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David Juntunen (Courtesy of Hennepin County Sheriff's Office)
The gray Lamborghini must've looked as tempting as it was fast.
So tempting, prosecutors allege, that one night last March, the businessman entrusted by a customer to store the sports car over the winter squeezed into its bucket seats with a lady friend and took the car for a very fast spin.
The joyride that David Norman Juntunen and Pamela Jean DuPont took came to an abrupt end when Juntunen slammed the 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo into three trees, knocked over a light pole and tore off a front wheel, causing more than $84,000 in damage to the car.
Hennepin County prosecutors say that what followed was a string of lies to investigators that resulted in both Minneapolis residents being charged Friday, Jan. 25, with insurance fraud and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Juntunen, 39, is in jail in lieu of $80,000 bail and is to make his first court appearance Monday. DuPont, 40, was charged through a summons; no court appearance has been scheduled for her yet.
Juntunen -- who sometimes calls himself "Superdave" -- runs Top Gear Autoworks on Minneapolis' East Lake Street. The business services and provides storage for exotic foreign cars. A message left at the business was not immediately returned Friday.
"Top Gear was started by David 'Superdave' Juntunen who has garnered local acclaim as a responsible, experienced and trustworthy automotive specialist," proclaims the company's website, adding "What makes us different? In a word ... ethics."
Butcops in nine Minnesota counties know him as something else: a convicted sex offender, drunken driver, repeat traffic offender and a guy who'll flee. State records show that before Friday's criminal complaint was filed, Juntunen had been charged with 59 crimes in 30 court cases; 38 of the charges involved driving-related offenses, including 13 counts of driving after his license had been revoked and 10 counts of driving while impaired.
His state record includes convictions for criminal sexual conduct, driving after cancellation (five times), driving while intoxicated (two times), reckless driving and, most recently, fleeing a police officer in 2010.
He's due in court in Ramsey County on Feb. 11 on a charge of reckless driving filed in November -- a charge filed eight days after he pleaded guilty to driving 83 mph in a 70-mph zone in Freeborn County. A week after he was charged in that speeding case, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in Hennepin County.
In the new criminal complaint, Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Paul Scoggin wrote that in November 2011, a man identified in the complaint only as "J.K.C." contracted with Juntunen's business to service and provide winter storage for two cars, including the Lamborghini.
A month later, the man emailed Juntunen and told him that since the cars were in storage, he had suspended their collision insurance.
The first Gallardo rolled off Lamborghini's Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, assembly line in 2003. Various online sources put the value of a 2007 Gallardo (depending on appointments) as between $178,550 to $200,000.
It has a top speed of nearly 200 mph and as one online reviewer noted: "This thing is so quick, so fast, so loud, and sounds so angry at full-throttle that it may scare kids, old people, pets, and livestock. But that's just part of its charm."
The complaint says that on the night of March 8, Juntunen took the Lamborghini out of storage.
About 1:45 a.m. March 9, a Fridley police officer had stopped a suspected drunken driver on University Avenue and was having the car towed when a Lamborghini sped by "at a high rate of speed," Scoggin wrote.
The tow truck driver got part of the license plate number.
About 15 minutes later, residents near B.F. Nelson Park on Main Street East in Minneapolis heard a crash. A car had struck three trees and knocked over a light pole. But when Minneapolis Park Police were called to the scene the next day, there was no car.
What followed was old-fashioned police work, said Lt. Robert Goodsell, who heads investigations for the park police.
He said there was no telling what speed the sports car was going when it hit the trees, but it was fast.
"I would say the damage to hit the trees, to take down the trees and the light poles and rip the wheel off the car, I would say that would take some velocity," said Goodsell. "For parts like that to be removed, it's hard to say what speed it was going. What does it take to rip a front wheel off a car?"
According to the criminal complaint, Juntunen had the car towed back to his business and didn't report the incident to police. Later that day, he filed a claim with Top Gear's insurer, whose adjustor determined it would cost $84,480.12 to repair the car.
Juntunen initially told the insurance company that he'd been driving the car to another Top Gear storage facility, but he apparently later said the car was being driven by DuPont, who had started working at Top Gear a few weeks before the crash, the complaint said.
When police spoke to Juntunen and DuPont, they claimed DuPont had been driving and "swerved to avoid striking an animal and went off the road where the vehicle hit trees and light poles," Scoggin wrote.
The insurance company didn't think their stories added up. The insurer told Juntunen and DuPont that they'd have to give sworn statements about the crash, but neither showed up on the scheduled date.
The insurer refused to pay the claim.
Scoggin said that on Dec. 13, Juntunen met with the vehicle's owner and admitted he took the Lamborghini out without permission.
The owner asked him why he wouldn't go back to the insurer and ask them to pay for the damage, and "Juntunen said, 'If I ask them to pay based on the statements I gave, I'm going to prison. It's insurance fraud,' " Scoggin wrote.
The owner had only storage insurance on the vehicle and, as Scoggin noted, "To date, the damaged Lamborghini has not been repaired."
The criminal complaint notes that because of Juntunen's driving-related convictions, "any vehicle he operates is required to be equipped with ignition interlock."
The insurance fraud claim against both alleges that they conspired to defraud the insurance company by lying about the crash and concealing facts about it. The maximum sentence for insurance fraud is 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
The second count each faces accuses them of taking the car without the owner's consent. That crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
David Hanners can be reached at 612-338-6516.
Source: http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_22453204/smashed-lamborghini-insurance-fraud-charge-latest-legal-trouble?source=rss
nationwide race wanderlust gone tyler perry good deeds pretty in pink nba all star game shark tank


text: A hiking trip to the top of Le Morne Mountain is a must-do for some of the most spellbinding views on Mauritius. Our exclusive tour uses licensed guides, the only ones on the island with the authorisation to take our guests to the very summit. Upon departure we provide you with a special LUX* backpack complete with a picnic box packed with homemade provisions made with ingredients you will actually see growing on the mountain during your hike. The pack also includes binoculars and our covetable LUX* t-shirts incase you need to refresh en-route.

subset: commoncrawl


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SEHIP Wellness
SEHIP Wellness is a joint project between ADPH and the State Employees' Health Insurance Plan (SEHIP). SEHIP Wellness is a voluntary program, available during work hours, at no cost to state employees. SEHIP Wellness screens for potential health problems, makes referrals to the medical community, and educates participants about preventive measures.
Health screenings consist of measurements for diabetes, pulse, blood pressure, fasting lipid profiles, metabolic syndrome screening, risk factor assessment, body mass index (BMI) calculation with weight loss goals, and referral to medical providers. With certain abnormal test results, you may be eligible to receive a voucher to waive the co-pay for a follow-up physician's visit.
- SEIB Wellness Calendar: Search our calendar to find out when services will be offered in your area. Please be sure to select your county from the drop-down menu.
- SEIB Wellness County Contacts: If you would like more information about local Wellness services, view our contacts by county.
- Wellness Premium Discount Program: Find out how to waive your $25.00 premium increase by participating in a Wellness health screening.
- State Wellness Center and Pharmacy: In addition to providing annual wellness health screenings, active and retired state employees now have a full-service pharmacy available to State Employees' Health Insurance Plan (SEHIP) members.
Page last updated: January 13, 2020


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Empty jars for foundations for personalized mixes.
Warning: Last items in stock!
Availability date:
The same jar our eye foundations come in, empty and ready to put your own personalized mixes in it. The perfect, practical way to take your foundation, blush, or powder with you anywhere. The jar is fitted with a removable dispenser with holes in and a blank label you can write the contents on.
Dimensions: height 2.5cm, diameter 5.0cm, can hold 7 to 10g of mineral powder.


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Introducing EventStudio System Designer 6. A free 45 day trial is available for download.
New features in the release:
Message endpoint tagging
Specify tags
Tag the message source and destinations. This can be used to identify the endpoint port numbers, and specify the protocol layer or software entities.
|"BSSMAP PAGING": A-bssmap -> B-bssmap
|HTTPGet : Client -> Server-"80"
|Cascade : A-rr -> B-cc -> C-"80"
|A-bcch multicasts SI to B-bcch, C-bcch
|Cascade : A-cc -> B-cc -> C-rr
Chain1(par1,param2,param3):A-cc-> B-cc
Chain2: B-cc -> C-rr
Style tags
Each type of tag can be individually formatted. The color, font and font size may be specified. The styles for tags should be named as <tag>_tag_style. A few examples are shown below:
style rr_tag_style: color=RED, bgcolor=RED, textcolor=WHITE
style sccp_tag_style: color=DODGERBLUE, bgcolor=DODGERBLUE, textcolor=WHITE
style isup_tag_style: color=GREY, bgcolor=GREY, textcolor=WHITE
style bssmap_tag_style: color=MIDNIGHTBLUE, bgcolor=MIDNIGHTBLUE, textcolor=WHITE
style cc_tag_style: color=DARKSLATEGRAY, bgcolor=DARKSLATEGRAY, textcolor=WHITE
style bcch_tag_style: color=DODGERBLUE, bgcolor=DODGERBLUE, textcolor=WHITE
style "80_tag_style": color=DODGERBLUE, bgcolor=DODGERBLUE, textcolor=WHITE
Tag specific diagrams
Use tags to filter and generate sequence diagrams that just contain messages with a specific tag.
Control the look and feel of documents with default styles. Automatically apply these styles that match regular expressions. For example, specify a style for all messages that start with specific text. Styles have been enhanced to change colors for the background, text, and parameters.
Group interactions with sequences
Simplified sequence definitions
Grouping interactions has been simplified. Just enclose the interactions in a sequence statement. EventStudio automatically identifies the interacting entities.
Nest sequences
Sequences may be nested. Quickly access a sequence from a PDF bookmark, which are nested too.
Collapse sequences
|Complete sequences are shown the first time they occur in a sequence diagram.
|Subsequent occurrences of the sequence are shown as a simple clickable box. Clicking on the box takes the user to the expanded sequence.
module: Module_01 component: Component_01 in Module_01 eternal: a in Component_01, b in Component_01, c in Component_01 feature "Sequence Grouping" sequence "Call Setup" IAM : a -> b b takes action "Check digits" ACM : a <- b endsequence case leg "Called Party Free": a, b take action "Set up the voice path" leg "Called Party Busy": a, b take action "Feed busy tone" endcase sequence "Call Release" REL : a -> b RLC : a <- b endsequence endfeature
Classify systems with 5 levels of hierarchy
Generate sequence diagrams at any of the five abstraction levels.
Developers may work at the component and object level. System architects analyze the design at a system and subsystem level.
Improved modeling
Actions, which have a distinct beginning and ending, can be modeled with the new continuous action support. Also, actions may be specified at different levels in the hierarchy.
Lost messages can be modeled in sequence diagrams. Additionally, messages can be represented through a single simple statement.
|"Lost Message": A ->X B
|"Message Cascade": A -> B -> C
Enhanced tracing support
Flexible object interactions
Method invocation rules have been relaxed to make them compatible with sequence diagram generation from trace messages (http://eventhelix.github.com/trace-to-sequence-diagram/). Method calls to caller classes are permitted.
Command line
Command line mode is used to generate sequence diagrams from scripts. The command line can now be customized with specific conditional defines and include paths.
Model large systems
Share instance axes
Large number of interacting entities need not result in a large number of axis in diagrams. Dynamic objects can share a single instance axis, thus reducing the total number of axes needed in a sequence diagram.
Really large sequence diagrams
Sequence diagrams can now run into hundreds of pages. This is useful when converting large trace documents to sequence diagrams.
XML export
Export scenarios and interactions to XML. This enables generation of custom diagrams and documents.


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PlayStation 4 system software update version 7.00 launches later this week and brings the maximum number of party users from 8 to 16, adds a new Chat Transcription feature for US users, and allows for Remote Play on smartphones and tablets running Android 5.0 or higher.
PlayStation.Blog shared the details of this new update that also improves the Remote Play experience for iOS users by allowing users to choose to display the controller at all times and lock the screen orientation.
Android users looking to start using Remote Play will need to download the PS4 Remote Play App from the Google Play store.
DualShock 4 support via Bluetooth will also arrive and will be available on either Android, iPhone, iPad, and/or Mac.
Version 7.00 will also improve network connectivity and audio quality in Party feature, and the previously mentioned Chat Transcription within the Party App will convert US English voice chat to text, or "enables you to enter text that is read aloud to other party members" by the PS4 Second Screen App.
Some of these features were available for testing back in June 2019 thanks to the PlayStation Preview Program that gives fans a chance to try out in-progress feature and improvements to the PlayStation 4.
For more on PlayStation, be sure to check out our recap of its State of Play that revealed that The Last of Us Part 2 will be released on February 21, 2019.
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN who is happy for Android users around the galaxy. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.


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Manufacturer: AW Custom
FPS Range: 260-280
While the world around us has moved to less demanding production techniques, AW Custom has stayed true to its original values based on craftsmanship and quality, that is why AW Custom products are able to last a lifetime. We are the keepers of a culture's ancient craft, a symbol of the airsoft gun maker's desire to stay true to tradition. Each stage of the process: from manufacturing to finishing, is a specialized skill that takes time and careful attention.
(Write a review)
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In Stock
2801 W. Mission Rd., Alhambra, CA 91803
Discuss about AW Custom Japanese Spec M712 Gas Blowback Airsoft Pistol with Imitation Wood Stock / Holster with your friends and fellow Evike.com shoppers!
Comment or answer questions for a chance to win awesome prizes.
Details can be found on the Evike.com Facebook page.
Remember to check "Also post on Facebook" when commenting to qualify for the giveaways!
Have an urgent question about this item? We monitor these comments daily, but it may be faster to email us directly or call us at (626) 286-0360. Our resident experts are standing by to answer your questions!
California Proposition 65 Warning: Cancer and Reproductive Harm - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov


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Whether you are a first time home buyer or are looking to refinance your home, our mortgage specialists at CU Members Mortgage will guide you through each step and provide easy-to-understand answers to your questions, helping you feel confident and informed.
We offer a variety of home loans to meet your needs—all at very competitive rates!
For more information on the wide variety of options available, visit CU Members Mortgage or call (561) 972-1307.


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I'll never forget moving into my very first apartment after college. It was just a small studio with a futon in the corner, but it was all mine. I carefully tacked up posters on the walls with color coordinated plastic push-pins and put little trinkets all around. Those were also the days before I owned my own vacuum cleaner. I would crawl around the floor on my hands and knees with a sticky rolling lint brush to clean the carpet before the girls came over to watch Melrose Place. It was my perfect little nest.
I've got a few bedrooms now, trucks, cars and trains in almost every room, and someone to help me clean up every other week. I love my home and I love having a warm and comfortable space for my son to grow up in. Though I must admit, some days I do miss that perfect little city apartment of mine – lint brush and all.


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If Grapes Freeze on the Vine Are They Still Edible?
Growing grapes (Vitis vinifera) is relatively easy, but an early frost can catch you unaware and freeze your grapes on the vine. While you can pick your frosty or frozen grapes, they should be washed and stored or eaten quickly to avoid spoiling. Frozen grapes may be kept in the freezer for up to six months or enjoyed as a rare treat on the day they're picked.
Grapevine Hardiness
Grapes vary in hardiness, depending on the species. The classic European wine grape such as "Cabernet Sauvignon" (Vitus vinifera "Cabernet Sauvignon") is grown in Mediterranean climates such as those found in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 10. The native North American varieties such as the "Concord" grape (Vitis labrusca "Concord") are more cold tolerant, thriving in USDA zones 4 through 8. Hybrids of these two species of grapes are grown in backyards across the United States.
Ice Wine
Generally, home gardeners prefer to pick their grapes when they ripen and before the first frost. In some vineyards, however, the grapes are deliberately left on the vines for at least 24 hours at 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Then the frozen grapes are picked and crushed to make a sweet dessert wine called "ice wine." If the weather is uncooperative, a few vineyards freeze the late-harvest grapes to produce the same concentration of juice and flavor when making their signature ice wines.
Photo Credits
- Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images News/Getty Images


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|Message view
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|"Curley, Thomas" <thomas.cur...@euroconex.com>
|DBCP borrowObject failed
|Wed, 01 Oct 2003 09:48:59 GMT
HI all, I am stuck with the trying to setup MySql 4.0.13 to Tomcat 4.1.27 on RH Linux (both DB and TC are on the same box). I have read the doc's and looked thro' previous posting and cant see the problem. I have this working on TC 4.1.12 and MySql 3.23. The only other issue is the new box is inside a DMZ I get the following error: DBCP borrowObject failed: java.sql.SQLException: Server connection failure during transaction. Attempted reconnect 3 times. Giving up. I can use MySql client and connect to mysql using the user/passwd in server.xml <<web.xml>> <<server.xml>> thanks Thomas ********************************************************************************************* This email and any attachments are confidential and intended for the sole use of the intended recipient(s).If you receive this email in error please notify firstname.lastname@example.com and delete it from your system. Any unauthorized dissemination, retransmission, or copying of this email and any attachments is prohibited. Euroconex does not accept any responsibility for any breach of confidence, which may arise from the use of email. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Company. This message has been scanned for known computer viruses. *********************************************************************************************
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Camping retailer Camping World was featured last night (3/20/11) on the third episode of NBC's Celebrity Apprentice. In case you missed it, you can watch the full episode online. The celebrity teams were challenged by Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis to create a camping experience around two RVs parked in the middle of New York City.
Home Uncategorized Camping World Featured on Celebrity Apprentice Last Night


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Hi Everyone,
Our 2015 membership drive has begun. Please plan to renew (or join) soon so your 2015 USI jersey will arrive in early 2015!
$65.00 – Paid before, on or after January 1st, 2015
2015 Membership fees must be paid in advance in order to receive your USI jersey.
Our 2015 USI Membership also offers a Womens cut jersey. The jersey has an hour-glass shape, shorter sleeves, and no elastic gripper on the bottom of the jersey. Select a size beginning with a 'W' to receive a Women's cut jersey
USI is a calendar year membership (1-1 through 12-31) and one short sleeved USI jersey is included. To help ensure you receive your jersey when you join, we encourage joining during our open membership drive (11-1 through 2-28). For those joining at any other time of the year and not during our membership drive, then please realize your membership ends 12-31. Depending on our inventory, you will receive a jersey as soon as possible and no later than the 2nd quarter of the following year.
Additional clothing orders, such as bibs, shorts etc. must be pre-paid in order to receive shipment.
To Renew Membership using our website:
1) Log into the USI website with your Username and Password. You can reset your password if you forgot it. If you forgot your Username then use the Contact Page to ask for it to be sent to you.
2) Once logged in, click 'Membership Details' located in the menu on left side of the screen under 'Members'.
3) On the Membership Details page click the 'Extend' link located to the right of the Expiration Date label.
4) On the Transactions 'Select Membership Package' page verify the radio button is selected for USI Member – RENEWAL and click 'Next' to open the 'Select Payment Gateway' page.
5) Select the PayPal Icon to be directed to PayPal to complete the renewal transaction.
For some screen prints to guide you along click To Renew Membership
You can also renew or join by printing/completing the 2015 USI Membership Application and mailing it with a check for $65.
If you have any questions/concerns about renewing (or joining) then please COMPLETE/SUBMIT A FORM in the 'Contact' page of our website. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Thanks for your help with this!


text:
World of Warcraft tm and Blizzard Entertainment are registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment Inc. In U.S.A. and/or other countries.These terms and all related materials, logos, and images are copyright © Blizzard Entertainment. Cakeboost is in no way associated with or endorsed by Blizzard Entertainment™. Cakeboost is not selling wow ingame items, only offers you different services to make your ingame skill better.
Cakeboost 2017-2020. All Rights Reserved.


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|Turk Bride Matryoshka Close-Up Portrait
|Turk Bride Matryoshka
Happy Friday! I completed my Turk Bride Matryoshka this morning and listed all items of her in my shop. She is the first of my Matryoshkas that I have titled "Bride" but not the first that incorporates in their traditions gold coin jewelry and adornments. You may remember my Greek and my Afghan Matryoshkas. Below are three that would make a nice grouping of blues, golds, reds and rusts. I hope you like my newest Matryoshka and please remember your cultural suggestions are most welcome! :)
|Cambodian Girl Matryoshka, Turk Bride Matryoshka, and Greek Matryoshka


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Gran Moraine Winery Estate
Gran Moraine
Organization: Gran Moraine Winery EstateWinery Name: Gran MoraineWinery or Tasting Room: BothWine Regions: Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton
Contact InfoAddress: 17090 NE Woodland Loop Rd.City: YamhillState: ORZip: 97148Phone: 503-662-5454Website: granmoraine.com
Bed & Breakfast: NoPicnic Area: NoRV Parking: NoADA accessible: NoShopping: NoEvent Hosting Available: NoVineyard Tours: NoOpen to the public: NoBy Appointment Only: NoWine Cave Tour: No
Wine Production
Renewable Energy Powered: NoLooking for grapes: No
There are currently no wines associated with this winery.Login here to add wines
Edit History
Want to change something? Edit this winery
AdministrationWinery-ID: 48896Created Date: UnknownEdit History: View Edit History of this Winery
Edit PermissionUnlocked: Anyone may edit this winery
If you are the owner of this winery you can lock editing. If locked, a winery is not editable by anyone other than the owner. You can lock the winery on this page


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Syria: Behind the conflict
Behind the military operations that pit rebels from the Free Syrian Army against government forces lies another and more secretive tug-of-war: that of supplying the two warring camps. To buy gasoline and ordnance needed by its army, Syria is forced to flout American and European sanctions and call upon its Russian ally for assistance. [...]
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Tesse Restaurant
Modern European Cuisine In A Chic Setting
Opened in June 2018, Tesse is the Sunset Strip's newest star. The restaurant features modern yet rustic European-inspired cuisine by chef Raphael Francois, as well as desserts and bread baked in-house by pastry chef Sally Camacho Mueller. Tesse's unique wine by the glass program was created by partner Jordan Ogron and offers the perfect pairing for the menu.
Guests can enjoy a cocktail or glass of wine at the bar, where a large case displays the restaurant's house made charcuterie program. The adjacent wine store, Boutellier, features a unique selection of wines from around the world – many exclusive to Boutellier – in a similarly gorgeous setting.
AKA West Hollywood is pleased to partner with Tesse in offering preferred seating for AKA Residents. In-suite dining is also available to be delivered nightly from 6 - 10 PM.
For menu and hours, please visit tesserestaurant.com


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Marble Desire Half-Zip Top
- Availability: In Stock
- Product Sku:
- Type: Children
An exciting new addition to our Desire range, the Marble Desire long-sleeved half-zip top is a must-have for the winter 2018/19 season. Made from polyester elastane fabric with...
An exciting new addition to our Desire range, the Marble Desire long-sleeved half-zip top is a must-have for the winter 2018/19 season. Made from polyester elastane fabric with four-way stretch, this exclusive limited edition design is fully flexible, allowing for easy movement and complete comfort during training.
Rich purple tones mix together with swirls of black - and a hint of lightening white – to create a striking marble effect pattern evocative of the fluid movements of skating. This is a garment that will most definitely give you added wow factor out on the ice. Meanwhile, with a luxuriously soft velvet finish, the Marble Desire also has a flattering turtleneck and is perfect for those quick changes between training with the half-zip feature.
As with our standard Desire half-zip top, the Marble Desire has thumbholes on each sleeve, so you can hook your thumbs into the garment for more secure wear. With a small brand logo on the top's front lower right side, the finishing touch is the distinctive Chique Sport name emblazoned down the spine in reflective print.
Available for a limited time only and suitable for both adults and kids, our Marble Desire half-zip top is the perfect winter treat.
UK Shipping
Delivery is free for all orders over £100 within the UK.
Under £100 UK shipping is £4.95.
European Shipping
European shipping for orders over £100 is £5.95.
Under £100 European shipping is £8.50.
Worldwide Shipping
Worldwide shipping for all order is £17.50.
View our sizing guide for more information.
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Desire non-slip leggings
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Passion tank top
Aluminium Water Bottle


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Tulle & Netting
Try something elegant and finish off your next arrangements with some tulle netting. It's a great look that can really help to reinvigorate your flowers. At Koch & Co, we stock a wide range of high quality products so that our customers can find exactly what they need, all under the one roof. We import our goods ourselves from trusted manufacturers, to make sure that our customers can have great products at wholesale prices.... read more
1 items
1 items
Signature® Tulle Ribbon or Sheer Ribbons Cut Edge is soft, elegant and multi purpose. Tulle is a great choice if you want to try something different and add something extra to your decoration. This lightweight and sheer fabric has intricate details and looks luxurious. Try it out on your next project.
Our range of Tulle or Wedding and Christening Tulle offers rich fun colours as well as subtle sheer tones that enhance any occasion without over powering your work. Cut Edge Sheer Tulle ribbons are an economical and generous ribbon for everyday use. Available in widths up to 150mm to accompany your christening candles, wedding decorations, wedding cars and events decorations.
The quality and continuity of colour sets our ribbons apart from other Sheer Organza Ribbons at wholesale prices. This ribbon is suitable for almost any occasion such as wedding ideas, christenings gifts, baby gifts, bonbonniere, party decorations, gift packaging and wrapping needs.
Our much loved business was originally started in Sydney in 1931. Since these humble beginnings, Koch & Co has grown to become an importer, national distributor and wholesaler with the largest range in the country. We sell our products Australia-wide and offer quick delivery to the major centres such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.


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For the first time ever, The Goodguys Rod & Custom Association will stage a year-long National AutoCross Shootout at 11 events this season with the year-end Shootout Finals Presented by BF Goodrich Tires to be held Saturday, November 16th at the Goodguys 16th Southwest Nationals, November 15-17 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Throughout the year, the overall winner (fastest time of the event in any class) from each Goodguys National event where AutoCross is contested (3rd Fall Del mar Nationals not included) will be invited to Scottsdale as a finalist for the AutoCross Finals Shootout.
The Shootout Finals Presented by BF Goodrich Tires will feature a 24-car field made up of 11 finalists from the year-long Shootout, 9 PRO class drivers as well as four entrants who "race their way" into the Finals. Those final four slots will be filled by the fastest cars on-track Friday, November 15th at the Southwest Nationals.
The Goodguys National AutoCross Finals Shootout winner will receive $3,000 in cash along with a Goodguys AutoCross-themed custom toolbox from Snap-on ($7,000 value) and a set of BFGoodrich Tires. In addition the Shootout winner will be honored with a selection as one of the "Goodguys Top 12 Cars of the Year". Goodguys will pay the runner up $1,250 in cash along with a set of BFG tires while the 3rd and 4th place finishers get $500 (3rd place) and $250 (4th place) along with the free set of tires from BFG.
To see the 2013 Goodguys AutoCross schedule, official competition rules and Finals Shootout rules, visit: https://www.good-guys.com/events/goodguys-autocross


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Roleplays occuring on any planet/setting, open for anyone to participate in.
Location for past TotG storylines.
Lunch interrupted...
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
Order threads in...
Note: when sorting by date, 'descending order' will show the newest results first.
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vBulletin Skins by Bluepearl Skins


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BOSTON — Scoring a goal in three consecutive games has given Boston Bruins winger Charlie Coyle the hottest hand in the Stanley Cup final.
With nine goals on 36 shots in the playoffs, he has also been good on a team-leading 25 per cent.
You'd think he must be just screaming for the puck these days. His confidence has to be sky high. But there's more to Coyle than scoring goals.
"When you get rewarded, yeah, it kind of helps build the confidence a little bit," he said Wednesday. "I'm just trying to play my game and do my part. I've been fortunate to be on the end of some good passes, and things like that.
"I think when I'm playing and feeling the puck and bouncing off guys and winning battles, that's when you get the most confidence. Playing your game, getting the feet moving, you're involved physically. I think that's something personally for me, and our team, when we do that well we're usually on top of our game."
Coyle, who is fourth on the team with 48 hits, is most focused on his play at the other end of the ice. All the Bruins have to be, with the likely absence of captain Zdeno Chara for Game 5 and possibly beyond.
"You're just trying to play your game and make sure you do it the best you can, and try to be a force out there any way," Coyle said. "That's what I'm trying to do, and trying to be solid defensively. That's things I can get better at it."
The six players expected to start on the Boston defence have a total of 181 playoff games experience, just two more than Chara's 179.
Coyle says Bruins forwards must help out.
"It's up to us to come back hard for them, when we get the puck try to break it out," he said. "We've got to work to our spots and give them outlets. So that's definitely on us. We've got to help each other out. So they can play a little more simple and get as much rest as they possibly can. and not have to work harder than they already are.
"I think we just have to hammer down that mindset, that we've got to come back for each other. We've got to do this, and not lollygag back, work to your spots and that's how you get out quicker. It's not like you have to change anything. It's just more awareness of it."


text:
The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar
I've heard a lot of great things about Umrigar's writing. When I worked at Borders many customers would come in to buy The Space Between Us by the author. It was a very popular book club read. Having recently finished The World We Found, I understand Umrigar's appeal.
Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita and Nishta grew up together and were once very close. In the 1970's when things were changing in India, the four friends questioned and challenged authority. The novel begins in present day, they have grown apart and leading their own lives. Only Laleh and Kavita the two still living in Bombay are in regular contact. Though when Armaiti's reaches out to tell them she has a fatal from of cancer, Laleh and Kavita promise to find Nishta. Armaiti wishes to see her friends one last time.
The strength and beauty of Umrigar's writing is present from the start.
"The tooth broke three days after she received the awful news. There was no blood. No pain, even. For three days she had believed that it was her heart that had broken into tiny fragments, but turned out it was another part of her body that decided to mourn the news. No pain, no blood. Just a moment of puzzlement as she bit into the soft French toast she made for breakfast this morning and felt something hard and brittle in her mouth. She spat out two small pieces into her cupped hand. She rinsed her mouth with cold water, and only then did she look up into the mirror. Until now, her teeth had been as sturdy and even as piano keys; but then, until now her oldest friend in the world had not been dying. It was right somehow, in this week of reminders of mortality, that she sacrifice something too."
Before Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita and Nishta can be reunited, they must come to terms with and address an event that changed the course of their lives and friendships. Umrigar has crafted a beautifully emotional story. This was one of those novels that I loved falling into completely. I highly recommend The World We Found, and look forward to reading more by the author.
Read the first five chapters via publisher.
A few professional reviews via author's site.


text:
- Research article
- Open Access
- Published:
Evaluation of nine candidate genes in patients with normal tension glaucoma: a case control study
BMC Medical Genetics volume 10, Article number: 91 (2009)
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Normal tension glaucoma is a major subtype of glaucoma, associated with intraocular pressures that are within the statistically normal range of the population. Monogenic forms following classical inheritance patterns are rare in this glaucoma subtype. Instead, multigenic inheritance is proposed for the majority of cases. The present study tested common sequence variants in candidate genes for association with normal tension glaucoma in the German population.
Ninety-eight SNPs were selected to tag the common genetic variation in nine genes, namely OPTN (optineurin), RDX (radixin), SNX16 (sorting nexin 16), OPA1 (optic atrophy 1), MFN1 (mitofusin 1), MFN2 (mitofusin 2), PARL (presenilin associated, rhomboid-like), SOD2 (superoxide dismutase 2, mitochondrial) and CYP1B1 (cytochrome P450, family 1, subfamily B, polypeptide 1). These SNPs were genotyped in 285 cases and 282 fully evaluated matched controls. Statistical analyses comprised single polymorphism association as well as haplogroup based association testing.
Results suggested that genetic variation in five of the candidate genes (RDX, SNX16, OPA1, SOD2 and CYP1B1) is unlikely to confer major risk to develop normal tension glaucoma in the German population. In contrast, we observed a trend towards association of single SNPs in OPTN, MFN1, MFN2 and PARL. The SNPs of OPTN, MFN2 and PARL were further analysed by multimarker haplotype-based association testing. We identified a risk haplotype being more frequent in patients and a vice versa situation for the complementary protective haplotype in each of the three genes.
Common variants of OPTN, PARL, MFN1 and MFN2 should be analysed in other cohorts to confirm their involvement in normal tension glaucoma.
The term glaucoma describes a heterogeneous group of optic neuropathies. Yet progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and optic nerve axons, corresponding visual field loss and characteristic optic nerve head cupping is common in all forms of glaucoma. The three major risk factors for the development of glaucoma are elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), advanced age and a positive family history. It is estimated, that by 2010, 60 million people will suffer from glaucoma and that the disease will be the second leading cause of blindness worldwide [1].
Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most frequent of all glaucoma types. In approximately one third of all Caucasian POAG patients the IOP is within the average range of 10-21 mmHg. Nonetheless such patients with normal tension glaucoma (NTG) show typical pathological cupping of the optic nerve as well as characteristic visual field defects [2, 3].
First degree relatives of glaucoma patients have an elevated risk to develop glaucoma themselves, indicating that genetic risk factors are involved in the etiology of POAG.
Though at least 14 loci have been linked to POAG (GLC1A-GLC1N), only three causative genes have been identified to date: myocilin (MYOC/GLC1A), optineurin (OPTN/GLC1E), and WD repeat domain 36 (WDR36/GLC1G). Altogether, mutations in these three genes account for less than 10% of POAG cases [4]. In addition, association studies have implicated more than 20 other genes in POAG [5]. Most of these genes were investigated only in single studies whereas the OPA1 gene, which is linked to autosomal dominant optic atrophy, has been subject of multiple studies. However, results were contradictory [6–11].
Taken together, true monogenic forms following classical inheritance patterns are rare in POAG. It is therefore generally accepted that the majority of cases are most likely to evolve from multigenic inheritance, i.e. genes interacting synergistically to cause the condition [12].
Therefore, association studies may be suitable to unravel the genetic etiology of multigenic human diseases like glaucoma. The recent identification and replication of the LOXL1 gene as a risk factor for pseudoexfoliation glaucoma [13] clearly demonstrates the power of association studies in glaucoma research.
In the present study, we performed a case-control study to identify genetic risk factors for the development of NTG. A tagging single nucleotide polymorphism (tagSNP) approach based on linkage disequilibrium (LD) blocks was used to determine the frequency of common sequence variants in nine candidate genes. The genes we analysed were OPTN (optineurin), RDX (radixin), SNX16 (sorting nexin 16), OPA1 (optic atrophy 1), MFN1 (mitofusin 1), MFN2 (mitofusin 2), PARL (presenilin associated, rhomboid-like), SOD2 (superoxide dismutase 2, mitochondrial) and CYP1B1 (cytochrome P450, family 1, subfamily B, polypeptide 1).
Mutations in the OPTN gene were initially reported in 16.7% of families with hereditary POAG and NTG [14]. Follow-up studies in unselected cohorts however indicated that coding OPTN sequence variants are only a rare cause of POAG or NTG in different populations including our own German NTG cohort [15–18]. This however does not rule out that other common gene variations in OPTN not yet investigated (e. g. in introns or noncoding flanking regions) may show up as risk associated variants in a case control study. In addition to OPTN we also considered RDX and SNX16, since both genes are linked with OPTN expression [19].
Mutations in the OPA1 gene are a frequent cause of autosomal dominant optic atrophy [20]. In addition, common sequence variants in the OPA1 gene have been associated with POAG or specifically NTG, though the findings could not be replicated in all populations [6–11]. In the present study, we extended the analysis by genotyping 16 common variants in the genomic region of the OPA1 gene.
Two genes that encode functional interaction partners of the OPA1 protein were also included in our study: MFN1, which acts in concert with OPA1 in the mitochondrial fission and fusion process [21], and PARL, which encodes a processing protease for OPA1 [22–24]. We also analysed the MFN2 gene, as the MFN2 protein shows functional overlap with OPA1 [25].
The SOD2 gene encodes the Mn2 dependent superoxide dismutase that acts as a primary scavenger of reactive oxygen species in mitochondria. Oxidative stress is proposed to be involved in the etiology of glaucoma [26] and increased expression of the SOD2 gene was observed in the aqueous humor of glaucoma patients [27].
Mutations in the CYP1B1 gene cause an autosomal recessive form of primary congenital glaucoma [28] and two common sequence variants (Val432Leu and Asn453Ser) in the CYP1B1 gene are proposed to act as a risk factor for the development of POAG [29] and to influence clinical features like optic disk cupping and visual field deterioration in POAG patients [30]. Moreover, a very recent study showed that heterozygous CYP1B1 mutations with absent or reduced relative enzymatic activity are associated with POAG [31].
The goal of the present study was to determine whether common sequence variants in nine functionally defined candidate genes influence the risk to develop NTG in a large homogeneous patient cohort and would thus be worthy of more detailed examination.
Study samples
285 unrelated German patients with a diagnosis of NTG were recruited at the University Eye Hospital Wuerzburg, Germany. All patients were traced back to the third generation to reconfirm ethnicity. NTG was defined by (1) the presence of typical glaucomatous optic neuropathy with corresponding visual field loss, (2) open drainage angles on gonioscopy, (3) absence of a secondary cause for glaucomatous optic neuropathy, such as previously elevated IOP after trauma, a period of steroid administration or uveitis, and (4) IOP measures of untreated NTG continuously 21 mmHg or lower on repeated diurnal testing (five readings between 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM). The median of readings was required to be 21 mm Hg or less, with no reading above 24 mm Hg and no more than one reading of 23 or 24 mm Hg. IOP readings were correlated with corneal thickness. Patients did not have evidence of high myopia or congenital ocular abnormality and had no other cause than glaucoma for disc changes and visual field loss. Disc size and parameters were evaluated by confocal examination (Heidelberg Retina Tomograph). To minimize interobserver variability, more than 95% of patients were examined by the same ophthalmologist. All patients had a long term follow-up to ensure diagnosis of NTG with a maximum of certainty. In large part, NTG patients underwent a neurological examination to exclude an intracerebral expansion. Sonography was used to rule out aortic stenosis.
The control cohort comprised 282 unrelated German individuals, matched with the patient cohort for age, gender distribution and geographical origin. Ophthalmic examination was performed in all control subjects, including IOP measurement and ophthalmoscopy of the optic disc, to ascertain an IOP in the normal range (<21 mmHG) and the absence of glaucomatous disc change. Controls had no family history of glaucoma.
This study adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects and the study was approved by the ethics committees of the University of Tuebingen, the University of Wuerzburg and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
The average age of the patient group was 64.7 ± 13.9 years (controls: 66.9 ± 13.1 years) with a median of 67 years (controls: 68 years). Thirty-four percent of the NTG patients were male and 66% were female, while 41% of the controls were male and 59% were female.
Isolation of DNA, SNP selection and genotyping
DNA was extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes using the Magnetic Separation Module I from Chemagen using DNA chemistry (Chemagic DNA Blood Kit Special; Chemagen AG, Baesweiler, Germany).
Nine genes were investigated in this study, namely OPTN, RDX, SNX16, OPA1, MFN1, MFN2, PARL, SOD2 and CYP1B1.
Linkage disequilibrium (LD) blocks were defined using the algorithm by Gabriel and coworkers [32] implemented in Haploview [33] (version 4.1) on the HapMap31 CEPH (Utah residents with ancestry from northern and western Europe) data. LD blocks covered the chromosomal regions of these genes extending to the neighbouring genes. TagSNPs capturing LD blocks were selected to define haplotypes having a frequency of at least 0.1 and a minor allele frequency (MAF) of 0.1 or higher. Additional non-tagging SNPs were genotyped in the OPA1 gene (rs166850 and rs10451941) and in the SOD2 gene (rs4880), respectively. For the CYP1B1 gene, only two coding SNPs were selected for genotyping (rs1056836 and rs1800440).
The number of SNPs genotyped in each gene is shown in Table 1. All SNPs were genotyped with TaqMan assays (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, USA). Assay IDs and orientation of design strands are given in Additional file 1. Reactions were prepared according to the manufacturer's instructions and run on a sequence detection system (ABI 7500) using standard protocols. Sequence data was analysed using Sequence Detection Software version 1.2.3.
For quality-control reasons, 28 of the 98 TaqMan assays used in this study were selected randomly to confirm standard individual genotypes. Altogether, 1294 genotyping reactions were performed on 58 CEPH individuals. These CEPH individuals comprised 48 individuals that are identical with the triplets used in the HapMap [34] project and 10 additional members of one of the families. Genotyping results were checked for pedigree consistency and a cross comparison with HapMap data revealed a 100% concordance.
Statistical analysis
All statistical analyses were performed using PLINK [35] (version 1.05). The minimum genotyping rate for SNPs and individuals to be included in the statistical analyses was set to 90%.
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was assessed by using an exact test. Case-control association testing of single SNPs was performed by logistic regression. Multiple comparisons of SNPs covering all investigated genes were corrected using the Bonferroni method.
Interaction of SNPs was analysed by an SNP × SNP epistasis test with subsequent correction for multiple comparisons by the Bonferroni method. Haplotype-based case control association testing was assessed as implemented in PLINK.
Ninety-eight SNPs were selected to tag the common genetic variation in OPTN, RDX, SNX16, OPA1, MFN1, MFN2, PARL, SOD2 and CYP1B1.
One of these (RDX: rs1676536) was excluded from further analysis due to a low genotyping rate. The remaining panel of SNPs was genotyped in a case-control study in 285 patients with NTG and 282 healthy controls of German origin. The average number of individuals remaining for analysis was 554.31 ± 2.5 (median 555) per SNP and the average genotyping rate in these individuals was 0.995 ± 0.007 (median 0.997). The size of the chromosomal regions and the number of SNPs genotyped in each gene are shown in Table 1. For all SNPs, genotype distributions in patients and controls were consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
We found no evidence of association between NTG and RDX, SNX16, OPA1, SOD2 and CYP1B1. Entire allele frequencies and detailed results of the logistic regression of single SNP association testing are provided in Additional file 1.
We identified a nominally significant association of NTG with four SNPs in OPTN (rs10796021, rs3829923, rs7921853 and rs765884), three almost consecutive SNPs in the MFN2 gene (rs873458, rs2295281 and rs11588779), two close neighboring SNPs in PARL (rs1000002 and rs1402003) and one SNP in the MFN1 gene (rs2111534) (Table 2). Genewise case-control comparison of multimarker haplotypes derived from the SNPs in OPTN, MFN2 and PARL revealed two complementary common haplotypes for each gene. The differences of these haplotype frequencies between cases and controls were nominally significant (Table 3). In PARL, a very rare haplotype showed a nominal association with NTG (Table 3).
For correcting data for multiple comparisons we also considered our previously performed association study with the same cohorts [36]. Since a p value of less than 4.808 × 10-4 was considered to be significant applying Bonferroni adjustment over the whole study, no significance of any single SNP association in any gene was further observed after correction for multiple comparisons. The epistasis test for interaction of SNPs revealed no significant result after correction for multiple testing (data not shown).
There is a growing number of single gene or single variant based association studies in glaucoma. Our study based on the genotyping of tagSNPs to maximize genetic coverage of nine candidate genes (OPTN, RDX, SNX16, OPA1, MFN1, MFN2, PARL, SOD2 and CYP1B1). In total, we investigated 98 SNPs in 285 NTG patients and 282 controls and identified a trend towards association of NTG with common sequence variants of OPTN, MFN1, MFN2 and PARL.
No association study with RDX, SNX16 and SOD2 has been performed in glaucoma patients before. We hypothesized that genetic differences in these genes could confer risk to NTG since data from our previous work as well as from the literature point to a putative involvement of these genes in glaucoma related pathogenesis. However, our approach failed to find any association of NTG with any of the 35 examined SNPs in these genes suggesting that genetic variants at these loci are not of high relevance in the development of NTG in German patients.
In patients with NTG, the appearance of the optic nerve head is similar to that in autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA) [37]. These similarities make OPA1, the major gene involved in ADOA [20], an excellent candidate gene for glaucoma, particularly NTG. Several studies showed an association of two intron 8 polymorphisms (rs166850 and rs10451941) in the OPA1 gene with NTG in Caucasians [6, 7]. These studies were based on relatively small sample sizes comprising 61 to 83 patients. A more comprehensive study with 279 Caucasian POAG patients reported a lack of association similar to our findings [11]. As we did not only genotype SNPs rs166850 and rs10451941 but 14 additional SNPs within a 209 kb region encompassing the OPA1 gene, our results are more conclusive since we cover the genetic population variability of the entire OPA1 gene. Considering patient number and cohort homogeneity as well as the size of the analysed OPA1 region, our study is the most comprehensive one on this matter to date.
Mutations in the CYP1B1 gene are a frequent cause of primary congenital glaucoma. In addition, two common coding polymorphisms in this gene might contribute to the development of POAG. The Leu432Val variant (rs1056836) is associated with POAG in Indian patients [29] and the Asn453Ser (rs1800440) variant that is not directly associated with disease but with clinical features like optic disk cupping and visual field deterioration in French POAG patients [30]. We were not able to indentify an association of either of these two SNPs with NTG in our cohort. These conflicting findings may result from phenotypic differences (e.g. IOP level) between NTG and POAG. Inconsistent results may also be due to the large variability of CYP1B1 allele frequency distribution among different populations or the modest proportion of controls among the total number of samples in the previous studies [29, 30].
The association of OPTN, PARL, MFN1 and MFN2 common sequence variants we observed justifies a more extensive analysis. The single SNP associations observed before adjustment for multiple comparisons are supported by multimarker haplotype-based associations that we found for OPTN, MFN2 and PARL. In each of the three genes, we identified a nominally significant risk haplotype being more frequent in patients and a vice versa situation for the complementary protective haplotype, both being present at common frequencies in either cohort. The relative risk for homozygous individuals of the OPTN risk haplotype which showed the strongest of all associations is 8.905 (95% CI: 1.477-54.313).
OPTN is one of three causative genes that have been linked to POAG [14]. Nonetheless, more than 25 studies dealing with the impact of OPTN coding and flanking intronic variants on glaucoma show that disease-causing sequence alterations are rare in POAG/NTG patients and families. However, the OPTN gene may be a risk factor in multigenic inheritance as synergistic effects with the two other POAG genes myocilin and WD repeat domain 36 have been suggested [38–40]. Yet, the mechanistic involvement of OPTN in glaucoma pathogenesis remains elusive. No case-control association study based on common gene variants has been performed for the complete chromosomal region of OPTN to date. Our study implicates that apart from OPTN mutations observed in monogenic inheritance of glaucoma also OPTN common allelic variants may influence an individual's susceptibility for developing NTG in a multigenic inheritance pattern.
MFN1 and MFN2 are nuclear encoded mitochondrial membrane proteins that interact with each other to facilitate mitochondrial targeting. MFN2 and OPA1 act in concert and conduct complementary functions in maintaining balance of mitochondrial fusion and fission events in the highly dynamic mitochondrial network architecture processes [25, 41, 42]. Likewise, PARL is a nuclear encoded mitochondrial protein and has been suggested to participate in OPA1 processing and apoptotic processes by regulation of cytochrome c release via OPA1-dependent cristae remodeling [22, 43].
A possible involvement of mitochondrial function in mechanisms of glaucoma development has been indicated before [44–46]. According to the common disease-common variant hypothesis, multiple variants may each contribute a small additive or multiplicative effect to the disease phenotype. As mentioned above, the nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes OPA1, MFN1, MFN2 and PARL share functional overlap and/or are involved in joint mitochondrial pathways. However, we were not able to detect any significant interaction based on a SNP × SNP epistasis test between any of our nine potential candidate genes.
Most of the SNPs we analysed are located in intronic or intergenic regions, but may be in LD with functional coding or regulatory sequence variants. Considering our recruitment policy, we expect a highly homogeneous cohort as we applied strict diagnostic criteria. In addition, the ethnicity of all of our patients was traced back to the third generation. Therefore, we expect only small population admixture when comparing our cohort with such comprising a more genetically heterogeneous background (like for example the Unites States). As the homogeneity of a population corresponds with the persistence of LD between a genetic marker and a disease gene, the power to detect an association is higher in homogeneous populations. The homogeneity of our samples therefore may compensate in part for the small number of individuals. However, we are aware of the fact that our study is not well-powered for statistical testing. A retrospective power calculation based upon an OR of 1.558 (for SNP rs765884 which showed the strongest association) indicated that this study was sufficiently powered (91,8%; α = 0.05) to detect an effect of this magnitude or greater before correction for multiple comparisons. After Bonferroni correction, the power was considerably reduced (24,3%; α = 0.05).
The objective of this study was to investigate association of several genes that have not been subject to an association study with glaucoma cases so far but might be functionally linked to glaucoma pathogenesis (RDX, SNX16, MFN1, MFN2, PARL, SOD2). In addition, we analysed genes that have been previously identified as candidate genes in glaucoma (OPTN, OPA1, CYP1B1). Whereas we could not detect any association of NTG with RDX, SNX16, OPA1, SOD2 and CYP1B1, our study revealed a trend towards association of NTG with common sequence variants of OPTN, MFN1, MFN2 and PARL, the latter three ones being involved in mitochondrial function.
Although our sample sizes are among the largest investigated in NTG so far, it is important to point out that the power of our study is still relatively limited. As we cannot fully exclude type one or type two errors, it is essential to replicate our findings in independent cohorts.
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Pre-publication history
The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2350/10/91/prepub
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Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
CW carried out the genotyping, performed the statistical analysis, drafted the manuscript and participated in the design of the study. EG performed the clinical examination of all patients and participated in the coordination of the study. BM-M participated in the statistical analysis. FP and ER participated in the recruitment of control subjects. BW participated in study design and helped drafting the manuscript. NW conceived of the study, and participated in its design and coordination and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Christiane Wolf, Eugen Gramer contributed equally to this work.
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Wolf, C., Gramer, E., Müller-Myhsok, B. et al. Evaluation of nine candidate genes in patients with normal tension glaucoma: a case control study. BMC Med Genet 10, 91 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2350-10-91
- Glaucoma
- Visual Field Loss
- Normal Tension Glaucoma
- Primary Open Angle Glaucoma
- CYP1B1 Gene


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Skip to 0 minutes and 6 seconds WARWICK DUNN: In the previous steps, we discussed Direct Infusion Mass Spectrometry. This is the simplest method to determine the metabolite composition of biological samples applying mass spectrometry. There are, however, other methods available. One of the most common to analyse biological samples involves a chromatographic process prior to detection of metabolites by a mass spectrometer. Chromatography provides the partial or complete separation of metabolites prior to analysis by a mass spectrometer, and there are a number of reasons why chromatography is employed, which we will discuss later. Chromatography operates by separation of metabolites in a chromatography column. Each column contains a stationary phase and a liquid or gas continuously flows through the column.
Skip to 0 minutes and 56 seconds When a sample is injected on to the start of a column, the sample components absorb to the stationary phase at the start of the column. And after time, they will then desorb from the stationary phase and be driven further down the column where the components will again absorb on to and then desorb from the stationary phase. This process continues along the column for each component. The time each component is absorbed to stationary phase before it's desorbed is dependent on chemistry, specifically the chemical composition and structure of the stationary phase and the chemical properties of the specific metabolite or metabolites.
Skip to 1 minute and 35 seconds Some metabolites will absorb more strongly to the stationary phase and stay absorbed longer, while other metabolites will absorb less strongly and will be absorbed for a shorter time or elute from the column much quicker. Normally, metabolites with a similar chemical structure to stationary phase will absorb more strongly, simply like prefers like. The process of absorption and desorption controls the time taken for metabolite to pass through the column and provides separation of metabolites. Metabolites with a greater diversity in structure and composition will be separated more than metabolites with a similar structure and composition. However, even metabolites with a similar structure can be separated with an appropriately developed instrument method.
Skip to 2 minutes and 21 seconds There are two types of chromatography commonly applied in metabolomics– gas chromatography, which uses a flow of helium or nitrogen gas to push metabolites through the column, and liquid chromatography, which uses a liquid solvent to push metabolites through the column. So as an example, how does liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry operate? The chromatography column them is normally a hollow, stainless steel tube with a diameter of 1 to 4 millimetres and a length of 5 to 25 centimetres. The column is packed with small spherical particles, normally of diameters between 2 and 5 microns, onto which the stationary phase is chemically bound. A liquid mobile phase flows through the column at a flow rate of between 0.1 and 1 millilitre per minute.
Skip to 3 minutes and 9 seconds The liquid flow exiting the end of the column is introduced to the mass spectrometer, typically to an electrospray ionisation source, as was described for Direct Infusion Mass Spectrometry. When the eluent is introduced into the mass spectrometer, ions are created in the electrospray ionisation source operating at atmospheric pressure and are then extracted by electrical potentials into the vacuum region of the mass spectrometer. Ions are separated according into the mass-to-charge ratio and detected. Normally the mass spectrometer collects data on specific mass-to-charge ratios in a targeted assay, or cross a wide mass-to-charge ratio range for untargeted studies.
Skip to 3 minutes and 53 seconds This creates a mass spectrum of mass-to-charge versus ion intensity for each scan of the mass-to-charge ratio range. Multiple mass spectra are collected each second, and hundreds to thousands of mass spectra are collected across a 15 minute analysis time. This provides a three-dimensional data set of time versus mass-to-charge ratio versus response. The methods that we use to process this complex data will be discussed next week. The time between injection of a sample and detection of a metabolite is called the retention time. Metabolites which absorb more strongly to the stationary phase have larger retention times than metabolites which only weakly absorbed to the stationary phase.
Skip to 4 minutes and 37 seconds In liquid chromatography, there are two commonly used stationary phase types– reversed phase and Hydrophilic Interaction liquid chromatography. Reversed phase liquid chromatography applies long alkyl chains as the stationary phase, normally chains containing 8 or 18 carbons. These stationary phases will absorb metabolites soluble in organic solvents such as chloroform, whereas metabolites that are soluble in water will be poorly absorbed to the column and elute in the liquid phase first. So we would apply this technique to study lipids such as fatty acids and cholesterol in preference to water-soluble metabolites such as carbohydrates. The other common stationary phase is called Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography, or abbreviated to HILIC. The technique is complementary to reversed phase liquid chromatography.
Skip to 5 minutes and 27 seconds The stationary phase in HILIC is water absorbed onto a hydrophilic silica-containing surface. This provides a stable water layer which metabolites can be absorbed into and then released. This allows water-soluble metabolites to be retained more strongly than lipids, and so is applied to study water-soluble metabolites. So here we have two complementary liquid chromatography techniques to study a wide diversity of metabolites, both water-soluble metabolites such as sugars, and also lipid metabolites like fatty acids. The application of liquid chromatography provides a number of advantages. Biological samples can be very complex, composed of hundreds of thousands of different metabolites. Sometimes the separation of metabolites before they enter the mass spectrometer is a preferred option.
Skip to 6 minutes and 15 seconds This approach can provide the separation of metabolites that have the same mass, and therefore in direct infusion mass spectrometry would be detected as a single signal, but if separated, can be detected as two separate signals. For example, the two amino acids leucine and isoleucine have the same mass, and without chromatographic separation, will be detected as a single signal in a mass spectrometer. The complexity of samples is also reduced when coupled to liquid chromatography. The sample entering the mass spectrometer is fractionated into a larger number of chemically less complex samples, and the data collected for each of the fractions is simpler.
Skip to 6 minutes and 54 seconds The introduction of a very complex sample can cause ionisation suppression, where the ionisation of a metabolite present at high concentration reduces ionisation efficiency of metabolites present at low concentrations. This reduces the sensitivity of the method and decreases the number of metabolites detected. Separation applied liquid chromatography reduces ionisation suppression and so increases the number of metabolites detected. Finally, the retention of a metabolite, or the retention time, can also provide information on the metabolite for its chemical identification. We'll explain the importance of this next week.
Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry
Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry is widely used in the metabolomics field to analyse biological samples. Chromatography provides partial or complete separation of metabolites prior to separation by mass spectrometry.
Professor Warwick Dunn explains the application of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyse the composition of metabolomes.
© University of Birmingham and the Birmingham Metabolomics Training Centre


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According to ChemOrbis, players operating in African markets including Kenya, South Africa and Egypt have started to receive new import PP and PE prices for June cargoes. The new offers came in line with the players' expectations. Prices from the Middle East indicate increases from May levels but the hike amounts are not as large as they were back in May. Increases are reported at around $20-80/ton while one Middle Eastern producer elected to roll over their prices to Egypt.
Previously, snug supplies out of the Middle East were supporting the producers in their hike attempts despite poorly performing demand. This month, although the availability issues continue, players in Africa generally report seeing some improvement on supply levels.
In order to track weekly developments in Africa's PE market, please see our bi-weekly Polymer Digest Africa PE Polymer Digest (For members only)
To track weekly developments in Egypt's PE market, please see Egypt PE Polymer Digest (For members only)
In Kenya, a buyer who received $50-80/ton hikes from a Saudi Arabian producer for HDPE film and blow moulding noted that overall trading activities are still very weak in Kenya while adding that the current supply levels are exceeding the demand. According to this buyer, July prices will emerge at lower levels.
Meanwhile, another Kenyan converter reported receiving $20-40/ton hikes from the same Saudi producer for both PP and PE and that he received Brazilian PPBC injection offers for June. "The Brazilian offer is more competitive and it is offered on a longer payment term. However, we find it risky to commit to this material given its long shipment time since the July expectations already center on decreases," he further added. According to this buyer, overall demand is slow after the June price hikes and weak demand is likely to result in discounts on deal levels.
Another Kenyan buyer explained their market stance by saying, "Prices are very high considering the current market state and therefore, we want to hear more offers from different sources. We are planning to postpone our purchases until we can achieve lower levels."
In South Africa, a trader operating in Johannesburg, reported that they received new June offers from a major Saudi Arabian producer with $30/ton hikes for HDPE and LLDPE film as per ChemOrbis pricing service. "The Saudi producer appears to have relatively higher quotas, but their LLDPE and HDPE film supplies still seem to be restricted. Meanwhile, demand has given signs of improvement, but it is mostly down to the still rather limited supplies. We lack a clear view for July," he added.
In order to track weekly developments in Africa's PP market, please see our bi-weekly Polymer Digest Africa PP Polymer Digest (For members only)
To track weekly developments in Egypt's PP market, please see Egypt PP Polymer Digest (For members only)
In Nigeria, a converter highlighted that the market is quite weak on the back of cash flow issues. "Players are expecting prices to come down starting by mid-June given slow global markets and thin buying interest. Meanwhile, supplies are not that problematic nowadays," he noted. Another Nigerian converter said, "We are hoping to see a little softer import prices as the economic conditions in Nigeria are not bright. Middle Eastern offers were not that competitive during May relative to offers from South Korean suppliers, whom we preferred."
In Egypt, Middle Eastern producers' prices indicate rollovers to increases of up to $50/ton, according to ChemOrbis. However, a major Saudi Arabian producer's PP offers are trading at a premium, of around $50/ton, when compared to the offers they give to Kenya. Considering this, Egyptian players anticipate some downward adjustments or discounts on PP deals. Regarding supplies, some report seeing slightly improved availability while some note that supplies are still generally limited but there is no severe tightness felt given weak demand. Liquidity issues persist in the market while impending Ramadan is another factor that weighs down on the sentiment as trade is expected to be slower.


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A Joke to Burst out Laughing: The KSA Is Leading an Anti-ISIS Coalition
Was published in Arabic in December 22, 2015
Translated by Ahmed Fathy
We have recently received the following question, to which we are replying in this article:
The Question:
(…I am not a politically oriented person, and I am not a Quranist, but I do believe that you, Dr. A. S. Mansour is a high-stature scholar and reformer. From a humanistic point of view, I am against terrorism of course, but I am not defending the KSA in my message here. I disagree so much with the KSA in countless political points; it is an unjust, tyrannical monarchy. I do personally believe that the KSA is linked closely to Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists. Yet, I think that ISIS terrorist organization is an enemy of the KSA. I do not think that the KSA is supporting ISIS financially. I think that ISIS is a terror against the whole world. I do believe that it is a fine and positive thing that the KSA is about to fight ISIS. What do you personally think about this issue?)
This is our reply:
Firstly: A Silly Joke:
1- It is a silly joke that the KSA is claiming to lead an international coalition against ISIS. The KSA has failed in its coalition and war against Yemen. The KSA tries to overcome this failure by another one by claiming to lead a coalition against ISIS.
Secondly: The KSA will certainly fail in its so-called anti-ISIS coalition for the following reasons:
1- The KSA royal family is actually on the brink of an abyss now; the current king, Salman, is said to be unconscious most of the time due to senility problems. His pampered eldest son, Muhammad Ibn Salman, is dominating the scene and tries to gain more power and authority and wealth. This man is nothing but a childish brat, in my opinion, who is trying to take airs and appear as if he were a shrewd military leader and political expert. He has neither talents nor previous experience at all in anything. His sheer occupation of a powerful position threatens the very existence of the KSA royal family. The grandsons of the founding king, Abdul-Aziz, are trying to gain more power in comparison to the generation of the royal sons of the same monarch. The KSA needs more wise leadership among such grandsons; the sons of King Feisal and Bandar Ibn Sultan have been marginalized so as m. Ibn Salman would become the de facto king instead of his father the current king, dominated and controlled by the son. This split and struggle among the family members reverberate now; there is no smoke without fire. The pampered son creates now the appearance of a more rigorous fanatic Wahabi policy and more confrontation against the Shiites. That is why the Yemen war broke out. In the same vein, the KSA has entered into a series of complicated international relations with countries without experience. All such measures are quite fruitless. M. Ibn Salman is a failure. The anti-ISIS coalition will certainly be another episode in this failure.
2- The KSA is too weak to wage a war against a real enemy. It has no real, functional armed forces. The Saudis have only mercenaries and naturalized citizens brought into the army from other countries as well as professional mercenaries hired from specialized companies. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, he threatened the KSA. When terrorized by Saddam, the KSA enlisted the help of the USA. The huge amount of weapons and arms bought by the KSA has failed to be of use at the time. Such weapons have been bought by Sultan Ibn Abdul-Aziz by tens of billions of commissions and bribes. This is the biggest arsenal in the Third World countries that turned out to be a mere deal of embezzlement and bribery.
3- How come that you expect that the Saudi Wahabi soldier would dare to fight against the Wahabi ISIS member? Both are united the same creed to fight against Shiites, the ''fiercest'' enemies in their opinion.
4- Riyadh, the KSA capital, thinks that ISIS is not at all an enemy to the KSA. ISIS is the natural outcome of the Wahabi creed created and propagated by the KSA. I do believe that ISIS is the Saudi arm or pole that managed to achieve the biggest dream of the KSA: to destroy Iraq that tried to annihilate the KSA during the Saddam Hussein regime era. Saddam Hussein was a nightmare or rather a thorn in the side of all the Gulf monarchies especially the KSA. He used to embezzle money out of all the Gulf monarchies. This latent danger became overt and threatening when Kuwait was occupied in the 1990s. Saddam would have marched to Riyadh if it had not been for the American interference; American forces used to occupy a part of north-eastern KSA lands, south of Iraq. After getting rid of Saddam, Iraq has to be destroyed according to the wishes of the KSA; Iraq in their claims has to be subdivided into smaller states/countries so as not to pose a threat to the KSA in the future within the long Iraqi-Saudi borders. The KSA royal family aims at controlling the Sunnite part of Iraq, as a strategic goal. This has become important target after the rise of Iraqi Shiites in post-Saddam Iraq and after the threat that Iran poses to the KSA, within the game of power and alliances. The Shiites in Iraq have made alliances with Shiite Tehran, as we all know. Hence, ISIS is a subservient to the KSA in Iraq and Syria. ISIS is a pawn controlled by the KSA in Syria as well to fight against Bashar Al-Assad, who is a Shiite with alliances to Tehran as well. The KSA is interested in subdividing Syria to control its Sunnite part against the Shiites in the rest of Syria, loyal to Iran. Hence, it is in fact a Shiite-Sunnite struggle on an international level. The KSA cannot depend on Egypt; the terrorist MB rule of Egypt that lasted for one year has shown the terrorist MB members' tendency to cooperate with Iran. The KSA takes revenge on the terrorist MB group now. It is apparent that the Egyptian President, Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, gives promises to the KSA that he intends never to keep. That is why the KSA has created ISIS and will try to orient itself to other countries.
5- ISIS grew more important to all regional and international forces at least so as to redistribute lands of Iraq and Syria. This subdivision into smaller states is a crucial aim to the KSA, Gulf monarchies, and Iran as well. Iran desires to see a Shiite state in Iraq with alliance to Tehran. Israel is another winner; it will have creed-based warring new countries surrounding it. The Shiite-Sunnite struggle is older and more deep-rooted than the Arab-Israeli struggle. Turkey is another winner; a part of Syria would be annexed to it to harbor the Turkmens. Russia is another winner; its alliance with Bashar Al-Assad is reinforcing its military presence in the Mediterranean Sea so as to have an influential role in the Middle East after the collapse of the USSR. Kurds of Iraq and Syria would realize their dream of an independent state of their own. Europe and the USA would rejoice at the Shiite-Sunnite split that will subdivide Iraqi and Syrian lands; ensuing wars would urge all parties to buy weapons and arms to face local creed-based battles. Arms market would grow and so is the oil market. Bashar Al-Assad would be happy to establish a state in eastern Syria under Russian protection. Hence, ISIS is beneficial to all such parties concerned; Iraqi Sunnite soldiers will not fight their brethren the ISIS Wahabi Sunnites for the sake of the Shiite Iraqi president in Baghdad. That is why Wahabi ISIS is so important to the Wahabi KSA; the KSA would never like to get rid of ISIS now.
Thirdly: ISIS poses no threat whatsoever to the KSA, why would the KSA fight it?!
1- Wahabism is the sole aid that maintains the rule of any tyrant ruler and to incite revolt against him at eh same time. Because Wahabism is an earthly man-made fabricated creed of armed war for the sake of any throne or for the sake of keeping it, it contains all sharia laws to urge people to obey blindly any tyrant. The military tyrants in the Sunnite countries of the Muhammadans need Wahabism to control people. Yet, Wahabism easily could be used to declare anyone as an apostate/renegade who has forsaken 'Islam'. Such declaration is followed by a call to revolt against any ruler who is declared an apostate. Hence, Wahabis who desire to rule resort to this trick all the time. Hence, Wahabism create the tyrant and its competitor(s) simultaneously. In the same vein, the founder of the current KSA, Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud, founded the Najdi brothers as his soldiers to establish his reign and monarchy. They eventually declared him to be an apostate and turned against him. Before the massacre to end the lives of the Najdi brothers, this fist KSA king established in Egypt in 1928 the terrorist MB group, on the condition of their never performing any activities in the KSA. The terrorist MB group members grew stronger and in number throughout Egypt and outside Egypt, as a terrorist organization aiming at ruling all countries in the Middle East. The terrorist MB members supported the 1952 coup in Egypt. President Gamal Abdel-Nasser later on imprisoned many terrorist MB members who pose a threat to all Egypt. Many terrorist MB members fled Egypt and relocated in the KSA, where they thrived and worked. The terrorist MB members in the KSA tried to make people revolt against the royal family. Enmity ensued between the Wahabi terrorist MB members and the Wahabi KSA royal family. We have published here on our website a book on the history of the Wahabi opposition movements against the KSA royal family. Such opposition movements resulted in the creation of Al-Qaeda terrorist organization and Bin Laden. ISIS is another circle in this endless chain of terrorism.
2- Does ISIS pose a threat to the KSA?
The answer is NO, in my opinion. The ISIS threat is limited and can be contained on security level inside the KSA. It could be contained via Wahabism; Wahabi clergy on both sides have too many things in common and they hold Shiites to be their sole archenemy. ISIS members do not care to attack the KSA as a priority. ISIS is the begotten offspring of the KSA Wahabism. If ISIS members wanted from the very beginning to control KSA and other Gulf monarchies, they would have destroyed gradually all their cities. The focus of ISIS terrorist members is establishing a caliphate in Syria and Iraq. Later on, they might think about spreading in the Gulf and all Arabia. Hence, the current KSA-led coalition is a sham one; a façade to deny any relation or link between the KSA and ISIS!
Fourthly: Then why the KSA-led collation against ISIS has been announced?
1- We say this for the sake of recording history: our years in the IQC and on our website affirm that the KSA Wahabism is behind all terror and wars in the Middle East. Our voice as a Quranist has reached all concerned persons during our brief jobs at several USA great institutions: The National Endowment for Democracy, Harvard University, USCIRF, and Woodrow Wilson International Center. Recently, we have made a speech before a hearing session in the USA Congress to show real Islam and the reality of Wahabi terror and the terrorist MB group members. We have tackled in this speech the true nature of Wahabi threat and its bad influence on the USA and Middle East.
2- What we have said remains ignored by all; no one listened to us in the Obama administration. The ISIS danger resulted in countless Syrian refugees in Europe and in attacks in Paris and California. ISIS panic grows more now in Europe and the USA. Islamist terror is the talk of all cities now in the West. It has nothing to do with real Islam: the Quran alone. All fingers of accusations are pointed now clearly at the KSA. In Germany, Angela Merkel has directly criticized the KSA. A media campaign has been launched against the KSA to force it to participate in land battles against ISIS. That is why the KSA had to wait for the storm to end by declaring the so-called KSA-led coalition against ISIS, comprising about thirty countries – this is unbelievable – to fight ISIS on the military level.
Lastly: This is our predictions:
1- The Middle East tyrant is defeated beforehand in any waged war unless he fights another tyrant like himself; in that case, both tyrants are defeated.
2- It is a masquerade to see about thirty countries making a coalition not against the USA or Russia but against ISIS; as if ISIS is the super power unknown before that aims to invade the planet! (Please laugh loudly!).
3- This coalition will succeed only in one thing: fighting the Shiites who are fought as well by ISIS terrorist members.
4- Happy New Year!


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If you recently installed an update for Windows 10 and noticed that there is now an envelope icon at the bottom of the screen, you may be wondering how to get rid of it. That icon is for the Windows 10 mail app, which you can configure to show email messages from your accounts.
However, you might already be using a program to manage your email, or you may prefer to read your emails in a Web browser. Fortunately it is possible to remove this icon from the taskbar so that you don't need to see it whenever the Windows 10 taskbar is visible.
How to Get Rid of the Envelope at the Bottom of the Screen in Windows 10
The steps in this guide were performed on a computer using the Windows 10 operating system. The icon in question appears after certain Windows updates when you have configured a Microsoft account as your Windows login. For example, I use a Hotmail account to log into my Windows 10 computer. The Mail icon was not there before an update, but appeared after it.
Step 1: Locate the Mail envelope icon at the bottom of the screen.
Step 2: Right-click on the icon, then select the Unpin from taskbar option.
Note that you can use this same method to remove other unwanted taskbar icons as well.
Do you have your email account set up on your iPhone, but you're having problems because you need to change your email password, but can't? This article will walk you through why this is happening and how you can fix it.