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What is your favorite lyric involving an NBA player?
People are runningout of ideas, so I ponied up to make one that will surely be even worse than almost any other out there! What is your favorite song (most likely hip-hop) lyric involving a basketball player, preferably an NBA basketball player. I love Biggies flow in "Gimme the Loot" ("I'm slammin [email protected] like Shaquille...", but the lyric isn't overly clever, though he kills the track), but my all-time favorite is Nas in It Ain't Hard To Tell. "I kick the skill like Shaquille hold the pill, vocabulary spills I'm ill..." is a classic including the Diesels name, but there are many other non-Shaq basketball lyrics (Jay-Z has a few too many about Michael Jordan). Anyone else have a favorite? (By the way, even if you are not a hip-hop fan, "It Ain't Hard To Tell" is a track to look up, Nas kills it, but Large Professor used a Michael Jackson voice sample and beat sample from Human Nature. It is one of my favorite Michael tracks, love hearing it now more than ever).


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Feedback Question and Answer – Development Iteration # 81
Today we complete iteration # 81 off. With this sprint we focused on the processing of feedback on the Question and Answer project.
Question and answer
In recent iterations we put the focus on the drop of a basic version of Question and Answer. Now we have received the initial user feedback, we have gone further and we are in this sprint focused on the further expansion of this new Tweakers component.
Until now you could only ask new questions using the form regular topic in the forum. From this release, you can click on the 'Discussions and Questions "in the subject area directly ask a question, if you him do not see at all the questions.
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Topic Type filter and folded topic starts in dicussions & Questions tab
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It's been a while possible for other users to give a token of appreciation with a thumbs-up. This functionality is obviously not only fun for the user who gets a lot of 'up-Thumbs ", it also gives other users a clear picture of the relevant posts. Therefore, we now provide a yield of up-Thumbs rewarded post more karma than regular mail. The bonus is dependent on the number of data Thumbs and the relationship between the two is in the form of a Gompertz-curve. That is to say that the increase of the Karma is lowest at the beginning and end of the curve. This is to ensure that some up-Thumbs not have much influence on the karma, but that there is a sharp increase between five and twenty Thumbs, if it is confirmed that the post is appreciated by a small or even large number of users.
Karma vs. number raised thumbs
In the last update we reported that we had started to figure out what all is involved in an upgrade to PHP 7 The answer is:. A lot. After we had set up a virtual machine with working test environment immediately noticed already that we use mongo driver is no longer available for PHP 7. Since the new driver had changed significantly, we were delighted when we discovered that someone has a 'adapter' had developed, so that we can continue to use our existing code. It also appears that PHP handles 7 just something different with serialized data than older PHP versions, making communication with our Java backend not always going well.
In short, there are still plenty of points to address and we have therefore no concrete date we can change or display benchmarks. As soon as you can, we will additionally have to wait until (after a while) Ubuntu LTS 16:04, so we left our web servers can easily upgrade to PHP 7.
symfony 3
Except to PHP 7 we look at an upgrade we use Symfony. We are now running version 2.8, but 3.0 has been a while and we naturally want to remember. That is a hefty task, because much has changed in the APIs. The main change here is the sharp change in the Form system. We must therefore all change our Forms before they work in version 3. Fortunately, most of those changes quite small, but with more than a hundred Forms tap it anyway to good.
In addition to making changes to our PHP project, we have also addressed our biggest Java project. This is just like our PHP code, a few months ago converted to Git. Although we at that time by our PHP code are immediately combined with the implementation of Composer and Satis to manage external dependencies (such as Symfony), that was not the case with Java code.
In Java, we had simply stand in the repository all jar files from external dependencies. That worked, but was obviously not practical. We have now adjusted to handle all dependencies by Gradle . Thus we have not only solved the dependencies, we also have the build process moved towards it. That happened even before that with Ant, Gradle but it could combine with practical tracking dependencies. Moreover Gradle is easy to use on Windows, so also our build process can optionally be carried out thereon.
One of the few things we had to add itself was a way to deploy simultaneously to several, but not all, Tomcat servers. As we already did with Ant and just say one of the things that could Gradle is not, we have gratefully made use of the support Gradle to execute Ant tasks.Viewing:-658
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Markers of kidney dysfunction such as proteinuria or albuminuria have been reported to be associated with coronary heart disease, but the consistency and strength of any such relationship has not been clearly defined. This lack of clarity has led to great uncertainty as to how proteinuria should be treated in the assessment and management of cardiovascular risk. We therefore undertook a systematic review of published cohort studies aiming to provide a reliable estimate of the strength of association between proteinuria and coronary heart disease.
Methods and Findings
A meta-analysis of cohort studies was conducted to obtain a summary estimate of the association between measures of proteinuria and coronary risk. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched for studies reporting an age- or multivariate-adjusted estimate and standard error of the association between proteinuria and coronary heart disease. Studies were excluded if the majority of the study population had known glomerular disease or were the recipients of renal transplants. Two independent researchers extracted the estimates of association between proteinuria (total urinary protein >300 mg/d), microalbuminuria (urinary albumin 30–300 mg/d), macroalbuminuria (urinary albumin >300 mg/d), and risk of coronary disease from individual studies. These estimates were combined using a random-effects model. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine possible sources of heterogeneity in effect size. A total of 26 cohort studies were identified involving 169,949 individuals and 7,117 coronary events (27% fatal). The presence of proteinuria was associated with an approximate 50% increase in coronary risk (risk ratio 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23–1.74) after adjustment for known risk factors. For albuminuria, there was evidence of a dose–response relationship: individuals with microalbuminuria were at 50% greater risk of coronary heart disease (risk ratio 1.47, 95% CI 1.30–1.66) than those without; in those with macroalbuminuria the risk was more than doubled (risk ratio 2.17, 1.87–2.52). Sensitivity analysis indicated no important differences in prespecified subgroups.
Citation: Perkovic V, Verdon C, Ninomiya T, Barzi F, Cass A, Patel A, et al. (2008) The Relationship between Proteinuria and Coronary Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLoS Med 5(10): e207. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050207
Academic Editor: Giuseppe Remuzzi, Instituto Mario Negri, Italy
Received: April 2, 2008; Accepted: September 9, 2008; Published: October 21, 2008
Copyright: © 2008 Perkovic et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This project did not have any specific funding, but the work was supported in part by a Program Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. VP holds an Heart Foundation of Australia Astra Zeneca fellowship and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Pfizer Cardiovascular Research fellowship. TN holds a Banyu Life Science Foundation Fellowship and International Society of Hypertension Visiting Postdoctoral Award from the Foundation for High Blood Pressure Research in Australia. Alan Cass holds a Senior Research Fellowship from the NHMRC of Australia. AP holds a Career Development Award from the National Heart Foundation of Australia. These funding sources had no input into any aspect of this work.
Competing interests: The authors had full access to the data. JC has received research grants from Servier, administered through the University of Sydney, as co-principal investigator for PROGRESS and ADVANCE. VP, AP, and JC have received honoraria from Servier for speaking about these studies at scientific meetings.
Abbreviations: CHD, coronary heart disease; CI, confidence interval; CVD, cardiovascular disease; RR, relative risk
Editors' Summary
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death among adults in developed countries. With age, fatty deposits called atherosclerotic plaques coat the walls of arteries, the vessels that nourish the organs of the body by carrying blood and oxygen to them. Because they narrow the arteries, atherosclerotic plaques restrict the blood flow to the body's organs. If these plaques form in the arteries that feed the heart muscle (the coronary arteries), the result is CHD. The symptoms of CHD include shortness of breath and chest pains (angina). In addition, if a plaque breaks off the wall of a coronary artery, it can completely block that artery, which kills part of the heart muscle and causes a potentially fatal heart attack. Smoking, high blood pressure, high blood levels of cholesterol (a type of fat), having diabetes, being overweight, and being physically inactive are established risk factors for CHD. Treatments for CHD include lifestyle changes (for example, losing weight) and medications that lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol. The narrowed arteries can also be widened using a device called a stent or surgically bypassed.
Why Was This Study Done?
In addition to the established risk factors for CHD, several other factors may also increase a person's risk of developing CHD, including kidney disease, which affects one in six adults to some degree. An early sign of kidney dysfunction is high amounts of a protein called albumin or of total proteins in the urine (albuminuria and proteinuria, respectively). Some studies have suggested that proteinuria is associated with an increased risk of CHD, but the results of these studies are inconsistent. Consequently, it is unclear whether proteinuria should be considered when assessing and managing an individual's CHD risk. In this study, the researchers undertake a systematic review (a study in which predefined search criteria are used to identify all the research on a specific topic) and a meta-analysis (a statistical method for combining the results of several studies) of published studies that have investigated the association between proteinuria and CHD.
What Did the Researchers Do and Find?
The researchers' systematic review identified 26 published studies that provided estimates of the association between CHD risk and proteinuria and albuminuria by measuring baseline urinary protein and albumin levels in people who were then followed for several years to see whether they developed CHD. Nearly 170,000 individuals participated in these studies, which recorded more 7,000 fatal and nonfatal heart attacks and other coronary events. In the meta-analysis, proteinuria (urinary protein of more than 300 mg/d or dipstick 1+ or more) increased CHD risk by 50% after adjustment for other known CHD risk factors. Furthermore, individuals with microalbuminuria (a urinary albumin of 30–300 mg/d) were 50% more likely to develop CHD than those with normal amounts of urinary albumin; people with macroalbuminuria (urinary albumin of more than 300 mg/d) were more than twice as likely to develop CHD. Finally, the association between proteinuria and CHD did not differ substantially between specific subgroups of participants such as people with and without diabetes.
What Do These Findings Mean?
These findings suggest that there is a strong, possibly dose-dependent association between proteinuria and the risk of CHD and that this association is independent of other known CHD risk factors, including diabetes. The finding that people with proteinuria have a 50% or greater increased risk of developing CHD than people without proteinuria may be a slight overestimate of the strength of the association between proteinuria because of publication bias. That is, studies that failed to show an association may not have been published. However, because this systematic review and meta-analysis includes several large population-based studies done in various parts of the world, these findings are likely to be generalizable. Thus, these findings support the inclusion of an evaluation of proteinuria in the assessment of CHD risk and suggest that medications and other strategies that reduce proteinuria might help to reduce the overall burden of CHD.
Additional Information.
Please access these Web sites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050207.
- The MedlinePlus encyclopedia has pages on coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, and chronic kidney failure (in English and Spanish)
- Information is available from the US National Heart Lung and Blood Institute on coronary heart disease
- The UK National Health Service Direct health encyclopedia also provides information about coronary heart disease (in several languages)
- Information for patients and caregivers is provided by the American Heart Association on all aspects of heart disease
- The British Heart Foundation also provides information on heart disease and on keeping the heart healthy
Over recent decades, substantial progress has been made in understanding the role that "classical risk factors"—namely blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity—play in the aetiology of coronary heart disease (CHD) [1–6]. Subsequent studies and meta-analyses have identified other factors that may provide additional important predictive information regarding the risk of CHD, including inflammatory markers [7], haemostatic factors [8,9], left ventricular hypertrophy, and markers of kidney dysfunction [10].
Kidney disease is highly prevalent worldwide [11–13], affecting approximately one in six adults in Western countries. An association between severe kidney failure and accelerated cardiovascular disease (CVD) has long been recognized [14]. Markers of early kidney disease, such as the presence of albumin or protein in the urine, have been reported to be associated with increased risk of CHD in the general population [15]. However, inconsistencies in both the direction and magnitude of the reported relationship have led to uncertainty about the practical benefit of measuring these indices in quantifying an individual's future coronary risk. Variations in the definition, measurement, and assessment of proteinuria have added to the confusion, with some studies reporting on the relationship between urinary albumin excretion (micro- or macroalbuminuria) and coronary risk, while others have used total urinary protein excretion, of which albumin is a component.
Previous reports have suggested a positive association between proteinuria and CHD risk [10], but the strength, consistency, and independence of the relationship have not been defined. Hence, the aim of the current study was to provide reliable estimates of the strength and nature of the association between proteinuria (urinary protein excretion of >300 mg/d), microalbuminuria (30–300 mg/d of urinary albumin excretion), and macroalbuminuria (>300 mg/d) with subsequent risk of CHD in the general population and in predefined subgroups (diabetes, gender, and ethnicity).
Data Sources and Searches
We performed a systematic review of the available literature according to the MOOSE guidelines [16] for the conduct of meta-analyses of observational studies. Relevant studies published between 1966 and November 2006 were identified from CINAHL (http://www.ebscohost.com/cinahl/), EMBASE (http://www.embase.com/), and MEDLINE (http://ovidsp.tx.ovid.com/spb/ovidweb.cgi and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed) using a combined text word and MeSH heading search strategy that included all spellings of proteinuria, albuminuria, microalbuminuria, or macroalbuminuria combined with coronary heart disease, ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, and angina pectoris, and limited to cohort studies. References from identified studies were manually scanned to identify any other relevant studies.
Study Selection and Data Extraction
Cohort studies were included if they reported quantitative estimates of the age and sex-adjusted relative risk (RR) for fatal or nonfatal CHD associated with any level of albuminuria or proteinuria (Table 1), together with an estimate of variance (standard error or 95% confidence intervals [CIs]). Studies were excluded if the study population chiefly comprised pathological subgroups (including hospital-based populations or those that the majority of the study population comprised individuals with a history of myocardial infarction, chronic kidney disease, or renal transplantation), if they reported the estimate of effect with no means by which to derive the standard error, or if the estimate was not adjusted for age. Reports from clinical trials were excluded to avoid potential modification of the nature and magnitude of the relationship between proteinuria and CHD by the intervention studied (e.g., blood pressure lowering). Studies reported in languages other than English were included.
Definitions of Albuminuria and Proteinuria
CHD mortality was defined as death attributed to ICD9 (International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Ninth Revision) codes 410 to 414.9 and ICD10 codes I20.0 to I25.9. The prespecified definitions of proteinuria are shown in Table 1. The literature search and data extraction were conducted by two of the authors (CV and TN). Where there was disagreement over the eligibility of a study, three additional authors reviewed the paper until a consensus was reached (RH, VP, FB).
Data Synthesis and Analyses
Summary estimates of RR were obtained using a random effects model. Separate summary estimates were obtained for the RR associated with microalbuminuria, macroalbuminuria, any albuminuria (micro or macro), and proteinuria. In addition, some studies reported sex-specific risk ratios for the strength of the association, and these were pooled if a single overall estimate was not provided.
The percentage of variability across studies attributable to heterogeneity beyond chance was estimated using the I2 statistic [17]. The 95% CI of the I2 statistic was calculated using the method described by Higgins et al. [18]. We investigated possible sources of heterogeneity by comparing summary results obtained when studies were grouped according to specific characteristics. Tests for heterogeneity were performed using meta-regression analysis. Publication bias was assessed using the Egger test and represented graphically using funnel plots plotting the natural log of the RR versus its standard error. The trim and fill analysis for publication bias was performed using Duval and Tweedie's methods [19]. A p-value below 0.05 was considered statistically significant in all analyses. All analyses were performed using STATA (Release 9.2; Stata Corporation, http://www.stata.com/).
Literature Search and Characteristics of Studies
The electronic search yielded a total of 3,653 articles, of which 297 reports were reviewed in full text (see Figure 1). Of these, 26 studies were eligible for inclusion [20–45], including information on 169,949 individuals and 7,117 CHD events (27% fatal). Study size ranged from 146 to 90,363 participants and the average duration of participant follow-up was 4–27 y (Table 2).
Characteristics of Studies Reporting on the Association between Proteinuria and Subsequent Risk of Coronary Heart Disease
In total, 26 studies reported the RR for CHD associated with a measure of proteinuria, and some reported the relationship for more than one threshold of proteinuria: ten studies reported on the association between total proteinuria and CHD; seven studies reported on the association between microalbuminuria and CHD; nine studies reported on the association between macroalbuminuria and CHD; and six studies reported on the association between any level of albuminuria and CHD. Levels of proteinuria were measured using either urinary dipstick tests for protein or the measurement of the UPCR (urinary protein–creatinine ratio) on spot urine specimens. The former was used in the majority of studies (n = 9). Levels of albuminuria were estimated by measurement of the UACR (urinary albumin–creatinine ratio) on spot urine specimens. Twenty-three studies reported hazard ratios, and three reported odds ratios. Twenty-five of the studies provided an estimate that had been adjusted for major CHD risk factors including blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, and cholesterol (Table 2).
Association between Proteinuria and Subsequent Risk of CHD
A total of 16 estimates from ten studies including 124,997 patients reported on the relationship between total proteinuria and the risk of subsequent CHD (Figure 2). The mean-weighted estimate from these studies indicated that individuals with proteinuria have an approximately 50% greater risk of CHD compared with those without the condition: RR 1.47 (95% CI 1.23–1.74). There was considerable heterogeneity across these studies (p < 0.006) but no significant evidence of publication bias (p = 0.11).
The black squares are inversely proportional to the variance of the study and the horizontal lines represent the 95% CIs. Footnotes: Four studies reported estimates separated according to subgroups including (a) female, (b) male, (c) people without diabetes, (d) people with diabetes, (e) people with type 1 diabetes, and (f) people with type 2 diabetes. References: Culleton 2000 [22]; Fuller 2001 [24]; Irie 2006 [26]; Leelawattana 2003 [30]; Madison 2006 [32]; Miettinen 1996 [34]; Muntner 2002 [35]; Sasaki 1995 [36]; Shimozato 1996 [37]; Wagener 1994 [42].
Potential sources of heterogeneity in the strength of the association between proteinuria and CHD were examined by conducting sensitivity analyses (Figure 3). There was no evidence that the strength of the association differed according to diabetes status, ethnicity (Asian versus non-Asian, where most Asian participants were from Japan), fatal versus nonfatal CHD outcomes, laboratory versus dipstick measurement of proteinuria, duration of study follow-up, or study size (all p-values for heterogeneity > 0.1).
Conventions as in Figure 2.
Footnote: (a) One study reported both risk estimates for individuals with and without diabetes.
Association between Albuminuria and Subsequent Risk of CHD
In the seven studies (n = 31,591 participants) for which information was available, individuals with microalbuminuria had a 50% greater risk of subsequent CHD compared with individuals without, and there was no evidence of heterogeneity among included studies: RR 1.47 (95% CI 1.30–1.66); p for heterogeneity = 0.48 (Figure 4). Evidence of significant publication bias was identified using the Egger test (p = 0.01), and after correction for its presence the estimate of the association was marginally reduced to 1.42 (95% CI 1.23–1.64). A total of nine studies (n = 34,834 participants) compared the risk of CHD among individuals with and without macroalbuminuria. Individuals in whom macroalbuminuria was detected had double the risk of CHD compared with individuals without, with no evidence of publication bias: RR 2.17, 95% CI 1.87–2.52 (Figure 4). Even after accounting for the fact that we are comparing different levels of albuminuria with the same control group by using the Bonferroni correction, the pooled estimates of microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria remained highly significant (both p < 0.0001 after Bonferroni correction).
(A) Studies reporting risk estimate of microalbuminuria compared to normoalbuminuria.
(B) Studies reporting risk estimate of macroalbuminuria compared to normoalbuminuria.
(C) Studies reporting risk estimate of any level of albuminuria compared to normoalbuminuria.
Conventions as in Figure 2. Footnotes: Three studies reported separated estimates according to subgroups including (a) female, (b) male, (c) non-Asian people, and (d) Asian people. References: Beilin 1996 [20]; Borch-Johnsen 1999 [21]; Corona 2005 [45]; Florkowski 2001 [23]; Hu 2002 [25]; Jensen 2000 [27]; Klausen 2004 [28]; Lee 2006 [29]; Lempiainen 1999 [31]; Mattock 1998 [33]; Soedarnah-Muthu 2004 [38]; Tillin 2005 [39]; Torffvit 2005 [40]; Valmadrid 2000 [41]; Wang 2005 [43]; Yuyun 2004 [44].
In those six studies (n = 9,972 participants) that reported on the association between any level of albuminuria the RR for CHD among individuals with albuminuria was twice that of normoalbuminuric individuals with no evidence of publication bias: RR 2.11, 95% CI 1.63–2.73; p for heterogeneity = 0.41 (Figure 4).
To examine whether there was a dose–response association between albuminuria and CHD the following analysis was restricted to those six studies (n = 31,445 participants) that had reported separately on the association between microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria and subsequent CHD (Figure 5). Among these studies, compared with normoalbuminuric individuals, those with microalbuminuria had a 50% greater risk of CHD (RR 1.48, 95% CI 1.30–1.68) and in those with macroalbuminuria, the risk of CHD was more than doubled (RR 2.55, 95% CI 2.09–3.11; p for heterogeneity < 0.0001).
Conventions as in Figure 2.
Studies reporting both risk estimates for individuals with and without risk factor were included for the analysis.
Footnotes: (a) Studies reporting both risk estimates for individuals with and without diabates were included for the analysis. (b) Studies reporting both risk estimates for individuals with microalbuminuria and those with macroalbuminuria were included for the analysis. (c) Studies reporting both age-adjusted estimates and multivariate-adjusted estimates were included for the analysis.
Impact of Adjustment for Major Cardiovascular Risk Factors on the Strength of the Association
A total of 12 studies (n = 138,003 participants) reported estimates of the strength of the association between either proteinuria or albuminuria that were adjusted first, by age and then by other known cardiovascular risk factors (i.e., blood pressure, smoking, lipids and diabetes). The overall age-adjusted summary estimate was 2.55 (95% CI 2.09–3.11), which was reduced by approximately 50% to 1.78 (95% CI 1.54–2.06; p for heterogeneity = 0.01, Figure 5).
This overview of the epidemiological evidence suggests that proteinuria is independently associated with increased risk of subsequent CHD. The results from this meta-analysis of 26 cohort studies, including information on over 7,000 CHD events among almost 170,000 individuals, suggest that people with proteinuria have a risk of CHD that is at least 50% greater than those without. Moreover, there was some evidence to indicate a dose–response relationship such that the strength of the association was substantially higher among individuals with macroalbuminuria compared with those with microalbuminuria. Furthermore, the relationship was consistent across diverse population subgroups including individuals with and without diabetes. The included studies were largely population-based suggesting that these findings are broadly generalisable and less likely to have been affected by interventions (e.g., blood pressure lowering) than data from clinical trials.
The magnitude of the risk is similar to that associated with many classical risk factors, and stronger than many more recently discovered risk factors [7,9] suggesting that the addition of proteinuria may improve the predictive ability of commonly used cardiovascular risk prediction formulae. This is being increasingly recognized, with the most recent cardiovascular disease prevention guidelines from the American Heart Association [46] suggesting that individuals with proteinuria should be considered to be at similar risk to people with established CHD. Our data suggest that proteinuria is likely to improve the ability to predict coronary risk. Further studies will be required to assess whether the performance of commonly used risk prediction tools can be improved by the inclusion of proteinuria in cardiovascular risk prediction formulae.
Although these data suggest that albuminuria may be a stronger predictor of coronary risk than urinary total protein excretion, this may be an artefact of the data, since the majority of studies that measured urinary protein used dipstick tests, which have a lower sensitivity and specificity than do laboratory estimates. Unfortunately, as only one of the included studies used laboratory estimates to measure proteinuria, we had limited statistical power in the sensitivity analysis to be able to detect any real difference between the two methods. The included studies did not use a specific methodology for the collection of the urine specimens, adding a further potential source of variability [47].
The relationship between proteinuria and CHD was similar in individuals with and without diabetes, and in the other subgroups studied. We were unable to assess whether proteinuria conferred an increased risk of coronary disease separately to other manifestations of chronic kidney disease, although others have recently reported that these risks are additive [48]. Although the impact of therapies that reduce proteinuria (e.g., blood pressure–lowering agents) have been the subject of reasonably large trials in people with diabetes and proteinuria [49,50], fewer data are available regarding the effects of these therapies in individuals without diabetes and with proteinuria. The Heart Outcomes Protection Evaluation (HOPE [51]) suggested that a somewhat greater magnitude of cardiovascular protection may be associated with the use of the angiotensin-converting enzyme ramipril in participants with albuminuria at baseline (relative risk reduction of 26% versus 15%), although the statistical significance of this difference was not reported. Data from other trials suggest that the reduction in urinary protein excretion achieved in an individual predicts the reduction in the risk of subsequent cardiovascular events [52,53]. The confirmation of a differential cardiovascular protective efficacy for blood pressure–lowering agents according to baseline proteinuria in future studies would further increase the value of adding proteinuria to cardiovascular risk prediction tools that guide decisions regarding the use of preventative therapies.
Our systematic review could not assess whether proteinuria plays a causative role in the development of CHD, as this would require evidence from randomised controlled trials of therapies that acted mainly by reducing proteinuria. It has been suggested that proteinuria may simply be a marker of early vascular disease, as propounded in the "Steno hypothesis." This hypothesis contends that the presence of proteinuria reflects widespread early vascular disease and abnormal endothelial function (including that in the glomerular vasculature), and as such may be a marker of the severity and duration of other risk factors (e.g., elevated blood pressure) rather than playing a pathogenic role per se [54].
An important limitation of the current analyses is its reliance upon published summary data (rather than individual participant data), which impairs the examination of the impact of adjustment for known CHD risk factors. In those studies that provided both adjusted and unadjusted estimates, the association between proteinuria and CHD was significantly attenuated by about 50% after adjustment. Such a significant attenuation in effect size suggests that residual confounding is likely to remain and, further, that the summary result presented here may be an overestimate of the true magnitude of the association between proteinuria and CHD. Some evidence of publication bias was also identified, although after correcting for it, the associations remained strong and significant. Conversely, the strength of the relationship may have been underestimated due to the impact of regression dilution bias [55], in which a single measurement of a risk factor may underestimate the strength of its relationship to a disease. The effect of regression dilution bias is supported by the findings of the study by Madison et al. [32], in which proteinuria present on two separate measurements was associated with a much higher risk of subsequent coronary heart disease than transient proteinuria (RR 3.72, 95% CI 2.62–5.27 versus 1.48, 1.19–1.83). Despite these limitations, the results of this systematic review represent the most precise and accurate estimate of the strength of the relationship between proteinuria and CHD currently available.
The findings of this study therefore strongly support a role for the evaluation of proteinuria in the prediction of CHD risk. They suggest that the use of strategies to reduce proteinuria, and better targeting of other cardioprotective therapies, may help to reduce the overall burden of CHD. Studies to assess the impact of these strategies are warranted.
The authors wish to thank Ms Linda Heslop for her assistance in designing and running the search strategies for this review.
Author Contributions
All authors participated in the interpretation of results and drafting of the manuscript. V. Perkovic, C. Verdon, T. Ninomiya, J. Craig, and R. Huxley participated in the planning of the manuscript; C. Verdon and T. Ninomiya collected the data; and F. Barzi and T. Ninomiya conducted the analyses. All authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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- 22. Culleton BF, Larson MG, Parfrey PS, Kannel WB, Levy D (2000) Proteinuria as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality in older people: A prospective study. Am J Med 109: 1–8.
- 23. Florkowski CM, Scott RS, Coope PA, Moir CL (2001) Predictors of mortality from type 2 diabetes mellitus in Canterbury, New Zealand; a ten-year cohort study. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 53: 113–120.
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- 25. Hu D, Jablonski KA, Sparling YH, Robbins DC, Lee ET, et al. (2002) Accuracy of lipoprotein lipids and apoproteins in predicting coronary heart disease in diabetic American Indians: the Strong Heart Study. Ann Epidemiol 12: 79–85.
- 26. Irie F, Iso H, Sairenchi T, Fukasawa N, Yamagishi K, et al. (2006) The relationships of proteinuria, serum creatinine, glomerular filtration rate with cardiovascular disease mortality in Japanese general population. Kidney Int 69: 1264–1271.
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- 31. Lempiainen P, Mykkanen L, Pyorala K, Laakso M, Kuusisto J (1999) Insulin resistance syndrome predicts coronary heart disease events in elderly nondiabetic men. Circulation 100: 123–128.
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- 39. Tillin T, Forouhi N, McKeigue P, Chaturvedi N (2005) Microalbuminuria and coronary heart disease risk in an ethnically diverse UK population: a prospective cohort study. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology: JASN 16: 3702–3710.
- 40. Torffvit O, Lovestam-Adrian M, Agardh E, Agardh CD (2005) Nephropathy, but not retinopathy, is associated with the development of heart disease in Type 1 diabetes: A 12-year observation study of 462 patients. Diabet Med 22: 723–729.
- 41. Valmadrid CT, Klein R, Moss SE, Klein BEK (2000) The risk of cardiovascular disease mortality associated with microalbuminuria and gross proteinuria in persons with older-onset diabetes mellitus. Archives Intern Med 160: 1093–1100.
- 42. Wagener DK, Harris T, Madans JH (1994) Proteinuria as a biomarker: Risk of subsequent morbidity and mortality. Environ Res 66: 160–172.
- 43. Wang Z, Hoy WE (2005) Albuminuria and incident coronary heart disease in Australian Aboriginal people. Kidney Int 68: 1289–1293.
- 44. Yuyun MF, Khaw KT, Luben R, Welch A, Bingham S, et al. (2004) A prospective study of microalbuminuria and incident coronary heart disease and its prognostic significance in a British population: The EPIC-Norfolk Study. Am J Epidemiol 159: 284–293.
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Corona AJ, Martinez DR, Avila MH, Haffner S, Williams K, et al. (2005) Microalbuminuria as a predictor of myocardial infarction in a Mexican population: the Mexico City Diabetes Study. Kidney Int Suppl. pp. S34–39.
- 46. Mosca L, Banka CL, Benjamin EJ, Berra K, Bushnell C, et al. (2007) Evidence-based guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention in women: 2007 update. Circulation 115: 1481–1501.
- 47. Gansevoort RT, Brinkman J, Bakker SJ, De Jong PE, de Zeeuw D (2006) Evaluation of measures of urinary albumin excretion. Am J Epidemiol 164: 725–727.
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- 50. Brenner BM, Cooper ME, de Zeeuw D, Keane WF, Mitch WE, et al. (2001) Effects of losartan on renal and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes and nephropathy. N Engl J Med 345: 861–869.
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- 55. MacMahon S, Peto R, Cutler J, Collins R, Sorlie P, et al. (1990) Blood pressure, stroke, and coronary heart disease. Part 1, Prolonged differences in blood pressure: prospective observational studies corrected for the regression dilution bias. Lancet 335: 765–774.


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Kelly Rowland Stars in Ab Work Out [VIDEO]
In 2012 i'm going to post more things I LOVE, and Kelly Rowland is definitely one of those things in this world I LOVE. This is the latest video from Kelly Rowland and its not a "MUSIC VIDEO" she is a spokesperson for Sexy Abs. This will get you right for the summer time ladies !
"Superstar Kelly Rowland & Hollywood Trainer Jeanette Jenkins for this super fun and motivating Sexy Abs workout. This workout starts with a fun heart pumping standing warm-up to prep you for 6 chapters of Sexy Abs Training with Kelly Rowland & her trainer Jeanette Jenkins. This workout will help you develop core strength, tone & flexibility so you look good & feel good! "
That's from the official website the hollywood trainer. I think this workout will definitely get your stomach right but all this sounds like blah blah blah because the only reason I posted this is because OF THE BODY on KELLY ROWLAND !!!!! wow . So ladies get this for the summer time so I can LOVE you like I love KELLY ROWLAND.


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RODMELL SHOW: It was a hectic and rather trying week for me this week, so I was very pleased to have such an enjoyable day on Saturday September 12 at Rodmell Late Summer Show. The show was very good and very well supported and the tea and cakes in the marquee in the garden did well. I had friends from Wales, Greece and Nepal visiting and they were very impressed with the show, Monks House and the village in general.
RIDE AND STRIDE: I had also done my stint sitting outside the church for an hour to book in the people doing the sponsored bike ride. It was sunny, peaceful and I met some nice people. There were quite a few walkers also doing it, one of whom was the son-in-law of the late Arthur Floyd, who had lived in Rodmell with his lovely wife Ursula who used to play the organ at Southease Church. The whole day was busy and enjoyable, ending up with all my visitors apple and pear picking, plus blackberrying and happy to be taking lovely fresh country produce home to Wales and London with them.
JUMBLE SALE: Don't forget to look out things for the jumble sale in aid of much needed village hall funds. It's to be held on Saturday October 17.
THE GARDEN: It's time now to start putting the garden to bed for the oncoming winter months and I enjoy thinking about what to put in my baskets and pots for winter/spring colour. The orchard is full of apples and pears and soon the Iford Scrumpers will be along to clear it and make juice with it on their fruit pressing day. I don't know if Rodmell is doing the same as I haven't heard anything yet.
GEESE: I loved seeing the arrow shaped form in the sky of a flock of Canada Geese flying over the house on Sunday.
BUSY: Our pub is still very busy and the village is full of visitors. People are booking up constantly for B&B and September is yet another busy month. October bookings are building up as well, just when I thought things were calming down.
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BETHLEHEM, PA - Lehigh University officially welcomed two Montclair residents to the Class of 2018. The incoming class represents an accomplished, diverse group of students who hail from 41 U.S. states and 34 international countries and territories.
Havana Blehl and Jack Fields, both of Montclair, were welcomed to Lehigh University as members of the class of 2018.
Fields is a 2014 graduate of Montclair High School. Students were welcomed to the university with a welcome 'meet and greet' picnic.
For 149 years, Lehigh University (lehigh.edu) has combined outstanding academic and learning opportunities with leadership in fostering innovative research. The institution is among the nation's most selective, highly ranked private research universities. Lehigh's four colleges – College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Economics, College of Education and the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science – provide opportunities to 7,000 students to discover and grow in a learning community that promotes interdisciplinary programs with real-world experience.


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What We Do
LoveLsTzy® Association is a registered non-profit organization in Switzerland.
In summary we provide multimedia, ecofriendly and plant based educational services including games, videos, music, books, online, namely, conducting programs in the field of consciousness raising and interfaith and intercultural understanding and cooperation in Switzerland and internationally. The association is politically and religiously independent and pursues the following goals:
The purpose of the association is divided under 4 primary pillars:
1. Education
2. Health and Diet (PlantBased, GlutenFree)
3. Scientific Research and Ecological Action
4. Spirituality (Intercultural Interfaith cooperation)
Education: In the form of services both in person and online. This pillar represents the foundation of the association and covers aspects of all pillars. We promote education in the form of multimedia including but not limited to: Games, Film, Music, Books, Seminars and Webinars (These may be used in combination). Coaching, Consulting and Mentorship may also be incorporated in various forms.
Health and Diet (Plant-Based, Gluten-Free): This includes educational potlucks and the promotion of healthy, plant based, and gluten free products. We also promote these products to become more widely available in places such as shops at petrol stations, schools, airports, hotels and other commercial venues. We also promote raising awareness and to communicate with companies for the removal of harmful additives in food and ingredients.
Scientific Research and Ecological Action: Studying and applying various ecological techniques for sustainable farming and agriculture of biological fruits and vegetables, as well as educating adults and children through active participation in fields. Public research and education also includes sustainable energy such as Solar power, Wind Power and Cold Fusion.
Spirituality (Intercultural-Interfaith cooperation): Bringing people together of different faiths, countries and backgrounds to learn from each other in various forms of educational events and gatherings.
Our current Statutes can be found at the link below:
Lovelstzy® Association Statutes
We are also committed to Green Environment and are printing all our materials digitally to
reduce environmental waste. We also print on recycled paper when ever possible and are
constantly looking for more cost effective ways to publish. If you are a digital
printer using recycled paper with competitive prices we would love to hear from you
Micha – CFO executive producer
Jasmine Lovelstzy ~ co-founder, President – filmaker and visionary
Nicolas Radcliffe ~ co-founder, CEO – composer and producer
Cornelle du Plessis – Secretary of Association – psychologist and teacher
Prieur du Plessis – COO – Chief Operating Officer – head of marketing and religious counseling ~
Ivan du Plessis – CCO – Chief Child Officer – kids voice
Laurence Singer – attorney ~ http://laurencesinger.com
Biljana Ackovski – legal translator ~
Barbara Kreitmayer, MArch – architect ~
Jovan Drapsin – Associate Producer –
Vanja Drapsin – German Translator and Collaborator
LoveLsTzy® is legally a registered trademark in the United States since 2010, under educational services, namely, conducting programs in the fields of intercultural cooperation to facilitate the awakening process of interconnection.


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How to Calculate Balls for Each Colour in a Granny Afghan?
Many people love granny squares but would like to switch colours used in a granny square. The complication with this concept is that the further away from the center point of the granny square, the more yarn is needed from the yarn ball.
For Example: The center colour will use far less yarn than the colours used further out.
Crocheters email us asking us for ball counts for specific colours if they switch them around. You can figure this out using two yarn calculators that I have created for you.
This will work for any granny afghans where each square is the exact same colour configuration.
Before You Figure This Out
You will need a weight scale to weigh the yarn balls. This is how professionals do it when writing the patterns. You can pick up a postage/ingredients scale in the cooking section of Walmart pretty cheaply.
The goal is to figure out how much yarn you are taking away from the balls in just one square. You can do any many rounds as you need.
Crochet 1 Square and Weigh as You Go – Ounces
If you are using the same colour in multiple rounds, you only need to weight it once before using the ball.
- Before you start, weigh the ball.
- Write down that number using Ounces.
- Use the yarn in the square, weigh the ball once you are done.
- Write down that number using Ounces.
Repeat this step for each colour used in 1 granny square.
Measure Your Finished Square
Once you are finished a square, measure the width and length of the square. Write that down to the nearest inch.
Let's Calculate How Many Squares We Want
I will calculate the number of squares you need. Tell me the measurements of the blanket/afghan that you want. Enter in the size of your square into the calculator. This will tell you how many squares you need to complete.
Now We Know How Many Squares We Need
Let me figure out how many balls of yarn you will need. Run this calculator for each colour.


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Born and raised in the North West looking to take my music career to the next level and beyond that. I wont quit no matter what. Music is your personal preference meaning everybody has their own opinion about certain sounds and believe I want to hear them all because ill be quick to hop in the studio and make a song you will relate too. I don't just make weed songs I make all types of music so respect it.
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Acute Care
In our health economy, acute providers are the cornerstone of secondary and tertiary care. It is no secret they are facing quality, financial, demand, estate and workforce challenges that need to be addressed in the short term whilst simultaneously being asked to work with system partners to transform service provision and ensure long term sustainability of the health and social care system.
Sustainability and Transformation Plans, accountable care, new payment mechanisms and new models of care are high on the system-wide agenda, but for any acute provider this is adding to the already difficult balancing act between in-year targets, running daily operations, workforce and financial challenges, and strategic planning.
How we can support you
Attain has a strong track record of working across the health sector to support its customers to respond to tactical, operational and in-year challenges, but also to design and deliver strategic responses to wider system challenges.
We have experience of working across the health sector, on different clinical and care priorities – working with individual organisations – but also across partner organisations.
Some of the services we provide are outlined below.
To address your immediate priorities:
- Workforce – modelling, design and development
- Demand modelling and management – demand and capacity modelling, scenario modelling, risk stratification
- Cost base analysis
- Service and pathway redesign – including analysis, business case development and delivery of transformation
- Development of strategies for activity shift and outreach work by Acutes into the community
- Development of clinical networks
- CIP planning and delivery
- Estate optimisation
- Procurement and contract management
To address your strategic priorities:
- Whole system strategy and leadership development, including brokering and facilitation
- End to end population, activity and performance analysis (strategic planning to ACO delivery)
- Whole system clinical model development
- New payment models
- Strategic workforce analysis and design
- Strategic estate optimisation
Breaking the deadlock, start somewhere…
We are working with customers to support major strategic change, but also smaller more discrete change. We have worked with a number of customers to help them build momentum towards wider transformation by working with them on a discrete priority (linked to the local system's priorities) – usually based around a condition, pathway or population group. Working with system partners on something tangible, clearly defined and measurable enables teams to come together and learn, test processes and systems, adapt and flex and build confidence, buy-in and capability to deliver more ambitious change over the longer-term.
Essentially, the wider or more discrete transformation needs to:
- Be driven by clinical population need
- Harness bottom up and local clinical and operational leadership and insight
- Be founded on system partnership, to foster integrated and personalised care
- Be based on the principles of accountable care – shared outcomes, budgets and risk
- Support the development of a proportional evidence base for transformation
- Build on the strengths of the system and its partners
- Identify clear accountabilities and responsibilities
- Be deliverable, manageable and measurable
Case studies
Read some case studies on our acute care projects
Helen Pyecroft
0203 435 6590


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Several blogging friends suggested using the burnt orange to sash the circle blocks and using a different fabric for the setting triangles. So, earlier this week after attaching the sashing to about 45 of the blocks I auditioned several possibilities for alternate setting triangles.
It's fun pulling out all 366 blocks and seeing all the different fabrics that have gone into this project over the past year. Linking with Audrey at Quilty Folk, then I'll take a break from this project for a day or two and work on a couple small Christmas items. Time to finish them so we can use them this month!


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Recycled Flip Flop Home Accessories from Viva Terra
Flip flops have a short shelf life in our wardrobes, but a long one in our landfills. Our family runs around in them all summer until they fall apart or the dirt and disgust factor requires they be thrown away. To assuage our guilt a tiny measure, we were pleased to see that flip flop factory remnant rubber, which would otherwise be discarded, is being given new life and recycled into home accessories.
The bins, round or rectangular, could perform colorful storage in a child's room or anywhere you need something rugged and durable. If they get dirty, just hose them down as you would your own flip flops.
The mats come in three doormat sizes and also a runner size that could double as a soft outdoor playmat.
All are available at Viva Terra. Similar flip-flop mats can be found at Uncommon Goods.


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A furious dad hurled a glass at another driver then attacked him in a shocking road rage incident.
Victim Martin Pearce, a coach driver from Blackpool, had his glasses broken in half and suffered a nosebleed during the incident on Preston New Road, Blackpool, on October 19.
Craig Walls, 38, of Kimberley Close, Freckleton, near Preston, admitted assault and dangerous driving after the court heard he had his young son and partner in the car as he overtook vehicles on the wrong side of the road to catch his victim up.
Suspending his six month sentence for 12 months, Judge Recorder James Adkin said: "It was my intention to send you to prison despite the time of year and despite your family, because you pleaded guilty in what is accepted by both sides as a road rage incident.
"You completely lost your temper with a man you claimed was driving too fast.
"Despite your claim he was driving too fast it's you who drove dangerously with a child in your car. Your behaviour was unacceptable."
Prosecuting, Rachel Woods said after making a "sharp manouevre" in front of him, Walls halted his car at the lights at South Park Drive and opened his door.
The victim drove past but Walls pursued him to Whitegate Drive, cutting across and blocking his lane.
He overtook vehicles on the wrong wide of road to catch him up.
She said: "As he turned left into a side road he was aware of the defendant hanging out of the vehicle and throwing something. He heard a thud and at that point stopped in the road."


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Sequel to "She's Mine and I Love Her", please read first book!
It took you by surprise when Max proposed at a PAX Panel for all of your fans to see. It was amazing. You couldn't ask for anything better.
At least, that's what you thought.
You guys all remember Dylan, right? Well, he's not exactly insane but...he does want you.
RosePetal123123 May 29, 2016
His apartment is not a good place to record the walls are thin and I've been in one of the apartment there trust me
Cookie_Crumblez May 28, 2016
I love this sequel! Keep up the great work! I wish I was as good of a writer as you! 👌 I respect you. +1 Follower~Cookie_Crumblez
Elise_Turkalj May 28, 2016
Yay i loooooooo~ve this sequel!! Keep it coming😘 we will all wait💜💜
trashy-manda May 29, 2016
I'm loving it so far! I'll be sure to continue reading it and I'll vote! I hope you continue no matter what. If anything happens, know you have a friend :D
Cookie_Crumblez May 29, 2016
Awesome chapter! I'm sticking around for the whole story. ☺👌
GhostiGirlIsHere May 28, 2016
Getting better at writing? Is that even possible? You are an amazing writer! Possibly the best!


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Los Angeles, Rapper-actor Nick Cannon says he didn't sleep with his lady love Mariah Carey until their wedding night.
The "Hero" hitmaker made her spouse "wait" until they exchanged vows in April 2008, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
Asked when they first slept together, Cannon said: "On our wedding night, honeymoon style, in the Bahamas. That's a real woman there, make you wait, till you got married.
"Seriously, 100 per cent. We didn't (know if it would be good). The first time I made love to my wife was on our wedding night."
The couple has two-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe.


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The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers in May 2014. This guide is designed to assist readers in navigating the disclosure requirements of...
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Most not-for-profit organizations engage in fundraising. However, not all not-for-profit organizations are properly registered in the states where contributions are solicited. Compliance with state solicitation regulations is not...
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On October 31, 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB")...
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Simple searches of hospital medical records using medical injury keywords are more beneficial in identifying and preventing medical errors, than the use of conventional billing codes. A study at six Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals found that these Google-like searches were effective in reducing errors, leading to recommendations that electronic medical record systems include such search features.
Billing codes are widely used as a way to measure patient safety ratings. The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services uses billing codes to evaluate the quality of care at U.S. hospitals. However, the study at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals found more success with text searches. Researchers reviewed records at six VA hospitals between 1999 and 2006. The records were configured to allow specific keywords. A total of 2,974 patients who had undergone surgery were included in the analysis.
Through word searches, the researchers were able to turn up several medical records, including charts, doctor's notes, and lab notes that did not turn up when the surgeon used billing codes. In fact according to the researchers, hospitals probably miss as many as 90% of preventable medical injuries because of their excessive reliance on billing codes.
The only disadvantage is that these searches for specific keywords turn up a lot of records where injuries have not really occurred. That, however, is much more preferable to injury records not turning up during searches, which is what seems to happen often when medical professionals use billing codes.
Configuring electronic medical record systems to include text searches for specific keywords could provide a broader scope for the tracking of medical errors.
The Indiana medical malpractice lawyers at Montross Miller Muller Mendelson and Kennedy help victims of medical malpractice obtain compensation for their injuries.


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POV Action Video proudly stands behind the integrity and workmanship of its products. If you are not satisfied with your purchase, you may return it for replacement, exchange, or refund, within thirty (30) days of the date of purchase. Please see POV Action Video's Return Policy for more information.
POV Action Video Cameras warrants to the end-user customer of POV Action Video Cameras products, this limited 90 day warranty statement, that the product if purchased new and operated in the United States or Canada, conforms to the manufacturer's specifications and will be free from defects in workmanship and materials for a period of 90 days from the date of original purchase.
Defective items which are covered under the warranty period may be returned to POV Action Video for repair or replacement, subject to the Warranty Claims guidelines stated below. Read the Limited Warranty statement enclosed with your product to determine if the problem you are experiencing meets the requirements for a Warranty Claim. POV Action Video does not offer refunds on Warranty Claims products, only repair or replacement. POV Action Video reserves the right to substitute comparable or superior products as replacements for returned merchandise.
For warranty service, you must provide proof of date of the original purchase. Should your POV Action Video Cameras product prove defective during the warranty period,
Please follow these guidelines when making a Warranty Claim on any POV Action Video product:
- Warranty Claims must be made within one (1) year of the date of purchase. A copy of your original invoice must be enclosed with all returns.
- To submit a Warranty Claim send an email with the required information to email@example.com
- If your Warranty Claim is approved, you will receive an email with a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) number. The return item must be shipped to POV Action Video within five (5) business days of the date of issuance of the RMA. (If your claim is denied, you will receive an email stating the reason.)
- Shipping instructions (including POV Action Video's Warranty Claims Department address) will be provided in the email sent to you containing the RMA number.
- The RMA number issued to you by POV Action Video must be clearly written on the outside of the return container. Packages that do not display the RMA number will be refused upon delivery.
- Products returned to POV Action Video must be shipped postage prepaid. Enhanced Living reserves the right to refuse COD or freight collect shipments.
- Warranty Claims products must be packaged to prevent damage to in transit. All parts and accessories must be enclosed in an outer carton. POV Action Video reserves the right to refuse any returns that are incomplete, improperly packaged, have been altered by the customer, or are not enclosed in an outer carton. The product's original box is not required.


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While scouting for an attractive partner, you might have to settle for someone "in your league." Watch a mate selection experiment in Discovery Channel's "The Science of Sex Appeal."
Length: 01:48
Want more info about Science of Sex Appeal - Out of Your League?? Get free advice from education experts and Noodle community members.


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Education debt to income ratios and income inequality by Chair of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen.
The chart says it all.
Education debt to income ratios and income inequality by Chair of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen.
The chart says it all.
Are climbing walls driving the increase in tuition?
The Wall Street Journal has argued since since the late 1990s (sorry, the WSJ hides its light under a pay wall) that universities are able to raise tuition because the government gives students loans to pay that tuition. Universities, in an attempt to lure students, build "Club-med style amenities," like climbing walls. But are these the drivers of the massive increases in tuition that students and their families are now expected to bear?
Not necessarily. The New York Fed points out that, since the 1980s, state subsidy for higher education has steadily decreased. Between 2000 and 2010, state funding decreased by 21%. The economics of this are relatively simple, even for a lawyer like me: In the face of declining state subsidy, public colleges raise tuition to cover costs.
For more information, check out these reports by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the American Institute for Research. And the situation may not improve anytime soon. The American Institute for Research reports that the amount that tuition has been raised is not enough to make up for the gap in state funding.


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Out With The Old and In With The New Blog Hop
#16 Doris said... "ooohh love the beach scene card... wishing I was there right now.. feel the warmth :)"
"so love the moon and star card! what an awesome idea"
Congratulations, Doris! I'll be sending you an email so you can claim your prize. :)
Toast To Life Blog Hop
#18 Vicki said... "Very nice card! I really like the colors you have chosen. Family is so important and you have honored yours here."
Congratulations, Vicki! I'll be sending you an email so you can claim your prize. :)
Thanks to all who participated in either blog hop this past weekend, come back this weekend (January 7th & 8th) for a chance to win some more blog candy in a two-day Snow Days Blog Hop!


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Our mission is to collect and preserve resources related to Owen Barfield, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams, and make them available through our reading room, museum, publications, programming, and outreach efforts.
All rights reserved. No image or text from this website may be used without the express written consent of the Wade Center, Wheaton College.


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Sometimes tight deadlines on my work don't allow me to take the time to sketch out from home. When this happens i often feel the need of taking a break of some minutes from drawing storyboards on the tablet and draw some sketches on paper. In such a little time I just can do sone quick takes of my home. Here are a some of them, all made in the last months.
The chair Roberta uses to work on the computer.
An angle of the living room with my favorite armchair.
My bedroom. I had a sudden impulse, so this was the first thing I did that day (apart having breakfast).
My working angle. This was really a quick break from work, I did not even stand up from the chair. There's another view of this here.


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By Bob Aston
Mr. Gicheru was speaking during the Tomato Value Chain Workshop, which took place at Sipili Catholic Church Hall, Ol-Moran Ward in Laikipia West Sub County on 30th September and 1st October 2015.
The Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) through Ng'arua Maarifa Centre organized the workshop in collaboration with Kilimo Biashara Promoters, Syngenta Kenya and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MOALF).
The effect of climate change is posing a great challenge to the production of food in Kenya. Smallholder farmers risk being overwhelmed by the pace and severity of climate change yet they are the mainstay of food production in the Country.
According to Mr. Peter Gicheru, Secretary Matwiku Horticulture Growers self-help group, to ensure a food secure future, farmers must adopt Climate Smart Agriculture. He said that his group has adopted climate smart agriculture resulting in efficient use of increasingly scarce water.
|Members of Matwiku Horticulture Growers self help group planting
Mr. Gicheru was speaking during the Tomato Value Chain Workshop, which took place at Sipili Catholic Church Hall, Ol-Moran Ward in Laikipia West Sub County on 30th September and 1st October 2015.
The Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) through Ng'arua Maarifa Centre organized the workshop in collaboration with Kilimo Biashara Promoters, Syngenta Kenya and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MOALF).
He said that among the climate smart agriculture practices that the group has adopted include Water harvesting and conservation. The group members have invested in digging a shallow well near the farm that is now providing sustainable water supply; drip irrigation technology, which uses water more efficiently and enhances water control and conservation on the farm.
He informed the participants that ALIN introduced the project to Matwiku Horticulture Growers Self Help Group in partnership with Act Change Transform (Act!), with financial support from Department for International Development (DFID) and Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA).
The project aimed to strengthen communities' resilience to impacts of climate change while conserving natural resources in Laikipia County. He said that the twenty two (22)-member group has already planted tomatoes, capsicum, cabbage, and beans in their one-acre demonstration farm.
"We are practicing Climate Smart Agriculture and it is a privilege to share with other farmers what we are doing. We want other farmers to also adopt drip irrigation technology because of its many benefits," said Mr. Gicheru.
|The groups picture display of the project during the workshop
He said that they have mounted a 5,000-liter water tank on a firm metal platform with an elevation of three meters above the ground, bringing about enough pressure for water to irrigate one acre.
He said that they used to grow crops using conventional furrow and basin irrigation system that involves pumping water using diesel or petrol-powered generators from the nearby Kiriaini Dam.
Climate smart agriculture involves using technologies that can assist farmers in transitioning from traditional farming strategies to new climate-aware ones. These technologies focus on improved water management through water harvesting and use of drip irrigation, soil and water conservation measures, mulching, intercropping, introduction of drought tolerant crops and practicing agroforestry among others.
" The use of drip irrigation has enabled us to realize a drastic reduction in use of fuel for pumping water. This has reduced emissions and time spent irrigating the farm. We have also realized reduced work load in the farm and minimal soil erosion," said Mr. Gicheru.
To sustain the project, the group has started a revolving fund from the profit made each season to enable members to reinvest and expand their farm while enhancing each member to access climate smart agriculture technology for food production at family level.
Mr. Gicheru noted that despite the various benefits of the project they have also experienced some challenges that have prevented the group from enhancing their production.
|Some of the members admiring the fruits of their labour
Initially the group was drawing water for irrigation from Kiriaini Dam. However, the area experienced dry spells in 2014, which resulted in the dam drying up. They had to dig up a shallow well near their farm to overcome this constraint.
The Matwiku area is also near a conservancy hence human-wildlife conflict has affected production. Neighboring pastoralist communities also pose a threat because they occasionally allow their animals to stray into farms, resulting in conflict.
He said that last season tuta absoluta disease also affected tomato production in the farm. Various trainings organized by ALIN on Integrated Pest and Disease Management have helped the group overcome the problem this season.
"The rainfall pattern has changed in most parts of Laikipia County. Most areas are currently dry but this is no longer a deterrent to us, as we are using drip irrigation. We are now able to farm throughout the year, "said Mr. Gicheru.
The convergence of more than 60 farmers during the workshop enabled discussions on how to share best practices, enhancing farmer's production skills on tomato, enhancing tomato value chain competitiveness, and ensuring smallholder farmers play an active role in the value chain.


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|A2, stitching, ribbons, circle punches, my own scallop square cut file using Silhouette Cameo, ColorBok paper, and glossy accents on citrus
Smack Those Lips!
14 comments:
Oh thinking of that first bite makes me pucker up LOL! That critter is so funny!ReplyDelete
Another fabulous fun card, I love that paper :o)ReplyDelete
Jackie xx
Hehehe! That is summery and fun!ReplyDelete
How perfect is that ribbon! I never have the right ribbon to match. Adorable card and wonderful coloring!ReplyDelete
Really cute. What a cute mouse (never thought I'd say that about a mouse) I love his look and those rosy cheeks. Umm fruit love fruit and summer.ReplyDelete
Just got back home from vacation a little while ago. Trying to get caught up on all the blog posts I missed. Your card is absolutely adorable! Love that fun image!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 23, 2013 at 6:09 PM
Great little sentiment! That's such a cute mouse. Love his teeth! You did a great job with that little bow, too!ReplyDelete
Adorable! I have this printed to color next...never thought to do different fruit. He's grounded beautifully and your clouds are perfect. Of course only you would have lime paper and ribbon to match!ReplyDelete
What a yummy card, and so beautifully coloured. Love it! JxReplyDelete
This is so cute!! Makes me want something cool and refreshing right now!! :)ReplyDelete
Darling card, Cely. You really brought this cute mouse to life with fantastic coloring. Great colors and background papers too!ReplyDelete
Delightful card Cely, so spring looking with all those yummy colours and love how you coloured the mouse!ReplyDelete
I think it is wonderful when a card brings a smile to your face and this one certainly worked for me. Love the luscious colors and the cute image! Great job!ReplyDelete
I can't believe you'll be picking peaches in just a week, maybe already! Wow. I love the colours you used so bright and summery!ReplyDelete
Thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. Your comment will be posted within the day.


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Self Catering in Cornwall - Bude
Areas: North Cornwall, Cornwall
Bude Travel and Heritage Information
Booking through:
Sleeps a maximum of: 9
Pricing From: £950.00 - 2366.00
This superb house, standing in 2 acres, has been completed to a high standard providing spacious and comfortable holiday accommodation. Set in the popular village of Morwenstow, next door to the small primary school and a short distance from the rugged coastline and sandy beaches.
You will be close to the Devon/Cornwall border, perfect for visiting both picturesque counties and exploring all they have to offer.
There is so much to see and do in the area with a choice of golden beaches, the South West Coast Path and unspoilt coves. Enjoy nearby Bude with its Splashpool, canal, shops, pubs and restaurants, the historical village of Clovelly with its cobbled streets, visitors centre, teas rooms and shops. Other attractions include The Milky Way, The Big Sheep, Hartland Abbey, Arlington Court, Tapeley Park, Rosemoor Gardens and The Oldenburg for day trips to Lundy Island.
This modern well-equipped house offers FIVE bedrooms: situated upstairs and approached via steep stairs with fixed stairgate at the top, master bedroom with king-size bed, flatscreen TV, walk in wardrobe and luxurious en-suite shower room with WC, 2 further doubles with flatscreen TV and 1 twin. 1 single, situated downstairs. Bathroom: situated upstairs, with free standing bath, large separate shower and WC.
Shower room: downstairs, with WC. Separate WC downstairs. Lounge: with TV, DVD, hi-fi with iPod dock and french doors leading out to the garden.
Second lounge with TV and french doors. Kitchen/diner: with TV, electric range cooker, fridge/freezer, dishwasher and microwave. Sun room: overlooking the garden and surrounding countryside.
Utility room: with washing machine and sink. Outside: enclosed garden area with seating and BBQ. Amenities: ample off-road parking.
Bed linen, towels, electric, central heating and wi-fi included. Regret no smoking. 2 dogs welcome, only allowed downstairs.
Additional info: On-line grocery deliveries accepted (Tesco, ASDA and Waitrose). Location: pebble beach at Marsland Mouth 2 miles, pub 2 miles, shop 4 miles. Arrival: 3.
Pet Friendly
Downstairs Bedroom, Downstairs Bathroom, Enclosed Garden, Internet Access, Pub Within 1 Mile, Beach Within 5 Miles, Towels Included, Travel Cot, Highchair, Family Holidays
Changeover Day
Arrival Time
Property Type
Get an Ordnance Survey map covering the Bude area.
Nearest AttractionsHeritage Rated from 1- 5 (low-exceptional) on historic interest
Morwenstow, St John's Church - 1.3 miles (Historic Church)
Morwenstow, St John's Holy Well - 1.5 miles (Prehistoric Site)
Kilkhampton, St James Church - 2.7 miles (Historic Church)
Poughill, St Olaf's Church - 4.5 miles (Historic Church)
Docton Mill Gardens - 4.8 miles (Garden)
Stratton, St Andrew's Church - 5.3 miles (Historic Church)
Spekes Mill Mouth Waterfall - 5.4 miles (Countryside)
Bude Castle Heritage Centre - 5.5 miles (Museum)
Launcells, St Swithin's Church - 6 miles (Historic Church)
Hartland, St Nectan's Church - 6 miles (Historic Church)
Nearest Alternative Cottages
Morwenstow, Cornwall
Sleeps: 4
Stay from: £326.00 - 1080.84
Kilkhampton, Cornwall
Sleeps: 6
Stay from: £325.00 - 1090.48
Bude, Cornwall
Sleeps: 4
Stay from: £475.00 - 1027.00
Details of facilities are believed correct at time of publication, but may be subject to change by the cottage proprietor. Up-to-the-minute facility listings will be always presented during the booking process for your approval.
UK Self Catering
England - Scotland - Wales
Popular Locations
Devon - Cornwall - Lake District - Highlands - North Wales - South West Wales


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Discussion in 'Trading Software' started by wynotb1, Jan 13, 2007.
Which is better for trading futures and sometimes stocks (mostly futures)?
Also do either of these allow trading from the website or do you have to download their trading platforms?
With IB you can trade futures and stocks in the same account but TS requires separate accounts. I think you can trade from IB's site. As far as charting, TS is vastly superior.
Separate names with a comma.


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Monday, March 22, 2010
Eating In Week Comes to an End
Day 6 of eating in was...leftovers. A little of this, a little of that, something for everyone. We have leftovers about once a week. But we're fancy people so we call it a "buffet". On Day 7 I made a sausage lasagna with salad for dinner and BAM-POW the week of Eating In was over.
What did I get out of this week? For one, I became more improvisational with my recipes. If I didn't have an ingredient, I had to substitute something else. Another attitude shift for me was on restocking items. In the past if we ran out of cereal, I went to the store that day to buy more. This week I said, "We're out of cereal but we do have yogurt, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, eggs...take your pick." When those things are diminished, then I will spend more money on cereal. All in all the week was painless.
The Pros:
-I spent only $8.36 at the grocery store this week (a gallon of organic milk and some toilet paper).
-I reorganized my pantry and moved things to the front of the shelf that needed to be used up soon.
-No one in the family even realized I was doing anything different this week.
-My refrigerator is no longer overstuffed and I made a small dent in my freezer stash.
The Cons:
-I honestly can't think of any. Unless you count my smug sense of self-satisfaction (but my people are used to that.)
3 comments:
Hey Meredith, loved your eating in posts!
- March 22, 2010 at 11:19 PM
- funnyrunner said...
Your recipes and tips are so great, and the photos are so pretty and inspiring!
- March 25, 2010 at 12:04 PM
- Meredith said...
Thanks so much!
- March 30, 2010 at 10:24 AM
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Rihanna Breaks Her Silence and Chris Takes to TV Too
Rihanna talked about what finally made her leave Chris Brown, saying that it was realizing how much influence she has on young women which convinced her that taking him back was the wrong decision. She opens up to Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, which aired this morning. Chris Brown has a special of his own to promote, also revealing his conflicted emotions on an MTV special, which is on tomorrow night. Check out a peek at both of those interviews on the PopSugar Rush Update now!