text:
Our strategic plan 2017-2021
In 2016, ECU undertook a consultation to support the development of our new strategic plan. Following the UK-wide consultation, which included a request for online feedback and a roundtable discussion, we are pleased to publish our strategic plan for 2017 – 2021.
Our vision
- Equality of opportunity and outcome in participation, progression and success for all staff and students in an environment where diversity is celebrated and valued.
Our mission
- ECU works in partnership with universities, colleges, and other sector bodies to advance equality, promote diversity in their staff and student bodies and build inclusion into all aspects of higher and further education.
Strategic aims
1 Empower
Provide tools for practitioners to confidently address inequality and foster a community of practice to support knowledge exchange, building on expertise within universities and colleges and collectively promote equality, diversity, and inclusion.
We will do this through:
- providing a resource hub for practitioners and others within universities and colleges with responsibility for advancing equality
- facilitating knowledge exchange and effective practice sharing events and conferences
- supporting regional and national networks, collaborating with practitioners to build a community to learn from each other
- providing training and learning resources, workshops, and webinars to enhance the expertise of practitioners
- providing effective and consistent frameworks to drive culture change through ECU's Athena SWAN and Race Equality Charters
- sharing resources to meet the needs of the diverse institutions and to reach a wider audience of staff and students within institutions
2 Lead
Identify and address existing or emerging and complex equality challenges so as to enhance the experience and knowledge of those who work and study in universities and colleges.
We will do this through:
- providing thought-leadership by undertaking and disseminating in-depth research, analysis and guidance on emerging equality issues for universities and colleges
- responding quickly to national issues which affect equality, diversity and inclusion in universities and colleges, influencing those debates where necessary
- delivering national action learning projects to address complex issues
3 Promote
Emphasise the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion including improving the quality, performance and reputation of universities and colleges.
We will do this through:
- communicating the progress being made across higher and further education, promoting what is being done well to address inequality and increase diversity
- working with funding bodies, government bodies and parliamentarians in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to further equality and diversity in universities and colleges on a national scale
- partnering with sector organisations to enhance the understanding of equality, diversity, and inclusion, especially of senior decision makers and governors
4 Strengthen
Respond to the needs of our funders and members, grow and extend our impact inside and outside the UK to bring new insights and also raise the awareness of ECU's work thereby increasing the impact of our work with UK institutions.
We will do this through:
- encouraging dialogue and feedback on our programme of work so as to be more responsive, improve our service delivery and provide value for of funders and members
- actively listening to our stakeholders through ongoing liaison and engagement so as to refine and improve the quality of our work
- building on the success of international work so as deepen our understanding and also to increase our income which contributes to the core running of ECU
- exploring new opportunities for ECU to deliver services and work with the aim of increasing our impact and expertise, and to diversify our income streams
- learning from other organisations, sectors and countries to enhance our work and understanding
How we will deliver our work
Underpinning this strategic plan will be operational plans and annual programmes of work. These take into consideration our diverse funding sources and the need to deliver different for our members and funders.


text:
Category Archives: Archerfish
Banded Archerfish ( Toxotes jaculatrix )
Common Name: Archerfish, Riflefish
Local Name: Kataba (Tagalog); Ataba, Bang-ga (Cebuano)
Max Size: 30 cm
Biodiversity: Marine, Brackish, Freshwater
Depth: 0 – ?? m
Fishing Season: All Year Long
Minimum Size Limit: none
Recommended Bait: Insects, Poppers, small lures, flies
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC)
Archerfish are native to the fresh, brackish and saltwaters of the Philippines. They are most well known for their ability to shoot insects from branches into the water where they can eat them. They are most commonly found in estuaries around mangrove forests however they can also be found far up freshwater rivers and also in the sea. Taal Lake in Laguna which a freshwater lake is full of these fish.
Anglers can catch these fish on lures and they are said to readily take small poppers. They are also a great fish to target with fly rods.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I just got back from a beautiful trip to Bernalillo, New Mexico for a field visit on the Rio Grande River to look at an erosion site. I have always enjoyed going to a site that I will be working on, and it always proves to be very beneficial to a project to actually have been there.
Something that I have added to my work flow that continues to improve in its benefit to projects is a virtual site visit before, and after, I actually go to the real site. Is this something that you do? If so, what does that look like for you?
Here are some of the tools I use.
The Tools
This is a quick and easy places to start. It's free, easy to use, and has a lot of great info. Beyond the aerial image and map the Google Maps Street View can be very helpful if it's available. There are also additional user photos that can provide additional views of an area. Of course, the closer to an urban area the better. The ability to create your own maps with custom notes, places marks, etc. and then share that with others is can also help during a job. You have to have an account with Google to do this though.
Basically the same thing as Google Maps including maps, aerials, and user photos, but I always check to see if there is Birds Eye imagery for a place I am travelling to. The ability to look at your site from an oblique aerial perspective from the North, South, East, and West can be very helpful in getting a feel for a specific location. Again, the closer to civilization the better.
Google Earth has almost the exact same aspects of Google Maps, but it requires you to download the application onto your computer. While there is one extra step, it is well worth it for what is essentially a free GIS like software application. I run the Pro version, so I have some additional capabilities, but either way Google Earth is a must have for virtual site visit.
The historical imagery is an additional option compared to Google Maps, and can be helpful to review any significant changes to a site over the past 10 – 20 years. You can also load your own geo-referenced aerial imagery if you want for additional data all in one place.
In urban areas there is an ever growing amount of 3-D buildings, bridges, and trees, making areas more realistic and data rich. Google Earth also drapes the imagery onto terrain data to give it the 3-D look. While this doesn't usually work great around rivers, it is still helpful to see the relief. For the U.S. the terrain data is from the USGS and is similar to what the USGS Topo maps are based off. With the Pro version you can use cut a profile or cross section line right in Google Earth.
Google Earth comes with a decent database of geospatial data, but the real power of is what you can import into Google Earth. Essentially any geospatial data (which could literally be anything if tie it to location) can be imported into Google Earth and then saved out as a .kmz or .kml and shared with others. So you can import whatever data you have specific to a site and view it with all of this other information.
Most organizations also provide .kmz files that connect you to even more information that is already publically available, but now you can access it by location within Google Earth.
I often need to look at USGS stream gage data, which you can do on from several places. They also provide a file you can load into Google Earth and it dynamically links to the USGS data online. So you can quickly find the gage you want and view trends across the U.S.
I also have files that show State Plane Zones, show UTM zones, link to the National Hydrography Dataset, display FEMA flood map data, display USGS topographic maps, and some other overlays I occasionally use.
So before I ever step foot on a site, I will have spent some time getting a feel for what to expect, looking at the area from above, and finding additional data that may be helpful. While not a complete replacement to actually being there, it has always improved and fine tuned what I am doing when I arrive at the site.
There are also some additional pieces of data and other tools that I use, but they are not as quick and easy to obtain and use. I will go over some of the extra options available next if you're interested in more.


text:
2.2.7 · Industry Sourcing
May 20, 2019 (1 year ago)
2.2.7 · Industry Sourcing
May 20, 2019 (1 year ago)
Introducing the first mobile app for sourcing industrial machinery.
|2.2.7 (227)
|May 20, 2019 (1 year ago)
|Industry Sourcing
|Apps, Business
Introducing the first mobile app for sourcing industrial machinery, tools and materials across 20 key industries from the worlds leading source of such equipment, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong.
Destined to be the mobile tool box for every industrial trader, Ringier's "Industry Sourcing" App is your portable, daily updated source of industrial product and company information and news that is extracted directly fromindustrysourcing.com -the leading online industry trade marketplace of manufacturers doing business with China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South East Asia, The Middle East and Africa.
With its search friendly format, the Industry Sourcing App delivers a library of 35 industry trade magazines -read by over 600,000 readers in print- that report on the latest product technology and manufacturing processes across 20 fast growing industries in the booming China, Asia, Middle East and Africa. In addition, a wealth of industrial manufacturers and their product showrooms to meet your buying and research needs are available to easily search and browse
Industries covered include: Metalworking, Plastics and Rubber, Food and Beverage, Packaging, Metal Finishing, Industrial Equipment, Medical Equipment, Personal/Household Care, Coatings & Ink, Industrial Laser, Restaurants, Renewable Energy, Automotive, Sensors, Nonwovens, Pharmaceuticals, Footwear, Aerospace, Electronics Components, Pumps, Filtration and Water Treatment.
Key Features:
Choose from 100's of industrial products and machinery videos
Search from over 40,000 Products and Supplier across 20 key industries
Search Magazine content from 35 leading industry trade magazines- valuable research, technical information and news
Latest Business News about China and its trading partners updated daily to keep you informed of key developments
Trade Show and Conferences information to help you keep on top of the major events, select from 100's of industry events in Asia and worldwide
Link to the prestigious Ringier Innovation Awards to find out where the trends of product developments is heading and who's at the forefront
Preset your information needs by industry and country of interest
Make easy, direct contact with suppliers, and have new product, supplier information sent direct to your mobile device
Magazine library includes:
China Plastics & Rubber
International Plastics Materials News for China
International Plastics News for China
Reinforced Plastics China
Rubber World for China
International Plastics News for Asia
International Plastics News - Middle East
Food & Packaging
China Food Manufacturing Journal
Int'l Food & Beverage Ingredients News for China
International Packaging News for China
FoodPacific Manufacturing Journal
Food Manufacturing Journal - Middle East
Automotive & Industrial Equipment
Africa Industrial Reporter
Automotive Engineering International China
Automotive Manufacturing & Design for China
Aerospace Manufacturing and Design China
China Industrial Reporter
Filtration + Separation China
Industrial Robots for China
Sensors China
World Pumps China
Pharmaceutical & Medical
International Pharmaceutical News for China
Medical Manufacturing and Design for China
Medical Products Asia
Chemical Processing
Coatings and Ink China
Happi China
International Footwear News
Nonwovens Industry China
Metalworking, Mold & Laser
International Metalworking News for China
International Mold & Die Making News for China
Industrial Laser Solutions China
Metal Finishing China and Asia
International Metalworking News for Asia
International Metalworking News - Middle East
Renewable Energy
Renewable Energy Focus China
South East Asia & Central Asia
FoodPacific Manufacturing Journal
Medical Products Asia
International Metalworking News for Asia
International Plastics News for Asia
The Middle East
Food Manufacturing Journal - Middle East
International Plastics News - Middle East
International Metalworking News - Middle East
Africa Industrial Reporter
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Turn on update notification
BirdEye · Business
4.4 ★ 5,000+
Xome Inc. · House & Home
3.8 ★ 100,000+
InCust · Shopping
4.1 ★ 10,000+
North Dakota Dept. of Transportation · Travel & Local
4.1 ★ 100,000+
How to install Split APKs (App Bundle), OBB, ZIP, XAPK, APKM.
See more
Xiaomi Inc. · Tools
4.5 ★ 5,000,000+
GrabbingGameStudios · Photography
4.1 ★ 500,000+
MayBeOne Inc · Photography
4.3 ★ 500,000+
Banca Mediolanum · Finance
4.5 ★ 500,000+
Laelia Alma · Entertainment
4.0 ★ 100,000+
IPTV GThm · Entertainment
4.8 ★ 10,000+
Google LLC · Tools
5.0 ★ 5,000,000,000+
Pandora · Music & Audio
4.3 ★ 100,000,000+


text:
Welcome new director
Please join Battelle Education & STEMx in welcoming Michael Feder, Ph.D., to the role of National STEMx Relationship Manager. Michael comes from a small town in northeast Pennsylvania near Scranton and received his Bachelor's Degree from Pennsylvania State University. Since moving to Washington, DC over 15 years ago, he has provided education policy guidance to a wide range of stakeholders such as the federal government, private industry, K-12 school districts, colleges, and science rich institutions. He most recently served as the senior program officer for the Board on Science Education (BOSE) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. With the Board on Science Education he managed consensus studies on a broad range of issues including informal STEM education, K-12… Read More
Try out the STEMx Sustainability Compass
By Margaret Ashida Today we announced the STEMx™ Sustainability Compass at a national Change the Equation summit in Washington, D.C. Co-developed with Education First and Battelle, this online tool is designed to help state STEM networks understand if they are on a path to sustainability. A compass is an essential tool in wilderness survival. And… Read More
The Idea of Integrated STEM
by Margaret Ashida, director of the STEMx network If you ask five people to define STEM education, you'll probably get five different answers. The reality is there is no single definition! The STEMx network thinks about it this way: STEM 1.0 = the acronym for the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics – each… Read More
Pharmaceutical industry issues call to action on STEM
PhRMA, the organization that represents American pharmaceutical companies, has released a new report on how strengthening America's standing in STEM is "critical to continued scientific and technological innovation." The report is well worth reading and anyone interested in STEM should head over to PhRMA.org to download a copy. (Full disclosure: the report was authored by Battelle's Technology Practice… Read More
Quality STEM Programs: How Do We Know When We See One?
by Margaret Ashida, director of the STEMxTM network One of the primary goals of the Kentucky STEMx™ Network is to define and support the characteristics of highly effective STEM initiatives. To this end, a network team embarked upon a study of other STEMx states' design and school rubrics en route to creating a draft Kentucky STEM… Read More
Symposium on science standards draws 30 states!
by Margaret Ashida, director of the STEMxTM network Last week I joined more than 250 leaders in science, education and assessment at a national Invitational Research Symposium on Science Assessment. Over 30 states brought teams to our nation's capital to engage with academia, industry and government on the goal of improved student assessment and achievement, pertaining… Read More
STEM on the Move by Margaret Ashida
STEM education helps students succeed in school and find (or create) great jobs when they graduate. Paired with innovation at the local level, states are leading the way on STEM. The State of Washington's House and Senate made this clear last week with strong bipartisan support for comprehensive STEM legislation requested by Governor Jay Inslee.… Read More
The STEMx™ Network Announces Hire of First Executive Director
We are thrilled to announce that our very own network council chair, Margaret Ashida, has been selected as the new STEMx™ director. "We couldn't be happier to have Margaret join us at the STEMx™ network. She brings with her a wealth of experience in STEM that will help put the network on a path toward incredible impact and growth," said… Read More
Welcome to the new STEMx™ website!
Since our launch in June 2012, we have moved steadily forward to achieve the goal we set before ourselves at the inception of the STEMx™ network: to transform STEM education in the states, by the states. This transformation, just like the transformation of our website, is a thoughtful evolution where each iteration strives to be better… Read More
Exploring New Frontiers in Online Learning
Thinking outside of the box is a hallmark of the STEMx™ network — and Battelle. What could be more out-of-the-box than providing high school credit to students who take colleges courses through the web? That's just what students at Reynoldsburg, Ohio's eSTEM Academy are going to be able to do this year, thanks to Udacity. Reynoldsburg eSTEM is one of… Read More


text:
Sponsored By
Best Trendy Halloween Costumes Of 2014Need some inspiration for this season's Halloween costume? Check out these trendy Halloween costumes inspired by pop culture.
Window Washers Dress As Superheroes, Cheer Up Kids At Children's HospitalA lot of people are celebrating Halloween today. But how to you celebrate if you are in a hospital bed?
Charges Withdrawn Against Man Dressed As Spiderman In OaklandCharges against a man who was arrested after running around Oakland dressed as Spiderman have been withdrawn.
Police: Man Dressed As Spiderman Tries To Rob StorePolice arrested a man dressed as Spiderman early Friday morning in Oakland.
Clerk At State College Hotel Beaten By Man In Spider-Man MaskPolice in State College say they are searching for a suspect after a night desk clerk at a hotel was beaten by a man wearing a Spider-Man mask and wielding a large skeleton key.
Valentine's Day And The Romance Movie ClichéIn honor of Valentine's Day, we've gathered the best (or worst, if you prefer) of the romance movie clichés.


text:
OSAKA – Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto on Monday urged students at Sakuranomiya High School to accept entrance exam suspensions proposed for some departments in light of the suicide scandal there, the local board of education said.
Hashimoto proposed the suspension after the Osaka city board of education revealed earlier this month that a 17-year-old student took his life in late December after being repeatedly slapped by his basketball coach at the city-financed school. The board has confirmed that corporal punishment was practiced in basketball and other sports there.
The mayor has also asked the board to replace all of the teachers there.
Hashimoto told the students and teachers Monday that it shouldn't accept new students before coming up with a new educational direction, the board said.
A student representative objected to the exam suspensions, emphasizing that the city should not deprive students of opportunities to take them in departments vital to the school, it said.
Parents of students at the school have also voiced opposition to the proposal.
Osaka Bar Association head Tsuneaki Yabuno warned Monday that a suspension would infringe students' right to receive an education at the school.


text:
Parade Magazine says 24% have left church for Spiritualism. The Church community criticizes that it's not real religion. Leading Christian apologists, like Ravi Zacharias, agree saying Spiritualism is "gelatinous ideology lacking necessary theological elements."
Churches are desperate. The run-off is unprecedented and certainly due to the fact that only 3% of young adults believe in Satan, brimstone and judgment…Ergo, are rejected by the church as Christians. (Barna Research)
According to Parade, "What Americans are doing today is separating spirituality from religion, with many people disavowing organized practice altogether. In fact, 24% put themselves into a whole new category, 'spiritual, but not religious." (10/4/09 Issue)
Churches don't need to debunk Spirituality as non-religious, because Spirituality isn't religion. That criticism doesn't bother Spiritualists, because Parade said these people no longer want anything to do with organized religion.
So what is the "New Spiritualism" and why is it becoming mainstream?
In America, most Spiritualists are disenchanted Christians. Early American Deists were a close parallel.
Most of the signers were Deists who rejected the church for its cruelty and oppression in Europe. Jefferson and Payne said the church "terrified the masses for the purpose of gaining wealth and control." Jefferson said, "Revelations had to be written by a mad man." Lincoln didn't believe in Satan. He "could not conceive that a god of love could create the circumstances for which he would have to condemn his children to eternal hell, as the Christians would say…"
Bishop John Spong says, "the church has always been in the guilt producing, control business, and dangled us between their imaginary heaven and hell as a control tactic."
Spiritualists are over it. Like our forefathers, they want to be free to contemplate their spiritual cosmos' undirected and unintimidated by the church. Theologians are right that Spiritualism has no structure. The theology of each Spiritualist is as unique as a snowflake… varied by the uniqueness of his or her life experience. Spiritualists respect other Spiritualists, but aren't driven to amass in a community of others with uniform dogma.
Another major reason for the shift from church to Spiritualism is the contemporary revelation of the Near Death Experience. Since it's discovery by Dr. Raymond Moody in 1975, most Americans have abandoned the church's heaven/hell judgment scenario. Now most believe they'll enter a bright light with relatives and friends, being enveloped by bliss and serenity. This universal bliss is a problem for the church. The Southern Baptist Convention formally condemned the NDE as non-Christian Spiritualism since it conflicts with biblical justification. Roman Christianity can't sustain itself without the fear of judgment and eternal punishment. This will be an endless crisis for the church.
Being "spiritual" and being "religious" are polar opposites. As the Spiritualist's life experiences accumulate, his perception of his cosmos evolves. Much like Buddhists seeking enlightenment, Spiritualists are on a trek to find their place in their cosmos. Anything goes, as long as it's positive and respectful of others' diverse beliefs. Spiritualists believe that no one is wrong…that we're all just at different places along the path. They strive to be tolerant of other religions.
Christian Spiritualists tend to base their cosmos simply on Christ's message, "God is love, and he asks that we love and help one another." What he taught while He was alive. They then go on to build a personal Christian theology around that base from their own life experience. The Roman Christian dogma of 325 AD…the Nicene Creed, the Roman bible… Virgin birth, son of god theology, judgment, Satan, salvation, Easter fertility, eggs/bunnies, Dec. 25 birthday of sun-god/solstice/Yuletide, etc. are all optional for Spiritualists to accept or reject as they believe.
Church Christians' cosmos is based on Roman Christian theology focused on Christ's death and its implications for salvation. They're intolerant of all other religions and on an endless crusade to convert all non-Christians to "save" them from their "false" religions. Many have left the church because this attitude has instigated more war, desolation and suffering than any other. The church-goer's cosmos conforms while the Spiritualist's cosmos transforms.
"Religion is belief in someone else's experience. Spirituality is having your own experience." Deepak Chopra
Brad O'Donnell, author "Where to Now Saint Paul?"


text: The Saudi press is still furious over the U.S. Senate'sunanimous vote approving a bill that allows the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia. This time, the London-based Al-Hayat daily has claimed that the U.S. planned the attacks on the World Trade Center in order to create a global war on terror. The article, written by Saudi legal expert Katib al-Shammari and translated by MEMRI, claims that American threats to expose documents that prove Saudi involvement in the attacks are part of a long-standing U.S. policy that he calls "victory by means of archives." Al-Shammari claims that the U.S. chooses to keep some cards close to its chest in order to use them at a later date. One example is choosing not to invade Iraq in the 1990s and keeping its leader, Saddam Hussein, alive to use as "a bargaining chip" against other Gulf States. Only once Shi'ism threatened to sweep the region did America act to get rid of Hussein "since they no longer saw him as an ace up their sleeve." He claims that the 9/11 attacks were another such card, enabling the U.S. to blame whoever suited its needs at a particular time; first it blamed Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, then Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, and now Saudi Arabia. The sad part of this is that there is a lot of truth by this assumption from Saudi Arabia, but then again Saudi Arabia still took part in 9/11. The matter of this fact is when planes were grounded on 9/11, the Bush family flew out Saudi royals out of the country. Another fact is that the Bush crime family got super rich off of Halliburton's role in Iraq invasion, the Bush crime family alone made close to $60 billion though Dick Cheney's transportation company of Halliburton in Iraq. To say our government during the Bush administration didn't take some sort of part in 9/11 would be downright stupid, after all the Bush family got ridiculously rich off of the war on terror. You also gotta think to yourself on how did the 15 Saudi terrorist get into the country in the first place. Don't let Saudi Arabia full you into thinking they played no role.


text:
Lus Mor is an Ideally designed house for retreats such as Pilates, mindfullness and yoga.
It is nestled away in a tranquil setting off the road down an old country lane away from the sounds of passing cars. With beautiful vistas of rolling green hills and Sugar Loaf mountain. Walking from the house you can quickly find yourself in the fabulous region of Lough Tay and the Guinness estate.
Lus Mor is best booked for the quiet season as it runs as an accommodation for hill walkers during the high season.
A wonder space for a winters day with wood burning stoves and underfloor heating.
For inquiries please call James on +353 87 9152979
GPS Coordinates
Latitude: 53.088223
Longitude: -6.231945


text:
Our View: Perdue's Betrayal
On Monday, Jan. 18, Georgia's first-term U.S. senator, David Perdue, issued a brief statement honoring Martin Luther King Jr., whose "actions to advance justice continue to inspire us all to do better." Two days later, Perdue stood in the way of justice and betrayed King's ideals.
Perdue scuttled the U.S. District Court nomination of a fellow Republican, Dax Lopez, because of concerns about "his longstanding participation in a controversial organization."
That controversial organization isn't the Communist Party or domestic terrorists ready to seize Fort McPherson, nor is Lopez tied to neo-Nazis or the Klan, neither of which would likely welcome the Jewish Latino from DeKalb County.
No, the dread organization is the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. For Lopez, a Latino elected official as a state judge, being part of GALEO is about as radical as Congressman John Lewis being a member of the NAACP.
In fact, the NAACP, with its responses to issues of particular concern to the black community, such as police shootings and Confederate memorials, could be seen as every bit as controversial as GALEO, whose offense is activism on behalf of Hispanic immigrants, even those here illegally.
Standing up for fellow Latinos puts GALEO on the wrong side of an increasingly rabid group of activists for whom absolutism on immigration — no illegals, no amnesty, no reform, no exceptions — is the political litmus test of our time.
That group has the ear of Perdue, who gave far less time to Lopez than to people such as D.A. King, a rhetorical warrior against "the vast, corporate-funded illegal alien lobby." To put King in perspective, he wants to oust Rep. Tom Price, one of the most conservative members of the House Republican leadership, for being too soft on immigration enforcement.
King threatened the political futures of Perdue and Sen. Johnny Isakson, who is running for re-election, if Lopez even got a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
By custom, the Senate does not consider judicial nominations without the go-ahead of the senators from the nominee's state. Isakson told King in a public forum that Lopez deserved a hearing. Perdue, whose cousin Sonny Perdue as governor first put Lopez on the bench in 2010, disagreed.
We're not sure which possibility is worse: that Perdue is scared of King or that he agrees with him.
There's no reason to believe every member of the GALEO board, on which Lopez served, agrees on every decision and every position, any more than we expect unanimity among the board members of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Regardless, we reject the idea that membership in an advocacy group should be grounds for automatic rejection of a judicial nominee.
Lopez did not deserve confirmation for being Jewish or Latino or Republican. Nor should he have been rejected for those associations or any others, including GALEO. Judging an individual requires examining that person's actions, beliefs and court decisions.
We don't know how Lopez would have done under the scrutiny of the Judiciary Committee, although the vehemence with which his opponents fought his hearing leads us to suspect he would have won over the Senate.
The point is that Perdue, by prejudging the judge, betrayed Martin Luther King's dream to see people judged by the content of their character. The senator thus betrayed us, the people of Georgia, who elected him.


text:
Research Article | Open Access
Shalini Singh, Isabella W. Y. Mak, Divya Handa, Michelle Ghert, "The Role of TWIST in Angiogenesis and Cell Migration in Giant Cell Tumor of Bone", Advances in Biology, vol. 2014, Article ID 903259, 8 pages, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/903259
The Role of TWIST in Angiogenesis and Cell Migration in Giant Cell Tumor of Bone
Giant cell tumor of bone (GCT) is a bone tumor consisting of numerous multinucleated osteoclastic giant cells involved in bone resorption and neoplastic osteoblast-like stromal cells responsible for tumor growth. The tumor occasionally metastasizes to the lung; however, factors leading to metastasis in this tumor are unknown. The TWIST-1 protein (also referred to as TWIST) has been suggested to be involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and tumor progression in some cancers. In this study we investigated the functional role of TWIST in GCT cell angiogenesis and migration. Overexpression of TWIST in neoplastic GCT stromal cells significantly increased mRNA and protein expression of VEGF and VEGFR1 in vitro, whereas knockdown of TWIST resulted in decreased VEGF and VEGFR1 expression. A stable cell line with TWIST overexpression resulted in features of EMT including increased cell migration and downregulation of E-cadherin. The results of our study indicate that TWIST may play an important role in angiogenesis and cell migration in GCT.
1. Introduction
Giant cell tumor of bone (GCT) is an aggressive bone tumor characterized by the presence of an abundance of reactive multinucleated giant cells surrounded by mesenchymal stromal cells. To date, the oncogenesis of GCT remains unknown as the neoplastic stromal cells appear to be preosteoblastic cells that do not undergo terminal osteoblastic differentiation [1–4]. GCT is a highly vascular tumor and in several cases metastasizes to the lungs [2, 5, 6].
Bone tumors recruit new blood vessels from preexisting vessels of the host through factors secreted from either the tumor itself or the surrounding stromal cells [7, 8]. Tumor growth is dependent upon the growth of these new blood vessels. Angiogenesis is the process of developing new capillaries from the existing circulation via a complex multistep system regulated by a delicate balance between various angiogenic inhibitors and activators [9]. Activators of angiogenesis include growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and hypoxic conditions that activate hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) which in turn upregulate angiogenic proteins as well as angiogenic oncogenes [9].
The transcription factor TWIST is known to induce an embryonic event termed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in tumor cells [10]. EMT is a process initially observed in embryonic development in which the cells lose epithelial cell properties and gain mesenchymal cells characteristics [11]. In hepatocellular carcinoma, TWIST overexpression has been shown to induce angiogenesis, inhibit apoptosis, and increase tumor aggressiveness [12].
Previous work in our lab has shown that TWIST is overexpressed at the transcription level in GCT patient specimens [13]. In the present study we expanded these results and reported that TWIST upregulates angiogenic factors and subsequent cell migration in GCT. Thus, TWIST acts as an upstream regulator of the angiogenic and migration associated aggressiveness of this bone tumor.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Primary Cell Lines Culture
We established primary cell cultures of GCT stromal tumor cells from fresh GCT tissue obtained from three patients following ethics board approval and patient consent. The tissue was processed and maintained in DMEM containing 10% FBS, 2 mM glutamine, and 100 U/mL antibiotics. The resulting cell suspension together with macerated tissue was cultured at 37°C in humidified air with 5% CO2. Following several successive passages, the mesenchymal stromal cells became the homogeneous cell type, whereas the multinucleated giant cells were eliminated from culture.
2.2. Plasmids Construction and Transfection
A TWIST open reading frame was amplified by PCR from a cDNA TWIST clone (Origene, Rockville, MD) using oligonucleotides cgcggatccgcgatgatgcaggacgtgtcc and ccggaattccggctagtgggacgcgacat, containing BamHI and EcoRI restriction sites, respectively. After BamHI and EcoRI digestion, the open reading frame was ligated into a pcDNA3.1 vector into TWIST plasmids.
GCT cells were transfected using an electroporation method [13, 14]. Briefly, cells were trypsinized and washed with PBS and resuspended into 1 mL FBS free media with 35 μg of TWIST plasmid. Cells with TWIST plasmid mixture were electroporated using the Gene Pulser II electroporation apparatus (Bio-Rad) with optimized combinations of voltage and capacitance. The cells were then plated in 10 cm Petri dishes with supplemented DMEM. After 48 h posttransfection, cells were harvested for RNA isolation.
2.3. siRNA Transfection
Mesenchymal stromal cells of GCT were trypsinized and transfected with TWIST small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) via electroporation. Stromal cells of GCT were washed and resuspended in Optimem reduced serum media (Gibco, Invitrogen, Canada). Subsequently, the cell suspension was mixed with either 200 nM of TWIST siRNA (Invitrogen), a positive Silencer GAPDH siRNA control, or a nonspecific negative control (Ambion Inc.). Stromal cells with the siRNA mixture were electroporated using the Gene Pulser II electroporation apparatus (Bio-Rad Laboratories) under a single-pulse protocol with optimized combination of voltage and capacitance. Cells were then plated in 10 cm cell culture dishes with supplemental DMEM. After 48 h of transfection, cells were harvested for RNA isolation. RPS18 was selected among other housekeeping genes for normalization in real time PCR analysis and GAPDH was used as a positive siRNA control.
2.4. RNA Isolation and cDNA Synthesis
Total RNA extraction was performed according to the manufacturer's protocol (QIAGEN Total RNA Kit). Concentration and purity of the samples were evaluated by the ratio of optical density 260 : 280 using a spectrophotometer (Beckman DU 530). One microgram of total RNA was used for cDNA synthesis following the manufacturer's instructions (qScript cDNA Supermix, Quanta BioSciences) under this setting: 25°C for 5 min, 42°C for 30 min, and then 95°C at 5 min.
2.5. Quantitative RT-PCR
The cDNA samples were measured using the quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) (MJ Mini Gradient Thermocycler, Bio-Rad). Cycle threshold (Ct) numbers were derived from the exponential phase of PCR amplification. Relative changes in mRNA expression were calculated using the comparative ΔΔCT (crossing point) method. For comparison of transcript levels between samples, a standard curve of cycle thresholds for serial dilutions of a cDNA sample was established and then used to calculate the relative abundance of transcripts of each gene. Values were then normalized to the relative amounts of RPS18 cDNA. All PCRs were performed in triplicate experiments. Primer sequences are listed in Table 1.
2.6. Migration Assays
Migration assays were performed as described earlier [15]. Briefly, an equal number (1 × 105) of GCT empty vector-transfected cells and TWIST transfected cells (GCTT) were resuspended in serum-free medium and plated in the top compartment of a standard 8 μm pore BD falcon cell culture insert. Bottom wells were filled with 5% serum medium. Following a 24 h period of invasion at 37°C, invaded cells to the bottom wells were detached with cell detachment buffer, lysed, and stained with crystal violet dye. Dyed cells were counted using a light microscope.
2.7. Wound Closure Assay
Cells were grown in 35 mm culture plates (Falcon) to 70–80% confluent level in DMEM medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum. Multiple uniform streaks (~50 μm width) were made on the monolayer culture with 100 μL pipette tips. Streaked plates were immediately washed with DMEM medium with 10% FBS to remove detached cells. Mitomycin (5 μg/mL; Sigma) was used in the medium to inhibit proliferation of GCT cells for determination of the cell migration. Cell migration was monitored for 24 h, and pictures were taken at 0 h and 24 h time points with a digital camera attached to an inverted microscope. Six to eight fields were analyzed, and the mean percentage of wound distance covered by cells was calculated. The distance of wound width was expressed in microns before and after migration.
2.8. Western Blotting
Cytoplasmic fractions were isolated from these transfected cells by scraping after 24 h of incubation and then centrifuged for 5 min. The cells were lysed with NP-40 containing lysis buffer (10 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 10 mM NaCl, 5 mM MgCl2, and 0.5% NP-40) to disrupt the cell membrane and then the cell lysate was centrifuged at 500 g for 5 min at 4°C. The supernatant (cytoplasmic fraction) was removed and the pellet (nuclear fraction) was resuspended in NP-40 containing cell lysis buffer. Proteins were denatured by boiling in sample buffer, separated on 12% SDS-PAGE, transferred onto the PVDF membrane (Immobilon TM-PSQ, Millipore), and blocked overnight in 5% nonfat powdered milk in TBST (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 100 mM NaCl, and 0.1% (v/v) Tween-20). The membrane was incubated in primary mouse anti-MMP2 antibody (1 : 1000, Calbiochem), mouse anti-TWIST, (1 : 1000, Abcam), E-cadherin (1 : 700, Santa Cruz), and VEGF (1 : 1000, Millipore) overnight at 4°C. Following membrane washes in 1X TBS-T, the membrane was incubated in the HRP-conjugated secondary anti-mouse antibody (1 : 10,000, Promega) for 1 hour at RT followed by protein visualization on audioradiography film.
2.9. Statistical Analysis
Statistical analyses for the real time PCR were performed using the two-sample independent Student's -test. The average value within each experiment was expressed relative to the expression of internal control gene; value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
3. Results
3.1. Overexpression of TWIST Activates the Expression of Angiogenic Factors
In order to determine whether TWIST plays a role in angiogenesis through VEGF expression in GCT stromal cells, we generated 3 stable TWIST overexpressing cell lines (GCTT1 and GCTT2 and GCTT3) from three different patient specimens using a TWIST-pcDNA3.1 construct and compared them to pcDNA3.1 empty vector. Quantitative real time PCR showed that overexpression of TWIST significantly increased the mRNA expression of VEGF and VEGFR1 in GCT stromal cells (Figure 1(a), ). These results were confirmed by western blot analysis showing an increase in protein expression (Figure 1(b)).
3.2. Suppression of Angiogenic Factors in Response to TWIST Knockdown
TWIST siRNA was used to knockdown TWIST expression in GCT stromal cells. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed that knockdown of TWIST resulted in a significant decrease in VEGF and VEGFR1 expression in GCT stromal cells (Figure 2(a), ). GAPDH siRNA was used as a positive control to determine transfection efficiency. GAPDH mRNA was reduced to approximately 70% of the original expression level when treated with GAPDH siRNA but was found unaffected when treated with random and TWIST siRNA (data not shown). Western blot analysis confirmed decreased protein expression of VEGF with TWIST knockdown (Figure 2(b)).
3.3. TWIST Induces EMT in GCT Stromal Cells
We next explored the relationship between TWIST and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in GCT stromal cells. EMT is an important mechanism associated with cancer invasiveness and metastasis [10, 16]. It is a process characterized by loss of cell adhesion, repression of E-cadherin expression, and increased cell motility. To determine the role of TWIST in invasiveness and metastasis of GCT, we generated TWIST overexpressing GCT cell lines using a TWIST-pcDNA3.1 construct. We observed that overexpression of TWIST significantly decreased the expression of E-cadherin (an epithelial marker) and increased the expression of fibronectin (an extracellular matrix protein) and MMP-2 (EMT mediator) at the mRNA expression and protein levels in GCT stromal cells (Figures 3(a) and 3(b)). As expected, knockdown of TWIST in the GCT stromal cells induced E-cadherin expression as shown in both quantitative real time PCR and western blot analysis (Figures 3(c) and 3(d)). We further examined the subcellular localization of E-cadherin in the TWIST-depleted GCT stromal cells compared to the untransfected GCT cells. We observed that the E-cadherin expression in untransfected cells (GCT-UT) was faint and diffused throughout the cell; however, TWIST knockdown resulted in more localized and dense staining of E-cadherin on the surface of the cell where it would be expected to be functionally active (Figure 3(e)).
3.4. TWIST Promotes Migration in GCT Stromal Cells
To examine whether overexpression of TWIST promotes migratory activity in GCT stromal cells, cell wound-healing and migration assays were performed using untransfected (UT) and TWIST transfected (GCTT) GCT stromal cell lines. The wound-healing assay showed significantly faster cell movement in GCTT than in the UT control group (Figure 4(a)). Overexpression of TWIST increased the migratory ability of GCT cells by nearly twofold when compared to untransfected cells () (Figure 4(b)). The pattern was consistent across both GCT cell lines studied.
We further studied the migratory potential of cells using Boyden's chamber assay. Cells were seeded into the transwell insert and migrated through pores of the membrane at the bottom of insert with 5% FBS gradient over the period of 24 h incubation. Migrated stained cells were counted and represented graphically (Figure 4(c)). We observed an increase of over 200% in migration in the TWIST transfected (GCTT) cells when compared to the control GCT transfected with the empty vector (GCT-EV) (Figure 4(d)).
4. Discussion
GCT is a highly vascular and locally invasive tumor with metastatic potential [17–19]. In this study we investigated an important but previously unreported signaling pathway that regulates angiogenesis and EMT in GCT. We observed that TWIST regulates the expression of angiogenic factors by the tumor cells and also regulates EMT features such as E-cadherin expression and cell migration.
Previous work in our lab reported that TWIST, a master osteogenic regulator, was highly expressed in all GCT specimens examined [13, 14]. TWIST is a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein that plays a central role not only in EMT but also in cell type determination and differentiation and has been shown to regulate early osteogenesis [20]. TWIST has been shown to regulate EMT indirectly through binding to the E-cadherin promoter and suppressing transcription [16, 21, 22]. Here we found that, in GCT cells, TWIST indeed regulates E-cadherin expression and increases the migration of the tumor cells. Thus, although TWIST may have a role in the osteoblastic differentiation of the tumor cells in GCT, it is also likely to play a role in the aggressive characteristics of the tumor cells.
TWIST overexpression in an MCF-7 xenograft in vivo breast cancer model has been shown to increase tumor growth and angiogenesis [23]. We considered the possibility that overexpression of TWIST results in downstream angiogenesis and blood vessel recruitment in GCT. TWIST expression in both nuclei and cytoplasm of GCT osteoblastic cells indicates the possible role of TWIST in angiogenesis and tumor progression. Several studies have indicated that tumor cells secrete MMPs with an extracellular matrix that contributes to angiogenesis and malignancy in early and advanced stages of tumors [24, 25]. It has been reported that higher expression of VEGF is associated with the aggressiveness of the GCT tumor [17]. We also observed an increase in VEGF and VEGFR1 expression with overexpression of TWIST, whereas knockdown of TWIST expression resulted in decreased expression of these angiogenic factors. These findings indicate that TWIST plays an upstream role in angiogenesis in GCT.
Others have reported that the mechanism by which TWIST promotes tumor invasion and metastasis is likely to be via the inhibition of E-cadherin and increased cell migration [10, 26]. We observed that overexpression of TWIST in GCT transfected cells indeed resulted in EMT changes such as suppression of E-cadherin expression and increased fibronectin expression. Fibronectin plays a key role in the tissue remodeling and cell migration events that occur during normal embryonic development and adult wound-healing. Fibroblasts secrete proteases, including matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). MMPs act as critical mediators of the EMT process, which stimulates cell proliferation, cell migration, and cell morphological alternation [17, 24, 25]. We further observed that ectopic TWIST overexpression activates the MMP-2 expression at transcript and protein levels which indicates that MMPs could stimulate intrinsic cancer cells and stroma cell responses to tumor malignancy.
Moreover, knockdown of TWIST expression inhibited cell migration in an in vitro assay and accordingly induced E-cadherin expression. Moreover, knockdown of TWIST expression inhibited cell migration and also induced E-cadherin expression. We further performed wound-healing and transwell insert chamber assays to examine the effect of TWIST on metastasis potential. Our results clearly demonstrate that TWIST overexpression in GCT cells induced cell migration in vitro. Suppression of TWIST expression in highly metastatic mammary carcinoma cells specifically inhibits its metastatic ability [10, 27]; therefore, the role that TWIST plays in GCT cell migration and angiogenesis may indicate its involvement in tumor metastasis.
In summary, we have demonstrated that TWIST promotes tumor angiogenic factor expression and suppression of E-cadherin expression. TWIST, therefore, regulates processes promoting tumor growth such as EMT, migration, angiogenesis, and possibly metastasis. Such coordinated regulation of tumor growth and metastasis warrants consideration for the development of therapeutic targeted intervention.
5. Conclusion
In this study, an important but previously unreported signaling pathway that regulates angiogenesis and EMT in GCT was investigated. We observed that, in GCT stromal cells, TWIST regulates the expression of the angiogenic factor VEGF and the EMT biomarker E-cadherin, as well as cell migration. TWIST has been shown to regulate EMT indirectly through binding to the E-cadherin promoter and suppressing transcription in breast cancer cells. Therefore the high expression of TWIST in GCT may result in downstream angiogenesis and blood vessel recruitment as well as cell migration, both markers of tumor aggressiveness.
TWIST promotes tumor angiogenic factor expression and suppression of E-cadherin expression in GCT stromal cells. TWIST, therefore, regulates processes promoting tumor growth such as EMT, migration, angiogenesis, and possibly metastasis. Such coordinated regulation of tumor growth and metastasis warrants consideration for the development of therapeutic targeted intervention.
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.
The authors would like to thank these following funding sources: Juravinski Cancer Centre Foundation Grant and McMaster University Surgical Associates Grant. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the paper.
- M. Asagiri and H. Takayanagi, "The molecular understanding of osteoclast differentiation," Bone, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 251–264, 2007. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- M. Ghert, N. Simunovic, R. W. Cowan, N. Colterjohn, and G. Singh, "Properties of the stromal cell in giant cell tumor of bone," Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, no. 459, pp. 8–13, 2007. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- S. R. Goldring, A. L. Schiller, and H. J. Mankin, "Characterization of cells from human giant cell tumors of bone," Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, vol. 204, pp. 59–75, 1986. View at: Google Scholar
- M. Nishimura, K. Yuasa, K. Mori et al., "Cytological properties of stromal cells derived from giant cell tumor of bone (GCTSC) which can induce osteoclast formation of human blood monocytes without cell to cell contact," Journal of Orthopaedic Research, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 979–987, 2005. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- E. Katz, M. Nyska, and E. Okon, "Growth rate analysis of lung metastases from histologically benign giant cell tumor of bone," Cancer, vol. 59, no. 10, pp. 1831–1836, 1987. View at: Google Scholar
- D. J. McDonald, F. H. Sim, R. A. McLeod, and D. C. Dahlin, "Giant-cell tumor of bone," Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. American, vol. 68, no. 2, pp. 235–242, 1986. View at: Google Scholar
- J. Folkman, "Tumor angiogenesis: a possible control point in tumor growth," Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 96–100, 1975. View at: Google Scholar
- J. Folkman, "What is the evidence that tumors are angiogenesis dependent?" Journal of the National Cancer Institute, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 4–6, 1990. View at: Google Scholar
- P. Nyberg, L. Xie, and R. Kalluri, "Endogenous inhibitors of angiogenesis," Cancer Research, vol. 65, no. 10, pp. 3967–3979, 2005. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- J. Yang, S. A. Mani, J. L. Donaher et al., "Twist, a master regulator of morphogenesis, plays an essential role in tumor metastasis," Cell, vol. 117, no. 7, pp. 927–939, 2004. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- B. Thisse, M. E. Messal, and F. Perrin-Schmitt, "The twist gene: isolation of a Drosophila zygotle gene necessary for the establishment of dorsoventral pattern," Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 15, no. 8, pp. 3439–3453, 1987. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- R. F. Niu, L. Zhang, G. M. Xi et al., "Up-regulation of twist induces angiogenesis and correlates with metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma," Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 385–394, 2007. View at: Google Scholar
- S. Singh, I. W. Y. Mak, R. W. Cowan, R. Turcotte, G. Singh, and M. Ghert, "The role of TWIST as a regulator in giant cell tumor of bone," Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, vol. 112, no. 9, pp. 2287–2295, 2011. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- S. Singh, M. Singh, I. W. Mak, R. Turcotte, and M. Ghert, "Investigation of FGFR2-IIIC signaling via FGF-2 ligand for advancing GCT stromal cell differentiation," PLoS ONE, vol. 7, Article ID e46769, 2012. View at: Google Scholar
- I. W. Mak, R. E. Turcotte, and M. Ghert, "Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) modulates adhesion, migration and invasion in bone tumor cells," Bone, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 198–207, 2013. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- J. Fu, L. Qin, T. He et al., "The TWIST/Mi2/NuRD protein complex and its essential role in cancer metastasis," Cell Research, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 275–289, 2011. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- S. M. Kumta, L. Huang, Y. Y. Cheng, L. T. C. Chow, K. M. Lee, and M. H. Zheng, "Expression of VEGF and MMP-9 in giant cell tumor of bone and other osteolytic lesions," Life Sciences, vol. 73, no. 11, pp. 1427–1436, 2003. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- Y. Matsumoto, Y. Okada, J.-I. Fukushi et al., "Role of the VEGF-Flt-1-FAK pathway in the pathogenesis of osteoclastic bone destruction of giant cell tumors of bone," Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research, vol. 5, no. 1, article 85, 2010. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- R. M. Taylor, T. G. Kashima, H. J. Knowles, and N. A. Athanasou, "VEGF, FLT3 ligand, PlGF and HGF can substitute for M-CSF to induce human osteoclast formation: implications for giant cell tumour pathobiology," Laboratory Investigation, vol. 92, pp. 1398–1406, 2012. View at: Google Scholar
- M. S. Lee, G. N. Lowe, D. D. Strong, J. E. Wergedal, and C. A. Glackin, "TWIST, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, can regulate the human osteogenic lineage," Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, vol. 75, pp. 566–577, 1999. View at: Google Scholar
- F. Vesuna, P. van Diest, J. H. Chen, and V. Raman, "Twist is a transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin gene expression in breast cancer," Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, vol. 367, no. 2, pp. 235–241, 2008. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- M.-H. Yang, D. S.-S. Hsu, H.-W. Wang et al., "Bmi1 is essential in Twist1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition," Nature Cell Biology, vol. 12, no. 10, pp. 982–992, 2010. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- Y. Mironchik, P. T. Winnard Jr., F. Vesuna et al., "Twist overexpression induces in vivo angiogenesis and correlates with chromosomal instability in breast cancer," Cancer Research, vol. 65, no. 23, pp. 10801–10809, 2005. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
- A. John and G. Tuszynski, "The role of matrix metalloproteinases in tumor angiogenesis and tumor metastasis," Pathology and Oncology Research, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 14–23, 2001. View at: Google Scholar
- S.-O. Yoon, S.-J. Park, C.-H. Yun, and A.-S. Chung, "Roles of matrix metalloproteinases in tumor metastasis and angiogenesis," Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 128–137, 2003. View at: Google Scholar
- L. Zhang, M. Yang, L. Gan et al., "DLX4 upregulates TWIST and enhances tumor migration, invasion and metastasis," International Journal of Biological Sciences, vol. 8, pp. 1178–1187, 2012. View at: Google Scholar
- T. K. Lee, R. T. P. Poon, A. P. Yuen et al., "Twist overexpression correlates with hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis through induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition," Clinical Cancer Research, vol. 12, no. 18, pp. 5369–5376, 2006. View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar
Copyright © 2014 Shalini Singh et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


text:
viewing Angle
I'm wondering whether there is a tag used for viewpoints from which a view is limited only to some direction. Quite often one can see only to one direction and the view to all other directions is blocked e.g. by forest or mountain. Say that I would like to create a point from which one can see to the north. Does anybody know any tag for this? At least a non-standard one :-) --Vojtaf 18:07, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
- I don't know of any special tags. Why not use this one, and add direction=<number of degrees clockwise from North> or similar? EdLoach 10:06, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
- I was just wondering the same, so checked here. We would need to state the start and end point of the range at which the view is of. For rendering purposes it may be easier to tag the range of the view, so it may be 180 degrees, and the centre angle of that range. It could be rounded down to blocks of 22.5 degrees so only 16 symbols are needed for the rendering program. This would work so long as there aren't views in 2 directions from 1 point but it's not a 360 view. I think I'll tag tourism=viewpoint; viewpoint:0; range:160, for a 160 degree view north.
- Also I'm wondering what we should do when a linear route offers a view which isn't best in any 1 particular spot? Ben 20:35, 10 February 2009 (UTC)
- for linear routes I would suggest tagging the way segment with "tourism=scenic_route". --Grille Chompa 11:59, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
- I was just wondering the same. I miss this tag too. I would prevere a tag "direction" instead of viewpoint. So you can have direction=0 and then the optional range=160. May be for rendering you can take a range of 90 degrees if a direction is set and no range-tag. i think, a set with symbols of a range with 30° would be enough. here is the europeen tagwatch for viewpoint --fossy 17:23, 18 March 2009 (UTC)
- I think you are overdoing it a little. In real life, you don't need ranges accurate to a degree and nobody is able to determine the exact degree. It think this should be simplified to: range: quarter, half, (full) and it would be enough to give the direction in N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW. --Nop 19:10, 21 March 2009 (UTC)
- Yes, you don't need the latest degree. But in my opinion the tag should be exactly as possible. And Numbers are very simple. German People would may be write NO instead of NE. And if you would prefere to render only quaters you can do it by calculate the symbol out of the exact value. Example: for range-values from 0° to 135° you take the quarter, for range-values from 136° to 225° you take the half, and so on. The same with the directions: values from 23° to 67° are NE, from 68° to 112° are E and so on. --fossy 07:21, 22 March 2009 (UTC)
- Well, in my opinion, data should not be unnecessarily and unrealistically detailed. German people can tag in English, that is not different here from any other tag. And recalculating the values is exactly the problem. All existing render chains I know are based on mapping tags to map features, none of them supports transposing overdetailed range values. Which means that none of this is going to show on any map anytime soon. I prefer tags than can be visualized with existing technology so we can make some use of them. --Nop 15:12, 2 June 2009 (UTC)
- If you say, that if the data cannot be rendered, so let it be, you are wrong. The OpenStreetMap is supposed to be a geodatabase, not a map. One should really map everything that comes to your mind and that is right. For the purpose of displaying rendered maps there are different projects such as the OpenStreetBrowser...
Keep on tagging! ;-) --Derstefan 17:12, 8 January 2011 (UTC)
- If you say, that if the data cannot be rendered, so let it be, you are wrong. The OpenStreetMap is supposed to be a geodatabase, not a map. One should really map everything that comes to your mind and that is right. For the purpose of displaying rendered maps there are different projects such as the OpenStreetBrowser...
- I do not say that. --Nop 23:34, 8 January 2011 (UTC)
- Another way of thinking would be to trace an area (a triangle for the simplest case) with tourism=view_area (better names are welcomed), with one node holding tourism=viewpoint, and add a relation between this point and the area. Nodes other than the viewpoint may be taken from particular points of the site (e.g. a bridge, a church, a mountain not so far from here...). No need to measure and store any angle (at least for the user point of view). For map rendering, what about a piece of cake on the viewpoint, with constant radius, the angles showing the points of view (NE, SW, E, whatsoever) ; or some touristic maps may also draw that polygon for more details. Teuxe 14:09, 21 April 2011 (BST)
- I think that views can hardly be represented by closed areas. In any given area, there are usually some places invisible because the view is blocked by nearer+higher places, vegetation, or buildings. And outside the area, there may be some mountains or towers visible because they are so high. Even on the ocean, approaching ships become visible before they reach the horizon. That's why I prefer just mapping the angles, not the scope. With elevation data becoming more and more exact, renderers should be able to calculate scopes themselves. --Fkv 20:45, 21 April 2011 (BST)
Tagging scheme
As tag we should use viewpoint:direction=* or viewing_direction=*, because direction=* is used in an other way.
Because of the possibility of multiple viewing directions, we should not use direction and range. Instead we should use the same scheme of opening_hours and allow more than one directions separated with a semicolon. To show the range it is good to use the start and end direction separated with a dash.
The degrees should be positiv integer numbers and rounded to full five degrees. (e.g. 0°, 5°, 115°, 120° and not 3.57632°, -120°) --Vsandre 10:20, 2 June 2009 (UTC)
|viewing direction
|possible viewing direction to north, east and south
|from east over south to west, but not to north
|from north to north-east and south to north-west
|from west over north to east, but not to south
- I think this is total overkill. Most real-life situation do not need this amount of precision, it is impossible to determine the view to a degree, so the information will always be wrong, debatable and quickly outdated. It is not possible to show it on a map in this detail. No existing rendering chain supports such type of tagging, so it's useless for all existing maps.
- Keep things simple! --Nop 12:02, 2 June 2009 (UTC)
- I limited the angels to full 5 degrees steps. If you only want to use the cardinal points, why not rounding these angels to N,NE,E,SE,SW, W or NW. viewpoint:direction=0-90 will be preprocessed for example to meta_viewpoint:N=yes, meta_viewpoint:NE=yes and meta_viewpoint:E=yes.--Vsandre 14:31, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
- I think that 5° steps would just combine the drawbacks of all suggestions:
- * you are not allowed to map the exact angle even if you measured it
- * without a good compass, you probably still don't know the angle that exactly
- * it is still somewhat difficult to read for both humans and computers
- * besides, mappers wouldn't care and would type in more exact values anyway whenever they know
- Therefore, I prefer 1° steps as in your original suggestion. If this is considered too fine or too complicated, then Nop's suggestion (NE,SW...) seems more to the point. The syntax could be: viewpoint:direction=<any combination of N,NE,E,SE,S,SW,W,NW, separated by semicolons> The default would be full view, so you never need to type in the complete list. --Fkv 18:40, 14 January 2011 (UTC)
- When you can't determine the view to a degree, just type in an estimation. We also use to map coordinates with 7 positions after the decimal point, although none of us can ever measure them that exactly. --Fkv 18:40, 14 January 2011 (UTC)
- I limited the angels to full 5 degrees steps. If you only want to use the cardinal points, why not rounding these angels to N,NE,E,SE,SW, W or NW. viewpoint:direction=0-90 will be preprocessed for example to meta_viewpoint:N=yes, meta_viewpoint:NE=yes and meta_viewpoint:E=yes.--Vsandre 14:31, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
- Why not (propose) a relation of type=line_of_sight with members 1*from and (1-n)*to. Include only the outermost visible things or the main attractions visible, if it's not a "nature only" type of viewpoint. Alv 12:13, 2 June 2009 (UTC)
- Opose these proposal, because one relation and n ways with n+1 nodes will be too much for one simple degree.--Vsandre 14:31, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
- Really it's true that we should not need to be very precise for the opening angle, because it will be actually rendered using bubble-formed rays around a small central filled circle: these rays should not exceed the maximum number of 10 (for a full circle), and in all other cases it will between 3 and 9 rays. This will limit the number of symbols to just a few: 3 to 9 rays.
- With 3 rays within a 80 to 120 degrees angle, even if the viewing angle is lower than 80 degrees, meaning that the number of rays need to be rounded, as well as the number of rays; and their angle mutual separation recomputed according to this rounded number). This metric gives a angle separation of rays between 40 degrees inclusive and 60 degrees exclusive.
- Viewing angles between 120 degrees and 160 degrees exclusive you add a fourth ray with the same separation between 40 and 50 degrees.
- Viewing angles between 160 degrees and 200 degrees exclusive you add a fifth ray.
- Viewing angles between 200 degrees and 140 degrees exclusive you add a sixth ray.
- Viewing angles between 240 degrees and 280 degrees exclusive you add a seventh ray.
- Viewing angles between 280 degrees and 320 degrees exclusive, you add an eigth ray.
- Viewing angles between 320 degrees and 360 degrees inclusive, you add the last ninth ray around a full circle, which normally requires no orientation and whose "central" ray can point arbitrarily to the North.
- Finally, it also happens that the same point gives two view points in opposite directions, without neceassrily filling the whole circle: we could as well superopose the two viewpoints.
- When rendering as SVG it will absolutely not a problem to use a rotate() operator for each ray drawn.
- However the direction of viewing should have enough precision so that it will properly be rendered with one half of the rays one one side, and the second half of rays on the otherside. On coastal maps or mountain maps, these viewpoints are very frequently found and need to be correctly oriented, so I think that the precision of 1 degree will still be necessary (this will not be a difficulty, given that the symbol can be fully vectorized, using basic computations).
- On the opposite the direction of viewing must be precise enough (especially for coastal maps like with cliffs or capes).
- It's also true that not all viewpoints are "natural", this may be on top of a building, tower or fortress, in a city.
- There is also the case of viewpoints along a path: this is not necessarily both sides of the way. For such case, it is usual to draw them differently a half-transparent medium/light green or light blue or cyan shadow (sometimes even gold/orange on some maps) on the correct side of the path (it may be on the right or left of both sides of the way, and only for a given section): this is typical for pedestrian paths along rivers, canyons, or watered areas. The effective color of this shadow depends on the kind of viewpoints, and notably the terrain on which it is observed. But it may also depend on the convention used to denote selected touristic routes. Verdy p 06:41, 27 August 2009 (UTC)
- So my suggestion is for "viewpoint=direction[,view_angle]", where the direction is a single angle measured anticlockwise from the North, with a precision as down to 1 degree, and an optional view_angle (the default will be 80 degrees that draws 3 rays, and the view_angle will be one between 80 and 280 degrees by step of 10, or 360). E.g. viewpoint:direction=52, and optional viewpoint:open=45.
- The renderer will adjust itself the viewpoint:open value occording to its rendering constraint (may depend on the form of the rays, or rendering resolution). The length of rays should be about the equivalent of 50-100 metres on map, and it will disappear at some scales where it becomes impossible to display the asterisc-like symbol with distinct rays and a clear central dot of about 2 metres. Verdy p 06:53, 27 August 2009 (UTC)
- Really it's true that we should not need to be very precise for the opening angle, because it will be actually rendered using bubble-formed rays around a small central filled circle: these rays should not exceed the maximum number of 10 (for a full circle), and in all other cases it will between 3 and 9 rays. This will limit the number of symbols to just a few: 3 to 9 rays.
- The advantage of your proposal is that it can already be used with the todays rendering software. But you forgot the problem of having two different directions, see example viewpoint:direction=0-45;180-315. --Vsandre 14:31, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
- viewpoint:direction=0-360 --t-i 23:07, 19 August 2012 (BST)
- why ? we did not tag opening_hours=Mo-Su 0:00-24:00 -> 24/7 is enough ! --Lübeck 08:27, 22 August 2012 (BST)
- viewpoint:direction=0-360 --t-i 23:07, 19 August 2012 (BST)
How about binoculars=yes if there are public binoculars (as on the image in the Description Box)? Perhaps with a binoculars:fee=yes if you have to pay to use the binoculars... --T-i 02:17, 10 September 2009 (UTC)
This tag for ways
I propose to use this tag for ways too. Very often especially good view available not from one point but from part of footway (from bridge, from path along cliff, ect). Lzhl 21:48, 21 November 2010 (UTC).
- You're right that sometimes you have a whole way with a nice view. I think of the panoramic roads. But in terms of OSM we should confine ourselves to on node. Not only because in the word viewpoint is the word point. How would you interpret the property
direction. One would have to have the opinion of a programmer of a renderer. --geozeisig (talk) 08:09, 24 November 2017 (UTC)
Specify definition
In the center of Vienna there's a bar with a quite good view, on their website they claim that it would be one of the best views in Vienna (which isn't true). Someone added a note that the viewpoint should be added to the map. If there's no clear definition of a viewpoint, every bar / restaurant / café in every city can claim to have a viewpoint as long as they are located in a high-rise building…
In my opinion, a viewpoint should always be publicly available, apart from that it should be identified by a sign and/or there should be public binoculars and/or a map explaining the panorama. These are just a few examples but I think it's important to agree on some criteria. --Stefan Nagy (talk) 17:49, 12 October 2014 (UTC)
tagging with peaks
I strongly disagree with "Due to the rule One feature, one OSM element the node should not be another object at the same time, eg natural=peak or man_made=tower".
tourism=viewpoint may be also considered as property of object, not as a separate object. Given that 10% of tagged viewpoints are following this tagging method it is clear that I am not unusual in this opinion - see https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/tourism=viewpoint#combinations Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 22:56, 21 November 2017 (UTC)
- I agree in this case with you that the tag could be read as property, although a true "peak" will always offer some kind of view, so I feel it is superfluous to add tourism=viewpoint here (similarly for the top of towers, etc.). --Dieterdreist (talk) 14:07, 23 November 2017 (UTC)
- Note that tourism=viewpoint is not for any place with any view, see "A place where tourists, visitors, hikers might like to visit and take photographs." Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 03:49, 17 January 2018 (UTC)
- If we have an object like a tower or peak, viewpoint can be added as a property like
viewpoint=yes. Unfortunately tower is not rendered at Carto, then it would be noticed that not both can be rendered simultaneously. There are other cases where this is so similar:
ice_cream=yesetc. --geozeisig (talk) 07:59, 24 November 2017 (UTC)
- It can be also added directly as tourism=viewpoint, there is no good reason to avoid it Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 03:49, 17 January 2018 (UTC)
- "a true "peak" will always offer some kind of view" - note that this is true probably only in your local area. There are many forested peaks with no view whatsoever Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 06:23, 17 June 2018 (UTC)
- And anyway, just because all objects tagged with X can be also tagged with Y does not mean that Y should not be tagged Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 06:30, 17 June 2018 (UTC)
Would it be fair to tag a viewing area for astronomers as a viewpoint? Most of the places also have good views during the day, and are usually named. I am referring specifically to places like Ice House Observation Plateau, or Old Iron Mountain.
Maybe an additional tag could be added, like type=astronomy
--gappleto97 00:39, 16 June 2018 (UTC)
- Places that have unusually good views during day may be clearly tagged. For dark sky locations without good views during day I would invent a separate tag, if any. Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 07:06, 16 June 2018 (UTC)


text:
Everyone talks about DNA. And shows those lovely double helix cartoon images of DNA. But when you're a researcher in a lab, what does DNA actually look like? How in the world do we see it?
- X-Ray crystallography. To be fair, this is an indirect way to see DNA but it is the way that the structure of DNA was determined (as described in our book club book The Double Helix) so it's worth mentioning. Remember when you were a kid and you made rock candy by hanging a string or stick in water that had a ton of sugar dissolved into it? Well scientists can do the same thing with DNA or proteins – make crystals of them. These crystals are much smaller than the crystals in rock candy. Think microscopic. When molecules are all lined up in the same direction, like they are when they form a crystal, scientists can hit the crystal with X-rays and what bounces around and through the crystal can be detected (this is called a diffraction pattern), measured and transformed to determine the 3D image of the molecule – that double helix structure you see pictures of all the time. This process is called X-Ray crystallography and for the first images of DNA, the diffraction pattern looked like the picture to the left.
- Most scientists do not look at DNA to the atomic level like in X-Ray crystallography, but rather want to see it inside of a cell. The DNA in a cell is inside the nucleus and certain dyes (such as the Hoechst dye) bind to DNA. Under UV light, the Hoechst dye glows, showing exactly where the DNA is in the cell. If you look at the picture to the right, you can see the outline of three cells and the blue DNA inside the nucleus of those three cells. Why would a scientist want to see where the DNA is and what it looks like? You can learn a lot from just looking at the DNA. For example, whether or not a cell is dividing or dying, which can be really important if you want to know whether or not the cancer cells you are studying die when you treat them with a drug.
- Scientists don't always look at the DNA directly inside of a cell either. For an experiment they may want to isolate the DNA (meaning, take the DNA out of a lot of cells to study it) and then manipulate it in some way (sequence it, amplify it, modify it, etc). Once my mom asked me how big DNA is when you take it out of cells and work with it in the lab. Well, the answer is that you need a LOT of it to even see it. In the lab, we may grow bacteria in 5 ml of growth media, which after growing overnight contains 10,000,000,000 cells. We then bust these cells open with a detergent (like soap, but not soap), spin out all of the extra bits of cells, and then force the DNA to show itself by adding an alcohol like ethanol in a process called precipitation (if you want to learn more about the details, check out this article). How much DNA do you get in the end – well it depends, but it's not a lot, visually at least. And what does it look like? See the whitish smear at the bottom of that tiny tube? That's the DNA.
Are there other ways to see DNA? YES! But many of them are based on dyes like the one described in #2 above. At some point, we'll definitely talk about them in the context of analyzing DNA sequence and running gels. And I'm not talking at all here about "seeing" DNA by determining it's sequence, even though that's important too.
So now that you know a few ways that scientists see DNA, it's your turn. Grab a lab partner, and isolate DNA on your own!! Don't know how? No problem! There are a number of different ways to isolate DNA at home, the most common being from the cells of an onion or the cells of strawberries. The experiments for extracting DNA from ONIONS or STRAWBERRIES are linked. At the end of the experiment, what will you see? Long strands of isolated DNA from all of the onion or strawberry cells. Enjoy and please share photos and stories of your DNA isolation adventures!


text:
Statement of the Deputy Commissioner for the Rights of National Minorities on the Month of Serbian Culture in Hungary
The Month of Serbian Culture in Hungary, which is now organized for the ninth time, commenced on September 7, 2018 with an opening ceremony and a classical music concert presenting the works of the Buda-born Serbian composer Péter Sztojánovits. The rich series of events closing on October 5 offered a wide selection of Serbian folklore, church music, jazz, theatrical art and contemporary poetry but Belgrade also introduced itself to the audience by some touristic programs. The journey on the "Pest Literatary Omnibus" was a special element of the program series, which showed the places of Budapest connected with Serbia through poems. Thus, in addition to presenting the culture of Serbia, the program offered an opportunity for showing the values of the Serbian community living in Hungary, as well as their activities aimed at preserving their identity and cultivating their traditions.
As the Deputy Commissioner for the Rights of National Minorities, I find it important that the national minority communities living in Hungary, with help and support from their mother countries, as the case may be, should be given the opportunity, as often as possible, to present their values and culture, which enrich our common homeland, to the majority society. Besides the Serbian Cultural and Documentation Center in Hungary, many Serbian national minority self-governments, parishes, national minority institutions, and civil society organizations participated in the joint efforts as a result of which the events of the Month of Serbian Culture in Hungary were realized. I am convinced that by this exemplary initiative and the series of cultural programs of other national minority communities, as good practices, the diversity of the cultures of the national minorities in Hungary will become an everyday experience to all of us.
The Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights would like to take its share from this work by regularly hosting cultural programs, exhibitions, as well as organizing memorial meetings and conferences in honor of the outstanding personalities of these national minorities, thus allowing the promotion of the cultures of these communities.
Dr. Elisabeth Sándor-Szalay, Prof. HC
Deputy Ombudsman


text:
Networked systems play major roles in our society by providing critical services such as intelligent transportation systems and the smart grid. The operation of networked systems relies on the estimation procedure which computes the values of the desired variables based on noisy information collected by sensors. However, sensors' measurements might contain private information. Thus, revealing the output of an estimator to an untrusted party might result in the loss of privacy. For example, the occupancy level of a building, which is considered as private information, can be inferred from temperature estimates.
In this talk, we will study the design of the optimal privacy-aware estimator of a public (non-private) random variable based on noisy measurements which contain private information. The privacy metric is defined as the discrete conditional entropy of the private random variable, which carries the private information, given the output of the estimator. The objective is to design an estimator for the public random variable such that the leakage of the private information, via the estimation process, is kept below a certain level. We will show that the optimal privacy-aware estimator is the solution of a convex optimization problem. The notion of perfect-privacy is introduced which ensures that the estimator's output is independent of the private information. It will be shown that the optimal perfect-privacy estimator is the solution of a linear optimization problem. A sufficient condition for the existence of the optimal perfect-privacy estimator will be presented.
Ehsan Nekouei received the B.Sc. degree from Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran, in 2003, the M.Sc. degree from Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran, in 2006, and the Ph.D. degree from The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, in 2013. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the department of automatic control, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. He held various research positions at The University of Melbourne from 2013 to 2016. His research interests include privacy in networked control systems, wireless communication systems and electricity markets.


text:
How can you associate a surveillance camera to your personalities or characteristics?
January 23, 2012 by admin
Filed under Surveillance Camera
I need some characteristics of a surveillance camera that can associate to a person's personalities….PLEASE HELP ME… >.<
Some ideas to kick off: quiet, perceptive, hidden, introverted, and intellectual I guess as it is able to crack cases when people rob stores and such.
addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fcctvdvr.co.uk%2Fhow-can-you-associate-a-surveillance-camera-to-your-personalities-or-characteristics%2F9716′;
addthis_title = 'How+can+you+associate+a+surveillance+camera+to+your+personalities+or+characteristics%3F';
How Can I easily disconnect the Clifford security system from my vehicle?
January 23, 2012 by admin
Filed under Security System
My trusted mechanic in this small, remote Arizona desert town found and just swapped out a 2003 Toyota engine for the thoroughly dead 1995 engine and now the security system does not recognize the 2003 engine, so we are not able to even get the starter to turn. How Can I easily disconnect the Clifford [...]
How does the public health system in panama work for people not covered by social security?
January 16, 2012 by admin
Filed under Security System
Hello everybody!
I'm working on a presentation about the health system in Panama and there are a few things I still don't quite understand about the public health system.
There are hospitals from Social Security and the Ministry of Health. Can you just go to each of these hospitals? And what happens when you are unemployed and [...]
how to setup a cctv dvr?
We set up a youtube channel where you can see how to setup a DVR
But what is important is hiding your cable – proper mounting of the cameras, and of course choosing the right DVR
addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fcctvdvr.co.uk%2Fhow-to-setup-a-cctv-dvr%2F9713′;
addthis_title = 'how+to+setup+a+cctv+dvr%3F';
addthis_pub = ";
Dvr cctv camera downloading to pc problem…?
i have a CK-DVR-4920 but i cannot download the file to my pc…
i tried to get the 260gb hardisk and put it directly to the primary slave of my PC, but it was not detected.
i tried also to use the USB port, and connect it to my PC… My PC recognizes a USB Mass Storage [...]


text:
Irresistible coffee shop cakes
The UK's leisure landscape has changed drastically over the last five years. Gone are the days when the traditional pub monopolised the high street; now coffee shops can be found on every corner, catering to a nation of coffee lovers seeking a cosy retreat.
What, then, can coffee shops do to stand out from the crowd and maximise revenue? The need to provide cakes and pastries that look irresistible whilst tasting divine has never been more important. Our individual gourmand tart collection is perfectly suited to a coffee shop counter – fruit tarts such as strawberry and blueberry can brighten up your display with vibrant colour that immediately catches the eye. Rich flavours, including baked chocolate, are the perfect indulgent accompaniment to your customer's favourite drink.
Alternatively, why not try our velvety triple-layered cakes, from moist chocolate fudge cake to classic Victoria sponge? Paper between each slice helps to keep the cake fresher for longer, perfect for storing on a counter-top and quickly portioning for customers who wish to take away.
For our full list of products, please consult our catalogue here or ring 0844 856 0911 for more information


text:
"HALESOWEN, a parish, post, and market town, partly in the lower division of the hundred of Halfshire, county Worcester, and partly in the Halesowen division of the hundred of Brimstree, county Salop, 7½ miles S.W. of Birmingham, 4½ E. of Stourbridge, and 5 S. of Dudley. The parish, which is very considerable both in extent and population, is situated in a vale watered by the river Stour, which has its source in the neighbouring hills. The North-Western railway and the Dudley canal pass in the vicinity. The manufacture of steel is extensively carried on at Congreaves, and there are some coal-pits in the parish. It contains the townships of Cradley, St. Kenelm, Langley, Oldbury, Hill, Hasbury, and eleven other townships The manor was given by John to the Bishop of Winchester, who built a Premonstratensian priory here, the remains of which are still visible. Its revenue at the Dissolution was returned at £33715s. 6d. The town of Halesowen is said to have been formerly a borough, though it does not appear to have returned members to parliament. It consists principally of one street, with several cross streets, irregularly built. It is well paved and lighted with gas, and has many good houses and shops. Gun-barrels, anchors, anvils, edge tools, spades, &c., are extensively manufactured. Petty sessions are held at the New Inn every Wednesday. The police station was erected in 1847. The soil is chiefly clay and loam. There are lime and brick kilns, and red sandstone is quarried. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Worcester, value £680. The church, dedicated to SS. Mary and John the Evangelist, is an ancient structure, with a fine tower crowned with a spire, and containing eight bells. In the interior are tombs of Shenstone the poet, and of Miss Powell, with an epitaph by Shenstone. The church stands within the churchyard at the N.W. side of the town, and was thoroughly restored in 1838. In addition to the parish church there are five district churches, viz: at Oldbury, St. Kenelm, Romsley, Cradley, The Quinton, and Langley, the livings of which are all perpetual curacies* varying in value from £156 to £116. The charities produce about £271 per annum. The Independents, Primitive and New Conne ion Methodists, have each a place of worship. There are free grammar, National, infant, and Sunday schools. The Grange is the principal residence. Lord Lyttelton is lord of the manor. In 1804 an earthen vessel containing many valuable Roman coins, was discovered at Cakemoor, but a few only were preserved. Several celebrated men have been natives of this parish, as Shenstone the poet, whose paternal estate was Leasowes. The grottoes where he studied are still to be seen at Birchill House. Dr. Adam Littleton, author of the Latin Dictionary, and William Caslon, the celebrated type-founder, were also born here. Market day is Saturday, and a fair is held on Easter Monday and Tuesday."[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2015]
- A transcript of the HalesOwen parish entries from Samuel Lewis's 1831 Topographical Dictionary of England,
- A transcript of the HalesOwen parish entries from Gregory's 1824 Gazetteer of Shropshire,
- A transcript of the Halesowen parish entries from Stephen Whatley's 1750 Gazetteer of England,
Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2015
- " CAKEMORE, a township in the parish of Halesowen, formerly in the hundred of Brimstree, in the county of Salop, but now in the hundred of Halfshire, in the county of Worcester, not far from Hales Owen."
- Ask for a calculation of the distance from Halesowen to another place.
You can see the administrative areas in which Halesowen has been placed at times in the past. Select one to see a link to a map of that particular area.
You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SO965833 (Lat/Lon: 52.447649, -2.052924), Halesowen which are provided by:
- OpenStreetMap
- Google Maps
- StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
- Bing (was Multimap)
- OldMaps (Old Ordnance Survey maps.)
- Old Maps Online (Other old maps.)
- National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
- Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
- English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
- Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
- GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)
- All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.


text:
Chaos Black ROLL BACK 2020 Specs
Check the boxes below for availability.
People who bought Columbia 300 Chaos Black ROLL BACK 2020 also bought...
3 Ball Inline Roller Tote Black
Path Deluxe Double Roller Black/Silver
Harness the Chaos by Columbia 300.
The Chaos has returned and it's redefined. The Chaos Black brings back the Chaos symmetric core with low RG/high differential and HyperShock Technology for ultimate energy storage downlane.
Around the outside of the ball, you will find the Exciter Solid reactive coverstock finished at 500/1000 Abralon and polished with Powerhouse Factory Finish Polish. This coverstock was also featured in the Savage line. Perfect for medium to heavy lane conditions, this ball will go long and flip hard into the pocket wreaking Chaos on the pins.
Here is what Columbia 300 has to say about the Chaos Black:
At Columbia 300, we like to live on the wild side. Typically we like to wow our customers with flashy colors and performance that matches. When we create a ball like the Chaos Black that makes head turning change of direction at the breakpoint, toning down the color scheme is a must to keep some sense of order.
Chaos Black ROLL BACK 2020 Videos
Sign in to Upload Your Own Video
Customer Service
Site Features
Our Reputation
Security Guaranteed


text:
The following commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of AgWeb or Farm Journal. The opinions expressed below are the author's own.
If fly season has not yet begun in your part of the country, it soon will. While we'll probably never "win" the war on flies, early action and a season-long control strategy can prevent stress, lost performance and disease associated with flies and other external parasites of cattle.
The issue made headlines this week, when an unusually large hatch of black flies, in this case southern buffalo gnats, apparently caused the deaths of a bull and a cow on an Arkansas farm.
In addition to animal-welfare and performance impacts, flies, ticks and other external parasites transmit disease such as pinkeye and anaplasmosis. Prior to last year's changes to the veterinary feed directive (VFD) rules, producers sometimes used medicated minerals or other free-choice feeds containing chlortetracycline (CTC) for prevention of pinkeye, an extra-label application. By law, medicated feeds can only be used in accordance with the label, and with the VFD rules in place, veterinarians must confirm the intended use complies with product labels before writing a VFD order.
Given those restrictions, and with antibiotic use falling under increasing consumer scrutiny and regulatory action, producers can benefit by working with their veterinarians to focus more on parasite control and less on medicated feeds for preventing those diseases.
Oklahoma State University Livestock Entomologist Justin Talley, PhD, says external parasites cause enormous economic losses to the cattle industry in the United States. Horn flies lead the way, causing an estimated $1.36 billion in annual losses in U.S. livestock herds. Stable flies cause an additional $672 million in losses, followed by horse flies at $296 Million, face flies at $191 million and ticks at $162 million.
Talley says when horn flies are present, control efforts can bring an average of 1.5 pounds of extra gain per week. Generally, 200 to 300 flies per animal constitutes an economic threshold, where treatment will pay.
Stable flies tend to accumulate on the lower part and legs of the animal, with five to 10 flies per leg a typical economic threshold. Populations typically peak in the spring and again in the fall.
Face flies are not a biting fly, but cause stress and play a role in transmission of Moraxella bovis, the pathogen that causes pinkeye in cattle.
Horse flies and deer flies can serve as mechanical vectors for Anaplasma marginale, the bacteria causing anaplasmosis in cattle. Veterinarian Gregg Hanzlicek, at the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, says flies carry, but don't amplify the anaplasmosis pathogen, meaning the bacteria flies pick up when feeding is the maximum they will be able to pass on to the next animal when they take their blood meal. Control is important though, as flies can travel significant distances and introduce anaplasmosis into beef herds.
Several species of ticks, particularly the dog tick, serve as biological vectors for the anaplasmosis pathogen. When ticks feed on a positive animal, the bacteria establish inside the tick and reproduce, and the concentration can reach very high levels. When the tick feeds on an animal it will pass those bacteria through the saliva.
Fly control efforts should begin early in the season, before populations explode. Talley says to avoid encouraging pesticide resistance, don't use pyrethroid tags more often than one year in three, and do not use organophosphate tags more than two years in a row.
Insect growth regulators (IGRs) and feed-through larvicides offer additional options. These generally are formulated with mineral blocks or mixes. They pass through the animal and kill or inhibit fly larvae in the manure. In the southern United States, use these products in the early spring, with timing moving later further north, to match the time flies begin laying eggs prior to the seasonal spike in population growth.
The cost of insecticide ear tags averages around $3.20 to $4.45 per cow per season. Pour-on products range from $2.50 to $9.50, depending on the number of treatments needed. Generally, Talley says, ear tags combined with an IGR provide cost-effective control.
Effective fly control requires planning and flexibility to account for seasonal and regional variation. Your veterinarian can help identify strategies for protecting animal health, welfare and performance while preventing pesticide resistance in flies and antibiotic resistance in pathogens.


text:
Spray painted curtain rods, because bronze and gold are boring. Oh my goodness!! How amazing are these spray painted curtain rods!? What a great way to bring color into a room!
When I first saw this, my jaw dropped open. The colors are magnificent and the idea is brilliant. Sit back and imagine a room in your own home, perhaps the living room or a girl's room, and picture one of these curtain rods hanging on your wall holding a beautifully draped curtain. Does it look magnificent?
Of course, you may be able to find painted curtain rods on the Web or maybe even at a trendy store, but why spend hours searching when you can take your own curtain rod and spray paint it yourself? Bronze and gold are boring, it's time to bring on the pastels!
Before spray painting, find out what kind of surface you are working with. Is it metal or plastic? I ask this because I want to make sure you purchase the right paint for the job. If you end up with a product that does not adhere to metal and your curtain rod happens to be steel, then you will have issues. Make a plan and enjoy creating this look in your home.