Careers In Physics
- Newsroom
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- Become a Member
Michael S. Gordon is a Research Staff Member at the IBM TJ Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights NY. He received his BS degree (1982) in Engineering Physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and his PhD degree (1989) in Experimental Nuclear Physics from SUNY Stony Brook. His research interests are focused on applications of accelerator-based ions including materials analysis and single-event upsets in semiconductors. He operates IBM's 3MV Tandem Van de Graaff accelerator laboratory where experiments performed with monoenergetic low energy protons were the first to show that direct ionization of protons can cause SEU's in 65 nm SOI devices. He has 42 US Patents issued, many patents pending, and has authored or coauthored more than 70 technical articles and presentations on selected topics in Nuclear Physics, electron beam lithography, alpha spectroscopy and single-event upsets. In 2007 Dr. Gordon received an IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award.


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Feltham lit up last night as The Centre turned on its Christmas lights with the help of Father Christmas and his trusty reindeer.
Festive treats included a performance by Staines Brass Band, a tinsel-town elf who entertained crowds by juggling and modelling balloons and a giant inflatable Santa that blew snow from its hat over the shoppers.
"The lights switch on was fantastic, it really feels like Christmas now," said Lorraine Prideaux, centre manager.
For a picture special from yesterday's switch-on, see next week's Chronicle.


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Since becoming a brand new puppy mama, there's been no shortages of cuddles and an extra excuse for down time. Something I think we can often overlook during busy lives, I've recently felt a bit burnt out and in need of pressing pause. After a gorgeous trip to London last week seeing my friend Adriana, founder of Ancienne Ambiance (more about that soon), the kids then broke up for school on Thursday.
With that came an onslaught of rain, causing serious cabin fever all round. Running alongside all of this, I've spent the last month or so gradually dosing down on painkillers which I had been taking for endometriosis. A process which needs to be slow and staggered, side effects are flu-like aches, shakes and panics to boot. Thinking I was doing OK initially, the panics sent me over the edge and in serious need of pressing pause.
It's not always easy to admit any struggles, and as a mum I don't have the option to stop. Step forward, my fab mum-in-law, who has had the kids to stay for the last couple of nights as an Easter holiday treat. I went to bed at 6pm last night, slathered from head to toe in essential oils, armed with my book and ready for calm.
It may seem excessively early a bedtime, yet I so needed this. I don't think I realised how worn out I was actually. Today I'm closing my eyes to anything nagging at me that can wait, and quietly breathing in. I've gone from 300mg of Pregabalin/ Lyrica to 25mg in about 5 weeks, and am proud to have come so far.
Having done withdrawal before, I knew what was in store, yet it hasn't made it any easier. Also, I think pressing pause is a lesson in self-care and the management of daily stress, which will always be a relevant coping tactic. Whether that is turning your phone off, deleting apps, saying no or going for a nap, whatever works could be healing in a way you didn't know you needed.
Here's to self-preservation, should you see an obvious reason for this or not. Kindness to mind, body and soul.


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Deuteronomy 171Thou shall not sacrifice to Jehovah thy God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a blemish or anything bad, for that is an abomination to Jehovah thy God. 2If there be found in the midst of thee, within any of thy gates which Jehovah thy God gives thee, man or woman, who does that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, in transgressing his covenant, 3and has gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, 4and it be told thee, and thou have heard of it, then shall thou inquire diligently. And, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel, 5then thou shall bring forth that man or that woman, who has done this evil thing, to thy gates, even the man or the woman, and thou shall stone them to death with stones. 6At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he who is to die be put to death. He shall not be put to death at the mouth of one witness. 7The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shall put away the evil from the midst of thee. 8If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates, then thou shall arise, and get thee up to the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose. 9And thou shall come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days, and thou shall inquire. And they shall show thee the sentence of judgment. 10And thou shall do according to the tenor of the sentence which they shall show thee from that place which Jehovah shall choose. And thou shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee, 11according to the tenor of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shall do. Thou shall not turn aside from the sentence, which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. 12And the man who does presumptuously, in not hearkening to the priest who stands to minister there before Jehovah thy God, or to the judge, even that man shall die, and thou shall put away the evil from Israel. 13And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously. 14When thou have come to the land which Jehovah thy God gives thee, and shall possess it, and shall dwell in it, and shall say, I will set a king over me like all the nations that are round about me, 15thou shall surely set him king over thee whom Jehovah thy God shall choose. Thou shall set a king over thee from among thy brothers. Thou may not put a foreigner over thee who is not thy brother. 16Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses, inasmuch as Jehovah has said to you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away. Neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for him a copy of this law in a book, out of it before the priests the Levites, 19and it shall be with him. And he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them, 20that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his sons, in the midst of Israel.
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After weeks of hype and buildup, "Inception" is finally in theatres. Many people I know rushed to see it this weekend, including myself. And the verdict? Ultimately, mixed. Too much hype? Too slow? Too thick? Except for the last moment, which I won't reveal here, but I found bothersome – I thought the film was a marvel. Stylistically cool, amazing editing, action that kept you at the edge of your seat, and frequently baffling writing. They just kept raising the stakes until I myself felt like I was experiencing everything with the characters. Most of all though, I was impressed by the richness of the world Nolan creates. What would the plane of your subconscious look like? Who would be in there? What would they do? He thoroughly and creatively capitalizes on dream experiences we've all had to answer those questions and set the rules – having a dream within a dream, waking up from the sensation of falling, etc.
Right before I went into the film, I found myself struggling with the last few songs on this nightmare mixtape. It was a hard one, especially since a week before even starting it the perfect nightmare song fell into my lap via Strangers in Stereo. It was "Cola" by Beaty Heart and it fit all my criteria: dreamy, strange and builds into a terrifying climax. But then I couldn't find anything to match it. First off, I had a hard time finding songs about nightmares that sounded the way I wanted. Tonally I didn't want to go too electro, or veer into noise rock, or into ambient shoegaze – though I was tempted. I sought the artists that represented the cross section of all three. If you know any seriously let me know, because I had an impossible time.


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Michelle Mone Net Worth
Michelle Mone Net Worth: Michelle Mone is a Scottish entrepreneur and former model who has a net worth of $60 million. Born Michelle Georgina Allan on 8 October 1971, in Glasgow, Scotland, she has established herself as one of the leading designers in the UK, primarily through her company MJM International Ltd, where she serves as CEO. Having left school to pursue a modeling career at 15, Michelle ended up being pregnant with her first child and got married instead. Next, she spent some time working as a marketing agent at brewer Labatt. Even though she rose to become Labatt's
head of marketing in Scotland within two years, Mone was eventually laid off. This was the moment when she started to think of setting up her own company, a brassiere maker that would produce more comfy and better looking bras. Developing the idea for three years, she founded MJM International Ltd in November 1996, thus patenting the Ultimo bra. Over the years, the company has marked a remarkable progress earning Mone both great fame and fortune. Whereas for her contribution to business, Mone was honored by the Queen with an OBE. In addition to the above, she is also a mother of three who shares the same roof with her husband, even though they are formally separated. Thus, they reside in separate sections of their Thorntonhall mansion.
Michelle Mone
|Net Worth:
|$60 Million
|Date of Birth:
|Oct 7, 1971 (49 years old)
|Entrepreneur, Model, Businessperson


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Remember "The Hire" was BMW's first online film over a decade ago. It helped shape the future of online content, and now, they debut a trailer for the new BMW films "The Escape" which premiers in about two-and-a-half weeks.
The trailer is series of quick-cut, high-cctane scenes, with plenty of sheet metal, guns and a bit of blood in the mix. They managed to get Neill Blomkamp (of "District 9," "Elysium".. yep!) directing. Boom. Let's see where this goes. Stay tuned to watch it here on Sunday October 23.


text: TY Beanie Baby – ty36626 – Soft Toy – Clip – Olaf The Snowman Musical facebook pinterest Height 11.0cm Length 8.0cm Width 5.5cm Carletto – Frozen – Olaf keychain with sound The cute snowman from the Disney movie is a must for all fans. Whether for school bags or keys: Olaf is a real eye-catcher. Size: approx 8.5 cm Discount Price: £1.66 Buy from Amazon


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Priscilla Angelique - musician, teacher, and animator
Working out of London, Priscilla runs a record label called "A Priscilla thing", a label she founded in 2004. Focusing mainly on urban music, she is involved in everything including music writing, artwork and photo production as well as music video production. She also teaches music technology as well as producing her own music. Before launching her own record label, Priscilla started her career in performing arts and music. "That was my first love," she admits. Soon after she became fascinated with computers and pursued a career in teaching business and ICT whilst still running dance and music related classes. It was at this early stage that Priscilla began to produce music for her music classes, creating the style of music and dance that she still produces today.
Priscilla is still relatively new to the movie making scene. She has only had a month's experience with Moviestorm but is nevertheless achieving spectacular results. Her Moviestorm discovery came when she saw it mentioned on BBC Click. She was already on the lookout for a simple and quick solution to create animated movies, and this seemed ideal. "I hadn't created an animated video before, yet I felt there was no steep learning curve with Moviestorm," she says. "What you had to do seemed obvious and it was just a matter of applying your ideas. The workflow is clearly laid out before you on the screen. On the first day of using Moviestorm I created a video for my single I'll Fly. I was so excited about how easy and effective it was to translate ideas into animation. The next day I began a video for my single Keep Your Mind and then I spent about a month experimenting with Moviestorm."
For her third video, Priscilla spent more time to create a music video that followed a story through more detailed and animated sequences. She started using Adobe Premiere to edit her movies, and began experimenting with Moviestorm's lighting and special effects to develop her style and create increasingly powerful movies. However, as she points out, it wasn't Moviestorm's complexity, but its simplicity that kept her interested. "The main reason for choosing Moviestorm is its simplicity. In five minutes you can have walking, talking characters in a great set. If you take your time you can create an animated video that has a professional feel without the professional fees."
Inspired by cartoon music videos from hit bands such as the Gorillaz and the animated Jackson 5 from the 70's, Priscilla admits that she enjoys the blending of live footage and animated sequences. "I've always wanted to put an animated version of myself in a music video without running up costs," she laughs. She's also up front about one of the other main attractions of Moviestorm: the cost. "Music videos are a very expensive and time consuming process, but Moviestorm allows me to achieve shots and effects that even with a modest budget would still be very out of reach."
Using Moviestorm as a teaching tool
Priscilla is particularly interested in how Moviestorm can be used in virtual learning environments, or for creating video based tutorials. She points out that networks or Moodle sites are traditionally very text heavy, and Moviestorm provides an interesting alternative approach. She also suggests that lesson plans and notes could be dictated to a class by a Moviestorm actor in a video lesson plan in place of the teacher.
She is very keen to see media production classes utilise the benefits of Moviestorm for both final production work and as a pre-visualisation tool. Even foreign language students could use Moviestorm to construct a portfolio of audio/video translations to provide their user with a broader learning experience. "However a teacher chooses to use Moviestorm in the classroom, what makes it an exciting method is that learners can be involved in creating the content and the animated videos can be used for other lessons. Whether it is just their voice that is used, or whether learners create the entire video, the input they have can encourage them to embrace learning in a new way. There are so many possibilities."
Looking to the future, Priscilla tells us she has plans for further Moviestorm projects. She is currently planning to create an animated band within Moviestorm for a group called "Asonical".
But that's not all for this hugely ambitious lady. She is also hoping to start work soon on her first full animated feature film - an urban take on the classic Romeo and Juliet story, using Moviestorm and, of course, music from her label.
Priscilla now has a dedicated following of people who now know her for creating animated music videos. "People often email me via MySpace or Facebook and ask questions about the animated videos, like how long they took to make, how I made them etc. I am starting to get known by musicians and non-musicians alike for my videos, and people look out for them when I release a track which is great." She adds that "In any case, I am very much new to animation, and it is really credit to the visionaries behind Moviestorm's development that enables someone with so little experience, like me, to be able to create animated videos to a standard that is hard to achieve with other packages in such a short period of time."
We're flattered. And we look forward to seeing much more from Priscilla.
Read more:
Priscilla Angelique Web site | YouTube


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On TV, Jan. 1: The subject is Roses, from Pasadena
The third season of the Tom Ridge British sitcom "Lovesick" is available on Netflix today, as is the first season of the French thriller "Glacé," about a detective teaming up with a shrink to solve a grisly killing.
NBC will broadcast the "2018 Rose Parade" from Pasadena at 8 a.m. For a wackier take, catch Amazon Prime's coverage with local newscasters Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan (Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon) hosting.
BBC America airs the "World Darts Championship" at 2 p.m.
Season 22 of "The Bachelor" premieres on ABC at 8 p.m.
New episodes of "The Wall" on NBC and "Lucifer" on Fox resume at 8 p.m.
Season three of "60 Days In" launches with a two-hour episode at 9 p.m. on A&E.
The second season of "Better Late Than Never" kicks off at 9 p.m. with the boys visiting Sweden. It will be followed by a jaunt to Lithuania in a second episode at 10.
Acorn TV adds the first and second series of "Supply & Demand," created by "Prime Suspect's" Lynda La Plante, focusing on an elite undercover squad trying to work with both MI5 and the cops. The cast includes Eamonn Walker, Benedict Wong, Miriam Margolyes and Larry Lamb. This is the show's exclusive U.S. premiere.
Also added is the 12-episode series three of "The Yorkshire Vet," the true story behind "All Creatures Great and Small," narrated by that show's star, Christopher Timothy.
Acorn's hit period mystery series, "Murdoch Mysteries," has returned with episodes 1 and 2 of season 11, with Yannick Bisson returning as Detective William Murdoch, using radical new forensic techniques such as fingerprinting as he goes about solving crimes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Acorn will add a new episode every week.
Also available are the season finales of "Love, Lies & Records," "The Brokenwood Mysteries" and the hit "A Place to Call Home." For information on Acorn offerings, go to www.acorn.tv.
David Wiegand is an assistant managing editor and the TV critic of The San Francisco Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook. Email: email@example.com Twitter: @WaitWhat_TV


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Welcome to
Drs. Stein and Goldschneider
We are pleased to announce that restrictions have been lifted, and we will be re-opening for all Eye Care services on Tuesday, May 26th, 2020. We are seeing patients by appointment only, including eyeglass pickups. We are requesting that all patients entering our office wear face masks, and if possible, come for their visit alone. We hope you are well, and we can't wait to see you. Call us at (856) 352-0815, or click the appointment request tab. Please watch the short video below for more information on our Grand Re-Opening:
Welcome to the practice of Drs. Dale Stein and Wayne Goldschneider!
We Have Moved!
Visit us at our new location:
Washington Professional Campus II
901 Route 168
Suite 409 – 410
Blackwood, NJ 08012
We share a parking lot with South Jersey Radiology.
(856) 352-0815
Please Call To Set Up Your Appointment In Our Beautiful New Location!
I have been going here for at least 15+ years and have always been treated very well. All of the doctors are knowledgeable and they keep up on the current contact lens trends.
– Diane C.
Dr. Goldschneider extremely knowledgeable and detailed in his examination and treatment. Great doctor.
– Louis M.
Every time my experience has been quick, professional and thorough. All the tests and results are explained. I can schedule or call for an appt with ease. Thank you for a very pleasant experience as always!
– Nina W.
I have been a patient of Dr. Goldschneider for years and this office has always provided the best quality of eye care. The staff is always professional, pleasant and helpful. I would highly recommend this practice to anyone seeking an eye care professional.
– Patricia C.
The staff is helpful with insurance needs and very kind. Dr Goldschneider is excellent! I see him and my son sees him and we won't go anywhere else. Keep up the good work! Thank you!
– Anne E.
Love the Doctor here and all the staff too, everyone is very nice!
– Michael F.
We're proud to offer comprehensive eye care services for the whole family. Our staff looks forward to helping you with all of your eye health needs. We will take the time to answer all of your questions and ensure you understand all of your options.
In everything we do, we make it our mission to provide our friends, neighbors, and the surrounding community with quality eye care and optometric expertise in a setting that is comfortable and friendly. We are always looking for ways to improve as a practice, too, so if you have any suggestions or comments, we'd love to hear from you!
Drs. Stein and Goldschneider have been serving Southern New Jersey since 1988. If you are looking for an experienced optometrist and convenient, high-quality eye care, contact us today!
- Monday
- 9:00am - 6:00pm
- Tuesday
- 9:00am - 8:00pm
- Wednesday
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- Thursday
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- Friday
- 9:00am - 6:00pm
- Saturday
- 9:00am - 5:00pm
- Sunday
- Closed
Eye Care Services in Blackwood, NJ
- Comprehensive eye exams
- Contact lens fittings
- Eye disease diagnosis and treatment including help for cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic eye disease
- Eye emergencies
- Eye-related nutritional counseling, including education and strategies for healthy eating and lifestyle changes
- Lasik Co-Management
In everything we do, we aim to provide our friends, neighbors, and the surrounding community with quality eye care and optometric expertise in a setting that is comfortable and friendly.


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Technical Producer (TTCG SH)
Şanghay, Çin
We are looking for a Technical Delivery Manager to lead the delivery of high-quality Riot experiences to our players in China. You'll drive effective collaboration between Riot (LA + Shanghai) and Tencent (China) throughout the full software lifecycle, ensuring new products are designed, delivered, deployed, and operated effectively in our largest market. This role requires a unique combination of 5 competencies: business sense, technical knowledge, project management experience, interpersonal skills, and EN/CN fluency.
As a Rioter in China, you'll join a team of internationally and culturally diverse professionals that share our prioritization of player experience, rejection of convention and maniacal passion for gaming.
- Align highly autonomous Riot and Tencent teams towards a shared vision and roadmap
- Manage and track development schedules, while mitigating risks and managing tradeoffs
- Implement agile work systems to ensure successful and sustainable product delivery
- Create transparency and predictability via roadmaps, planning, and stakeholder management
- Drive consensus on technical decisions, and ensure teams are staffed for high-quality results
- Continually improve the scalability and repeatability of Riot's delivery pipeline to Tencent
Required Qualifications:
- 3+ years experience managing technical projects, through the full software lifecycle
- Bachelors in CS, Math or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
- Fluent in Chinese and English, and can drive effective collaboration across language and culture
- Broad technical understanding of common operational and development challenges
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
- Strong technical acumen and problem solving skills
- Excellent teamwork and team leadership
- Willingness to travel to China or LA, several times a year
- Adaptable to change and comfortable with ambiguity
- Worked with and led Agile teams
Desired Qualifications:
- Experience shipping games to China and/or collaborating with Tencent
- Experience working with distributed teams + facilitating effective virtual meetings
- Excellent knowledge of Agile worksystems (Kanban, Scrum, …)
- Demonstrated ability to manage project/task prioritization, and development schedules