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U.S. Virgin Islands Economic Development Summit – May 20-22 (Atlanta, GA)
Business and Government Leaders of the U.S. Virgin Islands to Converge with the U.S. Virgin Islands Diaspora and Atlanta Business Owners in Atlanta, Georgia to Explore New Business Opportunities for the U.S. Territory
Washington, DC, April 27, 2014 --(
)-- Building on the success of last summer's inaugural U.S. Virgin Islands Economic Development Summit in Washington, D.C., The USVI Alliance, Inc. will host its 2nd annual summit in Atlanta, Georgia on May 20-22, 2014 to capitalize on the vast number of Virgin Islands professionals and entrepreneurs who now call Atlanta home. Entitled, "Diversifying Business and Industry in the 21st Century and Beyond," the conference will help attendees identify how to capitalize on upcoming business development opportunities in the US Virgin Islands. "We wanted to host the conference in Atlanta because of the vast numbers of Virgin Islanders living in this city," said Roland Riviere, a Washington, DC based founder of the USVI Alliance from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. "We will also provide business matchmaking opportunities, and underscore the fact that the USVI is open for business for both our native sons and daughters and anyone else that is interested in doing business in the Islands," Riviere concluded.
Opportunities to make the U.S. Virgin Islands a hub for Caribbean business hub tops agenda
The event will be attended by U.S. Virgin Islands Governor John P. deJongh, Jr., Congresswoman Donna M. Christensen, other elected officials, and representatives from the territory's business community. The program will provide an overview of the opportunities for sustainable, innovative business solutions for the territory and feature an exciting business matchmaking session that enables professionals, business owners, government leaders, and innovators to collaborate and connect with like-minded individuals in similar industries. All events will take place at the Doubletree by Hilton Atlanta Downtown Hotel, located at 160 Spring Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30303. A pre-Summit reception featuring Virgin Islands talent from the Atlanta metro area will be held on Tuesday, May 20, 2014 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. The formal program convenes from Wednesday, May 21 to Thursday, May 22, 2014 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Virgin Islands business and government leaders, officials from the U.S. Small Business Administration, and Atlanta business and government leaders have been invited to participate in the summit to provide insight on existing efforts to diversify the economy and capitalize on the opportunities to expand business investment in the territory through collaboration in other markets. The summit will feature break-out sessions on topics such as entrepreneurship development in the Virgin Islands, business licensing and certification, and best practices for business growth in the territory.
Who Should Attend
• Experienced business executives in sectors such as shipping, call centers, tourism/hospitality (boutique hotels), high tech manufacturing and software development, training, energy (renewable and production), technology (broadband, mobile, and manufacturing), healthcare, retail, transportation, and other sectors. Also industry representatives who seek to access the various public and private resources available to establish, develop, own, and operate businesses in the US. Virgin Islands.
• Members of the Virgin Islands diaspora, especially current or future entrepreneurs, interested in being a part of the discussion and providing solutions to the challenges currently facing the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Benefits to Attendees
• Learn about the unique opportunities and economic incentives to profit in key areas of expansion and growth in the Virgin Islands from including: Healthcare, Information Technology, Energy, and Workforce Development.
• Learn about financing opportunities for small businesses and capital projects, tax exemptions and rehabilitation tax credits for businesses in the USVI.
• Business matchmaking opportunities and networking with conference attendees, USVI policy makers, contracting officers, consumers, consultants, and potential employers or partners.
Register online at http://usvialliance.org/register by clicking on the image for the summit attendance and/or sponsorship. A block of rooms at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Atlanta Downtown has been secured at the rate of $139.00, plus 16% tax ($161.24 total) per night for single/double occupancy for reservations made by Friday, April 25, 2014. Contact the hotel directly by April 25 that (404) 688-8600 or toll free at (800) 222-8733 and reference the "USVI Economic Development Summit" to reserve this special rate.
About the 2014 USVI Economic Development Summit:
Dress is business attire. Tickets are $150 per person and include registration, pre-summit reception, and meals. Special hotel rates available for attendees through April 25th. Visit http://www.usvialliance.org/register for details.
About The USVI Alliance, Inc.
The USVI Alliance, Inc. is an organization based in Maryland, with a mission to bridge the gap between the U.S. Virgin Islands diaspora and the local community to collaborate on issues such as economic development, youth development, and community-based initiatives intending to have positive, sustainable impact on the U.S. Virgin Islands. The group was formed in February 2013 to produce the USVI 2013 Economic Development Summit, an inaugural event in Washington, D.C. that convened Virgin Islands leadership, business executives, and Virgin Islanders from around the diaspora.
Follow us! Facebook and LinkedIn: The USVI Alliance | Twitter: @usvialliance
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USVI Alliance Inc.
Lo'an Sewer
Shelley Maxwell 917-477-5030
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The Range for Normal Glucose When Fasting
Blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is important as an indicator of dangerous health problems such as diabetes or hypoglycemia. In the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that as of 2010, 25.8 million people in the United States have diabetes, with 7 million of those people being undiagnosed. Diabetes is one of the major causes of stroke and heart disease, and it's a leading cause in adults of new cases of blindness.
Normal Fasting Glucose
Fasting blood glucose is defined as the amount of sugar in the blood when you have not eaten for eight consecutive hours. According to the Virginia Mason Medical Center, a normal fasting blood glucose ranges from 70 to 99 milligrams per deciliter. Blood glucose levels change depending on when you've eaten last and if you have exercised. Fasting blood sugar is used to determine whether or you have diabetes or have prediabetes.
Prediabetes is indicated by having a fasting glucose of 110 to 125 milligrams per deciliter. It is having blood sugar that is too high for normal, but too low for diabetes as described by the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse. You will need to have your blood tested because there aren't any symptoms of prediabetes. However, risk factors include being overweight, inactivity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and having an immediate family member with diabetes.
High Blood Sugar
High blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, is having blood glucose levels of over 126 milligrams per deciliter, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Repeatedly elevated fasting glucose tests may result in a diagnosis of diabetes. Hyperglycemia can be caused by eating too much, not enough exercise, having a severe cold or not having enough insulin. It is important to control your high blood sugar because it can damage the kidneys, nerves and eyes. Dry mouth, excessive thirst and frequent urination are common symptoms.
Low Blood Sugar
Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, can occur in people who have diabetes when their blood sugar drops below 70 milligrams per deciliter. Hypoglycemia can happen by taking diabetes medications, not eating frequently, not having a snack before exercise or drinking. Symptoms include blurry vision, rapid heartbeat, sweating and weakness. If your blood sugar is checked and it is low, consume 15 grams of carbohydrates such as juice, soda or candy and check your blood sugar again in 15 minutes. Hypoglycemia that is untreated can lead to coma, seizures and death.
Importance of Normal Blood Sugar
Harvard Health Publications has reported that high blood sugar is linked to dementia, even in people who don't have diabetes. If cleared by your doctor, exercise and weight loss are good ways to lower blood sugar levels. Eating a healthy diet high in fruits, vegetables and grains will also bring your blood sugar to an acceptable range.
- Virginia Mason Medical Center: What Are Normal Blood Glucose Levels?
- American Foundation for the Blind: What Is the Difference Between Hyperglycemia and Hypoglycemia?
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet
- Harvard Health Publications: Above-Normal Blood Sugar Linked to Dementia
- Cleveland Clinic: Blood Sugar Tests
- National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC): Prediabetes
- National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC): Hypoglycemia
- American Diabetes Association: Hyperglycemia (High Blood Glucose)
Photo Credits
- Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

subset: commoncrawl


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ALL his life Brummie Lee Dempsey has felt like an outcast.
Even after losing half his body weight - a whopping 12 stone - the 38-year-old was left feeling uneasy with excess skin sagging from his body.
But tonight viewers will see Lee, of Wyndhurst Road, Stechford, transformed into a new man through a plastic surgery overhaul on Living TV's Extreme Makeovers.
Programmers spent £70,000 carrying out a tummy tuck, arm lift, face lift, brow lift, thigh lift, chest reduction and even gave Lee a new set of pearly white porcelain teeth.
"At the end of it, I felt a huge sense of relief and finally got my confidence back," said Lee, a Weightwatchers leader for Birmingham.
"Losing so much weight meant I had a lot of excess skin and it affected everything I did.
"I have had some surgery on the NHS over the past two years but it has been taking so long, I wanted it to be dealt with.
"I had four days of surgery, £20,000 worth of porcelain coating on my teeth, a fake tan and as a surprise they even gave me a £1,600 suit from Saville Row."
The former Birmingham airport passenger assistant added: "When I was fat, I got bullied relentlessly and then when I lost weight, I was embarrassed about the hanging skin, so I stayed away from relationships, and never wore shorts, T-shirts or went swimming.
"Finally I feel good about myself and anything is possible. I really do feel like a new man."
Lee, who went to former Sir Wilfrid Martineau School, in Kitts Green and Sutton Coldfield College, ballooned to 24st 8lbs before dieting down to 12st 7lbs.
He now lives with parents Diane and Martin Dempsey and has had plenty of support for the makeover from relatives, including sister Cherie Harris.
Lee added: "Everyone knew how much this meant to me and supported me all the way."


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Leadership is an extremely complex and broad subject which can be tagged with a country, community, society or business entity. Leadership focuses on human qualities involving creation, imagination, expression, communication etc. that are expected in a person to lead or perform a job efficiently in a situation or position. Business of banking or commercial banking is different from all other types of businesses in terms of ownership pattern, agency arrangement, and governance structure; and thus leadership should be perceived differently. Moreover, the performance yardsticks for banking, a highly regulated and supervised industry, are clearly different and associated with a wide array of financial, economic, and social criteria.
The importance of leadership approach received renewed focus in the context of bank failures during the 2007-2008 global financial and crisis (GFC); and the relevant literature emphasises the need for change, and the need for willingness to create change. Considering the changing need in the banking business to ensure competitive advantage, customer behaviour, technology and competition are rapidly evolving. Bank leaders must therefore be ready for challenges and should start viewing change as a norm rather than an exception.
In this context, identifying leadership approach is a key area to address that can be perceived from different dimensions. From the available published literature, the broad leadership approaches may be distinguished into: transactional approach; transformational approach; and laissez-faire approach. All approaches have their own distinctive features, advantages, and disadvantages. Several studies point to the fact that a single approach cannot work at all times and in all situations. There is no leadership style that would be ideal for every situation. It would thus be inconsiderate to blindly adopt tools and actions that were successful in one setting to another one. With the time, the broad leadership approach of a bank should be changed in line with the changes in external and internal business environment. Moreover, more than one approach might be relevant at a certain time or in a certain situation in any institution or bank.
NEED FOR INNOVATION: To address future challenges of the banking industry in line with the experiences of the most recent financial crisis, the need for change and innovative mindset is recognised as an integral part of leadership approach. Today, banks should not ignore the need for innovation and change; and should mainly rely on participatory approach. A good number of banks fell prey to the financial and economic crises of 2007-2009, and governments had to undertake bailout packages to save many of these. However, a few banks performed brave jobs and recovered from the falling business mainly because of their leadership approaches and dynamic roles of the boards; whereas in some cases, leadership failed and there was no way but to intervene to save banks.
LEADERSHIP STYLE: Key findings of several studies show that an autocratic leadership style in banking has a destructive effect on a bank and its business. Furthermore, it has been established that there is no one best leadership approach, which can be generalised for the whole banking industry, and to select the best practice, it is recommended to analyse the situation of the business. In the context of the banking industry, emotional intelligence is a crucial requirement. Emotional intelligence is particularly contributory in 'group leadership' where a collective contribution of a group of co-workers is critical like in banking business. It is associated with job satisfaction and efficient service delivery. Job satisfaction is associated with emotional experience which is defined as a positive or desirable emotional state resulted from the employee's job experience. Several studies showed that a higher level of bank employee emotional intelligence has a positive effect on customer service irrespective of the location of the bank.
Banking is a highly regulated and sensitive industry where leadership approach should be seen differently. To guide the banking industry, bank boards, and top and senior executives must deliver performance while complying with strict regulations and addressing risks.
Of all the businesses, banks and financial institutions became very sensitive and turbulent in the changing unpredictable business cycles. In spite of similarities in some respects, the leadership approach demand seeing from the perspective of banking core fundamentals that are clearly different from most businesses.
'Shareholders are the owners' - is a core business fundamental attribute. Shareholders take entrepreneurial risks, and deserve the right and authority to decide on the policy and strategic issues of a business entity. It is really possible to relate this concept with the banking industry completely? It is true that a bank is set up as an entrepreneurship activity. However, when a bank is established, it becomes part and parcel of an economy and numerous depositors become the major risk takers. Thus, banks are highly regulated. As crucial government machinery, central banks regulate and supervise banks mainly to protect the interest of the depositors and to restrict banks from undertaking excessive risks. Management of a bank practically performs the role of agents in the process of running the banks. The shareholders and the minority risk takers have the scope to play role in the banks' board and thus protect their interests. In such an ownership and governance structure, depositors are the true risk takers, and the central banks represent them. For successful running of the banks, one key objective of the central bank is to ensure sound corporate governance practices by maintaining a line between the bank management and the board. It means, for sound and secured operation of a bank, it is crucial to play a role of leadership network by the top management and board, and at the same time, they must not violate the thin line between them. It is obvious that bank management, employees, and board members must show their due accountability towards the depositors in the process of undertaking any decisions and guiding or running the banks. Motivating employees on this pursuit would work in forming right perception of the bank employees towards the depositors- the true owners and risk takers of the banks.
ROLE OF BANK EXECUTIVES: Agency problem might cause failure if not addressed. Bank executives perform banking activities as the agents. Behaviours of agents vary at the time of taking critical decisions in banks like borrower selection and using risk management tools. Seriousness of a bank manager on loan allocations and recovery efforts depends strongly upon the feeling of ownership of the bank and the fund. Ownership feelings for banks and funds motivate a banker for following due and objective-oriented risk management in the process of addressing credit risk. The nature of banker-customer relationship is also an issue in this context. Bankers are expected to work to build relationship between a bank and the customers. Customers have to be a bank's client, may also be a banker's.
International standards-setting bodies and regulatory and supervisory authority of banks have contributed to developing 'board leadership' and sound management practices by guiding, supervising and enforcing compliance requirements. Prudential norms have always been critical for guiding banks and the following risk management practices. Restraining excessive risks and rational expansion are always critical for the sound leadership and governance approach in banks. Moreover, regulatory and supervisory authority or central bank is expected to contribute to creating the environment so that bank management may come up with due changes and innovations for sustainability. These leadership development roles may include and enforcement of supportive rules and regulations; incentivising innovation and modernisation; ensuring customers right and transparency; moral suasion for responsible and normative approach; pushing for the development of sound corporate governance practices etc.
The global financial crisis and the credit crunch that followed put credit risk management into the regulatory attention, and regulators now expect more transparency in credit operation, thorough knowledge of customers, and even greater regulatory compliance under Basel regulations.
FINANCIAL CRIMES AND MONEY LAUNDERING: Growing financial crimes and money laundering have become a key concern for the policy makers and regulators throughout the globe. A flurry of regulations and compliance requirements came up as part of strategy for addressing growing financial crime and money laundering concerns. Central banks and global financial regulatory setup have imposed considerably stringent regulations and compliance requirements in recent years on the ground of enforcing anti-money laundering framework. Probably, compliance risk is the most critical one the banking industry is facing today. The growing regulatory load and greater compliance imposed considerable cost burden on the banks. In such a scenario, bank shareholders and boards may need to accept lower returns, as profit growth is required by harder regulations and rising charges for bad loans. In an institution like banks, board and top management may have little incentive in the short-term to undertake major cost incurring venture to address such vulnerabilities. Practically, the situation demands proactive and long-term strategy and leadership role of boards and top management for the sustainability of the banking industry.
In banks, group leadership and motivations are crucial to attaining the common goals. Even in a centralised decision making system, the lack of emotional intelligence might affect group outcomes at different places and thus the central goal and sustainability might be at stake. The board and top management should create an environment so that many of such failures can be transformed positively and thus ensures psychological safety to the employees. In such a scenario, employees expect emotional support and courage to overcome blows or shocks that make a significant difference. In many instances, such support helps colleagues or employees to undertake risk and initiatives for the betterment of the institution. A confidence in the leader offers the employees and colleague with huge motivation that my leader would support me in case of my failure and ensure the required environment to take me out of the trouble if any. Such a belief and confidence induces motivation and encouragement amongst the colleagues to perform better. It is the sound leadership that can create such an environment and mutual trust.
To develop leadership skills amongst managers and other executives, some soft skill capacity development needs are crucial. Actually, people need criticism and praise, and both types of feedback are extremely necessary. Nobody should demand zero mistakes from the colleagues and at the same time one must admit mistakes in front of them, as a true leader learns from mistakes and encourages colleagues to learn from the mistakes. For the group work, leaders must have the courage and open mind to take the responsibility for his or her colleagues in line with the wonderful remarks of Arnold Glasow - "A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit." For developing such leadership qualities amongst bank managers and employees, it is important to make them understand the essence of considering emotions of the co-workers in pursuing the group jobs at all levels. Practically, it is the blend of technical abilities and soft skills like emotional intelligence that contribute effectively in the professional banking.
RISK MANAGEMENT: Today, banks cannot solely rely on the risk management or auditing functions to identify the risks. Capable managers/executives having leadership qualities must be placed in key roles that involve risk management responsibilities. Focusing on compliance is not good enough; the Chief Risk Officer must have a voice to drive. Executives heading different departments and lines especially in the areas of risk management, compliance, credit review and internal audit must demonstrate similar sense of leadership. Network leadership in banks must act to handle uncomfortable business situation and difficult environment and there is a danger to move on with the status quo. It is over-optimism that causes barriers to the leadership approach in risk management. By contrast, good leaders welcome different points of views and are aware of potential risks and have the ability to make more informed decisions. The global financial crisis came up with the warning of irrational profit targets and irrational financial benefits of top management. Such aggressive behaviours caused collapse of so many banks during the crisis. However, it does not offer lessons for pushing down the profit targets and reduce the salaries and packages. It is not about slowing down and applying conservative approach in all situations. It mainly offers lessons for following more conscious approach to risk management and transparency; finding rationality in fixing profit targets and employee benefits; focusing on core banking business; having flexibility on conservative and dynamic banking approach in line with the business and economic situation.
Adaptation to the changing needs and customised innovation for a bank is the biggest challenge. For example, a bank's competitive advantage might be severely hampered without adopting the required technology to provide state-of-the art services to the customers, which should bring absent ultimate results in the form of better customer service, low cost and quick delivery. Recent literature identified regulations, legacy and culture as the three biggest challenges for banking today. The three barriers are intertwined in a vicious circle: regulations stop banks from innovating; legacy systems stop banks from innovating; a risk-averse culture stops banks from innovating. The study opines that three things work behind banking stagnation: Management is unwilling to change systems because it is too risky; management is unwilling to place systems in the cloud because it is too risky; management is so focused upon regulation, that innovation takes a back seat. Practically, a courageous leadership takes the lead in changing and innovating by convincing regulator for due support.
Dr. Shah Md Ahsan Habib is Professor and Director (Training) at BIBM.


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Drs. Poon, Rapoport, Hennessey, Mickelson & Hamidizadeh
Home / Advanced Prostate Cancer
About Cancer
About PSA
Biopsy & Grading
Screening & Diagnosis
Treatment Options
Active Surveillance
Radical Prostatectomy
Advanced Prostate Cancer
Post-Treatment Monitoring
Hormonal Therapy
Treatment of Complications
Risk Calculators
Advanced prostate cancer is traditionally defined as disease that has spread beyond the confines of the prostate itself. Advanced prostate cancer may be:
Cure may be possible in locally advanced prostate cancer. This often requires multi-modality treatment to ensure the best result - combinations of hormones, chemotherapy, surgey and radiation.
Prostate cancer has a strong affinity for spreading (metastasizing) to bone and lymph nodes in addition to spreading outside the capsule of the prostate. When prostate cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and bone cure is rarely possible. However, patients with advanced disease often live for many, many years and the treatments for advanced prostate cancer continue to improve. Participation in clinical trials is an important contribution that men can make to their own care and to those who come after them.
Each man with advanced prostate cancer is unique. Each has his own story of how he came to have advanced prostate cancer, what his current disease state is, his health issues and where he is in life. All of these factors are important considerations in management.
The ultimate goals of treatment are always QUALITY and QUANTITY of life. It is important to recognize that the various tests that we use to assess prognosis and to predict response to treatment are meant to provide insight into what might happen in the future. They do not provide a crystal ball into the future and the ultimate outcome is only known as it unfolds over time.
There are several different disease states within advanced prostate cancer. Prognosis and treatment options very with each disease state. Interpretation of lab results also needs to be taken in context of the specific state a man is in.
Hormone sensitive disease is defined by response to first line treatments as specified above. Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer is only declared when the PSA rises DESPITE these treatments and IN THE PRESENCE of a 'castrate level of testosterone'. It is important to note that the PSA may be allowed to rise in men with advanced disease when they are on an Intermittent Androgen Deprivation program - in these cases the testosterone also rises and therefore the patients do NOT have castrate resistant diseasee.
The traditional approach to advanced prostate cancer has been to remove testosterone - an approach for which the Canadian researcher Charles Huggins was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1966. The approach of castration (with medicine or surgery) has provided palliation and been the mainstay of treatment for advanced disease decades. Over the last couple 10 years or so, however, it has been recognized that the relationship between blood levels of testosterone and prostate cancer is more complex than originally thought. In addition, multiple new novel treatment approaches to treating advanced prostate cancer, including chemotherapy and immunotherapy, have arisen. As a result, approaches to castrate resistant disease still include approaches that affect hormone production (abiraterone and enzalutamide are 2 examples).
The setting in which these treatments is being applied continues to evolve - that is, the best order or sequencing of medications is not well understood. The traditional paradigm has been to exhuast first line treatments (anti-androgens and LHRH agonists) and then proceed with chemotherapy using docetaxel. The timing and sequencing (order in which drugs are given) is an area of intense research and continues to evolve - ultimately, the decision is made with your treating physician.
This is highly dependent on the circumstance. It is important to note that in many cases just because the PSA is rising this does NOT mean that any change in treatment or starting a treatment is necessary or even beneficial. Changing or starting a treatment is based on where the clinical trials showed benefit.
Hormone Sensitive Disease (Non-Castrate Resistant)
Many of the current clinical trials are exploring starting earlier treatment for the newest agents, but until the results are in it is impossible to state if earlier treatment will be more beneficial than harmful.
2 studies were completed in 2015/2016. These looked at patients without castrate resistant disease (that is, hormone sensitive disease) - a group where the standard of care for many years has been androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Prior studies did not show any benefit when chemotherapy was added to hormone treatment with a low disease burden. When treating men with high disease burden (visceral metastases, disease beyond the axial skeleton or a high number of lesions) a survival benefit was suggested. Using the endpoints of biochemical, symptomatic or radiographic progression, those treated with chemotherapy wre less likely to progress - 20 months vs. 12 months. In addition, patients who received combined therapy had a longer survival - median survival with combination chemo and ADT was 49 months as compared to 32 months with ADT alone. The Docectaxel chemotherapy was started within 3 months of starting the androgen deprivation and given for 6 cycles. Patients obviously did not have any contraindications to treatment. (E3085 Study NEJM 2015)
Castrate Resistant Disease
The major pre-requisite for treating patients is that they be castrate resistant. In some circumstances, the benefit of the medication was only demonstrated after chemotherapy had ceased to be effective or until there was the development of symptoms or a high disease burden. The criteria for treatment in clinical settings is generally derived from how the clinical studies were designed - you can see the general criteria in the table below.
IMPORTANT: the differences in overall survival are NOT comparable between these studies. The survival is affected by many factors, including:
Because of the large differences in the population of patients who were studied and the differences in design of the trials, the 'Overall Survival' data presented here should NOT be used to decide which is the best treatment in your particular circumstance. For example, the best overall survival is for enzalutamide - but his was in patients with mCRPC who were chemotherapy naive and who had met criteria specific to that clinical trial. Treatment is individualized - and the final decision is made in conjunction with your doctor.
Comparison Group
Patient Population
(Study Name, Date)
Docetaxel + Predinsone
Mitoxantrone + Prednisone
mCRPC/Pos-ADT failure/Chemo naive
Docetaxel + Estramustine
mCRPC/Post-ADT failure/Chemo naive
Androgen Deprivation Therapy (LHRH)
Hormone sensitive/High disease burdern
Abiraterone + Prednisone
mCRPC Asymptomatic/minimally Symptomatic/chemo-naive
mCRPC/chemotherapy naive
mCRPC/Asymptomatic/minimally symptomatic/post-docetaxel
mCRPC with bone metastases (no visceral metastases)/post-docetaxel or docetaxel unfit
Dose: Abiraterone 1000 mg orally daily + Prednisone 5 mg twice daily taken on an empty stomach
Category: hormonal agent
Mechanism: inhibits testosterone synthesis (CYP17 inhibition)
Adverse events and management:
Dose: 160 mg orally daily
Mechanism: (1) blocks AR interaction (2) inhibits AR translocation to the nucleus (3) impairs AR binding to DNA (4) inhibitis coactivator recruitment and receptor mediated DNA transcription
Dose: given monthly for 6 cycles
Mechanism: blocks new bone growth near metastases
Category: Radiopharmaceutical
Adverse events:
Dose: Docetaxel 75 gm/m2 every 3 weeks; dose reduced 50 mg/m2 every 2 weeks
Category: Chemotherapy
Mechanism: induces cell cycle arrest and inhibits cell proliferation
Dose: Cabazitaxel 35 mg/m2 every 3 weks + prednisone x 10 courses
Mechanism: tubulin binding taxane
Category: Bone agent
Mechanism: RANK ligand inhibitor
Copyright©2013 Metro Vancouver Urology. All rights reserved. See legal terms for use of site. Site design: Canister Creative


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Nearly a year after the Iran deal passed, it is still in treacherous waters. Hardliners in the American power structure want to capsize the deal. They include neoconservatives inside the Beltway who have the ear of administration officials, the Israel lobby, and Hillary Clinton's braintrust too. And it's all happening in plain sight. Because the mainstream press doesn't care to hold these folks to account.
Here is a fine column at the National Interest by Paul Pillar on the unrelenting neoconservative efforts to scuttle the Iran deal:
Iran now has been in compliance for two and a half years with stringent restrictions on its nuclear program agreed to in multilateral negotiations.
Despite this record of compliance, efforts to destroy the agreement continue…. The main motivations for opposition to the agreement have had nothing to do with nuclear nonproliferation and instead have to do with not wanting to have any agreement of any sort with Iran.
That opposition has centered in two overlapping places. One is Republican determination not to let Barack Obama have a major foreign policy success. The other is the objective of the right-wing Israeli government—with everything such an objective customarily implies regarding domestic U.S. politics—to keep Iran permanently ostracized and not to have anyone (especially the United States) do any business with it, and thereby to keep Iran forever as a bête noire that is portrayed as the "real" source of trouble in the Middle East, to continue to use it as a distraction from any other troubles the Israeli government prefers not to talk about, to make sure there will be no competition to Israel as supposedly the only reliable U.S. partner in the Middle East, and to keep a major regional competitor to Israel weak and isolated.
President Obama can take on the Republicans, but he has to play ball with the Israel lobby because it is so powerful. It holds chairs in his administration, and Hillary Clinton is dependent upon it to mount her campaign.
The opposition has shifted its attack from alleged Iranian cheating– because Iranians are actually accepting the intrusive inspections regime — to Iranian wickedness throughout the Middle East, says Pillar:
Even before the JCPOA was adopted and implemented, opponents of the agreement had shifted much of their rhetorical energy to the notion that the agreement would somehow encourage more "nefarious," destabilizing Iranian activity in the Middle East.
An example is a recent piece by the Washington Institute's Mathew Levitt. Levitt's item is titled, "Under cover of nuclear deal, Iran foments regional instability". But look at the text and you will see that there is no connection whatever, either logical or empirical, drawn between the nuclear agreement and any Iranian actions in the region.
Pillar pulls apart Levitt's argument.
A reference to Syria does not note that the Iranian activity that supposedly is "fomenting instability" consists of support for an incumbent regime that has been in power for decades. And a reference to Iraq fails to mention that in the biggest part of the conflict there—the fight against ISIS—Iran is on the same side as the United States.
Pillar says that Hillary Clinton has been recruited, out of pro-Israel inertia.
Hardliners in the United States and Israel are playing off hardliners in Iran in ways that imperil the future of the nuclear agreement, with the most likely scenario for the accord unraveling being that U.S. hostility and continued economic warfare against Iran would tip the balance of power in Tehran in favor of those who would declare that the accord is a bad bargain for Iran and should be scrapped. The hardliners motivated by the objectives mentioned above are being abetted by those in the United States who may not share those objectives but, out of habit or perceived political self-interest, go along with the mantras about Iran always being an enemy and a trouble-maker and deserving of our hostility. This includes presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, notwithstanding her declared support for the nuclear agreement.
Pillar links to an earlier piece at the National Interest stating that Hillary Clinton wants to undo the Iran deal. Amir Handjani and Ariane Tabatabai say that the Obama administration has undertaken off-shore balancing between Saudi Arabia and Iran in an effort to fight ISIS and stabilize the region, but influenced by hardliners, Clinton has other ideas.
Secretary Clinton's Iran policy would reverse this. It would put America directly in the middle of the Saudi-Iran cold war and on the side of Arab Sunni states who have a vested interest in making sure that Iran and the United States never normalize relations.
Secretary Clinton should use the opportunity offered by the post–Iran deal opening to confront ISIS, tackle the Syria problem and stabilize Afghanistan and Iraq—all issues that require Iranian input to manage.
Notice that the spearhead of opposition to the deal, Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy — a spinoff of the Israel lobby group AIPAC — has expressed confidence in the anti-Iranian bona fides of an Obama appointee: Adam J. Szubin, the under secretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.
A/US @USTreasury Adam Szubin: No Iranian access to U.S. financial system, will not reinstate "U-turn" authorization https://t.co/17pkt2odeC
— Matthew Levitt (@Levitt_Matt) May 25, 2016
Szubin's portfolio is managing and maintaining the Iranian sanctions inside Treasury. As we have reported, there has been an amazing continuity in his office. Founded in 2004, there have been three under secretaries for terrorism and financial intelligence, and all three were obvious nods to the neoconservative/Israel lobby base of the D.C. establishment, and all of little apparent interest to President Obama, asleep at the switch.
Szubin's predecessor as under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence was David S. Cohen, whose predecessor was Stuart A. Levey. Cohen and Levey had been associates in the same law firm. Szubin had served as Levey's counsel. It's an unbroken chain.
Levey wrote his thesis at Harvard under Marty Peretz, about saving the Zionist "dream" from Kahanists. While David Cohen had the approval of Alan Dershowitz. Szubin's ideology is not at all transparent, but his father was a Holocaust survivor, and AllGov notes his establishment and Orthodox Jewish credentials.
More worryingly, earlier this year, Szubin agreed to be in a lineup of speakers for a neoconservative outfit, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, alongside such ideological hacks as Elliott Abrams, Cliff May, Reuel Marc Gerecht, and Jonathan Schanzer. Virtually ever speaker is neoconservative and Republican; the only exception to be seen is Nancy Youssef.
Most government officials, at any time in any administration, would choose not to appear in so politically marked a company. But Szubin obviously only solidifies his status by doing so. And the Obamaites can do nothing about it, or maybe they approve it to throw bones to the lobby.
After the Iran deal was signed last summer, Szubin spoke to the Israel lobby group the Washington Institute in September 2015, laying out the policy that Iran is now complaining of, "secondary sanctions" that intimidate European firms and banks from engaging in any transaction with Iran.
You will see that in that speech Szubin parroted the Benjamin Netanyahu line that Iran is the largest sponsor of world terrorism, which is a necessary talking point in neoconservative and Republican circles but not the usual emphasis of the Obama administration. And he did so at the moment when he was tasked with defending the nuclear deal.
We know Iran for what it is. We know it to be the world's foremost sponsor of terrorism, we're keenly aware of its nefarious activities in the region, and we've invested years in devising intricate sanctions to frustrate its objectives. We are now redoubling those efforts, as I will detail in a few minutes. But, I argue, Iran's relationship with terrorist groups is exactly why securing a nuclear deal was so important. I vividly remember sitting across the table with Israeli government officials in the mid-2000s—2006, 2007, 2008—and hearing that Iran posed a range of threats to the Israeli government and the Israeli people, but only one was an existential threat. It was the possibility that Iran could obtain a nuclear weapon—and with it, the nightmare scenario that the world's leading sponsor of terrorist groups would have the world's most destructive capability. It is, for those reasons, imperative in my view that we take that nuclear threat off the table, and then turn intensively to combating the remaining conventional threats that Iran poses.
It almost sounds like he was against the deal.
…If Iran cheats– we know the maxim if you give an inch they will take a mile applies very much in this case.
Here Szubin described his efforts to maintain "secondary sanctions," which the Iranians have been complaining about:
Moreover, our whole range of sanctions authorities targeting Iran's support for terrorism, destabilizing regional activities, missile proliferation, and human rights abuses remains in place. Under the JCPOA, more than two hundred Iranian-linked companies and individuals will remain designated, will remain on the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list, including major Iranian firms in the military, defense, engineering, construction, and energy fields. And secondary sanctions continue to apply to all of these Iranrelated individuals and entities. Let me explain what I mean by secondary sanctions. What I mean is that a foreign bank—a German bank, a Chinese bank, a Singaporean bank—that does business with any of those companies or individuals that I just mentioned faces a total cutoff from the U.S. financial system. It is a very stark threat, and one that our foreign banking counterparts do not take lightly, I can assure you
He bragged about crunching down on a Lebanese construction firm that supports Hezbollah. And of course Szubin's cheerleader Matthew Levitt is focused on Hezbollah.
Here are the effects of the sanctions bill passed in December 2015, after the Iran deal, on Hezbollah-subsidized social services in Lebanon, hospitals, doctors, and nurses:
Its network mainly serves impoverished areas, including three hospitals, 12 health centers as well as 20 infirmaries, according to a 2009 study published by the Middle East Policy Council. One company, Jihad Construction, is involved in rebuilding areas damaged by Israeli strikes or recent bomb attacks linked to the Syrian war. The depth of the group's coffers is harder to estimate.
Salaries now have to be paid in cash. Recipients, including those with mortgages and loans, risk being cut off from the Lebanese banking system.
And Szubin speaks at neoconservative shops without anyone raising an eyebrow about it. The deep state doesn't have to hide its hand because nobody is taking fingerprints. The New York Times has run a couple of stories on how the secondary sanctions are strengthening Iranian hardliners but it never asks: How aware is the president of all this? Who is executing the policy at treasury?
Thanks to David Bromwich, who understands the opponents' long game better than anyone.


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The LCS Summer Split 2018 is progressing rapidly in week 6. The past week has cemented the lead of some teams, while others have to fear for their lead. After the Summer Split Playoffs the most successful teams qualify for the most important tournament of the year – the LoL World Championship 2018 (LoL Worlds).
I'm running out of synonyms for the North American LCS Summer Split table. The teams behave like queuing in a large supermarket and simply divide up the victories equally (on all cash desks). Even after week 5 the teams are so close together that everything is still possible. But there is also a shroud of uncertainty about the teams, as from now on every game must be regarded as a final game in order to get lead from the opponents.
Only Optic Gaming managed the double victory in week 5: After an eventful game against match-favourite TSM on day 1, the Optics managed to win the game with Baron Nashor and a subsequent power play in minute 28 despite their defensive strategy. The bad individual performance of OPT-Dhokla against TSM-Hauntzer has to be faced urgently and seems in a strong contrast to the German OPT-PowerOfEvil, which currently seems unstoppable.
Nevertheless we are looking forward to the LCS Summer Split 2018 week 6 and can hardly wait for the livestream on July 28th from 23.00 CEST.
Schedule Menu:
LCS Summer Split 2018 > NA Week 5 > NA Week 6 > NA Week 7
LCS NA Season 8 – Summer Split Week 6 | Facts:
- Dates: 07/28/2018 – 07/29/2018
- Start Times: see schedule below
- Format: Best-of-1 matches | 10 matches per week
- Location: NA LCS Studio – Los Angeles (USA)
- Patch: LoL 8.13
- Live stream for all matches
- Betting Odds for all LCS 2018 matches
- Match Preview and Predictions
- View Standings: NA LCS Summer Split 2018
- Hashtags: #LCS #naLCS #LCSna
- Hashtag Best Plays: #LCSBigPlays
Schedule and Results – 2018 LCS NA Summer Split Week 6
North America and its matchdays have already made many analysts and fortune tellers look old. The fact remains that also in week 5 no team has played out the meta correctly. There are some exciting matches planned, like the Golden Guardians against Optic Gaming on day 2, and we will also have to wait and see if Cloud 9 plays against TSM on day 1. All in all, however, only two victories can subsequently cause a completely new table dynamic.
NA LCS Summer Split 2018 | Week 6 | Day 1
Match #1: TSM vs. C9 0 : 1
July 28th, 02:00 PM PT / 05:00 PM ET / 23:00 CEST
Match #2: CLG vs. OPT 0 : 1
July 28th, 06:00 PM PT / 09:00 PM ET / 00:00 CEST (the next day)
Match #3: FOX vs. FLY 1 : 0
July 28th, 04:00 PM PT / 07:00 PM ET / 01:00 CEST (the next day)
Match #4: GGS vs. TL 0 : 1
July 28th, 05:00 PM PT / 08:00 PM ET / 02:00 CEST (the next day)
Match #5: CG vs. 100 0 : 1
July 28th, 03:00 PM PT / 06:00 PM ET / 03:00 CEST (the next day)
NA LCS Summer Split 2018 | Week 6 | Day 2
Match #1: FLY vs. TSM 1 : 0
July 29th, 12:00 PM PT / 03:00 PM ET / 21:00 CEST
Match #2: 100 vs. CLG 1 : 0
July 29th, 01:00 PM PT / 04:00 PM ET / 22:00 CEST
Match #3: TL vs. CG 1 : 0
July 29th, 02:00 PM PT / 05:00 PM ET / 23:00 CEST
Match #4: C9vs. FOX 1 : 0
July 29th, 03:00 PM PT / 06:00 PM ET / 00:00 CEST (the next day)
Match #5: OPT vs. GGS 1 : 0
July 29th, 04:00 PM PT / 07:00 PM ET / 01:00 CEST (the next day)
-> View full schedule of the 2018 NA LCS Season 8 – Summer Split
Substitutes and Roster Changes
No roster changes known for Week 6 of the NA LCS Spring Split 2018.
Betting Odds Comparison*
All major betting sites are already providing bets and odds for the upcoming matches of Week 6 of the NA LCS 2018 Summer Split, furthermore you can also bet your money on the overall winner of the Summer season. As always you will find a comparison of the most important League of Legends bets and betting odds of our renowned eSports betting providers right here. The betting odds listed below are always subject to change, just take a look at our LoL LCS 2018 betting odds site or follow the links to the betting sites for up-to-date information.
Start Times shown in: GMT or GMT +1 during Summer Time
Betting Odds presented by bet365. The listed odds are intended as a guide only and are subject to change. Please check current LoL odds on the bet365 website before placing any bets. Read more about esports betting at Bet365
Please notice! Odds shown might have changed in the meantime. Follow the links to take a look at the current betting odds.
Preview and Predictions:
You will find detailed predictions and analysis of the upcoming matches of the NA LCS Summer Split 2018 – Week 6 right before the first game of the week.
|NA LCS Summer Split Predictions – Quick Navigation
|Day 1
|Day 2
NA LCS Summer Split 2018 – Week 6 | Day 1
Match #1: Team Solo Mid vs. Cloud 9
July 28th, 02:00 PM PT / 05:00 PM ET / 23:00 CEST
Team SoloMid will play Cloud 9 in the opening game of NA LCS Week 6, with each team winning at least once in Week 5. In the first game of week 5, Team Solo mid lost to Optics. Despite winning the First Bloods and First Towers for TSM, the team seemed to stay too defensive from the beginning. OPT-PowerOfEVil (Viktor) left TSM-Bjergsen no room in the middle on Galio and made every attempt at space gain a risk for TSM. TSM-Zven & Mithy showed us once more, either on Varus and Tahm Kench, or on Swain and Morgana – the Botlane can deliver. TSM has to use this strong backbone more, because with other teams in the new meta it often seems to be the coin toss that decides whether the Botlane can survive. Team Solo Mid has to expand its continuity in the middle, as it has been the epicenter of the disruption in the build-up of the game. TSM-Grig (Jungler) should camp in the middle if necessary, as long as Bjergsen doesn't fall back in the early game.
Cloud 9, on the other hand, surprisingly beat match favourite Team Liquid last week. C9-Licorice on Poppy and C9-Jensen are in top form. Poppy learned to fear the Top and Midlane and TL always had to expect an ambush from the fog of war. The last move of Cloud 9 was particularly nice to watch, in which the Rumble team had a walk trough from the T1 Tower to the Nexus Tower within a Baron Power Play. Even the TL double lift "New-Meta-Build" (6x Tear) could not counteract the DPS wall at the last second. Cloud 9 has proven to me that once they take the lead, they can dominate the game linearly and do not take risks through risky or even bad calls. Consequently, I see an opportunity for Cloud 9, which must follow a clever pick-and-ban phase with constant pressure on the TSM´s Midlane.
In the first half of the season in week 3, TSM beat the nexus of Cloud 9 in a straightforward game. I expect a game at eye level this time, but TSM still has the TSM advantage and consequently I bet on a 1-0 victory for Team Solo Mid.
Match #2: Counter Logic Gaming vs. Optic Gaming
July 28th, 06:00 PM PT / 09:00 PM ET / 00:00 CEST (the next day)
Counter Logic Gaming encounters Optic Gaming in the second game of the evening. CLG has had to leave Week 5 victorious and glorious. Both games, against GGS and TL, ended in a fiasco. Optic Gaming, on the other hand, seems to be reaching for the stars and is currently in top form. Both teams will not have forgotten the encounter in week 3:. CLG-Huhi in the middle of Lissandra smashed trough the lines of Optics and disturbed OPT game-dynamics from the beginning. Optic Gaming makes use of the conventional Botlane, but has also proven several times that they master meta-picks. Currently OPT – Arrow & BIG are in top form and so it's not difficult to decide how the game will turn out – I'm betting on a clear 0:1 victory for Optic Gaming.
Match #3: Echo Fox vs. Fly Quest
July 28th, 04:00 PM PT / 07:00 PM ET / 01:00 CEST (the next day)
Echo Fox encounters Fly Quest. Fly Quest was the second team in the NA LCS to win twice in week 5 against 100 Thieves and Clutch Gaming. But if we take a closer look, it seems obvious that both opponents made extremely bad decisions in the games. Fly Quest accepted the gifting and won the games. Echo Fox, on the other hand, surprisingly lost against 100 Thieves in the first match, but then put a damper on the Golden Guardians' victorious spirit on day two. Both teams will probably be satisfied with standard picks. In week 1 the two opponents were sitting next to each other the for the last time and Echo Fox could clearly win the game at that time. It will be a match at eye level, but my guess tends to be for the foxes. I'm betting on a 1-0 win for Echo Fox.
Match #4: Golden Guardians vs. Team Liquid
July 28th, 05:00 PM PT / 08:00 PM ET / 02:00 CEST (the next day)
The Golden Guardians encounters Team Liquid in the penultimate game of the evening. The Golden Guardians last to reach for the stars. But in week 5, day 2 the team had to take a severe defeat against Fox. The GGS botlane with Swain (Deftly) and Morgana (Matt) could not gain any influence in the game. However, GGS-(Jungler) Contractz deserves a real award, who jungled from lane to lane in every game and tried to give all lanes a lead. Also in the game against Echo Fox, GGS-Contractz was an unpleasant guest on Nocturne with his ultimate ability he literally came out of nowhere. I wish the team not to lose sight of Meta-Game and not to get involved in individual fights and chases. The team masters the meta-play without question, but now it's time to adjust the style of play accordingly and not to gift precious gold to the opponent in Latemid phase of the Game. Team Liquid went to training camp with a win in week 5 and, like four others, is in first place in the NA LCS table. Nevertheless, I expect a 1-0 victory for the Golden Guardians.
Match #5: Clutch Gaming vs. 100 Thieves
July 28th, 03:00 PM PT / 06:00 PM ET / 03:00 CEST (the next day)
Clutch Gaming encounters 100 Thieves in the last game of the evening. CG currently with 4 victories "far" back in the table, could not win a game in week 5. Both games against TSM and Fly Quest were clearly lost. The 100 Thieves with 6 victories also on place 1 of the table, were able to win their first game against Echo Fox. Both teams were only allowed to meet the last time in week 3 and this game went to the account of 100 Thieves. The former split favourites Clutch Gaming also have to work on their midlane. CG febiven on Orianna and Galio were both once in the focus of the opposing Top, Mid and Junglelane and had not much impact for the rest of the game, except for its ultimate ability. In its current form and with too many bad calls from Clutch Gaming, I see a clear advantage for the 100 Thieves. Consequently I bet on a clear 0:1 victory for the 100 Thieves.
NA LCS Summer Split 2018 – Week 6 | Day 2
Match #1: Fly Quest vs. Team Solo Mid
July 29th, 12:00 PM PT / 03:00 PM ET / 21:00 CEST
FlyQuest encounters Team Solo Mid in their first game. Both teams last played against each other in week 1. In 25 minutes TSM managed to defeat Fly Quest. TSM-Hauntzer has chosen the strongest hypertank with Mundo at the time and could probably have passed 1v5 against Fly Quest. Team Solo Mid's way of playing usually doesn't allow any turns in the game, so Fly Quest had no chance to turn the game and gradually lost map control. After week 5 Fly Quest stands with a victory more in the table, over TSM. Fly Quest is in top form at the moment, no question, but experience shows that I already expect TSM's counter-strategy for FLY. I bet on a very close 0:1 victory for Team Solo Mid.
Match #2: 100 Thieves vs. Counter Logic Gaming
July 29th, 01:00 PM PT / 04:00 PM ET / 22:00 CEST
The second encounter of the evening takes place between 100 Thieves and Counter Logic Gaming. The first round in week 1 was won by CLG. At the end the Kill/Death counter showed 11/1 for 100 and only 100- Cody Sun "dusted" a kill off. These two opponents share the same credo as everyone in NA LCS, and they're right on their heels. 100 Thieves and Counter Logic Gaming are also only separated by a victory in the counter. Both teams delivered decent performance last week, even though CLG remained victorious. I see the 100 currently stronger on the Fields of Justice and therefore bet on a 1-0 victory for 100 Thieves.
Match #3: Team Liquid vs. Clutch Gaming
July 29th, 02:00 PM PT / 05:00 PM ET / 23:00 CEST
Team Liquid also encounters Clutch Gaming. The last match between the two teams took place in week 3, when CG TL defeated in 32 minutes. CG-Apollo had secured Lucian, who was already strong at the time, after a clever pick and spell phase and spread his horror accordingly. Team Liquid, still struggling at the moment, doesn't look quite structured and could only secure one victory in week 5. For the upcoming game TL has to concentrate on his Botlane and in any case also win on day 2. This game will be decided early but for sure and I see a 1:0 victory for Team Liquid.
Match #4: Cloud 9 vs. Echo Fox
July 29th, 03:00 PM PT / 06:00 PM ET / 00:00 CEST (the next day)
The penultimate match of the second matchday will see Cloud 9 meet Echo Fox. Gifted victory, or ominous omen – The encounter between the first and last in the standings is always associated with a certain uncertainty factor. In week 3 of the Summer Split, the Foxes have already defeated Cloud 9 once. Currently, Cloud 9 is not in good mood and the Team-attitude also seems to be under attack. Therefore FOX – Huni, Dardoch, Fenix, Altec and Feng will have an easy game to win on day 2. I'm betting a 1-0 win for Echo Fox.
Match #5: Optic Gaming vs. Golden Guardians
July 29th, 04:00 PM PT / 07:00 PM ET / 01:00 CEST (the next day)
In the last game of week 6, Optic Gaming meets the Golden Guardians. Both of them were already allowed to encounter on the first matchday of week 1. Golden Guardians with the meta: GGS – Mundo, Graves, Lulu, Brand and Rakan had little chance against OPT – Orrn, Xin Zhao, Viktor, Ezrael and Braum.
Although the Golden Guardians were on the defensive, they showed their talent to stay in the game even then. Of course, many wrong decisions occur here, but the team is fit and reacts promptly to new situations. GGS found especially in week 5 his inclination to meta and after a Swain/Morgana Botlane in the second game of the weekend with Heimerdinger/Fiddlesticks could score points.
Optic Gaming is also in a high altitude euphoria at the moment and no opponent seems to be powerful enough, after which TSM and then Cloud 9 were simply crushed. In both games Optic Gaming could rely on an extremely strong OPT-PowerOfEvil, who first raged with an 11/3/7 talon on the Fields of Justice, only to then ring out the game on Viktor with 7/0/3 with perfect KDA. If the GGS succeeds in constantly disturbing OPT-PowerOfEvil, the strong early/mid dominance of the OPT could be stopped.
I strongly count on the Mage Meta from GGS and possibly a Bruiser choice from Optic Gaming. The game takes place at eye level and both teams have the potential to win. Anyway, I see the GGS currently in the lead and therefore bet on a 0:1 victory for the Golden Guardians.
You might also be interested in:
- EU LCS 2018 – Week 6 | Summer Split
- LCS 2018 – Season 8 | Overview
- League of Legends betting
- more eSports predictions and betting tips
- LCS Summer Split Playoffs 2018
*.) Odds may have changed by now – no guarantee! The predictions are the opinion of the author.
About The Author:
Article and predictions by the esports-betting League of Legends team. Marius "vuehrjer" Führer is studying at the TU Wien and misses just as few League of Legends matches as lectures at university. Daniel "Taith" Aichinger is studying lectureship at the JKU Linz and teaches his enemies the meaning of fear on Summoner's Rift in his spare time. Contact them on Twitter (@vuehrjer, @TaithLoL) for questions. GG WP!


text: Kareena Kapoor on Hi! Blitz November 2009 cover Sharing is caring!Facebook0TwitterPinterest26EmailPrintSensuous Kareena Kapoor is the cover girl for Hi! Blitz magazine's November 2009 issue. Kareena Kapoor's next movie is the highly awaited Rensil D'Silva directed movie 'Kurbaan' with Saif Ali Khan. Sharing is caring!Facebook0TwitterPinterest26EmailPrint(Visited 33 time, 1 visit today) Related posts: Kareena Kapoor Orkut Theme 01 Kareena Kapoor in Cineblitz December 2009 Hot Kareena Kapoor at 3 Idiots premiere Kareena to Vidya and Sonakshi: Being fat is not sexy Kareena Kapoor – Harper's Bazaar Bride December 2015 – January 2016 Pernia Qureshi – Hi! Blitz magazine December 2015 photo shoot Twinkle Khanna – Hi! Blitz magazine February 2016 photo shoot Pregnant Kareena Kapoor Grazia India magazine December 2016


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And Then There Was One
PulpFest 2020 is still over three months away. The coronavirus lockdown is impacting many of the great conventions we normally would look forward to attending come June.
For now, pulp con history still looks to be made when you attend the very first Pulp Fiction Convention on June 14 at the Doubletree by Hilton Cleveland-Westlake. It's being organized by Jeff Harper, a longtime comic book convention promoter and friend and supporter of PulpFest. Forty dealers will gather from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM alongside special guests: Edgar-nominated historical mystery author Craig McDonald; new pulp writers Charles F. Millhouse, S. T. Hoover, and Faryl Hoover; Flinch! Books author/publishers John Bruening and Jim Beard, and vintage pulp continuation authors William Patrick Maynard and Jim Fix. Check out Jeff's webpage for more information. In the event, circumstances dictate a cancellation; you can be certain Jeff will re-schedule as he has with other shows earlier this year.
Unfortunately, the 2020 Edgar Rice Burroughs Dum-Dum planned for the weekend of June 24 – 28 has been cancelled. Roger and Sheila Herzog had planned to host guests Burroughs Bibliophile Jim Goodwin, Edgar Rice Burroughs Books' Jim Gerlach, and the good folks at Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in San Antonio, Texas. Attendees were to receive a copy of "The Terrible Tenderfoot" (the pulp version of ERB's THE DEPUTY SHERRIFF OF COMANCHE COUNTY), take part in tours of The Alamo, and sail away on a river barge tour of San Antonio. Regrettably, concerns over the Coronavirus have caused the cancellation of the 2020 Dum-Dum. Refunds of registrations will be processed shortly. If you have further questions, please contact the firstname.lastname@example.com.
We would be remiss if we did not mention at this time the passing of George T. McWhorter, the retired Curator of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Collection at the University of Louisville. McWhorter passed away on April 25, 2020 at the age of 89. Please visit the Reminiscences Page on the ERBzine website for more on this giant from the world of Burroughs fandom.
Hopefully, life has reverted to normal enough that we can enjoy PulpFest 2020 — the destination for fans and collectors of genre fiction — both old and new — pop art and illustration, and much more. This year's PulpFest will begin on Thursday, August 6, and run through Sunday, August 9. Join the convention at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry, just north of Pennsylvania's "Steel City" of Pittsburgh. PulpFest will be celebrating "Bradbury, BLACK MASK, and Brundage" at this year's gathering. Click the Programming button below the PulpFest homepage banner to get a preview of all the great presentations at this year's event.
To join PulpFest 2020, click the Register button below our homepage banner. To book a room at the DoubleTree by Hilton — the convention's host hotel — click the Book a Room button, likewise on the PulpFest homepage.
(Usually, we also have great news to share about Robert E. Howard Days, held annually in the author's hometown of Cross Plains, Texas. This year, unfortunately, all we can say is that the 2020 edition of Robert E. Howard Days has been cancelled.
According to the convention's homepage, "The uncertainty of the current timelines for the outbreak, the potential risks involved in bringing people from all over the US and other countries, from places with varying rates of infection, to a very small town with limited health care resources, and the need to make a decision now so everyone can adjust their plans, have led the Board of the Robert E. Howard Foundation and our partners at Project Pride to this extremely difficult decision. Ultimately, we had to come down on the side of everyone's safety."
So here's a salute to our friends in Howard Fandom and the fine folks of Cross Plains, Texas. We'll be here for you when you get ready to mount Robert E. Howard Days in June of 2021.
Although Robert E. Howard wrote about many different characters — Pike Bearfield, Sailor Steve Costigan, Solomon Kane, Kull of Atlantis, Turlogh O'Brien, and others — his most famous is Conan.
Howard's inspired character was introduced to readers in the story "The Phoenix on the Sword." Published in the December 1932 issue of WEIRD TALES, it was quickly followed the next month by "The Scarlet Citadel." By the time of his death in 1936, Howard had completed twenty-one stories of the Cimmerian. WEIRD TALES would publish seventeen of them, including "The People of the Black Circle," serialized over three monthly issues. The initial segment — published in the September 1934 number — would garner a cover illustration by Margaret Brundage.
On Friday evening, August 7, we hope you'll join PulpFest as we welcome award-winning writer and publisher Doug Ellis for "The Weird Tales of Margaret Brundage." It's part of the convention's celebration of the 120th anniversary of the birth of this great female pulp artist.
Please join us for "Bradbury, BLACK MASK, and Brundage" at PulpFest 2020. We'll be at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania from August 6 – 8.)


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It appears Nintendo of America is getting ready to re-release The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Link's only original Game Boy Advance adventure, as a Wii U Virtual Console game. The story explains the origins of the Four Sword, a key item in the multiplayer GameCube game The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure, and has the titular cap that shrinks Link.
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is already out as a Virtual Console download in Japan and was one of the games given to Nintendo 3DS ambassadors.


text:
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"Dexterous Underwater Manipulation from Distant Onshore Locations", IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine (RAM), vol. 25, issue 4, 2018.,
"High-Fidelity Deep-Sea Perception Using Simulation in the Loop", IFAC Conference on Control Applications in Marine Systems (CAMS), 2018.,
"Robust Continuous System Integration for Critical Deep-Sea Robot Operations Using Knowledge-Enabled Simulation in the Loop", IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2018.,
"Robust Gesture-Based Communication for Underwater Human-Robot Interaction in the context of Search and Rescue Diver Missions", IROS 2018 Workshop on Human-Aiding Robotics: Open Issues and Future Direction, 2018.,
"Efficient Continuous System Integration and Validation for Deep-Sea Robotics Applications", IEEE Oceans, 06/2017.,
"Robotic Bridge Inspection Within Strategic Flood Evacuation Planning", IEEE Oceans, 06/2017.,
"Dexterous Undersea Interventions with Far Distance Onshore Supervision: the DexROV Project", IFAC Conference on Control Applications in Marine Systems, 2016.,
"Hierarchical Graph-Based Discovery of Non-Primitive-Shaped Objects in Unstructured Environments", International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2016.,
"Knowledge-Enabled Robotic Agents for Shelf Replenishment in Cluttered Retail Environments", International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, 2016.,
"No More Heavy Lifting: Robotic Solutions to the Container Unloading Problem", IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine (RAM), vol. 23, issue 4, 2016.,
"Object Recognition and Localization for Robust Grasping with a Dexterous Gripper in the Context of Container Unloading", IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE), 2014.,
"Object Shape Categorization in RGBD Images using Hierarchical Graph Constellation Models based on Unsupervisedly Learned Shape Parts described by a Set of Shape Specificity Levels", IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2014.,
"Object Recognition in RGBD Images of Cluttered Environments using Graph-Based Categorization with Unsupervised Learning of Shape Parts", IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2013.,


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Hi. I have a problem here.
I would like to match a name between sheet 1 and sheet 2 of my worksheets. Let says if a name on sheet1 is in A1, and the same name appears on sheet2 is in, let says A10. I want them to return another value near A10 (after it found a match), let says B12, Can I do so?
Where is the "other value" for B12 coming from. Is it hardcoded into the formula or being pulled from a table/list?
Is your offset always going to be 2 Rows and 1 Column?
i.e. Found in A10, value goes in B12; found in A5, value goes in B7, etc.
the data in B12 were pulled from another table (with no formulas, just plain text) and the offset will be in the same patterns, always.


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- Community Blog
- kstaff
Superior, and the Magic Triangle
More out of habit than anything else, I set out each year a few days after Christmas for a week or so's travel in Arizona. There are rental properties in Yuma and Prescott to check up on, but it's so cold at the latter that I generally just make sure there's nothing needing immediate attention, then clear some brush and pull some weeds while freezing at night in the storage shed on the upper lot. Then I make a list of things to do for my next visit in the early summer, and head for warmer climes.
This year-end it was kind of backwards, as I headed east and south after Yuma and ended up in Tucson, which I hadn't seen in almost 30 years. The Miracle Mile ain't what it used to be when our family vacationed there during Spring Vacation 1970, but it isn't too bad and apparently is a lot better than it was when it started going downhill. I lay in bed one night in my cheap motel room and had a look at the road atlas, pausing to contemplate how the Miracle Mile becomes a highway north of town and could take me eventually to the mining country around Globe.
Superior is a pud-in-the-mud town west of Globe, with a mine that's no longer open and a main street with a lot of boarded up businesses. The only thing of interest about it is a factoid remembered from one of my last conversations with the mother of my best childhood friend. She was born in Sunnyvale but spent most of her childhood in Tucson, and her husband was born in Superior.
I spent some time, but not too much, walking around that town. The high school is old, but probably the most elegant building in the town, dating back to a time when public buildings were supposed to possess a kind of grandeur. The cemetery was nearby it, and I found the gravesite of my old best buddy's grandfather. It wasn't hard to research, as he had the same name as both my buddy and his dad. The grandfather had been a mining foreman in Superior early in the 20th century, and the dad had been an engineer at Convair for a long time. He himself had been a Coast Guard officer and later a marine engineer with a PhD in computer science. Getting practical things done was in the blood.
Our families met sometime shortly after I was born in the mid-1950s. College Avenue, above University to the north, was a busy noisy street and something of a hazardous environment for wee little kids. It didn't even have sidewalks then. They lived across the street from us, in a tiny duplex whose total area--both units--couldn't have been more than 1,000 square feet. The moms were out wheeling their baby carriages around one day and struck up a conversation. I was about a half year younger than my buddy, but we got along great and for a long time after I considered him my best friend.
I remember him as "Billy," though he changed his name to "Trey" as an adult, meaning third in the family line with the same name. His mom and I were probably the only people in the world who could never break the habit of calling him Billy.
Stepping out into College Avenue was absolutely taboo; I knew that. Nonetheless I remember us looking at each other one day across the busy street. Billy yelled out my name and started running across the yard to cross the street and join me. His mom caught him by the shirt collar and whapped him good.
He was a strong, athletic kid, but curiously accident-prone. One day when we weren't more than four years old, he was in our back yard with our moms and me. I decided to climb around on the fence over the rose bushes, as I often did. He joined in, and his mom told him to get down before he fell and hurt himself on the thorns. He wasn't as familiar with the footholds as I was and didn't listen, so of course he fell and had a painful learning experience.
The family moved to Allied Gardens in the early 1960s, then a few years later to San Carlos. We remained friends, and were forever asking our moms to let us get together and play. He had a small boat at the Mission Bay Yacht Club, and for several years--most of the LBJ administration--we'd go sailing every month there. Sometimes we'd go on long bike rides. I remember him cutting across the street by Peterson Gym one time and nearly getting hit by a car, which skidded to a halt and threw the two small kids in the front seat against the dashboard, to the great irritation of their parents. This was back in that quaint time when cars didn't necessarily have seat belts. They called his dad, and Billy was grounded for awhile.
Eventually Billy went to the Coast Guard Academy, and we didn't see each other much as adults. Just the same, we seemed to have a strange tendency to end up in the same places at different times. Like myself, he was stationed in the DC area during military service and came to like the place enough to make it home when he left the Coast Guard. He had a condo in the Southwest section, near Fort McNair. A few years before, I'd been stationed in Southwest DC and lived in my motorhome on a boat marina next to Coast Guard Headquarters.
When he died in May 2005, from complications of a concussion he got in another of his bicycle accidents, he was interred at Arlington Cemetery. I saw the video of the service awhile later, and could identify Fort Myer's Building 403 in the background of his final resting place. I'd lived there before moving to the boat marina next to Coast Guard Headquarters.
There was another kid on a cul-de-sac, down at the bottom of the drainage ditch that ends near University, by the Taco Bell. I met him around the time Billy's family moved away from that tiny duplex on College Avenue. He only met Billy a time or two, but resented him deeply because I could never bring myself to declare him rather than Billy my best friend, even though we were inseparable for most of the 1960s. His folks kept a trailer near Ocotillo Wells and they often spent winter weekends there, yet he never stopped complaining about the one weekend a month that Billy would have me over to the yacht club for a sail around Mission Bay.
Though not much of a scholar, this kid knew what he wanted very early in life. We built a surfboard out of wood one summer in the mid-1960s, with a little help from his dad in rounding the ends, and he talked obsessively about becoming a surfer. He did, and later started his own line of boards. As with the yacht club business, there were many things we found to antagonize each other over, but somehow we stayed in contact and never stopped regarding each other as friends... sometimes to the great surprise of our mutual friends.
In the mid 1980s, I came home from a job in Japan and brought him a maneki-nekko, a white clay cat with upraised paw that Japanese businesses use as a good luck talisman. The guy has little sense of aesthetics in his work environment, not a picture or decoration in his office... except for that damned cat. It's still there, sitting on his beat-up metal desk.
He's moved out of the neighborhood but doesn't live that far away. I don't see him often, yet I know... if I were really truly in a jam and there were no one else to turn to, he'd be there for me... griping and bitching about the inconvenience, but he'd be there.
You could draw a line from our old house on College, pass it through Billy's family's old duplex, and come across one of the eastern-most apartments in that long complex that runs along the north side of University Avenue almost to College. During high school, the gal that I suppose must be the love of my life lived there. We lost contact several times, but always tracked each other down eventually. Almost forty years after high school, we decided to give things a try again when her unhappy marriage broke up. It isn't easy, because she lives on the other side of the country and half a lifetime has gone by. We don't even get along that great, but just can't seem to get out of each others' heads.
I still live in the college area, with a place of my own not far down University Avenue to the east. On Christmas Eve, I parked in front of the old house on College. Moodily, I walked across to Billy's old duplex, then down to that apartment where my gal once lived. It took all of five minutes to cover the distance. I didn't go to my other buddy's cul-de-sac, but knew it was there. The location of these places forms a triangle, and if you look at it on an aerial map it's a rather small one.
It makes me wonder if there is something magical to that rather ordinary looking section of San Diego, or if people just find a way to form bonds with whoever is nearby and handy. Almost like family, the important people I met in this triangle seem to feel an obligation to love me as much as I feel obliged to love them. Billy though, is gone, and I think I miss him most of all.
More like this:
- I Dated a Dallas Cowboy! — July 25, 2013
- Dad — Aug. 30, 2011
- Don't Tell The Mormons This But... — Nov. 8, 2008
- Obama Hung From Tree — Oct. 3, 2008
- "Don't know if you remember me. Bad Chemicals, the bartender." — April 26, 2007
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Pop legend Cliff Richard today protested his innocence and vowed to clear his name over an allegation of an historic sexual assault.
The 73-year-old singer posted an emotional thank you to fans on Facebook, saying he was okay and pledging to fight claims he sexually assaulted a boy in the 1980s.
He wrote: "Hi everyone, this is just a brief message to thank all of you who have shown support, including those in the Press."
He added: "I wanted to let you know that I'm doing ok and it goes without saying that I fully intend to clear my name.
"Just to be absolutely clear, the allegation is completely false and I will continue to cooperate with the police should they wish to speak to me again.
"Once again...many thanks!"
The multi-millionaire pop star and devout Christian cut short his holiday in Portugal earlier this summer to answer questions from South Yorkshire Police about a claim he sexually assaulted a schoolboy at an evangelical rally.
A furious row has since erupted over the way Police handled press inquiries about a raid on the singer's £3.5m apartment in an exclusive private development in Sunningdale, Berks.
The investigation came about when a man, now in his 40s, accused Richard of assaulting him at a Billy Graham rally at Sheffield United's Bramhall Lane ground in 1985.
South Yorkshire chief constable David Crompton told the Commons home affairs select committee this week the BBC put his force in "a very difficult position" over a planned search of the star's home.
He said his colleagues in the media office were convinced that the broadcaster would run a story about the investigation without some kind of deal: "We were placed in a very difficult position because of the original leak and the BBC came to us knowing everything that we knew, as far as the investigation was concerned.
"My concern was that if we showed the BBC the door, the very clear impression which had been left with my staff in the media department was that they were likely to publish the story.
"That would have impeded our investigation. I'm confident that we made the right decision in difficult and unusual circumstances."
Committee chairman, Keith Vaz, suggestd the broadcaster had blackmailed him, but Crompton replied: "Blackmail is a very strong word. It put us in a very difficult position."
The BBC has previously confirmed that the original leak did not come from South Yorkshire Police.
BBC director general Tony Hall said: "Had the chief constable come to a news editor, head of newsgathering, James Harding, director of news or myself and said to us, 'If you run this story you will hamper this investigation, it would be damaging to this investigation,' we would not have run the story.
"I want you to be absolutely clear about that. We would not have run the story."


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This post is about using using hashicorp vault and ansible.
Everyone that has used ansible knows you sometimes can't get around storing secrets (passwords mostly) in an ansible playbook because for example an installer requires them. Or even simpler, because authentication must be done via a username and password.
The ansible embedded solution is to use ansible vault. To me, ansible vault is a solution to the problem of storing plain secrets in an ansible playbook by obfuscating them. However, these secrets are static, and still require the actual decryption key on runtime. In a lot of cases, it is delivered by putting the password in a file.
This blogpost is about using ansible vault. Vault is a way to encrypt sensitive information in ansible scripts by encrypting it. The motivation for this blogpost is the lack of a description that makes sense to me of what the possibilities are for using vault, and how to use the vault options in playbooks.
The basic way ansible vault works, is that when ansible-playbook reads a yaml file, it encounters $ANSIBLE_VAULT;1.1;AES256 indicating ansible vault is used to encrypt the directly following lines, it will use a password to decrypt it, and then uses the decrypted version in memory only. This way secrets can be hidden from being visible. Obviously, the password will allow decrypting it, and the password must be used in order for ansible-playbook to decrypt it.
The original use of vault is to encrypt an entire yaml file. As of Ansible version 2.3, ansible allows the encryption of single values in a yaml file.
There are many situations where you want to use a very specific configuration of the Oracle database, for example when a client has an issue and is still on EL5, or gets disk errors on a filesystem that is ext3, or is using ASM and gets weird IO patterns. Other examples are: you want to test the newest PSU to see if responds differently to an issue you are working on, or you want to test a combination of the Oracle database version 220.127.116.11 and grid infrastructure 18.104.22.168.
Of course you can just go and install a virtual machine, install all the different bits and pieces. Doing so manually kills vast amounts of time. By doing that, you will end up with a lot of virtual machines, for which at a certain point in time you have to make a decision to remove some of these.
This is a short blogpost meant as both an introduction for those who don't know Ara and a guide on how to install Ara.
Ara means 'Ansible Runtime Analysis', and is a tool for storing metadata that Ansible uses during execution. It is very valuable, because it takes a lot of guesswork and entering debug statements in your playbook away.
This is a guide on how to install Ara on Oracle Linux 7. I assume ansible is already installed. If want to start fresh, add EPEL and yum install ansible and git. That's all you need to begin!
First, become root and install ara using a playbook:
This blogpost is about how to install the semaphore user-interface for running ansible. Ansible is an automation language for automating IT infrastructures. It consists of command-line executables (ansible, ansible-playbook for example) that can run a single task using a module (using the ansible executable), or can run multiple tasks using multiple modules in order to perform more complex setup requirements (using the ansible-playbook executable). The downside of running IT tasks via the command-line is that there is no logging by default, unless someone decides to save the standard out to a file, which, if multiple people start doing that by hand will probably lead to a huge collection of text files which are hard to navigate. Also, when tasks are run via a common place, it's an all or nothing situation: everybody has access to all the scripts, or to nothing.
This is a blogpost about how I setup my test virtual machines. The seasoned sysadmin and DBA will notice that the techniques used here are perfectly usable for real production environments. The most important thing is there is no need to download or stage any software for installing the virtual machine, everything is downloaded when needed during installation. Obviously this works best when you have got reasonable bandwidth available for connecting to the internet.
The main infrastructure software components of this setup are:
– Virtualbox as the virtualisation software.
– Ansible as the configuration and management engine.
– Vagrant as the virtualisation manager.
There are couple of automation tools, which can be used for that task like Puppet, Chef or Ansible to name a few. The latter one - Ansible - is my favorite, cause in my opinion it has shortest learning curve and also doesn't require any agents on the remote servers.
There are couple of automation tools, which can be used for that task like Puppet, Chef or Ansible to name a few. The latter one - Ansible - is my favorite, cause in my opinion it has shortest learning curve and also doesn't require any agents on the remote servers.